24th May 2016 07:06
LONDON (Alliance News) - Coms PLC Tuesday said a material rise in revenue was not enough to push the company out of the red in the last financial year as it incurred costs from its restructuring which has left the company focused on its main Redstone business.
Coms shares were up 4.5% to 1.62 pence per share on Tuesday morning.
The provider of technology and services to commercial spaces reported a significant rise in revenue during the year to the end of January to GBP40.1 million from the GBP29.5 million booked in the previous year, but it was not enough to get Coms out of the red as it still made a loss for the year.
The pretax loss amounted to GBP759,000, which is narrower than the GBP1.5 million loss last year.
As revenue rose the company's gross profit increased to GBP7.0 million from GBP5.2 million and allowed Coms to book earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, amortisation and exceptional items of GBP1.3 million compared to a loss of GBP739,000 the year before.
Administrative costs experienced a slight dip in the year, as did depreciation, impairments and share based charges, but integration and transactional costs of GBP1.4 million offset those falls.
"This was a transformational period for Coms, which saw the company radically refocus its efforts in order to capitalise on the strong market position of our core Redstone operations which facilitate greater engagement between buildings and commercial spaces and the people who use them," said Chief Executive Mark Braund.
"We have now successfully exited our non-core businesses and, more recently, completed the acquisition of Connect IB, which further enhances our smart technology capabilities. The company is providing enterprise-wide solutions to blue chip clients and, increasingly, achieving recurring and annuity revenues," he added.
With the Redstone business now at the heart of the company, Coms said the division's performance during the year was strong, delivering a 36% rise in revenue to GBP40.1 million, all of the revenue for the year, and Ebitda of GBP1.3 million.
"With the divestment of non-core businesses now firmly behind us, the group is focusing rigorously on its core, profitable Redstone operations, which have been enhanced through the acquisition of Connect IB," said Coms.
By Joshua Warner; [email protected]; @JoshAlliance
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