This is our first newsletter of 2012. So it brings the opportunity to take a look back on the year that just ended, before we archive 2011 on the "historian" and concentrate all our efforts in executing our 2012 objectives.

As you read this, the final numbers for 2011 for Automation Worldwide are not yet closed. We have probably booked more than 68M€/90M US$ in new Orders (that compares to the 2010 budget of 70M€, and the 62M€ actually booked in 2010).

These orders come, as has been usual in recent years, mainly from our customers outside of Portugal (>80%).
Also, if we exclude the volume of orders for the Portuguese Market, the remaining ones are booked mainly on the several Efacec Market Units (already representing more than 50% of the total).
This, better than any words, expresses our investment in creating and developing local structures, staffed by technically skilled personnel, that allow us to perform better service and to be nearer to our customers.
This is also in-line with the Group's strategy of increasing the local added-value of the Efacec Markets.

We maintained a margin of EBITDA in-line with previous years, and within our target for the 5 year plan.

In a word, it has been a positive year, despite all the uncertainties of the Global Economy. We should be proud of the confidence that our customers continue to express in us, and work in 2012 to continue to deserve that trust.

As for the main events of last year, they are hard to select. It is difficult to highlight some events and risk forgetting many others, when the actions of our 370+ Automation colleagues contributed in some way to the numbers above.

Nevertheless, the new orders booked for LIPA (USA) and Bescom (India) represent important milestones, as they can shape the near future of Automation, and so deserve special mention.
And two new projects are noteworthy, as they represent "firsts" for Efacec. The order for Smart Meters (in Spain) is the first for this new business segment. And the Electrical Vehicle Infrastructure Supervision order (in the USA) is the first sale using the new SaaS business model.

We have invested a record amount of resources in R&D activities in 2011. This investment already brought results in the form of the new orders highlighted above, and we hope will bring other fruits in the coming years.
From 2012 onward, as the cost and scarcity of funds increases, the ability to do more with the same amount of investment will be a decisive competitive factor.
We have recently decided to integrate our technological offerings in the SCADA/DMS/OMS products, in-line with this strategy. We hope to have the first results of that strategy in 2014.

Also, we launched new hardware products (x220, G Remote, DCU 500, …), and have several others in late stages of development (x500, UC 500H) that allow us to have a broader portfolio, and so to be more competitive in our System's offerings, and our ability to better serve the needs of our customers.

We have the resources, the trust of our customers, and the drive to perform even better in 2012 than in 2011.
It's up to all of us to do it!