17th Mar 2016 08:28
LONDON (Alliance News) - IT infrastructure company Softcat PLC on Thursday said its pretax profit fell due to costs related to its London listing in the first half of its financial year, but revenue increased
Softcat said its pretax profit fell to GBP15.4 million in the six months to the end of January from GBP17.3 million a year earlier, due mainly from booking exceptional costs related to its listing in London in November 2015. Profit was held back by a ramp-up in administrative costs, as Softcat hires new account managers and sales staff to back is expansion plans.
Adjusted operating profit, which strips out all these costs, rose to GBP19.5 million from GBP17.3 million.
Softcat said its customer base increased 6.7% year-on-year in the first half, as it benefited from robust demand. Margins also improved in the half, with its gross margin rising to 18.3% from 17.5%, as the group eschewed bidding for contracts being tendered at very low margins.
The company said it will pay a maiden interim dividend of 1.7 pence per share.
Softcat said the second half has started well, underpinning its expectations for the full year.
Shares in Softcat were up 7.6% to 322.75p early Thursday.
By Sam Unsted; [email protected]; @SamUAtAlliance
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