Alterian rises with Mediasurface

(By Philip Carnelley – Tuesday 3rd June 2009 9:00am). The acquisition of web content management software provider Mediasurface mid-year (see: Alterian is disclosed as Mediasurface buyer) helped marketing analytics software company Alterian to a 73% rise in revenue in the year to March 31st. Revenues rose to £33.4m though operating margin fell from 19% to 16%, in part due to integration costs. However, a £2.8m tax credit pushed continuing net profit up 40% to £6.3m.

Alterian’s propostion is that better analytical software will improve the effectiveness of sales and marketing, e.g. by better email targeting, and generally increasing use of the Internet as a channel to market. Alterian claims it links this all together with an integrated solution. However the market for content management and marketing software is ferociously competitive, particularly in North America which has many home-grown offerings. So it is not so surprising that Alterian found that the most difficult market, with just 2% growth in constant currency (NA accounts for 39% of Alterian revenues). However, a string of new international partners, 90% customer retention rates and around 65% of revenue recurring bodes better. Trading remains ‘in line’ so far this year.