Interim report January - September 2001

Interim report January - September 2001 · Trio's Q3 net sales rose 90% to SEK 49.3 million (SEK 26.0 m) · The Q3 profit was SEK 0.9 million ( loss of -SEK 42.0 m) · Nine month net sales climbed 53% to SEK 111.3 million (SEK 72.7 m) · The net loss for the period improved to -SEK 25.3 million (-SEK 113.4 m) · The inflow of orders for the period has been healthy, climbing 85% to SEK 115 million (SEK 62 m) · Seven IP telephony agreements have been signed in the Nordic region · An agreement was signed with Europolitan Vodafone for Trio's wireless office · The forecast for organic growth of around 50% for the full year 2001 still stands. Q3 2001 Q3 2000 9 month 9 month SEK million 2001 2000 Inflow of orders 20 27 115 62 Net sales 49 26 111 73 Total expenses* - 48 - 51 - 142 - 155 Profit and loss prior to 1 - 35 - 25 - 90 goodwill depreciation Profit and loss for the 1 - 42 - 25 - 113 period *Items affecting comparability are not included The operations Trio is a telecommunications company that develops software and systems solutions with a focus on enterprise call control and the integration of fixed, mobile and IP telephony. The integration solutions offered by Trio are powerful rationalisation tools that enhance internal efficiency and improve customer service. The System Products Business Area. Trio is the leading switch- independent supplier in the Nordic market for enterprise call control with up to 2.000 installations of Trio PresentOffice, mainly at larger companies and organisations. Trio is the only supplier in this market to integrate both mobile and IP telephony with traditional fixed telephony at corporate level. The Operator Solutions business area. Trio offers a mobile office solution that enables a complete transition from fixed to mobile telephony. Trio's mobile offices are installed in mobile operators' networks, and switch functionality is obtained on a subscription basis as a service from operators. By combining the systems of the Operator Solutions and System Products business areas, a highly advanced mobile office solution is obtained. During the period, Telia Mobile has signed an order for this solution that the operator expects to launch in the Swedish market during the first half of 2002. Customized Systems. This business area enables Trio to offer interactive voice response systems, mainly to larger companies and organisations, including several commercial banks. It also offers flexible contact and call centre solutions, whose key customer group consists of corporate sales and support departments. The business area also launched a voice control service during the period. Sales and profit trend The Trio Group's net sales for the first nine months came to SEK 111.3 million (SEK 72.7 m), an increase of 53 per cent. The reason for this positive trend is the company's aggressive initiative this past year, in which the Group's solutions for the integration of fixed telephony with mobile and IP telephony have been developed. The initiative has also led to the development of the Group's mobile office solutions to enable a transition from fixed to exclusively mobile telephony. During 2001, this development work has yielded a portfolio of stable and future-proof products. These have generated a number of strategic orders during the year that serve to confirm Trio's market leading position in the Nordic region. The inflow of orders climbed 85 per cent to SEK 115 million (SEK 62 m). Q3 saw Trio break even, reporting a profit of SEK 0.9 million (loss of - SEK 42.0 m). The loss for the first nine months was -SEK 25.3 million (- SEK 113.4 m). This improved result has mainly been achieved through an increase in net sales and through cost cuts, primarily in the System Products business area. The Group's total operating expenses for the first nine months fell 14 per cent to SEK 94 million (SEK 109 m). Q3's strategic agreements Q3 saw the signing of five PresentOffice agreements for IP telephony based on Cisco's telephony platform, four in Denmark and one in Norway. During Q2, two agreements were signed, one in Sweden and one in Norway. These seven agreements constitute a breakthrough for Trio in the field of IP telephony. During Q3, Trio also signed an agreement with Europolitan Vodafone for the Wireless Attendant Terminal (WAT). WAT will allow Europolitan Vodafone to offer its smaller corporate customers a flexible attendant workstation that fits in well with this operator's Wireless Office concept. This order means that Trio has now delivered mobile office solutions to four of the Nordic region's leading mobile operators including the Q3 agreement with Telia Mobile. Existing clients include Sonera and Telenor Mobile, which already offer their customers mobile office solutions from Trio in Finland and Norway respectively. Trio also signed a distribution agreement with UK company Mettoni Group Plc for the Trio PresentOffice product portfolio. This agreement provides Trio with a strong marketing channel for the Trio PresentOffice concept in the UK market. Trio's new management now up to full strength Following Sverker Hannervall's appointment as CEO in January 2001, Trio has acquired a new management. During Q3, Per Grönwall took over as new Chief Financial Officer, Magnus Håkansson was appointed Vice President in charge of the Operator Solutions business area, and Mats Plahn became Chief Technical Officer, whose job it is to co-ordinate developments in the System Products and Operator Solutions business areas. They has joined the company from Elekta, Telelogic respectively Sigma. Prior to this, Thomas Doyon was appointed Vice President of Sales in charge of System Products, while Jan Gustavsson became the new President of Objecta Systems AB. Events since the end of the period Trio Norway has signed a partnership agreement with the Nordic installation and service group Bravida. The agreement makes Bravida in Norway a certified partner with overall responsibility for Trio PresentOffice in relation to the end-customer. This includes sales, installation, training and support. The Norwegian group Gjensidige NOR has signed an agreement to standardise its telephony with Trio PresentOffice. The solution covers 8,000 employees and 100 attendants. Staff The group employed 111 (176) people at the end of Q3. 27 members of staff moved to Technology Nexus during Q2 and Q3. In June, Trio signed a partnership and outsourcing agreement with Nexus whereby these employees will continue to work for Trio during the 3-year agreement period. Investments Investments in equipment and computers came to SEK 0.6 million (SEK 0.4 m) during Q3. Financial status and liquidity At the end of Q3, the equity/assets ratio was 69% (73%) and liquid assets totalled SEK 69.7 million (SEK 9.8 m). Outlook for 2001 There was a sharp drop in demand during 2000 in the Nordic region, mainly within the System Products business area. But demand has risen again during the first half of 2001. As mentioned above, Trio believes that this is mainly a consequence of the Group's highly competitive product portfolio. A higher percentage of large orders will, however, entail major variations on a quarterly basis in the number of signed orders, as well as in net sales, costs and financial results. The drop in the order inflow for Q3 2001 provides one illustration of this. The greater part of the increased revenues in 2001 is expected to come from the Operator Solutions and System Products business areas. The System Products business area is expected to report a continued improvement in its financial results. At Group level, the company's assessment, as set forth in the preliminary year-end report, still stands as regards the full year 2001. Trio reported a net profit in Q3 and the company expects the Q4 net profit figures to reach the same level as in Q3. Liquid assets at the end of the year are estimated to reach the same level as at the end of Q3. Dates for future financial information The preliminary year-end report for 2001 will be published on 12 February 2002. Stockholm 19 October 2001 Trio AB (publ) The Board of Directors For more information, please contact Sverker Hannervall, CEO, tel.: +46 8 457 30 05, or Ion Bogdaneris, Chairman of the Board, tel.: +44 77 969 38 326. This report has not been subjected to a special review by the company's auditors. ------------------------------------------------------------ This information was brought to you by Waymaker http://www.waymaker.net The following files are available for download: http://www.waymaker.net/bitonline/2001/10/19/20011019BIT00620/bit0001.doc Full Report http://www.waymaker.net/bitonline/2001/10/19/20011019BIT00620/bit0002.pdf Full Report