Sanderson climbs as interim profit and revenue growth trumps expectations

15th Apr 2019 13:58

(Sharecast News) - Sanderson Group on Monday reported that its interim results exceeded its own expectations, with order intake growth driving revenue.The AIM traded company, which provides software and managed services solutions to the retail, wholesale, supply chain logistics, food and drink processing and manufacturing market sectors, said that revenue rose 16% to £17.0m in the six month period ended 31 March, while operating profit before amortisation of acquisition-related intangibles, share-based payment charges and 'one-off' non-recurring items climbed by over 30% to £2.8m.Sanderson reported that sales order intake growth saw the Digital Retail division's operating profit and revenue continue to rise, while the Enterprise division reported good progress, as sales order intake increased at its Manufacturing business amid a "strong start to the year" after being strengthened by an acquisition from November 2017.Meanwhile, the order book, which is "well balanced across the group's businesses", stood at approximately £8.0m at the period-end, while the cash generative group's net cash balance stood at £3.3m at 31 March, up from £1.4m at the same point the year before.The company said it will continue to be cautious in its approach, sensitive to both market conditions as well as to monitoring the general economic environment carefully."Following the strong trading momentum built in the first half of the year, a healthy order book, high recurring revenues and a strong, cash backed balance sheet, the board has confidence that the group is well positioned to make further progress in the rest of the full financial year ending 30 September 2019. This will enable the board to maintain its progressive dividend policy and continue to build shareholder value," said a statement from Sanderson.Sanderson Group's shares were up 7.53% at 100.54p at 1324 BST.