NCC dazzles as interim profits surge 32%

IT security and assurance group NCC continued to sparkle as interim profits rose 32% to £9.2m on the back of strong organic growth and key acquisitions.

The Manchester-based group described its  results for the six months to November 30 last year as “very strong”. Revenues in the period were ahead 28% at £42.4m.

Chief executive Rob Cotton hailed a “near perfect set of results”, and added: “The cyber arms race continues to speed up, and with the technology revolution outpacing the ability of IT departments to cope with the plethora of security issues, we are well placed to maintain our growth momentum.”

He told TheBusinessDesk.com that he was still looking for acquisitions, but such deals had to be “at the right time and at the right price.”

“We do a lot of work on integration and making sure the businesses we buy work for us.There are a lot of people who would like to sell their business to us, but it’s not always at the right price.

“If I was in bullish mood I would say we’ll add to our US assurance business on the East Coast as we feel we could strengthen there. It’s a very exciting time for us,”

The company, which said its future prospects remained positive, hiked its interim dividend by 23% to 5.1p.

After buying businesses, principally in the US over recent years, international revenues now account for 31% of the total, up from 21% a year ago. Organic revenue also saw healthy growth of 20%, NCC said.

Mr Cotton said NCC now has more than 780 staff across its operations with more than 300 in Manchester: “We’ve come a long. long, way from the early 2000s when we were employing 50 or 60 people – we’ve clearly in the right market with the right products at the right time.”

Adjusted operating profits from continuing operations rose 33% to £10.2m.
Earnings from the Escrow division were up by 13% to £7.6m, while Assurance saw growth of 87% to £4.6m.