asknet releases 2008 annual report

Management sees 2008 as a year of consolidation

Karlsruhe, April 30, 2009 – asknet AG, a leading provider of outsourcing solutions for the global electronic software distribution (ESD) industry, today released its annual report for 2008. As shown in the published financial figures, the company continued to expand its growth strategy in 2008, but was affected by the general economic downturn, which began to impact the eCommerce market in the last two quarters of the year. asknet reported that its sales grew by 15% to 74.7 million euros calculated over the year as a whole. The company remains the unchallenged market leader for ePortals for institutions of higher education and research. asknet also maintained its position as the number two independent global provider for electronic software distribution (ESD) solutions.

The Board of Executives views 2008 as a year of consolidation and believes that the company is well positioned for a good start in 2009. “asknet has worked its way to a very good position for high performance in 2009,” explains CEO Gerald Prior. As evidence of this he named contracts that were signed in 2008 with three new high-performing international clients, Panda Security, CollabNet, and Steinberg, who will provide for a strong growth in sales in 2009. Mr. Prior also pointed to technical innovations such as the asknet Shop Cockpit OCM III and the expanded range of subscription platforms that will make it possible to order software on a subscription basis rather than as a one-time purchase. In addition, the scalability of the asknet business model once again proved its worth in 2008. Although the number of transactions climbed from 1,270,000 in 2007 to 1,476,000 in 2008, the number of employees actually decreased slightly in the same period of time. An equity ratio of 43% and liquid assets of over 8 million euros point to a solid financial and assets position.

According to the annual report, the asknet Group’s gross profits rose to 9.0 million euros in 2008, compared to 8.8 million euros the previous year. Gross profit growth was slower than sales growth. In the future, the company expects stable margins of significantly more than 10%. The percentage of end customer sales generated abroad continued to rise in 2008, reaching 64.4% (2007: 58.9%). asknet now operates online shops in over 100 countries in 23 languages for its customers, providing billing in 34 currencies using 24 different payment and billing methods.

In fiscal year 2008, the operating result (EBIT) was -3.1 million euros for the asknet Group (2007: -3.0 million euros). After interest and taxes, the Group reported a net loss of -2.9 million euros for the year (2007: -2.7 million euros).

The management of the asknet Group expects additional new accounts in 2009. This is because the outsourcing of online shops, which offers software providers lower structural costs, will become even more attractive as they face increasing cost pressure. Furthermore,  it is anticipated that eCommerce growth will recover in the medium term.

The Annual Report 2008 of asknet AG is available of today - please download the file (PDF in german) .

 

About asknet
asknet offers its clients customized outsourcing solutions for global software sales via the Internet. Founded in 1995 as a spin-off of the University of Karlsruhe, one of Germany’s most prestigious technical universities, the company has become the number two independent global provider for electronic software distribution. In addition to its fully integrated shop solutions for software publishers, the company develops and maintains portals for software distribution such as softwarehouse.de, Europe's largest platform for downloads of standard software. In 2007, asknet had sales of about 65 million euros. Among its customers are well-known software publishers such as CollabNet, DivX, Ipswitch, F-Secure, Nero, Panda Security, Steganos, and Web.com. asknet supplies software products to around seventy percent of German universities.

Press Contact:

asknet AG
Kirsten Neininger
Phone: +49 (0)721.96458-6399
eMail: kirsten.neininger@asknet.com
www.asknet.com

asknet Inc.
Bernard Haug
Phone: +1 (415) 352-2622
eMail: bernard.haug@asknet.com

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