LONDON (Alliance News) - Coms PLC Wednesday said it believes it is "much better placed" as a result of a period of restructuring, and reported a fall in pretax profit for its first half.
Coms has undergone a period of restructuring and board reshuffling following the resignations of David Brieth as chief executive officer in March and Non-Executive Director Stephen Foster in May, selling its loss-making Telephony Services business in May.
Further restructuring is planned for the second half, the company said that after allowing enough time for the unwind of its retained debtor book, it plans to rationalise its corporate structure, which will result in further balance sheet adjustments. It expects this restructuring to take place in its second half.
For the half year to end-July the company reported a pretax profit of GBP10,000, down from GBP206,000 a year before, as a rise in revenue to GBP21.3 million from GBP15.5 million was offset by integration costs, depreciation and higher administrative expenses.
The company is now focused on its remaining businesses, Redstone, an infrastructure and 'smart building' services company, and animation studio Darkside Studios.
"The past six months have been a testing period, where changes at board level have resulted in the group reviewing its strategy, culminating in the disposal of our loss making Telephony Services division followed by an injection of fresh capital by way of new equity. I'm encouraged by the fact that during this period of change the continuing operations have performed well," said Chairman Frank Beechinor in a statement.
Shares in Coms were up 13.6% at 0.994 pence Wednesday morning.
By Hana Stewart-Smith; hanassmith@alliancenews.com; @HanaSSAllNews
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