BRISBANE, May 4 Asia Pulse - Australia's 1999 Exporter of the Year for Information Services, Softlink International Ltd, is seeking to raise $A10 million ($US5.89 million) via an Australian Stock Exchange (ASX) listing in June.
Funds raised from the initial public offering (IPO) will be used to fund a major expansion of its worldwide distribution channels.
The Brisbane-based software developer, whose specialist library automation systems are already installed in more than 8300 sites in 85 countries, is targeting the huge untapped Chinese market and Japan.
In a critical breakthrough into the Chinese market, Softlink recently became the only foreign library software supplier to be approved by the Beijing government for schools in the Beijing region.
Founder and managing director John Dunne said that in tandem with the overseas sales drive, the company had recently enhanced its products' Internet capacity to provide a remote site management function.
He said Softlink stood out from most recent IT floats because of its 16 year business record, proven profit performance and highly successful niche export strategy.
Softlink posted an $A800,000 ($US471,360.0) after tax profit from revenue of $A3.78 million ($US2.23 million) in the 1998/99 year and is forecasting revenue of $A4.83 million ($US2.85 million) and after tax profit of $A1.18 million ($US695.26 thousand) for the current financial year.
"Our performance during the first half of the current financial year was excellent and puts us in line to achieve our first year forecasts in the prospectus," Mr Dunne said.
Export growth is forecast to help push revenue to $A6.7 million ($US3.95 million) and after tax profit of $A1.81 million ($US1.07 million) in 2000/01, resulting in a forecast fully franked dividend of five cents per share.
The offer price of $1.00 per share represents a price earnings ratio of 12.2 times 2000/01 earnings.
The company will issue six million new shares at $1.00 each, with a further four million shares to be sold by founding shareholders and executive directors, John and Bob Dunne.
Total shares on issue following the public offer will be 22 million with the founding shareholders continuing to hold 12 million ordinary shares, 90 per cent of which are escrowed for two years.
The issue, which opens on May 8 and closes on June 1, is being underwritten by Johnson Taylor Corporate Ltd.
