13th Jun 2018 11:26
LONDON (Alliance News) - Eckoh PLC said Wednesday that good US revenue boosted its annual profit by 50% despite a "disappointing" UK performance.
Eckoh shares were down 7.3% at 39.15p each.
For the year ended March 31, the secure payment solutions provider posted pretax profit of GBP2.4 million from GBP1.6 million year-on-year.
Revenue for the year grew 3.1% to GBP30.0 million from GBP29.1 million in the financial year 2017.
UK revenue, representing 63% of the group's total revenue, declined slightly to GBP18.9 million from GBP19.4 million last year, after what the company described as a "year of transition".
The company said it decided to restructure its UK sales team to improve the "somewhat disappointing performance" reported.
However, Eckoh said it expects UK revenue to return to growth in the new financial year, as it experienced improved contract wins in 2018 second half.
US division revenue, which represents 37% of the group's total, increased 14% to GBP11.1 million from GBP9.7 million year-on-year.
Within that, the company's US Secure Payments division performed well with revenue more than doubling to USD6.7 million from USD2.4 million year-on-year.
"Our momentum in US payments is particularly pleasing, where we are the market leader in contact centre security," Chief Executive Officer Nik Philpot said.
"In US payments, given the size of the market opportunity, the quality of our patented products and the limited competition, we expect to see strong US growth over the coming years."
On an adjusted basis earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation rose to GBP6.5 million from GBP5.8 million a year ago.
The company lifted its full-year dividend 15% to 0.55 pence from 0.48p last year.
The company said the new financial year started "well" with the board confident that "the long-term prospects for Eckoh remain extremely positive".
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