Cambridge UK based software company Autonomy saw annual pre-tax profit rise 62 per cent after a strong quarter selling software to finance companies, telcos and government agencies.

Autonomy’s software enables companies to search unstructured information such as emails, Word documents and telephone call recordings to aid the preparation of court cases.

The company reported total fourth quarter revenue of $115m (£58m), up 57 per cent from $73m (£37m) for the same period of 2006. Full year revenue totalled $343m (£172m), up 37 per cent from $251m (£126m) the year before.

Pre-tax profit for the fourth quarter also rose, to $32.9m (£16.5m) from $21.8m (£10.9m). And full year 2007 pre-tax profit was $91.4m (£45.8m) compared with $56.3m (£28.2m) for 2006.

Major Autonomy customer wins in the fourth quarter included KPMG, China Mobile and Lloyds TSB.

New and repeat business came from government, defence and intelligence agencies around the globe including the US Air Force, NASA, the International Atomic Energy Agency and the World Trade Organisation.

Repeat business from existing customers accounted for approximately 45 per cent of Autonomy’s quarterly revenue.