Cork software firm reports rise in revenue to €10.7m in 2008

CORK-HEADQUARTED software firm Qumas has reported revenues of $15.9 million (€10.7million) in 2008, up from $12.1 million (€8.9 million) a year earlier, according to documents filed with the Companies Registration Office this week.

The company, which provides software to help life sciences and financial services firms comply with industry regulations, said pretax losses narrowed from $9 million in 2007 to $659,000 due to an increase in turnover and lower costs resulting from a restructuring plan.

“2008 represents a very strong revenue growth year for us which is something we’re really pleased about. We’ve gotten close to break even, which is significant given the tough year we experienced in 2007,” said the company’s chief executive Kevin O’Leary.

During 2008 the company cut 37 jobs, bringing its total workforce to 68. Most of the redundancies occurred in manufacturing, the accounts show.

Qumas products are used by more than 250,000 people across 29 countries. The bulk of the firm’s clients are pharmaceutical firms in the US. Its clients include seven of the top 10 pharmaceutical companies and four of the leading biotech firms.

Mr O’Leary said that in 2008 the company shifted its focus towards moving into different industry sectors and geographic markets through partnerships.

“Last year we extended our product set and extended our relationships with a number of partners, including the likes of Thomson Reuters which is allowing us to gain new clients in additional markets.”

Mr O'Leary told The Irish Timesthe company had closed seven new Fortune 1000 deals over the past six months, and there were a number of other big deals in the pipeline.

In addition, Mr O’Leary was nominated for the Ernst Young Entrepreneur of the Year 2009 award.

“Last year we lost money in the first half of 2008 but made profits for the second half and this has continued into this year. 2009 will be a strong year for Qumas with revenue and profitability up. We are in the best place we’ve been in a number of years.”

Qumas is backed by Irish venture capital firms ACT and Delta Partners, as well as US investors General Catalyst and Fidelity Ventures.