FINANCIAL CRIME and compliance software company Norkom says "disruption" in some of its retail bank clients' businesses will not prevent it from achieving analysts' expectations of 35 per cent earnings growth this financial year.
Revenues at the company jumped 64 per cent to € 41 million in the year to the end of March, helped by the acquisition during the period of US company Digital Harbour, while profits rose 12 per cent to €4.8 million.
Speaking after the company's agm in Dublin yesterday, chief executive Paul Kerley said:
"We have seen evidence that banks going through turmoil are taking longer to execute their projects . . . but it is only happening in a very small number of cases.
"It is not going to have an impact on the numbers we are expecting to deliver."
Mr Kerley told shareholders that Norkom's top 10 clients accounted for 80 per cent of revenues when the company floated two years ago but now accounted for around half as a result of growth both organically and through acquisitions.
He said the slowdown in the financial sector - far and away Norkom's largest client target - was having a generally muted effect on its own business which was far more sensitive to regulatory and criminal trends.
"We are seeing spending decisions in these areas continuing to move . . . we are seeing demand right across the world," Mr Kerley said.
Digital Harbour had performed ahead of expectations and turned from a € 5 million loss when the business was bought nine months ago to a €100,000 contribution to group profits in the year to the end of March.
"The business is converting margins at a much greater rate now . . . it is performing in line with the rest of the business," Mr Kerley said.
Chief financial officer Liam Davis said the company had made more conservative assumptions with regard to currency movements this year compared to last when the weak dollar knocked €1.6 million off sales and €600,000 from operating profit.
He said: "Hopefully there will be some upside from the $1.43 we are budgeting on this year."
When asked when the firm might pay out a dividend, Mr Davis said Norkom was a "growth" company and did not expect to make a payout to shareholders either in the "short or the medium term".
