Megabuyte - Technology sector intelligence

Provider of technology solutions and teaching resources to the education sector RM has issued a robust set of full year results this morning but has also confirmed that it expects its core UK business to contract in 2011. Revenues for the year to September increased 10% to £380.1m and adjusted operating profits were ahead 12% to £19.9m. The total dividend for the year was raised by 8% to 6.64p representing a yield of 4.4%. We had a chance to catch up with CEO Terry Sweeney and CFO Iain MacIntosh this morning and found them in positive mood; particularly about the prospects for Educational Resources and for international expansion. Premium subscribers can read our full review of the results in Newswire Plus.

PicoChip raises new $9m debt facility

Femtocell chip vendor Picochip has added to the $20m equity it raised earlier this year (Premium Plus readers see here) with a $9m debt facility from Silicon Valley Bank, consisting of a $4m three-year loan and a $5m two-year working capital facility. The relatively short tenure of the facilities suggests that the company continues to be on track for cash flow breakeven by FY12. Read our full analysis in Newswire Plus.

Ubisense tracks £5m of new funding

PicoChip is not the only private UK technology leader to be raising funding. Ubisense, a Cambridge-based leader in precision real time tracking, has raised £5m in equity funding.  The company provides tags which transmit their position with very high precision, using Ultra Wide Band short range wireless technologies. The tags are being increasingly used in industrial manufacturing process to improve efficiency and eliminate incorrect use of tools, for example by BMW and Airbus, though they of course have applicability in any situation where precise, real time tracking and control is required.  The company’s latest accounts showed FY09 revenues up 55% at just under £15m, and achievement of a small operating profit, and FY10 is likely to show further strong growth.

Trading coming good in H2 for Clarity Commerce

Retail software specialist Clarity Commerce has issued its interim results which report on a difficult trading period of the company. Revenues for the six months to September increased 7% to £9.5m. However, recently acquired Cyntergy contributed £1.1m of revenue implying that underlying turnover was down around 5%. Also, the company dropped to a £0.8m loss from a £0.3m profit in H1 2010 and consumed £1.3m of cash in the period taking net cash down to £0.9m.  Read our full review in Newswire Plus.

Synchronica reports 3m mobile messaging users

Mobile messaging provider Synchronica’s 9 months results show revenues up 120% to $5.75m and EBITDA losses reduced 25% to $3.23m, though the third quarter was relatively quiet. Compared with a year ago, the operator customer base has trebled to 60, whilst the company has, for the first time, given actual user numbers – over 3m from 33 live operator installations - now generating meaningful recurring revenues. As usual, the outcome for the year will be heavily dependent on the fourth quarter, with management confident of completing several large license deals. Read our full review of the results in Newswire Plus.

Netcall highlights product benefits of Telephonetics acquisition

Following on from an ‘in-line’ trading update, contact centre solutions provider Netcall last week gave a briefing on the developments in the company’s product portfolio following last year’s Qmax acquisition and this year’s Telephonetics deal (Premium Plus readers see here for our Netcall coverage).  Aside from the significant increase in product range, we were struck by the lack of overlap between existing Netcall and Telephonetics products, which should present significant cross-selling and up-selling opportunities. Premium subscribers can read our analysis here.