Billing timing buoys Data#3 profit

Software licence and integration company Data#3 reported a 33 per cent jump in revenues today in its half-year results to 31 December, buoyed by changes in contract billing timing.

(California Sea Lions on buoy image
by Mike Baird CC2.0)

Swapping over which half year in its Microsoft licensing contract with the Federal Government and a "key" state government contract were billed had created the high result, according to managing director John Grant.

"Contracts we previously had billed in the second half of last year were billed in the first half of this year, so we've got a slightly inflated position," said Data#3 managing director John Grant in an online web cast explaining the results today.

"If we look at the underlying revenue growth taking that aside, it was 10.5 per cent for the half — which is again very solid," added Grant.

The company boasted total revenues of $306.7 million for the six months. Its profit after tax had increased by 17 per cent to $4.73 million. By segment, its product revenue grew by 40 per cent to $266.8 million and services revenue by 1 per cent to $39.4 million.

"With investment in information technology in the government and corporate sectors remaining constrained, this strong performance can be attributed to our national presence and the tenacity with which our people continue to pursue winning in the market," said Grant in a press statement.

The managing director also expressed concerns about retaining staff who might be headhunted from the company, and was looking at developing new strategies to retain Data#3 employees. However, the company said that staff numbers in its services arm had been trimmed last year following a restructure.