SQS -1x Square

 

TIDMSQS 
 
RNS Number : 5223M 
SQS Software Quality Systems AG 
26 May 2010 
 

26 May 2010 
 
                        SQS Software Quality Systems AG 
                            ("SQS" or "the Company") 
 
                                  AGM Statement 
 
 
SQS Software Quality Systems AG (AIM:SQS.L), the world's largest pure play 
supplier of independent software testing and quality management services, will 
hold its AGM at 10.00am (CET) today, 26 May 2010, at the Company's headquarters 
in Cologne, Federal Republic of Germany. 
 
At the AGM, the Company will provide the following update on trading: 
 
As the current year has progressed, we have witnessed improving conditions in 
our markets and are pleased to report a return to growth across the Company's 
key geographies of the UK, Germany and the Nordic region. Trading in the year to 
date has been in line with expectations with staff utilisation rates having 
fully recovered. However, pricing pressure has not diminished and prices are 
still below pre-recession levels. 
 
In response to the improving market outlook, SQS has been investing in 
increasing its consultant base to support its ongoing growth plans. In the year 
to date the Company has hired an additional 170 consultants, the majority of 
which will be deployed in its offshore centres. These additional consultants are 
expected to be fully effective from June 2010. The cost of this investment will 
be borne in the first half of the current year, with the full benefit expected 
to come through during the course of the second half. 
 
The Company has made good progress in its strategy to increase the proportion of 
revenue earned from managed services with an order intake in the year to date of 
approximately EUR15m, of which approximately EUR7m is expected to be recognised as 
revenue in the current year. Significant contract wins include providing a 
global leader in electronics with outsourced software testing, fully executed in 
India, for products involved in the client's product lifecycle management 
application. 
 
SQS has also maintained the rate of expansion of its off-shore business and 
expects to have more than 30% of its consultants based off-shore by the end of 
the current financial year. 
 
Rudolf van Megen, Chief Executive Officer of SQS commented, 
 
"We are delighted to be able to report that the market outlook continues to 
improve and that SQS is growing once again. New client wins and project 
extensions both in our traditional project consulting and in the new field of 
managed services provide evidence of this and justify the resumption of our 
investment in new personnel. 
 
"We are aware that challenges remain in our markets and pricing pressures still 
persist although we are seeing early signs of improvement. However, we are well 
positioned to tackle these challenges and are focused on driving improvements in 
rates during the second half of the year." 
 
Enquiries: 
 
+------------------------------------------+--------------------------+ 
| SQS Software Quality Systems AG          | Tel. +49 (2203) 91 54 0  | 
+------------------------------------------+--------------------------+ 
| Rudolf van Megen, Chief Executive        |                          | 
| Officer                                  |                          | 
+------------------------------------------+--------------------------+ 
| Rene Gawron, Chief Financial Officer     |                          | 
+------------------------------------------+--------------------------+ 
|                                          |                          | 
+------------------------------------------+--------------------------+ 
| Altium                                   | Tel. +44 (0)20 7484 4040 | 
+------------------------------------------+--------------------------+ 
| Tim Richardson                           |                          | 
+------------------------------------------+--------------------------+ 
| Katie Hobbs                              |                          | 
+------------------------------------------+--------------------------+ 
|                                          |                          | 
+------------------------------------------+--------------------------+ 
| ICIS Limited                             | Tel. +44 (0)20 7651 8688 | 
+------------------------------------------+--------------------------+ 
| Tom Moriarty                             |                          | 
+------------------------------------------+--------------------------+ 
| Caroline Evans-Jones                     |                          | 
+------------------------------------------+--------------------------+ 
| Hilary Millar                            |                          | 
+------------------------------------------+--------------------------+ 
 
 
About SQS 
 
SQS is the world's largest pure play supplier of independent software testing 
and quality management services. SQS consultants design and oversee quality 
management processes during the software and IT systems life cycle and test the 
resulting products for errors and omissions. 
 
Headquartered in Cologne, Germany, SQS has approximately 1,500 employees across 
Europe, Asia, North America and Africa. The Group has a strong presence in 
Germany (Cologne, Munich, Frankfurt, Stuttgart, Goerlitz and Hamburg) and in the 
UK (London, Woking, Birmingham, Manchester, Belfast), Ireland, the Netherlands, 
Switzerland, Austria, Sweden, Norway, Finland, India, Egypt, the United States 
and South Africa. SQS also has a minor stake in an operation in Portugal and a 
partnership operation in Spain. 
 
With more than 5,000 completed projects, SQS has a strong customer base 
including 20 FTSE-100 companies, half of the DAX 30 and nearly a third of the 
STOXX-50. It supports clients in a wide range of industries, including major 
corporations such as Allianz, Beazley, BP, Centrica, Commerzbank, Daimler, 
Deutsche Post, Generali, JP Morgan, Meteor, Reuters and Volkswagen. 
 
www.sqs-group.com 
 
 
This information is provided by RNS 
            The company news service from the London Stock Exchange 
   END 
 
 AGMSEMFIIFSSESI 
 

-1x Square (LSE:SQS)
Historical Stock Chart
From Jul 2024 to Jul 2024

-1x Square (LSE:SQS)
Historical Stock Chart
From Jul 2023 to Jul 2024