CORETX sees substantial second-half improvement

(ShareCast News) - Mid-market network, cloud and IT managed services provider CORETX Holdings provided an update on trading for the year to 31 December on Friday.The AIM-traded firm said it continued to perform broadly in line with expectations, with revenues anticipated of approximately £43.5m and trading EBITDA in the region of £5.9m for the full year.It said the anticipated improvement in performance in the second half of the year was delivered, with revenues and gross margin expected to show increases of 9% and 6% respectively compared to the first half on a proforma basis.The year was one of "substantial transformation", the board said, with the acquisitions and integration of two businesses alongside a rebranding of the company, and significant investment in its operating platform and management team to facilitate further organic and acquisitive growth.Good progress was made to its strategy of creating a "true mid-market UK IT managed services business" capable of delivering private and public cloud-based services over infrastructure, the board claimed.It said the enhanced business provides control and protection to new and existing customers requiring "ever more flexible solutions" to their changing business requirements. CORETX highlighted its improvement in cash generation in the second half, with its balance swinging to £1.1m cash from £1.5m in the red at 30 June 2016.Net debt, including finance lease obligations, decreased 14% to £5.5m at 31 December, from £6.4m at the start of the period.A total of 30 new customers were added in the year, and both recurring revenues and associated margin increased against 2015 on a proforma basis."The second half performance was encouraging, rounding off a period of substantial investment and hard work building a fit for purpose mid-market, network, cloud and IT managed services platform," said non-executive chairman Jonathan Watts."[We are] well positioned to take advantage of opportunities in an increasingly cloud centric market." Corpus Resources PLC