Progility's annual revenue fall on weaker Australian dollar

20th Mar 2014 09:41

Project management services and technology group Progility reported a drop in first-half revenue, reflecting the negative currency translation between the UK pound and the Australian dollar. The Australia-based company said revenue in the last six months of 2013 came to £18.6m, down from £20.6m the previous year, as a weaker Australian dollar against the UK pound reduced revenues by £1.7m.The firm was also affected by key contracts secured in Australia in the first half that will not be recognised until the second half. "These contracts closed slightly later in the period than anticipated and therefore did not make a contribution," the firm explained. Loss before tax narrowed to £1.1m from £2.6min 2012, as adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) increased to £0.5m from £0.1m.During the period the company underwent a major restructuring which included merging with Progility Pty in October. The company, which was formerly named ILX Group before the merger, also acquired two specialist recruitment services companies in July and November and revamped existing training businesses.Wayne Bos, Executive Chairman, said: "Operationally the focus had been on improving trading operations and, where appropriate, restructuring them. We have made good progress and expect the benefits of this work to come to fruition in the near term."Alongside the work being completed in this transformational period, significant time has been invested in identifying further markets where we believe there will be profitable growth and where we can successfully exploit our specific fields of expertise."We expect the next six months to be a further period of positive transformation."The board said it does not recommend a dividend, which will "remain the position for the foreseeable future".RD