Corporate | 26 April 2002 10:50

ATOSS Software AG english

ATOSS: Targets attained in the first quarter – positive outlook Corporate-news announcement sent by DGAP. The sender is solely responsible for the contents of this announcement. ——————————————————————————– ATOSS: Targets attained in the first quarter positive outlook Munich, April 26, 2002 – ATOSS Software AG, Munich, the leading provider of software solutions in the area of Staff Efficiency Management (SEM), has succeed in improving first quarter results in spite of difficult market conditions. Operating in what continues to be a difficult business environment, ATOSS Software AG was able to considerably improve earnings in the first quarter of 2002 and posted sales of Eur 5.44 million (-4% over the previous year). Earnings before tax and interest (EBIT) amounted to Eur 0.13 million (after 0.18), earnings before tax (EBT) came in at Eur 0.26 (after 0.09) and the result for the period rose from Eur 0.03 million to Eur 0.16 million. High equity ratio unchanged, positive cash flow, liquidity in excess of Eur 32 million With equity of Eur 36.3 million as of March 31, 2002, the equity ratio stood at 86%. Liquid funds amounted to Eur 32.3 million. Cash flow has improved considerably and was recorded at Eur 1.05 million by comparison with Eur -1.99 in the first quarter of 2001. High liquidity offers the Munich headquartered software specialists the opportunity to realize interesting cooperation and participation activities. Profitable operations even under current conditions “The last quarters have demonstrated that we have a good grip on our costs and that we can operate profitably even in a very difficult business climate such as the current phase,” stated Andreas F.J. Obereder, founder and board chairman of ATOSS. Even without a market upturn the board is confident that the company will achieve considerably improved earnings this year by comparison with 2001. Andreas Obereder emphasizes that a market environment in which companies are exercising a high measure of caution in their investments offers rising opportunities for ATOSS as Staff Efficiency Management assists companies in deploying their personnel resources with greater efficiency throughout the value creation chain. In this way, ATOSS products address what is usually the major cost factor and thereby enhance the profitability of the entire company. Positive response at this year’s CeBit; Bosch contract a notable success At this year’s CeBit in Hanover ATOSS met with especially strong visitor interest. The quality of individual contacts in particular had improved notably over the previous year. The cooperation partnership concluded with the Bosch division for security technology announced on March 22, 2002 was a notable success in connection with the CeBit. Already during the ongoing business year, significant sales contributions are expected to be generated in the area of indirect sales. Additional market growth in the maintenance business area, sales of services and software stabilized During the first quarter of 2002 ATOSS was able to virtually maintain the level of the previous quarter (October 1 to December 31, 2001) and exceed the results of the second and third quarter of 2001. As the fourth quarter is usually characterized by some exceptional market factors, and sales in the core business area of software licenses were stabilized in spite of the negative branch environment, the company is satisfied with what has been achieved so far. Significant contracts have been concluded with renowned companies such as Bosch or Swiss (formerly Crossair). Software sales of approximately Eur 1.45 million were posted. In comparing figures with the previous year (Eur 2.26 million) it must be considered that a sizable overhang of orders placed in the decidedly successful month of December 2000 were processed at the beginning of 2001. Sales in the maintenance division have also shown marked growth coming in at more than Eur 1.7 million (Eur 1.18 in the first quarter of 2001). The services division that also comprises consulting and IT services reported sales of Eur 1.37 million (corresponding quarter last year: Eur 1.29 million). Recording sales of Eur 0.62 million (corresponding quarter last year: Eur 0.63 million) the hardware division is virtually on par with the previous year’s figures. Positive share price movement; ongoing stock buyback During the first quarter the market price of the ATOSS share rose by more than 20% from Eur 7 to Eur 8.51 by the end of March, whereby the peak price stood at Eur.95. These figures clearly outperform the NEMAX-All-Share-Index as well as the NEMAX-Software-Index. ATOSS continued to buy back own shares via the stock market exchange that are intended to secure the existing employee participation schemes. As of March 31, 2002 the company held a total of 84,805 shares. The board is of the opinion that an additional acceleration of repurchasing would only be meaningful if a larger volume of shares would be required for an acquisition. Perspectives: Stable order situation in connection with further improvements in earnings. The current forecasts ventured by various leading research institutes do not indicate a concrete period for an upturn in the markets in general or for a recovery of the technology markets. The board has therefore kept to its estimation whereby an economic recovery is not to be expected before mid-year. In this context the fact that the overall IT branch trails the business cycle must be considered, as customers hold back their investments until their own profits are on the rise again. Thanks to a very extensive range of solutions and attractive cost-benefit relations ATOSS Software AG is well positioned. The fact that these strengths are perceived on the markets is borne out by recent orders placed by internationally active companies such as LSG Sky Chef and Swiss that are especially geared to fast return on investment. The convincing argumentation of benefits also paved the way for the cooperation with the Bosch Security Technology Division. The figures on the first quarter of 2002 clearly document that ATOSS is capable of operating successfully in a difficult business environment. Current assumptions are factoring in a similar sales level as in the first quarter and a further stabilization of earnings. All in all, ATOSS anticipates achieving a slight increase in sales during the ongoing business year over previous year’s sales of Eur 21.2 million. Based on the considerably optimized cost structure, the company expects to achieve a substantial improvement in performance. This lays the groundwork for positive developments of ATOSS Software AG in the 2002 business year, while preparing for above average growth when an upturn sets in. Additional information: http://www.atoss.com Contact: ATOSS Software AG Christof Leiber LL.M. Am Moosfeld 3 D-81829 Munich Tel.: +49 (0) 89 4 27 71 265 Fax: +49 (0) 89 4 27 71 100 revolution-in-time@atoss.com end of message, (c)DGAP 26.04.2002