Cognotec records profit for first time

COGNOTEC, the Dublin-based company that provides foreign exchange software to banks, made a profit for the first time in 2004.

According to accounts just filed for the company, pre-tax profits were $2.18 million (€1.83m), more than reversing the loss of $3.7m in 2004.

The company said it has invested heavily in its products over the past five years and this is beginning to pay off.

“During 2004, the company continued its strategy of building a robust and profitable company though a combination of tight cost containment while growing its on-site licence and professional services line revenue,” it said.

Turnover for the year reached €15.5m, up from €13.2m. Europe is the company’s biggest market, generating €7.8m in sales in 2004. Its clients include Fortis Bank, JP Morgan, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, the Bank of Tokyo, Mitsubishi and West LB.

According to the accounts, the company laid off 10 workers during the year. Cognotec now employs 72 people, down from more than 250 in 16 offices worldwide at the height of the dotcom boom.

At one stage Cognotec was worth hundreds of millions of dollars but the bursting of the technology bubble hit it hard. It has accumulated loss of more than €77 million.

The company was founded by Dubliner Brian Maccaba in the early 1990s.