Royalblue, the London-based supplier of the Fidessa suite of share dealing products, is reporting strong organic growth throughout 2001, with revenue up by 50% to £56.2 million and operating profit rising 47% to £8.1 million compared to the previous period.
Chief executive Chris Aspinwall says: "Looking forward we expect that some of the effects of the global economic slowdown will continue to be evident in the first half of 2002. However, our order levels, which dropped in the immediate aftermath of September 11th, have quickly recovered to previous levels."
Royalblue won its largest ever order for the Fidessa dealing platform in May last year, scopping a $25 million contract with Merrill Lynch for global equities trading. The vendor says Merrill is continuing to explore the possibilities of using Fidessa as the basis for a US market making system, and has acquired options on 1.5 million royalblue shares conditional upon the parties reaching a definitive agreement.
The company is also reporting strong demand among lower-ranking market participants for FidessaNet, the ASP-based version of the Fidessa trading platform. World-wide there are now nearly 350 fidessaNet screens live at 13 different customers, which is double the number reported at the half year and represents almost 10% of the royalblue user base. The company says it signed its largest european order for the service in December. It expects FidessaNet to break into profit in the UK later this year and in the US in 2003.