Placed at 85 pence a share in March 1988 (CI No 896), Total Systems Plc has not had a very happy time as a public company so far, and the shares are down at around the 22 pence mark – and the interims announced just before Christmas, showing pre-tax profit down 22% at just UKP40,000, are not going to do anything to revitalise the price. The company, which does about half its business from custom software, and also does facilities management and consultancy, ackowledges difficult trading conditions, as a result of customers cutting budgets. In an effort to alleviate the impact, Total Systems has been trying to broaden its customer base, in particular wooing local authorities, and reports more work for new clients than in any comparable period. It reckons that it is now in a strong position to benefit when purse strings are loosened again, and stresses that the cash resources remain satisfactory and that net asset value, which includes the freehold of the London EC headquarters – the company also has a Bristol office – is strong.
