Asseco

Asseco Group earns PLN 105 million in net profit for the first quarter of 2012

Thu, 17 May 2012 00:00:00 +0200

Asseco Group earned PLN 105 million for the first quarter of 2012, outperforming the last year's net profit by 8%. Sales revenues reached PLN 1.27 billion and they increased 6.4% from the corresponding period of 2011. The Group achieved an operating profit of PLN 171 million.

Asseco Group consistently pursues its strategy to boost financial results by promoting sales of its proprietary IT solutions. In the first quarter of 2012, sales of proprietary software and services reached PLN 980 million, surging 17% from PLN 840 million reported a year ago, and they accounted for 77% of the total turnover. The largest portions of revenues came from the enterprises sector (44%), banking and finance (32%), and public administration (24%).

During the first quarter of 2012, the Asseco Group companies signed a number of prestigious contracts virtually in all sectors of the economy. The most significant contracts concluded by Asseco Poland provide for support and maintenance of software for IT systems used by PZU Life, implementation and maintenance of passenger information system for the Municipal Transport Union of the Upper Silesian Industrial Region, as well as for implementation of a billing system for PGNiG (Polish Oil and Gas Company).

Major corporate events during the first quarter of 2012 included approval by the General Meeting of Shareholders of Asseco Poland of a resolution on dividend payment for 2011 amounting to PLN 169.9 million in total (or PLN 2.19 per share), and enabling a potential issuance of series K shares provided 96% of shareholders in Asseco Central Europe agree to a share swap transaction.

CK ZETO partners with Asseco Poland

Wed, 25 Apr 2012 00:00:00 +0200

Asseco Poland S.A. acquired 42,940 shares representing a 99.84% voting interest and a 99.87% equity interest in CK ZETO S.A.

The term sheet for the acquisition of Łódź-based IT company was signed already in December 2011, but the transaction was subject to approval by the Polish Antimonopoly Office (UOKiK). The total price for the purchased stake of shares amounted to PLN 42.5 million. Last year the acquired company earned a net profit of PLN 5.6 million.

Centrum Komputerowe ZETO S.A. has fifty years of experience in the IT industry. The company specializes in outsourcing of information technology services, focusing especially on the areas of data security, trainings, computer hardware, management and archiving of documents, web hosting, bulk printing, and electronic signatures. CK ZETO employs 160 specialists. The company's key accounts include major banks and financial institutions, insurance companies, as well as leading corporations, such as BRE Bank, Nordea Bank Poland, PKO Bank Polski, Raiffeisen-Leasing Poland, PKP Intercity, National Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management, Social Insurance Institution (ZUS), Marshal's Office in Łódź, Rossmann Drugstores, Research and Academic Computer Network (NASK).

Owing to this transaction Asseco Poland has an opportunity to become a major partner to the region of Łódź in building professional information technology solutions, commented Adam Góral, President of the Management Board of Asseco Poland.

Entering the organization of Asseco Poland provides a whole new development perspective for Centrum Komputerowe ZETO. I mean a very dynamic growth resulting from our enhanced position in the local market, and enabled by the access to new competencies, products and markets. Joining the Asseco Group will enhance CK ZETO's image in the eyes of our customers and both existing and potential employees. It will also help improve our competitiveness among other providers of IT services and products. Besides, being part of Poland's largest IT group ensures greater endurance to any adverse circumstances, such as market stagnation or recession. We are delighted that the business mix we have created for years has now become a piece of a larger and more prestigious organization, said Robert Kobylański, CEO of CK ZETO.

Asseco Poland successfully conducts a simultaneous migration of 1TB of data for TAURON Obsługa Klienta GZE

Wed, 18 Apr 2012 00:00:00 +0200

Asseco Poland has carried out the migration of a database containing more than one billion records on 1.15 million customers, by the Big Bang method. This is the first simultaneous migration conducted on such a large scale in the Polish power industry.

The whole project lasted 18 months. Whereas, the migration itself – from the transfer of databases to the operational launch of the entire solution – took just 12 days. The process covered 1TB of data and 8 operational support systems used by TAURON Obsługa Klienta GZE (including billing, contract management, accounting, payments, reporting, and measuring devices management), described in 1400 implemented business processes. This migration allowed for Poland's first full unbundling, i.e. separation of databases of the electricity distributor and seller.

"The Big Bang method entails a greater risk, but we decided to apply it in order to save both time and money. This complex, high-risk project has been executed with extreme diligence, which proves Asseco has all the necessary know-how to centralize such extensive billing systems," said Andrzej Balsamski, Director of IT Services Centre at TAURON Obsługa Klienta GZE Sp. z o.o. (TAURON Group).

Asseco effectively eliminated the risks associated with simultaneous migration of all the data. We have adopted a special testing model, consisting of several iterations of trial migrations, which made it possible to identify potential hazards, which were not recognized at the data analysis stage, and consequently avoid any undesirable events that might cause an interruption of the client's customer services. Various testing activities consumed tens of thousands of hours. Each test was analyzed on the basis of specially prepared scenarios. The company created task teams that eradicated any faults and improved the application on a daily basis. Such commitment was a key element conditioning the successful implementation of the project.

"Our previous projects for the centralization of billing systems were realized through the sequential filling of databases. The project performed for TAURON Obsługa Klienta GZE involved the largest amount of data migrated using the Big Bang method in the Polish power industry. The database was not divided as in the sequential migration method. Data on more than a million electricity consumers as well as all outstanding transactions were transferred simultaneously," explained Piotr Kępiński, Project Manager on the part of Asseco Poland S.A.

The centralization of billing systems at TAURON Obsługa Klienta GZE involved the solutions applied for billing medium and small-sized businesses and individual customers. The new system will serve 1,150,000 electricity consumers and was implemented during one and a half years. So far, no Polish company has managed to implement such a large system in such a short period.

"We made a decision that Asseco's solutions we used for billing large and small-sized enterprises should be extended to serve individual customers as well. This process involved the migration of eight systems," commented Karol Janosz, Vice President at TAURON Obsługa Klienta GZE Sp. z o.o. (TAURON Group).

Asseco Poland S.A. is a stable, global partner with a strong position in the local market. The company continually develops IT products for the energy sector and maintains a team of nearly 200 professionals with many years of proven experience.

"We invest in products, and we invest in our professional team. Owing to such approach, our specialists, having completed an implementation project, do not go back to their daily routines just as hired consultants, but continue to work with the client under suitable maintenance and development agreements. Our products will be implemented also abroad. Especially with such client references," emphasized Tomasz Bendlewski, Director of Energy, Gas and Utilities Division at Asseco Poland S.A.

The Beginning of Israeli-Spanish Cooperation within the Asseco Group

Thu, 05 Apr 2012 00:00:00 +0200

Magic Software, an Israeli company of the Asseco Group and a global provider of mobile and cloud-enabled application and business integration platforms, signed an official distribution agreement with Valorista, a company of the Asseco South Western Europe Group and a leading software vendor in Spain.

This agreement follows the recent distribution agreement signed by Magic Software with Asseco Poland, Europe’s seventh largest provider of software. The agreement aims at strengthening Magic Software's regional market presence and enriching Valorista's software offering.

Valorista operates in Spain as a subsidiary of Asseco South Western Europe, working with specialized IT industry partners. The application and business integration platforms developed by Israel's Magic Software ideally complement Valorista's offering with new strategic tools to respond effectively to market demands for efficient development, deployment, and integration of applications.

“This is an important step forward, as we pursue our effort to provide better and more direct support to our existing customer base in Spain, and everywhere we operate. We aim to leverage Valorista's strong experience of the Spanish market to substantially expand our local presence in response to the growing demand for high-end development and integration solutions. This agreement also further strengthens our relationship with the Asseco Group, which provides Magic Software with an important gateway into many markets throughout Europe," commented Eric Choppe, Managing Director of Magic Software Southern Europe.

Fernando Puente, Valorista Sales Manager, added: “This agreement will enable Valorista to further enrich and diversify our comprehensive portfolio of value-added solutions for the IT Channel.”

OTAGO, an Asseco Group company, wins a contract from the Marshal's Office of Mazovia Province

Tue, 03 Apr 2012 00:00:00 +0200

OTAGO, an Asseco Group company, has signed a contract worth over PLN 1 million with the Marshal's Office of Mazovia Province. The contract involves the supply and maintenance of an IT system to support management functions.

OTAGO's proprietary system with support operations of the Marshal's Office within three key areas: finance and budgeting (budget, register of agreements, debt collection, long-term financial forecasting), human resources and payroll (personnel, salaries, payments to contractors), and property and materials management. Furthermore, OTAGO will launch an e-Services portal enabling the system users to send their applications in matters of regional budget planning and accounting in electronic form to the Marshal's Office.

This implementation also covers data migration from the client's legacy systems as well as training of 300 hundred office employees on the use of new software.

Zakład Usług Informatycznych OTAGO Sp. z o.o. employs nearly 90 people in the cities of Gdańsk, Łódź, Cracow, and Katowice, and provides IT services throughout the country. For twenty years, OTAGO has been engaged solely in the development and implementation of software solutions to support the work of local administration. The company is the creator and owner of the OTAGO Integrated Municipal Management Information System. Among the company's clients are most of larger Polish cities such as Warsaw, Gdańsk, Cracow, Łódź, Wrocław, Szczecin and Bydgoszcz, as well as medium-sized cities such as Zabrze, Toruń, Ruda Śląska, Rzeszów, Nowy Dwór Mazowiecki, Starogard Gdański, Piaseczno, Skierniewice, and Łowicz. OTAGO has been a wholly-owned subsidiary of Asseco Poland S.A. since 2009.

PGNiG chooses Asseco's flagship solution for the power industry

Tue, 13 Mar 2012 00:00:00 +0100

Asseco Poland S.A. has commenced the implementation of its proprietary Asseco Utilities Management Solutions for Polskie Górnictwo Naftowe i Gazownictwo (PGNiG, Polish Oil and Gas Company). Having launched the system, PGNiG will be ready to start selling electricity.

Asseco Utilities Management Solutions will enable PGNiG to provide comprehensive services to its electricity consumers. The system structure is modular, allowing for the launch of all functionalities necessary to begin selling electricity in a relatively short time. Furthermore, AUMS will provide a perfect opportunity for PGNiG to use a single information technology solution to support its business processes involved in the sales of electricity, gas and other services.

"We are tremendously satisfied that companies entering the electricity distribution market recognize the benefits achievable from co-operation with Asseco. Each successive implementation reinforces our belief that our Polish system, called Asseco Utilities Management Solutions, is becoming the standard for the power industry. Our competitive advantage is based not only on our long-lasting experience, but also on delivering best value-for-money solutions," – said Tomasz Bendlewski, Director of Energy, Gas and Utilities Division at Asseco Poland S.A.

PGNiG Group has experience with using multiple systems provided by various producers. These also include Asseco applications that have been operated for many years by its subsidiary Pomorska Spółka Gazownictwa (Pomeranian Gas Distribution Company) to manage their customer service and billing processes for gas consumers. Currently, PGNiG has decided to apply Polish software solutions to support their electricity business as well.

Asseco announces a tender offer for 100 percent of shares in Sygnity

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 00:00:00 +0100

On 22 February 2012, Asseco Poland has announced a tender offer for up to 100 percent of shares in Sygnity, proposing to pay PLN 21 per share in cash. Asseco Poland offers to acquire 11,886,242 ordinary bearer shares in Sygnity, in a transaction totalling PLN 250 million.

The tender offer aims at further development of the Asseco Group. The Management Board believes that entering into cooperation with Sygnity will help strengthen the Asseco Group’s market position in the sectors of banking, public administration, power industry, and enterprises. Consequently, the Asseco Group will enhance its ability to compete with the world’s largest IT players.

“I am confident that this transaction would have a positive impact on the professional development of Sygnity’s employees. The exchange of know-how and the ability to work within international business divisions of the Asseco Group would both provide great opportunities for long-term careers of the professional teams at Sygnity,” says Adam Góral, President of the Management Board of Asseco Poland.

In the Management’s opinion, the price per share proposed by Asseco Poland shall be perceived as attractive by Sygnity’s shareholders. It offers a 22% premium over the weighted average market price in the last 3 months; whereas, in the case of 6-month period such bonus is 18%. Additionally, the Sygnity’s PE ratio is 29.8 as calculated on the basis of the company's recently announced results for the four quarters of 2011.
The tender offer shall be effectively completed on condition Asseco Poland acquires a minimum of 7,951,900 Sygnity shares, representing 66.9% of the share capital of the target company, and obtains an unconditional approval from the Polish Office of Competition and Consumers Protection for obtaining control over the target company (or upon expiry of the statutory deadline for giving such approval).

The tender offer schedule is presented below:
• 22 February 2012 – announcement of the tender offer and filing an application with the Polish Office of Competition and Consumers Protection (OCCP);
• 12 March 2012 – commencement of the acceptance of tenders;
• 10 April 2012 – completion of the acceptance of tenders (subject to the OCCP’s approval);
• 13 April 2012 – date of concluding the transaction on the Warsaw Stock Exchange;
• 18 April 2012 – settlement of the transaction.

The historical development of Asseco Poland, involving among others the consolidation of the information technology market, demonstrates highly effective utilization of professional resources of companies incorporated into the Group. Owing to the successful implementation of such strategy, Asseco Poland holds a leading position in the domestic IT market, and ranks seventh among the largest European software vendors according to the Truffle100 ranking.

Asseco becomes Poland's first company to earn SAP AQM accreditation

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 00:00:00 +0100

Asseco Poland S.A. is SAP's first Polish partner that has been granted accreditation in the global Active Quality Management program. This accreditation is a confirmation of exercising active quality management in the processes of sales and implementation.

Active quality management translates into increased customer satisfaction and helps to successfully implement and avoid escalation of projects. Participation in the SAP AQM program also provides access to advanced models and processes, enabling a significant reduction of risks involved in project implementation. Therefore, Asseco, as the first company in Poland, acceded to this global quality accreditation program already in 2011. Owing to our intensive participation in the program, the accreditation was obtained within the planned time frame.

“Asseco Poland derives a lot of benefits from its participation of in the SAP Active Quality Management program and the related accreditation. Close cooperation between SAP and Asseco specialists as well as joint interim analyses of our operations in the market for SAP software made it possible to verify our sales processes and implementation methodologies against the SAP’s recommendations and best practices for software vendors. Within the framework of SAP AQM program, we have gained access to materials and tools applicable for active quality management, as recommended by SAP, and we treat that as an opportunity to improve our implementation processes as well as to eliminate or reduce the risks involved in this area. We hope that the quality accreditation awarded to Asseco will strengthen our position in the market for SAP software implementations, enhance the positive image of both Asseco and SAP in the eyes of our existing clients, and eventually increase our chances of attracting new customers,” said Marek Gruchowski, the program coordinator at Asseco Poland.

Asseco Poland S.A. is the largest IT company listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange and a major player in the European software production market with headquarters in Rzeszów. It employs almost 3500 people. The Asseco's SAP technology competence centre has more than 80 vastly experienced specialists, who have already carried out dozens of major projects for the largest Polish companies in various industries (including mining, oil, and chemical enterprises). Our consultants have experience in the area of implementation of integration platform based on SAP NetWeaver PI, creation of applications in accordance with the Enhanced SOA model in the SAP Enterprise Portal, and core data management based on SAP Master Data Management.

Asseco to offer Magic Software's solutions

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 00:00:00 +0100

The distribution agreement concluded with Magic Software, an Asseco Group company and the producer of internationally recognized uniPaaS and iBOLT technologies, will enrich the Asseco Poland's portfolio within systems development and integration.

Magic Software Enterprises Ltd. (NASDAQ: MGIC), a global provider of mobile and cloud-enabled application development platforms and business system integration solutions, has signed an agreement with Asseco Poland S.A. under which it shall act as a distributor of Magic Software's products in Poland.

Wojciech Wożniak, Vice President of Asseco Poland S.A., commented: "I am extremely satisfied that our offering has been enriched with the advanced technology of Magic's iBOLT and uniPaaS platforms. Asseco has become a main distributor of these products in the Polish market, and has, therefore, gained the ability to provide its clients with high-end development and integration solutions. We will also use our best efforts to attract more potential users of uniPaaS and iBOLT technologies."

Commenting on the agreement, Guy Bernstein, CEO of Magic Software, said: "This agreement is an important step forward as we pursue our strategic goal of broadening and invigorating our community of distributors. Moreover, we anticipate that this will open the door to additional activities with other Asseco Group subsidiaries, such as Asseco Central Europe, Asseco Germany, Asseco Spain, and Asseco South Eastern Europe." He added: "The fact that one of Europe’s largest and most influential software vendors has chosen to become our distributor is a significant vote of confidence in our company, our technology stack, and our business potential in the region. We aim to leverage on Asseco’s mighty footprint in the Polish market to expand our local presence, and will also seize this opportunity to increase our business activities in other Central and Eastern European countries."

uniPaaS platform is known in Poland as Magic or Magic eDeveloper. It is used by central offices, power companies, insurance companies, many enterprises from various industries as well as by a myriad of small businesses. uniPaaS is a powerful code-free platform for the development of mobile applications, independent of the operating system, database, and hardware platform used, in a remarkably short time that is unachievable using other tools. This is possible as all functionalities of an application (data structures, operating algorithm, business logic, presentation of data) are created in an interface-controlled high-level environment.

iBOLT platform is one of the latest tools developed by Magic Software. This solution is designed to support the integrated management of business processes. It guarantees quick and easy customization of IT infrastructure to changing business needs. It also enables the implementation of service-oriented architecture (SOA) in order to improve efficiency, reduces operating costs and optimize IT infrastructure.

Asseco is a leading vendor in Central European Government sector

Thu, 26 Jan 2012 00:00:00 +0100

The Top 10 IT vendors serving the government sector in Central and Eastern Europe's Visegrad Group (V4), consisting of the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia, account for over half of total government IT spending in the region. According to a study by IT market research company IDC released in December, the top vendors in the government sector were: Asseco, Atos, BIW Koncept, HP, IBM, Microsoft, Oracle, SAP, Telefonica O2 Business Solutions and T-Systems.

“With more than $2.2 billion in government spending in play in 2011 and $2.35 billion forecast for 2012, the stakes are high in the V4 government sector," says Mark Yates, research analyst for IDC Government Insights. "While winning contracts through tenders depends on making a compelling case, it also depends heavily on reputation and branding, and vendors that stay top-of-mind through concerted promotions and outreach have a significant edge."

The three leading vendors – Asseco, HP and IBM – accounted for more than half of the revenue from the top 10 and more than a quarter of total IT spending in the government sector. According to IDC examination - Asseco proved formidable competitor to global players, particularly in our home country market.

IDC expects competition for contracts to intensify as budgets get cut, the eurozone crisis continues, and recession threatens the Western half of the continent. IDC also believes an independent, high-level assessment of the key players is essential to vendors looking to maintain (or even expand) market share in the government sector. Top IT Vendors in the Government Sector in Central Europe alerts IT vendors to the competitive environment in the government sector in the four core Central European markets of the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia. It ranks the top 10 IT vendors serving the government sector by revenue, examines their positions (strengths, weaknesses, etc.), and offers insight into how to further develop the sector.

About IDC
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