24th May 2016 10:06
LONDON (Alliance News) - Porta Communications PLC on Tuesday said 2016 has started well, although it has seen some slowdown in project work in the UK ahead of the EU referendum, as it reported a widened pretax loss for 2015.
The company reported a pretax loss of GBP2.9 million, widened from a pretax loss of GBP1.9 million the year before, as a rise in revenue to GBP34.1 million from GBP23.3 million was offset by a step up in operating and administrative costs.
On a headline basis, which cuts out start-up losses, acquisition, restructuring and other costs, pretax profit fell to GBP829,291 in 2015 from GBP954,620 in 2014.
The communications company, which owns the Newgate Communications and Redleaf Communications brands, amongst others, saw its number of clients increase by 231 to 836 in the year.
Whilst it recorded restructuring costs as a result of closing unprofitable offices and teams in the year, Porta said it expects these cost levels to be much lower in 2016.
Porta said that, although its current year has started well and it has seen growth ahead of budget in its first quarter, the slowdown in project work in the UK due to the upcoming referendum on the UK's membership in the European Union makes it "difficult to predict the outcome for the next three or four months".
"The board remains confident that organic growth in fee income will remain strong, particularly as the planned recruitment of a number of high-quality executives gains momentum, although these inevitably will have some impact on the bottom line in the short term," said Chief Executive David Wright in a statement.
Shares in Porta Communications were down 4.5% at 5.85 pence Tuesday morning.
By Hana Stewart-Smith; [email protected]; @HanaSSAllNews
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