Atea - Improved profitability in third quarter 2004
Atea - Improved profitability in third quarter 2004 Press release - Stockholm, 5 November 2004 Atea's operating profit for the third quarter 2004 shows a significant improvement compared with the third quarter 2003. (SEK m) Q3, 2004 Q3, 2003 Jan-Sept 2004 Jan-Sept 2003 Turnover 1,139 927 3,702 3,460 Operating profit before amortisation of goodwill (EBITA) 5* -8 47* 35 Operating profit before tax -6* -17 17* 9 * Including SEK 13 million of non-recurring costs related to restructuring measures in conjunction with the acquisition of the Finnish companies Atea Novosys Oy and Atea X-Way Oy, which have been consolidated within the Group as of June 2004. Before non-recurring items, operating profits in Denmark, Finland and Norway improved in both the third quarter and for the period January-September 2004 compared with the same periods 2003. This improvement primarily pertains to higher turnover, as well as synergy effects in Finland attributable to the integration of the recently acquired companies Atea Novosys Oy and Atea X-Way Oy. Sweden continues to generate satisfactory profitability despite operating results being negatively affected by lower turnover within Home PC. "Our holistic commitment regarding the management of complete IT workplaces continues to gain ground. We have signed a number of very interesting contracts during the period. An increasing number of clients choose to totally transfer workplace management to Atea in order to enable them to maximise their focus on core operations. We also see a growing interest for our analysis tool, the Atea Method, which cost-effectively and rapidly helps our clients to analyse and reduce their IT costs," says Thomas Keifer, CEO of Atea. "The integration process in Finland further to the acquisition of Novosys and X-Way is now complete. The most significant effect of the merger was the strengthening of our organisation by a further 150 extremely qualified employees who meet the demands of our clients regarding skills, expertise and experience", continues Thomas Keifer. Atea is the leading Nordic company within sales, distribution and integration of IT products and IT infrastructure. The Atea Value Chain enables Atea to offer a comprehensive concept of IT product management. Atea's business concept is to simplify and rationalise customers' management of IT products throughout the entire life cycle. Atea employs about 850 people in the Nordic region, and the CEO is Thomas Keifer. Turnover in 2003 amounted to SEK 4,917m. In June 2004, Atea acquired Novosys Oy and X-Way Oy in Finland with a combined turnover in 2003 of approximately SEK 1,200m. Atea is owned by the international investment company 3i, WM-data, as well as the management of Atea. www.atea.se (where photographs of Atea's contact persons are also available under "Pressrum"). For further information, please contact: Atea Thomas Keifer, CEO Tel: +46 (0)709-197131 E-mail: thomas.keifer@atea.com Atea Tomas Kihlstrand, CFO Tel: +46 (0)709-197132 E- mail: tomas.kihlstrand@atea.com Atea Johan Scherlin, Marketing & Information Tel: +46 (0)709-197135 E- mail: johan.scherlin@atea.com ------------------------------------------------------------ This information was brought to you by Waymaker http://www.waymaker.net The following files are available for download: http://www.waymaker.net/bitonline/2004/11/05/20041105BIT20190/wkr0001.pdf