Lombard Risk Management's revenue rises while not affected by Brexit

Shares in AIM-listed Lombard Risk Management soared to nearly 23% on Thursday, as the compliance and collateral management software provider reported an increase in half-year revenue, while it said it had not been affected by Brexit uncertainty.

For the six months ended 30 September, revenue rose 41.2% to £15.2m, compared to the same period the previous year, as sales were up 58% with software licence sales up 106%.

Due to a diverse split across regions globally the company said it has a natural hedge against any potential impact of from the uncertainty arisen from the Brexit vote, and to date it are yet to experience any impact on the business.

“European clients, who paused to reflect post the referendum result, quickly resumed normal project activities, and much of our sales are driven by non-negotiable regulatory timetables. The rest of our business is driven by banks' desire to reduce operational costs and risks, and again these pressures are only amplified by anticipation of the impact of Brexit on the European macro-economies.

“Were Brexit to introduce more diversity into the regulatory landscape, we would of course be beneficiaries, but at this time we consider that to be unlikely.”

Annual recurring revenue was up 22% to £6.1m, while the order book of contracted revenue climbed 35% to £9.2m.

Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation rose to £1.5m from £500,000.

Loss before tax narrowed 94% to £100,000 as the loss per share fell to 0.05p from 0.66p.

Cash at the end of September was £6.9m, up from £2.7m, with no debt.

In June the company raised £8m on AIM and an open offer raising £300,000 in July.

During the period the company launched a cloud-based collateral management system, AgileCOLLATERAL as the company invested in Birmingham offices.

The company’s strategic alliance with Oracle continued to develop with a further two sales of AgileREPORTER as part of the Oracle analytics suite closed in the half.

Chief executive Alastair Brown said: "The second half of the financial year will be a period of sustained investment for Lombard Risk, as we fully engage in the delivery of our next-generation products and our new software development facility … the board faces the second half of the year with optimism."

The company suspended dividends at the end of the period to 31 March due to the investment made during the growth phase of the business and does not intend to pay an interim dividend for this year.

Shares in Lombard Risk Management were up 22.76% to 8.90p at 0835 BST.