Sophos Group lifts growth outlook on strong interim trading

Security software and hardware developer Sophos Group has lifted its growth and margin outlook for the full year, after it traded ahead of expectations in the first half.

In the six months to the end of September, the FTSE 250 group said its pre-tax loss widened from $17.9m (£11.8m) to $42.9m on the back of higher one-off items related to its listing on the London Stock Exchange at the end of June.

However, that was offset by an 8.8% year-on-year increase in revenue to $234.2m and by a stronger gross margin, while billings for the period rose 12.8% to $242m. Billings were up 25% year-on-year on a like-for-like basis, leading the group to lift its expectations for like-for-like billings growth for the full year.

The group added it expects its earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation margin to be better than its original outlook for 21.3% for the full year.

"The first half has been marked by continued strength across all major regions and product categories, with our performance exceeding our internal expectations," said group chief executive Kris Hagerman.

Sophos shares were up 6.71% to 268.70p at 1027 GMT on Wednesday.