Tim Simon, chairman of the London, EC-based financial systems consultants, Quotient Plc, said the worst was over when the company reported year end losses. Yesterday’s interim results announcement appears to have proved him right, for the company made a pre-tax profit of UKP747,000 on turnover up 8% to just under UKP10m. Much of the credit for this change in the company’s fortunes can be credited to the UK and French operations. In the UK, Quotient spent the past year cutting back on staffing levels which helped the operation to make a pre-tax profit of UKP866,000 against a loss last time of UKP1.9m in the interim period. The UK also managed to pull off some good sales: for example, Fiscal TradeTracker is now used by Lehman Brothers International, while Super Xtas has been sold to Merrill Lynch for its Eurobond trading activities, and to Swedish broker Alfred Berg in the area of international equities. Meanwhile, Quotient’s Paris office made a profit of UKP175,000 against a loss last time of UKP37,000 on turnover up 223% to UKP618,000 – this growth has been helped along by sales to BNP and Lyonnaise de Banque. However, in other geographical areas Quotient is still experiencing problems. For example, in North America there were first half losses, although Simon is convinced that the company is making headway in this market. Similarly, progress in Japan is requiring patience and, at the interim stage, has resulted in a loss. Yet Quotient must be encouraged by the sale of its Cmark Trader Analytics Module to the Mitsubishi Trust & Banking Corp. All in all, Simon is attempting to diversify the company’s activities by developing a new service for global securities and derivatives trading. Quotient is also continuing to develop Taurus-related products for the London International Stock Exchange, but these are unlikely to produce a return until the end of 1991, the company says.
