Trading software specialist First Derivatives delivered a polished performance in the year to February despite the upheavals in the financial sector.
Consultancy work provided the main growth driver, with turnover rising a third to £32.6m to account for 70 per cent of total revenues. First Derivatives has over 91 financial clients, and has launched three major initiatives in response to their changing financial requirements including a dedicated data management team; a managed service for outsourced third-party product support; and a legal service to cover compliance and disposal of non-core assets. There was decent growth in software sales, too, which rose 7.6 per cent to £13.5m on the back of a doubling of recurring revenue. The latter now accounts for 44 per cent of all software sales, up from 23 per cent in the prior year.
The service offering is being improved as further development work to the company's Delta technology platform enhances clients' ability to achieve economies by outsourcing some services and reduces the need for internal expertise for software support.
Charles Stanley expects adjusted EPS to grow 10 per cent to 38.9p in the year to February 2013, rising sharply to 48.7p the year after.
| FIRST DERIVATIVES (FDP) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD PRICE: | 480p | MARKET VALUE: | £80.7m | |
| TOUCH: | 470-490p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 560p | LOW: 452p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 2.3% | PE RATIO: | 13 | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 192p* | NET DEBT: | 65% | |
| Year to 29 Feb | Turnover (£m) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 12.7 | 4.72 | 23.3 | 8.10 |
| 2009 | 17.5 | 4.46 | 22.8 | 9.00 |
| 2010 | 25.5 | 5.65 | 27.1 | 9.50 |
| 2011 | 36.7 | 6.50 | 33.2 | 10.15 |
| 2012 | 46.1 | 6.95 | 36.0 | 11.15 |
| % change | +26 | +7 | +8 | +10 |
*Includes intangible assets of £30m, or 179p a share | ||||
