ARAGON AG / Miscellaneous 05.06.2008 Release of a Corporate News, transmitted by DGAP - a company of EquityStory AG. The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- ++ Aragon subsidiary biw Bank für Investments und Wertpapiere AG makes successful start in the new financial year with a very good 1st quarter ++ Customer growth Q1 up by 83% year-on-year Aragon Financial Services Groups subsidiary, biw Bank für Investments und Wertpapiere AG (biw), with its registered office in Willich, has reported positive figures across the board for the first quarter of 2008. With 54,113 customers an increase of 83% on the first quarter of 2007 when 29,576 customers were reported (and an increase of 17% on the 46,057 customers recorded in the fourth quarter of 2007) the bank has significantly expanded its customer base. Growth in the number of trades executed has also been consistently high. Compared with the same period in the previous year (580,064 trades executed in Q1/2007), the volume of trades executed in the first quarter of 2008 rose by a good 75% to 1,016,524 and compared with the figure for the previous quarter, by 16% (876,176 trades executed as for Q4/2007). Cash investments from customers amounted to EUR 204.9m as at the end of the first quarter of 2008. This represents an increase of almost 16% on the previous quarter (EUR 177.4m). The figure corresponds to cash investments of about EUR 4,000 per customer. Assets under administration rose to EUR 1.10bn, representing an increase of 64% on the figure of EUR 0.67bn for the same quarter in 2007 (and a 3% increase compared with the fourth quarter of 2007 when the reported figure amounted to EUR 1.07bn). Despite difficult market conditions at present, the volume of assets managed by biw has therefore remained more than stable. The Management Board of Aragon AG is delighted with this performance by the bank, which is only in its infancy. Ralph Konrad, CFO of Aragon, explained: 'Over the course of the year, our investment in the processing of securities orders made last year will pay even higher dividends, enabling us to benefit from the positive effects of the banking business within the Group. In terms of operations, however, we are currently focusing on bringing additional cooperation partners on board, in order to maintain dynamic growth.' ++ About Aragon AG Aragon is a broadly diversified financial services company, with the divisions: Retail Sales, Institutional Sales and Banking & Banking Services. Aragon is active on the marketplace with multiple independent subsidiaries. The companys aim is to integrate various distribution models under one roof, without disturbing the individual identity of each sales company. The result is a wide diversification across various asset classes and distribution types, which generates a high stability in corporate earnings. Further information about the company and its subsidiaries can be viewed on the website: www.aragon-ag.de. Contact: Aragon Aktiengesellschaft Achim Pfeffer Head of Investor Relations Tel.: +49(0)611 890 575-574 Fax: +49(0)611 890 575-99 E-Mail: achim.pfeffer@aragon-ag.de DGAP 05.06.2008 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
DGAP-News: Aragon AG:
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