London EC-based financial systems consultant Quotient Plc has been knocked back by the reduction in the financial market following the 1987 market crash, with pre-tax profits down 46% to UKP2.2m but with turnover remaining firm up, 11.1% to UKP22.9m. In an attempt to evade the long term fall-out from Meltdown Monday, the company has spent […]
London EC-based financial systems consultant Quotient Plc has been knocked back by the reduction in the financial market following the 1987 market crash, with pre-tax profits down 46% to UKP2.2m but with turnover remaining firm up, 11.1% to UKP22.9m. In an attempt to evade the long term fall-out from Meltdown Monday, the company has spent the last year focussing on the provision of software and services to the securities and banking sectors, and selling off its recruitment agency and training consultancy to MBS Plc and CMSI respectively. Another tactic has been the expansion of the company’s international base. This has been pursued at two levels. Firstly, Quotient formed a subsidiary in France, 60% owned by the British company and 40% owned by the Paris company Finance, Information et Technologie SA, and started trading at the beginning of this year. Secondly, Quotient has this month signed a joint marketing agreement with the Japanese software house Sumisho Computer Service Corp, a subsidiary of Sumitumo Corp in a bid to penetrate the Japanese financial market. Based in Tokyo and trading under the name SCS Quotient Division, the partnership will begin by marketing Quotient’s CMark range of products covering front and back office systems for off balance sheet and fixed interest trading. As regards Quotient’s established overseas operations, mixed fortunes were reported with activity down in the Hong Kong and Sydney offices but with the New York office’s prospects looking good. The parent company itself has not been idle: last year saw it admitted to the Full List of the Stock Exchange, changing its identity from CCF Group and CCF Settlements to Quotient Plc and Quotient Clearing Services Ltd, and moving to offices in Finsgate; while a further part of the company’s strategy for the future has led to a flurry of activity on the development of its product range. To this end, facilities for the back office were enhanced with new enquiry and bargain trading facilities being incorporated into the Fiscal Sidetracker system; Trader Analytics and Caps & Floor Modules being added to CMark; and with Super XTAS being upgraded through real time Foreign Exchange and Money Market Modules as well as a European-aimed Order Entry Module. An integrated risk management system was also launched called the Limits Module. A variety of front office products were released including Touch for broker dealing; Bondswitch for the bond market; an enhanced version of the information distribution system Optics; and Trend, a data distribution system. As for the future, Quotient is confident that it will be reporting a far stronger performance for the current year as it starts to reap benefits of its diversification into risk management and treasury systems.
