First Derivatives to significantly increase graduate hires

Newry-headquartered First Derivatives is planning to significantly increase the number of graduates it hires next year following better than expected interim results.

However, profit before tax at the consultancy company decreased by 10 per cent from £7 million to £6.3 million in the six months to the end of August.

The firms said the drop was primarily as a result of a loss on foreign currency translation and an increase in acquisition costs as a result of deferred consideration. First Derivatives chief executive Brian Conlon described it as an “accounting anomaly”.

"The indicator for us is the recurring revenue of the software business, which is up 44 per cent [from £13.6 million to £19.6 million]," he told The Irish Times. "That's the measure that indicates the underlying strength of the business."

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Mr Conlon said another key indicator was the number of graduates the company has hired in the calendar year to date, up by two thirds on the same period last year to 386. It currently employs more than 1,700 people worldwide.

“From a recruitment perspective, we’re up 66 per cent on last year,” said Mr Conlon. “At this stage of the year, we’ve recruited nearly 400 graduates, which makes us the biggest graduate recruiter on the island of Ireland. Those people are from all over. They’re from UCC, Maynooth, UCG.”

Mr Conlon said the firm would look to grow the number of graduates it takes on even further next year.

“We’re interested in hiring anybody who’s got a good mathematical background and is prepared to travel,” he said. “We have an ongoing recruitment programme. That 400 people will probably go to 500 by the end of the year, and next year we’ll have even bigger targets.

“They’re all very high spec engineering jobs. We take people from a background in science, computing, economics, commerce, and marketing. We place them all over the world in some of the largest institutions. The remuneration is at the top end of the scale as well.”

Adjusted profit after tax for the period of £9.2 million, up from £7.5 million, represented growth of 23 per cent. The company generated £13 million of cash from operating activities before tax, which was up from £12.4 million during the same period last year.

At the period end, net debt was £13.1 million after the payment of £3 million in dividends and £4.4 million of capital on associates and investments for the penetration of new markets and prior year acquisitions.

Group revenue increased by 21 per cent to £87.8 million during the period, while total assets at August 31st, 2017, were £251.3 million compared to £234.4 million at August 31st, 2016.

On Brexit, Mr Conlon said the company was well placed to deal with any headwinds it may face. “We’re an all-island organisation,” h said. “We’ve got a big presence in Dublin, as well as Belfast and Newry. Our business is global. We have offices all over the world.

“We’ve faced macroeconomic challenges in the past such as the banking crisis a decade ago. We’re nimble enough as an organisation to meet these challenges. We see it as an opportunity rather than a threat.”

An analyst with Investec said the results were “high quality”.