Rolfe & Nolan Computer Services Plc, the London, EC1-based computer bureau company, has turned in pre-tax profits up 28% at UKP661,000 for the six months to August 31 on sales that rose 32% to UKP3m. Bureau and facilities management revenues were up 9% on the same period last year with high trading volumes compensating for the withdrawal of major clients from the futures and options markets due to current economic conditions. Some new bureau clients have been pulled in though, including participants in the London Metal Exchange and the London Traded Options Market. Licence sales were up on last year, although chairman Tim Hearley is disappointed that only two new members have joined the Deutsche Terminbrse (futures and options exchange), bringing the total membership to 14. Munich-based S G Warburg Futures & Options was one of the new clients. And the chairman is confident for future software licence sales on the continent. Three Austrian banks have recently signed contracts to install Rolfe & Nolan software, worth UKP350,000 plus, for the new Austrian futures and options exchange due to start trading in July – the company expects more orders from Austrian banks in the near future. And the sterreichische Kontrollbank has announced it will offer a bureau system, based on Rolfe & Nolan’s back-office software, to the small and medium sized members of the new exchange. Hearley is pleased with the performance of sales and market ing on the continent, and foresees opportunities in Belgium, Switzerland and Spain. Rolfe & Nolan has installed a DEC VAX 6410 processor and two VAX 3300 systems this half as scheduled (CI No 1,319). Earn ings per share for the half were up 25% at 8.0 pence. A 30% increased interim dividend of 2.1 pence – to absorb UKP113,000 – will be paid on January 24. The company, currently quoted on the Unlisted Securities Market, is seeking a full listing on the Inter national Stock Exchange within the next two months.
