EET Group is the leading European distributor within video surveillance, spare parts and accessories for computers, printers and mobile phones. The company, headquartered in Denmark (nearby Copenhagen), with logistics centre in Denmark (nearby Copenhagen), operates via 27 sales offices in 21 countries, employs a staff of 384 people, and serves more than 40 000 customers.
The core business is concentrated on three product divisions:
* Spare parts and accessories for computers, printers and mobile phones
* Home Entertainment and Lifestyle electronics
* Surveillance and Security solutions
The company distributes a wide range of leading brands within these product segments. All in all, 300 different brands and more than 400 000 item numbers are included in the EET assortment.
EET Group 2012
* Revenue: Euro 191.6 million (2011: Euro 163.4 million)
* EBITA: Euro 14.5 million (2011: Euro 14.2 million)
* Equity: Euro 39.9 million (2011: Euro 41.7 million)
The numbers speak for themselves
By delivering a revenue of more than Euro 191 million and an EBITA of Euro 14.5 million, EET Group has again in 2012 managed to provide growth in both revenue and earnings in a crisis-stricken and tough market.
Group CEO John Thomas expresses satisfaction with the annual results. "The numbers speak for themselves. EET has now, for 11 successive years, moved upwards an increasing growth curve in spite of tough conditions in a challenged and very competitive market. Compared to the continuing economic crises in Europe, the result is nothing less than outstanding. Maintaining a well-executed and persistent acquisition strategy, we have created the necessary growth and achieved a leading position in the business that makes us an attractive business partner for manufacturers, suppliers and customers."
The company's growth in 2012 is equally derived from organic growth and acquisitions.
In 2012, the EET Group acquired the French company Europarts SAS. Europarts SAS was one of the largest distributors of spare parts in the EMEAR-region (EMEA + Russia) and partner for HP and Lexmark spare parts. With this acquisition, the EET Group strengthened both its turnover and earnings in Southern Europe and also expanded its territorial area with an additional four new countries: Russia, Egypt, Ukraine and South Africa.
As a consequence of this acquisition, the EET Group changed its commercial name to EET Europarts.
Within the business area of Surveillance and Security solutions, EET has also grown significantly in 2012. Under the brand name Ernitec, which EET obtained with the acquisition of Ernitec A/S in 2011, a wide range of new and strategically important surveillance and security products was launched in 2012.
Also within the business area of Home Entertainment and Lifestyle Electronics, EET has grown in terms of more brands and more part numbers. This product division is expected to be further strengthened in the years to come.
Strong distribution and unique value propositions
"Our success in the market is caused by several things," says Group COO Claus Ring. "We offer an extremely wide product assortment where all the leading brands are represented. Besides from that, we also provide our customers with value propositions that are quite unique, eg: simplicity in order procedures, high quality in assortment and delivery, and furthermore, we have a huge availability of products. And this is just a few of the things that make our business concept strong."
Another strength of EET is the ability to know how to adapt to local markets, and that in spite of the size of the company, and its global way of doing business. "We are global but we act local," says Ring, and underlines this as being another key success factor. "Our employees are local and we emphasise the adaptation into local surroundings. First of all, it breaks down barriers and makes the customers feel comfortable, and secondly, it strengthens our possibilities to keep our finger on the pulse in order to sight new business opportunities where and when they occur."
The EET Group distribution and logistics centre was, in 2012, moved to a central location in Ballerup, from where day-to-day delivery can take place all over Europe. Specialised logistics employees and highly-advanced quality control and video surveillance systems ensure high quality in all EET deliveries.
The sales offices of EET Group offer electronic placing of orders and handling in more ways. Customers can order via the EET Web shop 24/7, and they have the possibility to see "real-time" prices and stockpiles. Electronic handling is offered via XML, to show eg price updates, quotes, order confirmations, invoices and delivery information.
The EET Group has developed a Web-based Product Guide, and this guide won the Distree EMEA award in Monaco in 2012 as "Distributor initiative of the Year 2011". The guide is made in 16 different languages and features a complete guidance for more than 50 000 computers and printers with instructions for more than one million relevant product relations.
"EET's One Stop Shop concept encompasses more than 300 brands and more than 400 000 item numbers kept in stock. And this is continuously being expanded with new brands and more item numbers. This is what makes us the preferred supplier for many, many customers," says the COO.
The speed will be kept up
Thomas does not plan to gear down - neither for the speed, nor the ambitions or the expectations for 2013. "We are satisfied with the development in 2012. We live up to the expectations and we deliver on all crucial parameters that we planned for the coming three years. The target for 2013 is continued expansion. And this goes for acquisitions, new markets and new business areas. We have some specific segments and product areas in mind, but we are always open to new business opportunities, which enable us to grow the company in a logical and stable way - and within our defined EET risk profile."
In January 2013, the EET Group made the first Green Field investment for this year, by establishing a sales office in Ireland.
In March 2013, EET signed a distribution agreement with Danish Bang & Olufsen, for the distribution of B&O PLAY products for selected dealers in the Nordic area, Benelux and Poland. Within the same month, the acquisition of the Danish Kjaerulff 1 Group also took place, where the activities from Kjaerulff 1 Digital A/S and Kjaerulff 1 Development A/S were acquired. EET Group hereby achieved the distribution rights for some very interesting brands within digital TV and home entertainment. Included in the acquisition are, eg these brands: Maximum, beyerdynamic, Simple Audio and especially the exclusive German premium TV and audio brand Loewe, for which EET has now sole distribution rights in Denmark and Sweden.
In April 2013, EET signed a Nordic distribution agreement with GN Jabra - a global manufacturer of innovative quality headset and speaker phone solutions for both traditional and IP telephony - a product area for which the company has high expectations, as the demand for hands-free devices is growing and IP telephony is gaining currency.
"All things considered, we are off to a good start for the first quarter of 2013. But in fact, this only makes our ambitions for the rest of the year even higher, as it comes naturally to us to always be looking out for new and interesting business opportunities," concludes Thomas.
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