Paris-based software and services company, Generale de Services en Informatique SA has reported that its 1991 revenues increased by 16.7% to $610.5m, while operating and net profits grew to $30.3m and $19.3m, increases of 28.8% and 12.3% respectively. Despite a good year, finance director Daniel Zumino says that the company – formerly a subsidiary of Alcatel NV – experienced a negative impact from the market’s slow growth. The rate of internal growth, excluding sales and acquisitions, was 12%, 3.6 points lower than in 1990. Last year was a record year for GSI in terms of investments, according to the managing director Jacques Bentz. He says that the company spent more on acquisitions, on research and on the purchase of hardware and software than ever before – $31.4m, $27.7m and $18.49m respectively. GSI acquired UCOMS in The Netherlands, the German companies Weber & Partner and Lammert GmbH, IMI Systems in the US and AMI in France. GSI says that it needs to internationalise its business, especially since business outside France accounts for only 36% of revenue. It has concluded distribution agreements in Czechoslovakia and Poland with the transport companies Olec and Intertrans. Also, GSI has opened offices in Singapore and Dresden. Zumino reckons that GSI will be able to expand without benefit of a cash injection from outside backers, even if that means being content with lower profit margins in the short-term.
