Avatar Happy for Increased Spending in Oil and Gas Industry

Published: January 10, 2006

by Alex Woodie

Last year was a watershed year for the oil and gas industry, with record -breaking profitability and revenue growth and the formation of new companies in this sector. But did the IT vendors who support oil and gas vendors enjoy as much success as their customers? If Avatar Systems, a developer of OS/400 and Windows software that manages the accounting, land, and production aspects of the oil and gas business, is any barometer, they sure did.

In late December Avatar announced nearly 20 percent growth in revenue for its quarter ended September 30, and more than a 27 percent increase in revenues for the first three quarters of the year, at $1.7 million. Net income was also up about 17 percent for the quarter, but was essentially flat for the nine-month period.

During the third quarter of 2005, the company added three new customers for its Windows-based Petroware 2000 package, and four new customers who are using the hosted version of Petroware 2000; the company also offers Avatar/400, its OS/400-based application, but announced no customer wins for this product. The company also had success selling its document imaging software, iSynergy, to existing oil and gas customers, and plans to start selling this package to healthcare companies in 2006.

"Avatar's core business continues to grow with oil and natural gas companies investing in better technology to enhance productivity and improve efficiencies," says Chuck Shreve, president and CEO of the company. "We expect 2005 and 2006 to be very good years for our company." The company also recently moved its corporate headquarters to Frisco, Texas, where it has a new data center equipped with a new iSeries and new Dell racks for the hosting business.