Revenue gains boost ‘resilient’ firm First Derivatives

SHARES in technology firm First Derivatives rose by more than 2.75pc yesterday after the company reported a 6pc growth in revenue for the first six months of the year.

The Newry-based firm, commenting ahead of its AGM, said its performance reflected the firm’s “resilience” to Covid19 disruption across its operations.

Revenue in its managed services and consulting arm was up 2pc from the first six months of 2018. The group said it benefited from the “high visibility and repeat nature” of its client engagements.

However, the company reported some deferrals of new project engagements. It said the financial impact of these deferrals has been partially mitigated by lower recruitment and more stringent cost management.

Elsewhere, software revenue increased by 8pc. This was led by growth in recurring license and subscription revenue.

The growth in this division was offset by a small decline in perpetual license revenue as new software sales continue to take longer to close in the current climate.

The firm said its cash generation during the period was “in line with expectations”.

The board said it is “still too soon” to determine likely performance for the full year due to Covid-19 uncertainty.

However the firm said it is “encouraged by performance to date and will continue to invest to deliver against the market opportunity”.

“The group remains strategically well placed and we are encouraged by the growing demand for Kx Streaming Analytics from potential customers and partners,” it said.

The Kx suite of products helps to ingest, analyse and store massive amounts of structured data.

Founded by the late Brian Conlon in 1996, First Derivatives started out providing services to financial markets firms, particularly big investment banks. Its customers today include Formula One and satellite operators.

Seamus Keating took over as chief executive in January.

‘Encouraged by growing demand for Kx streaming from potential customers’