ORBIS is enjoying continuous growth

The Ordinary General Meeting of ORBIS AG (ISIN DE0005228779), the Saarbrücken-based software and business consulting company, was held as a virtual event for the first time ever this year. The shareholders looked back on a positive 2019 financial year on the whole. Due to the global economic crisis caused by the continuing Covid-19 pandemic and its unforeseeable duration and effects, a proposal was made to the General Meeting that the net profit be carried forward to new account. The ORBIS AG shareholders approved the actions of the members of both the Executive Board and the Supervisory Board for the 2019 financial year at the Ordinary General Meeting.
The shareholders’ meeting re-appointed RSM GmbH, Wirtschaftsprüfungsgesellschaft Steuerberatungsgesellschaft, Georg-Glock-Strasse 4, 40474 Düsseldorf, Germany, as the auditor and group auditor for the 2020 financial year.
Furthermore, the shareholders’ meeting resolved on amendments to the Articles of Association, particularly due to adjustments in accordance with the Act Implementing the Second Shareholders’ Rights Directive (ARUG II) and also in particular due to clarifying amendments to the Articles of Association.
All votes at the General Meeting were adopted almost unanimously in accordance with Management’s proposals.

Mr. Stefan Mailänder (the Chief Financial Officer) outlined the business development for 2019 at the General Meeting:

ORBIS AG recorded a 14.4% year-on-year increase in sales at Group level to €72,266 thousand (previous year: €63,199 thousand).

The number of employees rose accordingly by 10.9% to 562 as at 12/31/2019 (previous year: 507 employees). The increase is partly due to the majority shareholding in Dialog GmbH, Bielefeld, as at July 2, 2019.

Operating profit before depreciation and amortization was up significantly to €6,739 thousand (previous year: €4,582 thousand). EBIT increased slightly by 4.1% to €3,595 thousand (previous year: €3,453 thousand).
The share of the consolidated result attributable to the shareholders of ORBIS AG amounts to €1,972 thousand after taxes and minority interests, making it slightly lower than in the previous year (€2,185 thousand).

This corresponds to a result per share of 22.3 cents (previous year: 25.3 cents per share).

The cash flow from operating activities is clearly positive at €4,143 thousand. Cash and cash equivalents in the Group amounted to €10,470 thousand as at the balance sheet date.

The equity ratio as at December 31, 2019, was 54.2%.

Mr. Mailänder clarified that ORBIS is still very well positioned for the future from both a market orientation and a financial strength standpoint

This is a clear competitive advantage, especially in 2020 and 2021 when the coronavirus crisis is still ongoing, and fundamentally important to the stability and successful future of ORBIS, he commented.
Despite the clearly negative market environment and the resulting project postponements or even cancellations of customer orders, he explained that ORBIS expects business to continue to develop positively.

In his remarks, Mr. Thomas Gard (Chairman of ORBIS AG’s Executive Board), emphasized that in the 2019 financial year the company had once again succeeded in reaching numerous customers and prospects with the consulting services and products that ORBIS offers.
ORBIS has successfully positioned itself as a business process consulting company, he said.
He then added that ORBIS relies on the solutions of its partners SAP and Microsoft, as well as on its own proprietary products.
The proprietary products and solutions complemented and refined SAP’s and Microsoft’s processes.

Mr. Gard further explained that the Hörmann Group’s investment in ORBIS AG would have a positive impact on ORBIS’s international business, since the ORBIS business could be expanded at Hörmann’s sites.
He believes there are great synergies for new topics that can be built up with SAP and Microsoft together with Hörmann as a result of the investment. He reckoned that this would also strengthen ORBIS’s image at SAP and Microsoft.

With regard to the prospects for 2020 for ORBIS as a whole, Mr. Gard highlighted that topics relating to digitalization and Industry 4.0 were playing an increasingly important role for companies.
ORBIS’s goal, he remarked, is to stand by its customers as a partner for the digital transformation.

According to Mr. Gard, ORBIS is in a fantastic position for the future thanks to its partnerships with SAP and Microsoft.
He also went on to comment that the knowledge and solutions at ORBIS are also an excellent basis for driving forward future growth. Continued investment in innovations, expertise and the recruitment of new employees would be vital to achieving this despite the challenging situation on the IT labor market.

Mr. Gard went on to say that ORBIS has great opportunities overall for sustainable corporate development despite the persistence of the Covid-19 crisis.

For more information, please visit orbis.de
or contact
Dr. Sabine Stürmer, Head of Investor Relations at ORBIS AG
Tel: +49 (0)681 99 24 605, E-Mail: sabine.stuermer@orbis.de