Profits rise 14% at bank security firm

THE Dublin-based anti- banking fraud software company Norkom Technologies has posted a year-on-year rise of 14% in first-half pre-tax profits and has said that it is well placed to increase market share in its core territories.

The company made a pre-tax profit of just under €3.18 million for the six months to the end of September, compared to one of €2.8m for the same period last year.

First-half revenue was up by 2% to €24.6m; EBITDA rose by 8% to €4.3m and adjusted earnings per share picked up by 7%, on a year-on-year basis, to 4.22c.

The company’s cash balances, as of the end of September, stood at €31.7m; up from €22.8m for the same period last year.

The shares closed up 9% yesterday at €1.20, valuing the company at €107.3m.

Norkom specialises in providing banks and financial institutions with software to guard against money laundering and fraud. Already with a strong international presence, the company said yesterday that it continues to win clients in its target regions and added eight new contracts during the period under review. It has picked up three clients in the Middle East in the last year.

“We’re confident that the drivers of demand will remain strong.

“We see a continued drive from regulators to monitor banking practices, which is expected to increase further over the years ahead with the rise in international, professionally-executed fraud continuing to grow,” said Norkom’s chief executive Paul Kerley.

“While the crisis provided a challenge for us, the strength of our market franchise, solutions and business model made it easier to withstand compared to some of our competitors – which have exited the market.

“With this market consolidation and the continued endorsement of our solutions by industry analysts, we expect to pick up a greater share of the returning demand in the market, underpinning our plans to return to normal levels of growth,” he added.