SDL third quarter performance translates well for full-year target

15th Oct 2014 09:30

SDL, the translation services provider, has announced that it is on track to hit full-year profit targets after trading during the third quarter remained in line with internal expectations.The FTSE Smallcap group said net cash in the business at the end of the period was up at £4.9m, much improved from the net debt of £1.8m nine months previously.SDL, which helps global companies keep their written content up to date in numerous languages around the world, said its language services segment had seen solid earnings growth in the period with both gross and net margins ahead of last year.Its technology segment's new licence bookings enjoyed another quarter of "considerable growth", feeding through to year-on-year constant currency revenue growth and growth in annual recurring revenues. The first half had seen its largest number of licence bookings in its short history, including Akamai Technologies, House of Fraser, Lloyd's Register, Specsavers and TomTom.On Wednesday, chief executive Mark Lancaster said: "We are very pleased with the progress of the group, we have invested for the long term and are tracking to plan.He noted that, according to a recent piece of research from Forrester, SDL has emerged as a leader in the field of 'customer experience management', and that "more importantly, the significance of customer experience management is being recognised by large global brands"."We continue to win new business, gain momentum and grow our customer base, particularly at the high end of the market to brands such as UBS, Kogi Intech and Intel."Broker Investec took the brevity of the statement from SDL as a positive "that there is no need for more detail" and that the company was on track."Q4 is always the biggest quarter for the group, but three quarters of in-line trading sets the company up well heading into this important trading period."