The company’s £1.04-million operating profit for the six months to June 2009 compares with £970,000 for the same period last year. And despite the telematics sector’s widely-reported problems, with several businesses having failed and others refinancing, the company has lifted its sales of new tracking systems - and profit - by 7% compared with the same period in 2008.
Quartix reports that it is on track to add 700 new UK customers this year, while the number of new vehicle tracking systems it installed during the first half was just under 3000. Following a significant number of contract wins, the company expects to exceed this figure in the second half.
In April, with the launch of Quartix Pay As You Go, the company became the first major supplier to introduce PAYG vehicle tracking. By June the new product was accounting for almost 50% of sales, underlining customers’ strong and ready acceptance of the new option.
Quartix’s managing director, Andy Walters, said: “We are particularly pleased to be able to continue to invest in our future and recruit more staff in sales and service.
“There have been widespread redundancies in the industry, with some competitors laying off more than 50% of their staff. We don’t believe this is sustainable, and we expect to see more failures. In these difficult times pay as you go has proven to be an exceptional competitive advantage, as customers are, quite rightly, concerned about the financial future of some of the main competitors”.