11th Nov 2015 08:24
LONDON (Alliance News) - Security software and hardware developer Sophos Group PLC said trading was ahead of its expectations in the first half, leading it to upgrade both its like-for-like growth and margin outlook for the full year.
Shares in Sophos were up 6.7% to 268.41 pence on Wednesday morning, one of the best mid-cap performers.
The company, which joined the FTSE 250 in September, having floated in London at the end of June, said its pretax profit for the six months to the end of September, said it made a USD42.9 million pretax loss in the half to the end of September, widened from a USD17.9 million loss a year earlier due to the group booking higher one-off items related to its London listing.
But revenue for the group increased to USD234.2 million in the half, up from USD215.1 million, and was complemented by a stronger gross margin. Billings for the half rose to USD242.0 million from USD214.5 million, up 13% and rising 25% on a like-for-like basis, which prompted the group to upgrade its expectations for like-for-like billings growth for the full year.
It also expects its earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation margin to be better than its original outlook for 21.3% for the full year.
Sophos will pay an interim dividend of 0.7 US cents per share, its maiden payout.
"Cybersecurity remains the number one priority for IT executives across enterprises of all sizes, and within an environment of strong secular growth in IT security, Sophos continues to outperform the market in each of our core segments of enduser and network security. The first half has been marked by continued strength across all major regions and product categories, with our performance exceeding our internal expectations," said Kris Hagerman, Sophos' chief executive.
By Sam Unsted; [email protected]; @SamUAtAlliance
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