Increased services turnover compensated for lower average prices
Atea: Increased services turnover compensated for lower average prices Press Release - Stockholm, 6 May 2004 Atea, the Nordic region's leading one-stop supplier of IT products and related services, increased its turnover in the first quarter 2004 to SEK 1,248m (SEK 1,224m in the first quarter 2003) - despite market prices for hardware products being about 20 percent lower compared with the same period last year, and a decline of around 25 percent in the Home PC market in Sweden. The operating profit before amortisation of goodwill (EBITA) amounted for the first quarter 2004 to SEK 13m (SEK 17m), and the operating profit before tax to SEK 3m (SEK 9m). Operating results improved in Denmark and Norway compared with the same quarter 2003. Sweden reported continued satisfactory profitability. Finland shows steady improvement after a tough second half of 2003. "The fall in prices of hardware products and the decline of the Home PC market has affected us, but were partly compensated by good services turnover in the whole Group, particularly within Atea Security, Atea System Platforms, Atea License Management and Atea Value Chain, which have all developed extremely positively. To summarise, the quarter started weakly but finished well," says Thomas Keifer, CEO of Atea. 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 700 people in the Nordic region, and the CEO is Thomas Keifer. Turnover in 2003 amounted to SEK 4,917m. Atea is owned by WM-data, the international venture capital company 3i, as well as the management of Atea. www.atea.se 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 and 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/2004/05/06/20040506BIT00300/wkr0001.doc http://www.waymaker.net/bitonline/2004/05/06/20040506BIT00300/wkr0002.pdf