Newry Software Company Reports £7m Profit

A Newry-based company has made a profit of nearly £7m this year.

First Derivatives, which makes financial analysis software, increased its pre-tax profits by 7% from £6.5m to £6.9m.

The company is headquartered at Canal Quay in Newry but has offices across the UK and Ireland, USA, Canada and Australia.

It recruits from Northern Ireland's two universities and has taken on 138 staff worldwide in the last five months, bringing its employee numbers to 662.

A spokesman for the firm said the growth was down to investment in new products, giving choice to its stockbroker and investment bank customers.

The Delta range is recognised as premium trading software around the world.

Chairman David Anderson was cautiously optimistic about the possibility of further good news next year.

He said: "As the economic recovery has been taking a fragile hold we have continued to make a substantial investment in the development of all the group's activities. We expect the market in coming years will continue to be challenging as the full effects of budget constraints, regulation and globalisation continue to impinge our customers. With the improvements made to the Delta suite and the positioning and improvements to our service offerings, we feel that the group is well positioned to continue to grow. We continue to have a strong pipeline of prospects and have made a strong start to the current year and expect to be able to report further progress in the year to 28 February 2013."

(NE)