Software sales help cut loss by $13.5m

Diligent Board Member Services' full year loss narrowed to US$4.1 million from US$17.6m helped by software product sales with the firm expecting to become cashflow positive this fiscal year.

Diligent, which has a software development arm in Christchurch with 12 staff, is expecting to become profitable at the bottom line in 2011.

Its operating revenues for the 12 months to December 31, 2009 rose 71 per cent to just over US$5m (NZ$7.2m)

Chief executive Alex Sodi said 2009 was a good year for Diligent with strong sales growth in the face of what many commentators described as the worst financial crisis in decades.

"In these dire conditions, companies still sought to implement and upgrade Diligent boardbooks as a way to save costs, improve efficiencies and broaden their corporate governance and compliance standards."Diligent also had cut costs and relied more on inbound calls to its existing sales team of 10 to watch revenues grow, he said.

"We went from trying to produce sales with an outbound force, people cold calling ... to where we're basically inbound sales, giving us flat marketing at least in this last year."

Diligent shares closed yesterday unchanged at 40c, within a 12-month range of 7c to 44c.

Sodi said a net profit was targeted in 2011.

- © Fairfax NZ News