Frontier Smart Tech earnings to be ahead of expectations

26th Jan 2017 09:43

(ShareCast News) - Frontier Smart Technologies, which makes products for digital radio and smart audio devices, anticipates that earnings for 2016 will swing to a profit and will be ahead of expectations following increased revenue and the sale of its loss-making healthcare division.Revenue is expected to be about £32m for calendar year 2016 and underlying earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) is anticipated to be about £700,000, compared to the £800,000 loss experienced in 2015, which is ahead of market expectations.This is due to improved Digital Radio revenue generation, a decrease in R&D expenditure, the sale of the loss-making healthcare division in July and foreign exchange tailwinds.Looking forward, the AIM-listed company expects revenue and underlying EBITDA to improve in 2017, due to growth in Smart Audio.At the end of last year, the company had £3.4m in cash.Chief executive Anthony Sethill said: "2016 has been a year of transition for Frontier, culminating in us delivering a positive EBITDA for the full year. Having sold our loss-making healthcare division in July, we are now fully focused on our digital radio and smart audio technologies and view 2017 with increased optimism."Shares in Frontier Smart Technologies were up 2.04% to 80.10p 1228 GMT.