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section 10.2.1 of this prospectus). Among the legal, administrative or legislative proceedings that<br />

relate to the Company and/or its subsidiaries are:<br />

The French competition authority is currently investigating a complaint of one of Accentiv’<br />

Kadéos’ competitors related to the length of exclusive product acceptance and distribution<br />

arrangements entered into with certain of the Group’s affiliated merchants for some of the Group’s<br />

products. On March 2, 2010, the French competition authority rejected the competitor’s request for<br />

an injunction. At this stage, the Group is not able to predict the outcome of the investigation.<br />

In Italy, a court in Rome has invalidated certain Ticket Restaurant ® trademarks due to their<br />

generic nature. The case is being appealed to the appellate court in Rome. Even if the final decision<br />

has the effect of ending the exclusive right to use the Ticket Restaurant ® mark, the Group will not be<br />

prevented from using the mark and would not expect such a decision to have a material adverse<br />

effect on its business.<br />

To the best of the Company’s knowledge, as of the date of this prospectus neither the<br />

Company nor any of its subsidiaries have been threatened with litigation that could have a material<br />

adverse effect on the Group’s results of operations or its financial position.<br />

<strong>SECTION</strong> 2 ‐ MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF RESULTS OF OPERATIONS AND<br />

FINANCIAL CONDITION<br />

2.1 Introduction<br />

The business of New Services has recorded significant growth on a regular basis over a period<br />

of many years, driven by geographic expansion, the introduction of new products, increased market<br />

penetration and a targeted acquisitions policy designed to raise issue volume and increase market<br />

share.<br />

The Group’s growth has led to higher issue volumes, which have in turn systematically<br />

increased funds from operations. Due to the nature of its activities, New Services has been able to<br />

grow without the need to raise significant amounts of financing, as the Group’s business does not<br />

require significant recurring capital expenditures, and its working capital requirements are structurally<br />

negative.<br />

The business of New Services benefits from significant diversification, both in terms of<br />

product lines and geographically. This has enabled the Group to realize regular and sustained growth<br />

overall, even though the performance of a given product in a given country might fluctuate in any<br />

period. The Group’s sales force is organized by country or region, close to the customer base,<br />

allowing the Group to adjust rapidly to changes in the market, seeking to deploy the Group’s entire<br />

product line in an optimal manner in each regional market.<br />

In 2009, in spite of the global economic crisis, these advantages enabled the Group to<br />

maintain overall growth in issue volume and funds from operations at constant scope of consolidation<br />

and exchange rates, in all of the regions in which the Group operates. However, external factors, such<br />

as the devaluation of the Venezuelan bolivar fuerte and falling interest rates worldwide, affected the<br />

Group’s reported results for the fiscal year.<br />

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