Quality Software Products Holdings Plc disappointed its fans and blotted its newly-listed copybook with profits down a shattering 37% for the six months to June 30. Since its listing on the Stock Exchange on March 30 this year turnover has increased by 9.8%, but net profits are down by 37%. This result reflects an investment of ?850,000 in marketing the new Universal OLAS and related Multiple Cross Platform Engineering – MPXE – technology launched this year, and ?1.6m in continued software development. The existing OLAS accounting software is still selling successfully, but is expected to reach its operation peak by 1995 or 1996. Universal OLAS has been in development for the past five years and will supersede OLAS as it is compatible with mid-range and eventually mainframe systems. MXPE provides the architectural elements necessary to use Universal OLAS as an open system. The revenue from sales of the new system is expected to show by 1994 or 1995 when the complete product range has appeared and marketing goals are reached – the company claims that 90% of sales prospects are for the new system. Universal OLAS has generated notable interest from the UK and Australia, but only two clients have purchased it to date. A total of six sales are anticipated by December. Currently 90% of Quality’s market is in the UK and 10% in Australia. It is now shifting its focus from development of the product to sales. There are already sales in Europe and negotiations are under way to establish an office in one continental country to increase the market, with sales going through distributors in the other European countries. OLAS is available in the US and a localised version of the product already exists. An announcement is also expected in the next quarter on a possible US joint venture for the Universal OLAS software. At the start of this year the company’s gearing ratio was 80%. It is hoping to reduce this to 30% by the end of the year. Quality’s share price dropped 4.25% to 563p on June 30 after the company drew criticism for its capitalisation of research and development.
