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LONDON (Alliance News) - RA International Group PLC said Wednesday its interim profit narrowed sharply as revenue dropped and amid cost-associated with its recent London listing.
RA builds and maintains camps in remote areas for staff working for the United Nations, oil & gas firms and other organisations across the globe.
For the six months ended June, pretax profit more than halved to USD3.6 million from USD8.8 million the year prior. This was after revenue fell 12% to USD23.9 million from USD27.3 million the year before.
Profit performance was also hurt by USD2.9 million in exceptional costs during the period, from nothing the year prior. These were related to USD1.3 million in listing costs and a further USD1.6 million related to share-based compensation costs.
In June, RA International listed on the London Stock Exchange - joining the AIM market - at an initial public offer price of 56 pence per share. The listing valued the firm at the time at GBP97.2 million.
Shares in RA were 6.1% lower at 77.00 pence on Wednesday.
"The company is delivering on its strategy of geographical expansion and securing larger and longer term contracts," RA Chief Executive Officer Soraya Narfeldt said. "We have seen a significant increase in the bid pipeline since admission to trading on AIM in June, and we expect this to translate into contracts in the second half of this year and beyond."
RA did not propose an interim dividend. It did, however, emphasise it anticipates declaring one for the full year.
"We are now focussing on larger contracts, and being a publicly quoted company will enhance our status and competitive position," Narfeldt added. "We are grateful to the support shown by shareholders since June and look forward to the next phase of RA International's development."
"At RA International, we are committed to delivering our projects to a high standard and on time," Narfeldt continued. "Our contract delivery in the first half of the year has remained excellent. Looking to the future, both the size and contract length of the bids we are working on has increased."
At the end of August, RA's revenue backlog stood at USD114 million from USD112 million at the end of 2017. For 2018 to date, RA has won USD63 million worth of new contracts.
"We are continuing to diversify our customer base and deliver geographical expansion," Narfeldt said. "The management undertook a huge challenge in the first half of the year with the Admission to AIM and we have been delighted with the support we have seen from the London market. We look forward to the second half of 2018 with confidence."
