Offshore businesses drag on Iress profit

Mike Taylor

Managing Editor/Publisher, Financial Newswire

20 February 2023

Underperformance within its businesses outside of Australia has seen financial services software provider, Iress post a 28.6% slump in net profit after tax to $52.7 million.

The company pointed to the strength of its Australian “core” franchise but said that outside of Australia a number of its offshore markets underperformed.

“The UK in particular was disappointing with overall revenue growth declining by 1% in constant currency,” it said. “Growth in recurring revenue in Private Wealth and Trading Cost offset churn in Retail Wealth in region.”

“We are evaluating business models and product strategies to determine the best path for success in this market, including how we can improve returns for shareholders.”

Iress chief executive, Marcus Price pointed to the fact the company had been conducting a thorough analysis of Iress’ performance across geographies, segments and the commercial and operating model in place.

“This analysis will inform some of the important decisions ahead of us, such as how we allocate capital to drive Iress’ next stage of growth, the best way to structure our business to drive accountability and efficiency, and to validate which products and markets we should choose to contest,” he said.

Price said the company had also reallocated resources away from low-return initiatives to reinvest in its core trading and advice software.