POLARLAKE WHICH specialises in “big data” software for the financial sector, has recorded a €1.48 million operating profit according to accounts filed recently by the company.
The Dublin-based company, which helps companies understand the swathes of data relating to the likes of stocks and securities, reduced its accumulated losses to €8.26 million in the year to June 2011.
Earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation for the group as a whole were just below €1.7 million, up from €262,000 in the previous year.
According to PolarLake chief executive John Randles the strong performance comes from a 100 per cent growth in business, along with an increase in the value gained from its software.
“We spent a number of years building out the product, building the pieces to deliver a full data management platform,” he said.
“Before last year we did components of the solution but last year we really put the pieces together and were able to put an end-to-end platform together. This allowed us to achieve better sales and pricing and be able to defend value.”
PolarLake’s clients include HSBC, RBS and Credit Suisse, along with Irish clients like AIB and Bank of Ireland.
Mr Randles said semantic and big data software, like that offered by his company, has become increasingly important to these types of companies in recent years. This was due to a number of factors, not least the increased pressure coming from regulators internationally as well as institutions’ own drive for better risk management.
“We’re applying big data technology to the problems that have been there for a long time but are now just getting bigger, with increased volume and complexity,” said Mr Randles.
He said during better times most investments made by financial institutions went into front office operations and as a result there has been little innovation in the area.
According to Mr Randles many existing solutions are several years old and, while the market was a fiercely competitive one, other companies had long legacies behind them.
“We consider ourselves the new kid on the block because all the other products have been in the market for 15-20 years and they use the traditional approach,” he said. “It’s a market where nobody dominates.”
He said having people like former senior Microsoft executive Kevin Dillon on the board was a huge help in this as “it’s good to be surrounded by successful people”.
He said having people with the software business in their DNA helped everyone to focus, particularly on areas like exporting.
To that end Mr Randles said the focus for the year ahead was to continue to grow the business overseas. PolarLake currently has offices in New York, Boston, London and Frankfurt, with an expansion into Asia on the cards in the coming months.
