Outsourcing its finance function to India has helped a UK-based software provider company to register a profit this year.

Eg Solutions, a financial service software company based in Staffordshire, has announced that it has recorded a pre-tax profits of 56,000 pounds in the six months to the end of July, compared to a loss of 810,000 pounds in the preceding half year.

The turnaround came in spite of an eight per cent fall in sales from 2.27 million pounds in the first half of 2008 to 2.09 million pounds.

"The really pleasing thing is returning to profit. A lot of it is down to cost-cutting. Outsourcing our financefunction to India has saved about 200,000 pounds a year, and it has gone very well," Chief executive Elizabeth Gooch said.

The company, which produces software designed to improve efficiency and employee performance at financial services providers, had around 60 people a few years ago. Now, after outsourcing its finance department it has 37 employees.

The company has ruled out further expansion overseas, despite seeing a 125 per cent sales increase in South Africa over the period.

"We will focus on consolidating and getting back to growth so hopefully we will be able to start paying our shareholders a dividend on their investment," she said.