Niederweningen, 26 October 2006

Bucher Industries generated CHF 1 491 million in sales for the first nine months of 2006, up 5% on the same period last year, or up 2% excluding acquisitions. Order intake grew by 8% to CHF 1 565 million, an increase of 4% excluding acquisitions.

In an overall positive market environment, the group's sales to the end of September 2006 increased by 5.2% to CHF 1 491.4 million, up 3.7% on a currency-adjusted basis or 0.8% excluding currency effects, acquisitions and disposals. Driven by good demand, order intake rose by 8.3% to CHF 1 565.3 million and the order book grew to CHF 602.9 million, a year-on-year improvement of 9.5%. Excluding currency effects, acquisitions and disposals, order intake was 3.5% ahead of last year's level.

Kuhn Group held its ground in a difficult market environment. The division generated sales of CHF 577.9 million with specialized agricultural machinery, down 1.6% or currency-adjusted 3.5% year on year. Despite the weakening demand, order intake reached CHF 602.7 million, up 2.4% year on year, driven especially by Germany and Eastern Europe. In Brazil, demand fell significantly short of the already very low level a year ago. On 2 October 2006, Kuhn Group successfully completed the negotiations on a redundancy package for employees affected by the closure of the Kuhn Nodet plant. Having reached agreement, Kuhn Group can begin to implement the measures without further delay. The total costs of closing down the Kuhn Nodet plant and moving its seed drill production to two other Kuhn plants in France are expected to run to about CHF 20 million.

Bucher Municipal continued its solid performance throughout the third quarter, increasing sales by 24.1% to CHF 374.0 million. Growth, excluding acquisitions and currency effects, was 6.7%. Order intake rose by 27.2% over the same period last year to CHF 400.9 million, up 8.4% excluding acquisitions and currency effects.

Bucher Process recorded sales of CHF 108.5 million and order intake of CHF 101.1 million. These figures are below the comparable period last year, down by 5.9% and 8.3% respectively. Spurred by targeted product and market initiatives, the division reached the year-earlier levels for wine production plant despite the difficult market environment. Business with fruit juice equipment slowed down.

Bucher Hydraulics continued to perform well during the third quarter and generated CHF 226.7 million in sales, outpacing last year's period by 10.5%. Order intake increased by 14.6% to reach CHF 230.6 million. Strong demand continued unabated, particularly in the market segments for construction machinery, materials handling equipment, agricultural machinery and power engineering equipment.

Emhart Glass achieved the expected improvement in its third-quarter performance compared to its mid-year results. Sales reached CHF 211.2 million, increasing 1.1% over the high figure for the year-earlier period, following the 14.5% decline seen in mid-year. A major contract in Europe swelled the level of order intake at the end of September by 3.6% to CHF 229.8 million.

The group expects the economic climate to remain healthy overall. Bucher Industries confirms its guidance for the full 2006 financial year and anticipates sales of approximately CHF 2 billion. Despite the high restructuring costs incurred by Kuhn Group, operating and net results should be at about the same level as last year.

Bucher Industries is a global technology group with leading market positions in specialty areas of mechanical and vehicle engineering. The company's operations include specialized agricultural machinery, municipal vehicles, wine and fruit juice production plants, hydraulic components, and production equipment for the glass container industry. Bucher Industries' shares are traded on SWX Swiss Exchange (SWX: BUCN).


Contact
Philip Mosimann, CEO
Roger Baillod, CFO
Phone +41 44 857 22 07