STOCKHOLM, Sweden, Oct. 22, 2002 (PRIMEZONE) -- Ecovision:
- During the period the turnover amounted to SEK 47,1 Million (44,9) - Profit after financial items in the period was SEK 8,4 Million (8,1)
- At the end of the second quarter this year, Ecovision acquired the Stardesk and Starweb services from the Finnish Sanoma group. These activities are being successfully integrated and contribute to the increased sales and result of the Ecovision group.
- The association with the Fininfo group vields information cost reductions already having an impact this third quarter of 2002.
- Earnings per share amounted to SEK 4,13 (4,13).
Business Areas
The Ecovision Group's activities are divided into three Business areas:
- Ecovision ProTrader is a complete financial real time system. Information from primary sources is processed by Ecovision and then disseminated via satellite, the Internet and networks.
- Ecovision Internet develops and operates Web services for banks, stockbrokers and the media.
- The Ticker News Agency produces real time News to the financial markets.
2002 2001 Change
Jan-Sept Jan-Sept
Turnover, Million SEK 47,1 44,9 +4,9%
Operating profit, Million SEK 8,1 7,1 +14,1%
Operating margin, % 17,2 15,8 -
Profit after financial items, 8,4 8,1 +3,7%
Million SEK
Earnings per share, SEK 4,13 4,13 -
Equity per share, SEK 25,72 22,00 +16,9%
Turnover and results
During the period, Ecovision's turnover amounted to SEK 47,1 Million (44,9). The earnings after financial items increased with 3,4% to SEK 8,4 Million (8,1).
Important events during the third quarter
Ecovision has in the end of the second quarter acquired the Stardesk and Starweb services from the Finnish Sanoma Group. Starweb is Finland's leading Internet based real-time financial information service for banks, brokers and corporate customers. Stardesk is a version of the satellite based Ecovision ProTrader used by Finnish financial professionals.
Our business operations in Finland are progressing very well, and will contribute to increased sales and earnings for the Ecovision Group. The operations in Finland also strengthen the position of Ecovision in the Nordic Countries as Ecovision is the sole distributor of Startel News, the leading Finnish news service to the financial market.
Association with the French company Fininfo started in this quarter. Fininfo SA holds 51% of the shares of Ecovision AB since July this year. As Ecovision is now part of the Fininfo Group it has become possible for us to cut costs relating to stock exchange fees and other sources of information. This has already had partial effect in the third quarter. In addition to this there are several on-going projects between Fininfo and Ecovision aimed at taking advantage of each other's products and information content in order to create new business opportunities on our respective markets.
Fininfo is a leading provider of financial information to the professional financial community in Europe. Fininfo operates in France, Great Britain, Germany, Belgium, Spain, and Morocco. In 2001 Fininfo's sales amounted to 119.4 Million Euros and it's net income to 11.6 Million Euros. The Fininfo Group has approximately 1,000 employees, and it is quoted at the Second Marche of the Euronext Paris stock exchange.
Fininfo is a strong and growth-oriented industrial shareholder to Ecovision. This will create synergy effects and lead to cost savings in the field of information content, and also provide Ecovision with new business opportunities in the Nordic countries as well as in the rest of Europe.
Market Development
The development on the stock markets has been continuously weak during the third quarter. The long-term downturn in the stock exchanges of the world has made investors and traders to adopt a cautious attitude to new investments. This has lead to a decreasing number of users in the market. However there still is an underlying demand and interest in qualified information systems such as Ecovision ProTrader and Ecovision Solution as well as in market moving News from Ticker News Agency. Ecovision is currently putting substantial resources into developing and deepening the relationships with potential large customers such as banks and stockbroker firms. Several Nordic banks are presently involved in large-scale procurement of information systems. In our judgement Ecovision has good prospects of securing several of these deals and thus increasing our market share in the Nordic Countries.
The earnings trend of the ShareCompany B.V. in the Netherlands, where Ecovision AB holds a minority post amounting to 35.6% of the shares, has been stabilized. ShareCompany will, however, report a loss for the whole fiscal year 2002.
The Financial Position
Ecovision has a solid financial position. The Solidity ratio was 61,4 % on September 30 (61,4). The liquid assets amounted to SEK 34,3 Million (31,3). The Company has no interest bearing debts.
The Parent Company Ecovision AB
The Turnover was SEK 37,1 Million (40,0). Profit after financial items amounted to SEK 7,3 Million (7,2).
Personnel
The total number of employees was 38 (38).
Investments
The main part of Ecovision's investments concerns system and software development. All costs are directly expensed to each year's results i.e. no program development costs are capitalized.
Investments in computer equipment and inventories amounted to SEK 2,8 Million (2,7).
The Annual financial statements 2002 will be reported as follows:
Press release on the annual earnings figures for 2002 on 11 February 2003
Ecovision's auditors have not examined this report.
For further information please contact: Paul Ostling, Managing Director, Telephone +46 31 683450, e-mail: paul@ecovision.se, Homepage: www.ecovision.se
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http://www.waymaker.net/bitonline/2002/10/22/20021022BIT01340/wkr0001.doc The full report
http://www.waymaker.net/bitonline/2002/10/22/20021022BIT01340/wkr0002.pdf The full report