Strong Eckoh trading update reveals client base expansion

Eckoh, the speech recognition and associated payment solutions provider, has reported a 'strong financial performance' over the second half of the financial year and said that it continued to experience significant demand for its products.In a trading update for the 12 months ended March 31st, the company reported that the 2012/13 financial year had seen a high volume of new clients being secured with the client base growing from 39 clients to 50 during the period. The company said that a full year of revenue from the clients, along with a very strong sales pipeline, was anticipated. As at March 31st, Eckoh said it had maintained a strong balance sheet position with a cash balance of £8.5m compared to £6.4m the year before.The board said that it expected to recommend a final dividend of 0.25p, an increase of 25% on the previous year. Nik Philpot, Chief Executive Officer of Eckoh, commented: "Eckoh continues to experience significant sales momentum supported by our strong product pedigree and as we begin the new financial year we have developed our strongest ever sales pipeline. "We are fast becoming the provider of choice for PCI DSS compliant payment solutions and this is underpinning our sales growth, coupled with the increased breadth of our indirect sales channels this will enable us to target more significant contracts going forward. The board continues to remain confident in the future growth prospects of the company," he added.Eckoh's share price was up 3.39% to 15.25p at 08:58 on Tuesday.MF