Successful placement of new € 250 million bond

– New bond issued with 4¼-year term and 4.875% coupon

– Strong demand leads to increased volume: € 250 million instead of planned € 200 million
– € 130 million of the 2005 bond repurchased for 100% plus accrued interest

Vienna, April 13, 2010 – Wienerberger AG, the world’s largest producer of bricks and the number one in clay roof tiles in Europe, successfully completed the issue of a new bond on March 25. This instrument has a term of 4¼ years (due on July 7, 2014) and a fixed coupon of 4.875%, and is available in units of € 1,000. Due to the heavy oversubscription of the offering, Wienerberger decided to increase the volume from the originally planned € 200 million to € 250 million. “The demand for this bond totaled roughly € 460 million, or substantially more than our target volume. For me, this is a strong sign of investors’ confidence in Wienerberger“, commented Heimo Scheuch, Chief Executive Officer of Wienerberger AG, on the success of this issue.  

€ 130 million will be used to repurchase the 2005 bond  

Supported by the proceeds from this new bond, the company started a buyback program for the 2005 bond on March 31 – this instrument has a 3.875% coupon and a term ending in April 2012. The purchase price equaled 100% of the nominal value plus accrued interest up to that date. Wienerberger was able to repurchase € 130 million of this bond by the end of the subscription period on April 9, and April 15 has been designated as the settlement date. When asked about the reasons for this step, the Group’s Chief Financial Officer Willy Van Riet answered: “We have a strong capital structure and low financing requirements up to the end of 2011. In order to reduce our mid-term financing requirements and further improve the term structure of our loans, we have decided to prematurely redeem € 130 million of the € 400 million bond due in 2012. We plan to use the remaining proceeds from the new bond to repay other financial liabilities.“  

Low gearing of 16% reflects s trong capital structure  

Wienerberger had a low gearing ratio of 16% at year-end 2009. The company intends to use this financial strength and its leading role in the brick industry to increase sales of new products in existing markets and to launch these products into new markets, and thereby expand its positions.  

For additional information contact:

Barbara Braunöck, Investor and Public Relations
T +43 (1) 601 92 - 497 | communication@wienerberger.com