IBX, one of the leading global providers of services and solutions for efficient purchasing, continues to expand at a profitable rate. The growth of 24 percent during 2007 is above industry average (sourcing and purchasing) and cements IBX’ position as a market leader. In 2007 IBX continued their international expansion and established a new office in Oxford, further developing IBX business on the British and European market.

Net revenues for the full year 2007 increased to MSEK 311/MEUR* 33,6 (MSEK 251/MEUR 27,2) and the operational cash flow increased by 159 percent to MSEK 53,8/MEUR 5,8 (MSEK 20,8/MEUR 2,25). IBX results before depreciation (EBITDA) increased by 33 percent to MSEK 30,5/MEUR 3,3 (MSEK 23/MEUR 2,5) and improved their result before tax by 25 percent to MSEK 2,5/MEUR 0,27 (MSEK 2,0/MEUR 0,21).

- During 2007, we continued our international expansion with the intention of growing on our current markets and expand into new ones; our customers have a strong belief in this business model as proven by the renewed and expanded long-term contract with Thomas Cook, Arla Foods and Ericsson, as well as in the landing of new important contracts with JCB, PwC and SAS Group, says Leif Bohlin, CEO of IBX.

IBX now operates in seven European countries with the establishment of the UK office in Oxford in May 2007; and its solutions are used by customers in 81 (52) countries globally. At the end of 2007, IBX had 98 (95) buying companies and 2,125 (1,846) affiliated catalogue supplier companies. At the end of the period, IBX had 232 (227) employees and new recruitments planned, in order to meet the increased demand for IBX offerings.

Recently, IBX published “Purchasing Transformation”, a book that provides new perspectives on how a purchasing function must adapt to a changing world and need to change the way they look upon purchasing. Coinciding with this release IBX started “The Purchasing Transformation Blog” (www.ibxeurope.com/purchasingtransformation), promising to provide readers with relevant, up-to-date perspectives on the development of purchasing.

– In today’s global economy, purchasing and supply chain management have become so important that they are, in fact, a core aspect of any business model. This has brought purchasing out of the basement and onto the boardroom agendas; finally purchasing has a chance to deliver real sustainable value. This attention has also brought the challenges of the purchasing functions to the forefront; IBX is an established international player with a proven track record that can support our customers in their transformation process, says Leif Bohlin.

Late last year, AMR Research reported that the market for supply chain management and related practices grew by 10 percent in 2005-2006 (The Supply Chain Management Marketing Sizing Report, 2006-2011) and expected an annual growth of 8 percent through 2011. In parallel, IBX has reported an average growth of 38 percent per year over the past three years.

For more information, please contact:
Leif Bohlin, CEO IBX, Phone: +46 8 5030 4321, e-mail: leif.bohlin@ibxeurope.com
Torbjörn Enström, CFO IBX, Phone: +46 8 5030 4223, e-mail: torbjorn.enstrom@ibxeurope.com
Eva Svensson, Marketing Communication Manager, IBX, Phone: +46 8 5030 4242, e-mail: eva.svensson@ibx.se

About IBX
IBX is Europe’s leading provider of services and solutions for efficient purchasing. IBX supports large and medium sized organizations in transforming their sourcing, procurement and payment functions, enabling them to quickly capture spend and deliver measurable savings. IBX provides purchasing expertise, scalable on-demand software and managed services for sourcing and procurement that increase spend under management and improve compliance to generate bottom line results. IBX has offices in Stockholm (headquarter), Copenhagen, Frankfurt, Helsinki, Paris, Oslo and Oxford.