Appoints Senior Manager To Drive International Business
Auckland – 25 September 2000 – In its first quarter for the new financial year, Advantage Group Limited (NZSE: ADV) has
bagged a slew of export wins including South African contracts worth $NZ2 million for Advantage’s Electronic payments
and 8850 e-commerce product for the retail oil industry. Other recent international wins include a significant
Australian software development deal worth $400,000, also for a major oil company.
Rising export demand for its e-commerce solutions have led the company to appoint a senior manager as GM International
Sales to drive international business.
Paul Henaghan, formerly GM Advantage Retail Solutions, will take up the role, aimed at driving the growth in sales of
eServices software and solutions in international markets.
“International sales now account for around 17 percent of our revenues,” says Advantage CEO Greg Cross. “It’s fantastic
for our company to have someone assume the focus on driving that part of our business forward, and exciting that we
should appoint someone of Paul’s calibre to that position. Through our acquisition of CPA earlier this year Advantage
already has strong networks within America. And the growth of Retail Solutions has delivered an enviable platform on
which we can conduct business in Asia, Southern Africa and Latin America.
“We also have a strong network of international relationships through our partnerships with major software providers
like Concur, and Microsoft.
“There is enormous demand for eServices and a worldwide shortage of companies with our skillsets and experience. As a
New Zealand-based company, we have several strong advantages: our staff are highly skilled with the latest technologies;
our cost structures are favourable; and our time zone makes us very attractive to international organisations,” he says.
Under Paul Henaghan’s stewardship, Advantage Retails Solutions has grown to be one of New Zealand’s largest software
exporters, thanks to strong organic growth and the acquisition of the former PEC Retail group. The division achieved
gross profit of $11 million on revenues of $20.6 million in the 2000 year, with the majority (95%) of the latter derived
from exports. The division underwent significant restructuring over the period. Retail Solutions also completed an
11-bank certification of its Electronic Payments Server and is now rolling that out throughout South East Asia.
Paul has been with Advantage since October 1998. He has twelve years of international information technology and
e-commerce experience. Prior to its sale to New Zealand Post, he was MD with the Electronic Commerce Network, gaining an
impressive amount of expertise in business-to-business and transaction processing solutions. Before that he worked with
Digital, where he worked in an international role as Corporate Account Manager servicing Barclays Bank, and also with
Netway.
About Advantage
Advantage Group Limited, an NZSE 40 company, is a leading supplier of eServices throughout the Asia Pacific region.
Advantage employs over 400 people full time supporting customers in 15 international locations. For more information,
visit http://www.advantagegroup.co.nz.
ENDS