The CTRM Blog

CommodityPoint recently had an opportunity to talk with Dr. Grim Gjonnes, EVP with responsibility for business development at European TRM software vendor – Navita. We asked him what kind of year 2009 had been for his company and what he saw as key trends in the industry for 2010. Dr. Gjonnes characterized 2009 as an “excellent but challenging year” for Navita. In common with almost every other business, Navita had to conduct its activities against the backdrop of a global financial crisis and credit crunch.

Solid Financial Performance
The impact of the general difficult business environment we all experienced in 2009 meant that Navita unfortunately lost several of its customers as consequence of customer bankruptcies, going into administration, or because they simply chose to close down trading activities. However, 2009 was also a year in which those very same business challenges meant that there was a good deal of procurement activity as trading companies sought to address business issues such as risk management, credit and operational risks. As a result, Navita was able to more than compensate for lost customers as it completed a number of additional licensing deals including a POMAX PENS license to Gunvor International, a global energy trading firm based in Amsterdam. It also had two major wins in North America, by following its European accounts into the North American market, along with 2 major wins in Germany, including DB Energie, and signing a new license deal with a major Russian player.