Hoeft & Wessel AG Records Very Good Level of Orders

Shortages of Electronic Components Lead to Deferments of Turnover to Q4

HANOVER, Germany, November 4, 2010 -

    - Profit deferment as a result of temporary currency effects
    - Strong fourth quarter and a slight increase in sales for 2010 are
      forecast
    - Cash flow at record level

The Hoeft & Wessel Group has recorded a very good order intake 2010. The
incoming orders of the IT and engineering group for ticketing, parking and
mobile solutions also continued their extremely positive trend during the
third quarter of the current year. The first nine months had facilitated new
ledger entries for orders with a total volume of EUR 66.3 million. This
represents a year-on-year increase of 15 per cent (30 September 2009: EUR
57.5 million.)

During 2010, Hoeft & Wessel has been in a position to secure orders for
e-ticketing systems in Spain and Germany, for automatic parking ticket
machines on the Isle of Wight in the United Kingdom and for mobile terminals
from Rewe, among other successful sales. During October 2010, this was
supplemented by a large-scale order from the Swiss Federal Railways (SBB)
for a new mobile communications solution based on GSM-R for shunting and
construction operations. As a result, an interesting new field of business
activity has opened up for this technology enterprise.

In line with the positive level of incoming orders, the order portfolio
of the Hoeft & Wessel Group had increased to EUR 80.7 million as at 30
September 2010 (31 December 2009: EUR 74.4 million).

The bottlenecks pertaining to electronic components occurring worldwide
subsequent to the economic crisis led to deferments in delivery and thus
sales revenues from the third into the fourth quarter of 2010 at the Hoeft &
Wessel Group. During the third quarter, sales decreased by 12 per cent, to
EUR 20.9 million (Q3 2009: EUR 23.9 million). During the initial three
quarters of the year, sales totalled EUR 60.1 million and were thus down
15 per cent year-on-year (30 September 2009: EUR 71.0 million).

Amongst other activities, the technology enterprise commenced with
deliveries of ticketing systems to public transport companies in Hamburg,
Rostock and Berlin. A completely new solar-operated automatic ticketing
machine was developed for Geneva. The installation of 1,000 automatic parking
ticket machines was successfully completed within the U.S. metropolis of
Philadelphia. Mobile terminals were delivered to the Netto Marken-Discount,
Rewe and Lekkerland enterprises.

A marked increase in sales is anticipated by the Hoeft & Wessel Group for
the current fourth quarter, resulting in a forecast of a slight increase in
turnover for the year 2010 as a whole.

It is the view of Hoeft & Wessel that the cyclical market for electronic
components will normalise again. As a result of its representative office in
Taiwan established in September 2010, the company is also in a position to
utilise the strategic advantage of local presence in order further to
optimise purchases and also to respond to market fluctuations even more
rapidly in the future.

Temporary currency effects resulted in negative earnings before interest
and taxes (EBIT) of -EUR 0.8 million as at 30 September 2010 (2009: EUR 2.3
million). However, the merely reporting date based currency effects to the
amount of -EUR 1.0 million (preceding year: +EUR 0.1 million) will lead to
reversed effects over the next several months upon completion of the hedging
transactions concluded for incoming orders in foreign currencies. These
effects and the forecast increase in sales during the fourth quarter are
already leading to marked improvements in earnings during the current fourth
quarter. However, total EBIT figures for 2010 as a whole will be lower
year-on-year since a portion of these currency effects will have a positive
impact on the operating result in 2011.

The Hoeft & Wessel Group has been able to boost its net liquidity
considerably this year. The operating cash flow also continued its positive
trend in the third quarter, permitting its significant increase to a record
level of EUR 5.8 million as at 30 September 2010 (preceding year:
-EUR 1.3 million). Loans were paid off using the generated funding, and a
dividend was paid out to shareholders for the first time in the history of
the company, something that is also to be proposed for the current financial
year.

The Hoeft & Wessel Group forecasts a further increase in sales revenues
and earnings for 2011 on the basis of the excellent level of orders.

"Our future prospects look very promising: the order situation is
excellent, and the commenced internationalisation facilitates growth within
new markets," says Hoeft & Wessel Group CEO Hansjoachim Oehmen in summarising
the company's business trends.

    Key figures for the Hoeft & Wessel Group as at 30 September 2010

    in EUR thousands        30/09/10  30/09/09  30/09/08  30/09/07  30/09/06
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Sales revenues            60,057    71,037    70,031    68,416    50,925
    Operating result before
    depreciation/amortisation
    (EBITDA)                   2,749     5,638     5,480     5,082       850
    Operating result (EBIT)     (799)    2,325     2,088     1,562    (2,748)
      in % of sales revenues       -       3.3       3.0       2.3         -
    Earnings before taxes
    (EBT)                     (1,454)    1,618     1,002       525    (3,287)
      in % of sales revenues       -       2.3       1.4       0.8         -
    Group earnings            (1,481)    1,120       863       409    (3,178)
    Earnings per share(in EUR) (0.17)     0.13      0.10      0.05     (0.38)

    Cash flow from current
    operating activities       5,756    (1,258)   (1,839)    2,693     1,087
    Cash flow from investment
    activities                (3,194)   (3,391)   (3,536)   (3,566)   (3,642)
    Net cash flow             (1,502)     (217)   (1,264)      106    (1,428)
    Average number of employees  499       502       507       503       506

    Nine-month report for 2010 and additional reports:
    www.hoeft-wessel.com/de/aktie/index.htm

    Press folder, including photographs:
    www.presseportal.de/pm/12945/hoeft_wessel_ag/

About the Company

The Hoeft & Wessel Group is the leading German IT and engineering
technology group for ticketing, parking and mobile solutions. Established in
1978 by the two entrepreneurs of the same name, the Group today generates
sales revenues of nearly EUR 100 million with a workforce of 500 employees.
It has been listed on the stock market since 1998 (ISIN DE0006011000). Its
headquarters are in Hanover, Germany, and Swindon, UK, west of London. The
annual investment volume in the Research & Development division, which sets
the pace in the Group's technological orientation and employs more than a
third of the total workforce, amounts to approximately 10 per cent in terms
of turnover.

In Europe, the Almex division is among the leading providers of ticketing
and telematics systems for public transport and check-in solutions for the
airline industry.

The British subsidiary Metric Parking is one of the largest global
providers of car park ticket vending machines, parking space management
systems as well as comprehensive services.

As one of Europe's largest manufacturers, the Skeye division provides a
wide range of mobile terminals, e.g. for retail and logistics, as well as
point-of-sale solutions. Skeye is the market leader in Germany's retail
sector.

    Further inquiry note:

    Arnd Fritzemeier
    Tel.: +49-511-6102-300
    E-Mail: PR@hoeft-wessel.com

Further inquiry note: Arnd Fritzemeier, Tel.: +49-511-6102-300, E-Mail: PR at hoeft-wessel.com