"The figures show that our strategy is right. 2006 will be a good year for us," said CEO Gerhard Weiß on the announcement of the first-half figures. "Foreign business comes along very well, again. We are continuing to expand our good market position. For the year as a whole, we expect a further increase in sales revenues and substantially improved earnings," said Weiß.


Above average growth abroad
Group sales rose in the first half of the current financial year to 50.7 million euros and is thus 7.5 % higher than the previous year's value (previous year: 47.1 million euros). The organic growth rate - adjusted to take account of company acquisitions and sales - is 6.8 %.
In the second quarter, sales totaled 26.8 million euros, and were thus
1.9 million euros higher than in the same quarter of the previous year.
The Design and Multimedia business units developed particularly well.
The Nemetschek group thus continued the successful start to the year in the second quarter and the positive development of the past years.
In the first six months, foreign sales increased by 19 % to 29.7 million euros (corresponds to 59 % of total sales. Previous year: 53 %). Half of the growth abroad is due to the acquisition of SCIA International NV. Domestic business saw positive trends too after years of economic restraint.


Earnings in first half of year up by 39 percent
In the first six months, the operating profit (EBIT) increased to 7.2 million euros (previous year: 5.2 million euros, +38.9 %). In the second quarter of 2006, Nemetschek achieved an operating profit of 4.2 million euros (previous year: 3.2 million euros). In the first six months, Nemetschek achieved net income of 5.8 million euros (previous year: 4.1 million euros, +38.7 %), and in the same period, the earnings per share rose to 0.59 euros (previous year: 0.42 euros).


Cash flow from ordinary operations practically doubled
The cash flow for the period increased to 8.6 million euros thanks to the good development of earnings (previous year: 7.3 million euros, +18.8 %). The cash flow from ordinary operations increased by 5.2 million euros to 11.0 million euros, and thus almost doubled.
In the first half of this year, Nemetschek invested 8.6 million euros in promising companies such as the Belgian engineering software company SCIA International NV and the Austria ING.AUER - Die Bausoftware GmbH. The company also paid out a dividend of 6.3 million euros in total to its shareholders.
Nemetschek will also enjoy a good equity situation in the future for the growth course that is now under way. On June 30, 2006 the liquid assets stood at around 23.2 million euros (December 31, 2005: 29.0 million euros), and the equity capital was 46.7 million euros (December 31, 2005: 48.1 million euros). This is equivalent to an equity ratio of 56.3 %.


The stock: Dynamic share price development and dividend payout
The Nemetschek share price rose by more than 50 % in the first half of the year to 21.50 euros (on June 30, 2005), and thus developed better than the DAX (+5.1 %), TecDAX (+9.3 %), Prime All (+5.7 %), and GEX (+16.2 %) indexes. The shareholders are benefiting from the positive share price development and an ongoing dividend policy: In May, they received a dividend of 0.65 euros per share. This corresponds to a dividend yield of around 3.0 %. In the previous year, the company had already paid out a dividend for the first time since it went public.


Innovative solutions for the construction industry
The company has secured its position as technology leader through innovative products. The new Design2cost initiative is being met with great interest, because it offers solutions for the growing time and cost pressures in the construction industry. With Nemetschek software, all the stakeholders in a construction project can determine their costs reliably and quickly from the early planning phase. Construction companies minimize their risks and can create more offers in a shorter space of time. Building contractors and prefabricated constructors can get solid profitability and cost analyses for marketing the object. Designers are able to increase productivity and provide effective support for their contacts.

Gerhard Weiß: "Our approach will significantly change the industry, because it enables the complete work process in CAD and cost planning to be radically improved. We have bundled our knowledge from over 16 years to make our customers' cost planning even more successful."

The first-half report to June 30, 2006 will be published on August 11, 2006.