The restructuring and extensive cost cutting that NMW Computers Plc embarked on at the end of 1988 and beginning of 1989 seems to have had the desired effect. The company’s year-end figures show turnover down to UKP9.1m from UKP10.3m, but pre-tax profit stands at UKP87,000 compared to the daunting UKP1.3m loss of 1988. Overall borrowings have also been reduced by UKP750,000. The restructuring of NMW means that trading volume related products now constitute less that 66% of revenue, compared with 100% in 1988, and the company hopes to see that fall below 50% in the coming year. NMW says that the drop in turnover was partly due to clearing the decks: Broker Services, a clearing company that fell into difficulties after the Stock Market crashed in October 1987, is now wholly owned by the co-founder, Barclays Bank. ICHMSL, the remnants of NMW’s micro manufacturing facility, and the TimeOn micro dealership have been sold off, although other parts of TimeOn have been integrated with NMW’S software development activities. NMW has now sold DEC systems to over half its stockbroking clients, and it expects all future front office products to run on DEC hardware. Apart from Echo, the electronic order routing system launched last year, NMW has also launched two investment management systems and one targeted at the short term investment market. The company acknowledges that conditions in the stock market are going to remain difficult, but it anticipates new DEC-based products will increase sales of in-house front office systems. NMW is an IBM agent and its future market-making products will be IBM-based. The two companies developed and market Equity, a trading and settlement system, and while it has no plans for the AS/400, NMW says it would be delighted to develop systems on that hardware. The installation base of AS/400 is not particularly significant in stockbroking, but the banking world is showing more interest, and that may influence other sectors. The company has traditionally been associated with ICL, and still has a large ICL data centre and disaster recovery facilities in Cheshire. But NMW believes that since IBM and DEC dominate the world of international banking, it must build on offerings from these companies and it also forecasts that the Taurus network and rolling settlement systems scheduled for this year means that all settlement systems will need revamping in the near future. NMW has nailed its colours to the facilities management mast, and says that contracts signed during 1989 will start to have a significant effect on revenue in 1990. It currently has six contracts worth UKP1.5m, and clients include Lancashire County Council, Omnia-ICL, and Andersen Consulting. NMW wants to make an acquisition in the facilities management sector, but won’t confirm whether negotiations are taking place.
