The London-based customised software and consultancy group, Total Systems Plc, has built on last year’s recovery with pre-tax profits up 1,660% at UKP351,002 on turnover up 33% at UKP1.2m. Chairman Terry Bourne said that the results represent a great improvement over last year, but that they are due to foundations laid two years ago. Business has strengthened, he said, because Total is in a position to exploit a volatile market, providing turnkey systems for those that want to downsize as well as those that want to expand. As financial markets are greedy for new systems, Total has done well with its proprietary language versions of its Underwriting Insurance System and Investment System, rewritten for open systems together with Health Insurance and Database Systems. Total continues to provide a hand-holding service to local authorities who need all but facilities management in order to cope with cutbacks, Bourne says. He is pessimistic about the state of the market in general, but expects profits to climb in a similar fashion, underpinned by a reasonable order book at year-end.
