UK Division Helps Put Olivetti Back on Track

The UK arm of Olivetti has managed to turn in an operating profit despite the massive financial problems faced by its Italian parent.

Olsy UK, the renamed computer and systems division, saw operating profits of #7.07 million on #152.3 million turnover for the year to December 1996. The division changed its name and status from Olivetti UK to Olsy UK on 2 April, and with 1,000 staff, provides about 60 per cent of the group?s total worldwide turnover.

Alan Watson, Olsy UK MD, said: ?Over the past quarter Olsy has announced a number of significant multimillion pound contracts from organisations like Abbey National, Barclays and Do It All.

?We are confident that the current strategic focus will generate continued growth and profitability.?

Olsy is focusing on three main areas: network integration and management services; Olipro ? application development and system integration; and Oliservice ? distributed IT management services.

Last week, Olivetti Group said it expected to cut its pre-tax losses by almost one third to L264.2 billion in the first half of the year. The company also revealed that it was in talks with interested parties as it looked for a partner for its Olsy subsidiary.

Olivetti said it regarded this business as part of its core and did not intend to sell control. Olsy is expected to have sales of L4,500 billion this year.