Ubisense revenues drop 20% after Japan disposal

Industrial process management firm Ubisense saw its shares dip on Tuesday after the company forecast a drop in first-half revenue following the sale of a Japanese geospatial unit.

In a trading update for the six months ended 30 June, the company said revenue was expected to fall by 19% year-on-year to £10m, reflecting the sale of the Japenese unit due to a managed decline in the firm’s non-core geospatial third party services business.

Elsewhere, Ubisense forecasted a greater than 40% increase in year-on-year orders received for a total in excess of £13m, with order backlog in excess of £5m, up 22% as the company trades within expectations.

The AIM-traded company’s ‘own product’ revenue jumped 4% to £7m and net cash is also expected to increase by 28% to £4.1m.

"In the second half of 2017 we invested in our global sales and marketing capability with the objective of growing our own-product pipeline. We are pleased to see this decision is paying off and resulting in significant increases in orders taken. The boost in orders confirms that our strategy is working well in our target markets," said Richard Petti, chief executive.

The company acts as an adviser to automotive, aerospace, communications and utility companies, offering in-depth knowledge of various sectors.

The order book for Ubisense’s SmartSpace division also saw significant growth with orders from a number of major German and US automotive and commercial vehicle customers, including one worth over £4.5m announced in June.

Ubisense’s shares were down 2.65% at 73.50p at 1012 BST.