Strong financial position enables Datacert to invest significantly in products, expand European presence, and complete strategic acquisition, positioning the company for continued global dominance
HOUSTON, Feb. 11, 2010 - Datacert, Inc., the leading global provider of legal operations management solutions, reports strong 2009 financial performance, with revenue growth for the eleventh consecutive year. A substantial increase in bookings resulting from almost $12 million in new sales orders, including significant growth in its EMEA business, drove an over 20% revenue increase for the company. Datacert achieved these results while investing 30% of revenue back into its products and services, expanding its presence in Europe by opening its fourth office there in Zurich, and completing the acquisition of a software development, customer support, and professional services center for the legal market from Symcon Global Technologies (SGT), its former partner in Chennai, India.
"We had an extremely profitable year in 2009," stated Alan Harding, chief financial officer, Datacert. "Despite the challenging economy and strong focus on investing in our business, we are gratified that we generated a $10 million increase in earnings, driving a net profit margin that exceeds industry averages, enabling us to lead the market in investment in new products."
In 2009, Datacert employed a unique product management approach in order to define a growth strategy that redirects the company's focus in the marketplace and addresses many of the current and long-term industry trends and concerns. To ensure the strategy was market-driven, Datacert worked closely with and gathered input from partners, corporate clients (including top legal executives from ten of the largest companies in the world), over fifty legal suppliers, and industry thought leaders. The process of delivering on the strategy began in 2009 and continues to be the key focus of the company in 2010, with almost 90 employees focused on new product development.
"2009 was a pivotal year for Datacert," said Jim Tallman, president and chief executive officer, Datacert. "Our strong financial position going into the year allowed us to begin executing on our growth strategy by investing very heavily in our products, most likely more than all of our competitors combined did, and acquiring resources from SGT, which greatly expands our global development capacity. In addition, while we're already the dominant force in our industry in Europe and continue to grow our presence there, acquiring the SGT team also allows us to further improve the support and service we provide our ever-growing global client base. Amazingly, we accomplished all of this while further increasing profitability, achieving significant revenue growth, and still building our cash reserves, which will enable us to continue to invest in or acquire new products."
Datacert's 2009 Highlights
- Increased overall revenue by over 20%, achieving eleven consecutive years of revenue growth
- Increased EMEA business revenue by 60%
- Achieved an 18% net profit margin (EBITDA)
- Added over 2600 new law firm connections
- Processed over $9 billion in client invoices
- Opened fourth European office in Zurich
- Acquired a software development and professional services center from Symcon Global Technologies
- Released a number of new products and services to support global clients
- Launched Stack expert witness search service
- Ranking on Software Magazine's list of the 500 largest technology companies worldwide for the seventh consecutive year
- Honored by Houston Business Journal as a member of its Fast 100, which is a ranking of the fastest-growing companies in Houston based on two-year revenue growth
About Datacert, Inc.
Datacert is the leading global provider of software and services for the legal industry. Offerings include its technology platform, Passport, and legal and IP spend and matter management software and services. Clients look to Datacert solutions to strategically manage their departments, reduce legal costs, and optimize operational efficiencies. Datacert has law firm, vendor, and agent connections in more than 150 countries and its customers include 71 Fortune® 500 corporations, 53 Global Fortune® 500 corporations, and 100% of the AmLaw 200. Visit www.datacert.com for more information and follow us on Twitter for real-time updates http://twitter.com/Datacert.
