9th Nov 2016 08:02
LONDON (Alliance News) - Security software company Sophos Group PLC said Wednesday its first-half results were in line with guidance and its cash-flow earnings ahead, although its operating loss widened.
Sophos reported an operating loss for the six months to September 30 of USD24.6 million, widened from USD13.4 million the year before. However, Sophos said cash earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation increased by 12% to USD50.9 million from USD45.5 million.
Sophos said revenue increased to USD256.9 million in the six month period, from USD234.2 million a year before. The software firm said its like-for-like billings were up 15% year-on-year to USD282.3 million, while new customer billings were up 20%.
Sophos proposed an interim dividend of 1.3 US cents per share, compared to 0.7 cents in the prior financial year.
Sophos said the increase in its operating loss was driven by increased research and development investment, additional share-based payments and a shift in the mix of billings to recurring subscription contracts with deferred revenue.
Sophos said that for its financial year ending March 31, 2017, it expects mid-teens percentage billings growth on a like-for-like basis, with "modest" cash earnings margin expansion. The company said it expects revenue growth in the mid-teens percentage.
"We are pleased with our first-half results which were in-line with our outlook, and especially pleased with our cash flow performance which was ahead of our outlook," said Kris Hagerman, chief executive officer.
"As we enter the second half of the fiscal year we expect continued strong growth, in particular as we benefit from key new product releases in next-generation endpoint and next-generation firewall, and the continued momentum of our Sophos Central cloud management platform," added Hagerman.
By Adam Clark; [email protected]
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