26th Sep 2019 12:24
(Alliance News) - GRC International Group PLC on Thursday swung to an annual loss after a significant rise in administrative expenses.
GRC, which provides cyber security, risk management, and compliance services, posted a pretax loss for the year to March of GBP5.4 million, after a profit of GBP355,346 the year prior.
Billings for the year were down 3% to GBP15.8 million, but revenue did rise 1% to GBP15.8 million. Within revenue, Consultancy recorded 37% growth to GBP7.2 million, but Training fell 31% to GBP5.8 million.
GRC said revenue fell as "significant" GDPR-related spending in the first quarter of its year eased off over the next three quarters, though the core cyber security unit did well. Earnings were hit due to "significant" investment in new business.
Chief Executive Alan Calder said: "Financial 2019 was a year of strategic development and significant change for GRC International, as we worked hard to adapt and broaden our business, strengthening our core cyber security offering and our infrastructure platform to support future growth."
"Our headline loss for the year reflects the fact GDPR demand dropped off faster than we could scale back costs and for the benefits from the significant investments we made over the year, establishing regional operations in the EU and US, setting up our Law and e-Learning businesses and strengthening our core business infrastructure, to come through," Calder continued.
Looking ahead, GRC said it is in a stronger position after the "challenging" financial 2019. Shares were 15% lower on Thursday in London at 37.00 pence each.
By George Collard; [email protected]
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