Intercede upbeat despite swinging to first-half loss

(ShareCast News) - Software and service company Intercede announced its interim results for the six months to 30 September on Wednesday, with revenues of £2.8m, a decrease of 49%.The AIM-traded firm posted operating expenses as increasing to £6.4m from £5.7m as a result of continuing investment in infrastructure, technology development and sales capacity.Headcount increased to 127 at 30 September, from 125 a year earlier.It posted an operating loss of £3.7m, widening from £0.4m, with a total loss for the period of £2.8m, swinging from a profit of £0.5m in the first half of 2015.Basic losses per share were 5.7p, compared to basic earnings per share of 1.0p.Cash balances stood at £1.4m on 30 September, down from £5.8m a year ago, though they subsequently increased to £2.6m at 30 November.Approximately £5.0m more was to be raised via a convertible loan note instrument and subscription shares, however."The reduction in revenues in the first half of the financial year should not mask the scale of the market opportunity which we are positioned to exploit," said an upbeat chairman and chief executive Richard Parris."We are very pleased at the support we have received from both new and existing investors who also understand this opportunity and are endorsing our strategy by subscribing for convertible loan notes and equity."Parris said the board remained confident that the deferred orders which affected the first half of the year would soon come to fruition, and reiterated that the outlook for the full year was in line with expectations."In the more medium term, we are equally confident that the technology we have developed to build a secure bond of trust between connected people and their devices will assume more and more importance in the markets for cloud-based applications, secure mobility and the Internet of Things." Intercede