First Derivatives has upped its stake in US group Kx Systems after lifting interim profits 36 per cent to £3.1 million.

First Derivatives has upped its stake in US group Kx Systems after lifting interim profits 36 per cent to £3.1 million.

The Newry, Co Down-based financial software and support services provider, which caters for investment banks and derivatives concerns, increased turnover faster than pre-tax profits in the six months to August, with a 66.3 per cent gain to £6.8 million.

Chairman David Anderson says the company grew its capital markets consulting activity in the first half of its financial year and committed ‘substantial investment’ to expand its global coverage and develop its range of in-house ‘Delta’ software. He argues these moves will ‘increase levels of profitability for the next financial year and beyond’.
First Derivatives, which increased net assets 40 per cent to £12.5 million in the first six months and ended August with £1.6 million cash, has paid £4.7 million to take its holding in Kx Systems of California from 5 to 20 per cent. The UK company has paid £3.37 million cash and issued new shares to buy more of Kx, supplier of the high performance and time series analysis database ‘kdb+’, from co-founder and chief executive officer Janet Lustgarten and shareholder Zurich International (Bermuda).

First Derivatives, which has had a partnership agreement with Kx since 1998 and is now its exclusive sales partner in the financial sectors of North America, the UK and Ireland, says it expects the new stake ‘to have a marginally positive impact’ on earnings for 2009-10.