Misys aided by cost cutting as sales dip
IT firm Misys met market expectations for first-half profit yesterday, helped by cost savings and growth in software maintenance, but said spending by its banking customers remained subdued.
The company, which supplies software to banks and US doctors, posted adjusted operating profit of £62m, 11 per cent up on a year earlier, on revenue of £361m, down one per cent in constant currency.
Chief executive Mike Lawrie said the rise in profit for the six months to 30 November was mainly down to tight financial discipline. “Banking did not improve -– we continued to see a decline in revenue and order intake,” he said. But he was beginning to see a shift. “Banks have been slow to return to significant spending, but they are beginning to focus more on fee-based services,” he said.
Its core new banking platform, BankFusion, signed up two more customers in the period and had won two more since, taking the total to six. A deal with Actinver in Mexico marked Misys’ first competitive win outside its installed base for over seven years, Lawrie said.
The platform would be made more widely available in late-February or early-March, he said.