KEY POINTS:
Diligent Board Member Services, which listed on the NZX last month, has reported quarterly net sales revenues 2.4 per cent ahead of prospectus forecast.
The New York software company, which designs software to take the paperwork out of the boardroom, today said net sales revenues from October to December were US$11,925 ($15,770) ahead of forecast at US$515,103.
Despite Diligent's initial public offering being several times oversubscribed, the company's sharemarket debut was disappointing, opening on the issue price of $1 and falling to 90c. Yesterday the shares closed at 72c.
A day after the listing founder Brian Henry resigned as chief executive, saying he had erred by not disclosing his relationship with Energycorp, that failed in the 1980s, forcing him into bankruptcy at the time.
The Diligent board allowed him to remain a director and appointed him to the new position of global sales director.
Mr Henry also failed to disclose the past of his brother Gerald, who fled the country owing $57 million and subsequently was jailed for four years in the United States in 1991 for fraud.
In its report today, Diligent said it had secured 74 licences compared to the projected 75 as of December 31.
Among the December licensees signed were leading Canadian-based Insurance and Financial Services company Manulife Financial, a leading US-based asset management company, and Gannet Co, the US' largest newspaper publisher.
At the end of last year annualised licence fees stood at US$2.06 million, compared to the prospectus forecast of $2.28 million.
Annualised licence fees rose 83 per cent from the $1.13m in 2006 to the 2007 total, with the number of licence agreements rising from 34, Diligent said.
Its recruitment and sales training programme remained on budget with eight fully trained full-time equivalents (FTE). A further nine FTEs were in training as of December 31, and eight more had been recruited.
- NZPA
