The businesses in the two countries will continue to be run as Plaut franchises, retaining the group’s name, and cross-border projects between other Plaut divisions. Financial terms of the deals have not been revealed, but Plaut said it expects a substantial profitability increase by removing a notorious loss-maker – Italy – from [the] balance sheet and P&L, as well as by decreasing management overhead cost in the group.
In July, Plaut announced the sale of its US and central European operations to local German rival IDS Scheer. Under the terms of the deal, Munich, Germany-based Plaut will sell its US, Canadian, Austrian, Czech, Polish, Hungarian, and Slovakian operations to software and services firm IDS Scheer for an undisclosed cash sum.
At the same time, Plaut announced its half-year 2003 results, which showed that it had both missed its revenue and profitability targets. For the six-month period ended June 30, revenue fell 54.5% to 51.7m euros ($58.9m), and earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization were 2.9m euros ($3.31m), down from 7m euros ($7.98m) in 2002. At the end of the period, the company’s cash position had declined to 13.6m euros ($15.5m) from 16.6m euros ($18.9m) in 2002.
In June the company’s CEO and chairman Toon Bouten resigned just a month into his tenure, sparking concerns about the company’s near-term future. This followed cut-backs made in February when it sold its Brazilian operation to UK-based HR outsourcing provider Emeritis, and in May when it disposed of its Romanian SAP practice to S&T Systems Integration and Technology Distribution AG, as well as its US application management practice to Adjoined Consulting Inc.
Source: Computerwire
