Commenting on full-year sales, Alain de Rouvray, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of ESI Group, said: “Our fourth quarter of 2017 marked a return to growth in Licenses at constant exchange rates. However, the strong investments in the Group’s transformation, aimed at securing the success of the “Objective 2020” five-year plan, will substantially impact the 2017 EBIT. On the other hand, the reported rebound in Licenses bodes well for better sales momentum in 2018, supported by the benefits of the strategic investments and management reorganizations made over the last two years. Our new value proposition, based on the Hybrid TwinTM, aims at supporting our customers on predicting their products’ performance and piloting once in operation. This approach has required an in-depth adaptation of our marketing strategy as well as a new alignment of our sales and support teams. Meanwhile, the excellent performance of our Virtual Prototyping core business should continue to boost ESI’s competitiveness in 2018 as the manufacturing industry experiences an unprecedented and accelerated change driven by the demands of the ‘Smart Factory’ and of the ‘Outcome Economy’.
Please click here for financial charts and additional information.