(Alliance News) - Alfa Financial Software Holdings PLC on Thursday posted a rise in interim profit and revenue on the back of cross-divisional growth and backed its full-year expectations, despite an "uncertain economic outlook".
In the six months that ended June 30, the London-based software developer posted a pretax profit of GBP16.6 million, up 20% from GBP13.8 million a year prior.
Revenue climbed 21% to GBP52.9 million from GBP43.9 million the year before. The firm said the figure benefited from growth across all divisions, in particular Software, which contributed a 33% increase in revenue. This was supported by high customer funded development of software. Subscription revenue grew by 14% and Services revenue by 21%.
The company declared a special interim dividend of 4.0 pence per share, up by 14% from 3.5p per share a year ago.
Looking ahead, Alfa said the second half of 2023 will have a larger focus on future product development ahead of its next major version release and noted that this focus will allow it to improve its software and drive incremental sales in the coming years.
Despite the robust first-half performance, Alfa left its full-year expectations unchanged, saying it is conscious of an "uncertain" economic outlook. It didn't provide detailed financial guidance.
Chief Executive Officer Andrew Denton said: "Our high level of customer funded development, weighted more towards the first half this year, helped fuel strong growth for the period along with the growth in the team.
"We remain confident in our ability to convert our exceptionally strong pipeline into new customers, with a number of sizeable contracts to execute over the Autumn. This, alongside the inherent robustness of the asset finance software market and our continued investment in high-quality people, underpins our strong confidence in the outlook for the business."
Back in June, Alfa received a takeover approach from funds managed by EQT Fund Management Sarl. In July, EQT confirmed it wouldn't make a formal offer, but not before Alfa incurred GBP500,000 in costs, which it said on Thursday were included in its half-year results.
Shares in Alfa were up 3.3% at 154.50 pence each in London on Thursday morning.
By Sabrina Penty, Alliance News reporter
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Alfa Fin (ALFA)