BENE AG: Michael Fried new Executive Board member for Sales & Marketing at the Bene Group

Vienna / Waidhofen an der Ybbs (pta022/19.08.2014/20:30 UTC+2) 19 August 2014: The Supervisory Board of the Bene Group, which is listed on the Vienna Stock Exchange, has appointed Michael Fried as new member of the Executive Board responsible for Sales & Marketing, as of today. Fried will take over the responsibilities of Michael Feldt, who has resigned from the Executive Board for personal reasons. At the same time, the Bene Group is announcing that substantial progress has been made in the planning activities for a new sales strategy. In order to inform the public in a timely manner about the company's new strategic orientation, the international office furniture and design expert will publish information about the new strategy as well as the results for the first half of 2014/15 ahead of schedule on 18 September 2014.

Michael Feldt, the member of the Executive Board responsible for Sales and Marketing at the Bene Group, has informed the Supervisory Board at short notice that he is resigning ahead of his contract's scheduled end date of 31 Dec. 2015 for personal reasons and will be moving back to Germany. The Supervisory Board has accepted his resignation with regret and at today's Supervisory Board meeting, it appointed Mr Michael Fried as the new member of the Executive Board responsible for Sales and Marketing. Michael Fried (49), a proven marketing and sales expert, launched his career at ABN AMRO Bank after studying at the Vienna University of Economics. He was subsequently the founder and CEO of the online auction house OneTwoSold. The Vienna native's career path also led him to Telekom Austria, ONE/Orange, the consulting company Intercontrol Beratungs GmbH and the technology company Deuromedia. Most recently a partner in the communications agency Brunswick Austria, CEE & Turkey, Michael Fried will assume all of Michael Feldt's responsibilities with immediate effect, thus forming the international office furniture company's Executive Board together with Rudolf Payer, who remains the Member of the Executive Board team responsible for Operations & Finance.

In the past few months, a senior-level team of internal and external specialists has made substantial progress with plans to reorganise the sales structure of the Bene Group. This development work is now almost complete. In order to inform the public in a timely manner about the new sales concept and the company's plans for the future, Bene will publish the results for the first half of 2014/15 ahead of schedule on 18 September 2014.

About Bene
The Bene Group, a globally active company with its head office and production facilities in Waidhofen an der Ybbs/Austria, employs 1,064 people at 80 locations in 37 countries around the world (as of 30 April 2014). Bene thinks of the office as a living space, which is compellingly reflected in its concepts, products and services. Development, design and production as well as consulting and sales are united under one roof. As the Austrian market leader and a major market player in Europe, Bene stands for forward-looking office concepts.

For further details please contact:
Investor Relations
Bene AG, Martina Vomela
Schwarzwiesenstraße 3, 3340 Waidhofen/Ybbs, Tel. +43-7442-500-3100
E-mail: ir@bene.com, Internet: www.bene.com

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Emitter:	BENE AG Schwarzwiesenstraße 3 3340 Waidhofen an der Ybbs Austria
Contact Person:	Martina Vomela
Phone:	+43 7442 500 3100
E-Mail:	ir@bene.com
Website:	www.bene.com
ISIN(s):	AT00000BENE6 (Share)
Stock Exchange(s):	Vienna Stock Exchange (Official Trade)