LONDON (ShareCast) - (Sharecast News) - Publishing software firm Ingenta on Tuesday reported that it had swung to a first half loss as the company "largely completed" a restructuring programme.
For the six months ended 30 June, the company incurred in a loss before tax of £0.6m, compared to a profit of £0.2m for the same period last year, as revenue decreased by 17% to £6.4m and administrative expenses increased by 29% to £2.5m.

The firm attributed the fall in revenues to a lucrative licence sale completed during the same period last year, less ongoing projects and a trend for longer running contract negotiations.

The hike in administrative expenses however was due to Ingenta's decision to fully impair the £0.3m value attributed to its 49% shareholding in its Chinese joint-venture, as well as the £0.5m of exceptional costs relating to restructuring.

At 30 June, the AIM traded company had cash and cash equivalents of £2.1m, which was up from £1.3m at the same point last year.

Martyn Rose, chairman of Ingenta, said: "The first half of 2018 has seen a decisive and constructive move by the board and management to execute the final stage of Ingenta's transformation into a unified software company providing a coherent set of products and services under a single, simplified structure and branding."

Rose added that restructuring efforts have significantly de-risked the firm and will allow it to produce a higher quality earnings stream where highly visible revenues at least meet fixed business costs.

"Going forward, the business has over 200 customers across all our product sets with recurring revenues representing approximately 75% of the total income. As we move into the second half of the year, the new systems and processes will put the business in a better position to service its loyal customer base and accelerate our new business acquisition," said Rose.

For the second half of the year, Ingenta's board expects further improvement in operating fundamentals with further growth in its future sales pipeline.

Ingenta's shares were up 0.37% at 136.50p at 0839 BST.

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