Strong Increase in Volume of Business and Employee Number

– Increase in volume of business by approx. 10 percent to 1.26 billion Euros
– Creation of 500 new jobs
– Investment of 221 million Euros

Espelkamp. The family-managed Gauselmann Group from eastern Westphalia has again reached its own self-defined corporate goals for the 2009 Financial Year – despite the sustained international and national economic crisis – bucking the general trend and increasing the volume of business by approx. 10%.

Positive Business Development and the Creation of New Jobs and Apprenticeship Training Positions

The volume of business increased in concrete terms to 1.26 billion Euros (2008: 1.12 billion Euros). The increase went hand-in-hand with the expansion of working positions within the group of companies. The number of employees thus rose to approx. 6,000 (2008: approx 5,500).

The basis for this positive result is a continuing innovation and investment process which is particularly underlined by the development of new innovative technologies in amusement and gaming machines as well as the systems area and new service concepts in the field of arcades.

Alongside numerous new positions, the Gauselmann Group was able to generate 87 new apprenticeship training positions for the beginning of the apprenticeship period on 1st August 2009 – 57 of these were new, additional positions for both new industry-specific apprenticeships as ‘coin-op specialist’ and ‘coin-op service technician’. A total of 200 young people are being trained by the Gauselmann Group in 15 different vocations.

Progress via Investments

Investments in the fundamental business divisions of the group of companies to the tune of 221 million Euros – also and especially during times of financial and economic crisis – are the key to success in the 2009 Financial Year.

Pleasing Development of the Business Divisions

The important business division – the Merkur Division (pan-European development, production and global sales of amusement and gaming machines and money-management systems) – was characterised by the successful development and market introduction of new products. Alongside diverse new game contents in particular a brand new cabinet generation called ‘Vision’ created strong demand among both operators and players.

Despite continual competitive pressure from new international manufacturers, the family-managed Gauselmann Group was able to assert its position as leading company in the field of electronic amusement and gaming machines in the core German market within the Merkur Division in 2009 and furthermore increase its market share in particular also in the field of the so-called multi-gamers (gaming systems of up to 60 games on one screen) under the ‘Merkur Magie’ brand.

Furthermore, Gauselmann products are also more and more in demand in European markets. New sales potential was accessed particularly in Italy, Spain and England with completely new products.

The pleasing development of previous years also continued in 2009 in the field of money-management systems – which also belongs to the Merkur Division. The Gauselmann Group was able to assert and expand its market-leading position around the theme of coin and banknote handling in the field of self-service terminals for banks, communal payment systems as well as money changing systems for arcades. Money-management systems of the Gauselmann Group can currently be found in use in over 50 separate countries.

In the Spielothek Division (pan-European entertainment), the Gauselmann Group extended its leading position in the arcade market. The qualitative further development in the direction of modern and distinctive leisure-time Entertainment Centres under the brand ‘Merkur Casino made by Merkur-Spielothek’ has been readily accepted by both female and male players thanks to its first-class atmosphere, numerous innovative products and motivated staff who excel due to their personal service orientation and so enthuse customers/players. This strongly confirms the roll of the Gauselmann Group as innovation driver and trend-setter. The focused arcade development to modern, top-rate Entertainment Centres in locations both inside and outside of Germany has been continued in 2009. This strategy has been successfully sustained in 2009 whilst at the same time adjusting the existing branch structure. Approx. 400 arcades were in operation in the previous financial year, a good 200 of which are in Germany.

The division ‘New Media’ was characterised by a fine-tuning of the licences purchased the end of 2006 for the liberalised Italian sports betting market. Furthermore, advances in the development of new games in the field of online gaming and prize games were made with great commitments to be able to meet the needs of the changing gaming and amusement markets. All this even though logical initial losses had to be taken into account.

European Competitors count on Quality Production – made by Gauselmann

External contracts for the Gauselmann manufacturing site in Lübbecke added to the positive business development in various fields, as European competitors count more and more on the high quality standards according to DIN EN ISO 9001:2008 of the Gauselmann Group. Thus, machines for an English company listed on the stock exchange are produced in the Lübbecke plant as contract manufacturing. The already strong manufacturing base could be further strengthened with this and so has been an important factor in securing employment in the local district. The result of these positive developments has been the staff increase of 160 in the Lübbecke production site.

Good Yield feeds Equity

The efforts and endeavours of the individual companies within the Gauselmann Group have also been rewarded with good operative results in total between 5% and 10% in the 2009 financial year. This sustains a unique success story – as in the whole of the 53 years in the company history – and this is something the entrepreneurial family is very proud of – the company has never had the burden of being in the red.

The Gauselmann Group focuses on sustainability, long-term partnerships and trust when it comes to financing. The Gauselmann Group has an equity ratio of more than 50%; profits are normally invested in the company.