Thursday, 20 March 2014

KEY CONCEPTS

Please find below the key concepts I have gathered from IR’s annual report.
  • IR achieved an annual profit after tax result of $9.1 million – marginally up against the prior year result of $9.0 million.
  • Profitability in the first half was down 23% as a result of the delay in key service provider licence contracts.  The second half was much stronger with profit growing 16% in this period as the key licence contracts were completed.
  • Revenue for the year was $48.9 million, an increase of 1% over 2012.
  • Integrated Research was selected as the 2013 Avaya DevConnect Technology Partner of the Year, the only company to be awarded this title. 
  • IR’s consulting services business grew for a fourth consecutive year, with revenue increasing 35% to $4.5 million as customers increasingly look to extend their Prognosis solutions.
  • The company continued to focus on expanding its capabilities and improving productivity.  The number of staff at the end of 2013 was 200 (2012:186).
  • Total expenses were $38.3 million, up 2% against the prior year with a higher investment in research and development.  The major development issue that occurred during the 2013 financial year was on Prognosis 10 which is set to be released during the first half of the 2014 financial year. 
  • The company’s balance sheet remains in a strong position with $14.8 million in cash and cash equivalents as a result of continuing strong cashflow from operations.

FINANCIAL SUMMARY

In millions of AUD (except earnings per share)

Year ended 30 June
2013
2012
% Change
Revenue from licence fees
26.6
28.9
           ↓ (8)%
Total revenue
48.9
48.6
           ↑ 1%
Net profit after tax
9.1
9.0
           ↑ 0%
Net assets
30.0
29.2
           ↑ 3%
Cash at balance date
14.8
12.0
           ↑ 23%
Americas revenue
34.4
31.9
           ↑ 8%
Europe revenue
6.9
7.2
           ↓ (3)%
Asia Pacific revenue
7.5
8.7
           ↓ (14)%
Earnings per share (cents per share)
5.4
5.4
           ↓ (0)%


Integrated Research reported a solid performance for the financial year to June 2013.  Although competition exists in the software and services industry, IR remains focused on sustaining its competitive advantage through continuing innovation that comes from its research and development program.  The company’s growth strategy is to create, sell and support Prognosis based products and services that deliver profitable growth from existing markets and customers, as well as creating new profits that open new markets.  The company’s pipeline is strong and the fundamentals of its key markets are sound, as it continues to produce world class products that manage the performance of its customers’ Unified Communications, Payments and IT infrastructure.  

Tuesday, 18 March 2014

KEY QUESTIONS

Please find listed five questions that relate to the areas of IR’s Annual Report that I had difficulty understanding.  Any knowledge/information you can provide would be greatly appreciated.                                                    
  1. What is ‘divestment of other non-current financial assets’?                                                          
  2. What are ‘derivative financial instruments’?                                                                                    
  3. What is ‘hedging’ or the 'hedge relationship'?                                                                                                                               
  4. Why do annual reports include the numbers of meetings of the Company’s Board of Directors and the numbers of meetings attended by each director?                 
  5. In the Director’s Report, it mentions ‘officers who were previously partners of the audit firm’.  What does that mean?

Monday, 17 March 2014

BLOG RATER

Please find below my top three blogs, including links.   

1.  Evelyn De Lange’s Blog

The blog Evelyn has produced for Saunders International would be my personal favourite.  I feel that she has provided quality information, in a clear and concise manner.  Her page is easy to navigate, with a great layout that is visually pleasing.  I have benefited considerably from reading Evelyn posts, as not only were they inspirational, but they helped me to better understand my own company.  To view Evelyn’s blog, please click on the link below.



2.  Megan McCormick

The blog Megan has produced for Amcom Telecommunications is incredible.  I feel her posts contain exceptional content that is articulate and clear.  I find Megan’s material to be extremely interesting, fresh, relevant and of high quality.  The design and layout of her blog is astonishing, yet still simple and easy to navigate.  I commend Megan on her development and understanding of accounting and believe that her insights have helped me considerably with my own learning.  To view Megan’s blog, please click on the link below.



3.  Iris Onvlee

The blog Iris has created for Aristocrat Leisure is remarkable.  She has posted an extensive amount of information that is very informative and relevant.  I find her blog fascinating/interesting, with an impressive design and believe that the quotations and motivational images on her background are a fantastic idea.  To view Iris’ blog, please click on the link below.

Sunday, 16 March 2014

NEWS AND EVENTS

If you would like to view Integrated Research's latest news and events, please click on the link below.

http://www.ir.com/News_and_Events/Latest_newspage__1429.aspx

FUTURE GROWTH

As I looked more specifically at the future growth of Integrated Research, I found an article titled 'One Tech Growth Stock At A Crazy Cheap Price'.  I found the information in this piece very beneficial, as it discussed various areas of future growth in IR.  Would you buy shares in Integrated Research?  To view the article, please clink on the link below.  

http://www.fool.com.au/2011/09/13/one-tech-growth-stock-at-a-crazy-cheap-price/

INDUSTRY GROWTH/DECLINE

While researching the information technology (IT) industry, I came across an article titled 'Growth Left In IT Services As Spending Cuts Hurt'.  I found this piece to be very interesting and of great relevance, as it discussed the growth/decline of IT in Australia and its impact on software companies like Integrated Research.  To view this article, please clink on the link provided.     

http://www.afr.com/p/technology/growth_left_in_it_services_as_spending_NdjTiLmc2Z2pcXxysuM3KP


LEADING PROVIDER

As I was exploring the position of my company within its industry, I came across a key article titled 'Managing Communications Systems Is More Effective With Prognosis'.  Brian Smits, Director of Strategic Alliances for Integrated Research, talks with Avaya about the focus of IR; the fundamental shifts coming in the communication industry; the technologies believed to have the biggest impact in the next 5 or 10 years etc.  I encourage everyone to view this article via the link provided below, as it has given me a much greater understanding of Integrated Research and its industry.  Happy reading :-)

http://realtime.ir.com/category/managing-communications-systems-is-more-effective-with-prognosis-created-by-integrated-research-this-weeks-featured-partner

Brian Smits, Director of Strategic Alliances for Integrated Research

DID YOU KNOW...

Integrated Research customers include:
  • 9 out of 10 US Banks
  • 4 out of 5 Oil and Gas companies
  • 5 out of 10 Fortune 500 Global companies
  • 8 out of 10 Telecommunications companies
  • 2 out of 4 Stock Exchanges

For further information, please refer to the link below.

COMPANY HIGHLIGHTS

Integrated Research's company highlights include:
  • Founded in 1988, publicly listed in 2000
  • Offices in USA, UK, Germany, Singapore and Australia
  • Global, direct and channel driven distribution network
  • Customers in 50+ countries
  • Dominant share of HP NonStop performance monitoring market
  • Solution of choice for large scale single and multi-vendor VoIP and UC deployments
  • 2013 Avaya DevConnect Technology Partner of the Year

For further information, please visit the link below.



ANNUAL REPORTS

Please find below the links to Integrated Research's last three annual reports. 
Happy perusal :-)

2013 Annual Report
http://www.ir.com/mediaLibrary/investor_reports/IR-AR2013-WebVersion.pdf

2012 Annual Report
http://www.ir.com/mediaLibrary/investor_reports/IR_AnnualReport_2012_WEB.pdf

2011 Annual Report
http://www.ir.com/mediaLibrary/investor_reports/2011AnnualReport.pdf

Friday, 14 March 2014

PROGNOSIS

As I was reading the company overview for Integrated Research, I noted that they were the creator of an award winning system, known as Prognosis.  I personally had never heard of this program and as it appeared to be of great significance to the company, I was very curious to learn more.  


I established that Prognosis is a comprehensive software suite that provides performance management solutions for ATM and EFTPOS sytems, Voice over IP and Unified Communication networks, critical IT server infrastructure, and web applications such as online banking and travel systems.  As a user of EFTPOS systems, online banking etc, I found this fact extremely interesting and believe that over the years I would have benefited from the services IR provide.  Please let me know your thoughts?

For further information regarding IR's award winning product, please visit the link below and/or view the video.

http://www.prognosis.com/


WELCOME/INTRODUCTION

Hi and welcome to my very first blog.  I would like to introduce my allocated company, Integrated Research (IR).  IR is a leading global provider of high definition performance monitoring, diagnostics and reporting software.  The creator of award winning Prognosis - IR builds scalable, customizeable solutions designed to manage continuity critical IT infrastructure, payments and communications ecosystems.  IR provides real time solutions that give customers the insight they need to run their business, reduce their operating costs, minimize risk and gain competitive advantage.

In August 1988, Stephen Killelea formed the Australian company (IR), which was listed on the Australian Stock Exchange in 2000.  Headquartered in Sydney, IR has over 200 employees with offices in the US, UK, Germany, Singapore and Australia serving over 1 000 customers in more than 50 countries.  The company's main business is systems management for international corporations such as Visa, MasterCard and American Express; the New York, London and Hong Kong stock exchanges; and most of the world's ATMs.

To summarize, IR is a publicly listed Australian technology company, focused on the development, sales and marketing of its Prognosis performance monitoring software to organizations around the globe.

For more information regarding Integrated Research, please refer to the link below.  Thank you for taking the time to view my blog and I look forward to your questions/comments/feedback.  Enjoy and good luck :-)