Amidst the crisis, Totvs focuses on abandoned markets
Valor Econômico 02/19/2009
Quoting the motto of Barack Obama's presidential campaign, José Rogério Luiz, Totvs' executive and financial vice-president shows how the company is facing the moment of economic turbulence. "Yes, we can", he says. With the conclusion of the integration with Datasul, the executive points out the gains the company acquired in the negotiations with suppliers and even in the retention and hiring of new employees, factors that helped the company results in 2008. Totvs is currently the ninth largest management software company in the world and it concentrates 40% of the national market. The number of active clients of the company got to 22.9 thousand in 2008. Rogério Luiz affirms that, amid the crisis, abandoned segments, like parts of the educational sector and the furniture market, are opportunities for operation. "How are they going to grow without a management system?", he asks. Another area that generated businesses and will continue doing so is the implantation of the Public System of Digital Bookkeeping (Sped, in Portuguese), which entered a new stage on January 1st. In addition to that, the company is also betting on its internationalization, mainly through Mexico and Argentina. "In Argentina there are few companies capable of catering to the small and mid-sized enterprises", he says. In Mexico, Totvs and Datasul operations are being remodeled and it is expected that they should reach the breaking even point in the first quarter of the year. The net income of Totvs in 2008 amounted to R$ 884.9 million (US$ 483.5 million), an increase of 27.6% in relation to the previous twelve months. The net profit was R$ 71.49 million (US$ 39.1 million), compared to the R$ 72.06 million (US$ 37.3 million) registered in the previous year.