´óÏó´«Ã½

Newry-based FD Technologies grew its turnover by 11% to £264m in 2021.

Pre-tax profits were down 19% from £11m to £9m, as the firm spent money to implement a new strategy.

The company formerly known as First Derivatives, is focusing on increasing subscription sales of its KX software products.

Its chief executive Seamus Keating said it had been a "year of transformation across the group".

He expects the strategy to deliver increased turnover and profitability in the year ahead with revenues for 2023 expected to be between £290m and £300m.

The company primarily provides software and services to investment banks and other financial institutions.

Its software helps firms gather, analyse and use large volumes of data at very high speeds.

The business has three units: the KX software division, First Derivatives services and consulting division and the MRP marketing technology division.

Mr Keating said a partnership agreement with Microsoft announced in March was a major step for the KX division.

It means that KX will be embedded in Microsoft's Azure cloud platform.

Mr Keating said this had been a "huge validation" of the technology and it would help the business grow in sectors outside financial services.

The business has continued to recruit in response to increased demand for its services.

It now has 3,000 people across its global operations, up from 2,500 last year.