Friday,May 8th 1999

IRIZAR, S. COOP., the second biggest manufacturer of coaches in Europe, approved the creation of the IRIZAR GROUP in its last General Meeting held in 1998. This new structure will encompass the activities of the parent company IRIZAR, S. COOP., its three joint ventures in China, Morocco and Brazil, as well as the companies it has holdings in.

The Group recorded a turnover of 22,246 million pesetas in 1998 (€134 million). The forecasts for 1999 are for sales totalling 30,500 million pesetas (€183 million), which is an increase of 37% over 1998.

The most significant growth will be recorded by the Ormaiztegi plant, which forecasts sales of 20,000 million pesetas (€120 million) and by IRIZAR BRAZIL, which began its activities in July 1998.

The biggest growth in sales from IRIZAR S.COOP's Ormaiztegi plant will take place in Germany and Scandinavia with sales close to 2,000 million pesetas in each of these areas.

Overall there are 1,300 people working in the IRIZAR GROUP, on whom the group's current and future success is based.