Cognotec is going down

Tuesday, 02/02/2010 | 11:10 GMT by Michael Greenberg
Cognotec is going down

What used to be the biggest promise in the Forex software platform development field is for years now considered a sinking ship. A few days ago the worst fears were confirmed when it was announced that Cognotec is heading into a receivership. Barclays Bank which is owed millions by Cognotec appointed Dublin's KPMG as a receiver.

Founded in 1991 Cognotec is a global provider of leading-edge FX trading and connectivity solutions that enable financial institutions to deliver customised, real-time, electronic trading services to their clients. Cognotec boasts over 100 deployments in 26 countries, most of them tier 1 and tier 2 banks and financial institutions.

Cognotec was never even close to being breakeven and couldn't establish a healthy and growing P&L traction. Having consumed over $100M in investments since its inception and valued as high as $286 back in the dotcom boom days it finally posted a profit in 2005, if only for a year. In 2007 Cognotec lost almost $10 million before taxes but was able to reduce the losses to $1.76 million in 2008. Revenues however kept plummeting as well: from $28.1 million in 2005 to only $18.5 million in 2008 during which a client has cancelled a project responsible for over 60% of Cognotec's revenues. 2009 was probably even worse.

Cognotec is headed by Brian Maccaba a somewhat eccentric Irish born businessman.

However perhaps not all is gloom and doom in the Cognotec arena: Profit and Loss announced yesterday that Cognotec might still be able to meet its loan Obligations as it expects to complete an investment round shortly.

What used to be the biggest promise in the Forex software platform development field is for years now considered a sinking ship. A few days ago the worst fears were confirmed when it was announced that Cognotec is heading into a receivership. Barclays Bank which is owed millions by Cognotec appointed Dublin's KPMG as a receiver.

Founded in 1991 Cognotec is a global provider of leading-edge FX trading and connectivity solutions that enable financial institutions to deliver customised, real-time, electronic trading services to their clients. Cognotec boasts over 100 deployments in 26 countries, most of them tier 1 and tier 2 banks and financial institutions.

Cognotec was never even close to being breakeven and couldn't establish a healthy and growing P&L traction. Having consumed over $100M in investments since its inception and valued as high as $286 back in the dotcom boom days it finally posted a profit in 2005, if only for a year. In 2007 Cognotec lost almost $10 million before taxes but was able to reduce the losses to $1.76 million in 2008. Revenues however kept plummeting as well: from $28.1 million in 2005 to only $18.5 million in 2008 during which a client has cancelled a project responsible for over 60% of Cognotec's revenues. 2009 was probably even worse.

Cognotec is headed by Brian Maccaba a somewhat eccentric Irish born businessman.

However perhaps not all is gloom and doom in the Cognotec arena: Profit and Loss announced yesterday that Cognotec might still be able to meet its loan Obligations as it expects to complete an investment round shortly.

About the Author: Michael Greenberg
Michael Greenberg
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About the Author: Michael Greenberg
  • 1439 Articles
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