Mülheim an der Ruhr (Germany), August 23, 2018
EASY SOFTWARE AG held its annual general meeting on August 21, 2018 at Stadthalle (Guildhall) Mülheim. The activities of the Management and Supervisory Boards were approved. Ebner Stolz GmbH & Co. KG auditing company and tax consulting firm of Hanover, Germany, was elected to be the new auditor for FY 2018. The administration supports this election, based on a shareholder proposal. The detailed voting results can be viewed in the Investor Relations section on the company’s home page at www.easy-software.com.
In his report on the past financial year and in the ensuing general debate, outgoing Management Board spokesman Willy Cremers delivered a detailed presentation particularly of the results of the transformation program EASY FIT that was completed in 2017. This program succeeded, above all, in making the product portfolio fit for the future, repositioning Direct Sales, and installing agile processes. Management Board colleagues and the Supervisory Board, as well as the convening shareholders, thanked Mr. Cremers for his contributions, wishing him all the best for the future.
Dieter Weißhaar, future CEO, then explained the new EASY 21 strategy following EASY FIT. This strategy rests on the four pillars of cloud business roll-out as a growth engine, differentiation from competitors through market launch of other innovative solutions, generation of economies of scale via progressive internationalization, as well as deepening the value chain to reduce the sub-contractor portion that inhibits margins. Improved growth capabilities and a reduced complexity within processes are to contribute towards achieving sustainable growth faster than the market, and to improve the EBITDA margin to more than 10 percent in the medium term. The overall goal of the strategy is to establish EASY SOFTWARE as the leading digitization partner in the Content Service sector.
Despite successes in the cloud sector, the Management Board was not satisfied on the revenue side during the first half of 2018. However, some of the postponed licensing projects were implemented in the meantime, so the impact on the entire year has yet to make itself felt. A more detailed representation of business developments during the first six months of 2018 will be given in the consolidated half-year financial statement, to be published August 31, 2018.
Agenda items 8 to 11 did not get the necessary majority votes. This particularly affects passing a resolution on issuing new Authorized Capital 2018, including the possibility of excluding subscription rights and of extending the Supervisory Board by adding a fourth member. The existing Authorized Capital 2014 continues to be available.
EASY SOFTWARE AG
The Management Board