2009 - A year of many changes

SES is a company that is continually on-the-move. We are a young company in a young business, with demanding customers and competitors that are just as go-getting as we can be. No wonder we're familiar with change – you could even say that it's our daily lot – and we are well aware that our long-term success is largely dependent on our ability to change. 2009, even more than previous years, was synonymous with major change.

The first was a change – a significant change – which was not of our making, when the business environment of SES began, in turn, to directly suffer the effects of the economic downturn. Having had a negative impact in 2008 essentially on “upstream” businesses (industry, components, etc.), the slowdown moved downstream to affect businesses more directly involved with consumer spending. True to their habits, the retail groups immediately swung into action by making massive cuts in their investments, both in the food and in non-food industries. SES exports, which had been forging ahead for the past 3 years, were brought to an abrupt halt in 2009 (-46%) and the first quarter of 2010 is not showing any clear sign of renewed investment.

Moving on to changes that were of our making, involving our products, 2009 saw the results of the considerable efforts made over the past two years in each of our 3 key sectors. With a new radio transmission protocol (QPSK, as opposed to FSK), SES is now better able to meet customer requirements as regards transmission volume. More than ever, our goal remains to adapt our prices to the real needs of each individual customer. As from this year, we are also offering a choice of two software applications, with a new multiplatform application written in Java 6 being added to our UNIX solution. The most visible changes involve display technology, as SES is now selling a range of graphic labels in addition to its traditional range of segment displays – the LCD TFT technology chosen enables us to offer unbeatable value for money. As the world leader in a technological field, Store Electronic Systems must also be a leader in the field of innovation. With R&D investment representing nearly 5.5% of our turnover in 2009 (not including the acquisition of patents), we clearly have the means to achieve our goals.

That brings me around finally to an unavoidable change, the departure of Philippe Catteau, the founder of SES.
Since the middle of last year, Philippe has no longer been present in the company and is no longer a major SES shareholder. Although this has been on the cards for a long time for health reasons, this departure marks a fundamental change as he was so instrumental in inspiring, shaping and developing the company from the very beginning. So carefully did he prepare and organize this change that he even succeeded in making it seem trivial. I would like to join all members of staff in saying a big THANK YOU!

It is still too early to draw lessons from all these changes. Let’s all place a bet, however, on SES being able to get over the hurdles – that will inevitably crop – better than others, just as we will continue to get the most out of the opportunities that open up for us. We are increasingly well-equipped to do so.

Yves Martin
CEO