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    24.04.08
    Business Media China AG: Successful 2007 and strong outlook for 2008

     

    Ad hoc announcement

    Successful 2007 and strong outlook for 2008

    Stuttgart, April 24, 2008 - Business Media China AG has experienced a
    brilliant development during 2007. Investments made in the previous years
    began to bear fruit and resulted in significant growth during the reporting
    year: BMC was able to record a more than threefold turnover to reach EUR
    23.1 million. As a consequence of the enormous spadework in building up our
    Premium advertising media, attractive exhibitions & conferences and the
    organization, there was consolidated loss of EUR 5.4 million, as expected,
    for the entire reporting year.

    According to the actual planning status BMC expects to achieve in fiscal
    2008 a turnover between EUR 35-45 mn based on the established business
    activities. BMC also expects to achieve a positive pre-tax result. The
    turning to profitability will be supported by the already since 2007
    profitable Exhibition & Conferences segment as well as by the strongly
    growing OOH Media segment that will become substantially profitable in
    2008.

    Key data of the Group P&L, balance sheet, cash flow statement and
    shareholder's equity changes have been published on our Website
    www.businessmediachina.com as of today. The full annual report will be
    available online as of April 30, 2008. Today at 11 am an analyst conference
    is taking place at equinet AG, Gräfstrasse 97 in Frankfurt (presentation is
    available on the company website).

    ---------- end of Ad hoc --------------------

    Today, BMC in China is one of the prominent and leading market players in
    the field of Out of Home Media and Exhibitions & Conferences, in certain
    sub-segments we are already the acknowledged market leaders. This
    gratifying development is supported by a market environment in China where
    simultaneously three 'ideal worlds' come together for us: the economic
    growth in China continues to be around 10 % annually and. Secondly, China is
    not only the 'factory of the world', but it also profits evermore from the
    increasing domestic demand. The middle-class population that has meanwhile
    grown to a staggering figure of nearly 300 million is inclined to
    consumption, resulting in a growth of spending on advertising of nearly 16
    to 18 % per year - that is three to four-times as much as in western
    industrial countries. And thirdly, outdoor advertising plays in China's
    Media-Mix a disproportionate role and is, therefore, much stronger than the
    whole of advertising market. As a consequence of the powerful
    infrastructure investments, the supply as well as the quality of the
    available media formats tends to increase in China.

    During 2007, we have achieved important milestones:

    - In the segment of airport advertising, we moved up to be among the top
    three providers within a period of one year and our attractive media
    formats are represented at 12 of the 15 most important airports of
    China.

    - In the railway station advertising, we are not only the undisputed
    number one, but we also set the standards in respect of innovation and
    quality - a fact that is acknowledged not the least by national and
    international awards.

    - In the exhibition & conferences business, we are well-established; of
    the nine of our events already four have occupied the top position in
    China's market and, our optoelectronics trade fair is undoubtedly the
    largest of this type worldwide.

    - Over the year, in Stuttgart as well as in China top executives have
    joined our highly motivated team.

    We intend continuing unabatedly with this dynamism in 2008 as well. The
    year of the Olympics will once again give perceptible impetus to the
    outdoor advertising business and pave the way allowing us to achieve our
    ambitious targets. Following the opening of the new Terminal 3 at the
    Beijing airport in March 2008, we have strengthened our presence
    conspicuously at this strategic nodal point. Parallel to this, we will
    substantially expand the railway station business in the region of Greater
    Beijing. At the beginning of the current year, BMC has signed a
    path-breaking Joint Venture agreement with Skyflying Media: in future all
    media formats at major railway stations in Beijing, Guangzhou and Shenzhen
    will be marketed jointly by the sales organization 'BMC Tianjun'. Together
    we will offer the largest portfolio on Premium media formats in our market
    segments in China and, we plan to gradually expand our cooperation.
    Finally, in the trade fair segment we have enhanced our activities with
    interesting own technology themes. In addition to all this, a significant
    number of trade fair takeovers and partnerships are already in an advanced
    stage of negotiations.

    Key data of the Group P&L, balance sheet, cash flow statement and
    shareholder's equity changes have been published on our Website
    www.businessmediachina.com as of today. The full Annual report will be
    available online as of April 30, 2008. Today at 11 am an analyst conference
    is taking place at equinet AG, Gräfstrasse 97 in Frankfurt (presentation is
    available on the company website).