It looks like another year at Comparex Informationssysteme GmbH in which the full year’s figures should not be taken at face value. Turnover at the Mannheim-based subisdiary of BASF AG actually fell by 5.7% to the equivalent of $691m. Profits before tax leapt by 138.5% to $31m, but 1993’s figures were hit by restructuring costs following the market share out with Hitachi Data Systems Ltd agreed in November 1993 (CI No 2,289) and there were no restructuring charges this time. Net profit also rose dramatically, up 3167% to $28m but this was due to a lower than normal tax charge, the result of over-payment of the last few years, said deputy chairman Wulf Cressalt. In a normal year – which this year will be – the company can expect net profits to be around half the pre-tax figure. Chairman Rolf Brillinger was as understated and conservative as ever, describing Comparex as having a statisfactory business year in 1994. He said that it had been difficult to increase market share in those countries where the company was already established to offset the loss of markets such as the UK, France, Italy and Switzerland to Hitachi Data Systems. This accounted for the drop in turnover. But in 1994, he said, earnings were back to normal.
Portuguese subsidiary
The split between the mainframe and the peripheral businesses had not shifted much and represented around 42% and 35% of turnover respectively. At home, Comparex Software und Service GmbH saw its share of the group turnover rise to 23%. In the autumn, Comparex set up a Portugese subsidiary and has also been very active in central and eastern Europe, garnering what kudos it can from the BASF name. Brillinger announced the recent establishment of a subsidiary in the Czech Republic with an initial staff of 12 and will continue the policy of employing local staff wherever possible. He also announced the company’s entry into the network business: it is setting up a joint venture in Mannheim with South African-quoted comany Persetel Holdings Pty Ltd which has been in the networks products market for three years, and Brillinger said the aim was to combine this experience with what he called Comparex’s market know-how. He said the venture would be very successful, very soon. Currency fluctuation is always at the front of the company’s mind and it has suffered recently with its products being made almost exclusively in Japan, and with its competition coming largely from IBM Corp in the US. But Brillinger was quick to stress that such fluctuation wouldn’t have a dramtaic effect on the company’s plans. In terms of the future, Brillinger speculated that sales would be a bit lower this year than last. However, as the new mainframe systems, M2000 and the Tetragon 2000, are launched in the third and fourth quarters he saw double-digit growth in 1996, albeit with the caveat of as long as the markets don’t fall away. He said the mainframe business would flourish because while the recession of the late 1980s caused investment decisions to be deferred, during that time, users’ requirements for additional performance demands had kept on rising. He forecasts very high growth at the high end of computing – which would benefit Comparex – as the medium and low end of the market succumbed to downsizing. He concluded by saying that business will become more and more normal.
