IRESS well-placed to handle Hayne aftermath

Segment profit from the group’s Australian wealth management division, which composes 31 per cent of the group, grew 7 per cent over the 12 months to 31 December 2018.

Morningstar analyst Gareth James expected IRESS will grow its market share in Australian wealth management software to 80 per cent in the long term from 65 per cent today.

“IRESS is well placed to manage key-short-term risks, including the potential consequences of Brexit in the UKK and the royal commission fallout in Australia,” he said.

“IRESS’ UK businesses compose about one-third of group profit, but clients are largely domestically focused and unlikely to experience a material impact from Brexit.”

"Irrespective of the Brexit outcome, customers increasingly need IRESS’ software and data to help improve productivity and remain competitive."

Australia is a similar story, according to the analyst, who said the royal commission is likely to result in more compliance and administration requirements, increasing the demand for IRESS products.

IRESS chief executive Andrew Walsh said that against a backdrop of increased regulatory scrutiny, growth over 2018 was underpinned by strong demand for wealth, data analytics and superannuation systems.

“IRESS’ 2018 financial result demonstrates our continued focus on sustainable revenue growth and scale. The results in the UK and Australia were particularly pleasing,” he said.

“In Australia, we experienced continued growth in demand for our wealth, superannuation and data solutions with our trading and market data solutions continuing to be a resilient and important part of our business

“IRESS remains well-placed for continued success in a changing financial services industry, where strong demand remains for a broad range of standalone and integrated technology solutions. There is also an increasing focus by our clients on how technology – and IRESS – can help them manage and leverage data for compliance and growth.”