Profit all a matter of timing for software firm

By DANIEL RIORDAN

Sharemarket high flyer Software of Excellence warns it may not meet its profit forecast but says the issue is simply one of the timing of payments for several large contracts.

Chief executive Paul Weatherly was reported as having said last Friday the company was on track to meet its forecasts for the March year.

But yesterday he said he had been misquoted and it was too early to tell how the company would perform against those forecasts.

Shares that had risen 14c last Friday came back 15c yesterday to $3.05.

Software of Excellence was the sharemarket's top performer last year. After listing in December 2000 at $1, shares rose 238 per cent over the year to $3.38.

Its prospectus forecast a net profit of $2.4 million on turnover of $14.6 million for this March year.

It beat its forecasts for the last March year and its subsequent half- year result was in line with forecasts.

Mr Weatherly said meeting this year's target depended on closing several large contracts before March 31. Although the company was confident of getting the business, it might not be paid before balance date, so the final result could be plus or minus more than $1 million, he said.

The company's business providing software to private dentists in existing markets was "fairly mature and fairly predictable".

But the large contracts with customers in the developing business of national health providers and university dental schools were much less predictable.