Additionally, this acquisition further strengthens Dassault Systèmes’ multiphysics simulation following the acquisition in September of 2016 of CST, a technology leader in electromagnetic (EM) simulation, to offer full spectrum EM simulation of autonomous cars, connected homes, medical equipment, wearable electronics and other smart objects.
Customers
On December 6, 2016 Dassault Systèmes announced that Ready-to-Wear Manufacturer Gürmen Group, owner of leading menswear brands, Ramsey and KİP, chose the “My Collection” industry solution experience to optimize the development of its fashion collections. Gürmen Group, headquartered in Turkey, had been seeking an industrial solution to allow its brands to collaborate more efficiently on a single unified platform. Based on its research and a deep market offering assessment, the group decided that Dassault Systèmes’ “My Collection” industry solution experience was the best-in-class fashion solution to address its requirements.
On November 29, 2016 the Company confirmed its long-standing collaboration with Airbus Safran Launchers, developer and supplier of solutions for civil and military space launchers and the industrial prime contractor of Ariane 6, the European Space Agency’s next generation launcher. More than 700 engineers working on the development of Ariane 6 across multiple sites in Europe, including partners, are using Dassault Systèmes’ solutions for the systems architecture, the detailed design definition and the validation of propulsions and the space vehicle. “Winning Program” was designed for aerospace and defense companies looking to optimize early program phases and program development using design, simulation and collaboration.
On November 8, 2016 Dassault Systèmes and ASE Group, the leading Russian nuclear power plant engineering procurement and construction company, announced a cooperation agreement to support innovation processes of large capital Infrastructure projects. ASE will leverage Dassault Systèmes’ 3DEXPERIENCE platform as part of its Multi-D Solution offering for large capital facilities design, construction and operations management in nuclear power and other key industrial segments. ASE’s Multi-D Solution combines Dassault Systèmes’ applications to optimize complex business processes and carry out detailed modeling of construction and installation processes based on multiple sources’ data, with ASE’s integration and consulting services featuring best practices, methodologies and engineering know-how for managing the construction and operations of capital infrastructure facilities.
Products and Industry Solution Experiences
On January 5, 2017 in conjunction with its participation at the CES Conference in Las Vegas, Dassault Systèmes announced that its 3DEXPERIENCE platform users can now view, explore and validate product designs in immersive virtual reality at any stage of the product development process with support from the HTC Vive™ Business Edition virtual reality system. 3DEXPERIENCE platform users including industrial designers, mechanical engineers, marketers, project managers, manufacturing planners and other decision makers in any industry, can plug and play an HTC Vive Business Edition head-mounted display and work at their desktop with natural navigation in a stereoscopic virtual reality environment. Virtual reality paired with the Company’s industry solution experiences on the 3DEXPERIENCE platform enable designers and engineers to facilitate the convergence of product aesthetics and technical requirements while a marketer can better influence the user experience for more personal and emotional impact.
Business Outlook
Thibault de Tersant, Senior Executive Vice President, CFO, commented, “We finished the year with financial results well in line with our expectations, with total revenue, new licenses revenue and earnings per share all up 10% in the fourth quarter.
“Over the course of 2016, we saw evidence of the increasing traction triggered by our different growth drivers. 3DEXPERIENCE software sales were up sharply in total and for ENOVIA and CATIA related sales in particular. Our brand value creation was visible both with SOLIDWORKS, and with our Manufacturing offer. Here our strengths derive from the power of integration and the power of the individual brand capabilities combined together with design and simulation with CATIA and SIMULIA, virtual and real manufacturing with DELMIA and planning & optimization with Quintiq. We also made good progress in Industry Diversification and in expansion of our global market footprint with the strong performance from High Growth countries. However, the full extent of the power of our growth drivers was hidden by the Version 5 transition.
“For 2017, we see a year of solid new business activity, translating into similar new licenses revenue growth to that of the 2016 fourth quarter, and recurring software revenue normalized for the higher renewal rates at SOLIDWORKS we have benefited from in 2016. We will continue the increased investments begun last year, leading to an operating margin objective of about 31.5%, embedding about 50 basis points of organic improvement exclusive of acquisition dilution and currency effects. Finally, our earnings per share objective is about €2.65 to €2.70, up about 6-8%, but neutralizing the one-time, 5 cents effect of the tax reserves reversal in first quarter of 2016, our 2017 EPS would grow by about 9-11%. (All figures on a non-IFRS basis.)
“Looking forward, our objective is to further animate our revenue drivers, leading to acceleration in our growth in the coming years, leveraging the investments we are making.”
The Company’s first quarter and full year 2017 financial objectives are
as follows: