2007
BDO Visura achieved a 3.2% increase in sales in 2006, with growth recorded in most product segments. As in the previous year, sales growth was most pronounced in the Financial Services division, while the Audit division also displayed an extremely positive performance. BDO Visura will thus celebrate its 75th anniversary in 2007 on a very firm footing.
BDO Visura’s income situation remains robust. New orders were above-average in all product segments, particularly in the second half of the year. Overall, BDO Visura was able to strengthen its market position as a leading auditing and financial consultancy company for small-to-medium-sized enterprises, the public sector and non-profit organizations.
Financial Services leaps ahead
With sales growth of 30.8%, the Financial Services product segment was by the far the company’s strongest performer. An essential factor in this success is the fact that the standards of independence related to complex, publicly accessible transactions have continuously risen in recent years. BDO Visura has proven expertise in handling specialized contracts of this nature; the company is one of the few auditing agencies for banks in Switzerland recognised by the Swiss Federal Banking Commission. The company’s Financial Services division was made into its own product segment only one-and-a-half years ago.
Successful Auditing division
The company’s Auditing division also recorded a substantial advance, with income growth of 11.1%. Alongside the Fiduciary Services and Real Estate segment, the Auditing division represents the company’s major pillar of operations, contributing over one third to total sales. Once again, a moderate decline in sales was recorded by the Fiduciary Services and Real Estate division (- 3.9 percent). However, this in no way tarnished the company’s overall results given that, following the strategically required restructuring process carried out in re-cent years, the Business Consultancy division lived up to expectations by once again re-cording an increase in sales (+ 3.2 percent).
A future based on 75 years of success
"1932 to 2007 – the success story continues” - this is the motto under which BDO Visura will celebrate its 75th anniversary in 2007. The story began with the founding of Visura in Zurich in 1932. The company, which joined the BDO International network in 1992, has since be-come the leading address for small-to-medium-sized enterprises, the public sector and non-profit organizations. A key element in the company’s success has been its commitment to the development of its employees. BDO Visura invests around 10 percent of its service income in employee training and development programs. At the end of 2006, the company employed a total of 76 apprentices; female employees account for approximately 46 percent of the total workforce. CEO Rudolf Häfeli believes that the company’s tailor-made services provided by committed, highly trained and independent employees offer his clients decisive advantages: “Our business is a people business. Why? Because we do not merely provide services to abstract companies, but to the people who, with their visions, continue to stand behind our company. From person to person – as it has been for 75 years.”
For more information please contact Daniel Burkhard of BDO Visura in Switzerland.