CBT, the Irish software group which was floated on the NASDAQ market in New York last year, is planning to expand this year through growth in the smaller corporate market and also through expansion of its educational software business.
CBT, in its first year as a public company, reported net income of $6.2 million on sales of $36.9 million. Sales in the year were up 72 per cent, while earnings per share at the software group more than trebled from 22 cents to 71 cents.
CBT was floated on the NASDAQ market last April at per share, but since then the shares have soared, and have not been affected by a $100 million share sale in September. That sale, in which CBT itself raised $29.4 million and in which founder directors and institutions sold some of their holdings, was at $44.25 per share.
Since the beginning of the year, CBT shares have weakened in line with the high technology market in the US, but in the past four days, the shares have risen from $44 to $55 - partly in expectation of good results and also in response to the link up with Internet provider, Netscape.
On the results, the chief executive, Mr Bill McCabe, said: "We continued to show very strong, renewal rates among our existing customers and added significantly to our customer base.
CBT has net cash of $47 million on its balance sheet and this is enough for the group to do, "what is required to move the business forward", said Mr McCabe. He did not rule out further acquisitions but said that CBT's growth is more likely to be organic and expanding its business into the smaller corporate market.
CBT has also extended its agreement with Netscape Communications with the Guide toe Netscaper Navigator 2.0 tutorial to be based on CBT's software. Marketing for the tutorial will be done jointly by CBT and Netscape.
