Micropole-Univers, a European Consulting and Services Company specialized in the fields of Business intelligence, E-Business, ERP and CRM, attained a turnover of €46.7 M over the 1st semester of 2009, as opposed to 46.2 million euros over the same period last year, representing growth of a little over 1%.
In the second quarter, the consolidated turnover was slightly down at € 24.5 m as opposed to €24.7 m in 2008. These second quarter figures include the business generated by Isartis, a specialist ERP SAP consulting company, now wholly owned by Micropole-Univers.
On a like-for-like basis (same exchange rate and excluding Isartis figures), Micropole-Univers attained a 45.1 million- euro turnover over the first half of 2009, a 2.4% drop compared to the 1st semester 2008. The Q2 2009 turnover, again using like-for-like criteria, stood at €22.9 m, a drop of 7.5% compared to the previous year.
The decline observed over the second quarter 2009, particularly noticeable in April and May, involved all 3 business activities of the Group (consulting and integration, re-sales, training) but with varying degrees of severity and different underlying causes.
Consulting and Integration activity
Q2 2009 results were hit by an automatic seasonal effect:
- In France, there were two fewer working days than in 2008, and the rate of paid leave taken soared by almost 15% compared to the same period in 2008. Leaving aside the effects of this seasonal dip for the 2nd quarter 2009, France has maintained organic growth, with the Consulting and Integration business revenues up by 1%.
- In Switzerland, the number of working days had a higher impact, with only 6O working days in the 2nd quarter 2009 as opposed to 63 for the same period the previous year, a decrease of 5%. Despite this, the Swiss business continued to show steady organic growth of over 5%.
Re-sales Business
Micropole-Univers’ re-sales business recorded a 40% drop year-on-year for the second quarter 2009. An overall decline for the first half-year is partly due to a change in Group policy arising from a hardening of margin conditions granted by vendors. With a view to maintaining its’ operating income, Micropole-Univers has decided to no longer accept re-sales if the margins are too weak.
Training Business
The training business registered the greatest drop, after a particularly difficult start to the year. Down 15% for the first quarter 2009, it rallied in the 2 nd quarter, with overall turnover down 6. 5% year-on-year for the 1st semester 2009
