K3 buoyed by software orders

PROFITS have jumped at K3 Business Technology following strong orders for a new software system.

In the six months to the end of December pre-tax profits jumped from £185,000 to £875,000 on revenues of £34.4m, up 9%.

Profit, adjusted for “acquired intangibles” and exceptional costs, jumped 26% to £3.16m.

AIM-listed K3 supplies and supports Microsoft-based enterprise resource planning (ERP) software – a retail system that manages everything from stock to till sales.

The Salford company said its return to growth was being driven by the launch of the Microsoft ERP product called “ax | is fashion”.

Chairman Tom Milne said: “Sentiment in the retail sector is improving and we are encouraged both by the new orders we closed and by the level of interest in our solution.

“Our SYSPRO and Sage Division also continued to perform robustly providing high levels of recurring income and cash, together with a good level of new business wins.  Our managed services division moved into profitability and will continue to benefit from the upturn in new orders across the group, particularly for Microsoft AX and SYSPRO systems.”