Wincor Nixdorf AG says it exceeded its profit goals for fiscal year 2007/2008, which ended Sept. 30, despite a battered global economy and a slight drop in retail sales.
 
According to an earnings report released earlier this month, Wincor Nixdorf's net sales were up 8 percent, hitting  €2.3 billion (U.S. $3.3 billion) — bolstered by a 14 percent increase in banking net sales, which comprised 67 percent of company's profit.
 
Despite the company's growth, chief executive Eckard Heidloff did not discount the possibility of a corporate downturn, spurred by the condition of global financial markets.
 
“We are still unable to say whether and when the financial market crisis can be contained or what concrete economic impact it will have on the industrialized and emerging countries,” Heidloff said in the earnings report. “Wincor Nixdorf is therefore preparing itself, especially in the areas of production, sales and service, to respond quickly to possible challenges, primarily by implementing more flexible cost structures to protect margins.”
 
Those measures include a decentralized production system that allows production sites such as those in Singapore, Shanghai and São Paulo to purchase from the markets they serve — an initiative that is expected to combat currency fluctuations and take advantage of regional market surges.
 
Software/services sales for the company also were up, improving 9 percent, to €973 million (U.S. $1.3 billion), from last year.
 
The retail segment dropped 2 percent, from €787 (U.S. $1.1 billion) to €772 (U.S. $1.09 billion).