The Swiss group COS Computer Systems AG has reported turnover for the year March 1989 up 43% to $367m, mainly derived from the stable growth in its core business of trading and broking. Over the past financial year this division has produced a turnover of $351m as it expanded into the Danish and US markets. This success has been followed by the takeover of the Heidelberg-based company HM Leasing GmBH at the beginning of this month (CI No 1,152) in a bid to improve the Group’s position in the West German computer trading and financing market ahead of 1992 and the Single European Market. The Group’s leasing and financing division, however, showed the the biggest growth with an increase of 72% to $75m, which was largely derived from COS Leasing und Finanzierings AG’s export leasing for Swiss industrial companies. Within COS’s High-Tech Representations division, which includes data technology, data communications, electronic components and laser technology, there were mixed fortunes. Stolz AG and Sinfox AG, two companies in the networking area, were disposed of, while the division surged into the Unix market as Cantec signed a sales and marketing deal with Unisys Corp, and came to a marketing agreement with Hewlett-Packard regarding technical workstations. Meanwhile, the peripherals company CPA Computer Peripherie AG turned in an unexpectedly high profit. Finally, the Group’s new consultancy division Organisation and Information Services composed of the three EBB companies performed well, especially in the French speaking Swiss and German markets. The company promises to reveal its profits in June.
