Software company Diligent Board Member Services is expecting to achieve a break-even point with its cashflows around the end of the third quarter of 2010, after reporting a net loss of $US4.16 million ($NZ5.99m) in 2009.
The 2009 result compares to a loss of $US17.65m a year earlier, with the company today describing its 2009 performance as "exceptional".
Diligent, which is listed in this country but based in New York, said it signed 110 new agreements during the year, up 63 percent from a year earlier, generating an additional $US2.5m in annual recurring revenue.
That took the cumulative annualised licence fees total to $US6.3m as at December 31. Actual annual sales -- revenue generated from existing and new contacts and upgrades - topped $US5m for the first time, a year-to-year rise of 71 percent.
Among factors behind the sales growth was greater brand recognition for the company's Diligent Boardbooks product - a web-based portal that enables board materials to be updated and examined before and during board meetings.
Customer confidence in the product was high, supporting a trend where existing clients continued to upgrade services, add new users and provide new client referrals, Diligent said.
Total operating expenses dropped to $US7.53m in the latest year from $US12.87m in 2008. While the cost of revenues lifted to $US2.19m from $US1.88m, the cost of revenues as a percentage of revenues fell to 43.7 percent in 2009 from 64.1 percent the year before.
"At the current level of reduced expenses, coupled with current sales growth forecasts, Diligent's management believes that it will achieve cash flow breakeven around the end of the third quarter of the current financial year," Diligent said.
