NCC trades in line during H1 as revenue, margins improve

(Sharecast News) - Information assurance firm NCC Group said on Thursday that firsthalf trading was in line with internal expectations, with revenue, margins and earnings all improving yearonyear.

NCC expects constantcurrency revenue for the six months ended 31 March to have risen around 5% to �151.3m, with cyber revenue set to be up roughly 5.9% at �118.4m, while Escode revenue was pegged to increase approximately 1.9% to �32.9m.

Group gross margins were forecast to have improved by around 2.7 percentage points to 45.9%, with cyber margins rising 3.2 points to 38.4% and Escode margins up 2.9 points to 72.9%.

Adjusted underlying earnings were expected to have grown nearly 28% to �23.5m, with both divisions performing in line with expectations, with cyber adjusted EBITDA set to more than double to �8.3m and Escode expected to deliver �15.2m.

Net debt at 31 March was expected to be around �10.2m, ahead of completion of the Escode disposal. NCC also said its �40m share buyback, announced in January, had now been completed, with �33m of the total paid by the end of March.

NCC reiterated that fullyear adjusted EBITDA was expected to be in line with guidance and said it remained confident in its mediumterm financial targets.

The FTSE 250-listed group also said it was continuing to conduct a strategic review of its cyber division, which includes the possibility of a full sale of the company. However, it said there was no certainty that the process would result in a transaction.

As of 1055 BST, NCC shares were down 1.02% at 116.60p.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com

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