Fraud-fighting software firm Altia-ABM has announced a near-doubling of its annual earnings after expanding operations worldwide.
The Glasgow business – whose technology enables investigators to follow the trail of dirty money and has been used to secure convictions in high-profile ‘McMafia’ court cases – reported a 17 % increase in revenue to £5.9 million.
It posted a 92% increase in EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation) to £1.4 million.
In the last year, Altia-ABM has expanded its sales and support office in Melbourne, Australia, and its operations in Canada, Colombia and Peru. It now has customers in 16 countries worldwide, including law enforcement and tax officials investigating money laundering and people trafficking.
Chairman John Boyle said: “We are very encouraged by the performance of the group. Our solid financial growth has enabled us to develop our offering across the world. This has been particularly evident in Australia where we now have fully functional in-country operation and a subsidiary group company serving the needs of government and law enforcement agencies.
“We are acutely aware of the technological and logistical challenges facing organisations during the Covid-19 pandemic and, in particular, we are helping our customers around the world as they address these challenges and adapt to remote working.”
Altia-ABM’s software is capable of quickly scanning financial documents such as bank statements, spotting suspicious patterns which investigators can act upon. It was used in the UK to secure a court order against Zamira Hajiyeva, the wife of a jailed Azeri banker who spent £16 million in Harrods, in the first successful use of so-called McMafia proceeds of crime legislation.
Chief executive Ian Watson said: “Our financial performance improves year by year and this reflects the demand from national and regional police forces, government and other investigating authorities for robust investigation software that is totally reliable for day-to-day work and will stand up to scrutiny during court proceedings. We are forecasting continued sustained growth across the world during 2020 and beyond.
“We continue to invest in staff, knowledge growth and training, product enhancements, together with research and development. We are focused on meeting changing cloud-focused customer IT requirements at a time when there are increasingly complex challenges for investigations.”
