(openPR) - Karlsruhe, Germany, November 12, 2010 – asknet, a leading provider of global eCommerce solutions for software vendors, announced new contracts with two Swiss and several German universities in its 2010 third quarter report, published today. The ePortals business unit has contributed significantly to the growth of the asknet Group in 2010, with gross profits of 2.1 million euros in ePortals in the first nine months of the year – 16 percent higher than in the same period of 2009. In the reporting period, the eDistribution business unit profited from demand generated by the new releases launched by two of asknet’s major clients. In addition asknet welcomed two important new customers, software vendors Dolphin Media AG and Seagate. The gross profits for the first three quarters of 2010 reached 5.5 million euros, representing an 8 percent increase compared to the same period of 2009. At the same time the asknet Group’s net loss was reduced in the reference period, from -1.15 million euros in 2009 to -0.74 million euros in 2010.

In Switzerland the Universities of Basel and Bern chose asknet to operate their software portals, while in Germany the ePortals business unit expanded its client base by attracting institutions such as the Free University of Berlin and the Universities of Rostock and Greifswald. Following somewhat weaker growth in this segment in 2009, asknet restructured functions within the ePortals division in the first half of 2010. asknet sees the current surge in gross profits as a clear validation of this strategy.

In the eDistribution segment, asknet was once again able to report the acquisition of two new accounts. Effective immediately, Dolphin Media AG and Seagate, one of the world’s largest manufacturers of hard drives, number among asknet's clients. With the launch of Panda Security's new release as well as the new release of WaveLab 7 by Steinberg Software, asknet’s existing customers also contributed to sales growth.

Overall, this represents a continuation of a trend that could already be seen in the first six months of the year, explained asknet CFO Mike Konrad. “Growth is not as fast paced, but gross profits still increased by a solid 10 percent in the first nine months of the year,” he noted. “With an eye toward sustaining growth, we used the first six months of the year to press forward with the internationalization of our internal sales structure. We have now moved on to the next step of expanding our portfolio of products and services to encompass additional business opportunities, for example integrating more distribution channels in the online shop.”

It goes without saying that the services offered for eShops are also being developed further. For instance, end customers can now receive support from contact partners who speak Russian and Chinese. This represents an increase in the number of languages spoken by customer service agents to eleven – in addition to 31 shop languages, 37 accepted currencies, and 36 regionally preferred methods of payment.

For further information on asknet, please visit www.asknet.com.

About asknet
asknet offers its clients customized outsourcing solutions for global software sales via the Internet. Founded in 1995 as a spin-off of the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT, formerly the University of Karlsruhe), the company has become the number two independent global provider for electronic software distribution. In addition to its fully integrated shop solutions for software publishers, the company develops and maintains portals for software distribution such as softwarehouse.de, one of Europe's largest platform for downloads of standard software. In 2009, asknet posted sales of approximately 68.9 million euros. In 2009 the Karlsruhe company was named in the Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu “Technology Fast 50” ranking of the fastest-growing technology firms in Germany. asknet’s clients include numerous providers of specialty software such as CollabNet, DivX, F-Secure, Nero, Panda Security, Steganos, and NetObjects. The company also supplies software products to around eighty percent of German universities. Further information is available from www.asknet.com.

asknet AG
Madeleine Clark
Vincenz-Priessnitz-Str.3
76131 Karlsuhe
E-Mail: madeleine.clark@asknet.com