After the first six months of 2010 opinions as to whether the economic crisis has been overcome appear to differ. Many of the economic research institutes as well as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have projected a return to growth for the global economy in the current calendar year. By contrast, a number of market analysts remain adamant that the global economy has yet to emerge fully from the recent crisis. Among the reasons cited are the risks associated with high levels of national debt amassed by some states.
With the general outlook remaining largely inconclusive, the investment behavior of retail banks and retailers has also shown no signs of a fundamental turnaround. In fact, the trend seen during recent quarters has remained in place: the propensity to invest varies according to the financial strength of the individual companies and is difficult to gauge in full.
As regards Wincor Nixdorf’s activities, this situation translates into regional as well as seasonal volatility, as reflected in the progression of business from the second to the third quarter of the current fiscal year. Against the backdrop of a sluggish quarterly performance, as anticipated, the company confirms its outlook for fiscal 2009/2010 as a whole, on the basis of which net sales and operating profit will again contract, but by no more than the decline recorded a year ago. Net sales are expected to fall by 3 percent at the most and operating profit by 13 percent at the most. Thereby the adverse effects of the financial and economic crisis on Wincor Nixdorf can be limited.
Regardless of the direction taken in the short term as a result of the general economic climate, the long-term trends witnessed in retail banking and retailing remain unchanged. Prompted by increasingly intense competition, enterprises operating within these two industries are having to place their business processes under close scrutiny. In this context, investments in information technology often provide a basis for optimization, an area in which Wincor Nixdorf is well positioned given its extensive portfolio of services. These include solutions for the automation of checkout processes in the retail industry as well as for safer and more efficient cash handling in the banking industry.
