SDL announces a 13% rise in sales, led by USA

Information management specialist SDL has today announced a 12% increase in its profit before tax (and the amortisation of intangibles) to £39.66m.

The above on a 13% increase in sales to £229m, and a small improvement in the company's operating margins, to 14.6%, from 14.1% in 2010.

The firm's net cash flow from operating activities grew 20.5% last year, reaching £32.613m.

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Precisely in that regard, in an interview on Bloomberg TV, following the release of its results, the company's chairman, Mark Lancaster, underlined the company's cash generating abilities.

Regarding the outlook for business, the company has indicated that, "whilst macro-economic concerns exist, particularly over the weaker Eurozone states and the future of the European currency union, our pipeline remains solid. We are experiencing higher growth in North America and our customer presence in emerging markets such as Asia continues to expand and diversify. We are well positioned with a broad portfolio of geographies and industry sectors, which mitigates exposure to sector or regional economic events."

Sales in the USA grew by 33% in 2011, reaching $69.317m.

According to the firm all business lines contributed to the revenue growth seen in 2011 (in terms of underlying organic growth), led by content management technologies (17%), and followed by language technologies (8%) and language services (10%).

Lastly, SDL has unveiled a 5.5% increase in its final dividend for the year, taking it to 5.8p.

As an aside, since the lows reached in 2003 the company's share price has rocketed higher by approximately 2000%, while as of 10:07am shares are gaining 5.0%, to the 692.5p mark.

AB