Iomart bullish on outlook after Cinven withdraws bid

16th Sep 2014 13:03

After private equity suitor Cinven withdrew its bid on Monday night, web hosting group Iomart issued a trading update that said interim revenue and profits will be "substantially" higher than last year.Iomart had rejected two previous bids from Cinven subsidiary Host Europe and talks over a third bid were terminated on Monday with Cinven saying it was "no longer considering making an offer".This leaves Glasgow-based Iomart no longer in an offer period and so free to reveal that it had continued to perform strongly in the first half of the financial year.Chief executive Angus MacSween said: "The group has delivered strong growth as we continue to execute on our focused strategy of providing high quality and high margin managed solutions. With an outstanding track record and an established reputation as the UK's leading cloud computing company, we look forward to the future success of Iomart."The statement added that demand for hosting services remained "strong and growing" as companies continue to move towards the provision of products and services over the internet."These strong market drivers leave the board confident in the outlook for the full year and optimistic for continued long-term success."Broker Peel Hunt said Iomart is "a high visibility company with strong cash generation and a conservative balance sheet" and it expects it to remain a consolidator in the industry.Shares in AIM-listed Iomart were down 13.1% to 228.25p by 13:00 on Monday.