Groupe Bull SA has recorded 10.6% growth in revenue in the first quarter of this year, to FFr778m ($126m). The group noted that sales growth was particularly strong in France (34%) during the period, while in the rest of Western Europe it was just 5.6%, and in Asia, Africa and Eastern Europe, 15%. Bull also said that among the negative factors impacting revenue, North American sales had been flat during the period, while revenue from its South American operations fell 47%, due primarily to Brazil’s devaluation of the Real in mid-January, which was followed by a downturn in business generally in that country.
In terms of business unit, Bull said its server division’s revenue was up 11%, thanks both to ongoing sales of its proprietary GCOS systems and an increase in sales of PCs and NT servers. Software was up 77.1% and smart cards and terminals, 46.5%.
Bull has stated its intention of increasing the importance of services in terms of revenue generation, and the group pointed out that its integration services division grew 11.9% bringing in revenue of FFr234.7m ($38.1m). That division is already the second largest by revenue behind servers.
