By Ron Coates, 10 February 2004 15:10
NEWS City software firm Royalblue is to give shareholders a special dividend of £8m as it predicts a return to growth.
The financial trading systems company boosted its recurring revenue by a third to £29.2m, but saw consultancy revenues slump 25 per cent and turnover fall 1 per cent to £56.5m.
"We've returned shareholder cash before, and I think that this is starting to happen more, in general. We are a cash generative business and have enough for the balance sheet and any small acquisitions," said Chris Aspinwall.
He added that the company was always looking for acquisitions to expand its overall business. Trading will remain difficult for the first half of the year, but the company expects a return to growth for the whole year.
The company has had considerable success with its Fidessa range, which automates business flows for equity trading firms, taking a $24m order from Merrill Lynch and a string of orders in the UK and US.
The special dividend is set at 25.3p per share, on top of the enhanced regular dividend of 6.15p per share.
Revenues from the system now make up more than half the company's turnover, with 42 per cent of its business being done in the US.
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