STOCKHOLM, Sweden, Oct. 5, 2001 (PRIMEZONE) -- Intentia International AB (publ) (XSSE:INTB) announced that in the current uncertain market, it is initiating a program aimed at ensuring SEK 100 million in operating earnings for 2001.Intentia's vision-to become the leading company in its market-has been the basis for the company's decisions and action plans over the past few years. In line with this strategy, Intentia has successfully developed its product Movex to be a world-leading application, established a base of 3,400 customers in some 40 countries and created a highly competent, global organization. Intentia has developed into one of the leading companies in its branch by making aggressive investments. These have sometimes had a negative impact on earnings and cash flows.
The foundation for starting Intentia's next expansion phase is already in place in terms of both product and organization, and Intentia has been through a period of substantially improved operating earnings and cash flow as well as growth. Intentia's view is that expansion must be accompanied by profitability and balanced cash flow. For that reason, a decision was made at the beginning of 2000 to hold off on further expansion until positive earnings and balanced cash flow have been achieved. At the same time, a number of strategic initiatives were implemented aimed at enabling the company, during rapid growth, to significantly increase effectiveness within sales and consulting.
Intentia's strong market position will be used for long-term, rapid and profitable growth. A prerequisite to increasing growth, however, is showing operating earnings at a level of SEK 100 million for 2001. Intentia expects the remainder of the year to develop positively, with consulting margins continuing to improve and license sales continuing to grow. However, the world around us is more uncertain than it has ever been. In order to increase the likelihood of achieving operating earnings of SEK 100 million for the year, we are now implementing a number of activities.
The program of activities, called "Commitment to Success," is aimed at increasing revenues and decreasing fixed costs during the fourth quarter of 2001. One of measures being introduced is a new profit-sharing program in which approximately 200 Intentia managers set aside 20 percent of their salaries while the remaining employees set aside 10 percent of theirs into a "profit-sharing pool." All earnings for the year that exceed SEK 100 million will be distributed to them in proportion to how much salary each set aside.
The profit-sharing program, in combination with other measures to increase efficiencies, is expected to have a positive impact of more than SEK 50 million on operating earnings, up to a SEK 100 million operating earnings level for the year. Each employee decides for him- or herself whether to participate in the profit-sharing program.
"The program has been received positively so far and has gained wide support within Intentia," says Bjorn Algkvist, CEO, Intentia International. "I am impressed by the amount of support, which demonstrates a fantastic level of commitment to our joint future."
About Intentia
Intentia is one of the world's leading suppliers of collaboration solutions. Our vision is to become the leading global collaboration solutions vendor by supplying our customers with tomorrow's solutions today. Intentia offers a one-stop shop for all collaboration needs within numerous industry segments. We develop, implement and maintain our own solutions to produce the highest possible level of customer satisfaction. The Intentia Solution consists of applications covering customer relationship management (CRM), enterprise management (ENM), supply chain management (SCM), business performance measurement (BPM), e-business and value chain collaboration (VCC). Intentia has more than 3,200 employees and serves over 3,400 customers in the manufacturing, maintenance and distribution industries via a global network spanning some 40 countries. Intentia is a public company traded on the Stockholm Stock Exchange (XSSE) under the symbol INT B.
Visit Intentia's Web site at www.intentia.com