Finance websites axed

Two financial services websites that target UK consumers are to fold.

UK software group Misys announced that it would be closing its screentrade.com and theformula.com sites, after failing to find a suitable partner to help it share costs.

The jobs of 120 staff based in Peterborough and London are on the line, although Misys has not yet made an announcement about the future of its staff.

Misys was one of the pioneers of internet-based financial services, but found the costs of maintaining the sites too great to bear.

The websites allowed consumers to compare and buy financial products such as mortgages and car insurance.

Rising losses

The consumer business cost the group about £19m out of a total of £23m for its internet services business, in the year ending 19 May.

"Slower-than-anticipated consumer adoption of the internet for purchasing a broader range of financial services products has resulted in ongoing losses at a level which can no longer be justified by potential returns," said Misys chairman Kevin Lomax.

"Having been one of the UK pioneers of Internet-based consumer financial services with screentrade, it is particularly disappointing that we have had to take this decision," he added.

The closure of the sites will cost about £10m ($14.11m), to be booked as an exceptional item.

A buyer for screentrade insurance or the screentrade brand is still being sought.

Core business

Misys will continue to operate its business-to-business portals - m-link and i2i-link - as normal.

Earlier in the week Misys said it would pay £75m pounds for network operator DBS Management, which operates networks connecting insurers and independent financial advisers in the UK personal finance services market.

Shares in Misys, which provides software for banks, insurers and healthcare companies, were nearly 6% higher in early trade as the London software sector rebounded.

The stock was up 27 p at 487p at 0900 GMT.