By Iain Gilbert
Date: Tuesday 01 Oct 2019
LONDON (ShareCast) - (Sharecast News) - Cloud computing firm Iomart witnessed overall revenue growth in line with expectations during the six months ended 30 September, giving the group good visibility heading into the second half of the year.
Iomart said investments into its commercial operations were now starting to deliver more new customer wins and a stronger pipeline of opportunities. In particular, the firm pointed to an increased level of larger, more complex enterprise contract wins in the first half, the revenues from which will start to be recognised in the second half of the year.
The AIM-listed group's on-premise IT brand, Cristie Data, also delivered a strong performance in the half, bringing new corporate customers into the group, with the potential to transition to higher-margin managed cloud services revenue in the future.
However, Iomart did note that investments made in strengthening its sales engine, along with the broader mix of revenue in the first half of the year, meant that margin performance would be "skewed" towards the second half of the year.
Iomart also added that despite any short-term delays to decision making due to the current macro-economic and political uncertainty across the UK, the group's increased investment in the business left it "well-positioned", with the board confident in the company's full-year outlook.
Chief executive Angus MacSween said: "It is pleasing to see the increased investments we have made in sales and marketing begin to deliver positive results. New customer wins in our core cloud services offering are growing, supported by growth from the on-premise business which highlights there is still a long way to go on the cloud journey.
"We are confident we are on track to take advantage of the positive market opportunity and look forward to another successful year of growth."
As of 0835 BST, Iomart shares had inched back 0.42% to 358p.