Nice Systems sees further growth in 2009

PARIS (Reuters) - Digital recording systems maker Nice Systems (NICE.O) (NICE.TA), whose products monitor mass transit and public buildings as well as call centers, expects its markets to grow further into 2009, its chief executive said.

"We are in a growing market. I believe our market will continue to grow," Nice Chief Executive Haim Shani told the Reuters Technology, Media and Telecoms Summit in Paris on Tuesday in reference to 2009.

For 2008, Nice has said it expects non-GAAP earnings per share of $1.65 to $1.75 and revenue of $619 million to $634 million.

Its shares were down 0.9 percent at $34.54 on Nasdaq on Tuesday, giving it a market value of nearly $2.1 billion.

Israel-based Nice, which has boosted its growth in recent years in part through several acquisitions, plans to use its $460 million in cash to continue this strategy. But it will focus on its security rather than enterprise business.

"Priority number one for us is to make the next acquisition in the security side," Shani said, adding that he would consider a purchase on the enterprise side if a good opportunity arose.

Enterprise software accounts for 75 to 80 percent of Nice's business, with the remainder coming from security.

Nice's systems record and analyze phone calls, and offer video surveillance cameras and radio communications between emergency services and citizens calling in.

Its cameras monitor the Eiffel Tower in Paris as well as the longest railway in the world between Beijing and Tibet.

On the security side, it helps government and institutions protect citizens and assets against "risks of terror" and "better comply in the context of natural disasters, emergencies and crime", he said.

Through its $260 million acquisition last year of software firm Actimize, it can analyze financial transactions and monitor them for compliance, anti-money laundering and fraud.

ROGUE TRADING

Earlier this month Actimize launched its Employee Trading Fraud solution to uncover rogue trading in securities firms.

When asked whether Nice had seen a surge in interest following the recent scandal at French bank Societe Generale (SOGN.PA), Shani said: "The short answer is yes."

Nice is not changing its forecast of $55 million to $60 million in sales from Actimize in 2008. But Shani said the scandal was "giving us another level of comfort that we have made a very strategic and strong acquisition".

Last month, Nice announced an agreement with network equipment maker Cisco Systems (CSCO.O) that will integrate Nice's software on Cisco routers at bank branches, enabling banks to record customer calls at all branches.

The product will be deployed in the second half of the year, and Shani said interest was high.

About 30 percent of Nice's headcount costs were in shekels while 50 percent of its sales were in the United States.

The total impact of the dollar's weakness on its bottom line was less than $2 million in the first quarter.

Shani said Nice had taken steps to compensate for a weakening dollar against the shekel, which boosts its costs, but added there were no plans to move jobs overseas.

"We are making progress in finding lower-cost alternatives within the country," he said, noting that costs were lower away from Israel's heavily populated centre.

"For the time being that should be good enough," he said.

(For summit blog: summitnotebook.reuters.com/ )

(Editing by James Regan)