For Immediate Release
15 August, 2008
Finzsoft on Track for Return to Black
NZX listed financial software provider Finzsoft is on track for a return to profit after the company confirmed a small
loss for the 2007/2008 year to its shareholders at today’s (Friday) AGM.
Company chairman Don Hattaway predicted a small profit for the coming year despite the difficulties being faced by key
Finzsoft customers in the finance sector.
He said much of the $329,000 loss for the 2007/2008 year could be attributed to one-off costs associated with the
transition of a major new shareholder, ICT Investments, into the business.
``Those costs were around $300,000 while the partial takeover by ICT was part of a year of change for Finzsoft in
2008,’’ said Mr Hattaway. ``We saw the retirement of company founder and former Managing Director Barrie Shannon, after
making a massive contribution to Finzsoft, we welcomed our new shareholder, opened our first Sydney office and appointed
Keith McLaughlin to the Managing Director role.
``I think we are already seeing some of the benefits of those changes with a small profit likely for the coming year and
exciting plans for further growth and expansion that should lead to a stronger performance from the company in future
years.
Mr McLaughlin, the former CEO of Baycorp – a strong sharemarket performer throughout the 1990’s – who joined the company
late last year after an extended period out of New Zealand said he was pleased with the progress made at Finzsoft in the
past nine months or so.
``We’ve brought on more staff, further evolved the software capabilities of the base product and altered revenue streams
to focus on sustainability rather than one-off fees for installing the software.
``While we are already the leading supplier of financial management software to the finance sector and market leader in
motor vehicle financing I see significant opportunities for Finzsoft in New Zealand and offshore.’’
Mr McLaughlin said that although the current difficulties in the New Zealand finance sector have had some impact on the
short-term performance on Finzsoft those clients retained the need for Finzsoft’s software to continue to manage their
operations.
``We’d like to see new businesses coming in to fill the void in the sector in the medium to longer term and I’m aware of
several large organisations which are currently looking at the gaps in the finance market as an opportunity. We will be
talking to them about using our software.’’
Mr McLaughlin said over the next few months Finzsoft was concentrating on looking for new opportunities among the
Building Societies and larger credit unions in New Zealand.
``We’ have a product that has been under continuous development since 1990 which offers a number of outstanding
features. For example our software is unique in being able to provide full audit capability as well as managing and
tracking all transactions and payment schedules.
``We’re also looking at diversifying the business into outsourcing, hosting and maintaining the hardware required and
looking at international opportunities for our products. We are already making our presence felt in Australia with St
George Bank and our recent RACV contract and I see further opportunities for us in Australia and beyond into Asia.
``There is no other product like our New Zealand developed software available in Australia and our software is backed by
a track record of reliability and integrity. We also see opportunities for growth in our hosting capability and the use
of our software in Australia as well as in Asia.
ENDS