PEGASO 2000: 2018 A MAJOR IMPROVEMENT WITH EXPANSION TO FOLLOW
MILAN (MF-DJ)–Pegaso 2000, a company operating in the field of information technology and a benchmark for IT solutions to manage credit and funding for the main Italian banks, closed 2018 with growing, double-figure revenue and margins, and another year of strong development is expected. This is the firm opinion of Franco Cicogna, CEO of the Umbrian company, which is celebrating its twentieth anniversary this year. “2018 was a very positive year. We aimed at a two-figure growth in terms of revenue – the CEO explained, – and we recorded an over 20% rise in turnover. This is extremely significant and, as regards our margins, we have recorded an Ebitda of over 20% for the last couple of years. So our margins are also proceeding in a very positive direction.” “To be more specific, in 2018, profits rose to EUR 5.75M compared to the EUR 4.7M of 2017. Our medium-term objective is to achieve EUR 10-12M,” Cicogna continued, stressing, however, that “to do so we will also have to evaluate possible acquisitions. We are on the look-out in Italy, but clearly we will take it forward only if they are in line with our core business.” In 2018, Pegaso also recorded a rise in the number of employees. “We also have to consider a rise in the number of personnel”, said the company’s top manager. “About ten collaborators have joined us and our numbers have risen from 60 to around 70. More specifically, last month we appointed Luciano Gallucci as our Business Developer Manager. Gallucci has previously worked for multi-national companies and will certainly introduce new and related opportunities and new topics of development. He is a major investment for us.” “Furthermore, in 2018, we were awarded a lot in a major tender called by the CDP. We beat some large, multi-national companies. The major progress we have made with Banco Bpm and other banking groups also confirms our positive trading model.” As regards 2019, the CEO declared that “our objectives are to develop further. I am still speaking of a double-figure growth. We are in the process of starting a series of new topics of interest for the banking sector. I am referring, for example, to the world of Guarantee Funds for SMEs, where we are a benchmark. Then, there is the sector of synthetic securitisation, which is moving from larger to medium-sized banks.” “We have recently introduced our new Internet website, which mirrors who we are: a small, sound company, based on extremely solid, ethical and professional values.” Moreover, Pegaso 2000 is also “making headway with new initiatives in the field of predictive analytics, in other words machine learning. We are, therefore, talking of all-round applications for all credit types. This is a sphere we are very familiar with. We are proposing a portal for credit operation onboarding. In practice, it is down to technology to acquire clientele. It is a very innovative tool,” Cicogna explained. Lastly, when questioned on the current phase of the banking sector, the company’s number one repeated that “people are talking a great deal about aggregations – which will certainly take place – however, frankly speaking, I also see the banking world move towards more remunerative issues, such as Corporate and Investment Banking (Cib), in which we are already investing. Banks are moving rapidly in this direction, as they receive major commissions in this segment. Then, there is also the ever-hot topic of NPLs, although here the structures are well-organised. As regards aggregations, the obvious risk for us is that the number of clients contracts. However, we are open to new initiatives. We are diversifying and Gallucci’s entry will take us in this direction.” fus marco.fusi@mfdowjones.it
