Mamut results lower than expected

Mamut, the Norwegian
accountancy software providers, have released their fourth quarter results
showing lower than expected results.

The company, which last year took on over 9,000 customers when it won the
support contract for
Microsoft
Office Accounting, said its earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and
amortisation (EBITDA), for 2009 was 14.1m Norwegian Krone (MNOK) compared with
MNOK 13 (£1.42m) for 2008.

“Even though we are not pleased with operating revenues or profitability
levels in the fourth quarter, we have optimised operations and are well
positioned for increased revenues and increased profitability in the coming
quarters,” said Eilert Hanoa, CEO
Mamut.

“Mamut has built a foundation for margin improvements and continued
streamlining of operations to ensure financial scalability when markets improve,
” he added.

A statement from the company said although the EBITDA margin in 2009 is ”
lower than expected,” it has improved by 17% on the previous year.

The software provider managed to reduce operating expenses by 2% throughout
the business.

The company lost ten employees in the last quarter compared to the third
quarter of 2009.

Mamut had 470 employees at the end of 2009, 35 less than the end of 2008.
This is despite the business taking on approximately 9,000 more customers
through the Microsoft handover.

Operating revenues were MNOK 25.5 in Q4 2009 equivalent to a 5% drop compared
with Q3 2009 in Western Europe – which includes the UK Germany, Austria and
Spain.

Mamut agreed a new bank loan of MNOK 180 replacing its existing structure
arranged in 2006.

The business said it will focus on seven countries including the UK, Sweden
and Denmark over the next year. It also confirmed plans to develop and manage
the next steps in the product and service offerings for all users of Microsoft
Office Accounting in the UK.

Further reading:

Microsoft
drops small biz accounting software

Mamut
launches hybrid online and traditional package