EANS-Adhoc: Precious Woods Holding Ltd. / Forceful set of measures in response to a disappointing first half-year

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6-month report/Sustainable Forestmanagement

19.09.2012

-Group: major cost cuts fail to prevent a disappointing first-half
result. -Gabon: sales down due to logistical difficulties and
production downtime caused by technical problems -Brazil: half-year
result positively impacted by the divestment of BK Energia shares
-Europe: depressed economic environment puts pressure on sales and
margins -Outlook: six-point plan to strengthen operations and secure
liquidity

Zug/Zurich, 19 September 2012 - The Precious Woods Group has not
achieved the goals that it had set itself for the first half of 2012
and sales during the period under review were down 34% on last year.
This was largely attributable to external logistical and internal
technical problems that occurred at its Gabon production site as well
as declining sales by Precious Woods Europe. Nevertheless, the
tail-off in demand in the Benelux region - an important market for
South American woods - had no effect on Precious Woods Amazon's
result during the first half of the year. A USD 3.2 million reduction
in costs, at holding company level, and the positive effects of the
reduction of its stake in BK Energia resulted in a USD 0.3 million
improvement in Precious Woods' year-on-year operating result. For all
that, a USD 1.8 million loss was still unsatisfactory. The Board of
Directors has therefore decided on a wide-sweeping plan with six
distinct measures and initiated their implementation forthwith.

GABON: Logistical problems and late completion of the sawmill in
Gabon During the first six months of the year, the forestry and
timber industry in Gabon suffered an accumulation of logistical
problems. The Kango Bridge, which is vital for traffic, was damaged
by a barge, and there were strikes in the port town of Owendo as well
as safety-related problems with waggons of the railway company.
Together, these had a huge negative influence on PW Gabon's half-year
results. In view of logistical problems, completion of the new saw
line in Bambidie will be delayed by several months. In addition,
there was a massive downturn in local roundwood sales caused by
declining customer demand and unexpectedly inferior roundwood
quality. Together, these factors led to a substantial drop in sales,
which stood at USD 11.1 million and were 43% lower than in 2011. The
effect of the drop in volumes fully affected EBITDA, which at USD
-0.4 million was very disappointing and USD 4.8 million below the
figure for the previous year. Despite these difficulties, Precious
Woods Gabon diversified its customer portfolio, expanded its product
range and began to open up important new markets.

BRAZIL: Half-year result in Brazil impacted by the divestment of BK
Energia shares At USD 6 million, the sales volume reported by
Precious Woods Amazon (PWA) in mid-2012 was approximately 4% below
the 2011 result. The reason for this was a lower yield of the logs in
the log yard. This problem will be solved in the future following a
reorganization of the log yard. PWA made further progress on the
operational front. Process management was further improved, a
redundancy compensation scheme cut the workforce by another 55
employees and the CEO was replaced by a new management team of
existing senior management. The conversion and upgrade of four sawing
lines will boost productivity.

In autumn 2011, Precious Woods reached an agreement on debts
outstanding from 2005 with regard to the purchase of the BK Energia
biomass power plant. The cash-neutral solution left Precious Woods a
minority shareholder in BK Energia, holding just 40% of the shares.
As a result, BK Energia was no longer fully consolidated since 1
April 2012 and, as from that point in time, has been included in
share of profits of associates. The described divestment of shares
had a one-off positive impact of USD 3.2 million on the EBITDA of
Carbon&Energy and a one-off negative impact of -1.2 million on PWA's
operating result. As a result of additional higher provisions for
litigation, PWA's EBITDA was down by USD 1.5 million to USD -3.3
million, despite a USD 1.5 million improvement in the operating
result.

EUROPE: Weak economy In its main market, the Netherlands, Precious
Woods Europe (PWEU) is suffering massively from the ongoing economic
crisis, which is currently beset with liquidity problems and
government-imposed austerity measures. Market prices have come under
enormous pressure. In order to compensate partially for weak demand,
sales activities in England, Germany, Denmark and Belgium were
intensified. At USD 8.8 million, sales for the first half were around
28% lower than last year. Due to lower sales, the operating result
was disappointing in spite of the restructuring measures.

OUTLOOK: Six-point plan to strengthen operations and secure liquidity
Precious Woods expects the economic environment to remain difficult
during the second half of the year but will be implementing a
six-point plan to bring about a rapid boost to operations and secure
the Group's long-term liquidity: - Delisting on the SIX: In order to
reduce costs and expenses, the Board of Directors has decided to
apply for delisting of PW stock on the SIX Swiss Exchange. In the
future the stock will be marketed via the ZKB's OTC stock exchange
platform for non-listed shares. Communications with our shareholders
will remain as transparent as ever. - Rigorous cost-cutting:
Cost-cutting will be implemented rapidly and effectively across the
board in all departments and segments. The organization will be
significantly simplified. The drastic reorganization at PW Europe
will soon be completed and sales and marketing will be incorporated
within Group management. - Securing liquidity: We are seeking
cooperation with a strong partner in Brazil to secure liquidity. At
the same time, we are looking into the possibility of raising new
capital from interested investors or a capital increase at Group
level. Alternatively, Precious Woods is considering the sale of its
remaining minority interest in Precious Woods Central America. -
Strengthening management in Gabon: Gabon and Central Africa are set
to become strategically more important and we are therefore taking
steps to strengthen management. More specifically, we are hoping to
find increased expertise in processing and logistics. - Simplified
Group structure: Increased significance of Gabon together with the
planned simplification of Group structure will cut the number of
Group management. After consultations with the Board of Directors,
CEO Joachim Kaufmann will be resigning from his post with effect from
today, but will remain available for the foreseeable future to coach
local management in Brazil. The Board of Directors wishes to thank Mr
Kaufmann for his commitment to the turnaround process, for clearing
up many of the complex issues from the past, and the enormous
improvements he has made to productivity, particularly in Brazil.
Group Management will henceforth comprise Gerhard Willi (Chief
Financial Officer), and Stefan Meinhardt, (Chief Commercial Officer).
- Reduced Board of Directors: The Board of Directors will be reduced
from six to three members as it has been requested by many
shareholders at the last General Assembly meeting. Three directors
are resigning from the Board: as announced earlier, Ruedi Wehrli
(Vice-Chairman) is leaving following his election as President of
Economiesuisse with effect from 1.10.12. Additionally Marga Gyger and
Markus Breitenmoser are also leaving the Board of Directors. The
Board thanks all three members for their committed contribution in
the Council. From now on, the Board of Directors will thus consist
of three members: Ernst A. Brugger (President of the Board),
Katharina Lehmann and Dominik Mohr. Board of Directors and Group
Management will selectively consult external experts as needed.

The Board of Directors and Group Management firmly believe that these
six central measures will show rapid and significant results. Since
we place a great value on transparency to all shareholders we will
conduct an information session for shareholders and investors or in
the event of a capital increase hold an extraordinary general
assembly meeting in November 2012. Our objective is to make the
company as successful in business terms as it undoubtedly already is
and will remain from an ecological and social point of view.

To download Half-Year Report 2012
www.preciouswoods.com

Conference call:
19 September 2012, 9.15 a.m. detailed information can be found at
www.preciouswoods.com

end of ad-hoc-announcement ==========================================
====================================== Precious Woods is an
international company active in the sustainable management and use of
tropical forests. The company's core activities include reforestation
and sustainable management of tropical forests, timber processing and
the trading of FSC-certified timber products. The generation of
emission rights and electricity from wood waste represent further
integral elements of the company's business. Shares of Precious Woods
Holding Ltd have been listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange since March
2002. Additional information about Precious Woods can be found at
www.preciouswoods.com

Further inquiry note:
Further information:
Precious Woods Holding AG, Jacqueline Martinoli, Head of Finance /
Communications, Tel. +41 44 245 80 15, Fax +41 44 245 81 12,
media@preciouswoods.com

end of announcement euro adhoc
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issuer: Precious Woods Holding Ltd.
Baarerstrasse 79
CH-6301 Zug
phone: +41 44 245 80 10
FAX: +41 44 245 80 12
mail: office@preciouswoods.com
WWW: http://www.preciouswoods.com
sector: Forestry & Timber
ISIN: CH0013283368
indexes: SPI
stockmarkets: Main Standard: SIX Swiss Exchange
language: English