22nd Aug 2019 10:39
(Alliance News) - Shares in enterprise software firm Sopheon PLC jumped Thursday after it boosted its interim dividend despite revenue and profit weakening amid greater focus on recurring revenue sales.
Shares in Sopheon were 12% higher at 860.00 pence in London on Thursday.
For the six months ended June, pretax profit fell 69% to USD855,000 from USD2.8 million the year prior. This was after revenue fell 14% to USD13.7 million from USD15.9 million the year before.
"The future prospects of the business have never been brighter, and we do not believe this first half pause in the impressive financial performance of the past several years has a bearing on Sopheon's unique potential and growth opportunity," Sopheon Chair Barry Mence said.
"The business remains profitable and cash generative, and our balance sheet is stronger than ever," Mence added. "With unprecedented activity and higher value in our sales funnel, we continue to anticipate rising deal flow and traction through the balance of the year.
Sopheon proposed a 3.25 pence per share interim dividend, up 30% from 2.5p the year prior.
"Coming into 2019, one of our stated operational goals was to increase the proportion of recurring revenue sales; as it turns out the proportion of such business in the pipeline is substantially greater than we had anticipated," Mence continued. "We see this shift as reflective of a change in procurement behavior in our target customers, and not a change in commercial momentum, which is rising."
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