UNIT4 licence sales soar

Earnings before tax and licence sales soared at financial IT company, UNIT4,
in the first quarter.

The results show a 30% increase in licence sales and EBITDA, earnings before
interest taxes, depreciation and amortisation, grew by 51% to €15.4m (£13m) from
€10.2m in 2009.

The company credited its success to contract wins with heath services in the
UK and Spain as well as its ability to provide bespoke products.

“Companies selling rigid business software that is difficult to customise and
costly to implement and change will struggle to capitalise on an upturn in the
market,” said Edwin van Leeuwen, Unit 4 chief financial officer.

Unit 4, previously called Unit 4 Agresso before rebranding earlier this year,
is the parent company of international business technology brand, Agresso, and
financial management software makers, Coda.

Earlier this year both Agresso and Coda saw its UK revenues fall 13% over the
last year, from €393.6m to €379.4m.

Last year saw UNIT4 make a heavy investment in internet accountancy products.
It partnered up with online technology business Salesforce.com to create
FinancialForce.com – based on software from UNIT4’s financial division.

“From a historical perspective, the operational results for the first quarter
of the financial year provide a limited indication of what can be expected for
the year as a whole,” said Leeuwen.

The CFO added he believed predicted profits were in line with market
expectations.

Further reading:

CODA/Agresso
owner rebrands to UNIT4

CODA/Agresso
group sees UK revenues fall

Online
accountancy software gets new player: FinancialForce.com