9th Jun 2015 09:13
LONDON (Alliance News) - OMG PLC Tuesday announced a further special dividend following the sale of its 2d3 defence software division to Insitu Inc, a subsidiary of the Boeing Company, for USD25 million in April and posted a widened pretax loss for its first half.
Including 2d3, for the half year to end-March, the image software and technology company posted a pretax loss of GBP2.9 million, widened from a pretax loss of GBP2.1 million a year before, as revenue fell to GBP13.3 million from GBP14.3 million.
Excluding 2d3 the company posted a pretax loss of GBP1.4 million, widened from GBP826,000, as revenue declined to GBP11.3 million from GBP11.8 million, mostly as a result of higher research and development costs.
OMG said the disposal of 2d3 reduces its volatility and enhances its future visibility of earnings.
The company attributed the decline in revenue to a single large deal in its Vicon business, which was expected to deliver during the first half but which was delayed into early in the second half. In the Vicon business, revenue fell to GBP7.7 million from GBP8.2 million. Vicon won deals in a variety of sectors, including automotive, education, gaming and retail, and said its technology has been used in recent film releases including 'Paddington' and 'American Sniper.'
Vicon is expected to have a stronger second half and is on track to meet expectations, OMG said.
In its Yotta infrastructure software business, revenue rose to GBP3.6 million from GBP3.3 million, boosted by customers wins in the UK, including Southampton City Council and Herefordshire County Council.
The company paid a special dividend of 4.5 pence in May following the sale of 2d3, and on Tuesday proposed a further 5 pence special dividend to return a further GBP5.7 million to shareholders.
"As we enter the second half, notwithstanding macro-economic uncertainty, the board is confident that with the expected performance across the three divisions, the group is on track to meet current market expectations for the year as a whole," OMG said in a statement.
According to Morningstar, N+1 Singer expects OMG to post a pretax profit of GBP2.2 million for the full year.
Shares in OMG are trading flat at 43.50 pence Tuesday morning.
By Hana Stewart-Smith; [email protected]; @HanaSSAllNews
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