Consist grows 25%, generates US$117mn

Brazilian IT firm Consist expects to end the year with revenue growth of more than 25% compared to 2003, local daily Gazeta Mercantil quoted Consist vice-president Pablo Alejandro Kipersmit as saying. Consist had generated revenues of 320mn reais (US$117mn) by November, up 25% compared to the same period in 2003, but expects higher growth over the full 12 months because many contracts with the government tend to be renewed in December, Kipersmit said. "The first half of 2004 was not good and our forecast for 2005 is that both halves of the year will be good for IT," he added. The government is one of Consist's principal clients and represents from 35-40% of revenue. "Before privatization, government participation in our business was above 50%," Kipersmit said. The financial market represents another 30-35% of sales. Foreign sales grew 30% to 140mn reais in 2004. Consist acts in 10 countries and its biggest business is with financial institutions in Israel. At the beginning of 2004, the company launched two products: a CRM tool and a Business Intelligence tool. Currently, these two new businesses represent close to 10% of revenue, according to Kipersmit. "This growth has been exponential as business people now are perceiving the importance of CRM," he said. Many clients are substituting foreign CRM tools for those of Consist. Within this strategy, the company has launched an ERP model. The new product comes with three primary modules: logistics, production and human resources. Consist aims to double its market share of clients in the ERP industry that today corresponds to 15% of company revenue.