In the ten years since its flotation on the London stock exchange, Admiral Plc has produced the kind of consistent growth in its figures usually reserved for color bar charts on demo pages in printer show rooms. Revenues are rising irresistibly at a compound rate of 30% with profits never far behind and, at the half way stage this year, net profits are up 36% at 4.7m pounds with revenue rising 26% to 54.1m pounds. Admiral is a people business specializing in software development and systems integration, together with other training and consultancy services. The company is rapidly expanding its geographical coverage with offices in Europe, Singapore, Australia and most recently, Malaysia. Revenue from outside the UK contributes around 20% of the total. To help slot it into place, it’s useful to note that Admiral is most often pitching against the likes of CMG Plc, Andersen Consulting and Cap Gemini SA. One of the overriding themes in this market place has been the scarcity of qualified staff in the two to five years experience bracket. Fees for independent contractors in this sector have been pushed so high by the laws of supply and demand that staff find the lure of freelancing impossible to resist. Admiral admits to encountering the problem but seems to have a pulling power which is unique. Staff numbers have risen by 23% to 1,776 since December; but despite the pressures to expand, people will not be allowed through the door unless they fit in, Executive chairman Clay Brendish insists. The comparisons with Admiral’s bigger brother, CMG, are very striking, and it is no surprise to see both companies thriving on the low staff revenue and high customer loyalty this practice seems to engender. Looking to the full year, Brendish hinted at further acquisitions in Germany and Scandinavia but America is completely out of the picture. It’s a pity they speak the same language as us, otherwise people might realize what a foreign market the US really is, said Brendish. Look at Logica if you want to see what can go wrong, that’s the kind of mistake we’re simply not going to make. The market continues to enjoy the story and the shares climbed 12.5 pence to 402.5 pence in early trading, up over a pound from July last year. Admiral will pay an interim dividend of 0.9 pence per share, up 29% from last year.
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