Intercede Regulatory News (IGP)

6 Oct 2008 07:00



6 OCTOBER 2008

INTERCEDE GROUP plc

("Intercede" or "the Company")

Positive Trading Update

Intercede, a leading producer of Identity and Credential Management Systems (IDCMS) software, today announces excellent progress in the six months ended 30 September 2008.

Sales for the first half of the current financial year are more than 25% higher than for the comparable period last year. The Directors are also pleased to report that the Company has generated a profit at both pre and post tax level during the period. 

The improved results are attributable to the Company continuing to execute its strategy, as stated in the 2008 Annual Report, of:

Adding to our list of major project wins

Refocusing our channel strategy to improve margins

Expanding our market to generate revenues from both the identity and credential management sectors

Increasing our professional service revenues

The growth in sales is especially encouraging, because the equivalent period last year included a one-off upfront licence order of £0.5 million from Thales, whereas this period's sales performance only includes 'business as usual' revenue items. Taking this into account, underlying sales have increased by 90% within a 12 month cycle.

We also announced last week a subcontract with Lockheed Martin worth an initial US$1 million, with an advance payment of US$500,000. This advance payment has been received, but only $46,000 has been recognised within first half sales.

Costs and cash collections have also been kept under control throughout the period, as evidenced by a half year cash balance of £1,839,000, compared to £1,153,000 at 31 March 2008. This means that the Company generated £686,000 of cash during the period,

Richard Parris, Intercede's Chairman and Chief Executive, said:

"I stated in the 2008 Annual Report that, with a number of exciting identity projects coming to market, Intercede was very well placed to continue its growth and that our business is as recession proof as it is possible to be in these challenging times. This has proven to be the case, judging from the period's step change in trading performance. Our order book also suggests that, subject to any further macro-economic uncertainty, we remain on track to continue our planned growth trajectory."

Further details will be provided when Intercede announces its Interim Results for the six months ended 30 September 2008, which is expected to take place in December 2008.

About Intercede 

Intercede is the producer of the MyID™ Identity and Credential Management System (IDCMS). Intercede's MyID is renowned worldwide as the only IDCMS software product that enables organizations to easily and securely manage the identities of people and their associated identity credentials within a single, integrated, workflow driven platform. This includes enabling and managing: secure registration, biometric capture, application vetting and approval through to smart card personalization, issuance and management.

For more information visit http://www.intercede.com

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