At its Annual General Meeting to be held later today, Carl Bacon, Chairman of StatPro Group plc, the AIM listed provider of portfolio analytics solutions for the global asset management industry, will make the following statement on the Group's continuing progress:
Highlights:
- Trading for the first four months of the current financial year has started in line with our expectations and revenue is significantly ahead of the comparable period for 2005
- The annualised recurring value of new licences signed in the first four months is strongly ahead of the level achieved in the comparative period last year and the new business pipeline remains encouraging
- With the completion of three acquisitions in the past twelve months and the launch of StatPro Fixed Income earlier this year, StatPro's product offering has both improved and broadened compared to a year ago
- The recent placing of new shares, which raised approximately £2.5 million, has considerably strengthened the Group's balance sheet
"During the first four months of 2006 we have increased the level of new business compared to the same period in 2005, with improvements in all the markets in which the Group operates. Furthermore, our new business pipeline remains at the highest level it has ever been.
The two acquisitions completed this year have added annualised recurring revenue of approximately £750,000. These acquisitions have brought two complementary new products to the Group, whilst giving us a strong base in the Australian market and strengthening our existing South African operations. Both are expected to be earnings enhancing in their first full year of ownership.
In Australia, the acquisition of ALPHAI has brought an application service provider (ASP) performance product which will strengthen our product offering globally. The ability to offer an ASP solution (a web based solution offered as a managed service) is becoming increasingly important as an alternative service offering in the expanding market for performance and analytics solutions.
In South Africa, the acquisition of Kizen has brought a compliance product at a time when there is increasing focus by asset managers on managing their risks and monitoring the compliance of their portfolios against client mandates. The product, marketed as StatPro Portfolio Compliance, will be integrated with the StatPro product suite and is complementary, in particular, with the StatPro Risk Management system.
In conclusion, the year has started strongly and in line with our expectations and the Board therefore remains confident of the Group achieving another year of very solid progress. The Board continues to look for opportunities to expand the business, whilst consolidating its strong market position as a supplier of portfolio analytics solutions to the global asset management industry."