Financial data analytics company First Derivatives (FD) has issued a brief statement ahead of its annual meeting of shareholders which will be held later today.

FD indicated that Revenues in the first four months of fiscal 2020 (i.e. March through June 2020, as FD has a February fiscal year end) were up 6% over the same period last year. FD’s growth was led by software, where revenues have increased by 8%, led by growth in recurring license and subscription revenue.

FD has made a number of executive additions in recent weeks, adding former GFT and SuperDerivatives exec David Collins as  Managing Director, managed services and consulting; BMC Software CEO Ayman Sayed to its board; and former Lloyds executive David Humphries as the company’s new COO.

The full statement issued by FD this morning reads as follows:

8 July 2020

First Derivatives plc

(“FD” or the “Group”)

AGM Statement

FD (AIM: FDP.L, Euronext Growth: FDP.I) issues the following statement ahead of its Annual General Meeting which will take place at 2.30pm today. The statement provides an update on the Group’s progress in the current financial year for the four months ending 30 June 2020.

Total revenue was 6% ahead of the prior year period, reflecting the Group’s resilience during a period impacted by COVID-19 across our operations. Managed services and consulting revenue was up 2% on the prior year period as we continued to benefit from the high visibility and repeat nature of our client engagements. As expected there has been some deferral of new project engagements, the financial impact of which to date has been partially mitigated by lower recruitment and cost management.

Software revenue increased by 8%, led by growth in recurring license and subscription revenue. This was offset by a small decline in perpetual license revenue as new software sales continue to take longer to close in the current climate.

Cash generation during the period was in line with expectations.

The Board continues to believe that it is still too soon to determine the likely outcome for the full year but is encouraged by performance to date and will continue to invest to deliver against the market opportunity. The Group remains strategically well placed and we are encouraged by the growing demand for Kx streaming analytics from potential customers and partners.

Further updates will be provided as the year progresses.