LONDON (Alliance News) - Telecommunications provider KCom Group PLC on Monday said its pretax profit and revenue both edged higher in the first half, with solid performance in both of its business units, as it looks to continue investing in its network.
KCom said its pretax profit for the six months to the end of September was GBP24.2 million, up from GBP23.6 million a year before, mostly due to lower financing costs. Amortisation and depreciation charges rose slightly in the year, due to increased investment in the business.
Revenue rose to GBP177.9 million from GBP173.0 million a year before, with 4.0% growth in its Kcom enterprise segment and 2.0% growth for its SME-focused unit.
The group will pay an interim dividend of 1.97 pence per share, up 10% from 1.79p previously, and said it also will increase its total dividend for the current financial year in March by 10%, the same rate as in the past six years. Kcom's full-year dividend for financial 2015 was 5.37p.
KCom said it plans to accelerate its investment in areas which will support profitable growth, though it expects legacy activities to continue to show declines.
"The group has delivered improved performance across all target segments. The results are clear evidence of the potential of our strategy and of the level of opportunity we have in our chosen markets. Our focus on generating targeted organic revenue growth, coupled with further steps to simplify the operating structure of the business, places us in a strong position to create a single, unified and simplified business by the end of this financial year," said Chief Executive Bill Halbert.
Shares in KCom were down 0.8% to 95.75p.
By Sam Unsted; samunsted@alliancenews.com; @SamUAtAlliance
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