20th Sep 2018 11:42
LONDON (Alliance News) - Parity Group PLC on Thursday recorded a modest revenue increase in the first half of the year as it continued to recover from the impact of IR35 tax reform in 2017 and contract delays.
Shares in the company were down 18% on Thursday at 11.90 pence each.
Revenue grew 0.7% to GBP43.2 million in the six months to June 30 from GBP42.9 million the prior year. Parity said that this reflected a recovery against a strong first first quarter in 2017 before new tax reforms "significantly reduced contractor volumes" in the public sector, the company's largest market.
The information technology services company recorded a rise in pretax profit to GBP847,000 from GBP684,000.
Parity sold its Inition business during the period, which had associated losses of GBP388,000. This represented a narrowing of its discontinued operation loss from GBP430,000 the year before. The company's profit for the period, net of tax and discontinued operations, was GBP371,000 from GBP198,000 the prior year.
"We have also successfully exited the last of the legacy operations from the previous strategy, leaving the business leaner and stronger," said Parity Chairman John Conoley.
"Whilst we are experiencing a short-term client-side delay on one large contract, the rest of the group is performing in line with board expectations. Without any further delays, we expect a stronger second half, in line with the group's traditional seasonality, and to deliver on current expectations for the year as a whole," added Conoley.
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