Software group Escher sees jump in pre-tax profits

Dublin-headquartered software provider Escher saw pre-tax profit double to $2.7 million (€3.1 million)last year on the back of a bigger take up of its Riposte digital transaction platform.

The firm, which specialises in point-of-sale software to the retail and financial sectors, said revenue rose 2 per cent to $22.4 million.

Within this, maintenance revenue grew by 8 per cent to $8.2 million while support revenues grew 41 per cent to $3.4 million.

Escher's chief executive Liam Church said: "Major international customer deployments in 2014 and 2015 are now producing recurring, cash-generating, revenue streams which underpin the results in 2016 as well as strengthening the outlook."

Apple Pay contactless service launches in Ireland

---

Artificial intelligence? Only an idiot would think that

---

Facebook begins labelling fake news

---

Could robo-reporters replace journalists?

---

“ Total maintenance revenue exceeded US$8m for the first time in the company’s history – this number is destined to increase with the additional licence sales achieved in 2016,” he said.

“We are now focused on developing new products and services that will enhance and expand our position within our current postal customer base,” he added.

Davy analyst Ross Harvey said: “2016 was a year of strategic progress at Escher – most notably, the mix shift to more recurring revenue lines continues, while the commercial appetite for Riposte TrEx’s licensing and permitting capabilities shows good momentum.”