Revenues up to £126m at cyber security firm

Group revenue grew by eight per cent to £126m at cyber security firm NCC.

The Manchester company issued its interim results this morning.

It said growth was particularly strong in the US however UK performance was held back by softer demand in risk management and governance coupled with resource shortages in the technical security consulting business.

Adjusted operating profit from continuing operations of £14.8m was ahead of last year’s £13.8m.

The period included onerous contract costs of £1.1m which are not replicated in this year’s figure.

Operating profit increased to £9.5m from £6.3m as a result of lower levels of adjusting items.

The firm said demand in its core markets remains strong although there was a slower start to the year.

Chief executive Adam Palser said: “This is an important year of change for NCC Group as we implement our ‘Securing Growth Together’ strategy and transform the business into a world-leading cyber security and risk mitigation specialist.

“We are pleased with the progress we have made, with continued growth in our core Assurance division and a particularly strong performance in the US, the world’s largest cyber market.

“While profits from our Escrow division fell slightly, our experience in the US has given us confidence that we can re-energise the growth of this business.

“We have assembled an excellent management team and are now installing the systems and processes that will enable us to operate as a unified global business, helping us to win more major contracts and focus on recurring, higher margin work.

“The new team is now focused on accessing the resources to enable the group to fully capitalise on its growth potential, with retention and recruitment a key priority. We expect to deliver full year Adjusted EBIT of around £34m, while our longer term growth prospects remain excellent.”

The Group expects to report its full year results, for the year ended 31 May 2019, on Thursday, 25 July 2019.