New Zealand-listed New York-based software governance company Diligent Board Member Services has reaffirmed its full-year guidance, with sales estimated in a range of $US97 million to $US99 million ($NZ131.9 million to $NZ134.6 million).
For its trading for the first quarter ending March, Diligent reported a 19% increase in revenue, from $US19.1 million a year ago to $US22.8 million, while its after-tax profit was up 59%, from $US1.9 million last year to $US3.1 million.
Diligent, which has no debt, saw its cash in hand decline slightly by $5.6 million to $65.2 million compared with the previous quarter.
Shares in the company, which were up almost 30% on a year ago, yesterday traded down 1c at $5.69 following the announcement.
Diligent chief executive Brian Stafford said the company had delivered another solid quarter, with revenue coming in above the guidance range.
''Companies are increasingly turning to our solution for an expanding array of use cases beyond the boardroom because of its intuitive, feature-rich design and world-class security,'' he said in a statement.
Diligent Boardbooks users increased by about 4000 to over 96,000 users, with total client agreements of more than 3150, he said.
''Based on our analysis, there is more than $US3 billion of opportunity for the Diligent Boardbooks product in the markets we are currently targeting and most of those opportunities are greenfield,'' BusinessDesk reported.
Craigs Investment Partners broker Peter McIntyre said while the new user growth of 4000 for the quarter was below the average quarterly rate of 5000, the number of newly signed users grew from 40% the year before to 63% of the 4000.
That provided comfort Diligent was continuing to gain traction in new sectors such as health and financial services, offsetting the maturity in some of its existing customers, mainly large, publicly listed companies.
North American growth had slowed year-on-year, but growth in Europe and Asia Pacific had accelerated, a positive that increased sales and marketing effort in the new areas were ''bearing some fruit'', Mr McIntyre said.
Forsyth Barr broker Andrew Rooney reiterated he saw 2015 being a ''transition year'' for Diligent, in expanding its operations, in new and existing markets.
Growth strategies included expanding footprints with five key US opportunities in government, education, healthcare, regional banking and asset management organisations, and larger sales teams in Europe and Asia.
Financial guidance for the second quarter was for revenue to increase by 16%-17% on a year ago, to between $US23.6 million and $US23.8 million, while full year revenue was expected to be up 17%-19%, between $US97 million and $US99 million.
