Tough times for IT

IT companies Computerland and Emax, which are currently in the process of merging, are happy to put 2006 behind them. Computerland posted a revenue of zł.773.4 million last year (a year-on-year drop of 10 percent) and its profits reached zł.2.9 million, falling by 75 percent in comparison to 2005. Emax improved its yearly sales revenue, which grew by 17 percent to zł.444.5 million, but the company's net profits slumped by 73 percent to zł.5.5 million.

Computerland's president, Michał Danielewski, explained that the company's poor H1 affected the year-end result. He said that lower sales were the result of not taking part in low-margin tenders, and that the drop in net profits was a consequence of the company's restructuring program.

The president of Emax, Piotr Kardach, blames unfavorable conditions in the company's key industries for his firm's less-than-stellar results.

"It was the result of a standstill in the market for public-sector contracts and not the best situation in the energy sector," he explained. Kardach added that Emax was also hurt by the delay in carrying out a contract for Polish Post, due to the company's new strategy.

As far as this year is concerned, the companies hope for an improved situation in the market for public-sector contracts. Danielewski underlined that increasing sales are not a priority for the companies, which will start operating as a single entity in the second quarter of this year. "We want to improve operating profitability," he said. "It will be hard to achieve profits in the first three quarters of the year," Danielewski added, saying that H2 will be decisive for the company's annual results.