Aareon increases revenues

Mainz, Germany, 29 March 2019 – Aareon, Europe’s leading provider of systems and consulting services for the property industry and its partners in the digital age, again increased its consolidated revenues and EBIT in the 2018 financial year. The proportion of international business also went up. With a view to positioning the Group for the future, Aareon increased its expenditure on research and development and launched a strategic investment programme. In addition, the Group will begin implementing a more market- and product-oriented new organisational structure for its business operations on 1 April 2019.

Revenues and EBIT up

EBIT increased by 5.9% to € 35.9 million (previous year: € 33.9 million), with consolidated revenues rising by 6.9% to € 236.6 million (previous year: € 221.3 million). As a result of Aareon Group’s increasing internationalisation, the International Business segment’s contribution to consolidated revenues rose further to 37.1% (previous year: 36.3%). The number of employees also increased to 1,581 as of 31 December 2018 (previous year: 1,559), with 447 of them working at head office in Mainz (previous year: 431).

ERP and digital solutions for the property industry and related sectors

Aareon was able to successfully market its growing product portfolio of digital solutions and further consolidate its leading market position in the area of ERP products by expanding its customer base. The country-specific ERP systems are the cornerstone of the Aareon Smart World digital ecosystem, a platform that links the residential and commercial property industries to the digital solutions. Ongoing development of the ERP solutions focused on incorporating new functionalities and technologies. In Germany, the migration from the GES solution to other Aareon ERP solutions continued according to plan. For example, 420,000 units were migrated to Wodis Sigma over the course of 119 projects. With more than 1,000 customers, Wodis Sigma has become increasingly established as the industry standard. The number of customers for SAP® solutions and Blue Eagle also rose, and the ERP solution RELion was connected to Aareon Smart World.

The volume of business with digital solutions saw a sharp increase of around 16% year-on-year. Aareon has thus strengthened its market position as a digital solution provider for the property industry and related sectors. In addition, Aareon is involved in the PropTech scene, for example through cooperations with PropTech companies. And with Ampolon Ventures, a new structure was created within Aareon Group to test business ideas in the market and establish start-up companies.

Energy suppliers are important partners of the property industry. In Germany, Aareon offers solutions that optimise processes for both sides, thus providing a comprehensive portfolio of services for the energy supply industry. Several customers have already opted for the new Aareon Vacancy Management solution, which connects housing companies, energy providers and meter reading companies with each other.

Innovations and new technologies – investing in the future

Aareon’s collaborative research and development activities form the foundation of its digital solution portfolio. Due to this central importance, the total expenditure for research and development activities increased to € 34.9 million (previous year: € 30.9 million). The key success factors of research and development are innovative and user-centric cooperation with customers – for example through pilot projects, design thinking workshops and innovation partnerships – as well as cross-border knowledge transfer among Aareon experts. Aareon’s InnovationLabs are testing new technologies such as drones for traffic control, chatbots for tenant communication, virtual reality and intelligent personal assistants like Alexa. The focus here is on the benefits and technical integration possibilities of these solutions.

Outlook: Strategic investment program and new organisational structure for business operations

Society and the economy are undergoing a dynamic transformation process. In recent years, Aareon has successfully adapted to this trend by steadily expanding its offering – Aareon Smart World – as well as by tackling important future-oriented projects, making acquisitions and further developing its organisational structure. Over the coming years, Aareon Group will further develop its ERP solutions with a view to the future and significantly accelerate its growth, particularly in the area of digital products. This will be achieved mainly through in-house developments using new technological possibilities, but also through acquisitions should appropriate opportunities arise.  Aareon will also continue to collaborate with PropTech companies and founders. The growth initiative is expected to make a significant contribution to doubling Aareon’s EBIT in the medium term.

In addition, a new organisational structure will be implemented for Aareon Group’s business operations. Dr Manfred Alflen, Aareon’s Chief Executive Officer, explains: “As a group of companies, we have become larger and more international. Our strategic investment programme is aimed at accelerating our growth, and we are already setting the course for this with a new organisational and operational structure for our business operations. We are focusing in particular on market and customer requirements as well as increased cooperation across all market and product units.” In future, the organisational structure of Aareon’s business operations will consist of three international divisions, i.e. divisions that are spread across all country organisations: a market division for consulting and sales, a division for all ERP solutions and outsourcing business and a division for digital business and ventures. The Market Division will be headed by Chief Market Officer Sabine Fischer, the ERP Systems and Outsourcing Division by Chief Operations Officer Dr André Rasquin and the Digital Solutions Division by Chief Digital and Ventures Officer Dr Imad Abdallah.

As part of the organisational adjustments and the planned development of further market potential in Austria and Switzerland, Aareon’s management in Germany will also assume responsibility for business in the Austrian and Swiss markets in the future. The Management Board for Germany, Austria and Switzerland will be composed as follows: Torsten Rau will be Managing Director for ERP Business at Aareon Deutschland GmbH as well as Chairman of the Management Board. Carsten Wiese will become Managing Director with responsibility for the Market Division at Aareon Deutschland GmbH. Eberhard Villmow will remain Managing Director at Aareon Deutschland GmbH with a focus on developing the business of the mse companies together with their respective managing directors. As members of the Management Board, Alf Tomalla will continue to be responsible for Digital Solutions Management, Sylvia Clöer for Human Resources and Organisation and Markus Claß for Controlling.

The organisational measures will be implemented on 1 April 2019. Dr Alflen: “With our strategic investment program and new organisational structure, we are taking an important step towards sustainably exploiting the existing market potential, taking even better account of customer requirements and thus generating added value for our stakeholders – that is, customers, investors and employees.”

Aareon Annual Report for 2018 published

The Aareon Annual Report 2018 entitled "Next level values" stands for user orientation on the one hand and innovative strength on the other. Case stories demonstrate how Aareon generates added value for the property industry and its partners in the digital age.