Access Intelligence enjoys profit surge

19th Jul 2010 13:11

First half profit rose 180% at acquisitive compliance software firm Access Intelligence (AI), which remains "cautiously optimistic" despite upcoming public sector spending cuts. Profit before tax jumped to £470,000 in the six months ended 31 May from £169,000 a year earlier. Revenue grew 63%, or 25% on a like for like basis, to £4.14m. Analysts at Astaire predict full-year adjusted profit of £1.4m and £9.3m of revenue, rising to £1.9m and £11.3m in 2011. Total monthly revenue hit £700,000 by the end of May, including £435,000 of recurring sales, compared with monthly costs of about £600,000, "giving us increasing stability and visibility going forward". "The tightening of the public sector purse has undoubtedly begun and will increase in severity over the coming months," admitted chairman Michael Jackson. "Despite this we remain cautiously optimistic that our strategy to focus on the cost saving opportunities offered by our software and the low-cost entry that hosted solutions provide will both contribute to future growth and will, to some extent, shield the group from spending cuts." Former chairman and part-time finance director Jeremy Hamer told ShareCast more acquisitions are on the cards. "There are a couple of smaller acquisitions that it's fair to say we're running the slide rule over, and one larger one that we're not, but that we're wondering whether we will," Hamer said. Net cash had risen to £2.4m by the end of the half year. "In the last 12 months we've added £1.7m of cash and only made £1.1m of operating profit. We should generate cash relatively easily and at least in line with operating profit longer term, which is very healthy."