Unless it is one of the giants, a West German firm would never be so incautious as to announce profits for its first half less than two months after the period ended, but Nixdorf Computer AG has reported encouraging first half turnover figures. The company says that despite competitive pressures, first-half sales were up by 11% to $1,269m, keeping it on its expansion course – and international business rose 13% to $577m, raising further questions about the health of the West German computer market, where the company saw its business rise by only 9% to $692m. Orders in hand rose 11% to $3,100m, with major new orders in the US and the Asia-Pacific region, where the company saw its most encouraging performance. There was no indication of profits.
