NATIONAL BRANDS IMPROVES BUDGETING AND REPORTING QUALITY WITH COMSHARE MPC(tm)

Partnering with Comshare’s South African distributor, Dimension Data, the Comshare MPC application will be implemented in October, offering numerous benefits to NBL. These include improved reporting quality and speedier reporting processes.

“Potentially, the largest benefit is that highly skilled employees will be freed up from routine administrative tasks, in order to re-direct their activities towards more value-added projects,” said Heleen Wright, Financial Accounting Executive, NBL.

NBL, which markets, manufactures, sells and distributes fast-moving consumer goods, such as Bakers, Pyotts, Willards, Five Roses, and Ciro, recently created a shared financial service center.

“Having worked previously in a decentralized manner, we have now centralized some financial functionality and are introducing performance metrics,” said Wright. “In order to improve the quality of our reporting and limit the time spent on number-crunching, it is necessary to automate all of our financial processes, including our reporting.”

NBL chose the Dimension Data/Comshare MPC combination after short-listing four suppliers.

“It made sense from both a business and an IT perspective to go the Comshare MPC route,” said Wright. “It was the most sophisticated solution, and the reporting functionality is integrated with budgeting, ‘what if’ analysis, and strategic planning. All this is combined within one tool – and, important for many financial people, it can talk to Excel.

“From an IT perspective, Comshare was the right choice because it can run on a Microsoft SQL Server database which we already use,” she said. “Therefore, we did not have to make major additional investments in platforms or databases.”

Dimension Data, believes the major advantages of this project will be automatic consolidation, timely distribution of reports, and a more controlled budgeting process. David Allcock, Vice President Worldwide Distributors, Comshare, added, “Interest in corporate performance management applications is taking off worldwide, and we are delighted to add National Brands to Comshare’s growing CPM client list.”

About National Brands Limited (NBL)
NBL specializes in the manufacture, marketing, and distribution of branded fast-moving consumer goods. The business started in Durban in 1851 (Bakers) and in Johannesburg in 1875 (Becketts). The group has grown to become one of Africa's best, most admired, and internationally competitive South African-based FMCG companies. NBL is a wholly owned subsidiary of Anglovaal Industries, which is listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange. Although NBL has a long legacy in South Africa, its brands are available beyond its borders in other African countries. More recently NBL entered the global arena and launched products in the U.S. market.

About Dimension Data
Dimension Data Holdings plc (London: DDT) is a leading global technology services company, specializing in providing IT solutions that enable businesses to operate and communicate flexibly and seamlessly. The Group’s unique combination of networking, application integration expertise, and global, managed services capabilities make it ideally positioned to deliver these solutions. Founded in 1983, Dimension Data had revenues of $2.5 billion in 2001 and operates in 30+ countries with over 9,500 employees.

About Comshare, Incorporated
Comshare, Incorporated is a leading provider of software that helps companies implement and execute strategy. Comshare’s corporate performance management application encompasses planning, budgeting, forecasting, financial consolidation, management reporting, and analysis. In business for over 35 years, Comshare is one of the top independent software companies, with Fortune 500 and Financial Times Top 1000 customers around the world. Comshare is a Microsoft Gold Certified Solution Partner for Business Intelligence and a Microsoft Data Warehousing Alliance Platinum Partner. For more information on Comshare, call 1-800-922-7979, send email to info@comshare.com, or visit Comshare’s website at www.comshare.com.

Contacts:
UK: Louise Wells / Nicky Clark
Comshare UK
+44 (0) 20 7349 6000
lwells@comshare.com

Sandy Ellinger
Comshare Corporate Communications
734-769-6194
sellinger@comshare.com

Christina Cameron
Weber Shandwick Worldwide
617-520-7109
ccameron@webergroup.com

Comshare® is a registered trademark and Comshare MPC™ is a trademark of Comshare, Incorporated. All other trademarks are the property of their respective holders.