CEO's comments

In February 2008 I was appointed as the new CEO of ITAB Shop Concept AB after Jan-Ola Wiréhn who, after shouldering responsibility for more than ten years, has chosen to cut back his involvement and resigned the position of CEO. Jan-Ola Wiréhn will continue to work within the Group on business development issues. I has held various executive positions within the ITAB Group since 1997 and served as Deputy CEO since the Group’s listing in 2004.

It is now four years since ITAB was hived off from XANO Industri (then ITAB Industri) and became an independent group within shopfitting and equipment. At the hiving-off the ITAB share was traded on the First North and in July 2008, it is noted on the OMX Nordic Exchange Stockholm. In these four years ITAB has grown and gone from about 950 SEK million to more than 3 000 SEK million in turn-over today, and from about 550 to 1700 employees. In the recent years, many important customer agreements has been concluded with major chains within both food and non-food sector.

Even before the hiving-off from XANO Industri, we were a major player in the Nordic countries, Baltic countries and around the Benelux. In recent years, we have expanded our market share through organic growth and through several major acquisitions in countries like the Czech Republic, UK, Belgium, Germany and Lithuania. In the beginning of 2008, we made our largest acquisition ever - the purchase of the German group Hansa Kontor Shopfitting Group. Hansa Kontor has a turn-over of about 850 SEK million and has 400 employees in Germany, Belgium and England.

The market share we now hold makes us the largest player in the Nordic and Baltic countries as well as in the UK. In the Benelux countries, Germany and Central Europe, we are one of the leading players. In shop equipment, we are Europe's largest supplier of check-outs and the second largest player in the entrance and queue management systems. ITABs activity has for a long time and will also continue to be based on long-term business relations and excellent delivery reliability coupled with streamlined production resources. ITAB with its organization looks forward to new challenges with confidence and is well equipped for the future!

Ulf Rostedt 

Managing Director