French IT services conglomerate Groupe Focal has reported a net profit for the year ending 31 December 1998 up 61.6% at 3.6m euros ($3.88m) on revenue that rose 48% to 56.8m euros ($61.2m). Earnings per share rose 49.12% to 1.62 euros ($1.75). The group explained that the figure for consolidate revenue includes contributions from a number of companies acquired during the course of last year, adding that, in terms of organic growth alone, revenue was up 22.7% on the figure for 1997 of 38.4m euros ($41.2m). Lyon-based Focal operates in four areas: consultancy, systems integration, applications development and the management of systems and networks. It has been on the acquisition trail for over a year now and as a result, CEO Jacques Altschul says he is confident in predicting revenue for this year of 99m euros already, and, with further acquisitions planned, he expects to achieve 152m euros ($164m) in 2000.
