Highlights for the period ended 31st December 2015:
Solid revenue growth despite volatile conditions in financial markets.
Fidessa's end markets continue to improve with increasing opportunity for new services.
Strong growth in multi-asset revenue as derivatives programme continues.
Strengthening pipeline across the business.
Recurring revenue increased 7% to £252.5 million (85% of total revenue).
61% of total revenue accounted for outside of Europe.
Strong cash generation, with £78.3 million cash balance after dividend payments of £31.7 million.
Final and special dividends declared, bringing the total 2015 pay out to 83.5p per share.
Commenting on these results, Chris Aspinwall, Chief Executive, said:
"During 2015, while financial markets remained volatile, we saw a continued improvement in our end markets as they entered a new phase of the recovery, with structural and regulatory changes starting to have an impact. These improvements have resulted in new opportunities and high levels of new business activity, enabling us to deliver solid revenue growth in 2015 and building on that achieved in 2014. As anticipated in the 2014 preliminary results announcement, the increased investment pipeline resulting from the new opportunities has had a small impact on the operating margin. During 2015 the restructuring within our customer base meant that we saw some further closures and consolidations, however the headwind resulting from these during 2015 remained within expectations."
Commenting on current trading, Chris Aspinwall continued:
"As we move into 2016 the recent movements in the financial markets clearly demonstrate the challenging environment in which our customers are still operating. Despite this, we still expect that the themes we have seen in 2015 will continue, with more opportunities opening up as our customers position their businesses for the future. Whilst further delays in the introduction of some of the proposed regulatory changes have recently been announced, we do not believe this will have a significant impact on the opportunities that we see and believe that the investments we have made during the downturn leave us well positioned to benefit from these opportunities. The closures and consolidations we have seen within our customer base during 2015 mean that we are anticipating a higher level of headwind in 2016, and while we expect to see some further closures and consolidations during 2016, we believe this will reduce as markets stabilise. Despite the increased headwind, we still expect 2016 constant currency growth to be at a similar level to that which we have seen in 2015 with good single-digit growth in our core equities business and continued double-digit growth in recurring derivatives revenues."
With regard to Fidessa's dividend policy Chris Aspinwall continued:
"For many years we have had the objective of providing strong returns for shareholders through both capital growth and dividend returns and this continues to be a core part of our strategy. For 2015 we are pleased to confirm both final and special dividends, bringing the total 2015 dividend pay out to 83.5p per share. Furthermore, we do not believe that our current investment programme, including any potential investment in a new fixed income platform, is likely to have a material impact on our ability to pay further special dividends in the future."
