Escher Group revenues soar 48 per cent

Revenues at Dublin-headquartered Escher Group soared 48 per cent to $12.8 million (€9.7 million) in the first six months of the year, up from $8.6 million during the same period last year.

The company, which is a provider of outsourced, point-of-sale software to the postal industry, posted pre-tax profits of $1.08 million for the six months to the end of June, down from $1.15 million last year. Operating profits also declined, from $1.44 million last year to $1.36 million in the first-half of 2013.

Chief executive Liam Church said the group's contract wins translated into a strong revenue performance in the first half of the year. "We have a good pipeline within our core postal business and are seeing increasing traction within our interactive services offering," he added.

He attributed the rise in revenue to the USPS retail system software contract.

Revenue from support contracts increased by 2 per cent to $1.46 million, while revenue from maintenance contracts increased by 4 per cent to $2.68 million. The group's net debt was $4.64 million at the end of June. In January the company paid $1.96 million off its Bank of Ireland term loan facility.

Adjusted Ebitda at the company grew 27 per cent to $2.39 million, while basic earnings per share amounted to 4.1 cent.

Escher Group executive vice president of sales and marketing Fionnuala Higgins and chief executive Liam Church are among the international finalists in this year's Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year competition.