The Financial result Rise 17% in Group

Gräfelfing/Munich, 28 February 2001. The Munich securities house MWB again achieved a record result in revenues in it"s business year 2000. The financial result, the most important number for MWB"s business, rose 17% in the Group from around EUR25 million in 1999 to a preliminary EUR29.3 in 2000 million and so is within the company"s plan.

Considerably higher revenue-dependent costs and a deliberately conservative provision for risks caused the Group"s pre-tax earnings to drop from EUR14.8 million in 1999 to a preliminary EUR12.3 million in 2000. Still, the managing board of MWB AG aspires to keep the dividend for the year 2000 largely unchanged, due to the company"s outstanding liquidity situation.

The managing board is cautiously optimistic for the new business year. "The year 2001 could turn into the year of the SMAX," says Thomas Posovatz, MWB"s speaker of the board, in estimating the situation. "The SMAX is a quality segment where we now feel well situated," Mr. Posovatz continued. "We see a tendency for it to be discovered more and more as an alternative to the Neuer Markt."