FD Technologies swings to loss before tax despite revenue growth

The AIM-traded company said gross profit rose 15% in the year ended 28 February, to £122.3m, although it swung to a loss before tax of £1.2m, in contrast to a profit of £9m in 2022.

Reported diluted losses per share came in at 14.4p, compared to the prior year's earnings of 22.9p, while net cash at year-end was 24% higher at £0.4m.

Adjusted EBITDA was 12% higher at £34.8m, while adjusted diluted earnings per share were 9% firmer at 35.3p.

Looking ahead, FD Technologies said revenue for the 2024 financial year was set to be in the range of £315m to £325m.

The company said it expected adjusted EBITDA for the year to be in the range of £38m to £40m.

FD Technologies said it would continue to invest in its KX division, to drive further growth.

“We are pleased with a year of strong execution on our strategy, with KX and First Derivative beating our expectations for the 2023 financial year,” said chief executive officer Seamus Keating.

“KX in particular has made strong commercial and strategic progress.

“Our price-to-performance advantage is particularly compelling for the hyperscale cloud providers, as evidenced by our partnerships with market leaders Microsoft and AWS.”

Keating said the firm had a “range of initiatives” that it was progressing with them, and other partners, providing confidence in its outlook.

“First Derivative also performed strongly in 2023, delivering impressive revenue growth of 18% for the period.

“We continue to see multi-year strategic growth drivers that underpin demand for our services.

“We have set ourselves ambitious but sustainable growth targets for the years ahead which will ensure we are focused on driving high-quality recurring revenue growth from an expanding list of customers across a wide range of industries, while generating value for shareholders.”

At 1216 BST, shares in FD Technologies were down 4.86% at 1,760p.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.