Jade

By CIO New Zealand staff | Monday, November 10 2008

Jade Software continues an upward trend, with revenue growth in excess of 36 per cent year on year for the first half of 2008.

HQ: Christchurch
Website: www.jadeworld.com
Global leader: Dr Roderick Carr, managing director
Core activity: Software development and related services
Revenue: NZ$47.2 million (FY ended June 2008)
Key customers: Fonterra, Air New Zealand, The Warehouse, Australian Federal Police, NZ Electricity Commission
Employees: 345


Jade Software continues an upward trend, with revenue growth in excess of 36 per cent year on year for the first half of 2008. Recent acquisitions Empower Masterpay, an Australian HR and payroll IT services company, and Methodware, supplier of governance, risk and compliance software, accounted for 12 and 14 per cent of total revenue respectively. Organic growth was above average at 10 per cent and with 75 percent of shares held outside New Zealand, foreign investment in Jade has created stability and growth, says managing director Dr Roderick Carr.

“In terms of profitability, it looks like we made as much money in July and August as we did in the first half of the year. Some of our northern hemisphere customers slowed down their decision making and are trying to make smaller decisions rather than big ones. But 61 per cent of our revenue is contracted for a year or more in advance,” says Carr.

He says Jade is making a deliberate attempt to secure longer contracts, which provide stability for customers, staff and shareholders. That strategy may also be contributing to Jade’s staff retention figures — the average level of employee service at Jade is 10.5 years and 40 people have been employed for more than 20 years.
Carr says Jade has noted company growth through being awarded contracts to build products where a bespoke product doesn’t exist.

“Only 3 per cent of revenue comes from Jade technology licensing — half comes from using our technology to build things where there isn’t a product. We have cost effective, reliable building technology,” says Carr.

Interest from industries including logistics and freight forwarding is on the rise, with Carr saying there is also wider interest in Jade Investigator, a policing application originally built for Australian Federal Police operations in the Solomon Islands. It is now deployed in 25 police agencies in 12 countries and in six languages throughout the Asia Pacific.