Atea „r 52+4 EN

For 2002 Atea shows a positive result of nearly SEK
65 million before tax. This is not in line with original
expectations, but despite everything it creates some
freedom and the possibility of continuing businessdevelopment
work.
CHALLENGING YEAR FOR THE ENTIRE INDUSTRY
2002 has been challenging for the entire IT-industry,
to say the least. It was predicted that the end of 2002
would be characterised by a degree of recovery and
a renewed will to invest, but instead of growth during
the second half of 2002, the market continued to
be weak. Sales of Home PCs in Sweden and Norway
have contributed to the positive result.
During 2002 Home PCs have been an important
part of Swedish business. Atea Sweden has supplied
around 55,000 computers to our customers’ staff.
Norway, too, has a favourable tax system for Home
PCs, and there too Atea has increased its market
share in this area.
CONTINUED RESTRAINT
The target group is the 300 or so biggest companies
and organisations in the Nordic countries in question.
This part of the market has been particularly
restrained in its investments in IT-products during
the year. Many companies have chosen to extend
the product’s life span by up to 12 months, thus postponing
their investments.
In 2002 Atea has constantly tried to adapt the
organisation to the changed market conditions.
During the year we have also worked on consolidating
our market position in our target group, as a
company and a brand. As a result of this work Atea
A challenging first year for Atea
has gained many new and important customers,
incl. the Danish Armed Forces, the Finnish Ministry
of Trade, the Norwegian Post Office and Skanska in
Sweden.
The business concept of the Atea Value Chain,
combined with the market-leading makes such as
HP, IBM, Fujitsu Siemens, Microsoft and Dell, has
borne fruit. The role as an independent adviser and
service and logistics partner has been valued by more
and more major customers.
INCREASED FOCUS ON COST AND FUNCTION
The market, formerly driven hard by technical shifts,
has significantly matured. Now, especially in Atea’s
segment, it is governed by a balance between good
function and correct cost.
Much is said about Total Cost of Buying (TCB)
and Total Cost of Ownership (TCO). Both concepts
are gaining an increasingly central role in decisions on
purchase of IT-products, and cover even more complex
products such as servers and storage products.
During 2002 Atea invested in skills consolidation in the
field of servers and storage products, in order to better
meet customers’ needs. This facilitates a greater
overall grip on all infrastructure products.
A BROADER OFFERING
In 2001 and 2002, when many companies’ finances
were strained, interest in recycling services increased.
It is mainly the possibility of recycling equipment in
new departments and workplaces, or amongst new
staff, that has contributed to this great interest.
The recycling service gives customers the opportunity
to securely delete all sensitive information
5
Managing director’s comments
Atea has been operating as an independent group for just over a year, and we can now present our
first twelve-month annual accounts. Thanks to committed staff in our four Nordic subsidiaries, Atea
has got off to a good start and can summarise 2002 as a tough but profitable year.
from hard disks so the equipment can be sold or
recycled.
THE NORDIC COUNTRIES – ONE MARKET
During 2001 and above all 2002 Atea has seen
changed purchasing behaviour in the market for ITproducts.
A number of major Nordic companies have
chosen to centralise the purchasing function on a
Nordic basis. They thus choose to work with a partner
who can manage the Nordic market as an entity.
Centralisation increases standardisation, which in turn
considerably lowers purchase and ownership costs.
Atea is established in the four Nordic countries, and
the sales organisation is also used to dealing with
Nordic customers. These companies thus see Atea as
a strong alternative.
So as to be able to cope with further changes in the
market, in 2003 Atea will be installing a new ERP
(Enterprise Resource Planning) system in Denmark
and Finland – the same system as is currently used in
Sweden and Norway. This will provide even better
possibilities of coordinating purchases and logistics
in future. In addition, in the longer term it will lower
IT-development costs.
2003 – AT LEAST AS TOUGH AS 2002
The challenges experienced in 2002 will continue in
2003. In its December report the Swedish Institute
of Economic Research writes about the state of the
international market: “Recovery is slow, however,
and it is estimated that utilisation of resources will
not rise until the beginning of 2004.”
This will of course also affect Atea. Amongst other
things, it will create more stringent cost-control and