Austrian messaging software company, Topcall International AG has warned that full year figures will be below expectations after a sharp slowdown in growth in the fourth quarter. The company now anticipates that pre-tax profits will show a 22% rise to the equivalent of $8m on revenues 20% higher at $29.1m. This is a big set-back for the company after revenues rose 43% and profits climbed 78% over the first three-quarters. While Topcall normally expects to bring in 40% of revenues in the fourth quarter, this time revenues only accounted for 29%. CEO Martin Hannah puts this down to a temporary change in corporate buying behavior as fears of a global economic slowdown led to short-term cuts in budgets. However, he is optimistic about growth in the coming year and expects postponed orders from the fourth quarter to come back, boosting 1999 figures. While Topcall gets a high proportion of revenues from users of SAP/R3, Lotus Notes and Microsoft Exchange, the company now says it has expanded its customer base with links to Novell’s GroupWise and IBM’s MQ Series. In the second quarter of this year, Topcall plans what it describes as the biggest launch in its history with the first of its voice products.
Content from our partners
