Press Releases 2003

November 20, 2003
Interim Report on the first nine months of 2003

• Bilfinger Berger acquires Centennial, a US services company
• Increases in output volume, orders received and order backlog
• Operating profit 86% higher than in prior-year period
• Capital gain mainly to serve balance-sheet provisions

Through its US subsidiary, Fru-Con, Bilfinger Berger is acquiring Centennial Contractors Enterprises Inc., a services company based in Vienna, Virginia, and one of the leading providers of job-order contracting services. These services involve repair, maintenance and extension work on buildings, carried out on the basis of long-term framework agreements. The company has a 15% share of its particular segment and is active all over the United States. Centennial generated an output volume of €150 million in its latest financial year, and will exceed the EBIT margin of 4% which Bilfinger Berger aims to achieve with its services activities.

Bilfinger Berger's operating figures increased significantly during the first nine months of this year as a result of the refocus of the Group. Compared with the same period of last year, output volume rose by 19% to €4,052 million, orders received increased by 11% to €4,409 million, and the order backlog again reached an excellent level of €5,547 million. Operating profit (EBITA) amounted to €41 million, which represents an increase of 86% over the prior-year period.

In July 2003, we received an amount of €551 million from the sale of our shares in Buderus AG, which we will apply for the further expansion of our services activities and to strengthen our position in international markets. The sale gave rise to a tax-free capital gain of €238 million in the third quarter. Like last year, strengthening our balance-sheet by forming additional provisions once again takes priority with the utilization of this income. In connection with our withdrawal from real-estate project development, €90 million of the capital gain is being used to make a precautionary adjustment of the carrying value of our real estate held for sale. Furthermore, in order to protect against the potential political and economic risks connected with our activities in developing countries and emerging markets, we have set up a provision from the capital gain in an amount of €45 million. In addition, a provision of €25 million has been formed for capacity adjustments in the construction business and for adjustments to our portfolio of shareholdings. And to safeguard against the possible negative influences of future impairment tests, we have also carried out a precautionary special write-down on goodwill of €30 million. When the year-end financial statements are prepared, a decision will be taken on the use of the remaining capital gain of €75 million after accounting for the aforementioned precautionary provisions and deferred taxes.

For full-year 2003, Bilfinger Berger anticipates a total output volume in the region of €5.5 billion (2002: €4.9 billion). Operating profit will again rise significantly, and taking into account the aforementioned exceptional items, net profit will once again exceed the unusually high level achieved in the prior year.

Teleconference information:

Contacts:
Herbert Bodner, Chairman of the Executive Board and CEO
Dr. Jürgen M. Schneider, Member of the Executive Board and CFO

Date: November 20, 2003
Time: 12:00 noon CET
Phone: +49-69 - 27 11 04 00