Hedging bets
Where itX Group differs from Synergistex is that is uses a basic form of currency hedging once resellers have agreed to buy the product.
"Once we receive the order, on the day we forward buy the foreign currency," Sellers says. "Even if it were to take two weeks to get the product, we lock it in so the exchange rate doesn't affect us."
Although Sellers is aware of more sophisticated forms of currency hedging available, he says forward-buying currency is as far as it goes.
"We don't gamble on the exchange rate, we're not in the business of buying and selling currency," he says.
"We're not doing anything sophisticated that would represent a risk to us. To some extent we don't take the opportunities we could when the dollar's on the way up.
"With the volume we do and the fact we're a listed entity, it really pays us to be conservative."
Even so, when the exchange rate is moving quickly, itX Group can get caught short.
"Last September, the exchange rate was very volatile; over a couple of weeks it dropped from the high 90s to the low 70s," says Sellers.
"We had to make some difficult decisions.
"In most cases we honoured the quotes and took the heat on the margin just to maintain the relationship with our loyal and larger resellers, so that when things stabilised, they were still our customers and we could enjoy normal margins again."
No appetite for risk
After the currency volatility of the past year, Byrnes is also looking at the available hedging options.
"The exchange rate is always a very big concern," he says. "I watch the exchange rate every day and often use a number of sites to determine whether the dollar's rising or falling over time.
"Because the number of transactions we need to do is going up, we're discussing with a currency broker how we transfer money.
"If I knew where the dollar was going to be in a month's time, I'd be a very rich man. At the moment you just hope it averages out and if you lose on one deal, you'll gain on another one."
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