Surfcontrol boosted by demand for spam filter

Surfcontrol, a provider of internet content security services, reported record invoice levels yesterday for its latest quarter.

Annual invoice levels were also up and were predicted to reach almost $92m (£56.3m), 41 per cent higher than last year's level, fuelled by internet users' need to filter out unwanted content such as spam and pornography.

The invoicing levels of nearly $30m for the fourth quarter were more than $3m ahead of their predicted target, and cash balances are also about $3m above the predicted $57.6m. The fourth quarter was described as a "record month, record quarter, record year", by Steve Purdham, SurfControl's chief executive.

SurfControl specialises in providing companies and individuals with software to stop pornographic internet content and spam.

The company now has a 13 per cent market share, which is expected to be worth $2bn by 2007.

The high invoicing levels are partially attributed to the "three years for the price of two" discounting deals, which were run during the second and fourth quarters, the company said yesterday. SurfControl shares rose 70p, or 11 per cent, to 722.5p - their highest level for more than two years. The group's shares have been as low as 262p during the last 12 months, although during the dot.com boom they reached a price of more than 3,500p.

However, the unstable nature of the sector the company operates in may see SurfControl loosing market share in the future if any of its major subscribers - such as Nokia, IBM or one of its 41 FTSE 100 customers - decide to switch services, or are unable to pay for continued subscription.

The full results for the group's financial year are due to be released on 9 September.