London Bridge Software has reported a mixed bag of results for 2001, with revenues up 31 per cent (eight per cent organic) to £74.1 million, but earnings per share falling 6.5 per cent to £0.17. The year was marked by a drop off in new license sales, offset by growth in service revenues.
The trend which saw fewer clients ordering large licenses and moving towards buying only the size of license required for their current project at any time continued, says the vendor. This resulted in license sales for the year of £21.5 million (2000: £24 million) but the number of licenses sold in the year was 181 (2000: 155).
Conversely the group increased consulting income, which comprises all training, implementation consulting and customer charged development, from £14.5 million in 2000 to £26.6 million in 2001 representing growth of 83%. Similarly, recurring maintenance services income increased from £11.2 million in 2000 to £16.3 million in 2001, an increase of 46%.
While London Bridge's European and Asian operations were both profitable, they also performed below expectations. The company's activities in the US markets were deemed "satisfactory", with an upsurge in demand for the vendor's credit management products. The Phoenix division, acquired in February 2001, performed above plan, recording an operating profit for the ten months to December.
London Bridge has also embarked on a reorganisation of the management structure of the enlarged company and committed to a consolidation of the software development operations across its three principal product lines (Debt Manager, Vectus and Phoenix). Under the plan, these units will be brought together under one development director who will be responsible for global delivery to each operating unit.