August 20, 2002 -- The Danish Aarhuus Stiftsbogtrykkerie Group, which today has a staff of more than 1,000, has prepared an offensive strategy which aims at strengthening the Group's position on the market for publishing solutions for electronic and printed media. At the same time, the group is changing its name to Stibo and is reorganising its internal structure. The graphics company Aarhuus Stiftsbogtrykkerie – now Stibo – has grown steadily for more than 200 years since 1794 when journeyman printer Niels Lund settled in the Danish town of Århus and with a royal licence from King Christian VII. set up his own printing house. Today, Stibo is an international and modern group within the software and graphics industry with employees in the UK, Germany, the USA, Singapore, France and Denmark. The public limited company has its headquarters in Århus, is at the forefront of technological developments and has for many years run a profitable operation. Best starting point for an offensive strategy The favourable economic and technological position of the Group will now be used as a springboard for an offensive strategy which is to support the four key objectives for the future: 1) Earnings must increase significantly. 2) The international market position of the Group within its niche areas must be strengthened (the possibilities of acquiring businesses are being considered). 3) More focus must be put on improving the utilisation of employee core competences. 4) The Group will focus on fewer business units and thus reduce the risk of having too many small business areas. Today, Stibo is already one of the largest graphics enterprises in Scandinavia as well as being one of the biggest software houses in Denmark. Even though increased volume is not an objective in itself, the Group expects the new strategy to secure improved earnings and contribute to making Stibo more visible on a global scale. Vilhelm Hvid, Group Chief Executive, has no doubt that the new objectives are realistic: “Up to this point, we have lived a quiet life, but during the past few years we have been preparing the offensive which we are now launching. Our technological solutions are second to none and we have a sound financial footing. Added to this is our remarkably long history as a graphics enterprise combined with more than 25 years of experience within the development of advanced, IT-based publishing solutions, all of which have given us a unique profile on the market.” Among Stibo’s customers are large newspaper houses and catalogue publishers located all over the world as well as large European publishers of magazines, periodicals and telephone directories. New structure – and a new name as from 19 August In the future, the Group will operate with a new and simplified structure with three independant divisions. Large parts of the organisation have been involved in the practical work during the period from the internal launch in May to the public announcement on 19 August when the Group will mark the changes that have been implemented by officially changing its name from Aarhuus Stiftsbogtrykkerie A/S to Stibo A/S. One of the key focus areas in this process has been to maintain a high internal level of information. “In a company such as ours, you cannot just sit in the boardroom and plan everything down to the last detail. Instead, our employees have had the opportunity of providing input for the areas in which the changes have been most significant. Even though we lose the element of surprise in this way, the most important thing is to involve the people who will be asked to meet the expectations for the future”, concludes Mr. Vilhelm Hvid, who constitutes the Group’s management together Mr. Hans O. Damgaard, Managing Director. For questions or further information, please contact Mr. Vilhelm Hvid, Group Chief Executive, tel.: +45 89 39 88 88. You can also visit www.stibo.com.