(Alliance News) - ULS Technology PLC said Tuesday it delivered a "robust financial performance in a challenging housing market" as it focused on further developing its DigitalMove platform.
The housing market comparison software services provider said for the six months to September 30 revenue declined by 8% to GBP14.6 million from the comparative period a year ago, which the company said met expectations.
Meanwhile, pretax profit rose 4.3% to GBP2.4 million from GBP2.3 million, helped by a positive adjustment to the contingent payment for an acquisition. The underlying figure fell 4% to GBP2.8 million.
The company said it has been developing and rolling out DigitalMove, which enables purchase conveyancing cases to be completed in a secure and paperless environment, and ULS has now invested GBP1.0 million into the product.
"In the short term this investment is expected to impact group profitability by around GBP1.0 million in the next financial year before the product starts to generate significant revenue and margin later in the development plan," the company said.
ULS announced an interim dividend of 1.25 pence per share, a 4% increase from 1.20 pence for the same period last year.
ULS said the UK housing market remains subdued and there is the possibility this will remain the case until the Brexit process if concluded.
"The aim, however, is to grow regardless of the market backdrop. We continue to grow amongst the smaller brokers and work is underway to return to growth within larger introducers," the company said.
ULS Technology shares were 4.2% down in London at 43.09 pence each on Monday.
By Loreta Juodagalvyte; loretajuodagalvyte@alliancenews.com
Copyright 2019 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
