|
Arcontech Group PLC on Wednesday reported a decline in profit during its most recent financial year, as the market remains ‘challenging’ and the firm eyes potential opportunities to acquire competitors. The London-based provider of real-time financial market data and services said pretax profit for the year that ended June 30 was £987,390, falling 10% from £1.1 million the year before. This was due to administrative costs increasing 15% to £2.3 million from £2.0 million, despite revenue growing 6.9% to £3.1 million from £2.9 million. Expenses were driven up by higher staffing costs, including the annualised cost of a senior customer services hire made partway through the prior year, Arcontech explained. The company also hired an additional developer. ‘The market remains challenging with our two main competitors offering enhanced packages and many customers having to review costs,’ the company said. ‘We have strengthened customer relationships with an enlarged support team and also widened the scope of our sales operation with a larger team. This has been a key part of improving our prospective customer list.’ Net finance income also slipped 8.9% to £208,837 from £229,268. Recurring revenue stood at 94% for the year, against 99% a year earlier. ‘Our strategy has served us well and the concentration on our core market has helped to continue to grow and retain our customer base. Our growing sales and support teams are helping to drive growth with customers and is bringing good new prospects. Customer retention and product development will continue to help with further growth in the coming years,’ said Chair Geoff Wicks. Arcontech declared a final dividend of 4.00 pence per share, up 6.7% on-year from 3.75p. Looking ahead, the company expects ‘some churn as the market is increasingly competitive. Consolidation in the market may provide opportunities for us to acquire one of our smaller competitors’. Shares in Arcontech were up 5.3% at 93.20 pence in London on Wednesday morning. The stock remains down 27% over the past year, however. Copyright 2025 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
|
