Company
History and Corporate Profile
History
Positivo Informática arose from the Positivo Group, the largest educational group in Brazil. Founded in 1972, with a school and a printing shop, the Positivo Group is currently a leading company in the three segments in which it operates: education, printing and publishing, and computers and IT. Based on the great success of its innovative teaching methodology, which was developed, improved and systematized by the recognized teachers who founded the group, its own network of schools expanded to other levels of education and in 1979 the group began selling books and services to other schools throughout Brazil.
Currently, the Group has approximately 25,000 students in its own units (Positivo Schools, Positivo Course and Positivo University), in addition to serving approximately 10 million students through its products and services. The Positivo Group’s education portals also serve a virtual community of 2.0 million students, parents, and teachers. In addition, the Sistema Positivo de Ensino and the Sistema Positivo de Ensino Aprende Brasil (Positivo Teaching Systems) are used by over 790,000 students and 86,000 teachers in 3,900 schools in Brazil and Japan. The Group has a current workforce of more than 9,000.
Positivo Informática is a computer and IT company founded in May 1989 with the initial objective of manufacturing computers for sale to Positivo Group customer schools throughout Brazil. In 1990, the Company identified an opportunity to supply computers and IT solutions to government-owned companies and institutions through a public tender and bidding processes.
In 1994, the Company established its educational technology segment and began marketing its first educational software for schools and retail outlets. In 2000, the Company launched its Education Portal, a site for private schools, and the following year the Company launched its Aprende Brasil, or the Brazil Learn portal, developed to meet the needs of state-governments’ education departments and public schools.
In 2004, the Company moved into the retail market, selling PCs to the major retailers in Brazil, and within nine months the Company became Brazil’s largest PC manufacturer, thus far having maintained this leadership. In the same year, the Company also began marketing E-Blocks - educational desks for teaching English - in the United States. The Company is now exporting this product to several countries in Africa, America, Asia and Europe. At the end of 2005 the Company began selling hardware to the corporate market, with a range of desktops, notebooks and servers, and its output surpassed 500,000 computers. In 2006, Positivo Informática was awarded the important Best Technology and Computation Sector Company by Exame magazine’s “Biggest and Best” edition, and its output surpassed 1,000,000 computers.
On December 11, 2006, Positivo Informática began trading its shares on the Novo Mercado, the highest corporate governance level of the São Paulo Stock Exchange (BMF&Bovespa), The Company raised R$ 604.1 million, from its IPO (10% primary and 90% secondary), with demand coming from a diversified and solid base of institutional and retail investors, totaled 18,466 individuals, until then the highest figure in an IPO since 2004, according to the BMF&Bovespa. The Company’s shares (POSI3) were included in the BMF&Bovespa’s IGC (Differentiated Corporate Governance Stock Index) and ITAG (Differentiated Tag Along Stock Index). In September 2007, after less than nine months of trading, they were also included in the IBX-100 (comprising the BMF&Bovespa’s 100 most-traded shares), underlining their healthy liquidity. In October, Positivo reached the milestone of 2.5 million computers produced. In December 2007, POSI3 was included in the INDX (Industrial Sector Index).
In 2008, in addition to direct sales to major companies, Positivo created a new corporate market sales channel in order to sell computers and IT services to small and medium-sized businesses through partnerships with distributors. In the same year, the Company inaugurated the vertical integration of desktop motherboard production in the Curitiba (PR) plant and LCD monitor production in the new plant in Ilhéus (BA).
In 2009, continuing with the vertical integration process, the Company began producing notebook motherboards and desktop memory boards. In December, it acquired the Kennex computer brand, complementing its already highly successful retail sales strategy.
Corporate Profile
Positivo Informática (the “Company”) is the leader in the manufacture and sale of computers in Brazil, accounting for 16.1% of total PC sales in 2009 and 24.7% of official market sales, according to the IDC. In the same period, the Company had a retail market share of 29.9%. A substantial portion of the Company´s production of computers is sold through major retail chains, with which Positivo Informática has a solid business relationship, mainly as a result of its competitive prices, the recognized quality of its products and the technical support the Company offers.
The Company´s leading position and relationship with retailers represent a competitive edge, enabling Positivo Informática to meet the growing demand for computers in Brazil, notably among consumers in the B and C income groups. The Company believes that the sale of computers to these classes of consumers has substantial growth potential, mainly due to the following factors:
- low computer penetration among C-group consumers, where only 32% of households possessed a computer in 2009, according to the Internet Oversight Committee (CGI);
- incentives from the Brazilian government to promote the sale of affordable computers, through credit lines and reduced taxes;
- easy access to credit facilities extended by retail chains, with decreasing interest rates and attractive payment conditions; and
- increasing government supervision in order to reduce the tax evasion that results from “piracy” and smuggling.
Positivo Informática offers a complete line of PCs, including desktops and notebooks, which are produced in its modern industrial plants in Curitiba (PR), Manaus (AM) and Ilhéus (BA). In October 2007, its production capacity was expanded by 73.1% to 225,000 units per month, followed by a further 46.7% expansion to 330,000 units per month in 2009. In addition, in order to provide assistance to its thousands of final consumers, as well as government bodies, the Company maintains an extensive technical support network with around 450 accredited companies nationwide, as well as the Positivo Relationship Center (CRP), which received around 4,000 contacts per day in 2009, most of which comprising basic questions related to computer and operating system use, or connection problems, given that many customers are acquiring their first ever PC.
A smaller portion of the Company´s revenues, but with significant profitability, comes from the educational technology segment, in which Positivo Informática considers itself to be the leaders in Brazil. The Company offers complete systems, software and education portals, in addition to professional qualification services for teachers and users. Positivo Informática´s portals provide a continuous source of revenue and have over 1.6 million subscribers, which account more than 4.0 million daily page views. The Company’s educational solutions are present in 11,790 public schools, 2,439 private teaching institutions and more than 900 retail points of sale. Positivo Informática’s key products include learning tables, computer labs, translation pens, simulators and multimedia authoring, education and entertainment software. The Company is also the distributor in Brazil for a number of the leading global players in the educational technology segment.
Click here to view Positivo Informática´s Corporate Video (Portuguese Only).
