When the management team at Gresham Computing Plc was replaced last year (CI No 3,200) the Southampton, UK company’s share price fell as low as 20 pence. In November the newly restructured company was launched with an emphasis that extended its traditional middleware and data management interests toward the emerging electronic business space. Now Gresham’s shares are trading at 122 pence and the company is preparing to hit the international market. Gresham is in the process of establishing Gresham Computing Inc in Austin, Texas, which is likely to be followed by a site in New York. The company has just announced two new acquisitions (CI No 3,427): French storage back up company Newlog, and Austin-based Open Microsystems. The company has set itself an aggressive growth plan and intends to do that mainly via acquisitions. Gresham’s director of corporate marketing, Mike Hudgell says there are several purchases on the horizon, some of which are based in the UK, others in the US. The company has 2.3m pounds in the bank is determined to do some serious shopping. Hudgell says that if the company can generate 30% of its business from outside of the UK, within a year, we’d be doing very well. But he believes once the company’s international business gets going, revenue will increase quickly. When Hudgell and managing director Trevor Read joined the company about a year ago, all of its revenue was generated from the ICL mainframe space. Now, while the ICL business is still important for Gresham, one third of revenues come from electronic business. The company chooses to describe this area as enabling businesses to make the most out of their existing technology infrastructures, but at the same time taking advantage of the internet and the web, and emerging technologies. Hudgell explains that the advent of the internet is enabling businesses to expand on a global basis, removing barriers and restoring an equal balance between countries across the world. Gresham’s main market comes from business and finance, followed by healthcare and telecommunications. Gresham has also been working on developing web banking systems for its customers. Gresham reported its interim results which saw net profits for the six months to April 30 up 140.5% at 957,000 pounds on revenue that rose 89.3% to 8.5m pounds (CI No 3,427).
