Kalibrate Technologies swings to a FY pre-tax profit as revenue falls

Shares in Kalibrate Technologies are down more than 8% as investors reacted to a partially currency-driven drop in first-half revenue, accompanied with a swing to pre-tax loss for the period.

The company posted a first-half pre-tax loss of $700,000, from a profit of $130,000 a year before. It said revenue declined 11.7% to $14.1m, from $15.9m.

This drop in revenue was linked to a negative forex effect of about $0.7m, delayed closing of certain deals and the increased amount of SaaS rather than perpetual licence deals signed.

"It has been a challenging first half," said chief executive Bob Stein, who noted Kalibrate's strength in its core offering.

He noted that Kalibrate's progress in deregulating fuel markets faced delays. It is a provider of strategy and technology services to the global fuel and convenience retail industry.

"We continue to push ahead with our strategy as accelerated growth is dependent on both creating new business in deregulating regions whilst at the same time introducing our new Merchandising Pricing/Promotion and B2B/Wholesale Pricing solutions to both existing and new clients," said Stein.

"As such, our investments in these market opportunities remain an important focus. Importantly, we have a number of business opportunities in deregulating markets, albeit that sales cycles in those markets tend to be more prolonged."

Stein added that Kalibrate entered the second hlf optimistic about its long-term growth plan, and encouraged by its pipeline of short- and medium-term opportunities.

At 10:34 GMT, shares in AIM-quoted Kalibrate were down 8.13% to 56.5p each.