Business News
arvatos revenues exceed five billion for the first time ever
Friday 01. April 2011 - Revenues increase 257 million to 5.083 billion Operating EBIT up Record payout to employees More than 3,500 new employees worldwide
On the whole, the 2010 business year was a positive one for arvato AG. The internationally networked comprehensive services provider grew its business operations significantly and its revenues exceeded the five-billion mark for the first time ever.
Revenues increased by 5.3 percent from 4.826 billion in 2009 to a new record at 5.083 billion. The Group also improved its operating result to 350 million. The beneficiaries of the positive business performance of both arvato and its parent company Bertelsmann include arvatos employees, who will receive more than 40 million in profit sharing and bonuses. This is a record sum, and double the amount of last years profit sharing. On 31 December 2010, the reporting date, arvato had 63,985 employees in more than 30 countries (previous year: 60.323).
“In all, 2010 was a satisfactory year for arvato,” said Rolf Buch (45), CEO of arvato AG and a member of the Bertelsmann AG Executive Board. “After laboring under the delayed effects of the economic crisis for the first half of the year, we were able to greatly improve our growth dynamic in the second half. In the last quarter of 2010 in particular, we achieved growth rates rarely seen in the history of arvato.” The CEO is especially pleased about the fact that all of the companys divisions contributed to this positive overall development. “This shows,” declared Buch, “that our strategic approach of offering customers custom-tailored, integrated solutions along comprehensive value chains works. We are generating growth and adding market share.” Buch reports that integrated services now account for more than 50 percent of arvatos revenues.
The positive business performance of the past business year was also fueled by the Groups resolute implementation of its growth strategy. Says Buch: “Our revenues, result and employee headcount are up mainly because we successfully recruited new customers all over the world, effectively expanded our existing customer relationships and developed new products and services.” According to Buch, over the past two years arvato has also managed to “once again considerably improve the competitiveness of all business units and expand its lead over competitors – some of which have come under very strong pressure – especially in the print, replication and call-center business.”
arvatos print services division did well in Germany and the U.S. last year. In both markets, arvatos companies were able to defend or even enhance their leading position. In fact, for the Mohn media group 2010 was one of the most successful business years ever. It further expanded its production capacity, added numerous new customers and established new services on the market. It also added brochure printing to its portfolio of services and produced nearly a billion advertising leaflets for two new customers, Netto and Real. Buch said: “Mohn media has transformed itself into an integrated provider of all services related to print production and is well ahead of the competition.” The Prinovis gravure corporation, a joint venture between arvato, Gruner + Jahr and Axel Springer AG, stood its ground in a market that continues difficult. In Spain, arvato responded to a continuing tense market situation by merging two printing plants in Madrid to further optimize its own processes.
arvatos other businesses showed very varied performances across the different countries, markets and sectors in 2010. “The biggest growth drivers were our call center operations in France and our worldwide financial services business,” concludes Buch. He added that the services operations in the U.K., Asia and Eastern Europe also developed nicely, while the customer loyalty businesses remained stable overall. Meanwhile, service operations on the Iberian Peninsula and the German customer care business came under pressure in 2010 due to adverse market conditions. The CEO expressed his optimism about the future: “With the expansion of distribution services in China and India, the expansion of our European pharmaceuticals services and the acquisition of new customers in the promising online commerce sector, we have vastly expanded our international Supply Chain Management activities and created the basis for further growth.”
The storage media businesses of arvato showed slight growth in 2010, as CD and DVD production volumes continued to decline worldwide. Buch commented: “By systematically expanding our integrated service offerings, we managed to win new customers, expand our business relationships with existing customers and capture additional market share as a result of this positive development.” He also pointed out that arvato has made worldwide investments in expanding its production capacity for the high-resolution Blu-ray format. “In Europe, we were able to enter the promising field of merchandising last year, and also established ourselves as an innovative provider in Electronic Software Distribution.” Buch added that the storage media businesses in Asia and South America and in particular Brazil also showed growth.
“We made good progress again last year in expanding our business operations in the IT sector,” said Buch in reference to arvato systems, reporting that the IT services provider had once again achieved profitable growth and considerably expanded its range of services in 2010. The direct sales company Inmediaone delivered a “pleasing” performance, according to Buch. It increased its revenue and earnings and has successfully established the new Internet-based educational offerings Scolaris and Prescolaris on the market under the Brockhaus umbrella.