Plaut Announces Final Figures For 2000: / - Revenues at EUR 291 million, EBIT at EUR 11.5 million / - Net income after tax EUR 5 million

Munich, Germany /Salzburg, Austria (PROTEXT) - Plaut AG(Securities Code Number 918 703) announces today its finalfigures for the business year 2000. The company, one of theleading management consulting companies for services ranging fromstrategy consulting to IT-outsourcing, was able to increase itsrevenues by 26 per cent over 1999 to EUR 290.6 million (previousyear EUR 229.8 million). Earnings before interest and tax (EBIT)improved by 365 per cent, climbing from ca. EUR 2.4 million toEUR 11.4 million. The net income after tax of ca. EUR 5 million was 192 per centhigher than last year (1999: EUR 1.7 million). This correspondsto earnings per share of EUR 0.25 compared with EUR 0.12 in 1999. The Executive Board expects that Plaut will increase revenuesby ca. 25 per cent in the current year to EUR 376 million,generating an EBIT-margin of more than 5 per cent. In the nextfive years, revenues are expected to increase by an average of 20per annum per cent, with an improvement of the EBIT-margin overthe next three years by 2 - 3 percentage points per annum. Theseprojected figures do not include any potential acquisitions.Based on the result of the first few weeks of 2001 and a strongorder backlog, Plaut is confident that it will reach its plannedfigures for Q1 2001. As already announced in ad hoc statements on February 8, 2001,and March 21, 2001, the sales and profit figures for the 2000business year, determined according to US-GAAP, fall short ofaverage analyst expectations and Plaut's internal projections.This is primarily due to the fact that Plaut has not, contrary toits original plan, consolidated the acquisition of J.J. Croney &Associates of October 2000 as a pooling-of-interestedtransaction, as it is expected that Plaut will sell one of theacquired business divisions. As a result, ca. EUR 17 million ofrevenues for the business year 2000 will not be consolidated. Another reason is that Plaut called off the plannedacquisition of an American consulting company. While negotiationshad proceeded well, the Executive Board of Plaut decided not tocontinue with the acquisition to protect the interests ofexisting shareholders. As a result of the decline in the shareprice level on the Neuer Markt, the acquisition price for Plautwould have increased by 50 per cent, since a transaction in theform of a stock swap had been agreed. An acquisition of this sizehad originally been part of the business plan 2000. In addition, during the Group audit, a proportion of revenuesfor fixed-fee projects has been restated as 2001 revenue as aresult of different methodologies in evaluating percentagecompletion between US-GAAP and local revenue recognitionstandards. Distribution of revenues according to business divisions andregions The 2000 revenues can be divided as follows: BackOfficeSolutions accounted for 55 per cent, IT & Hosting Solutions for29 per cent, eBusiness Solutions for 13 per cent, FrontOfficeSolutions for 2 per cent and Strategy Consulting for 1 per cent.The key geographic areas were Mid and Southern Europe, accountingfor 44 per cent of sales, and North America, representing 30 percent. Highlights of the 2000 business year As we enter the 21st century, Plaut is well positioned in themarketplace. "In the last fiscal year we succeeded in firmlyanchoring our position on the highly competitive consultingmarket thanks to the targeted expansion of our businessactivities. Not only have we strengthened our internationalpresence, we have also further extended our expertiseparticularly in high growth lines of business", comments ChiefExecutive Officer Erich Lebeiner. "We have moved considerablycloser to our goal of establishing Plaut as one of the majorplayers on the international consulting stage." In the 2000 business year Plaut completed six acquisitions.With the take-over of I.T.&C. we have gained a foothold on theimportant Spanish market. In the USA we were able to extend andstrengthen our position with the acquisition of the e-businessand Internet specialist Lara Consulting Group, the consultingcompany Sigma and J.J. Croney & Associates, providers of ASP ande-business solutions. In Canada we acquired the consultingcompany Optimum Software Solutions and in Brazil Loyalty SolutionServices, a specialist for Customer Relationship Management (CRM)systems. Finally, we took a 40% interest in the Austrian CRMconsulting company TCG, which we increased to 100% with effectfrom January 1, 2001. Employees The number of employees rose from 1,715 (year-end 1999) to ca2,000 (year-end 2000). Consultant headcount (1,600) was at ca. 80per cent. By the end of the year, the number of employees isexpected to increase to 2,600. In the next three to four years,the company should expand to more than 5,000 employees, 4,000 ofthem consultants. Overview In fiscal 2001 the emphasis will be on integration of theacquired companies and on the strengthening of our newlyestablished Regional Centers. Plaut is now in the position tofully leverage the investments it has made in high growthsegments. It is thanks to the infrastructure currently in placethat the company can now offer the full service range across allregions. This will boost the development of our business on twofronts: firstly, the improved front office solutions willfacilitate a more efficient marketing of high-quality integrationinto back office systems and existing customer applications.Secondly, consultant resources can be utilised more effectively.Furthermore, by broadening its portfolio of services offered, thecompany will enhance its efficiency as a provider of e-businesssolutions. In tandem with this, the group is aiming to improve itsposition in the acquisition and implementation of cross-borderprojects. In order to be able to approach Fortune 500 customersin a concerted manner, certain internal preconditions are beingbe put in place rapidly. This includes, for example, theestablishment of international key account management andimproved resource management. Not least thanks to our partnerships with major softwareproducers, such as SAP or Siebel, and our large customer base ofmore than 2,000 companies, Plaut expects to be able to showabove-average growth rates in 2001 and beyond. About Plaut Plaut AG is an independent, and internationally operatingmanagement consulting group with a global presence of currently35 subsidiaries in 18 countries. As Full Solution Provider fromstrategy consulting to IT-outsourcing and with revenues amountingto EUR 291 million (in 2000), it is one of the leading managementconsulting companies worldwide. Since November 9, 1999 Plaut AGhas been listed on the "Neuer Markt" of the Frankfurt StockExchange (PUT; Securities Code Number 918 703). ots OriginalText Service: Plaut AG Internet: http://recherche.newsaktuell.dePlease find further information about the consulting group Plautunder www.plaut.de/ir or at: Plaut AktiengesellschaftKirchhoff Consult AG Monika Kretzschmar

FrankSchwarz Moserstrasse 33A

Savignystraße 18 A-5020 Salzburg

D-60325 Frankfurt Tel. +43(0)662 4092-60

Tel: +49 (0)69 7474 86 0 Fax +43(0)662 4092-15

Fax: +49 (0)69 7474 86 20Monika.Kretzschmar@plaut.de

Frank.Schwarz@kirchhoff.de

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