GEA Group Aktiengesellschaft reported earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) of EUR 95.6 million in the second quarter of 2007, exceeding the corresponding figure for the second quarter of 2006 (EUR 69.7 million) by 37.0 percent. The EBIT margin rose from 6.7 percent to 7.6 percent. In the first half of 2007 the GEA Group's EBIT advanced by 52.4 percent from EUR 104.9 million to EUR 159.9 million. The first-half EBIT margin widened from 5.6 percent in 2006 to 6.9 percent in 2007.

Based on the extremely high level of new orders in 2006 totalling EUR 5.0 billion, the Executive Board forecasts a further increase of over 10 percent in 2007. Furthermore, the company's Executive Board expects sales to rise by over 15 percent for 2007 as a whole and margins in the core business to improve by over 60 basis points, which will significantly increase EBIT. The Executive Board has reaffirmed its target of raising the margin in the core segments to 10 percent by 2009. Organic growth in sales should be between 5 and 10 percent per annum in 2008 and 2009.

The GEA Group will continue to pursue a proactive strategy of acquisitions in its core technologies of heat exchange and mass transfer and to exploit the financial latitude created by the disposal of the Plant Engineering segment, reveals the company’s press release. "We are investing in markets and technologies that are generating sustainable growth worldwide and yet are fairly non-cyclical. We are particularly interested in refrigeration equipment for buildings and factories as well as the beer and dairy sectors of the food industry. Consumption of dairy produce is growing significantly in Asia, which is boosting global demand", stressed Jürg Oleas, CEO of GEA Group Aktiengesellschaft.