On August 30, 2021 Weng Fine Art AG (WFA) crossed the EUR 150 million market capitalization threshold for the first time. It took the company 8 ½ years to reach the first EUR 50 million market capitalization since its IPO in 2012 - in contrast, the increase from EUR 100 to 150 million was achieved within just 2 ½ months.

At the same time, WFA's shareholder base has exceeded 1,000 shareholders and now stands at around 1,100 - at the beginning of the year, only 535 shareholders were registered. Also, a year-on-year comparison of the stock market turnover testifies to the significantly increased awareness of the WFA share: In August 2020, shares with a total volume of EUR 350k were traded across all stock exchanges. In contrast, the volume of turnover in August of the current year increased by 1,088% to EUR 3,811k. The average daily exchange turnover increased from EUR 17k (2020) to EUR 173k (2021) and is thus already above the target of EUR 100k per day envisaged for 2022.

Weng Fine Art AG has set itself the goal of increasing the free float to 2,000,000 shares by the end of the year. The stock split, which is expected to take place in September/October, will lead to an immediate doubling of the shares in circulation. The remaining treasury stock of currently around 60,000 shares, of which 50,000 are earmarked for shareholders from the USA, will also be put into circulation. Finally, the majority shareholder is prepared to sell treasury stock if this should be necessary to achieve the goal of a correspondingly expanded free float.

Currently, the WFA Group operates with a total capital of about EUR 45 million, which is expected to increase to about EUR 50 million by the end of the year. This capitalization appears sufficient for the new growth phase currently underway. However, in the medium term, management anticipates a capital requirement of between EUR 80 - 100 million, particularly in the event that larger investments or acquisitions could be realized. In this context, a capital increase of up to 10% would be conceivable for the management - but not on the basis of the current stock market valuation. Also, the IPO envisaged for the e-commerce subsidiary ArtXX would significantly increase the group's available capital.

CEO Rüdiger K. Weng on the current situation: "We are at least as euphoric as the capital market when we think about the possibilities for Weng Fine Art. We are building an art company that will encompass the essential parts of the modern art ecosystem. Such a business model has not yet existed in this form in the art market. Meanwhile, WFA will continue to aim at anticipating future developments. As an investor, however, it is important to keep in mind that we can only expect significant revenue from the 'data' and 'blockchain marketplace' sectors in the years from 2023 onwards. For the planned significant increase in revenues in e-commerce and art trading, investments - especially in specialist personnel - will first be necessary. However, management will ensure at all times that profitability, a hallmark of WFA, is maintained - although it could be expected to decline temporarily. Setbacks in individual expansion projects are also conceivable, but we see ourselves well prepared for this as well."

Weng Fine Art AG will be presented to institutional investors by WFA CEO Rüdiger K. Weng and Giorgia Zardetto, director of the e-commerce subsidiary ArtXX AG, at the ZKK - Zürcher Kapitalmarkt Konferenz on September 7, 2021. The focus will be on remarks on the art ecosystem and the value chain in the art market. Interested listeners can follow the event via the link https://mkk-konferenz.de/anmel... with the "Personal Invitation Code" Bx07S21.

An interview with CEO Rüdiger K. Weng and CDO Melanie Moske about the future development of WFA, which was conducted during the Annual General Meeting on August 24, 2021, can now be viewed at this link: https://youtu.be/v_lfnNOn-90?t...