NCC hungry for more as profits surge 27%

NCC Group, the Manchester IT security specialist, is targeting further international growth after another bumper year which saw profits and turnover increasing more than 20%

The Oxford Road-based group, which monitors 16 million websites a week and protects 15,000 clients from cyber attack,has now delievered eight consecutive years of double digit growth.

Profits in the year to the end of May rose 27% to £22.6m as revenues climed 24% to £87.7m. NCC’s growth was not just achieved by acquisition – some 17% was organic, chief executive Rob Cotton said.

NCC’s performance was all the more impressive given its abandonment of a new internal IT system close to the year end, which led to a one-off non-cash charge of £6.9m.

Assessing the year’s performance, Mr Cotton said: “We are very very pleased with the results – they are our best ever. We have built an international business out of Manchester – 31%  of revenues are from outside the UK.

“We are looking for more of the same – we’re always looking for acquisitions and we’re excited about the possibilities for the .secure domain. We believe the products we are putting in place will make the Internet a safer place.”

He said he was delighted that despite challenging economic conditions NCC had been able to increase gross margins by 3%.

In line with its strong showing, NCC raised its dividend by 24% to 16.1p per share. Since listing in 2004 at 170p per share, NCC, including the latest dividend, will have paid 66.85p per share of dividends to shareholders.

Mr Cotton added: “We have built a very strong international business that is well positioned to capitalise on some of the key issues affecting the boardroom.

“The risk to all corporates as well as government bodies from cyber-crime and information security, for example has never been higher.

“With our global reach and product range as well as our strong forward visibility, we remain confident about continuing to maintain our strong growth record.”

David Gorman of Manchester-based stockbrokers Milkstone, said: “This is another excellent set of full year results from NCC, with profits well ahead of our expectations.

“As Rob Cotton points out, since the company floated in 2004, total investment return has been outstanding. Also, it’s estimated that cyber crime costs the UK £27 billion a year, so NCC still has plenty to go at.”