Change in Supervisory Board and Board of Management

On 6 April the committee elected Dr. Hans-Joachim Jacob, member of the Board of Management with BDO Deutsche Warentreuhand AG, as Chairman of the Supervisory Board. Richard Lederer’s term of office as chairman came to an end as planned on 31 March 2006.

On 6 April 2006, Dr. Alois Wittmann, member of the Board with responsibility for commercial functions, likewise handed over his duties to Dr. Wolfgang Schmitt, Head of Finance & Accounting with KSB AG.

On 1 April, Heinz-J. Otto took over as Chairman of the Board of Management with KSB, as announced. He followed Peter Schubert, who had held this position on an interim basis and subsequently decided not to return to the Supervisory Board, on which he sat before taking up his interim chairmanship.

Dr. Wittmann had already been considering leaving KSB for some time in order to explore new career avenues outside the company. With the change in the chairmanship, his decision for an early departure now enables us to undertake an immediate reformation of the Board of Management and thus supports the continuing development of KSB as part of the overall strategy of the Supervisory Board.

Dr. Wittmann has led the functions of the commercial departments on the Board of Management at KSB since 1995. Until a major reorganization in 2002 he was also responsible for the company divisions of Building Services and Mining as well as the valves business. He also coordinated the activities of the Region Americas. He made a particular contribution to the company during the reorganization programme in 1996/97 and also with the introduction of the business software SAP R/3, as well as the implementation of an efficiency enhancement programme throughout Europe aimed at improving the competitiveness of the company. The Supervisory Board thanks Dr. Wittmann for his commitment and his achievements for KSB.