ULS Technology lifts H1 profit, upbeat on growth prospects

ULS Technology has upped its first-half pre-tax profit to £1.7m, from £1.5m, and issued an upbeat commentary on its growth prospects.

The provider of online B2B platforms for the UK conveyancing and financial intermediary markets proposed an interim dividend of 1.1p a share, up 5% on a year ago. Revenue improved slightly to £9.78m, from £9.76m.

"I am pleased that we have made good progress in the first half of the year, especially given the unusual market challenges we faced, firstly due to the changes made to the Buy to Let market and secondly the EU referendum," said chief executive Ben Thompson.

"We successfully outperformed our competition in the conveyancing comparison market, growing both our B2B customer base and our direct to consumer channels," he added.

Thompson said market conditions had recovered well after the initial Brexit referendum shock in June, and although much remained unknown about the wider economic environment, ULS was expecting stronger activity in its second half.

"I ... remain excited by our growth prospects with an encouraging pipeline of new activity."

At about 11:28 GMT, shares in AIM-quoted ULS were flat at 78.75p.