Azkoyen, the largest Spanish manufacturer of vending machines and methods of payment selectors, hopes that the entry into force of the euro will be a major boost to its business in the coming years, as its customers have to adapt their machines to the new coins.
"The euro is going to have a significant impact on our profits", said Ricardo Armendáriz in an interview with Reuters. "We have been preparing ourselves for several months. We have been looking at the problem (of the change in currency) from both a technical and a commercial point of view.

Azkoyen, which is based in Navarre, has between 65 and 70% of the Spanish vending market and is confident that the change to the euro will bring them business opportunities in the whole of the euro zone.
"We are going to move from a divided market, in which each country has its own coins, to a single market with a single currency", he said. The euro will be used for transactions from January 1999, but the notes and coins will only be circulated from mid 2002.
"We are making our investments in order to have a strong presence on that market (the euro zone), when it becomes a reality in the next three years ", explained Mr Armendáriz. The company invested around 1.9 billion pesetas in 1997 and plans to spend a similar amount in 1998 and 1999. "These are going to be the years in which we make the greatest investments", he said.

Azkoyen produces a wide variety of vending machines, such as coffee and drinks machines, and all types of coin and games machines, which will have to be replaced or at least reprogrammed before the second half of 2002.
Santander Inversiones values the company's shares at an objective price of 5,700 pesetas over the next twelve months, says Javier Suarez. "This is a very interesting industry for the coming years and Azkoyen is the only company listed in Europe", he added.
"According to what I have read in the press, they are going to start minting euro coins tomorrow. I hope that they will be available soon so that we can start to update our machines", said Mr Armendáriz.

He is confident that the 18% increase in sales that has taken place annually over the last five years will be maintained between 1999 and 2002. "We hope that sales will increase by 15 and 20% annually between 1999 and 2002", he explained. " This means that we will double our sales and production over the next four years ".
In 1997, Azkoyen had total sales of 16,390 million pesetas, with profits of 1,350 million. Mr Armendáriz explained that all of the machines that will be produced from 1999 will be capable of working in euros and local currency. Machines manufactured in 1997 and 1998 will only need a small modification, while previous models will require more drastic changes.
Azkoyen shares rose above the pace of the general market on Monday when they rose by 2.8% to 4,885 pesetas, while in the selective Ibex-35 they rose by 1.42%.
"We hope that the market will grow over the coming years and if the company maintains the same level of penetration we will be able to reasonably expect an increase both in sales and in profits", said Mr Armendáriz, without making a profits forecast.

"We are investing on this basis and we think that our company will be in a good position in the new market". Mr Armendáriz indicated that he expects the greatest growth in the foreign markets.
"That is where we have more opportunities, because it is by far where we have achieved the most spectacular results. We are doing particularly well in Portugal, Great Britain, Germany and France". Azkoyen's foreign sales currently represent between 30 and 31% of the total sales and the company hopes that they will increase to 40 or 45% in two or three years.