Cerillion Share News (CER)

(Sharecast News) - Billing and customer relationship management software provider Cerillion updated the market on trading in its first half on Monday, saying it had traded "strongly" in the six months ended 31 March, in line with management expectations.
The AIM-traded firm said that reflected the four major new contracts signed from mid-June onwards in 2019, as well as continuing demand from existing customers.

Prospects for the remainder of the financial year continued to look "very positive", the board added.

Revenue for the first half was expected to total around ?10.2m, which would make for a year-on-year increase of 46%, although the timing of the closure of major contracts in 2019 resulted in that year being more second-half weighted than usual.

Adjusted EBITDA was expected to be ?2.7m, up from ?0.4m year-on-year, and making for a record first half since the company was admitted to AIM in 2016.

The firm's balance sheet remained "strong", with net cash at 31 March standing at ?4.8m, compared to ?2.6m a year earlier.

Cerillion said that, on the back of the momentum it was seeing, it had added further resources, with its sales pipeline described as "encouraging".

In April, it agreed a major upgrade and a five-year contract extension with long-established customer Manx Telecom, which saw them move to a new software-as-a-service (SaaS) agreement.

In the period, the company also released Cerillion 8.1 - the latest version of its enterprise OSS/BSS suite for fixed, mobile, cable and multi-service operators.

The board said the new software would provide customers with "significant" operational efficiencies, drive customer engagement through mobile devices, and open new channels for customer growth including through a mobile app, enabling in-app purchases.

Looking at the ongoing impact of the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic, Cerillion said that while additional precautions were being taken regarding staff safety, the company had not experienced any slow down in trading activity to date.

It said its customers were primarily telecommunications operators providing critical infrastructure and services, with operators currently typically seeing strong data traffic levels arising from national lockdown measures globally.

As a result, the board said it believed that there was a "substantial degree of resilience" to its business model.

"Trading continues to show strong momentum, reflecting last year's record level of major new orders, and we have recruited more staff to support ongoing growth," said chief executive officer Louis Hall.

"We remain confident about prospects for the remainder of the year, given the existing strong order book, and the pipeline of potential new business remains encouraging.

"Cerillion's long-term prospects remain very positive, underpinned by the quality and growing relevance of our product offering, which is gaining increasing market recognition, as well as the growth opportunities we see in our market."

Cerillion said it would announce interim results for the six months ended 31 March in mid-May 2020, when it will also provide a further update on current trading.

At 0841 BST, shares in Cerillion were up 17.3% at 247.5p.