First Derivatives embarks on largest graduate hiring spree on island of Ireland.
AIM-listed fintech company First Derivatives is to take on 400 graduate recruits this year.
The news comes as the company reported a 30pc increase in revenues for the year of £151.7m, and a profit of £12.5m, up 20pc on last year.
Fintech revenue was up 28pc to £117.4m (from £91.9m in 2016), driven by contract wins in software and the breadth of services provided to its global banking client base.
First Derivatives employs 1,750 people worldwide at offices in Newry, London, New York, Stockholm and Dublin.
The intake of 400 graduates is up from 300 last year.
Last year, the company acquired QuantumKDB, the London-based big data company of Irish man Kieran Lucid, for £2.2m. This follows previous acquisitions of Prelytix, ActivateClients and Affinity Systems.
Newry-based First Derivatives provides software, consulting and analytics products and services to the financial sector, and counts 19 out of 20 of the world’s biggest investment banks as customers.
“During the year, we made strong progress on our strategic objectives, while delivering a solid financial performance,” said First Derivatives chairperson Seamus Keating.
“Our increasing scale is leading to larger and longer-term managed services and consulting engagements, and we are confident this trend will continue as we develop our service capabilities.”
Keating added: “Demand for the ultra-high analytics processing that Kx delivers continues to grow, and this is reflected in a strong pipeline of opportunities across the business.
“It is clear that the leading performance that Kx delivers in capital markets readily transfers to other end markets, as evidenced by our growth in digital marketing. We are engaged in numerous discussions across industries, and believe our products and services are well-placed competitively. Consequently, we anticipate another year of strong growth.”
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