SIR.L Regulatory News (SIR)

21 Jul 2005 07:00

Sirius Financial Solutions PLC21 July 2005 NOT FOR RELEASE OR DISTRIBUTION IN THE UNITED STATES, CANADA, AUSTRALIA, JAPAN OR THE REPUBLIC OF IRELAND. 21 July 2005 SIRIUS FINANCIAL SOLUTIONS PLC ("Sirius" or the "Company") TRADING UPDATE The Board of Sirius Financial Solutions plc, the specialist supplier of softwareand services to the international insurance and financial services industry,today issued the following trading update for the six month period ending 30thJune 2005. "We are pleased to report that after our strong performance last year, thecompany has continued to make further progress across all its areas of activityin the first 6 months of this year. In our Insurance Broking business we are delighted with the success andacceptance into the market of our new online managed service 'Sirius 21'. Saleshave gathered momentum month on month since its launch in January 2005 with 40brokers having signed up, 25 of whom are already live. We have also made excellent progress towards achieving our stated aim of making2005 a 'record year' for the sale of our S4I software for Insurance Companieswith 7 orders confirmed in the period. Pleasingly, we have seen sales in each ofour target markets of UK, US, Australia and Africa. Our wholly owned offshore development centre in India, which was established in2004, has grown to 30 staff with further recruitment planned over the next 2years. Our utilisation of this development centre is already starting to have apositive impact on our cost base and these further additions to our capacity inIndia offers an opportunity for the company to strengthen its net margins overthe next few years. Further benefits are also beginning to arise from reduced customer supportrequirements following the launch of Sirius 21. Overall, the Board expects toreport sales growth and improved profitability for the first half of 2005 whenit announces Interim results in September." For further information, please contact: Sirius Financial Solutions (0121 779 8400)Stephen VerrallRichard Bowser Citigate Dewe Rogerson (0207 638 9571)Martin JacksonGeorge Cazenove Notes to editors: Sirius celebrates two decades of profitable growth as the market-leadingprovider of insurance software solutions. Sirius's end-to-end, internet-basedsolutions significantly improve business control, productivity & efficiency. Andwith over 15,000 users in over 50 countries, Sirius is the solution of choicefor insurance professionals worldwide. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange