INTERVIEW-UPDATE 1-Kingdee wants to be Asian software king

Published: 03 Mar 2010 01:47:22 PST

* Kingdee aims for 5 bln yuan annual revenue by 2013

* Seeking more acquisitions in Asia this year

* To boost overseas sales contribution to 10 pct from 5 pct

SINGAPORE, March 3 - Chinese software maker Kingdee International Software Group aims to grow revenue five-fold in the next four years and become Asia's biggest software firm, its chief executive said on Wednesday.

That would mean the company, taking market share from global giants like SAP and Oracle Corp in the enterprise software market. "We hope by the year 2013, Kingdee will have revenue of 5 billion yuan ($733 million) and... overseas clients can contribute more than 10 percent of this," Robert Xu, chairman and chief executive of the company told Reuters in an interview through an interpreter.

The company's current market capitalisation of around $570 million is around a tenth of Oracle Corp Japan's, the region's largest software firm.

Analysts polled by ThomsonReuters I/B/E/S expect Kingdee to post 180 million yuan net profit in 2009 from revenue of 976 million yuan.

Xu, who declined to give outlook for the company's 2010 financials, said currently about 5 percent of the firm's revenue comes from overseas customers.

His bullish view on revenue growth was supported by some analysts who expected robust corporate and government technology spending this year as the global economic recovery kicks in.

"We have become more positive on the outlook for IT capex given the improving business environment," Bertram Lai, analyst at CIMB said in a research report.

"The growth will be driven by renewed spending by large corporates and government entities, many of which have seen business volumes improve with consolidation of smaller players or have been the beneficiaries of stimulus-related largesse."

Xu, who founded Kingdee in the early 1990s with only 5,000 yuan in capital, said Kingdee will continue making acquisitions in the region this year after spending 40 million yuan for two acquisitions in the first two months of this year. He did not elaborate further details on the targets.

Kingdee is due to announce its 2009 results later this month.

Kingdee shares closed up 5.6 percent in flat Hong Kong market. The stock has risen by 30 percent so far this year, outperforming 4 percent drop in the broader Hang Seng Index.