BE Group holds Capital Markets Day: Targeting profitable growth through acquisitions and service

Press Release
May 15, 2008

BE Group will be holding a Capital Markets Day in Stockholm and Norrköping this Thursday. The presentation includes CEO Håkan Jeppsson’s declaration of BE Group’s ambitions for the next three or four years.

The objectives are sales growth of about 50% above current levels and for markets in the Central and Eastern Europe business area to generate 30-40% of consolidated sales, up from today’s share of about 10%.

“BE Group intends to sustain the strong growth achieved in recent years. In five years, the company has almost doubled sales. The greatest potential lies in increasing service sales and in the expansive markets of Central and Eastern Europe. That is where BE Group is growing the fastest, most recently with the acquisition of Ferram Steel in the Czech Republic,” says Håkan Jeppsson, president and CEO of BE Group.

The service component of sales, now around 35%, will also increase to 50%. The underlying EBITA margin (operating margin excluding exceptional items and adjusted for inventory gains and losses) will increase by 1.5 - 2 percentage points from current levels around 7%.

“The key to improving BE Group’s margins is to move forward in the value chain. The company is accomplishing this by increasing the service component of sales. BE Group is investing in more advanced services and expects demand to increase as customers become increasingly focused on their core operations,” says Håkan Jeppsson.

Other key components of the BE Group strategy, beyond growth and higher service sales, are to improve Group coordination in various markets and maintain strong and results-oriented leadership throughout the Group.

Håkan Jeppsson also confirms that the outlook from the latest quarterly report stands. Briefly stated, the global market for steel and metals remains strong. Prices will rise in the second quarter and further increases are possible in the third. The recovery for stainless steel is slower than expected. The Swedish and Finnish markets are still performing at a high level, but there is some uncertainty in the demand outlook, primarily in Sweden. Continued strong demand is expected in Central and Eastern Europe.

The Capital Markets Day will begin with a morning seminar in Stockholm and continue with a tour of BE Group’s modern warehouse and production facility in Norrköping. BE Group’s entire executive management team will be involved.

Presentation material from the Capital Markets Day will be available at the end of the day on the BE Group website at www.begroup.com.

BE Group may be required to disclose the information provided herein pursuant to the Securities Markets Act. The information was submitted for publication on May 15, 2008 at 9:30 a.m. CET.