Notícias
Octubre 2004
Norman gana cuota de mercado en Europa (inglés)
Antivirus and security software specialist Norman ASA continued its trend of growth and profitability in the third quarter, gaining further market share across Europe. This is the tenth consecutive quarter of profitable growth in the European market for Norman. While international market analysts have estimated growth for 2004 in Europe at 10-12 per cent, Norman has outperformed this benchmark, growing revenue between 15 and 60 per cent in its various European markets.
Norman ASA achieved revenues of NOK 51 million in the third quarter, an increase of 15 per cent compared with the same quarter last year. For the first nine months of the year, the company's revenues totalled NOK 156 million, up 17 per cent on last year. EBITDA for the third quarter was NOK 10.5 million, compared with NOK 8.9 million in the same quarter last year. As a result, the EBITDA margin for the quarter rose from 20 per cent to 21 per cent. Profit before tax for the quarter was NOK 9.1 million, compared with NOK 7.7 million last year. For the first nine months of the year Norman achieved an EBITDA of NOK 32.7 million. As a result, the EBITDA margin for the period rose from 19 per cent to 21 per cent. Profit before tax for the first nine months of the year totalled NOK 29.0 million, compared with NOK 23.2 million in the previous year.
"Against the background of a highly competitive market we are very pleased to have achieved organic growth of 17 per cent so far this year while further enhancing our profit margin," says Norman's CEO Henning Hansen. "In the third quarter we have also seen confirmation that Norman's SandBox technology is leading the world in providing proactive protection against new and unknown viruses. I am happy to report that Norman has gained significant traction as a pure play anti-virus and security software vendor during this quarter."
The virus protection of tomorrow
The SandBox technology, which Norman has developed over the past three years, represents a new kind of protection against computer viruses. SandBox offers virus protection regardless of whether a virus is known and antivirus programs updated accordingly. Earlier this year, the highly regarded independent research organisation AV-Test GmbH carried out a comprehensive test of various vendors' solutions for proactive virus protection. The test identified Norman as the clear winner among 22 competitors and highlighted SandBox as the single most effective antivirus technology available today.
The AV-Test results have provided further third-party evidence and corroboration of past industry surveys, in which Norman has consistently scored high marks. Its market-leading SandBox technology positions Norman ideally for further interest from both user organisations and other security vendors. Despite the fact that most users have invested in some form of virus protection, one in three organisations still experience infection, often resulting in major operational problems and financial losses. At the same time, new viruses have become ever more sophisticated, making the market extremely receptive to superior protection solutions.
The virus risk is on the increase
The AV-Test results have provided further third-party evidence and corroboration of past industry surveys, in which Norman has consistently scored high marks. Its market-leading SandBox technology positions Norman ideally for further interest from both user organisations and other security vendors. Despite the fact that most users have invested in some form of virus protection, one in three organisations still experience infection, often resulting in major operational problems and financial losses. At the same time, new viruses have become ever more sophisticated, making the market extremely receptive to superior protection solutions.
Norman has launched a number of new products and services in the third quarter. These include Norman Online Protection (a managed services offering to block viruses and spam), Norman SandBox Information Center and Norman Ad-Aware, products designed to protect against spyware and adware. During the quarter, Microsoft also launched Service Pack 2 for Windows XP, into which Norman's products were integrated with full support for SP2 from the launch date.
In collaboration with our partners, several major contracts were signed with such companies as UK insurer Royal Sun Alliance and global airline SAS Braathens.
Norman's subsidiary Ibas was spun off and floated on the Oslo Stock Exchange on 20 August 2004.
Financial situation and future expectations
Norman's cash reserves increased by NOK 14 million during the third quarter. So far this year, the company has generated NOK 35 million from operations. Adjusted for the sale of own shares and dividend payments, the company's cash reserves rose by NOK 17 million during the first nine months of the year to NOK 95 million.