AVEVA grows, appoints new CFO

10th Nov 2010 07:47

Engineering software firm AVEVA saw a return to growth in sales and profits at the interim stage.Revenue in the six months to the end of September rose 12% to £78.5m from £69.9m at the interim stage last year.That was ahead of broker Panmure Gordon's forecast of £77m.Recurring revenue rose 11% to £53.3m from £48.1m last year, and now accounts for 68% of total revenue, down from 69% last year.Annual fees continued to increase in line with expectations with renewal rates remaining robust. Rental revenue grew to £31.0m (2009 £27.6m) as many customers prefer this model to support near-term project requirements with less cash outlay. Initial fees grew by 19% to £19.2m (2009 £16.2m), helped by growth in emerging markets which still remains at a relatively early stage.Adjusted profit before tax climbed 12% to £24.6m from £21.9m last year. Again, this was a little ahead of Panmure Gordon's forecast; the broker had pencilled in a figure of £23.9m.Net cash and deposits at 30 September 2010 stood at £140.1m, down from £149.7m at the end of March. However, the company pointed out that it had splashed out £13.4m on acquisitions during the reporting period."The timing of a general return to higher growth rates globally is difficult for us to predict, but specific markets and geographies are providing near-term opportunities for AVEVA to maintain its progress in these challenging times," said company chairman Nick Prest.The interim dividend has been bumped up to 3.36p from 3.00p last year. James Kidd, who has been head of Finance since 2006, has been promoted to chief financial officer and will join the board at the start of 2011. He will succeed Paul Taylor who, after a ten year stint as group finance director, has decided to leave the company for personal reasons.