‘Pipeline of opportunities’ for resilient NCC group
Global cyber security firm NCC has hailed an “excellent financial performance” as half year revenues climbed by more than 10%.
Its growth was “supercharged” by the $220m acquisition of IPM completed last June, which it says has transformed its global Software Resilience business.
In the six months to 30 November 2021, NCC’s group revenues grew to £150.1m, that’s up 10.7% from £135.6m for the same period in the previous year.
However pre-tax profits were down by 13.4% from £9.7m to £8.4m due largely to costs associated with the adoption of the IFRIC agenda decision on cloud configuration and customisation costs in April 2021.
The group’s Assurance business saw growth across all its geographies including North America, which grew by 8.9%, Europe increased by 11.8% and the UK & APAC grew by 7.5%.
NCC said the balance of H2 2022 requires further revenue acceleration, which it expects to occur as the global markets recover from pandemic disruption.
It now anticipates a strong H2 2022 leading to its full-year outturn to be in line with management expectations.
Interim dividend of 1.50p per ordinary share remains unchanged.
CEO Adam Palser said the group has entered 2022 with a “pipeline of opportunities.”
He said: “The strength of NCC Group stems from the quality of our people. I am delighted that, in these times of unprecedented demand for cyber and IT talent, we have significantly increased our technical headcount, produced more impactful research than ever before and delivered more value for our customers.
“As a result, the strong underlying growth from our Assurance business, coupled with the successful integration and positive trading of the IPM business acquired in June 2021, led to an excellent financial performance with double-digit revenue growth in the first half.
“We are particularly encouraged by the strong Assurance gross margin performance in the half, as it demonstrates our ability to use utilisation, pricing and global resourcing as levers to manage our way through the higher costs we expect to incur as we compete for talent.”
