It’s always jam tomorrow at Dansk Data Elektronik A/S. The Herlev, Denmark manufacturer of Unix multiprocessors, turned in pre-tax losses equivalent to $1.1m for the year, despite promises in its half-time report that it would be in profit at this time. It said its optimism last December had resulted from from high levels of activity in the first half, but sales and margins in a few subsidiaries had been particularly disappointing, especially towards the end of the year, and it has made a number of employees redundant in less profitable businesses and plans to undergo more restructuring, taking a $922,680 hit during the coming year. It had reduced its pre-tax losses to $1.1m from $1.5m last time and it reports that, for the first time foreign subsidiaries showed a profit of $276,804 compared with a loss last year of $922,680. And, once again, relentlessly optimistic, it has high hopes for the coming year. Its core activities produced a $2.7m profit, which was below expectations, but the company retained its position as Denmark’s leading Unix supplier, increasing its market share to 56%. Continued development of its computer system for the newspaper industry resulted in the Euromax A/S subsidiary, which was established in May last year, showing a loss of $3.8m, greater than had been calculated, but the group said the system has been well received in the world market. It installed a system with Belgium’s largest newspaper publishers at the turn of the year which took longer and cost more than expected, and gained orders from Norway, US and New Zealand. The group said it would not be changing any plans regarding the subsidiary or product and said rising sales and falling losses were the order of the day this year.
