Strong growth for ECSC on debut AIM year
Newly-listed cyber security firm ECSC reported strong growth in its first results since making its debut on the stock market.
For the 15 months to December 2016 it returned revenues of £4.51m, compared to £2.65m in a 12-months period in 2015.
It did however make a loss of more than £517,000 during the 15-month period, compared to a profit of £518,174 in the year prior. This was due to £974,876 in IPO costs.
ECSC described it as a “transformational year” for the business, after being admitted to the AIM section of the stock exchange on 14 December 2016.
It said new shareholders and a heightened industry profile showed confidence in its strategic plan, as it aims to take a chunk of the £3.3bn UK cyber security market – particularly after new data rules were introduced that could see companies fined 4% of global turnover if they do not comply to data protection regulations.
ECSC used the £5m it raised upon its debut placing to accelerate expansion plans, and has now launched its new Leeds facility with a Bradford security operations centre opening last week. Its Australian and London facilities are set to open in summer 2017.
Ian Mann, CEO of ECSC, commented: “I am delighted with the progress of the business throughout 2016, a year in which we not only successfully admitted the Company to AIM but also achieved strong organic revenue growth across all parts of the Company. I am particularly pleased with the performance of the business given that we have invested significantly in scaling the business during the year and have expensed most of these costs.
“Our strong organic revenue growth coupled with the proceeds from the IPO will enable us to deliver on our accelerated growth plan to significantly scale the business to satisfy the strong market demand for our products and services and build on our track record as a proven, premium quality provider of cyber security services with a blue-chip client base. I am pleased with the progress we have made to date in regard to our organic growth strategy.
“We are mindful of the degree of change being implemented within the business and we are approaching these significant scale changes with appropriate care and attention. We look forward to 2017 as we continue to transform ECSC into a substantial cyber and information security services provider.”
