• Clearly positive Group income at 6.2 million euros

• Revenue and equity nearly doubled

• Successful strategy creates room to manoeuvre

Hamburg, 28 April 2017 – Ernst Russ AG (ERAG), Hamburg, showed very positive development in all key financial figures for the 2016 financial year. This success confirms the strategic direction as an asset and investment manager with a focus on maritime services.

Group income grew from 1.0 million euros in 2015 to 6.2 million euros in 2016, and revenue increased from 20.7 million euros in the previous year to 40.0 million euros. Equity also increased from 21.3 million euros in 2015 to 38.6 million euros. The equity ratio thus increased from 35.3% in the previous year to 37.3% as of 31 December 2016. With its solid liquidity, the Ernst Russ Group is in position to invest when opportunities arise and to remain flexible when reacting to changing market conditions. The successful overall development was also reflected in the price of the Ernst Russ AG share, which had more than doubled compared to the beginning of the reporting year.

In 2016 the focus of the activities of Ernst Russ AG was on general expansion of the asset and investment management business as well as maritime services. Expansive structural measures were implemented with the organisation of the asset and investment management business into independent, specialised units. Jens Mahnke, spokesman for the executive board of Ernst Russ AG: ‘We generated very positive results in 2016. Now we just have to actively take advantage of this momentum – for the continued realisation of our successful strategy of qualitative and quantitative growth in all areas. Our goal is to continue moving the company forward successfuly in the interest of and to the benefit of our shareholders.’

Our expertise in maritime fund and asset management has been successfully combined under the umbrella of Ernst Russ Maritime Management GmbH & Co. KG. In future, the Ernst Russ Group will continue to grow – both quantitatively and qualitatively – in its core segment of shipping. The growth in the property division was noticeable through the bundling of the service portfolio into the Group subsidiary Assetando Real Estate GmbH as well as the takeover of the WestFonds Group. This emphasises the Ernst Russ Group’s ambition of positioning itself sustainably as a competent service provider in the property asset class. In 2016 it was decided to enter into a joint venture with international investment bank Pareto Securities AS. The partnership aims to offer financing solutions to German issuers, starting with project finance and bond financing. Further, it will offer German institutional investors investment opportunities, including fixed income products such as Nordic bonds and structured products such as AIFs. Finally, it will offer a broad range of corporate finance and advisory services, including restructuring advice for banks, owners and investors in connection with distressed opportunities in the German maritime market. The increasing importance of the fund investor and trust management business was accounted for by the concentration of all previously decentrally organised fund investor and trust management activities for external clients and the Group’s own companies into PECURA Anleger- und Treuhandservice GmbH. With some 140,000 fund investors, the company is among the largest trust management companies in Germany. The competitive advantage gained through the new structure and the increased efficiency should be used to provide for further growth and additional external clients.

You can request a printed copy of the Ernst Russ Group’s 2016 annual report or download it at www.ernst-russ.de.