Some analysts say that organic growth in the US will be very difficult to achieve. What is your reaction to that?
Growth in a market where the starting point is a relatively small market share is always going to present challenges.

Right now we believe it is about positioning ourselves properly to meet and overcome these challenges. Progress so far has been broadly as we forecast,with the US coming in at around break-even (EBITDA) this financial year.

We have seen a major restructuring of the US transfer agency providers, with DST buying the remaining share of Equiserve and Mellon buying out the 50% of their joint venture previously owned by Chase. The recent downturn in corporate actions and IPO’s has also led a number of smaller players to reconsider their long-term future in this competitive market.

Our focus in the US has been on two fronts: first to improve service levels; and the second, to introduce our proprietary software. On the service side we have completely restructured our business both in management and staff. Our internal statistics and those conducted by Group Five (who specialise in conducting service quality surveys) have confirmed a vast improvement in service levels.

On the technology front, we have delivered our new Employee Share Plan product and we are due to have all conversions of the Merrill book of business completed by November. We are now testing our share registry system with the first conversions of live companies scheduled for December 2001. We are also on schedule to release the first phase of our global employee option system in December

2001, with full US functionality due for completion in June 2002. When these technology initiatives come online they will establish a clear lead in functionality over our US competitors and therefore place us in a strong position to obtain major new clients.

Installation of our sophisticated telephony system that eclipses our competitors in terms of versatility and efficient handling of all types of incoming and outgoing communications will be completed well before the end of this calendar year.

Computershare Document Services is now fully established and servicing our transfer agency.

In summary, our significant R&D investment in the US should tell its own story. We remain solid and committed to our business in this important market and we plan to place proper emphasis on its ability to grow in the future.

What have been the highlights for the year?
It is hard to quote specific highlights in a year that has seen many acquisitions and considerable improvement in our registry operations globally. As far as major contracts are concerned, the deal to supply our trading system technology to ICAP and the contract to supply BP for their global Employee Plans business would have to be highlights. The ICAP deal proved that our trading system technology is world leading and the BP deal proved the value of our global services.

Looking ahead, what are your plans for Computershare?
We will continue towards our objective of gaining a presence in all major world markets, and this will include our ongoing attention to European and Asian regions.

Our management teams worldwide have a clear focus and an enthusiasm to provide the very highest quality of service to our company clients and their shareholders. This focus will, we believe,help facilitate our drive to gain market share and win new business in all our major markets.

How are your management and staff teams?
We have always sought to employ and retain people of the highest calibre at all levels within the organisation. The results this year are an indication of the success of this aim and of the dedication, commitment and loyalty of all staff. This has helped us to achieve what we believe, are very credible financial results in a year that was for many companies in our sector lacklustre.