Sophos sales up 28 per cent

Strong demand in US and Japan help security specialist beat analyst forecasts

Sophos specialises in network access control and endpoint protection

UK security specialist Sophos posted strong financial results for the financial year ended 31 March 2008, beating analyst forecasts.

The company also said it would reconsider listing the company on the UK or US stock exchange, 'when markets stabilise', having abandoned previous plans to float last November.

Sophos reported that billings - the value of products and services invoiced to customers following order and delivery - rose 28 per cent year on year to $213.9m (£109m), with strong demand from the US and Japan.

Free cash flow rose 41 per cent to $41.8m (£21.4m) while deferred revenue rose 25 per cent to $226.3m (£115.8m). Cash holdings were $139.3m (£71.3m), up nearly 55 per cent on the previous year.

Sophos specialises in network access control and endpoint protection, competing with rivals such as McAfee, Symantec and Trend Micro. The firm serves an estimated 100 million users and 72,000 customers worldwide.