Abacus strengthens in Germany, Austria

The team, who have worked together in the German electronic distribution sector for many years, will join Abacus from 1 November They will allow Abacus to significantly expand its operation in through the opening of three new regional offices in addition to the existing Munich and Stuttgart offices. The new General Manager, Jurgen Kirtzel will take over with immediate effect the day to day operations in Germany and Austria from Werner Hohmann, who is to become the President of Abacus Germany. Abacus initially entered the German market through its acquisition of Deltron in January 2006. The Board of Abacus Group estimates that the enlarged sales and marketing capability will make a financial contribution in the year commencing 1 October 2007 and will cost net £0.7 million to establish in the current financial year. The Group has continued to make good progress with the integration of Deltron and Axess and results for the year just ended are expected to be in line with our expectations. The announcement of the Abacus Group preliminary results for the twelve months ending 30 September 2006 will be on 30 November 2006. "Germany is the largest market for electronic component distribution in Europe with total sales in 2005 of 3.1 billion Euros (Europartners 2005 report). This is a fabulous opportunity for Abacus to significantly expand its geographic coverage in this market with an experienced team for a modest net investment. This move is part of Abacus strategy to increase its presence in Germany through organic development and acquisition", Martin Kent, Abacus Group CEO, commented.