The 114th Annual General Meeting of Biella-Neher Holding Ltd. took place at the company's head office in Brügg/Biel on 28 April 2014. All items on the agenda were approved as recommended by the Board of Directors.

Rolf U. Sutter was elected to the Board of Directors as President. He takes over the position from Dominik Sauter, who had temporarily taken over the office last year following the death of the long-standing President of the Board of Directors, Daniel Eicher. Dominik Sauter will effective immediately revert to his previous post of Vice-President of the Board of Directors.

Furthermore, the Annual General Meeting approved an amendment to the Articles of Association, with which the "Ordinance Against Excessive Remuneration in Listed Companies Limited by Shares (ERCO)" was implemented.

Current year
As a result of advancing digitisation, the paper, office and stationery sector (POS) finds itself in a difficult business environment which has not changed. With the successful takeovers of the Falken Group, the folder business of Hamelin and, only recently, the office equipment supply business of Carpentier, Biella is playing an active role in the necessary consolidation process of the sector. Adjusted by the effects of the divestments in the areas of soft plastics and the wholesale business in Poland completed in 2013, in the first quarter of 2014 Biella has been able to increase its turnover in comparison with the previous year.

However, overall Biella anticipates an ongoing drop in demand for classic office equipment, albeit one that is slowing down. The result in 2014 will therefore, on the one hand, depend on the development of the office supply market and, on the other, on the ongoing consistent implementation of our strategy, the integration of the newly acquired businesses and the necessary cost adjustments. A prognosis remains difficult in this tense area. However, the Management is confident that continued improvement of the EBIT margin can be achieved for the whole year of 2014.

The Biella Group is one of the most important and most efficient European suppliers of office equipment. The Group has production sites in Germany, Switzerland, Poland, the United Kingdom and Romania, as well as logistics centres in Brügg/Biel, Wiener Neustadt, Cottbus and Enkhuizen (NL), not to mention its Europe-wide sales and marketing network. The Biella Group as a whole employs approximately 910 people.

Biella-Neher Holding Ltd is quoted on the Berne stock market BX Berne eXchange (symbol: BLLN, security: 151948S, ISIN: CH0001519484). In case of any questions or requests please contact:

Biella Group   
Biella-Neher Holding AG  
Erlenstrasse 44, P.O. Box
CH-2555 Brügg, Switzerland

Group Management Secretariat
Tel.: +41 32 366 3 404 or 251 
E-Mail: communications[at]biella.eu