Dental software pioneer to list

By GEOFF SENESCALL

Auckland dental company Software of Excellence will make its debut on the New Zealand sharemarket on December 15.

Its prospectus, released yesterday, says the five million $1 shares being issued will be sold through firm allocations to brokers.

These are new shares and will bring the number on issue to 21 million.

Of the $5 million being raised, about $810,000 will be used to buy the British-based software business interests of Henry Schein Technologies.

Software of Excellence will then have cash reserves of $4 million and no long-term borrowing.

The prospectus says the company also intends making further strategic investments.

The eight-year-old dental software company has worked closely with the profession to pioneer many applications of computers in dentistry, such as PC-based digital x-rays and dental imaging.

It has operations in Britain, the United States and Australia and employs 58 staff, 23 of them based in New Zealand.

The prospectus claims Software of Excellence is the largest provider of dental software in New Zealand.

It says it will hold a similar standing in Britain once it takes over Henry Schein Technologies.

Chairman Jim Syme said the company's existing institutional clients included the South Australian Dental Service, Edinburgh Dental Institute and the University of Otago School of Dentistry.

About 90 per cent of New Zealand dentists who operated computers used the company's software, he said.

Close to 85 per cent of the company's projected revenue of $8.7 million in the year ending next March 31 would come from overseas software sales.

Software of Excellence projects that revenue will rise to $14.6 million by March 31, 2002, an increase of 68 per cent over the current year.

It projects profits of $2.44 million by 2002 and $4.63 million the year after.

But for the year to next March 31 it expects a loss of $850,000.