Craneware enters informatics partnership as interim profits jump 10%

Craneware's pre-tax profits surged 10% in the first half of its financial year on the back of increased revenue and lower costs, resulting in an increase in the interim dividend.The healthcare software company also said it has entered into a strategic partnership with Edinburgh-based health informatics company Aridhia Informatics.In the deal, Aridihia's core services, such as its collaborative analytics platform, data science provision and app development capability will be exclusively offered to Craneware's client base, which it said should support the structural move in the US healthcare market of moving away from fee-for-service towards performance-based reimbursement.In the six months to 31 December, Craneware's pre-tax profits swelled 10.4% to $5.3m on revenue up 2% to $21.6m and net operating expenses and sales costs edging down to $4.8m from $5.2m.The company increased its interim dividend to 6.3 cents per share, higher than the 5.7 cents paid per share a year earlier."Objectives for the second half of the year will be the migration of the first of our products fully onto our Craneware application framework for enterprise architecture, and the building out of the Craneware Health product set for market entry in the next financial year," said chief executive Keith Neilson.At the end of the period, Craneware's cash balance stood at $36.4m with no debt.Craneware's shares were trading 1.89% higher on Tuesday, at 540p.