Intercede Share News (IGP)

LONDON (Alliance News) - Intercede Group PLC Wednesday said it will report a loss for current financial year, after it warned that revenue is now set to be below its hopes due to a number of order delays.

The maker of identity and credential management software had said in November that it was confident of meeting its full-year expectations, but had also sounded a note of caution that this would be subject to the timing of certain orders in the smart card and mobile markets.

"There have been a number of market related delays beyond the company's control and, whilst revenues are expected to be greater in the second half of the current financial year than the first half, full year revenues are now anticipated to be at a similar level or slightly lower than the prior financial year," it said in a statement Wednesday.

It said the revenue short-fall is expected to result in a loss for the year to March 31 of about GBP1 million, and year-end cash balances after planned investments and share buybacks in the region of GBP5 million.

Intercede was more positive about its outlook, however, and said it won't be changing strategy.

"Whilst the inevitable effect of the delays referred to above is a reduction in short term revenues, they do not structurally reduce the future demand for Intercede products nor do they impact the company's strong growth prospects," it said.

"We continue to experience high levels of interest in the group's new mobile digital identity technology, which validates the potential scale of the opportunity for Intercede's products as people better understand the security implications of areas such as the Internet of Things, the Cloud, and the inherent limitations of usernames and passwords. Consequently, the board remains confident in and committed to its chosen strategic course," it added.

Intercede blamed the revenue short-fall partly on a three-month delay in the US in releasing two key industry standards. It also said its customers were making slower-than-expected progress on large-scale modernisation projects incorporating its technology, resulting in delays in the receipt of follow-on license orders.

By Steve McGrath; stevemcgrath@alliancenews.com; @stevemcgrath1

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