Netcall's revenue falls but trading in line with expectations
Updated : 10:36
Netcall, which provides customer engagement software, reported a fall in full year revenues as it gains more software as service contracts but maintained that it was trading in line with expectations.
For the year ended 30 June, revenue fell slightly by 3.4% to £16.6m, compared to the previous year, due to a reduction in the MovieLine business and the growing software as a service contracts, but annualised core revenues rose by 9% to £10.9m.
This resulted in a 26% fall in pre-tax profit to £1.74m.
Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) decreased by 13.5% to £4.46m due to investment and the MovieLine business.
Revenue from the MovieLine service decreased by 58% to £440,000 in line with the company’s expectations and now accounts for about 3% of total revenue, which the company said it mean that its impact on overall performance will be minimal.
Diluted basic earnings per share fell to 1.32p from 1.85p.
Net cash generated from operations increased by 12% to £4.99m while total research and development expenditure rose by 23% to £2.2m.
The company’s debt-free balance sheet with net cash funds was £14.1m, a 3% increase from the previous year.
Netcall said it experienced a record order inflow during the year and was trading in trading in line with management expectations, as there was a significant double digit increase in total bookings and a growing sales mix from software as a service contracts.
The order book of contracted future revenues increased by 22% to £15m.
The company’s Liberty platform won contracts with clients including Danwood and five new public sector contracts awarded under the Crown Commercial Service Network Services agreement.
Chief executive Henrik Bang, said: "We have started the current period in a better position than ever and trading in the first few months has been significantly ahead of last year. Netcall is a stronger, more resilient business, with higher levels of revenue visibility and an expanded product offering.
“As a profitable, highly cash generative business we will continue to invest in our company to sustain our long-term financial performance. The board is pleased with the development of the business and, with a strong sales pipeline, we believe Netcall is well positioned for the future."
It was also awarded a position on the Scotland Excel Framework for customer service platforms, which allowed the company to provide cloud and premise-based solutions to the public sector.
Netcall has accelerated investment in cloud solutions with a first version of its omni-channel customer engagement platform.
Final ordinary dividend of 1.1p and enhanced dividend of 0.95p was proposed, making the total dividend 3p for the year, a 36% increase.
Shares in Netcall rose 2.41% to 58.38p at 0901 BST.