12/10/2000
The current situation justifies the group directors' optimism about the timeliness of continuing their strategy of accelerated growth in a strong market that is forecast to grow considerably more in the next few years.
The growth of business in this financial year for all the entities that make up Groupe Ingenico has been fully satisfactory, especially in France, where sales began picking up vigorously in the second quarter following a short slowdown in the first few months of the year, after the exceptional growth seen at the end of 1999. Some very substantial contracts, worth about ?100 million in total, have just been made concrete, corroborating the outlook for well-sustained growth over the next few business years.
The group is considering some new acquisitions while it continues its efforts to establish a solid bridgehead in the North American market, which today seems poised to convert to the smart card earlier than previously expected.
To confirm the group's bright outlook, Ingenico's chairman and CEO Jean Jacques Poutrel simply underlines that the Group during the 3rd quarter of 2000 achieved consolidated sales of ?52.5m, against ?36.4m in the same period a year earlier – a 44% increase, about which "there's nothing virtual".
MOBILE PAYMENT: THE MAIN SOURCE OF FUTURE GROWTH
As electronic payment seeks to gain independence from the constraints of telephone communications there is but one solution: wireless EFT/POS terminals. With many of its products certified to EMV Level 1 or 2, Ingenico is positioning itself as the leader in the market for payments by mobile:
"Pay at the table": this traditional market segment in France is spreading internationally, making indisputable breakthroughs in Germany, Italy and Sweden, and in North America, where American Express, among others, has chosen Ingenico as its partner in the United States and Canada.
"Delivery Payment": the development of electronic commerce is creating a whole new market, that of payment at delivery, the electronic offspring of COD that is rapidly developing in the USA where Concorde-EFS, one of the main electronic money networks, has just ordered 5000 ELITE 780 CDPD/Mobitex terminals. Negotiations now underway in North America, Europe, in the Asia/Pacific area and in Brazil lead analysts to envisage strong growth from the potential sales of wireless payment terminals to express courier and parcels services, as well as Post Offices and cellular telephone operators. |
