Strong Business Growth at First Derivatives

First Derivatives are continuing their period of strong growth having seen their revenue increase by 34% to £72.4 Million in their 6 Monthly financial results till 31 August. The First Derivatives group employs more than 1700 people.

Their software business was a particular cause for note with revenue increasing by 60% to nearly £30 Million, almost 50% or their entire revenue.

The Brexit induced weakness in sterling has been of benefit to the company with over 60% of their revenue generated outside of the UK!

Commenting on their latest results Seamus Keating, Chairman of First Derivatives said “We are pleased to report another period of strong growth for the first half of the Group’s financial year. In the six months ended 31 August 2016 revenue increased by 34% to £72.4m and adjusted EBITDA was 26% ahead of last year at £13.6m. We delivered on our strategy in a number of important areas; winning larger, multi-year contracts in managed services and consulting, extending the capabilities of our software and, through additional investment in sales, marketing and people, laying the foundations for further growth.

“We are particularly pleased with our software business where revenue increased by 60% to £29.4m. As we operate a predominantly subscription-based license model, this growth reflects the successful implementation of contracts signed last year. We have continued to win contracts with new and existing clients during the first half and the financial benefits of these will be recognised in future periods.”

“We continue to focus strongly on the financial services market which is the source of the majority of our software revenue, while advancing our strategy to penetrate other vertical markets, primarily marketing technology and utilities. We are also actively working with potential clients to explore use cases for our technology in other arenas such as telecoms and the Internet of Things.”

Looking forward to continued growth Chief Executive, Brian Conlon commented “We remain confident that our software has significant competitive advantages in financial markets along with a range of other verticals. During the first half we have advanced our discussions with multiple potential customers in other industries and have also sought to increase our routes to markets through partnership and OEM agreements with third parties.

“We continue to see evidence that FD is becoming an increasingly strategic managed service and consulting partner for large investment banks, evidenced by the pipeline of new managed services assignments being discussed with clients. Our clients’ demonstrable confidence in our capabilities and appetite for our services allows us to continue to invest in the training and retention of our own staff as we prepare for continued growth.”