Netcall Share News (NET)

Software provider Netcall raised its dividend by 40 per cent to 0.7p per share after achieving a hike in earnings for the first half.Pre-tax profit jumped 10% to £2.26m as the software provider achieved strong demand for its products. Revenue was up 10% to £16.1m from the prior year's £14.6m while adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) grew 22% to £4.24m from £3.47m."We have seen continuing good demand for our product portfolio, driven principally by a strengthening private sector and orders for our business process management (BPM) and SaaS solutions," Chief Executive Officer, Henrik Bang."Order inflow momentum remains strong as we enter the new financial year. We continue to benefit from a growing sales pipeline as the requirement for increasingly sophisticated end-to-end customer engagement solutions drives demand for our broadening range of capabilities and solutions."During the period, the company improved its product offering with the launch of its next generation platform, Liberty, and the integration of newly acquired, Serengeti.Administrative expenses, before depreciation, amortisation, acquisition and reorganisation costs and share-based charges, increased to £10.2m from £9.41m last year, as a result of the acquisition of Serengeti, which provides of enterprise content management and customer relationship management software to the UK public sector. The gross profit margin improved from 88% to 90%.Cash flow generated from operations before acquisition and reorganisation payments was up 25% to £4.89m from £3.90m.Looking ahead, the group plans to take advantage of its robust financial position with further acquisitions."We remain mindful of the wider economic conditions; however with a clear strategy in place and continued successful execution, we are confident in a positive outcome for the year ahead," the company said.RD