Cash Flow from operating activities (DKK million) DKK million 1,000 900 800 700 600 500 400 300 200 100 0 2005 2006 2007 2008 <strong>2009</strong> Tangible fixed asset investments (DKK million) DKK million 500 400 300 200 100 0 2005 2006 2007 2008 <strong>2009</strong> Net revenue / Operating margin DKK million 6,000 5,000 4,000 3,000 2,000 1,000 0 2005 2006 2007 2008 <strong>2009</strong> ��Net revenue (DKK million) �� Operating margin 18.0% 16.0% 14.0% 12.0% 10.0% 8.0% 6.0% 4.0% 2.0% 0.0% ECCO’s <strong>Annual</strong> <strong>Report</strong> <strong>2009</strong> / <strong>Annual</strong> result 9
10 The ECCO organisation The ECCO organisation is composed of nine business units consisting of the four sales regions - ECCO Europe, ECCO Asia/Pacific and ECCO Americas - together with ECCO’s four shoe factories and the ECCO Leather Group. In addition to the nine business units, ECCO’s head office in Denmark has an important development and support function in the areas of branding, sales, design, products and concepts, together with the corporate functions of IT, Finance, HR, Logistics, Corporate Conduct, Communication and Legal Affairs. Employees Throughout ECCO’s history, the employees have always been at the centre. Without the best employees, it would never have been possible to create the amazing products and achieve the success which ECCO has experienced for over 40 years. When new employees start at ECCO, they are automatically enrolled in the “From Cow to Shoe” course. This course is a mixture of theory and practice, in which, amongst other things, people learn about the different types of leather and treatments, while at the same time producing their own special shoe from scratch. The exercise is designed to give people an insight into, and a high respect for, the manual work which is still required in modern shoe production. The induction process also includes “Welcome to the World of ECCO”, in which employees meet representatives from the organisation and are introduced to the company’s particular culture and history. Employees learn about other important topics, from the structure of the organisation to ECCO’s ethical guidelines. After the initial introduction, education and development continue to be an integral part ECCO’s <strong>Annual</strong> <strong>Report</strong> <strong>2009</strong> / The ECCO organisation of work as an ECCO employee. The strategy is very simple: lifelong education for the approx. 15,000 employees of the company will ensure that ECCO’s employees always have their finger on the pulse and especially in the areas in which they are working. The educational programmes are selected in cooperation with the individual employee, and a high degree of importance is placed on combining theory with ECCO’s business in practice. The various kinds of education span from ECCO’s International Trainee Education program to graduate or masters courses at international universities. Alongside training for administrative employees, ECCO is continuously developing training programmes for production and store employees. The investment in education and upgrading of employee skills also continued at full strength during <strong>2009</strong>, and ECCO expects to maintain this high level in 2010. More effective systems A new and improved version of the SAP system was implemented at ECCO on 1 November <strong>2009</strong>, a culmination of 2 years’ work on the largest IT project in the company’s history. The aim of the project was to closely integrate ECCO’s core IT processes in production, purchasing, sales, warehousing and finance in order to give ECCO a competitive edge and achieve a stronger position as a united company by reacting and developing much faster in the future. Like all large-scale IT projects, it takes time to implement and solve all the challenges in the transition phase from one system to another. However ECCO expects to be able to reap the benefits of the new system from the third quarter in 2010. The new system also offers solutions for ECCO within Customer Relationship Management, Product Lifecycle Management, Supply Chain Management and Data Warehousing. ECCO’s Management Michael Hauge Sørensen was appointed as a new member of ECCO’s Managing Board at the end of <strong>2009</strong>, effective from 1 January 2010. He assumes responsibility for ECCO’s global sales activities. Michael Hauge Sørensen replaces Flemming O. Nielsen, who has served on the Managing Board since 2008 and will reach the age limit for members of the Managing Board in 2010. Supervisory Board ECCO’s Supervisory Board consists of Chairperson Hanni Toosbuy Kasprzak, Vice Chairman Karsten Borch, Torsten E. Rasmussen and Mogens Munk-Rasmussen together with employee representatives Gitte Jochimsen and Jakob Møller Hansen. Managing Board ECCO’s Managing Board consists of President and CEO Dieter Kasprzak, EVP Production Jens Christian Meier, EVP Global Sales Michael Hauge Sørensen, CFO Annemette Nøhr and EVP Branding & Products Andreas Wortmann.
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