paragon AG: Excellent business development confirms forecast for the year

paragon AG / Quarter Results

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Excellent business development confirms forecast for the year 

• Sales rise 11.0% to €90.2 million
• EBITDA up 16.2%, EBIT up 27.3%
• Operating cash flow up sharply to €11.2 million
• Positive outlook for 2009

Delbrück, November 4, 2008 – paragon AG continued the very good development
of the first half in the third quarter of the current fiscal year with a
significant further increase in earnings. In the first nine months of 2008,
the company generated Group sales of €90.2 million, reflecting a gain of
11.0% over the first nine months of 2007. The main growth driver was again
the Automotive segment with a very strong increase in sales of 15.4%.

Within this segment, Car Media Systems in particular established itself as
the strongest growing product line with a gain of more than 40%.
Specifically, sales of the Media Device Interface and the rSAP-Cradle grew
significantly.
In the Electronic Solutions segment (including Building Technology), sales
declined slightly as in the previous quarter; nonetheless, earnings
improved significantly. With a margin of 6.7%, EBIT in this segment came to
€1.0 million (prior-year period: €0.6 million).

In the first nine months, earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and
amortization (EBITDA) of paragon AG rose by 16.2% from €14.1 million to
€16.4 million, thus exceeding the rise in sales. Consequently, the Company
increased its EBITDA margin from 17.3% to 18.1%. EBIT also improved
significantly from €5.4 million to €6.9 million, reflecting a year on year
increase of 27.3%. Accordingly, the EBIT margin improved from 6.7% to 7.7%.
The operating cash flow also developed positively with paragon generating
cash inflows of €11.2 million in the period under review, approximately
€9.0 million of that amount in the third quarter alone.

paragon AG confirms the forecast sales growth of 5 – 10% with even higher
earnings growth for the current fiscal year.
For 2009, the Management Board expects that the worsening market conditions
will impact the Company to only a slight degree due to the positioning
paragon AG has achieved, and that the Company will continue to develop
positively.

The full 2008 report on the first nine months of the year is available for
download at the Investor Relations section of the Company's website:
http://www.paragon-online.de.


paragon AG is a direct supplier to the automotive industry and is listed on
the Deutsche Börse Prime Standard index in Frankfurt/Main, Germany. The
Company develops, manufactures, and markets innovative solutions in its
Automotive (Sensors/Actuators and Cockpit Systems) and Electronic Solutions
divisions. Its product portfolio includes the world's leading AQS air
quality sensor by far as well as hands-free speaking equipment and
instrumentation systems. In addition to its headquarters in Delbrück, North
Rhine-Westphalia, paragon also operates locations in Suhl, Thuringia
(production), Cadolzburg, Bavaria (sales and development), St. Georgen,
Baden-Württemberg (production) and Heidenheim, Baden-Württemberg
(Electronic Solutions sales). In the international arena, the paragon Group
is represented by wholly-owned subsidiaries in Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA
(development, production, and sales) and Osaka, Japan (applications and
sales) as well as sales offices in Paris, France and Turin, Italy. In
fiscal 2007, the paragon Group generated sales totaling €108.9 million with
a workforce of 594 employees.


paragon AG
Schwalbenweg 29
33129 Delbrück
Tel.: +49 (0) 52 50 - 97 62-0
Fax: +49 (0) 52 50 - 97 62-60
Internet: www.paragon-online.de
E-Mail: info@paragon-online.de

Head of Corporate Communications
Matthias Hack
Tel.: +49 (0) 52 50 - 97 62-141
Fax: +49 (0) 52 50 - 97 62-60
E-Mail:  matthias.hack@paragon-online.de

Investor Relations
Haubrok Investor Relations GmbH
Stefan Didyk
Tel.: +49 (0) 52 50 - 97 62-140
E-Mail: s.didyk@haubrok.de
04.11.2008  Financial News transmitted by DGAP
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Language:     English
Issuer:       paragon AG
              Schwalbenweg 29
              33129 Delbrück
              Deutschland
Phone:        +49 (0)5250 97 62 - 0
Fax:          +49 (0)5250 97 62 - 60
E-mail:       investor@paragon-online.de
Internet:     www.paragon-online.de
ISIN:         DE0005558696
WKN:          555869
Listed:       Regulierter Markt in Frankfurt (Prime Standard); Freiverkehr
              in Düsseldorf, Hamburg, München, Berlin, Stuttgart
 
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