• Sales in Q1/2008 up by 9% to € 343 million, currency adjusted by 14%
• EBIT growth of 21% to €69 million, leading to return on sales (ROS) increase to 20% (Q1/2007:18%)
• Equity ratio again improved to 44%
• Net profit increased by 36% to €44.1 million
• Positive outlook for 2008 confirmed: double-digit sales and earnings growth expected for the fiscal year 2008

Wiesbaden, April 23, 2008. SGL Group – The Carbon Company’s results for the first quarter 2008 were supported by strong demand developments in all three Business Units. Sales increased by 9% to €343.2 million (Q1/2007: €314.6 million). Sales growth in the first quarter 2008 was negatively impacted by currency effects especially due to the weak US dollar. Thus currency adjusted sales increased more strongly by 14%. EBIT increased by 21% to
€69.4 million compared to 2007 (Q1/2007: €57.3 million). ROS was further improved to 20.2% (Q1/2007: 18.2%). Further cost savings and efficiency gains of around €5 million from the group wide SGL Excellence initiative, robust demand, particularly from the steel and aluminum core markets, as well as the continuing high level of capacity utilization, all made a significant contribution to this performance.

For the fiscal year 2008, SGL Group confidently confirms its guidance, as stated at the Annual Results Press Conference on March 12, 2008, that Group sales is expected to grow by 10-15% and EBIT to improve more than proportionately by 15-20%.

Robert J. Koehler, CEO of the SGL Group: "In the first quarter of 2008, the SGL Group has succeeded in continuing its favorable performance from the last year. Through our international company orientation, we are not only benefiting from the renaissance of the manufacturing industries driven by the industrialization of the Eastern world but also from megatrends in alternative raw materials, basic materials and energies. As a result, we expect 2008 to be another record year for the SGL Group, despite the deteriorating economic environment.

Further improvement in net financing costs and earnings per share
Net financing costs for the first quarter 2008 decreased by €3.3 million to -€8.6 million (Q1/2007: €-11.9 million). The new financing of 2007 has substantially reduced interest expenses on loans by 37% to €5.1 million (Q1/2007: €8.1 million). Profit before taxes increased more than proportionately by 34 % to €60.8 million (Q1/2007: €45.4 million). The tax ratio improved to 27.3% from 27.9% in Q1 2007, resulting in a net profit of €44.1 million (Q1/2007: €32.5 million). Earnings per share rose to €0.69 from €0.52 in the first quarter of 2007.

Free Cash flow significantly increased
Due to the operating cash flow of €57.0 million and the disproportionately low capital expenditure in the first quarter 2008, net debt decreased by €22.1 million to €263.1 million (December 31, 2007: €285.2 million). The balance sheet structure was further improved: the equity ratio rose from 42.9% at the end of 2007 to 44.1%, resulting in gearing (net debt/equity) of 0.39 compared to 0.44 at the end of 2007. Despite increased capital expenditure in property, plant, equipment and intangible assets as well as other investing activities amounting to
€34.5 million in the first quarter of 2008 (Q1/2007: €19.1 million), free cash flow increased by 83% to €22.5 million compared to €12.3 million in Q1 2007. This increase in cash used in investing activities is primarily attributable to investments for the new plant in Malaysia as well as to SGL Group’s carbon fiber capacity expansion.

Margins significantly improved in all Business Units

Performance Products (PP): Further Sales & EBIT Growth
The Business Unit Performance Products continues to benefit from ongoing strong demand from the steel industry and the aluminum industry, as well as the economic upturn in the emerging markets of Asia, South America and Eastern Europe. As a consequence, sales in the first quarter 2008 increased by 11% to €205.2 million (Q1/2007: €185.0 million). This corresponds to a currency adjusted sales increase of 17%. EBIT in the reporting period rose by 23% to €64.9 million despite higher raw material and electricity prices. This increase was achievable due to positive price and volume effects as well as cost savings of €3 million. ROS reached a record level of 31.6% (Q1/2007: 28.5%). This increase was partially the result of raw material inventory from the previous year as a result of which the cost of goods sold in Q1 2008 did not fully reflect full year raw material price increases. Capacity utilization remained very high across all business lines.

Graphite Materials & Systems (GMS): Enhanced Profitability
Sales in Graphite Materials & Systems amounted to €90.7 million in the reporting period and were slightly above the first quarter 2007 level of €89.9 million, which was characterized by a high level of invoicing in the business line Process Technology. Adjusted for currency effects, sales in Q1 2008 increased by 5%, mainly driven by demand from the semiconductor, solar, LED and lithium ion battery markets. EBIT increased by 10% to €14.0 million (Q1/2007:
€12.7 million) due to positive volume developments, continued high capacity utilization as well as cost savings of €1 million, leading to ROS of 15.4% compared to 14.1% in Q1 2007. This record margin level was also partially the result of raw material inventory from the previous year as a result of which the cost of goods sold in Q1 2008 did not fully reflect full year raw material price increases. In addition to this, the high production levels in the first quarter 2008, which will be shipped in the second quarter and only then recognized as sales, had a positive effect on EBIT margins due to economies of scale. This effect cannot be assumed to benefit further quarters in this magnitude.

Carbon Fibers & Composites (CFC): Rising Earnings Growth
Sales in the first quarter 2008 increased by 18% (currency adjusted by 21%) to €45.7 million (Q1/2007: € 38.7 million), mainly due to higher sales of carbon fibers and composites in connection with the consolidation of SGL Kuempers GmbH & Co. KG and SGL epo GmbH. High sales growth and capacity utilization as well as cost savings of €1 million through the SGL Excellence initiative lead to a significant increase in EBIT from €0.3 million in the first quarter of the previous year to €2.1 million in the reporting period, corresponding to ROS of 4.6% (Q1/2007: 0.8%). As expected, past and current investments and acquisitions have not yet had an impact on sales, earnings and EBIT margin in Q1 2008.

As the year progresses, SGL Group expects the ramp up of new capacities among all business lines to significantly accelerate sales growth, leading to a sales increase of 30% for the full year 2008, thus markedly surpassing the mid-term target of more than 15% sales growth p.a. This strong surge in sales will have a corresponding effect on earnings, reflecting SGL Group’s 2008 target of a mid to high single digit ROS in 2008. Surpassing the 10% EBIT margin threshold remains the goal for 2009.

2008 outlook: New Records for Sales and Earnings
Based on the favorable performance in the first quarter 2008 and positive signals from customer industries, SGL Group remains very confident for 2008 and confirms the Group’s guidance, as stated at the Annual Press Conference on March 12, 2008, that Group sales is expected to grow by 10-15% and EBIT to improve by 15-20%. Due to the new financing structure of 2007, net financing costs on the basis of our existing business portfolio excluding mark-to-market valuations of hedging instruments will amount to around -€40 million. Consequently, SGL Group expects profit before tax, net profit and earnings per share to rise more than proportionately to EBIT growth.

Thanks to the global production network SGL Group has no material transactional impact on earnings as a result of the significant strengthening of the euro against other currencies. As seen in the Q1 2008 report, there is some translational impact on sales which however has no influence on the Groups sales and earnings guidance for the full year 2008.

Due to SGL Group’s growth strategy, especially in the Business Area Advanced Materials and in cathodes, capital expenditure for property, plant and equipment is expected to amount to around €200 million (2007: €130 million).

The completeQ1 Report can be found on the company website at http://www.sglcarbon.de.

1st quarter 2008 2007 Change Sales revenue 343.2 314.6 +9.1% Gross profit 124.8 109.5 +14.0% EBITDA 81.6 68.9 +18.4% Operating Profit (EBIT) 69.4 57.3 +21.1% Return on sales (ROS)1) 20.2% 18.2% +200 BP 2) Net profit attributable to equity holders 44.1 32.5 +35.7% Earnings per share, basic (in €) 3) 0.69 0.52 +32.7% Cash flow from operations activities 57.0 31.4 +81.5%

Mar.31, 2008 Dec. 31, 2007 Change Total assets 1,530.5 1,505.5 +1.7% Shareholders' equity 674.7 646.6 +4.3% Net debt 263.1 285.2 -7.7% Gearing 4) 0.39 0.44   Equity ratio 5) 44.1% 42.9%

About SGL Group – The Carbon Company
The SGL Group is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of carbon-based products. It has a  comprehensive portfolio ranging from carbon and graphite products to carbon fibers and composites. SGL Group’s core competencies are its expertise in high-temperature technology as well as its applications and engineering know-how gained over many years. These competencies enable  the Company to make full use of its broad material base. SGL Group’s carbon-based materials combine several unique properties such as electrical and thermal conductivity, heat and corrosion resistance as well as high mechanical strength combined with low weight. Due to the paradigm shift in the use of materials as a result of the worldwide shortage of energy and raw materials, there is a growing demand for SGL Group’s high-performance materials and products from an increasing number of industries. Carbon and graphite products are  used whenever other materials such as steel, aluminum, copper, plastics, wood etc. fail due to their limited properties. Products from the SGL Group are used predominantly in the steel, aluminum, automotive, chemical and glass/ceramics industries. However, manufacturers in the semiconductor, battery, solar/wind energy, environmental protection, aerospace and defense industries as well as in the nuclear energy industry also figure among the Company’s customers.
With 38 production sites in Europe, North America and Asia as well as a service network covering more than 100 countries, the SGL Group is a company with a global presence. In 2007, the Company’s workforce of around 5,900 generated sales of € 1.4 billion. The Company’s head office is located in Wiesbaden/Germany.

Important note:
This press release contains statements on future developments that are based on currently available information and that involve risks and uncertainties that could lead to actual results deviating from these forward-looking statements. The statements on future developments are not to be understood as guarantees. The future developments and events are dependent on a number of factors, they include various risks and unanticipated circumstances and are based on assumptions that may not be correct. These risks and uncertainties include, for example, unforeseeable changes in political, economic and business conditions, particularly in the area of electrosteel production, the competitive situation, interest rate and currency developments, technological developments and other risks and unanticipated circumstances. We see other risks in price developments, unexpected developments relating to acquired and consolidated companies and in the ongoing cost optimization programs. SGL Group does not intend to update these forward-looking statements.