Altran Technologies (XPAR:ALT), an engineering and technology consulting company that offers services throughout Europe, was the largest contributor to performance for the fiscal year ended September 30. Altran’s restructuring efforts demonstrate how our emphasis on quality management teams can pay off. First, the management team reduced overhead costs, and second, Altran has more recently shown material improvements in the utilization of its engineers, causing invoicing rates to rise quarter over quarter. Higher invoicing rates are necessary for Altran to narrow the margin gap compared with its best-in-class peers. We are optimistic that these positive trends will continue into the second half of 2014 and that Altran will report another year of margin improvement.
From David Herro (Trades, Portfolio)'s Oakmark International Small Cap Fund Third Quarter 2014 Letter.
