TABY, Sweden, Feb. 8, 2002 (PRIMEZONE) -- Preliminary Report on Earnings for 2001 At the request of the Board of Directors of Enea Data AB, the President and CEO submits this preliminary report on earnings for 2001.
-- Group net sales were SEK 886 million (+5%)
-- Group earnings, excluding goodwill amortization, was SEK -190
million (55.2)
-- OSE Systems reported net sales SEK 229 million (-9%) and
earnings of SEK -227 million (-57.3), excluding goodwill
amortization
-- Consultancy operations reported net sales of SEK 712 million
(+10%) and operating profit, excluding goodwill amortization, of
SEK 2.8 million (59.6)
The slowdown on the global telecom market in 2001 has severely affected the sales for our OSE products. OSE Systems was in the end of 2000 dimensioned for rapid growth in 2001, and the high fixed costs associated with that resulted in big losses in 2001. Two savings programs have been conducted in 2001, and in the fourth quarter the costs have been significantly reduced compared with the previous quarters.
It is our belief that OSE Systems will have a continuously very strong position with manufacturers of telecom and datacom equipment, even if OSE Systems has reported a decrease in sales during the fourth quarter compared with the previous year and for the entire year net sales decreased by 9 percent due to a weak global market. Thanks to our position, we anticipate to continue to win market share once the outlook for the global communications market improves.
The Swedish consultancy market weakened considerably during 2001, especially in the Stockholm region, which has resulted in new kinds of actions among many customers. These circumstances have led to a certain amount of surplus capacity on the market with consequent downward pressure on prices. This has also meant that customers have concentrated their purchases on fewer and larger suppliers to a greater extent, which Enea judges to be advantageous for Enea in the long term.
In the short term, this weakening has caused a deterioration in profitability, mainly within Enea's consultancy operations in the Stockholm region. Several cost-cutting programs has been implemented during the year throughout the Group. In January 2002, 60 employees at Enea Realtime in Stockholm were served with notices of termination.
Despite a similar weakening of the American consultancy market during 2001, Enea TekSci succeeded in fending off decreased volumes of business with decreased costs, and has continued to carry out projects at a profit for its most important customers.
The Enea Group
At the end of the period, the number of employees was 847 (851). The number of employees is expected to decrease further as a consequence of ongoing staff reductions.
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