26th May 2015 08:50
LONDON (Alliance News) - Software and services company Electronic Data Processing PLC Tuesday reiterated confidence in its full-year performance, as it posted a slight rise in pretax profit in its first half.
For the half year to end-March the company posted a pretax profit of GBP179,000, up from GBP162,000 a year before, as a slight decline in revenue to GBP2.5 million from GBP2.6 million was offset by reduced administrative costs.
The company proposed an interim dividend of 2 pence. In the previous year the company paid a special interim dividend of 3 pence.
It expects to propose a final dividend of 3 pence, taking its total dividend for the year to 5 pence.
The company attributed its decline in revenue to one of its customers buying a competitor software business and moving on to the acquired business's product, which hit revenue by around GBP150,000.
Electronic Data Processing is undertaking a cost-reduction programme, which it expects to produce GBP200,000 in savings yearly.
Trading conditions remain competitive, the company said, and as an increasing number of customers move to receiving software through the company's hosting service it is seeing a gradual shift from upfront revenue to ongoing subscription revenues.
"Whilst we expect trading conditions to remain competitive, with our continued investment in our key products and robust business model, we remain confident about the outlook for the remainder of the year," said Chairman Michael Heller in a statement.
Shares in Electronic Data Processing are trading down 2.2% at 71.00 pence Tuesday morning.
By Hana Stewart-Smith; [email protected]; @HanaSSAllNews
Copyright 2015 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
Related Shares:
Electronic Data Processing