Mapmaker AND expects spectacular growth for 2009

21 Apr 2009

AND International Publishers expects its sales to triple and profit to increase five-fold in 2009, based on a recently signed licence agreement with a US company for the use of its maps of Western Europe.

The 2008 financial year, AND ended with profits up 8.5%, despite sales being 20% lower than the previous year. Profit after tax reached €1.33 billion, and EPS rose from €0.39 to €0.41. The company expects its EPS will reach around €2 in 2009.

Expecting more opportunities for further organic growth, not only by the continuing strong growth of Smartphones, but also by the efforts of other players in the online market who try to capture a position on the mobile Internet through location-based services, the company looks forward to profit from the future development, when almost every mobile electronic device will be fitted with GPS capability, which will result in the increasing use of maps, which leads AND to further revenue growth and improved results after 2010.

As the third largest digital map provider in its market, AND is the only independent one. The newly signed contract enables the company to accelerate further development of its advanced database and so position itself even more effectively in the market, with the necessary investments financed entirely from the company's own capital.

According to CEO Maarten Oldenhof, the developments in 2009 will result in a spectacular growth in profit confirming AND's strategy of organic growth on an independent basis, in a market where several parties have merged.

AND has also announced that Mr F Faas wishes to step down from the AND board of supervisory directors. The company will honour his request and will present a proposal for his successor in the near future.