GK Software AG2014年年度報告.pdf

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1、Annual Report2014Summary of Consolidated Results31.12.201431.12.201331.12.2012Change(2014/2013)Sales(EUR K)44,63442,45828,4265.1%Operating performance(EUR K)45,14642,83329,0465.4%Total operating revenues(EUR K)47,33445,28530,7044.5%EBIT(EUR K)(3,015)1,0451,233(388.4)%EBIT margin(on sales)(6.8)%2.5%4

2、.3%EBIT margin(on total operating revenue)(6.4)%2.3%4.0%EBT(EUR K)(2,987)932(1,277)(420.4)%Annual net income(EUR K)(1,870)6011,051(411.1)%Earnings per share(weighted)(EUR)(0.99)0.340.59Earnings per share(diluted)(EUR)(0.99)0.330.59Equity ratio68.4%69.3%63.9%Net debt(EUR K)(9,041)(11,453)(6,907)(21.1

3、)%Development by quarterSales,EBIT,profit3M 2014H1 20149M 2014Total 2014 9,332 (1,082)(1,449)20,213 (1,334)(2,107)30,562 (2,226)(3,114)44,634 (3,015)(1,870)Contents 3Contents2 Summary of Consolidated ResultsA To the Shareholders7 Letter from the Management Board11 Report by the Supervisory Board15 C

4、orporate Governance Report 15 Cooperation between the Management Board and the Supervisory Board15 Transparency15 Risk Management15 Declaration of Compliance18 GKSoftware AG Shares 18 Basic data18 Summary/Share Performance18 Shareholder Structure19 Directors Dealing 201419 Investor RelationsB Consol

5、idated Annual Report23 Economic Report23BusinessandGeneralConditionsofGKSoftware34 Explanation of the Business Results and an Analysis of the Assets,Financial and Earnings Situation40 Report on Key Events 41 Report on the Risks,Prospects and Outlook of the GKSoftware Group41 Risks46 Opportunities 47

6、 Outlook49 Other Information 49PrinciplesoftheGKSoftwareAGsRemunerationSystemC Consolidated Financial Report57 Consolidated Balance Sheet 58 Consolidated Income Statement and other results 59 Group statement of changes in equity 60 Consolidated cash flow statement 62 Notes on the Consolidated Accoun

7、ts 62 Principles of reporting68 Balance Sheet and Assessment Principles82 Notes on the Consolidated Balance Sheet94 Notes on the Consolidated Income Statement98 Notes on the Cash Flow Statement98 Segment Reporting100 Other Information112 Assurance by the legal representatives 113 Audit Opinion113The

8、translationoftheauditorscertificaterelatestothe German version of the consolidated accounts114 Explanatory Notes116 Financial Calendar117 Imprint/NotesA To the Shareholders7 Letter from the Management Board11 Report by the Supervisory Board15 Corporate Governance Report 15 Cooperation between the Ma

9、nagement Board and the Supervisory Board15 Transparency15 Risk Management15 Declaration of Compliance18GKSoftwareAGShares18 Basic data18 Summary/Share Performance18 Shareholder Structure19 Directors Dealing 201419 Investor RelationsLetter from the Management Board 7Letter from the Management BoardDe

10、ar shareholdersWe would like to take this opportunity to present you with the annual report for 2014.We have once again been able to increase revenue as a result of our business activities.AtEUR44.63million,therewasanincreaseofaroundfivepercentcom-paredtothepreviousyearsfiguresofEUR42.46million.Howe

11、ver,ithasnotbeenpossible to continue the positive trend shown during the previous year in the domain ofoperationalperformance.EBITshowedadeficitofEUR(3.02)millionafterwehadachievedafigureofEUR1.05millioninthepreviousyear.ThelossamountedtoEUR(0.99)per share.The principal reason for the result was the

12、 fact that the licence rev-enuesduringthe2014financialyearwereonethirdbelowthatofthepreviousyear.In an environment with a large number of project opportunities,in spite of inten-sive work we were unable to complete important projects anticipated for 2014 and asignificantprojectdidnotmaterialisedueto

13、thesaleofthecompanyconcerned.The failure to achieve our targets was also due to internal postponements of pro-jects which meant that services could not be invoiced to the planned extent.We Rainer GlChiefExecutiveOfficerA|To the Shareholders8have responded to this challenge with a rigorous quality as

14、surance program which is already in progress,in order to be better equipped in this area.In addition to this,in the anticipation of new projects we have expanded our workforce both in terms ofqualityandquantitywiththeresultthatstaffcostsarecurrentlyinadvanceoftherevenuetargets.Consideringthecurrentp

15、rojectopportunitieswithdefinitepros-pects of completion,we anticipate,however,that the investments made in addition-allyqualifiedpersonnelwillbeamortisedduringthe2015financialyear.The2014financialyearhasshownthatourinternationalisationstrategywithSAPhascontinued to develop more and more successfully

16、.In this way we were able to win three projects in South Africa and two in North America.Even if this does not com-pensate for the weak market environment in our domestic market,these important successes show that we are making very good progress.The growth in the service business with GK/Retail,whi

17、ch we were able to expand by 25 percent,has also been encouraging.There has also been growth in the IT Services area,previously AWEK,whichhasbeenabletoincreaseitsrevenuebyalmostfivepercenttoapproximatelyEUR 12 million.After the end of the reporting period,we were able to make an important acquisitio

18、n.WiththeacquisitionofthehighlyprofitableretailbranchoftheUScompanyDBSInc.,which was completed in March 2015,we took an important step towards further developing our position in North America,the largest retail market in the world.The area of the company that we acquired is,on the one hand,geared to

19、wards project development and consultancy,and on the other hand towards creating complemen-tary solutions for the GK Software products.We have approximately 20 employees who are focused on implementing the store projects and who successfully imple-mented the former SAP POS(Travesty)many times.The ac

20、quisition also included a software solution geared towards linking the wide variety of hardware and software in order to perform electronic payment transactions in North America.The integra-tion into the GK Software range of solutions,which will be possible relatively quickly,willsignificantlysimpli

21、fyandacceleratetheimplementationofprojectsinthismarket.Westillfirmlybelievethatthestrongerfocusonmulti-channelretailing,whichweintroduced in recent years,meets the needs of the market.In each of the markets we operate in,either alone or with SAP,retailers are looking for the appropriate answers to s

22、et the course for the future of their companies in competition with those who only trade online.At the beginning of 2015 at the trade shows in the USA and in Dsseldorf,we successfully presented our new range of solutions particularly for this sector to a wide audience and received excellent feedback

23、.We therefore remain confidentthatourongoingdevelopmentsintheGK/Retailrangeofsolutionshaveimproved our chances in major international tendering processes.However,the fact still remains that not all guidelines in the multi-channel retail segment can be pre-cisely understood by retailers or are not ba

24、sed on best practices with the result that we can also expect longer sales cycles in our sector in future.The strategic partnership with SAP is still developing very well and makes an impor-tant contribution to the continued development of the Company.We were able to win the new projects in North Am

25、erica and South Africa together with SAP and we anticipate that our international expansion will also continue to be strongly sustained bythepartnership.Duringthereportingperiodwewerealsoabletowinthefirstmigration project for the old SAP POS solution.A clear migration path for this clien-tele provid

26、es us with further potential,particularly in the North American market.The Letter from the Management Board 9acquisition of the retail segment of DBS Inc.could also have an impact in this area as DBS played an important role in the implementation of the old SAP POS(previously Triversity)and maintain

27、s excellent,long-term contact with the respective customers.IntheGK/retailbusinesswewereabletowinfivenewprojectsalongsideanimproved service business.At the same time,the project with Loblaw,one of the larg-est retail establishments in the world,opened up further opportunities for us as we had previo

28、usly only sold a part of our range of solutions here.With three projects in South Africa,two large-scale projects and one smaller project,we made a clear entry into the market in this region in a short period of time.South Africa is one of the worldsdevelopedretailregionsandthroughitsmultitudeoflink

29、s,particularlywithNorthAmerica,itsinfluenceradiatesfarbeyondthecountriesofsouthernAfrica.Atthe beginning of 2015 we established our own wholly-owned subsidiary with a small workforce for sales and project management in order to develop and maintain this market more successfully.For the IT services a

30、rea,we have fully completed the integration and are working intensively on strengthening the position of the corresponding services for this area among the existing GK/Retail customers.Similarly to the previous year,during the reporting period,the installed base of our range of solutions has grown b

31、y more than 14,000 and now includes 199,351 pro-ductive systems(checkouts,portable devices,servers).This has enabled us to con-tinue to strengthen our leading position in Germany(22 percent)and also inter-nationally.ThepositionofGKSoftwareisalsoreflectedinthefactthatwenowhavebusiness links with 20 p

32、ercent of the TOP50 largest retailers in the world.Alongside the new installations,the majority of our existing projects are continuing to gener-ate further revenue due to our customers constantly adapting their solutions to new requirements in their businesses,developing markets in new countries,eq

33、uipping new sales lines or deciding to use additional solutions from our portfolio.The issue of multi-channel retailing and cloud applications continued to be the major focus of our research and development work in 2014 as we believe the greatest potentialforthefuturelieshere.Wewerethereforeabletogi

34、vethefirstpresenta-tions of new developments from our range of bespoke solutions for multi-channel scenarios to an audience of experts at the large trade shows in 2015.As we are confidentthattherewillbeconsistentsolutionsinfuturewhichwillprovideimpor-tant processes as a service for chain stores,web

35、shops or portable devices,we have continued to develop our range of solutions correspondingly.Another important trend is the real-time link to all available data on customers,goods,availability,and openshoppingbasketsfromdifferentsaleschannelsorsocialmediatrends.Wehave created an appropriate respons

36、e to this for our customers through a special cloud-capable feature geared towards clienteling within our mobile checkouts.As thin clients for branches or load balancing for servers are linked to the cloud topic,wealsofocuseddevelopmentinthisareaduringthepreviousfinancialyear.Inaddi-tion to this we

37、also continued to develop our existing solutions and,for example,in the terms of mobile solutions,we incorporated an additional platform as standard with android.All work in research and development was closely coordinated with SAP sothatwecouldintegrateourstrategicpartnersnewandongoingdevelopments,

38、in areas such as HANA,CAR or Fiori at an early stage in our product development.In March2015,throughSAP,wewereabletosuccessfullyconcludethefifthpremiumqualificationforoursolutions.Withthis,eachcurrentversionofthesewastestedbySAP and released for sale.A|To the Shareholders10In the area of the partner

39、 business,achieving the fully operational GK Academy has been extremely important.With a clearly structured partnership program,extensive trainingpackagesandacertificationprogramforhardware,weareabletotrainthepartners according to status so that they can implement their own projects using our soluti

40、ons.This means that we have access to a well-positioned international network of partnerships which will provide us with even greater support in the implementa-tion of high quality projects throughout the world in the future.Basedonaverywellfilledpipelinebothinourdirectandalsopartnersalesbusiness,we

41、areconfidentthatwewillcontinuetogrowin2015andbeyond.Wearecurrentlyholding in-depth discussions with customers from Germany and abroad and believe that we are very well placed to win several ongoing tender procedures with our range ofsoftwaresolutions.Inadditiontothiswehavealreadybeenabletosecurethef

42、irsttwo contracts in the USA.In the medium-term,for a period of three to four years,we anticipate an increase inourrevenuebyone-and-a-halftimesincomparisontothe2014financialyear.Inso doing,we aim to achieve a target margin of 15 percent for the entire business incorporating all segments.This forecas

43、t is naturally subject to the proviso that no extraordinary events take place that could have a negative impact on the general economy or the retail sector.We are delighted that you are supporting the growth of GK Software AG and we wouldliketothankyouforyoursustainedconfidenceintheCompany.The Manag

44、ement BoardRainer GlChiefExecutiveOfficerAndr HergertHead of Finance and Human ResourcesReport by the Supervisory Board 11Report by the Supervisory BoardDear shareholdersThe report by the Supervisory Board for the GKSoftwareAG2014financialyear,whichIamable to submit to you here,relates to a year whi

45、ch hasbeensignificantlymoredifficultthanhadbeenanticipated during the previous year.Following the extremelysuccessfulyearssincetheCompanysIPO which brought continually favourable results,the year 2012 demonstrated to us that success is not a matter of course.By adopting a number of measures,we succe

46、eded in returning to our win-ningwaysduringthe2013financialyear.Tothe2014 Annual General Meeting,all indications were that matters would proceed in this way,which,unfortunately,wasnotconfirmedoverthefollow-ing months.Composition of the Supervisory BoardIn accordance with the articles of incorporatio

47、n,the Supervisory Board consists of three members.Inthe2014financialyearthesewere:Uwe Ludwig(Chairman)Thomas Bleier(Deputy Chairman)and Herbert Zinn Mr Ludwig and Mr Zinn have been appointed until the end of the Annual General Meetingin2016,whileMrThomasBleiersappointmentwillterminateuponthecon-clus

48、ion of the 2019 Annual General Meeting.MeetingsThe Supervisory Board met for ordinary sessions on 24 February,17 April,28 August and on 1 December 2014.Various telephone conferences were held in 2014 when decisions were pending.All members of the Board were present at all the ordinary meetings and c

49、onferences.It is customary practice at GK Software AG that the rep-resentatives of the Management Board are always involved in the meetings.Outside of the meetings,the members of the Supervisory Board were also regularly in con-tact with each other as well as with the management and the members of t

50、he board.This was facilitated in particular by the Chairman of the Supervisory Board.Decisions A|To the Shareholders12were made during meetings or by a circulation procedure.During its meetings,the SupervisoryBoardwasbriefedindetailabouttheeconomicandfinancialsituationof the Company as well as the f

51、undamental corporate policy by means of verbal and written reports from the Management Board.In addition to this,the Management Board regularly reported on the course of business by providing interim reports and promptly forwarded the minutes of the board meetings.Functions of the Supervisory BoardI

52、nthe2014financialyear,theSupervisoryBoardforGKSoftwareAGfulfilledthetasks incumbent upon it according to law,the articles of incorporation,the recom-mendationsofthegovernmentcommissions“GermanCorporateGovernmentCode”andtheSupervisoryBoardsrevisedrulesofinternalprocedureandhascontinuallymonitored the

53、 Company management.In the interests of streamlining the managerial structure,the appointment of the Management Board was an urgent issue after changes in the structure and process organisation of the Company.During this restructuring,the Management Board was reduced from four members to two and was

54、 placed in control of a Group Manage-ment Board.After an appropriate orientation phase,on the one hand this has ena-bledaveryefficientmannerofworkingagainstthebackdropofflexiblemanagementconditions,and on the other hand,it has averted the risk of having an over-heavy executivebodyforthenextfewyears.

55、AsignificantfactorinthiswasthatMrJaszc-zykassumedresponsibilityfordevelopingtheGroupsNorthAmericanbusinessandtook charge of establishing the US subsidiary as CEO,although he will also continue to support us in his role as CTO.In addition to the considerable support during this orientation process af

56、ter the restructuring,the continued development and adaptation of the risk management systems is an important issue.As a result,the Supervisory Board called for reports on the progress of the implementation of the security concept which has now been extended,as well as on the further establishment o

57、f formalised administrative pro-cesses,new procedures in the controlling department and the work of the newly appointeddataprotectionofficer.TheSupervisoryBoardhaswelcomedtheprogressachieved and the fundamental revision of the planning processes,which has been usedforthefirsttimeasanewframeworkforth

58、e2014annualplanning.The Supervisory Board also fully focused on the appropriateness of the remunera-tion for members of the Management Board as part of the restructuring process.As in previous years,our attention was focused on the relationship between remunera-tion and the Companys economic situati

59、on as well as on the conditions prevalent at other companies,the comparison with the overall structure of remuneration within GKSoftwareAGandthecompositionoffixedandvariablesalarycomponents.Afterithadbeenestablishedthat,unlikeinthepreviousyear,therehadbeensignificantdeviationsfromtheeconomictargetss

60、etforthe2014financialyear,theSupervisoryBoardsignificantlyreducedthevariablesalarycomponentsforalltheManagementBoard and Board members with the exception of the CTO and did not approve the amount originally agreed.In order to monitor the management team,the Supervisory Board was guided by the annual

61、 budget passed for 2014 and called for reports from the Management Board Report by the Supervisory Board 13particularly regarding the ongoing business policy and corporate planning,the prof-itability,the course of business and important individual measures adopted by the Company.The Supervisory Boar

62、d also received a number of additional reports on thedevelopmentofthebusinessthroughoutthefinancialyearandevenmoresoafter the Annual General Meeting,after there had been a failure to achieve the antici-patedpositivedevelopmentofthebusinessandthetargetssetforthefinancialyearbothintermsofturnoverandpr

63、ofits.ThetakeoverofAWEK,whichtookeffectattheendof2012,initiallyprovidedtheexpectedreinforcementandthedesiredeffectsfortheongoingdevelopmentofGKSoftwareAGbutwasthenonlyabletofulfilsomeofthe expectations which had been placed on it in 2014.The Management Board sup-plied the Supervisory Board with info

64、rmation throughout the year both during and outside of meetings and the Supervisory Board discussed these reports and checked them with a critical eye although,unfortunately,they did not contain the anticipated reports of success.Corporate GovernanceThe Supervisory Board and Management Board act in

65、the full knowledge that good corporategovernanceformsanimportantbasisfortheCompanyssuccessandistherefore in the best interests of shareholders and equity markets.The Management Board and the Supervisory Board issued their annual declaration of compliance in line with Section 161 of the German Stock

66、Corporation Act in April 2015.The wording of this is printed in this business report as part of the Corporate Governance report.The Management Board and the Supervisory Board have pledged to follow the rec-ommendations of the German Corporate Governance Code as far as possible.No conflictsofinterest

67、aroseamongstmembersoftheSupervisoryBoardduringthe2014financialyear.2014 Annual AuditTheGKSoftwareAGannualaccountscompiledbytheManagementBoardinlinewith the guidelines set by the German Commercial Code as well as the IFRS Consoli-dated Accounts and the respective management report have been audited b

68、y the auditingcompany,Deloitte&ToucheGmbH,andweregivenanunqualifiedauditopinion.Taking into account these audit reports,the Supervisory Board has exam-ined the annual accounts compiled by the Management Board,the consolidated accounts,thedependencyreport,themanagementreportforGKSoftwareAGandfor the

69、Group and the loss recorded by the Management Board for 2014.During its meeting on 13 May 2015,the Supervisory Board asked the Management Board toexplainthe2014annualandconsolidatedaccountswiththeirminusfiguresandreportontheprofitability,theCompanysequity,theinterimcourseofbusinessandtheprogressiono

70、fCompanyssituation.AllSupervisoryBoardmembersreceivedthenecessary documents prior to this meeting.DuringthemeetingtheauditorcommentedontheManagementBoardspresen-tation,explainedtheauditfindingsusingtheauditorsreportsandansweredallquestions on these reports.The auditor was able to answer all question

71、s satisfac-torily.Therearenodoubtsabouttheauditorsindependence.Duringitsmeetingon 13 May 2015,the Supervisory Board therefore approved the annual accounts forGKSoftwareAGandauthorisedtheconsolidatedaccountsatGKSoftware.TheA|To the Shareholders14annual accounts have thus been approved.The Supervisory

72、 Board agreed with the ManagementBoardsrecommendationtorecordtheloss,particularlyinviewofthefactthatsignificantadjustmentsinvaluecouldthenbeundertaken.The Management Board also prepared a report on relations to associated compa-nies in line with Section 312 of the German Stock Corporation Act.The au

73、ditor has checked this and provided a verbal report on the results of the audit during the meeting on 13 May 2015.The review by the Supervisory Board did not give rise to any reasons for objections to be raised.It did not raise any objections to the Man-agementBoardsfinaldeclarationinitsreportinline

74、withSection312oftheGermanStock Corporation Act.The Supervisory Board would like to thank the Management Board,the board mem-bers and all the employees for their work in 2014.It wishes them all a fast and sus-tainedreturntosuccesswhichwillalsobringconfirmationoftheireffortsandtheirsuccessful work.Sch

75、neck,13 May 2015Uwe LudwigChairman of the Supervisory BoardCorporate Governance Report 15Corporate Governance Report According to Section 289a of the German Commercial CodeGKSoftwareviewsresponsibleandtransparentperformance as absolutely essential for the long-term economic value creation.Both the M

76、anage-ment and Supervisory Boards have therefore provided the statutory statement of compliance according to Section 161 of the German Stock Corporation Act.Monitoring compliance with the statement is thus viewed as an important task for the Management Board and the Supervisory Board.The statement i

77、s submitted every year and is available to the public on the internet at http:/investor.gk-underthe“Corpo-rateGovernance”section.Cooperation between the Management Board and the Supervisory BoardFor many years the Management Board and the Supervisory Board have worked together based on a relationshi

78、p of trust.The Management Board provides regular reports to the Supervisory Board abouttheprofitabilityandGroupstrategiesandtheir implementation as well as about existing or possible risks.This is done during the sched-uled Supervisory Board meetings,three of which wereheldduringthepastfinancialyear

79、,andalsodirectly through the Chairman of the Supervisory Board during regular monthly meetings.Further information on this can be found in the Report by the Supervisory Board.Because it has just three members,the Supervisory Board did not form any committees.All the issues are discussed and decided

80、upon by the full body.The Chairman of the Supervisory Board is solely authorised to conduct negotiations for human resources deci-sions related to the Management Board,but these negotiations must be approved by the whole body.Therewerenoconflictsofinterestamongstmem-bers of the Management and Superv

81、isory Boards.TransparencyInthesummerof2008GKSoftwarechosetohaveits IPO listed on the most stringently controlled segment of the German Stock Exchange,the Prime Standard.The highest possible degree of transpar-ency towards its investors and all the other par-ticipants in the capital markets has been

82、one of the most important Company principles from the outset.For the 2015 Annual General Meeting the com-pany will also appoint a voting proxy which will allow shareholders to exercise their voting rights even if they cannot attend the Annual General Meeting.All public information such as ad hoc ann

83、ouncementsandpressreleases,thefinancialstatements or the reports on the Annual General MeetingwillbemadeavailableontheCompanyswebsite.Risk ManagementThe risk management system established by the Group is geared towards the needs of the Com-pany.It is designed to help to identify risks at an early st

84、age and to appropriately prevent or restrict any risks that occur.Please refer to the Group management report for further details.Declaration of ComplianceSection 161 of the German Stock Corporation Act obliges the Management Board and the Supervi-soryBoardofGKSoftwareAGtomakeanannualdeclaration tha

85、t compliance has been or is being achieved with regard to the recommendations of the“GovernmentCommissiononGermanCorpo-rateGovernanceCode”publishedbytheGermanMinisterofJusticeintheofficialsectionoftheelec-tronicGermanFederalGazette,ortostatewhichA|To the Shareholders16recommendations have not been o

86、r are not being complied with.This declaration must be made available to share-holders at all times.The last annual declaration was submitted in April 2014 and relates to the version of the Code dated 13 May 2013.The future corporate governance practicesatGKSoftwareAGinthefollowingdecla-ration refer

87、 to the recommendations in the Code initscurrentversiondated24June2014.On 16 April 2015,the Management and Supervi-soryBoardsatGKSoftwareAGdeclaredthatsincethe release of the last annual declaration of com-pliance in April 2014 the recommendations of the“GovernmentCommissiononGermanCorporateGovernan

88、ceCode”hadbeenmetwiththeexcep-tions noted and continues to comply with the fol-lowing exceptions.Code number 2.3.3The Company will not provide any Internet webcast of the Annual General Meet-ing,as the Management Board and Supervisory Board believe that this would not create a higher participation l

89、evel at the Annual General Meeting.Code number 4.1.5 The candidates for manage-ment functions will be selected by the Manage-ment Board on the basis of their personal skills and abilities in the interests of the Company.When making selections,the objective backgrounds of the candidates in terms of t

90、heir age,background or gender are not taken into account.Code number 4.2.4 The Company does not reveal the earnings of the members of the Management Board in the annual accounts by their names.The total earnings of the members of the Management Board are disclosed.This departure was based on thedeci

91、siontakenbyaqualifiedmajorityofthreequarters of the share capital represented at the Annual General Meeting at the meeting held on 17 June2010accordingtoSection286,paragraph5of the German Commercial Code(HGB)and Sec-tion 314,paragraph 2,sentence 2 HGB which ruled that the individual earnings should

92、not be published in the annual and consolidated accounts from 2010 until 2014.Code number 4.2.5 Please refer to Code Number 4.2.4 regarding Code number 4.2.5.Code number 5.1.2 The Supervisory Board will exclusively take into account the personal suitabil-ityarisingfromthecandidatesindividualabilitie

93、sand skills when making appointments for vacant positions on the Management Board,as this will lead to the best results for the Company.Objec-tive criteria such as age,background or gender will not be included in any considerations.There is no age limit for members of the Management Board.GKSoftware

94、AGfeelsthattheprofessionalqualifi-cations of the members of the Management Board play the more important role.Code number 5.3 In a departure from number 5.3 oftheCode,theSupervisoryBoardatGKSoftwareAGdoesnotformanycommitteesduetothesizeof the Board(the Supervisory Board consists of only three member

95、s),as the provision of consist-ent and extensive information for all members of the Supervisory Board can be guaranteed most efficientlyinmeetingswhereallthemembersofthe Supervisory Board are present.Any issues can be handled and answered appropriately by the whole body.An auditing committee(number

96、5.3.2)has therefore also not been set up.The same applies to the nomination committee(number 5.3.3)and the other specialist committees(num-ber 5.3.4).The responsibilities normally assumed by the specially appointed committees are han-dled by the full board as the board has the neces-saryqualificatio

97、nstohandlethese.Code number 5.4.1 The composition of the Super-visoryBoardatGKSoftwareAGisnotdecidedby the Supervisory Board,but by the Compa-nysAnnualGeneralMeeting.TheSupervisoryBoard seeks to engage in successful cooperation between its members and constructive coopera-tion with the Management Bo

98、ard.The nomina-tions for candidates submitted by the Supervisory Board to the Annual General Meeting will take into account the geographical distribution and the degreeofcomplexityofthebusinessatGKSoft-ware.Criteria such as the age,background or gen-der of the candidates will not be taken into consi

99、d-eration.There is no provision for an obligatory age limit for the members of the Supervisory Board,as the older members of the Supervisory Board par-ticularly enrich the board as a result of their wide Corporate Governance Report 17experienceandtheirspecialistqualificationsareofgreat importance.Co

100、de 5.4.6 Payments for the members of the Supervisory Board are made exclusively accord-ingtofixedelements.NoremunerationthatisdependentontheCompanyssuccessisgrantedto the members of the Supervisory Board,as the members of the Supervisory Board must be able to pursue their tasks as a supervisory body

101、 for the Companywithoutanypossibleconflictofinterests.Code 7.1.2 The consolidated accounts are not published within 90 days after the end of the financialyear,butafterfourmonthsinlinewiththe current guidelines published by Deutsche Brse AG.The interim reports are not made avail-able after 45 days,bu

102、t after two months according to the current guidelines published by Deutsche BrseAG.GKSoftwareAGbelievesthattheperi-odsoftimesetbyDeutscheBrseAGaresuffi-cient to provide shareholders with detailed infor-mation.A|To the Shareholders18GKSoftwareAGSharesBasic dataT.01 Basic dataSecuritiesIdentification

103、Number(WKN)757142ISINDE0007571424Trading symbolGKSGKSoftwareAGIPO19June2008Type of sharesOrdinary no par bearer shares(no-par value share)Trading centresFrankfurt and XETRAMarket segmentRegulated market(prime standard)Designated SponsorICF Kursmakler AGNumber of shares1,890,000Share capitalEUR 1,890

104、,000Freefloat44.79%Highest price in 2014EUR51.84(20January2014)Lowest price in 2014EUR 33.00(15 December 2014)Summary/Share PerformanceThe GK Software AG shares listed on the Prime Standard section at the Frankfurt Stock Exchange showedadownwardtrendduringthelastfinan-cial year after the rate had be

105、en stimulated due to the 5.29 percent shareholding of SAP at the end of 2013.The shares were worth EUR 33.50 at the end of the reporting period.This corresponded to mar-ket capitalisation of EUR 63.3 million at the end of 2014.Shareholder StructureGKSoftwareAGhasanextremelystableshare-holder base th

106、at enables the long-term and sus-tained development of the Company.As of the reporting date,31 December 2014,the Company hadthefollowingshareholderstructure:RainerGl,the founder and CEO,directly holds 3.32 percent of the shares.Stephan Kronmller,also a Company founder and the former Head of Tech-nol

107、ogy and Development,directly holds 2.33 per-cent of shares.49.56 percent of the shares are ownedbyGKSoftwareHoldingGmbH,whichhasbeen indirectly and equally apportioned to the Company partners Rainer Gl and Stephan Kro-nmller.This meant that 44.79 percent of the shareswereinfreefloaton31December2014.

108、The Company was informed about the following holdingsinGKSoftwareAG,whichexceededthe3percent thresholdGKSoftwareHoldingGmbH 49.56%Freefloat 44.79%StephanKronmller 2.33%RainerGl 3.32%1.89 miosharesF.01 Share price development(indexed)in%300 250 200 150 100 502008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015GK

109、Software AG TecDAXF.02 Shareholder structure on 31 December 2014GKSoftwareAGShares 19T.02 Threshold Value ExceedancesAs ofShareholderShare in%16.8.2011Andreas Bremke GmbH,Arnsberg3.996.3.2012Scherzer&Co.AG,Cologne5.2319.6.2013Deutsche Balaton Aktiengesellschaft,Heidelberg3.1827.12.2013SAP AG,Walldor

110、f5.29Directors Dealing 2014Noneduringthe2014financialyear.Investor RelationsForitsIPOduringthesummerof2008GKSoft-ware chose to have its shares listed on the most strictly regulated sector of the Deutsche Brse,the Prime Standard.The highest possible degree of transparency towards its investors and al

111、l the other participants in the capital markets has been one of the most important Company principles from the outset.Andr Hergert,the CFO,is responsible for the investor relations,which has been assigned its own department.This guarantees that any enquir-ies from investors and potential investors a

112、re answered immediately.GKSoftwareAGalsoattachesgreatimportancetoprovidinganongoingflowofinformationforthefuture.Among other things,this means drawing up quarterly,half-yearly and annual business reports inGermanandEnglish,publishingafinancialcal-endar and promptly publishing ad-hoc reports and corp

113、orate news items.The accounting system has been adapted to the international IFRS accounting standardsandalsomeetsinvestorsrequirementsforinformation.Asinpreviousyears,GKSoftwareAG is also planning to hold its annual analyst con-ference for 2015 during the Frankfurt Equity Capi-tal Forum.Investor an

114、d press road shows also take place at regular intervals so that the Company remains in permanent contact with the capital markets.The Management Board also prepared a report on relations to associated companies in line with Sec-tion 312 of the German Stock Corporation Act.The auditor checked this an

115、d gave a verbal report on theresultsofhisfindingsatthemeetingheldon13 May 2015.The review by the Supervisory Board did not give rise to any reasons for objections to be raised.It did not raise any objections to the ManagementBoardsfinaldeclarationinitsreportin line with Section 312 of the German Sto

116、ck Cor-poration Act.The Supervisory Board wishes to thanks the Man-agementBoardandallstaffmembersfortheircommitment and the work they have performed and also wishes them continued success.20B Consolidated Annual Report23 Economic Report23 Business and General Conditions of GKSoftware34 Explanation o

117、f the Business Results and an Analysis of the Assets,Financial and Earnings Situation40 Report on Key Events 41ReportontheRisks,ProspectsandOutlookoftheGKSoftwareGroup41 Risks46 Opportunities 47 Outlook49 Other Information 49 Principles of the GKSoftware AGs Remuneration SystemEconomic Report 23Andr

118、 HergertCFOEconomic ReportBusiness and General Conditions of GKSoftwareCorporate structure and holdings Eleven business locations in Germany,the Czech Republic,Switzerland,Russia,South Africa and in the USA Both Company founders are actively involved in the CompanyGKSoftwareAGisoneoftheworldsleading

119、tech-nology companies for retail software with a special focus on providing solutions for corporations with localstores.GKSoftwareAGanditspredecessorcompany,G&K Datasysteme GmbH,which Rainer Gl and Stephan Kronmller founded in 1990 andwhichbecameGKSoftwareAGin2001,havenow been active on the market f

120、or 25 years.The CompanysIPOtookplaceinthePrimeStandardsegment of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange in 2008.ThecompanysheadquartershasbeenlocatedinSchneck/Vogtland since it was founded.Along-side its management,the Company has its product development department,project management and third-level support f

121、acilities at this location.SQ IT-Services GmbH,which was founded in 2009 to handle the takeover and integration of Solquest GmbH,wasalsolocatedinSchneck.Asof1Janu-ary 2014,the company was dissolved without AWEK GmbHAWEK C-POS GmbHAWEK Hong Kong Ltd.SQ IT-Services GmbHAWEK Microdata GmbHA Member of t

122、he GK Software GroupEUROSOFTWARE s.r.o.StoreweaverGmbHGK SOFTWARE USA Inc.OOO GK SoftwareRUS100%100%100%100%100%100%100%100%100%100%B|Consolidated Annual Report24goingintoliquidationandmergedwithGKSoft-ware AG by means of a merger involving an acqui-sition(Section 2 no.1 German Reorganisation Act).S

123、chneck is also home to 1.Waldstrae GmbH which was set up in preparation for the launch of new business activities and is also a subsidiary whichiswhollyownedbyGKSoftwareAG.GKSoft-ware AG has a branch next to Checkpoint Charlie in Berlin which is primarily responsible for manag-ing the marketing,sale

124、s and partner activities,the Companysuser-helpdeskisalsobasedthere.TheGroupssecondlargestbusinesslocationhasbeensituatedinPilsenintheCzechRepublicformore than ten years.The wholly owned subsidiary,EUROSOFTWARE s.r.o.,is home to the software production and research&development depart-ments.Major work

125、 on programming and further technological developments for the solutions pro-videdbyGKSoftwaretakeplaceatthePilsenloca-tion.An additional branch,located in Cologne,focuses on software development.GKSoftwareAGhasanotherwhollyownedsub-sidiaryinDbendorfinSwitzerland.StoreWeaverGmbH has a German branch

126、in St.Ingbert in Saar-land.The teams in St.Ingbert are responsible for the onward development of the StoreWeaver EE product group and handling the relevant customer projects;and they also look after the customers of the former Solquest GmbH company.The AWEK group,which belongs to the Group,operates

127、two additional locations.The administra-tion,hotline,dispatching,quality assurance,repairs and stores are located in Barsbttel near Ham-burg,while the software development department isbasedinBielefeld.TheserviceorganizationatAWEK also consists of mobile technicians who are spreadacrossthedifferentp

128、artsofGermany.With GK Software RUS,GK Software has its own organisation responsible for sales and project implementation in Russia.GK Software USA Inc.was founded in the USA in December 2013 in order to support the expected expansion of our North American business locally with an organisa-tion of ou

129、r own.The CEO of the new company is MichaelJaszczyk,aformermemberoftheManage-ment Board who continues to work for the Com-F.03 Group structure of GK SOFTWARE AG on 31 December 2014Economically inactive legal unitsEconomic Report 25pany as CTO.The retail segment of DBS Inc.which was acquired in March

130、 2015 will be integrated into GKSoftwareUSA,Inc.Atthebeginningof2015,awholly owned subsidiary trading under the name ofGKSoftwareAfricaPTYLtd.wasalsofoundedin South Africa to deal with the business in this region.In the reporting period,the partnership with SAP wasextremelyimportantforGKSoftwareAGsb

131、usiness,just as it had been in previous years.SAP is by far the most important partner for GK Soft-ware in terms of business operations.In this way,distribution situations and projects are handled together in numerous countries.At present,SAP operatesasaresellingpartnerforGKSoftwarein four continent

132、s.The SAP POS by GK software developedbytheCompanyistheofficialmigrationpath for existing customers for the discontinued SAP(SAP POS)solution.At the end of 2013 SAP acquired a 5.29 percent share in GK Software AG and has the right of pre-emption over the found-ersshares.The Management Board of GK So

133、ftware AG con-sists of Company founder Rainer Glss(CEO,Chairman,Management,Marketing&Sales)and Andr Hergert(CFO,Finances and Personnel).The Management Board is supported by a Group Management Board which has consisted of the fol-lowingmemberssince2013:StephanKronmller,AchimSieren(COO),MichaelJaszczy

134、k(CTO),HaraldKehl(SVP Global Services)and Stefan Krueger(SVP Sales).The three-man Supervisory Board at GK Software AG is led by the Chairman Uwe Ludwig.He has been a member of the Supervisory Board since 2001.Thomas Bleier was elected to the Supervi-sory Board in 2003,then during the 2014 Annual Gen

135、eral Meeting was recently re-elected to serve afurtherfiveyears,HerbertZinnwaselectedin2011.Personnel Increase in personnel continued Trainee and further training programs for the members of staffA total of 618 people were employed within the Group as of the reporting date of 31 Decem-ber 2014(exclu

136、ding members of the Manage-ment Board and trainees).As a result,there were 68moreemployeesthanonthepreviousyearsreporting date(550).With193staffmembers(prioryear:188),themajorityoftheGroupsemployeesareemployedat the Schneck location.The Berlin branch has now 31 employees working in the sales&market-

137、ing,project and partner management,develop-mentandfirst-levelsupport(hotline)departments(prioryear:28).AttheCzechsubsidiaryEUROSOFTWAREs.r.o.inPilsen the number of employees increased to 158(prioryear:141).At the end of the year there were 107 employ-eesatAWEKinHamburg(prioryear:103).Theseincluded a

138、 large number of mobile service tech-nicians who are deployed at various locations throughout Germany.At the end of 2013,there were a total of 16 employees at the second AWEK locationinBielefeld(prioryear:17),thesepre-dominantly work in software development.Overall,AWEKhas123employees(prioryear:120)

139、.92 people were working at the St.Ingbert business centreattheendoftheyear(prioryear:64).4peoplewereworkinginDbendorf(Switzerland)atthistime(prioryear:3).At the end of the year there were 11 employees working at the Cologne branch,compared to 4 employees in the previous year.As in the previ-ous year

140、,2 people were employed at the Rus-sian branch.In the USA and Canada there are 4 employees working for the group.In the 2015 financialyear,theywillbejoinedbytheadditional21 employees of the DBS Data Business Systems Inc.retail segment,which was acquired in March 2015.B|Consolidated Annual Report26Th

141、e Management Board expects the growth in employee numbers to continue rising at a moder-ate pace in the future and the Company will pri-marilycontinuetolookforhighlyqualifiedemploy-ees.Huge investments have been made in training and developing employees for years in order to be able to provide a fou

142、ndation for and boost sales growth atGKSoftwareAGfromahumanresourcespointof view too.3 trainees are also currently employed atGKSoftwareAGThe GKSoftware solution portfolio GKSoftware Simply Retail Omni-channel-solution portfolioGKSoftwareisaleading,internationalproviderofretail applications,i.e.a pr

143、ovider of fully integrated and complete solutions for the retail trade which meet all requirements without the need for any additional third-party software.The current claim“simplyretail”standsforsolutionswhichreducecomplexity and will enable retailers to concentrate on their processes without being

144、 massively tied by IT.This claim represents an open architecture modelwithfourlevelswhichenabledifferenttypesofsoftwaretobecustomisedfordifferentsaleschannels.Each application uses the same compo-nents and modules so that the development work is reduced and expensive parallel development work can be

145、 avoided.The Operations layer,which Zurich/St.Ingbert 92|64Pilsen 158|141USA/Canada 4|2Berlin 31|28Schneck 193|188Cologne 11|4Bielefeld 16|17Hamburg 107|103F.04 Distribution of employees at group business locations(from 4 employees)on 31 December 20142014 2013Economic Report 27provides the fundament

146、al basis for each applica-tion,forms the GK/Retail Infrastructure together with the Communications layer,which guarantees the complete exchange of information and data.This means that tried and tested methods and procedures which safeguard the technical opera-tions are available in more than 193,000

147、 instal-lationsforeachofthedifferentGKapplications.The Retail Business Logic,which is formed by Core Retail Processes and Enhanced Retail Processes,is built on this infrastructure.While the core pro-cessesaremappedend-to-endbyGKSoftware,with the enhanced processes,software modules provided by partne

148、r companies can also be used,asisspecificallypractisedincollaborativeworkwith SAP.Thepreviouslydefinedcomponentsofthevari-ous levels are linked to each other for the relevant fieldsofapplicationandaremergedintofinishedapplications,which are available for various chan-nelslikethestore,webstorelinksor

149、mobileretailing.Solutions for new channels or for inte-grating social media,for example,can be intro-duced on the identical architectural platform with-out the need to permanently redevelop the basis for the software each time.Usingthisflexibleandforward-lookingplatform,GKSoftwareisverywellpositione

150、d to handle current and future issues like omni-channel retailing,cloud computing or in-memory databasing.ThevariousGKSoftwareproductsarebroughttogether in their concrete forms for the market in the GK/Retail Business Suite.All the solutions are fully based on the GK/Retail infrastructure and select

151、ed core and enhanced processes as well as onJavaandopenstandards.Thatmeansthattheyare consistently not dependant on hardware or operating system.GKSoftwareiscurrentlymarketingVersion12ofthe GK/Retail Business Suite.The GK/Retail Busi-ness Suite is arranged into two main pillars.One of them involves

152、the StoreWeaver Enterprise Edition(EE).The other one covers the Store Operations.StoreWeaver Enterprise EditionStoreWeaver Enterprise Edition comprises the Store Device Control and Mobile Store Processes components.It is closely linked to the solutions in the Store Operations area,but can be used in

153、 complete isolation from this.GK/Retail Store Device Control provides the end-to-end link within the complete store peripheral equipment,for instance,tills,scales or reverse vending machines.The software ensures the automatic distribution of data to all the systems in a store with a direct link to t

154、he leading SAP system.This guarantees that changes to master data(e.g.prices)are avail-able on the correct system within the store at the right time.At the same time,the software ensures that the central systems are supplied with what is known as transaction data(e.g.sales data).The link for the var

155、ious subsys-tems in a store is provided through standard-ised peripheral heads,on to which solutions fromdifferentmanufacturerscanbedocked.The Enterprise Storemanager guarantees the central management of the overall systems landscape.The Enterprise Cockpit handles the monitoring work across the syst

156、ems.Both solutions can also be used outside the Store-WeaverEnterpriseEditioninthefieldofStoreOperations.The complete software component is marketed bySAPunderthename“SAPStoreDeviceCon-trolbyGK”.GK/Retail Mobile Merchandise Management Processes comprises the store manage-ment processes,which can be

157、made available directlytomobileterminalsontheshopflooror in the stock area.The processes,which can beusedonlineoroffline,arebuiltonaleadingcentral system like SAP.They allow the stores to be linked end-to-end with enterprise head-quarters in almost real time and manage all the necessary business pro

158、cesses like deliver-ies,merchandise planning,inventories or auto-matic label printing.This software component is sold by SAP under thenames“SAPOfflineMobileStorebyGK”andSAPLabelandPosterPrintingbyGK“.Store OperationsThe GK/Retail Store Operations software provides solutions for use in stores and ent

159、erprise head-quarters in the retail trade.They are designed to handle all the business processes at tills,shelves,inthestockareasorthebackofficeinthebestB|Consolidated Annual Report28possible way and manage and monitor complex store structures from enterprise headquarters.All the software solutions

160、are coordinated with each other and can be used by customers as a com-plete package or separately.The following solu-tionsformpartofthisproductline:GK/Retail POS is the market-leading solution for operating till systems.The application guar-antees secure handling of all business pro-cesses at tills(

161、POS=point of sale)and provides extensivebackofficefunctionsformanagingmoney,store administration and reporting pur-poses.A special edition of this software can also be used for self-checkout systems.SAP sellsthesoftwareunderthename“SAPPointofSalebyGK”.GK/Retail Mobile POS is an innovative soft-ware

162、solution for till use on devices using the iOS operating system(iPhones,iPods,iPads).The company software manages all processes available on stationary tills and is already used productively by an important customer.Mobile POSisavailableinspecificindividualvariationsfor iPods/iPhones and iPads.GK/Re

163、tail Self Checkout is an enhancement of our POS software and was newly developed in 2012.It is fully based on our standard software and enables consumers to complete all the till processes themselves.Together with the asso-ciated iOS app,consumer advisers can imme-diately respond to demands during t

164、he till pro-cess,e.g.ageidentificationwhenpurchasingalcoholicdrinks,andtheycanofferconsumershelp and support quickly if required.GK/Retail Open Scale is a new scales solution within the GK/Retail Business Suite.It is based on the same technical concepts as the other software solutions and is a self-

165、contained appli-cation for all kinds of open PC scales.It enables the retail sector to use end-to-end IT structures and be free to select scales from any hardware supplier.Thissoftwarehasbeencertifiedforuse by the PTB(Physikalisch-Technische Bun-desanstaltGermanysnationalmetrologyinsti-tute).GK/Reta

166、il Taskmanagement ensures that information can be automatically distributed simultaneously and in a controlled fashion,e.g.regarding recalls of items,company-wide announcements and other information.The module,which has been specially designed for the needs of companies with many stores,allowsaveryf

167、astandend-to-endflowofinfor-mation and can also be used on mobile units.The GK/Retail Lean Store Server allows all thebackofficeserverstobecentralized.Thismeans that an important part of the IT systems can be moved out of the stores to enterprise headquarters.This opens up considerable potential for

168、 store-based corporations as they can use more powerful servers,for example,and servicing and maintenance costs can be significantlyreduced.GKSoftwareAGistheworldsleadingcompanyforthecentralisationof background systems for store-based com-panies.GK/Retail Enterprise Storemanager is the market-leadin

169、g software providing adminis-tration and technical monitoring facilities for major store networks,including those operat-ingacrossdifferentcountries.Thesoftwareallows corporations to manage and monitor thousands of stores in many countries and is an important unique selling feature of the GK/Retail

170、Business Suite.GK/Retail Enterprise Cockpit provides man-agers with a very fast summary of technical and specialist key performance indicators.This means that technical breakdowns in stores are recognised immediately and resolved as quickly as possible.This solution provides com-pany-wide transparen

171、cy with regard to the sta-tus of systems in stores.GK/Retail Sales Cockpit provides web-based business management information related to thecurrentdaysbusiness.Thismeansthatmanagers constantly have a comprehensive overview of the course of business in real time.GK/Retail KPI Dashboard is a native iP

172、ad app with which important business parameters can beprocessedfordifferenttargetgroupsinvar-ious aggregation stages.By using the KPI Dash-board,branch managers,district and regional managers or central management can check Economic Report 29the relevant data in their working area in real time and u

173、se it as the basis for their actions.The KPI Dashboard is designed for use with in-memory technologies and works in conjunction withSAPHANA,SAPsin-memoryappliance,forexample.GK/Retail Enterprise Promotions Manage-ment is a complete solution for arranging,carrying out and managing corporate-wide prom

174、otionsandspecialoffers.Itcanbeused,among other things,to manage discounts granted on customer card systems or the acceptance of many kinds of coupons at tills.GK/Retail Stored Value Server guarantees secure,company-wide administration services for all gift cards that have been issued.It pro-vides a

175、central database for supplying all the gift card information within the whole company and also handles all the processes related to electronic gift cards.GK/Retail Digital Content Management is the central software solution for distributing multimedia content to various output devices within the who

176、le company.This means that photos,slide shows or videos can be distrib-uted to the relevant systems within the com-pany.The system also allows pure text mes-sages to be sent(e.g.for electronic shelf labels).The SQRS software packageWhen the Company acquired the assets of the for-mer company Solquest

177、 GmbH,it also took over itssoftwarepackageSolquestRetailSolutions(SQRS),which is being used by eight customers with approximately 5,000 installations.The particu-lar high-performance features of the software lie in the areas of SAP integration and mobile solutions.The SQRS software solutions are no

178、longer being soldinordertokeeptheGroupsproductportfoliostreamlined.But there are still permanent require-ments,which are being handled by StoreWeaver GmbH,to cover existing customer relations.Along-side this,a medium-term migration path has been developed in order to provide a long-term per-spective

179、 for the customers of the former Solquest GmbH company.Product developmentDuring the whole of 2014,scheduled minor releases for GK/Retail 12 as well as an SAP ver-sionforthepremiumqualificationprocesswerehandedoffandthesehaveexpandedboththestandard and the SAP product by providing addi-tional soluti

180、on components,functions and inter-faces for subsystems in line with the roadmap.The major focuses were the omni-channel,clien-teling and the further development of a cloud ver-sion of the cash till solution which will enhance the standard product with a new option.In March,the fifthpremiumqualificat

181、ionwassuccessfullycom-pleted by SAP.New products and functionalities were tested by SAP as part of this form of product testing and in each case the current version was released for sale.AWEK sells software for medium-sizedcompanieswhichcomplementstheGKSoft-ware range and which is primarily aimed at

182、 the fashion sector.It provides support for an earlier version of this software used by several customers in German-speaking countries.ServicesInadditiontoitsproducts,GKSoftwareAGalsoprovides comprehensive services.The most impor-tant component in this area involves customis-ing and adapting develop

183、ments during the initial projects and subsequently introducing change requests,which are a permanent element in most projects.This includes,for example,adapting soft-ware that is already in productive use to broader customer requirements,such as integrating new bonus systems in the till environment.

184、Classic issues like consulting,project manage-ment or training courses also come under the heading of services.The group worked inten-sively in 2014 to create the conditions needed to train implementation partners,who can then handle the introduction of GK/Retail themselves.In the medium term,these

185、partners will primar-ily perform the basic parametrisation work,while developmentworkwithinthefieldofadaptations(change requests)will continue to be handled by GKSoftware.B|Consolidated Annual Report30Maintenance and servicesThe group has been able to supplement its port-folio with high-value servic

186、es by acquiring AWEK.Thishasmadeitpossibletoofferfullservicesforthe retail trade in addition to software mainte-nance,which is subject to charge.This means that GKSoftwarecanprovidemaintenanceforthird-party software and hardware made by a wide vari-ety of manufacturers.About 40 mobile service techni

187、cians are available for this work and they can reach any store in Germany within set times.In addition to providing classic services,they can han-dle other options like rollout services or staging(the initial installation of systems).In addition,as part of the classic software main-tenance services,

188、the Group can eliminate errors and faults for all software solutions that are in use inthecustomersbusiness.Partner trainingDuringthepastfinancialyear,theGKPartnerAcademy became fully operational for provid-ingimplementationpartnerswithqualifications.In order to achieve the status of Advanced Part-n

189、er as part of the partner program,an appropri-atenumberofthepartnersemployeesneedtohavepassedthespecifiedtrainingprogramsandcourses,which are subject to charge.During the past year,several hardware partners have also paidtohavetheirequipmentcertifiedbytheGKAcademy.Research and development Research a

190、nd development as a strategic fac-tor in the face of competitors Further strengthening of the companys foot-print in the fields of home improvement stores and fashion Focus on new technologies as part of the partnership relationship with SAPThe ongoing developing of existing products and the develop

191、ment of new software solutions have been the corporate groups major focus during thepastfewfiscalyearsandtheywillcontinueto be a strategic competitive factor in the future too.Thisisreflectedinthecontinuinggrowthinthe number of employees in this department.The main part of the research and developme

192、nt department is based at the EUROSOFTWARE s.r.o.subsidiary in Pilsen.Currently 14 software devel-opers are dealing exclusively with the latest trends in the software market in order to develop new,ground-breaking products from these.In order to create independent scope for development alongside the

193、 direct product and project-related research and development activities,the Company set up the GK Future-Lab,which is being headed byStephanKronmller.Here,highlyqualifiedexperts are testing new technologies,examining trends and new processes and thus creating the necessaryconditionsforGKSoftwaretoco

194、ntinuein its role as leading innovator for retail IT.Other impulses for research work come from com-pany managers,sales&marketing,partners and directlyfromGKSoftwarescustomers.Duringthefinancialyear,developmentcostsamountingtoEUR512K(prioryear:EUR376K)for work on GK/Retail and the SAP release 4.0 an

195、d 5.0 were capitalised.Research costs amounting to EUR140K(prioryear:EUR93K)wererecordedas an expense.This corresponds to slightly more than one percent of revenue.Economic Report 31Customers and projects Profit from new projects in South Africa and North America The expansion of the standard produc

196、t with new,country-specific variationsGKSoftwarescustomerscontinuetocomefromthe retail sector The market sectors in which the Company is active are primarily the food retail sec-tor,chemists&household goods,fashion&life-style.DIY&furnitureandtechnology&cars.Theproducts and services are geared toward

197、s compa-niesofvarioussizes.Atpresent,GKSoftwaresup-ports 59 customers in numerous countries.With this,the Company maintains commercial relation-ships with 10 customers who are among the 50 largest retailers in the world.New customer projects in 2014:Loblaw(approximately 2,300 locations in Can-ada)No

198、rth American Liquor Stores(approximately 250 branches in the USA and Canada)Customer in South Africa(approximately 160 branches in 12 countries in southern Africa)JDGroup(approximately1,200locationsin13countries in southern Africa)CityofJohannesburg(approximately100POSsystems)In terms of existing pr

199、ojects,2014 was character-ised by successful pilot schemes and subsequent roll-outs.We delivered and rolled-out more coun-try-specificversionsinseveralongoingprojects.The migration of existing customers to the latest softwareversioncontinuedsothatthelionsshareof our customers have either switched or

200、 the transfer progress is already at an advanced stage.This is creating the conditions for ensuring that we have been able to consolidate our relations with our customers,which have existed for many years.We have also been able to sign further contracts with existing customers and they cover,for exa

201、m-ple,extensions to licencing agreements or devel-opments to software or local services.The fact that there are now eighteen joint cus-tomer projects in which SAP has sold GK solutions is evidence of the active partnership with SAP.The strategic relationship between both companies forthestoresectorw

202、asalsoreflectedintheirjointactivities at the NRF,the most important North American trade fair,at the EuroShop,the most important European retail trade fair,and many other coordinated activities.Market and competitive environment The German retail sector set another record in 2014 revenue rose to EUR

203、 459 billion Strong growth in E-commerce has continued market share of nearly nine percent Investment needs for retail IT remain highBusinessdevelopmentsatGKSoftwarearedeter-minedbyseveralfactorsandtheireffectsondif-ferent economic regions.The most important determining factors are the general econo

204、mic conditions,the current situation and the expected business prospects for the retail sector.WithGKSoftwaresexpansionintomoreandmore business areas,it goes without saying that thenumberoffactorsaffectingitsbusinesshaveincreased as the situation in some individual mar-ketsmaymoveindifferentdirectio

205、ns,inspiteofglobal economic trends.At the same time,this providessomeisolationintheCompanysgeneraloperations from the developments in its original coremarketsprimarilyinCentralEuropeatleast in the medium term,without these markets losingtheirsignificanceforGKSoftwaretoalargeextent in the foreseeable

206、 future.The general trends in the retail world are impor-tant in addition to the basic economic trends in the markets that we are processing directly or through our partners.They principally include e-commerce and the introduction of omni-chan-nel concepts.Long-term issues like demographic developme

207、nts,new ways of establishing customer loyalty or internationalisation are also constantly growing in importance.They are already creating new strategic focuses in the retail sector which directlyaffectGKSoftware.Asaresult,theCom-B|Consolidated Annual Report32pany has already responded to them in its

208、 range of products.Regardless of the growing importance of our international business,developments in German-speaking countries continue to play a very impor-tantroleforGKSoftwaresdirectbusiness.2014was a very successful year for the German retail sector,the largest market in Europe.After recent yea

209、rs were characterised by continuous growth,revenueactuallyrosebyafurther1.4percent.Overall,the retail sector(excluding vehicles,petrol stations,fuels and chemists)recorded revenue of approx.EUR459billionduringthefinancialyear.The increase in revenue was almost as strong as in the gross domestic prod

210、uct(GDP),which was abletogrowinrealtermsby1.5percent.Thefactthat the retail business accounted for 15.8 percent ofGDPin2014alsoshowsthesignificanceofthissectorfortheoveralleconomyinGermany.Inthepastyear,interactivecommercemainlye-commerce and the mail order business not includingserviceswasonceagain

211、abletosig-nificantlyincreaseitsrevenueby22.9percenttoapprox.EUR 49.1 billion.This corresponds to a new peak level of 10.7 percent of the total retail sector.Online retail alone grew by more than 25percenttoEUR43.6billion.Duringthe2014Christmas trade,it recorded a growth of over 15 percentcomparedwit

212、hthepreviousyear.TheCompany expects this success story to continue in 2015.According to initial estimates,online turno-ver in the current year is at around EUR 51.6 bil-lion.Thistrendcanbeseentoasimilarextentinthe United Kingdom(13.5 percent of total revenue)and in the USA(11.6 percent of total reve

213、nue).In other countries,the share of online retail in total revenueisinpartsignificantlylower(France=6.9percent,Italy=2.1 percent,Canada=4.3 per-cent).It is generally anticipated that online retail will continue to grow in all countries.For the tra-ditional retail industry it is particularly importa

214、nt that providers who obtain their customers through a variety of channels are clear winners,because omni-channel traders have shown the strong-est growth.The online market places,principally Amazon,continuetoremainunchallengedinthisfieldandmakeupjustshortofhalfthetotalonlinesaleswithacombinedfigure

215、ofEUR24.2billion,althoughtheyhavesufferedlossescomparedtothe previous year.These unabated developments are triggering huge challenges for the stationary retail sector,which are also being driven by other developments such as mobile couponing.Almost 46 percent of retail-ers already make use of these

216、kinds of special offersorareplanningtodoso.31percentbelievethe outlook is very good for this form of discount-ing.For2015,theGermanRetailFederation(HDE:Handelsverband Deutschland)is expecting nomi-nal growth of 1.5 percent to EUR 466.2 billion for the entire retail trade,as had been expected for 201

217、4.However,theexperienceofthepastfewyears has shown that the forecasts published by the HDE have tended to be conservative and were often exceeded by the actual revenue achieved by the retail sector.The German Retail Federa-tionviewsconsumerconfidence,thehighlevelofemployment,rising incomes,a steady

218、savings rate and a low level of consumer price increases as a basis for the continued,moderate growth.The minimum wage,the pension package,geopolitical crisesandthedevelopmentoftheeurozonehaveanegativeeffectonconsumptionandbusinessopportunitiesintheretailsector.Surveys of retailers in terms of their

219、 business pros-pects support the HDE forecast that 2015 will be apositiveyearoverall.The“e-KIX”retailerssurveyfrom December 2014 shows that approximately 85 percent of the retailers questioned expected their business to remain constant or to improve overthetwelve-monthperiod.Anevenmorepositivepictur

220、eisprovidedbyErnst&YoungandPWC whose surveys indicated that 91 percent of retailerswereofthesameopinion|.The analyses carried out by the marketing research company GfK also support the HDE fore-casts with regard to the development of the retail trade.Consumerconfidenceisatitshighestlevelfor 13 years

221、 and economic expectations,including fromindustry,areincreasing,asshownbythe“ifo”business climate17 index.Overall,the GfK expects a nominal growth of 0.5 percent in the German food retail sector and 1.3 percent in the non-food sector,for the whole of the European Union an increase of 1 to 1.5 percen

222、t is expected in private consumption.Economic Report 33The positive signs of development in the retail sec-tor also create a relatively strong willingness to invest internationally.For example,a current LTL study shows that approximately 40 percent of UK retail chains plan to increase their investme

223、nts compared with 2014,of which 61 percent of those surveyed stated that the renewal of IT systems was a focal point.This includes omni-channel applica-tionssuchasclick-and-collect,onlineoffersandloyalty concepts.In its Retail Investment Guide,IDCalsoconfirmsanincreasingwillingnesstoinvest in IT whi

224、ch is primarily driven by omni-chan-nel technologies,and is expected to amount to more than USD 100 billion worldwide in 2015.Overall,the need for investments in the retail sec-tor remains high,as the current study by the EHI RetailInstituteentitled“2015ITtrendsinretail”shows.88 percent of those com

225、panies surveyed by the EHI anticipate a constant and/or increasing IT budget.In addition to this,34 percent feel that cloud services will become increasingly important in the retail industry and 52 percent rate omni-channel integration as doing well or being well on track in their own company.This p

226、ositive market trendisalsoreflectedintherelationshipsbetweenGK Software and potential customers.IT depart-ments for retailers are also focusing on issues in thefieldofnewtechnologiesandprocesseswithclienteling,app-enablement and the omni-channel commerce platform,GK Software is in an excellent posit

227、ion to handle these things.Overall,the conditions for the business perfor-manceofGKSoftwareremainpositivein2015.This is all the more so because after the project successes in North America and South Africa,the Company assumes it will be able to expand its base of potential customers internationally

228、through the partnership with SAP.The upturn in theeconomyinmanyeurozonecountriesandtheimproved prospects for retailers in the USA can also open up more opportunities.These trends are subject to the proviso that the global economy is not severely disrupted by politi-cal or economic factors which coul

229、d have a nega-tiveeffectontheeconomicsituation.GKSoftwarecontinuestoassumethattheinvest-ments in new systems that are required in the short or medium term and the use of new technol-ogyfieldsfortheretailsectorwillcontinuetopro-vide sales potential in Germany and the other mar-kets that are being act

230、ively processed in the future too.The Company also expects the partnership with SAP in particular to lead to successes interna-tionallyandreinforcetheCompanyspotentialinthe long term.GK Software is currently in a very good position in several current tender procedures in Germany and abroad,both in d

231、irect sales and its partner business,andhassignificantadvantagesoveritsrivals because of its broad portfolio of products,the internationality of its solutions and its proven ability to handle projects quickly.B|Consolidated Annual Report34Explanation of the Business Results and an Analysis of the As

232、sets,Financial and Earnings SituationThe2014financialyearfellfarshortofexpecta-tions.This resulted in an increase in sales from EUR 42.46 million in the previous year to EUR 44.63 million in the reporting year,equating to an overallincreaseinsalesofaroundfivepercent.However,this increase in sales wa

233、s only made pos-sible against the backdrop of substantially higher costsnotleastduetosignificantlyexpandedmarketing operations and the associated reorgani-sation of the operating areas,such that the result only amounted to EUR 0.04 million after depre-ciations,amortisations,interest and taxes.In the

234、 prior year,EBITDA was EUR 3.34 million.Here we hadformulatedsignificantlyhigherexpectations.The result before taxes and interest in the report-ing year was a loss of EUR(3.02)million following a profitofEUR1.05millioninthepreviousyear.Forthefirsttime,theGroupyear-endresultpro-duced a negative value

235、 of EUR(1.87)million.Includedisthefirst-timecapitalizationofdeferredtax assets for tax loss amounting to EUR 1.76 mil-lion.Theequityratioreachedafigureof68.4per-cent,following 69.3 percent in the previous year.T.03 Total Output31.12.2014 31.12.2013 ChangeEUR Kin%EUR Kin%EUR Kin%Sales revenues44,6349

236、4.342,45893.82,1765.1Own work capitalised5121.13750.813636.2Operating revenues45,14695.442,83394.62,3125.4Other operating revenues2,1884.62,4515.4(263)(10.8)Total operating revenues47,334 100.045,284 100.02,0504.5Earnings Situation Revenue at EUR 44.63 million;operating income at EUR(3.01)million.Th

237、eGroupstotalrevenueroseby5.1percentfrom EUR 42.46 million in the previous year to EUR 44.63 million.Our core business segment,GK/Retail,shows excellent development.It grew by almost seven percent in comparison with the pre-vious year and has been able to achieve a revenue now amounting to EUR 31.66

238、million,following a figureofEUR29.61millioninthe2013financialyear.As expected,there was a continued decline in revenue in the SQRS business segment and this amounted to EUR 1.05 million during the reporting year,followingafigureofEUR1.39millionintheprevious year.After EUR 11.46 million during the pr

239、eviousyear,the“ITServices”businesssegmentwas again able to make a contribution of EUR 11.92 million,amounting to almost 27 percent of the total revenue.If we examine the make-up of the revenue accord-ing to types of work,then the sources of the growth include the marked increase in income from maint

240、enance in the IT services business seg-ment and in the GK/Retail segment(less marked)as well as the increasing income from the ser-vices in the GK/Retail core business segment.The increase in income from maintenance in the IT ser-vices sector has risen by a total of EUR 0.87 million,the increase in

241、income for GK and in the GK/Retail services sector was EUR 3.83 million.The contribution made by the licence service fell by 31.1 percent compared to the previous year because the license revenues from the GK/Retail F.05 Quartaly sales development compared to previous years,cumulated amounts in EUR

242、K 9,332 3M 9,067 7,445 20,213 H1 18,402 16,235 30,562 9M 28,650 22,396 44,634 FY 42,458 28,4262014 2013 2012Economic Report 35sector which largely supports this form of service fell by 31.6 percent to EUR 4.22 million at present.In the same manner as in the previous year,there was no licence income

243、in the SQRS sector and the revenues from licences in the IT services sector fell by EUR 0.03 million to EUR 0.17 million.Thestrongestgrowthwasinthe“services”areaduringthe2014financialyear.Here,revenueincreased by a total of EUR 4.04 million or more than a quarter to EUR 22.50 million.The greatest po

244、rtion of this increase can be attributed to the GK/Retail business segment.Its income from ser-vices alone rose by EUR 3.83 million to EUR 18.60 million.An additional growth of EUR 0.41 million could be recorded for the IT services business segment with the result that an overall revenue of EUR 3.79

245、 million arising from services could be recordedinthisareainthefinancialyear.“Maintenance”servicesshowedanequallyposi-tive development.Revenue now amounting to EUR 17.02 million could be entered in the books here,this represents an increase of 6.9 percent or EUR 1.10millionfollowingafigureofEUR15.92

246、millionin the previous year.The gains for the IT services and in GK/Retail compensated for the scheduled decline in maintenance income in the SQRS busi-ness segment,which fell by EUR 0.13 million to EUR 0.93 million.Other revenues accounted for 1.5 percent or EUR 0.67millionoftotalrevenue(followinga

247、figureofEUR 1.69 million in the previous year).This reve-nue was largely generated from hardware for cus-tomers and its preparation for use in branches.GK Software also continued to invest in the further development of its solutions during the 2014 busi-ness year.Overall,development work worth EUR 0

248、.51 million was capitalised,after EUR 0.38 mil-lion had been invested in products in the previous year.This small gain can be attributed to the prep-aration of subsequent versions for individual mod-ules of the GK/Retail suite of solutions.In 2011,EUR 1.49 million were capitalised,this ongoing decli

249、ne is an expression of the increasing degree of maturity in the solution.The GK Academy income which generated EUR 0.04 million through fees from partner training sessionsandhardwarecertificationsinthefinan-cialyearisshownseparatelyforthefirsttimeinthis annual report.During the previous year,the GK

250、Academy income,which was considerably lower,was still recorded under services in the GK/Retail business segment.Other operating income,which amounted to EUR 2.19 million,was EUR 0.26 million lower than in the previousyear.Asaresult,theGroupstotaloperat-ing revenue during the business year amounted t

251、o EUR47.33million,followingafigureofEUR45.29million in the previous year(an increase of+4.5 percent).Expenditure on purchased goods and services rose by a total of EUR 1.07 million to EUR 5.15 million.The causes for this were the prepara-tionandthetestingofthepartnerscapacitiesforimplementationofthe

252、Groupssolutions.Forthis,GKSoftwareemploysexternalserviceprovidersinits own customer projects.The increase in these acquired services amounted to EUR 1.10 million.In anticipation of an increasing number of orders to process,the management once again decided toadjustthecompanyscapacityforproductdevel-

253、opment and project execution in order to be able to meet the expected requirements.As a result,the average number of employees over the year rosefrom552toafigureof572.Thisresultedinan increase in personnel costs from EUR 25.60 million in the previous year to EUR 28.75 million in the reporting year.T

254、he increase amounted to EUR 3.14 million or just over 12 percent.Now at 63.6%,the ratio of payroll intensity to operating revenue is in line with the increase in personnel costs by 3.8 percentage points compared with the previous year(59.8 percent).This partially explains the con-siderabledeclineine

255、arningsinthisfinancialyear.Management is aware that actively controlling the capacity that is available is a central task.Consid-eration is being given to measures to improve the quality and adapt the quantity of the capacity that is available.Other operating expenditure rose by EUR 1.14 million.The

256、considerabledifferencescomefromthe GK/Retail business segment,as expected.The expenses rose by EUR 0.80 million in this area.This increase in costs was caused in particular by travel expenses and the costs of sales due to the considerably extensive sales territory;the increase B|Consolidated Annual

257、Report36here amounted to EUR 0.76 million.The increase in recruitment costs as part of the planned reor-ganisationoftheorganisationisequallysignifi-cant.The increase in these costs amounted to EUR 0.27 million.Additional increases in costs are to be recorded under non-recurring special expenses for

258、projects,with an increase of EUR 0.26 million to EUR0.57millioncurrently.Effortstoimprovepro-ject work have been undertaken and introduced in order to avoid such expenses in the future.These have resulted in an EBITDA that is only just still positive amounting to EUR 0.04 million.In the prioryear,af

259、igureofEUR3.34millioncouldberecorded.Depreciation/amortisation amounted to EUR 3.05 million during the year under review,following a figureofEUR2.29millioninthepreviousyear.Thisincrease of EUR 0.76 million is due to the deprecia-tion carried out on the goodwill gained from the acquisition of Solques

260、t.Here the impairment test revealed a need for value adjustments of EUR 0.87 million.T.04 Sales by SegmentsFY 2014FY 2013ChangeEUR Kin%EUR Kin%EUR Kin%Sales withGK/Retail31,66070.929,60769.72,0536.9SQRS1,0532.41,3893.3(336)(24.2)IT Services11,92126.711,46227.04594.0Total44,634 100.042,458 100.02,176

261、5.1Licences4,3919.86,37215.0(1,981)(31.1)GK/Retail4,2239.56,17814.6(1,955)(31.6)SQRS-IT Services1680.41940.5(26)(13.4)Maintenance17,02238.115,92437.51,0986.9GK/Retail8,47819.08,12219.13564.4SQRS9342.11,0652.5(131)(12.3)IT Services7,61017.06,73715.987313.0Services22,50450.418,46943.54,03521.8GK/Retai

262、l18,59941.714,76834.83,83125.9SQRS1190.33240.8(205)(63.3)IT Services3,7868.53,3778.040912.1Other Business6731.51,6934.0(1,020)(60.2)GK/Retail3160.75391.3(223)(41.4)SQRS-IT Services3570.81,1542.7(797)(69.1)GK Academy440.1-44-GK/Retail440.1-44-SQRS-IT Services-As a result,GK Software generated a negat

263、ive result before interest and taxes(EBIT)amounting toEUR(3.02)million.ThisfigureisEUR4.06millionlowerthanthepreviousyearsfigure.ThefinancialresultforthecurrentyearwasEUR0.03million,followingafigureofEUR(0.11)millionduring the previous year.Expenditure on inter-est fell by EUR(0.09)million to EUR 0.

264、13 million,whilst the revenue from interest rose from EUR 0.11 million to EUR 0.15 million.The reason for the improvementinthefinancialresultcanbefoundin the amount of disposable cash and cash equiva-lents which is higher on average than during the previous year.Economic Report 37T.05 Financial Situ

265、ation31.12.201431.12.2013ChangeEUR Kin%of salesEUR Kin%of salesEUR Kin%EBIT(3,015)(6.8)1,0452.5(4,060)(388.4)EBT(2,987)(6.7)9322.2(3,919)(420.4)Group result(1,870)(4.2)6011.4(2,471)(411.1)This creates earnings before income taxes of EUR(2.99)million,and thus a result which is EUR 3.92 million lower

266、than in the previous year.After tax,there is a Group annual loss of EUR(1.87)million followingaprofitofEUR0.60millionintheprevi-ous year.This corresponds to an undiluted loss of EUR(0.99)pershare(prioryear:EUR0.34profit).Theresultsincludedthefirst-timecapitalizationofdeferred tax assets for tax loss

267、 amounting to EUR 1.76 million.Assets SituationThe consolidated balance sheet total amounted to EUR 44.67 million as of the reporting date and was therefore EUR 3.15 million lower than the com-parativefigureofEUR47.82millionfortheprevi-ous year.The primary cause of this is the reduction in equity du

268、etotheGrouplossforthefinancialyearandthedividendpaidoutforthenetprofitundercommerciallawforthe2013financialyear.Thenon-current assets increased by EUR 0.72 mil-lion to EUR 15.97 million since the last balance sheet reporting date.At the same time,the current assets without cash and cash equivalents

269、have decreased by EUR 0.30 million to EUR 18.53 mil-lion.The equity ratio on 31 December 2014 amounted to 68.4 percent and the equity share capital amounted to EUR 30.56 million.GKSoftwaresdebtsfellbyEUR0.55millionduringthe reporting year and the non-current liabilities rose by EUR 0.85 million to E

270、UR 4.87 million,while the current liabilities could be reduced by EUR 1.40 million to EUR 9.25 million.T.06 Assets Situation31.12.2014(audited)31.12.2013(audited)ChangeEUR Kin%EUR Kin%EUR Kin%Non-current assets 15,97235.8 15,24831.97244.7Current assets or cash and cash equivalents18,52841.5 18,83139

271、.4(303)(1.6)Cash and cash equivalents10,17322.8 13,74228.7(3,569)(26.0)Assets44,673 100.0 47,821 100.0(3,149)(6.6)Equity30,55568.4 33,15669.3(2,601)(7.8)Non-current liabilities4,86510.94,0118.485421.3Current liabilities9,25220.7 10,65422.3(1,402)(13.2)Liabilities44,673 100.0 47,821 100.0(3,149)(6.6)

272、In greater detail,the changes can be explained as follows:Theincreaseinthenon-currentassetsisprimarilyaresultoftwooffsettingdevelopments.WhilstcarryingamountsoffixedassetsrosebyEUR 0.18 million to EUR 4.97 million,the values of the intangible assets fell by a total of EUR 1.45 million.This decline i

273、s the result of the impair-ment test on the acquired goodwill,which led to a depreciation of EUR 0.87 million on the goodwill fromthetakeoverofSolquestsoperations,sched-uled depreciation and amortisation of the acquired customer relationships and the backlog of orders arising through company acquisi

274、tions(total-lingEUR0.18million),aswellastheprofitfromthe scheduled depreciations and amortisations of capitalised services rendered to own account through the resulting additions amounting to EUR 0.23 million.Further decreases are due to sched-uled depreciations and amortisations of stand-ard softwa

275、re amounting to EUR 0.16 million.This is contrasted by the development of deferred tax assets,which was EUR 2.00 million higher than the prioryearfigureofEUR0.53million,nowamount-ing to EUR 2.53 million.This substantial increase is duetothefirst-timecapitalisationofdeferredtaxassets from losses carr

276、ied forward.The current assets fell mainly due to the EUR 3.90 million drop in trade receivables to EUR 9.19 mil-lion.Thissignificantdeclineismainlyduetothefallin sales in December 2014 compared to Decem-ber2013.Write-offswerealsoperformedfortradereceivables,which further reduced the statement oftra

277、dereceivables.Write-offsrelevanttotheB|Consolidated Annual Report38statement amounted to EUR 1.04 million.There was also a fall in liquid assets.Stocks of cash and cash equivalents amounting to EUR 10.17 million exceed the interest-bearing liabilities of EUR 1.13 million by EUR 9.04 million.The deve

278、lopment of cash and cash equivalents is explainedaspartoftheanalysisofthefinancialsituation.The EUR 0.85 million decline in non-current liabili-ties to EUR 4.87 million can be attributed to two major factors.On the one hand,pension provi-sions rose from EUR 0.91 million to EUR 1.66 mil-lion,while on

279、 the other hand,deferred tax liabili-ties increased by EUR 0.30 million to EUR 1.38 mil-lion.In contrast,the non-current bank liabilities fell by EUR 0.21 million as scheduled,to EUR 0.81 mil-lion at present.The current debts fell by EUR 1.40 million.This decrease is essentially due to the EUR 0.95

280、mil-lion drop in current bank liabilities.Trade paya-bles rose slightly(EUR+0.21 million)while income tax liabilities(EUR(0.03)million)were marginally reduced.The other liabilities fell by EUR 0.36 mil-liontoapresentfigureofEUR4.32million.Financial SituationThecashflowfromoperatingbusinessinthenar-r

281、owersensei.e.withoutanychangetonetcur-rentassetsdecreasedfromEUR5.83millioninthe previous year to EUR 0.64 million,i.e.by EUR 5.19 million.The causes for this are the year-end results which were far less favourable and which alone make up EUR 2.47 of the decline in this key number,and the additions

282、to deferred tax assets amounting to EUR 2.00 million.The changes to net current assets related to the reporting date had a positive impact of EUR 0.26 millionontheoperatingcashflowincontrasttoadebit amounting to EUR 5.2 million in the previous year.The considerable relief arises from the devel-opmen

283、t of trade receivables before value adjust-ments were made,which were reduced by EUR 4.1 million.The EUR 0.75 million increase in provisions alsohadapositiveeffect.Duringthepreviousyear,there was another recorded burden of EUR 1.73 million here.The results therefore indicate an increase in cash and

284、cash equivalents from operating activities of EUR0.38million,followingafigureofEUR0.59mil-lion in the previous year.The account balance of interest payments and income taxes to be paid or refunded resulted in a EUR 0.76 million burden on the operating cash flowduringthecurrentyear,afterapositivefigu

285、reEUR 1.22 million had been recorded in the pre-viousyear.Overall,thiscreatedanetoutflowoffunds from operating activities amounting to EUR 0.39million,followinganinflowofEUR1.83millionin the previous year.ThenetoutflowofcashandcashequivalentsfrominvestmentactivitiesrosetoapresentfigureofEUR1.57milli

286、onfollowingafigureofEUR0.95mil-lion in the previous year.Thefinancingactivityforthefinancialyearwasconsiderablyaffectedbytheplannedrepaymentofloans.As a result of the repayments of loans,there wasanoutflowofEUR2.33million.Atthesametime,the Company took out loans using credit cards totalling EUR 1.17

287、 million with a monthly repayment deadline;EUR 0.79 were repaid through the monthly settlements.In addition to this,duringthe2014financialyearadividendofEUR0.45millionwaspaidduetotheprofitundercommercial law of GK Software AG during the 2013financialyear.TherewasanoutflowoffundstotallingEUR1.61milli

288、onduetofinancingactivitiesduringthefinancialyear,withtheresultthatstocksof cash and cash equivalents were reduced by EUR 3.57 million to EUR 10.17 million on the balance sheet reporting date.Financial and non-financial performance indicatorsFinancial performance indicators It should be notedthatthek

289、eyfiguresbasedonfinancialdataare inextricably linked.The development of these values therefore largely depends on the devel-opment of two key variables.These variables are salesandearnings.Tonormalisetheeffectoftaxes,GK Software determines its earnings using adjusted earnings before taxes together w

290、ith the financialresult(adjustedEBIT)oradjustedearn-ingstogetherwiththefinancialresultplusdepreci-Economic Report 39ations(adjusted EBITDA)and the margins on oper-ating revenues derived from these.In this respect,we refer you to the Report on Risks and Prospects forthedevelopmentofthesekeyfigures.T.

291、07 Financial performance indicators20142013Gross margin on sales89.6%91.3%Payroll intensity64.4%60.3%EBITDA margin on operating revenues0.1%7.8%EBIT margin on operating revenues(6.7)%2.4%Equity ratio68.4%69.3%Investment intensity35.8%31.9%Net debt(excess of liquid assets over interest-bearing liabil

292、ities)(EUR K)9,04111,453Thefigureslistedaboveareinteraliausedtoanalyse developments that deviate from the plan.Theaforementionedkeyfigureshelpustoana-lyse developments that deviate from the plan.Payroll intensity,for example,is an important variable when analysing the development of our results of o

293、perations.Nevertheless this develop-mentdependscruciallyonthevariable“sales”,andworseresultsmayreflectbothanineffectiveapparatus of production and a failure to meet the targetforthekeyfigure“sales”.Thiscanbereaddirectly,however.Thesekeyfiguresareanimpor-tant aid only insofar as analysing development

294、s;they are not control variables in their own right.Thusassumingtheforecastforthecorekeyfig-ures turns out to be true,we can expect that the keyfiguresmentionedhere,usedtocontroltheearnings,financialandassetposition,willdeveloppositively and move up towards the values for 2013 again.Non-financial pe

295、rformance indicators Of the non-financialperformanceindicators,Manage-mentmainlymonitorsthekeyfiguresthatrelateto sales activities.The two variables customer sat-isfaction and number of customer contacts are crucial here.These are not formally monitored,but recorded and measured by means of regular

296、reports submitted to the responsible Management Board and Executive Board members concerning existing projects and sales activities with respect to potential new customers.This involves decisions on further action and procedures being made at case level.Overall we expect that customer satis-faction

297、in general will continue to improve.The way in which customer service is organised,changed sinceMarch2014withtheintroductionof“Cli-entExecutives”,shouldhelptofurtherstrengthenextensive customer service and add an additional commercial and consulting component to what used to be just specialist and t

298、echnical support.B|Consolidated Annual Report40Report on Key Events AftertheendofthefinancialyearAftertheendofthefinancialyear2014,theGroupwasabletoreportasignificanteventwiththetake-overofthe“Retail”businessdivisionofDBSDataBusiness Systems,Inc.,Virgina,USA on 19 March 2015.DBS has successfully foc

299、ussed on retail and hospitality for decades.The business division is based in Raleigh,North Carolina,USA and gener-ated close to USD 6 million in revenue with a high levelofprofitabilityinthe2013/2014financialyear.Itemploys21staffandhasanexcellentreputa-tion in the USA retail industry.The acquisitio

300、n was incorporated into GK Software USA,Inc.which is a company wholly owned by GK Software.Otherwise no event of particular importance occurredaftertheendofthefinancialyearwhichhadasignificantimpactontheCompanysassets,financialpositionorresultsofoperations.ReportontheRisks,ProspectsandOutlookoftheGK

301、SoftwareGroup 41Report on the Risks,Prospects and Outlook of the GKSoftwareGroupDuring its recent examination of the risks and opportunities facing the company,the Manage-ment Board did not discover any notable change to the statements made in previous years.RisksRisk management systemGKSoftwaredeli

302、beratelytakesentrepreneurial risks inordertobenefitfromtheopportunitiespresented by the market accordingly.A risk man-agement system was introduced over the past few years to recognise,manage and minimise the risks at an early stage.Among other things,the Man-agement Board meets once a month to iden

303、tify possible risks and introduce countermeasures.In order to give all the business divisions the oppor-tunity to outline their concerns,a Group Manage-ment Board was formed where the business units can continually report on their development and any risks and opportunities that arise.In compos-ing

304、the Group Management Board it is ensured the all segments of the business activities are rep-resented in the same way as the internal areas of product development and research and develop-ment,thus facilitating appropriate consideration of thespecificrisksintheGroupmanagement.TheSupervisory Board is

305、 informed of the results of these discussions.The risk management system is being continually updated.The risk early warning system focuses on recognis-ing risks;it attempts to pick up any possible risks that might pose a threat to the companys exist-ence.The risk management scheme does not pick up

306、any positive opportunities.Due to the nature of the risk management system,the focus is on early recognition and reporting of emerging risks.For this purpose,informal discus-sions between members of the Group Manage-ment Board and employees who are responsible for the risk classes described below ar

307、e encour-aged,in order to eliminate avoidance strategies in communication as much as possible.This is because the management team is aware that the early recognition of risks requires open com-munication between upper management and those responsible,but that at the same time,people tend to avoid co

308、mmunicating unpleasant news,andmanagingrisksbymonitoringkeyfig-ures alone is not possible.Nonetheless,the risk management system is being further developed regardingtheexpansionofeconomickeyfiguresinparticular,inorderfacilitatetheverificationofinformal information.The most serious risk among the fol

309、lowing is the riskofdamagetothecompanysreputationif an individualprojectgoeswrong.Therisksthatinflu-encecustomerbehaviour,suchastheeffectson demand because of a perception that the company has performed inadequately or delays in investments because of new market condi-tions or regulatory measures fo

310、llow this in terms oftheirsignificance.Theremaywellbeconnec-tionsbetweenthetwotypesofrisksmentioned:changes in market conditions or regulatory requirements could increase the complexity of projects making it more likely that problems will arise during projects.The risks presented in the following se

311、ction can be summarisedasfollows:Risks resulting from changes in the requirements ofpotentialcustomersmustfirstbesummarised.These lead to increased sales cycles and therefore to a reduction in the number of realisable sales opportunities.At the same time,new require-ments increase the complexity of

312、projects,which increases the risk that project plans will fail.These risksincreasetheriskofdamagetotheGroupsreputation because the lack of sales opportuni-ties,above all caused by increased sales cycles,raisesthesignificanceofindividualprojectsforthe overall reputation of GK Software.Another B|Conso

313、lidated Annual Report42risk group is related to external risks such as mac-roeconomic developments,the development of regulatory framework conditions and shifting focusses in the customer and competitive envi-ronments.These risks cannot be controlled by the Groupandcaninparthavetheeffectofenhanc-ing

314、therisksinthefirstgroup.Athirdgroupofrisks relates to the development,usage and man-agement of project capacities.The solution to the usageriskliesinincreasingtheflexibilityofcapaci-ties;increased risks for project quality can result fromthisbecausemoreflexiblecapacitycanonlybe accessed indirectly.F

315、urther risks are individual risks which result from large individual measures such as company acquisitions and their integra-tion.Alongside these abovementioned operative risksarefinancialriskswhoseimpactonprojec-tionsisnotcurrentlyestimatedtobeverysignifi-cant.We have summarised the individual risk

316、s,which are the result of integrating the AWEK Group or the acquisition of other companies,in a separate risk category;this eliminates any general order of assessment.There is also a separate risk category related to the issue of tying employees to the company and gaining new ones.Risks and overall

317、picture of the risk situationOnemajorriskwhichcannotbeinfluencedbythe Group involves the business developments of GKSoftwarescustomersduetothedevelopmentof the general economy and consumer sentiment.Theactualdevelopmentsinthe2014financialyearandtheprospectsforthe2015financialyearhavebeen dominated b

318、y a generally calm,but constant growth process in many parts of the word.The impact of the crisis between the Ukraine and Rus-siaisstillcompletelyunclearandthisaffectscon-crete markets in which GK Software operates.The threatthatGreecewillexittheeurozoneandtheresulting impact,as well as the uncertai

319、nties asso-ciatedwiththis,couldalsohaveaneffectoneco-nomic developments in Europe to a degree that cannot yet be determined.The forecasts of associations and analysts do indi-cate that the retail sector will once again develop inarelativelycalmwayinthesignificantlycalmeroverall economic climate;but

320、the psychological effectsofanycontradictorynewsinanenviron-mentwhichisdifficulttopredict,andtheeffectsofthis on the investment behaviour of customers of GKSoftwareishardtoforecastasintheprevi-ous year.In the light of this general uncertainty,the Man-agementBoardcontinuestomakeeveryefforttoprovide it

321、self with room to manoeuvre by keeping costsasflexibleaspossibleandonlydeliberatelyincurring them.One major argument for the successful sales of GKSoftwaresolutionsandtheinmanycaseslong-standing customer relationships is the consistently successful completion of customer projects in the past.However

322、,any failures in the project business could do long-term damage to this positive repu-tation and even lead to a reversal of this positive sentimenttowardsGKSoftware.Thiskindofsitua-tioncouldposeathreattothecompanysongoingexistence.As a result,the relevant project manag-ers inform the responsible mem

323、bers of the Group Management Board about possible risks during the course of ongoing projects in order to enable an appropriate and timely response to these kinds ofrisks.GKSoftwareviewsthedegreeofcustomersatisfaction and the number of new customer con-tacts as an important indicator for assessing r

324、isks.These two factors are therefore subject to particu-lar monitoring and are regularly checked as part of the sales controlling processes.On the basis of its customer structure and the structure of its target market,the consolidated group business is repeatedly dominated by indi-vidual major proje

325、cts with a relatively low number of customers,with the result that these business relationsprovidesignificantcontributionstosalesandresultswithinafinancialyear.TheManage-ment Board anticipates that this will continue to be the case in the future too.If a business partner breaksoffaprojectorfallsinto

326、paymentdifficul-ties,thiscouldhavefinancialconsequencesforGKSoftware.However,thisriskisrestrictedbyreg-ular payment plans or agreements for payments according to so-called project milestones.Another new risk results from the start of devel-opments related to omni-channel approaches to ReportontheRis

327、ks,ProspectsandOutlookoftheGKSoftwareGroup 43retailing.This fundamentally new way of think-ing and the opportunity of introducing it can extend the sales cycles in comparison to current times,as customers view these developments as strategic and have to introduce a relevant pro-cess to achieve the f

328、ull potential.This can lead to extended times for decisions with the correspond-ingeffectsonthesalesopportunitiesforGKSoft-ware.The ongoing consolidation of the retail sector mar-ket may lead to a reduction in the number of store networks in the short term,which could lead to an increase in demand f

329、rom the retail sector.The retail sector in Germany is generally dominated by price wars.Retail companies therefore seek to pass on the resulting pressure on prices to their suppliers and contractual partners.This process is also felt for investments in IT equipment and mayhaveaneffectonmanufacturers

330、ofsoftwarefortheretailsector.However,asGKSoftwarepro-videsstrategicallysignificantsolutionsforretailgroups,theserisksarenotclassifiedasathreattothecompanysexistence.The process of consolidation on the customer side is continuing,similar to that encountered at rival companies.This concentration is cl

331、ear from the acquisition of direct competitors by globally important manufacturers of hardware,which then become universal providers for the retail sector.This combination could cause possible customers topurchasealltheirservicesfromtheserivalfirms.Although the management board anticipates that past

332、 market developments are leading to the sep-arate purchase of hardware and software,a rever-sal of this trend and therefore a negative impact onGKSoftwaressalesopportunitiescannotbecompletely ruled out.The planned revenue expansion is also associated withcertainfinancialrisks.FortheGroupentitiesthes

333、e mainly arise from preliminary payments for customer acquisition.This risk is increased by the extensions of the sales cycles outlined above in the report on the business situation.The increase in sales expenditure associated with longer sales cycles plays a role in this.However the need to maintain the ability to deliver products when agreements are concluded is of particular impor-tance.This ca