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LONDON (Alliance News) - Sabien Technology Group PLC said Tuesday that its pretax loss for the half-year widened to GBP245,000 as it increased headcount in its business development team.
The M2G energy saving device manufacturer said in its interim results for the six months to December 31 2013 that its pretax loss widened to GBP245,000 from a GBP67,000 loss for the comparable period last year as the firm invested in business development personnel and commenced investment in organic R&D.
Sabien saw its share price drop during morning trading after reporting its latest results. Sales revenue for the half-year came in at GBP924,000, a slight decline on the GBP942,000 reported last year, although Sabien said that this is in line with trading in previous years, as a higher proportion of sales are scheduled to be delivered during the second-half of the period. "We are encouraged that this year we now have a number of potentially significant clients, which reflects the way that our sales pipeline is evolving," the company said.
The firm introduced a progressive dividend policy during the period, paying a maiden final dividend of 0.25 pence per share; GBP79,000 was paid in November.
Sabien said its cash position as at December 31 2013 was GBP1.582 billion, up from GBP1.357 billion at June 30 2013.
During the reporting period the firm won a GBP2.2 million tender award from Lincolnshire County Council for a three year project; Sabien said it expects GBP700,000 of sales revenue from this contract to be recognised by the end of the current financial year.
Looking ahead, the firm said it has a sales pipeline of GBP6.6 million, up from the GBP6.3 million reported in October, and said it has received new orders for M2G from a number of companies, including Lincolnshire County Council, Marriott Hotels, Welsh Government, Cofely, Fireye, Greffen, Jones Lang LaSalle and Johnson Controls.
Since January 1 this year, the firm said it has received GBP221,000 in orders, bringing the total orders received for the financial year to date to GBP1.1 billion, slightly up on the GBP1.035 million for the comparable period last year, adding that it is currently working with a number of clients that could lead to "substantial" order in the future.
On a divisional basis, 80% of total sales came from indirect partner during the period, down from 88% for the comparable half-year.
In a joint statement, Chairman Miriam Maes and Chief Executive Officer Alan O'Brien, said, "We are... making excellent progress on all of the strategic tests we set for the business back in 2013 including growing our sales pipeline, driving sales growth, broadening our product suite, growing our network of overseas distributors and maintaining or exceeding our installation capacity in line with company forecasts. We also aim to continue providing our clients and partners with a world class project management service and experience."
Shares in Sabien Technology were trading down 14.29% at 27 pence per share Tuesday morning, one of the biggest fallers on the AIM market.
By Alice Attwood; aliceattwood@alliancenews.com; @AliceAtAlliance
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