Strong profit development in Acando

Strong profit development in Acando The IT/Management consulting company Acando has had a strong development during the fourth quarter this year. Total sales in October and November amounted to SEK 92 million and operating profit (EBIT) to SEK 18 million. This implies an operating margin of 20 percent. "Acando's focus has been on recruiting and building a powerful organisation since its inception in January 1999. The aim shifted towards profitability during the fourth quarter this year. We are delighted to see Acando reached excellent results at such speed.", says Christer Gardell, Chairman of Acando and CEO of Custos. Custos is Acando's largest single shareholder, with 30 percent of capital and votes, followed by the industrial/media group Kinnevik with 15 percent and the Norwegian industrial/investment group Orkla and Nordico (former KF Invest) with 7.5 percent each. Employees of Acando control the remaining 40 percent of shares. Stockholm, December 15, 2000 AKTIEBOLAGET CUSTOS (publ) Christer Gardell Chief Executive Officer For further questions please contact Mr Christer Gardell, CEO, Custos (+46 8 440 57 70) Mr Sven Kallstenius, CEO, Acando (+46 70 438 95 00) About Acando: Acando is an IT/Management consultant company with mainly traditional industrial clients. Improvements are implemented by using IT and Internet as strategic business resources. Acando offers unique expertise and customized work teams characterized by in-depth understanding of the ground rules of new technology. www.acando.com ------------------------------------------------------------ This information was brought to you by BIT http://www.bit.se The following files are available for download: http://www.bit.se/bitonline/2000/12/15/20001215BIT00780/bit0001.doc http://www.bit.se/bitonline/2000/12/15/20001215BIT00780/bit0002.pdf