FIRST-HALF PROFITS at the financial markets software and consultancy firm headed by this year’s Entrepreneur of the Year winner, Brian Conlon, grew almost 6 per cent to £3.2 million (€3.7 million), figures released yesterday show.
Newry-based First Derivatives said yesterday that revenues for the six months ended August 31st, were up 56 per cent at £17.7 million from £11.4 million during the comparable period last year.
First Derivatives provides specialist software and consultancy to multinational investment banks, stock exchanges and hedge funds. Its founder and chief executive, Brian Conlon, won the 2010 Ernst Young Entrepreneur of the Year award last week.
The company’s pretax profits grew almost 6 per cent to £3.2 million from £3.1 million in the first half of its 2009 financial year.
Earnings per share were up 1.3 per cent at 15.6p. The company is proposing to pay an interim dividend of 2.9p per share, an increase of 5.2 per cent on last year.
First Derivatives began developing and selling software two years ago. This accounted for 38 per cent of the firm’s turnover in the first half of its financial year, compared with 23 per cent in 2009.
Sales of its products were up 158 per cent year-on-year, hitting £6.7 million from £2.5 million, and it added a new foreign-exchange system to its range during the first half of its financial year.
Consultancy accounted for the rest of its turnover. Revenues from this business were up 26 per cent in the first half at £11 million, compared with £8.7 million during the same period in 2009.
Net assets were up 75 per cent at £21.7 million at the end of the first half.
Chairman David Anderson said in a statement that the company has been going through a period of change over the last two years, investing in research and development and in structures, such as data centres, that it needs to sell software.
