Megabuyte - Technology sector intelligence

Interim results from IT services group Phoenix IT this morning report flat profits but an improving trends as the group enters the second half. Group revenues for the six months to September increased 13% to £138.4m but operating profits were flat at £17.3m. We had a conversation with CEO Nick Robinson this morning and spent much of the time discussing Phoenix's improving story on Cloud; Premium subscribers can read the full review in Newswire Plus.

Iomart seeing benefits of Hybrid Cloud approach

Following on from its recent positive update (Premium Plus readers see here), hosting provider Iomart has released a very strong set of interim results, with revenues up 36% to £11.4m and EBITDA up 122% to £2.71m, benefiting from strong growth in demand and cost leverage of data centre and hosting services. On a call with management, we discussed the company’s market positioning, as well as the highly significant EBITDA growth potential from increasing utilisation of existing facilities. Premium subscribers can read our full results review in Newswire Plus.

Brady makes step change with Viz acquisition

Supplier of software to the commodities trading sector Brady has announced a transformational acquisition in the form of Norwegian vendor Viz. Based in Bergen, Norway, Viz provides trading and risk management software for energy markets; primarily in Europe where large customers include the likes of Statoil and Norsk Hydro. In its last reported year, Viz generated revenues of £6.4m, of which £4.5m were recurring, and the company was modestly profitable. We had a chance to catch up with CEO Gavin Lavelle to discuss the deal and he was understandably bullish about prospects for the combined entity. Premium subscribers can read our view on the deal following that conversation in Newswire Plus.

Norkom in sale talks with several parties

Norkom, the provider of financial crime detection software, has admitted to being in talks with several parties that may lead to a bid for the whole of the company.  The fact that talks are ongoing with several parties suggests that the company is now involved in a relatively formal process, raising the prospect of a sale. The company’s shares have underperformed in the last 6 months due to a profits warning, though as we noted at the recent results (Premium Plus readers see here), the company has a solid balance sheet and clear growth strategy.

Pilat reports slower Q3 growth but still positive outlook

Media software provider Pilat’s good run continues, with 9 month revenues up 19.1% to £15.7m and a loss converted into an operating profit of £1.4m. However, Q3 represented something of a slowdown, with revenue growth of just 8.7%, to £5.25m, and a small profit of £53k, though cash increased £0.45m to £4.2m. The highlight of the quarter was a new $11.2m multi-year contract with a US telco. The market has, at last, woken up to the improved outlook, with the shares up 50% since we highlighted their moribund performance after the August Q2 update (Premium Plus readers see here). 

Avanti gets HYLAS1 into orbit

Broadband satellite provider Avanti has at last got its HYLAS1 satellite into orbit, about a year later than originally planned due to both a change in launch provider and continued slippage in the timetable, though at least the successful launch vindicated the company's decision to move to the more expensive Ariane launch vehicle. The company is now testing various new service capabilities than were not part of the original design spec, before deciding on the exact services to be launched in early 2011. We look forward to tracking what will be one of Europe’s more interesting new comms services (though dread the PR build up to the launch of the company’s next satellite, HYLAS2, scheduled for 2Q2012).