In the first three quarters of 2009 Atea generated revenue of MNOK 10,179.5 and a revenue growth of 1.2%. EBITDA for the first three quarters ended at MNOK 315.8 and cash flow from operations increased to MNOK 192.9 from MNOK 190.1 last year.
“In view of the distressed world economy and the latest market forecasts saying that the total Nordic IT infrastructure market will decline by 3.8% in 2009, we are of course pleased with our own performance during the first three quarters of 2009 and that our attacking approach combined with high cost consciousness in our organization are creating strong results during a challenging period,” says Claus Hougesen, CEO in Atea.
In third quarter of 2009 revenue ended at MNOK 2,890.2 down 6.1% from MNOK 3,078.6 last year and EBITDA ended at satisfying MNOK 107.6 up approximately 10% compared to last year. The earnings in third quarter are positively affected by the cost reduction program launched in the beginning of the year which is materializing in third quarter and will have full effect in fourth quarter of 2009.
Atea is strengthening the existing business and is growing new business areas during the economic crisis both organically and through acquisitions.
In third quarter Atea in Denmark acquired the leading IP surveillance and security company AC Sikring with estimated revenue of MNOK 32.9 and EBITDA of MNOK 3.5 in 2009. This acquisition will strengthen the IP surveillance and IT security business, and the conversion from being analogue to IP based in the fast growing surveillance market is creating a significant market and cross sale potential for Atea in the coming years. The acquisition will enable Atea to offer a broad range of IP surveillance equipment combined with IT services and infrastructure equipment to existing and new customers and this will differentiate Atea from competitors.
Atea assess Windows7 to be a significant business opportunity and revenue generator in the coming years. Atea is today launching a joint project with Microsoft called Atea7 design which is developed to ensure an effective and optimized model supporting customers with the Windows 7 upgrade process. Windows 7 has been praised by many analysts to be one of the most promising products released from Microsoft in the recent years. IDC expects that out of the world’s 400 million Windows installed workstations, 170 million will convert to Windows 7 before end of 2011.
Atea maintains the financial strength during the economic crisis due to a strong and stable cash flow. Net interest bearing debt ended at MNOK 709.4 and cash reserves including unutilized facilities were MNOK 1,001.2.
“Going forward Atea’s main focus will be to continue delivering stable revenues and solid profits and we will continue to focus strongly on gaining market shares during the economic crisis. Every day I can see that we are building an even stronger platform for strong revenue growth after the crisis and every day new business opportunities are evolving within our industry, as for example the launch of Windows 7 and high growth within Unified Communication. All together this will make it possible for us to reach our ambitious target of NOK 20 billion in revenue in 2011,” says Claus Hougesen.
Atea is clearly focused on reaching the corporate target 20:11:1 - which means that Atea expects to reach NOK 20 billion in revenue and NOK 1 billion in EBITDA in 2011.
For further information, please contact:
Claus Hougesen, CEO Atea ASA, mobile + 45 3078 1200
Rune Falstad, CFO Atea ASA, mobile + 47 906 14 482
About Atea
Atea is the leading Nordic and Baltic supplier of IT infrastructure with approximately 4300 employees. Atea is present in 72 cities in Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. The Group deliver IT products from leading vendors and assist our customers with specialist competencies within IT infrastructure services. Atea has an annual revenue approximately NOK 15 billion and is listed on Oslo Stock Exchange.