9th Jun 2015 09:21
LONDON (Alliance News) - Sanderson Group PLC Tuesday said it has appointed Ian Newcombe as its chief executive officer and expressed confidence in meeting market expectations for its full year, as it posted a rise in pretax profit in its first half.
Newcombe was previously managing director of the company's Multi-Channel Solutions business.
According to broker forecasts provided by Morningstar, WH Ireland Ltd expects Sanderson to post a pretax profit of GBP3 million for the full year, and both Hardman & Co and Growth Equity & Co Research expect it to post a pretax profit of GBP3.1 million.
For the half year to end-March, the software and services company posted a pretax profit of GBP905,000, up from GBP779,000 a year before, as revenue rose to GBP9.1 million from GBP7.9 million.
The company said it will continue to invest across its business, particularly in developing products for mobile and e-commerce businesses, the food and drink processing sector, and entry level systems in its manufacturing division. It also will consider acquisition opportunities, but said in its current year it intends to focus on meeting its targets.
"The general economic environment continues to show signs of improvement, though sales cycles remain protracted. The board remains cautious in its approach but a strong order book and healthy balance sheet together with a long list of sales prospects, provides the board with a good level of confidence that the group will continue to make further progress and deliver trading results in line with market expectations for the current year," said Chairman Christopher Winn in a statement.
Sanderson proposed an interim dividend of 0.9 pence, up from 0.8 pence a year before.
Shares in Sanderson are trading flat at 65.01% pence Tuesday morning.
By Hana Stewart-Smith; [email protected]; @HanaSSAllNews
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