London-based software, systems and services company Total Systems Plc is still hanging on in there after a financial year that saw pre-tax profit plummet by massive 83% to #142,000 and turnover down 37.1% to $2.1m. Total Systems’ chairman, Terence Bourne, is trying to remain optimistic. He attributes the company’s falling profits to the fact that […]
London-based software, systems and services company Total Systems Plc is still hanging on in there after a financial year that saw pre-tax profit plummet by massive 83% to #142,000 and turnover down 37.1% to $2.1m. Total Systems’ chairman, Terence Bourne, is trying to remain optimistic. He attributes the company’s falling profits to the fact that orders are being hampered by bureacratic interference, two orders worth around $1m have been discussed for the last nine months but have only recently reached fruition and therefore are not reflected in the figures reported yesterday. He also points out that from a fiscal point of view the company are in good shape, it has no loans or borrowing and is completely non-geared. The market however thinks differently, the company’s share price is just 26 pence currently. MMT Computing Plc has also sold its 3% stake in Total Systems – which had an adverse effect on the share price since MMT sold its share all at once. The company has upgraded both its investment software package, Optima, and its insurance package, Ultima, so that they are more user-friendly. Optima now has all IMRO futures, options and Personal Equity Plans added to it so trustees can implement controls in the system and be immediately notified when changes take place. Optima has been enhanced so that it does not require any technical input and is just direct dealing. The new usability has resulted in the company selling four Ultima systems since January. Bourne maintains that the company has focused in on the right areas of the market, 90% of its business is now in open systems compared to four or five years ago when the majority of its business was in proprietary mainframe systems. He predicts that Total Systems will begin to see green shoots next year.
