24th Feb 2016 09:20
LONDON (Alliance News) - Call-centre provider IBEX Global Solutions PLC on Wednesday said its pretax profit sunk in the first half of its financial year due to higher costs in the business and a tough comparative, though revenue ticked higher for the group.
IBEX said its pretax profit for the six months to the end of December was USD2.9 million, a significant fall on the USD8.0 million it posted a year earlier. Revenue ticked up to USD124.4 million from USD123.0 million, but this was more than offset by a rise in its cost of sales to USD104.6 million from USD97.9 million, which ate into gross margins.
The group also nudged down its dividend to 5.1 cents per share from 6.8 cents a year earlier, a 25% fall.
The drop in profit also was the result of a profitable, one-off contract that was booked the year earlier and did not repeat.
IBEX said it has continued to invest in expanding its operations and secured two blue-chip clients in the financial services and consumer electronics sector in the first half. It also opened new sites in Nicaragua and Jamaica in the half and expects those facilities to reach capacity in the second half.
The group said it remains confident on meeting its expectations for the full year, with strong operational momentum going into the second half.
"It gives me great pleasure to report to shareholders that IBEX has again delivered a strong set of results, set against a demanding prior year comparative, and maintaining the progress from prior reporting periods. We are showing gains from our efforts to drive profitability and we have expanded operations sensibly to meet demand," said Chairman Muhammad Ziaullah Khan Chishti.
IBEX shares were down 1.9% to 106.00 pence.
By Sam Unsted; [email protected]; @SamUAtAlliance
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