The annual accounts for Alex Andersen Ølund A/S 2007 demonstrated a deficit of about 15,9 million kr. before taxes. The management does not consider the result satisfying but conclude that the number must be seen in connection with the investments and initiatives made in 2007. Therefore the company expects progress and profit from the new investments this year and is not concerned about the future.
New initiatives and investments
The deficit in the annual accounts for Alex Andersen Ølund A/S shows the radical changes the company experienced in 2007. After the merger with Ove Østergaard Lund ApS in 2006 a lot of new investments were necessary. The management firmly believes that these investments was needed but recognizes at the same time that a good gasp on the new situation was lacking. Like all companies going trough a merger, Alex Andersen Ølund A/S needs time to adapt to the new situation and work towards optimizing and profiting from the synergy effects the merger makes possible. At this time the company has already regained a good grasp and is able to see what caused the negative result in the annual accounts of 2007.
According to the management the implementation of a new IT system, used in the planning-, finance- and bookkeeping department is partly to blame for the negative result. The investment was necessary so that optimizing the resources and improving the planning is a high priority in the future. The implementation has unfortunately brought increased personnel expenses and delays in the invoicing process and the registration of CC-containers. The delays have made it difficult to cover the expenses for the container administration the company offers its customers and this has made it necessary to increase the expenses for the CC-container hire.
The investment and implementation of a new fleet manager system has also been expensive. The system is not yet functioning optimally and can therefore be expected to show its effect on the accounts in the upcoming years.
The company also expanded the fleet as a consequence of the demand on transport services being higher than the supply in 2006. The expansion resulted in an overcapacity during the last six months of the year. This happened mainly because of an unexpected drop in the transports on the southbound market.
How do we move on?
The deficit does not mean however that Alex Andersen is not on the right track. The management has started up new projects and prepared new plans of action in order to profit from the new investments made.
Alex Andersen Ølund A/S has thus made:
- adjustments of the capacity in the fleet and have sold 38 lorries on July 1 2008
- price-regulations
- continuing improvements in the implementation of the fleet manager system and the IT system and have achieved a higher profit
- improved the process of invoicing and the registration of CC-containers and improved the communication internally in the company so that return loads of CC-containers have become a high priority
