Sivantos Celebrates Record First Year, Introduces Signia Hearing Aid Brand

• Sivantos saw a significant increase in revenue and earnings
• New brand Signia to be co-branded with Siemens brand
• Sivantos on path to gain the industry’s leading position

ERLANGEN, Germany–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Only one year after the transfer of the Siemens hearing aid business to
Sivantos Group, the company celebrated a record first year in both
revenue and earnings while introducing Signia, its new premium brand of
hearing aids. With a strategy focused on profitable growth, Sivantos is
creating a new stimulus with comprehensive initiatives to achieve the
industry leading market position.

A record first year

In revenue, the Sivantos Group closed fiscal year 2015 as the most
successful in the company’s history with an organic growth of over ten
percent, outperforming the market. The business operations of the former
Siemens AG hearing aid division have been incorporated into the Sivantos
Group since early 2015. In the completed first fiscal year (October 1,
2014 to September 30, 2015) Sivantos achieved revenues of 835 million
euros (October 1, 2013 to September 30, 2014: 693 million euros). The
operating profit (EBITDA with normalization) increased significantly by
31 percent from 157 million euros to 206 million euros. Sivantos is
growing faster than the competition and gaining market shares worldwide.

Introducing the Signia brand of hearing aids

For a sustainable and independent future, Sivantos is introducing
Signia, the company’s new premium hearing aid brand. In the mid-term,
Signia hearing aids will be co-branded with Siemens as the company
prepares for complete brand autonomy over the next several years.
Launched as early as spring 2016, the new hearing aids will have both
brand names, Signia on one side of the hearing aid and Siemens on the
other.

”With the introduction of Signia we build our new brand on a solid
foundation, co-branding with Siemens over the next few years, while we
develop a brand that appeals to a younger target group, which will fuel
our growth. We see it as a well-thought-out strategy and a natural
evolution,” said Dr. Roger Radke, CEO of the Sivantos Group.

With Signia, Sivantos plans to accelerate efforts to grow the market by
addressing a younger and broader audience with tailored communication in
contemporary channels. This includes building a more emotional, agile
and human brand while at the same time maintaining the Siemens values of
innovation and quality. The two brands will be used in products,
packaging, as well as marketing and advertising.

On track to becoming the industry leader

The Sivantos Group’s stated goal is to gain the leading position in the
hearing aid industry. To achieve this objective and keep on the growth
trajectory the company will continue to invest in its business. Sivantos
announced increased spending on research and development in the current
year by another 20 percent to fuel the company’s high innovation power.

Furthermore, Sivantos will continue to develop its online presence to
exploit the huge potential of underserved hearing impaired people. With
the acquisition of audibene, the world’s biggest online platform for
hearing case management, Sivantos has gained a strategic advantage. Lead
generation and customer conversion in the baby boomer segment are
creating value for all distribution channels.

More information can be found at www.sivantos.com
and www.signiausa.com.

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Press photos are available for download at:
https://www.sivantos.com/news/media-package/

About the Sivantos Group

The business operations of the former Siemens AG hearing aid division
have been incorporated into the Sivantos Group since early 2015.
Sivantos can look back proudly on more than 130 years of German
engineering and countless global innovations. Today Sivantos is one of
the leading hearing aid manufacturers worldwide. Thus the former Siemens
hearing aid division, with more than 5,000 employees, achieved revenues
of 835 million euros in the fiscal year 2014/15 and a reported EBITA
(with normalization) of 206 million euros. Sivantos’ global distribution
supplies hearing aid specialists and sales partners in more than 120
countries. Particularly high value is placed on product development. To
this end, Sivantos aims to develop into the world’s leading company in
the coming years with its brands Signia, Siemens, Audio Service, Rexton,
A&M, HearUSA and audibene. The owners of Sivantos are the anchor
investors EQT along with the Strüngmann family as a co-investor.
Sivantos GmbH is a brand license holder of Siemens AG.

More information can be found at www.sivantos.com.

Contacts

Sivantos Group
Global:
Erika Weigmann, +49 9131 308 3449
erika.weigmann@sivantos.com
U.S.:
John
Urbaniak, 732-529-3605
john.urbaniak@sivantos.com