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ICT EXPECTS PROFITABILITY TO RECOVER IN SECOND HALF OF 2007

05/23/2007

Traditionally, the start in the first quarter was hesitant. In addition to this, the consequences of the bankruptcy of BenQ Mobile and the reorganisations at a number of important Automotive customers which took place in the second half of 2006, affected the result over the first three months of this year. Besides, from a geographical point of view, the developments at ICT Embedded in the Netherlands show a mixed picture. Expanding the client base in Groningen and Deventer proves to be more difficult than expected, which results in a substantially lower capacity utilisation compared to Eindhoven. It is expected that the capacity utilisation at ICT will further improve in the second quarter and will be at the desired level again in the second half of 2007.  

ICT’s strategy remains unchanged and is still aimed at further expanding its position in its chosen markets with the objective to become one of the leading players in those markets. For ICT Solutions, the heart of the activities will remain in the Netherlands. For ICT Embedded, in addition to focus on the Netherlands, the further development of the German activities will be given a high priority. In March 2007, ICT announced that it has signed a letter of intent for the acquisition of a 60% stake in the German company LINEAS Automotive. 

At the end of the first quarter of 2007, the number of employees amounted to 891, compared to 910 at year-end 2006. The phenomenon of the tightened labour market still continues to exist. The increase in tariffs is slightly higher compared to the increase in tariffs in 2006. The increase in salary expenses is comparable to the increase of salary expenses in 2006. The increase in salary expenses however is still higher than the increase in tariffs.