Sophos, a world leader in corporate anti-virus protection, today
announced financial results for the year ended 31st March 2001.
Highlights:
|
Turnover increased 54% to £22.6 million, from £14.7 million the
previous year |
|
|
Profit before tax grew 65% to £7.8 million (2000: £4.7
million) |
Recent research from IDC¹ suggests that the anti-virus industry
average growth rate was 24% in 1999-2000, yet the latest results
from Sophos show more than double this growth rate, which indicates
significant gains in market share from competitors.
For the forthcoming year, Sophos plans to open sales offices in
Singapore and Milan - adding to its current subsidiaries in the
USA, Australia, France, Germany and Japan. Construction has begun
on an additional high-security
research and development centre, totalling over 150,000 square
feet at Sophos's HQ in Abingdon, UK. 160 new jobs will be created
over the next year by these expansions.
"Sophos's tight focus on developing corporate anti-virus
software, backed up with round-the-clock customer support, has
delivered substantial growth over the last year," said Peter
Lammer, co-founder and joint CEO of Sophos Anti-Virus. "By
concentrating on our core competencies, we fully expect this growth
to continue in the future."
"Sophos's excellent growth points out the vitality of the
anti-virus market and the success of a strategy that focuses
singularly on speedy and comprehensive responses to customer
needs," said Chris Christiansen, vice president of IDC's Internet
infrastructure and security software programme.
Sophos also strengthened its management team during 2000-2001;
Jan Hruska, formerly technical director, and Peter Lammer, formerly
managing director, became joint chief executive officers. David
Hughes, formerly vice president of strategy for the Lotus
Development division of the IBM Corporation, became president of
Sophos's US subsidiary, whilst Rachel Lane was appointed as head of
Human Resources and Malcolm Howe joined as Head of Global IT.
¹ Source: IDC Research's "Worldwide Anti-virus
Software Market Forecast and Analysis, 2001-2005"
Sophos is headquartered in Boston, US and Oxford, UK. More information is available at www.sophos.com.