EMIS receives approval for EMIS Web and Vodafone exits China Mobile
Healthcare software vendor EMIS made a short but important announcement yesterday afternoon noting that its new EMIS Web product has now been approved for use in the NHS. Whilst this announcement was not unexpected, it is slightly earlier than hoped and, importantly, EMIS has already received 140 orders for upgrades and 980 requests for a ‘familiarisation service’ suggesting that the upgrade process will get off to a good start. Read our first thoughts in Newswire Plus.
Vodafone sells China Mobile stake
We welcome Vodafone’s sale of its 3.4% stake in China Mobile for £4.3bn, 70% of which will be used for a share buyback. As has often happened before, an investment in China that caused initial excitement has failed to produce significant tangible benefits. Read our further views on the deal in Newswire Plus.
Top line recovery for SQS but margins and cash flow lag
Testing services group SQS Quality Software Systems has issued its interim results this morning which show an impressive rebound in the top line but weaker margins and poor cash conversion. Revenues for the six months to June increased 9.4% to €73.9m but, despite higher gross profits, adjusted PBT decreased by €0.3m to €2.4m. SQS has a clearly stated strategy of developing is applications management business with particular reference to its offshore capability in India. Investment in sales resources and infrastructure for this business line was the reason given for the lower margins. Importantly, however, gross margins were actually up (to 30.5%) as utilisation improved and the operating margin decline was also described as ‘temporary’. See Newswire Plus for the full story.
Telit’s strong m2m performance continues
Mobile machine to machine (m2m) chip provider Telit has announced strong interim results, with revenues up 61% to $59.6m and a strong jump in profitability, building on the progress evident in the second half of last year. Although the shares have almost trebled since early May, they are still on less than 7x estimated EBITDA for FY10, relatively undemanding given growing industry demand for m2m and Telit’s reasonably strong market position. Premium subscribers can see our full results review in Newswire Plus.
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