ARINSO, HR, Services, Growth

2006 building on prior years' success for ARINSO

ARINSO International, a global HR Services partner offering innovative HR business solutions, continued in the first quarter its solid performance of 2005. 1Q06 has been the 11th consecutive quarter with double digit sales growth for ARINSO - a track record which proves the successful roll-out of its business model aiming at balancing projects and long-term recurring revenues.

In the current market conditions, ARINSO is confident that 2006 will again be a year of solid double digit sales and margin growth.

All three business lines delivered a solid performance: HR Strategy, HR Integration and HR Outsourcing, accounted for respectively 4%, 61% and 35% of group sales. Quarter on quarter, ARINSO is moving closer to its strategic objective of balancing long-term recurring services with consulting revenues.

ARINSO People Services is experiencing a strong start in 2006. A number of sizeable deals are expected to be closed by the summer, and will confirm ARINSO's growing leadership in international payroll services. ARINSO announces HR Services contracts with industry leaders such as Schneider Electric in France, Repsol YPF in Spain & Portugal and Baxter International operations in the UK, France and Italy. These contracts span 5 to 6 years, service more than 41,000 employees and represent a total deal value of close to EUR 20 million.

In Belgium, ARINSO has extended its offering to become a "social services provider" ("Sociaal Dienstverlener"), and can now provide "post-payroll" services to employers in their transactions with government services such as Social Security and Finance Administration. This extension of our service portfolio improves the international transparency, quality and speed of payroll services rendered, as there is no longer a need to subcontract this final step of the process to a local Payroll Bureau (Sociaal Secretariaat).

ARINSO's consolidated balance sheet per 31 March 2006 remains extremely solid, with a solvency ratio (equity vs. total assets) of 65% and a cash position of close to 54 million, giving the group the means to independently invest in its strategic HRO ambitions and to consider a number of small strategic acquisitions so as to reinforce its leadership in HR solutions and outsourcing.