With one eye on the commercial property market, Aareon Nederland B.V. acquired all the shares in Kalshoven Automation B.V., Amsterdam, in 2017. The company markets REMS, an ERP solution. In Germany, we strengthened our presence in this market segment in 2017 by acquiring the sales companies mse Augsburg GmbH (Augsburg) and mse Immobiliensoftware GmbH (Hamburg) and the development company mse RELion GmbH (Augsburg), all three of which offer the RELion ERP solution. At the same time, we gained a foothold in the Austrian market. In 2018, we completed the integration of these new companies – and their ERP solutions – into the Aareon Group.

Business volumes for digital solutions continued to grow strongly. In particular, the company pursued the coordinated development of Aareon CRM at different locations in Germany and abroad, with the goal of simplifying the management of relationships with tenants and property owners. Marketing of the Aareon CRM app in Germany has been a success. We also offered our clients workshops focusing on external marketing (i.e. to tenants and property owners) because the more people that use the app, the greater the value added for housing companies.

In the digital age, data protection and security are more relevant than ever. After all, data – and the information it contains – has virtually replaced oil as the driver of the economy. Aareon places great emphasis on ensuring the highest levels of data protection and security at its Data Centre, home to the Aareon Cloud. That is why we implemented the requirements of the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation well before the transition date of 25 May 2018. A certificate issued in 2017 by TÜV Rheinland i-sec GmbH, a tech­nical inspection agency, verified that, especially in the area of order processing, Aareon has effectively put in place technical and organisational measures aimed at protecting personal data and data that could be related to individuals.

In fiscal 2018, EBIT was 5.9 % higher at € 35.9 million (2017: € 33.9 million). We grew Aareon Group revenues by 6.9 % to € 236.6 million (previous year: € 221.3 million). The main factors in this growth were substantial revenue increases and efficiency gains, especially in Germany, France and the UK, and the acquisitions made during the prior year (sales companies of mse and Kalshoven Automation). The International Business segment accounted for 37.1 % of consolidated revenues (previous year: 36.3 %). Demand for digital solutions rose across the Group.

In 2018, the work4future project initiated the previous year focused on preparations for a digital collaboration tool, slated for launch in 2019. The goal goes beyond finding a technical communication solution; it is all about collaboration, networking, transparency, sharing ideas and, above all, achieving a cultural transformation across the entire company. work4future supports this digital transformation process – because we cannot make the most of the opportunities offered by digitalisation without our employees’ support. We reviewed the flexibility or our working-time models in the light of our employees’ requirements and, in 2018, signed a new company-wide agreement on off-site working options.

We will continue investing in our customers’ digital future and work to ensure the ERP solutions offered by the Aareon Group are future-proof. We intend to expand our range of digital solutions, making use of the latest technological options where appropriate. We will continue our partnerships with prop-techs and company founders: Ampolon Ventures launched its first joint venture in Q1 2019. Fine-tuning of our Group structure will continue, not only to further strengthen the Aareon Group’s market orientation, but also to do justice to the specific conditions for growth in ERP and digital solutions.

Our aim in Germany is to enhance our position in the market by building on the successes our digital Change Management solution – and the rest of our product portfolio – have enjoyed with the energy supply industry. We want to concentrate our commercial property market expertise more effectively within the Aareon Group, leveraging it to strengthen our market position.

To achieve our goals, we are relying on close cooperation with our customers, business partners, employees and our shareholder, the Aareal Bank Group. Only with a shared, customer-centric mindset can we create solutions that add value for all concerned. We expressly thank our customers and all those involved for the inspiration they have given us. By our own understanding, we are our customers’ partner for digitalisation, providing them with enduring and holistic support throughout the transformation process. We want to continue pursuing this goal with you in 2019.