First Derivatives, the Newry-based provider of software and consulting services to the world's financial markets, has this morning announced record annual results on the London AIM and Dublin IEX exchanges.
The company has recorded full year revenues of £17.5m, up 39% from £12.7m last year. Operating profit for 2009 was £5.9m, up 13% from £5.2m in 2008 and pre-tax profits before currency adjustments were £5.4m, an increase of 13% from last year. The company will pay a dividend of 6.65p per share, an increase of 15% on last year, which, together with the interim dividend of 2.35p paid in October, totals 9.0p for the year.
CEO Brian Conlon said: "Despite a turbulent market in 2008/2009, this is the thirteenth year of continuous growth for the company. Our business continues to expand through increased demand for our services and software, which has been supported by strategic acquisitions in the last twelve months in the United States and Australia. Over the last eighteen months we have seen an unprecedented period of upheaval in capital markets and it is against this backdrop that I am pleased to report that the company has had another successful year of trading, reporting stronger than ever earnings.
"We continue to work with a broad customer base and last year provided services to 48 different investment banks and hedge funds in London, New York, Singapore, Hong Kong, Stockholm and Dublin. Earlier in the year we acquired Philadelphia-based Market Resource Partners, and this company continues to perform ahead of management expectations. In April we also acquired Hologram, a financial technology company based in Australia. Through these acquisitions First Derivatives has established a dedicated presence across the major world markets.
"The company continues to invest in R&D and this year we have significantly increased the size of our team through recruitment of technology experts and experienced consultants. In the year we also announced a new OEM development and distribution license agreement with Kx Systems Inc which allows us to acquire an unlimited number of licences for development and product sales. TheThese factors have significantly strengthened our suite of Trading, Risk Management, Market data and Complex Event Processing products which now operate under the Delta brand name. We currently have an established user base of over fifteen companies worldwide and the sales pipeline for these products continues to expand.
"In addition, the company now employs 243 staff, up from 118 at the end of last year. We have a made a number of significant appointments which have strengthened our management team. These have taken place both at board level, including our new CFO Graham Ferguson, and in marketing and human resources roles in the senior management team.
"The flow of business from new and existing customers remains strong for capital markets consultancy , partner products and our own Delta products. The Directors expect to report further progress in the first half of this year," he added.