Rolfe & Nolan Plc has managed to straighten things out somewhat at its US subsidiary, cutting losses and increasing revenues there significantly. It is also hopeful of a windfall from the shenanigans of Nick Leeson and his cohorts at Baring Brothers. Overall, the London-based futures and options computer bureau and software company saw pre-tax profits fall 4% to ú1.5m. This fall was due to a combination of the US losses and high development costs of its new Lighthouse product. Turnover rose 12% to ú14.3m. In Europe, not counting the development charges, operating profits rose 9% to ú2.9m. In London, 12 new bureau users have been signed up, and the same number of licence renewals will guarantee another five years of income. Three facilities managements contracts were signed, though two were conversions of existing customers. The bureau service also won 26 customers in Milan. US losses were cut from ú1.1m to ú349,000 during the year and turnover rose 38% to ú4.2m. The company won 19 new RISC clients in the year, and recurring revenues cover 66% of costs, according to chairman Tim Hearley. Rolfe & Nolan’s system has been installed in the Kuala Lumpur Options & Financial Futures Exchange in Malaysia, due to open later in the year. Further revenue is exepcted from it this year. Heads of agreement have been signed with Credit Suisse after the software deal was renegotiated for staged deliveries of the Lighthouse system. It tracks deals in the much-maligned derivatives market. The value of the contract has increased to ú3.3m from ú2.4m. Lighthouse will shortly go live at Credit Suisse, and marketing of the product is under way, as demand for greater control of derivatives trading grows following the Barings Bank debacle. A final dividend of 2.6p is payable, making an static total of four pence.
