18.09.2002 – 17:28

Roland Berger Strategy Consultants

Roland Berger Strategy Consultants
Strong performance in a difficult market

Munich (ots)

Querverweis auf Bild: www.newsaktuell.ch/d/galerie.htx?type=obs

• Growth is once again well above the industry average in 2002 thanks to more globalized consulting services
• Successful strategy of focusing on top management issues that bring are critical to sustainable value creation for our clients
• Seven strategic priorities for outperformers: How strategically and operationally excellent companies can grow their sales, profit, and company value at above-average rates
• Heavy investment in innovation, employees, and knowledge management

In a persistently difficult market, Roland Berger Strategy
Consultants remains resolutely on course for sustained success. While
the market as a whole is growing only modestly, Roland Berger is
expecting another above-average increase in revenues and profit - as
in 2001 - and hence another record year. Annual revenues will
increase 8-10 percent to around EUR 550 million and profit will climb
14 percent. In other words, in 2002, Roland Berger will grow at about
three times the industry average. While competitors are having to lay
people off, Roland Berger will increase its staff this year by at
least 3 percent, to 1'700.

"In a strained economic situation and faced with intense
competitive pressure, we are increasing our revenues and profit,
boosting our shareholder value, and creating new jobs for
highly-qualified people," said Burkhard Schwenker, member of the
Executive Committee, at today's press conference in Munich. "Once
again, our international offices have been the strongest growth
drivers, providing consulting services to our clients around the
globe. All in all a positive performance in such difficult times."
Fee volume will rise particularly sharply in the US (+70 percent),
Asia (+50 percent), and Central and Eastern Europe (+60 percent).
Global consulting activities are expected to grow by 21 percent -
four times the 5 percent increase estimated for Germany in 2002.

2001 fiscal year: Outperforming the market - once again

With fee volume up 16 percent to EUR 504 million, the Munich-based
international strategy consultancy also grew at three times the
overall market rate in 2001. On average, the top 50 management
consultancies posted growth of just 3-5 percent. Roland Berger
Strategy Consultants, however, seamlessly continued its track record
of above-average growth from previous years: since 1995, the company
has achieved average annual revenue growth of 20 percent. In the same
period, the global market for strategy consulting expanded at only 11
percent p.a. This result confirmed the company's own performance
trend: over the past 31 years (since 1970), Roland Berger has seen
its profits increase at an average of 27 percent per year, with 18.2
percent annual growth in fee volume. One of the keys to this
impressive performance lies in the fact that every consultant
currently generates revenues of an outstanding EUR 457'000. This
figure puts Roland Berger among the industry's front-runners, ranking
the company second in the world.

The 2001 fiscal year also saw the workforce hit a new peak of
1'650 employees, 1'170 of whom are consultants. Roland Berger was the
only international strategy consultancy to expand its workforce last
year, increasing staff numbers by 10 percent. Both the number of
consultants and the total number of employees have doubled since
1995.

Continued internationalization in 2001

The company's international offices experienced significant
expansion in the period 1999-2001. Growth of 29 percent put them well
ahead of the 20 percent growth posted by Roland Berger in Germany.
The US business recorded the strongest growth, at 76 percent,
followed by Asia (+68 percent). Roland Berger's Western European
offices (excluding Germany) saw business expand by 30 percent in the
same period.

Roland Berger Strategy Consultants currently has 32 offices in 22
countries. Our consultants come from a wide variety of countries,
with 57 percent having a nationality other than German. Projects with
an international focus for clients operating internationally account
for more than three-quarters (76 percent) of the total fee volume.

Striking a balance between strategic consulting and operational
implementation

In 2001, 51 percent of the total fee volume generated by Roland
Berger Strategy Consultants was earned from developing strategic
concepts (19 percent of which were restructuring concepts), and 49
percent came from operational implementation strategies. Of those,
operations in the narrower sense (logistics, purchasing, production
optimization, and R&D management) contributed 25 percent. Innovative
IT strategies, which are increasingly becoming a key competitive
issue for our clients, and also lay the foundation for process
optimization, made up 12 percent. The remaining 12 percent came from
marketing and sales consulting.

In the current unstable economic situation, Roland Berger, like
other market players, witnessed an increase in demand for consulting
projects whose purpose was, on the one hand, to adjust capacity and
cut unit costs and, on the other hand, to sustainably increase the
value of the client company. One particularly notable trend has
emerged of late: while restructuring projects were in the spotlight
in late 2001 and early 2002, attention is now increasingly shifting
back toward implementation-oriented growth strategies.

"One reason for the gratifying results we achieved in 2001 is
undoubtedly our clear focus on top management issues - issues that
help our clients achieve sustainable value added," says Burkhard
Schwenker. "Excellently trained people, flexible structures, and a
global network of Functional and Industry Competence Centers enable
us to find tailor-made solutions to even the most difficult problems.
Our clients especially value the close, trusting collaboration we
offer them while developing strategies, and the hands-on support we
provide during implementation - which we see as our duty. We want to
make sure that what we recommend really works."

The seven strategic priorities for outperformers: How
strategically and operationally excellent companies can grow their
sales, profit, and company value at above-average rates

When the economy is in poor shape, forward-looking corporate
strategies naturally have to apply selected, intelligent cost-cutting
measures. However, a global study by Roland Berger Strategy
Consultants found that it is also important to focus on creative
growth. Why? Because only strong corporate growth goes hand in hand
with sustainable, above-average profit and value growth. The study
examined 1'700 companies worldwide. Of these, 441 form the top tier,
the "outperformers", who increased their profit and value at
above-average rates. During the period analyzed (1996-2001), this
group saw sales leap by an average of 33.8 percent p.a., compared to
the average of just 11.8 percent annual sales growth among the entire
group of companies surveyed. Pre-tax profits for the leading group
rose by 37.3 percent annually; the corresponding figure for the
entire group of 1'700 companies was a mere 8.5 percent. At 23.6
percent p.a., the total shareholder return (the increase in stock
price plus dividends) likewise easily outstripped the overall group
average of just 17.3 percent p.a.

According to Roland Berger, the company's founder and Chairman of
the Executive Committee, "Seven strategic priorities - which can be
mixed and matched depending on the industry and the competitive
environment - are of critical importance to above-average growth in
sales, profit, and company value." These seven strategic priorities
are:

* Innovation and branding
   * Forcing new rules on others
   * Globalization
   * A focused portfolio
   * Reducing vertical integration through outsourcing
   * Market presence and consolidation through M&As
   * Networks, partnerships, and virtualization

One of the key findings of the study was that merely cutting costs
can boost profit and company value in the short term only. It takes
rule-breaking growth strategies to generate sustainable increases in
profit and value - even in times when the economy is weak.

Knowledge is the future - Roland Berger invests heavily in global
innovation and knowledge management

In the fiscal year under review, Roland Berger sharply stepped up
its investment in concept innovation, knowledge management, employee
development, and efforts to promote the global exchange of knowledge
between the scientific community and practical consulting. Over EUR
90 million - or 18 percent of revenues - was invested in these areas
in 2001.

"This commitment is an investment in the future: our success
hinges on developing our people, on increasing the skills and
professionalism of our 1'200 or so international consultants. At the
same time, we, as a global strategy consultancy, see it as our duty
to make a significant contribution to the advancement of research and
education," says Burkhard Schwenker.

Endowed chairs in e-business and information technology at the
INSEAD business school, for innovative IT business models at the
Technical University of Munich, and in new business startups at the
Brandenburg University of Technology in Cottbus are just one aspect
of Roland Berger's commitment to innovation, alongside the activities
of the Academic Network, a collaborative venture with 16
international chairs for business and technology. The company also
invests substantial sums in Ph.D. and MBA programs for its employees
at globally leading universities and business schools, including such
respected institutions as INSEAD, LBS (London Business School),
Harvard, Wharton, the IMD (Institute for Management Development in
Switzerland) and the IESE (in Spain). The Roland Berger Foundation
for Management Research primarily devotes itself primarily to
developing innovative management concepts.

Contact:

Ralph Driever
Roland Berger Strategy Consultants
Tel. +49/89/923'083'18
Fax +49/89/923'085'99
mailto:ralph_driever@de.rolandberger.com

Susanne Horstmann
Roland Berger Strategy Consultants
Tel. +49/89/923'083'49
Fax +49/89/923'085'99
mailto:susanne_horstmann@de.rolandberger.com