Wincor Nixdorf AG has turned in the best year in its history. The company, which specializes in supplying IT solutions tailored to the branch operations of banks and retailers, has closed fiscal 2007/2008 (ending on September 30, 2008) with an 8% increase in net sales, or 11% adjusted for exchange rate effects. Earnings before interest, taxes and amortization (EBITA) increased by 11%. This result means that Wincor Nixdorf has matched the forecast it issued at the beginning of the fiscal year despite a sharp deterioration in general conditions since then.

The growth rates achieved in fiscal 2007/2008 were again above Wincor Nixdorf's long-term targets of an average of 6% for net sales and 8% growth in EBITA per year. “This growth line still applies to us in the medium term, even if our business performance may become bleaker in the short term due to the global impact of the financial market crisis,” stated Chief Executive Officer Eckard Heidloff in Düsseldorf on November 5, 2008 at the company’s annual press conference, the first press conference held on the basis of preliminary figures.

Heidloff sees the reason for this positive medium-term outlook in the improvements achieved in the company’s business base. “Retail banking has proven to be the business segment in the banking arena that reacts with the least volatility to market circumstance. That will tend to stimulate its renaissance further.” Supporting this development is therefore one of Wincor Nixdorf’s main fields of activity. Investment in expansion and rationalization is also going to continue in retail business due to the fierce competition.

In addition, Wincor Nixdorf has further improved its basis for business with retail banks and retailers by expanding its activities during the past twelve months. For example, global expansion was continued systematically, reducing dependence on individual customers or singular economies.

The company was able to enlarge its portfolio of solutions by adding further innovations that enable banks and retail companies to achieve significant cost advantages and additional customer service in their business processes.
Wincor Nixdorf also expanded its activities in the areas of consulting, software integration, managed services and outsourcing in the year under review. Just as for product-related services, we were able to conclude agreements for services in these areas that run, for the most part, for several years, leading to very stable revenue generation overall. Moreover, expertise in branch/store and self-service business will be applied to adjacent sectors through successful know-how transfer in order to tap additional growth potential.

In view of all this, the CEO is convinced that the current fiscal year 2008/2009 will offer opportunities for Wincor Nixdorf despite the difficult prognosis for the larger economy. “As far as we can see now, we assume that we will be able to follow up the very good previous year’s performance and maintain approximately the same level of business,” says Heidloff.

Despite a forecast that tends to be positive, management at Wincor Nixdorf agrees that it is not possible to tell definitively whether and when the financial market crisis can be contained or what impact it will have on the world economy. That applies to both established countries and newly industrializing countries. Depending on the intensity of the negative effects on the real economy, short-term reductions in retail banks’ and retailers’ capital spending budgets cannot be excluded. Wincor Nixdorf is therefore preparing to respond flexibly to the challenges that may arise. As Chief Financial Officer Dr. Jürgen Wunram states: “Our main priority is to make our cost structures more flexible in order to secure our margins. We are therefore taking suitable steps in production, sales and service to make Wincor Nixdorf ‘weatherproof’.”

On the basis of preliminary figures, Wincor Nixdorf increased its net sales to 2,319 million euros (2,145 million euros) and operating profit (EBITA) to 206 million euros (186 million euros) in the past fiscal 2007/2008. Profit for the period increased even more sharply: by 17% to 127 million euros (109 million euros). After adjusting for amortization of product know-how, profit for the period (cash net income) climbed by 14% to 135 million euros (118 million euros). The proposed dividend is supposed to amount to 2.13 euros and therewith is in line with the company’s policy of distributing around 50 percent of the profit for the period as a dividend. This represents an increase of 13% compared to the previous year’s regular dividend of 1.88 euros (excluding the special dividend of 0.90 euros).