Cobent – the ‘compliance’ software vendor, specialising in the manufacturing and life sciences sectors – has categorically denied persistent rumours that the company will ‘float’ on the stock market following the publication of its results for 2007, in January.
In 2007, Cobent – a solutions provider for e-learning, training and compliance – led process management across the entire range of international blue-chip companies, fast-growth start-ups, and public sector organisations on both sides of the Atlantic – saw its revenue increase by 50 per cent over the 2006 total. In addition, recurring revenues rose substantially and profit margins increased significantly on an annual turnover in excess of £1m.
Howard Sears, CEO of Cobent Group, commented: “It’s true that Cobent’s results show a significant increase in performance and profits – certainly more than 50 per cent up on the previous year’s figures.
“This has occurred mainly because of increased interest by clients in delivering business services such as learning in a regulated and audited environment. This, in turn, has been fuelled by the growing maturity of web-based technology and the desire to deliver against business-critical learning needs in a way that can be shown to improve employees’ efficiency, profitability and bottom line performance while supporting corporate governance and compliance requirements.”
During the past 12 months, Cobent’s products have been in use in life sciences organisations including Centric Health Resources, a leading US specialty pharmacy provider to individuals with rare, long-term disorders – as well as Europe’s leading specialist electrical retailing group, Dixons Group International (DSGi), and Renaissance Capital, the leading independent investment banking firm operating in Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).
Tony Dillon, Cobent’s CTO, explained: “Cobent’s growth has come because we are at the forefront of software design and development. Our understanding of compliant industries enables us to build any compliance-related application with a minimum of fuss and maximum flexibility. This not only offers our customers sizeable cost advantages but also provides our customers with a solid platform to grow their learning and compliance strategy.”
“Increasingly, Cobent is becoming a global player in the compliance software market,” Sears added. “However, while it is undeniable that Cobent’s performance is proving attractive to those wanting to improve their position in this market, the company has absolutely no plans whatsoever at this time to become a public company and ‘float’ on the stock exchange.”
