Cohort slips after mixed quarterly update

18th Sep 2013 09:17

Shares in technology group Cohort took a hit on Wednesday after the group's Chairman, Nick Prest, revealed the group's performance is likely to be more biased to the second half than in recent years. In an otherwise upbeat quarterly statement, the Chairman said that the pattern of deliveries and anticipated orders would result in an unusual balance for the company. Cohort improved its performance last year, achieving a 13% increase in adjusted operating profit to £7.3m. At the year-end net funds totalled £16.4m, while the order book remained strong at £96m, with around 60% of externally forecast 2013/14 revenue underpinned by customer orders. At August 31st, the order book was over £102m. Speaking at the group's annual general meeting, Prest said: "In aggregate, these orders have improved our revenue visibility for the current year. Beyond these successes we continue to see a good pipeline of both domestic and export opportunities, though the timing of the latter is always hard to predict." Both the MASS and SEA businesses strongly increased their profitability, while SCS made a positive contribution to the group performance despite a significant drop in revenue in a tight domestic market."Overall, Cohort's trading, order intake and prospects at this early stage of the year are consistent with making further progress in 2013/14, though the pattern of deliveries and anticipated orders means that we expect performance to be more biased to the second half than in recent years," Prest added. NR