Megabuyte - Technology sector intelligence

On paper, COLT’s Q3 has turned out to be the best quarter so far this year in terms of EBITDA and cash flow, though EBITDA was aided by lower provisions and revenues continue their inexorable decline. The language of the release was also definitely less upbeat than at the recent interims (Premium Plus readers see here), suggesting that customer confidence remains fragile. Read our full review of the statement in Newswire Plus.

Bond acquires in the US; Constellation supports fundraising

Struggling recruitment software player Bond International has announced the acquisition of competitor VCG this morning and a placing to raise up to £6.2m. Interestingly, the issue price for the shares (some ordinary, some non-voting convertibles) is 75p; a 40% premium to last night’s closing price and the shares have jumped 18% to 63.5p this morning. Bond has also issued a trading update reiterating that trading remains tough but also noting a tangible improvement in customer sentiment. We have some significant concerns about this acquisition; Premium subscribers can read our first thoughts in Newswire Plus.

UK government to spend £530m on rural broadband

The government’s spending review is committing £530m over four years to support broadband in rural areas, including four major projects. The implied subsidy is £265 per home which, coincidence or not, is not far removed from the £250 subsidy required by BT in the recent Cornwall broadband tender (Premium Plus readers see here).  This could unlock private sector spending of up to £780m, we estimate, with companies such as Vtesse, Geo and i3 vying for projects alongside BT and Virgin Media. The recent Ofcom ruling on infrastructure sharing (see here) will support this spending. Read our full review of the announcement in Newswire Plus.

Digital Barriers builds further with Waterfall acquisition

Security sector roll-up Digital Barriers, which is run by former Detica CEO Tom Black, has continued on its mission to consolidate the market for homeland security technology with the acquisition of Waterfall Solutions. Based in Guildford, Surrey, Waterfall provides technology products and related consulting services in the areas of image processing, data fusion, modelling and simulation primarily to the Defence sector. This is Digital Barriers’ fourth acquisition since it was admitted to AiM as a cash shell in February. Read full details of the deal and our first thoughts in Newswire Plus.

Check Point continues its double digit growth streak

Security software maker Check Point’s third quarter results beat market expectations, taking the company’s stock to a 52 week high. Revenue went up 17% to $273.2m, exceeding the company’s previous guidance of $255-$265m. Product sales jumped 22% to $106.4m, while maintenance and services revenue was ahead 14% at $166.8m. Net income also went up to $114.5m from $91.5m in Q3 2009. Read our full assessment of the results in Newswire Plus.

Weaker MVS fails to spoil strong year for OMG

Provider of image understanding technology OMG has issued a period end trading update covering the year to September in which is says that all but one of its divisions is performing well and, in aggregate, the group will report results ahead of expectations on revenue and profit. The US studio operation, House of Moves, was particularly strong whilst Vicon and Yotta were also solid. The weak link, however, was MVS, which was acquired in April 2008. Read our full review of the statement in Newswire Plus.