Fidessa slows

(By Philip Carnelley, 23 Oct 2009, 09:00) TechMarketView subscribers who have had a chance to look at our just-published SoftwareViews report will already know that financial services software provider Fidessa is now the 4th biggest UK software company. It moved up from 6th, with impressive revenue growth last year of 48% (34% like-for-like). Things have quietened down since then, with growth in H1 of 19% (at constant currency) which, considering the turmoil amongst its key customers (including Lehmans) was pretty good.

Things are even quieter now. The company has issued an IMS commenting that market conditions have continued to improve “as stability and confidence have begun to return to the financial markets.” However, pressure on its smaller customers is leading to spending reviews and consolidation. So, while "resurgence continues" amongst larger customers, Fidessa’s overall growth has continued to fall and, as suggested at its H1 results (Fidessa tempers expectations), growth for the year will be below the H1 levels. Also, headline growth will be lower because the currency tailwind has fallen away. And yet, organic growth at anything even approaching that 19% would still be a solid result going into 2010, in our view. We think Fidessa is doing a good job in difficult times.