Member Article

Business tech group reports tough year but brighter prospects

Salford-based K3 Business Technology Group PLC has reported a decrease in pre-tax profit for the full-year, on lower revenues.

The firm is one of Microsoft’s channel partners, supporting Microsoft based business planning and management software, and says its figures reflect “the weak performance of the Microsoft UK Division”.

K3 supplies software to the retail, manufacturing and logistics sectors and operates managed IT and web hosting services.

It reported exceptional costs of £73,000, which it says related primarily to restructuring of the acquisitions the firm made in prior years.

However, it forecasts better prospects for the near future.

The group’s Microsoft UK division released the first phase of Project Gemstone, K3’s new global retail and wholesale system.

This is progressing well, with some high profile initial orders signed in the last quarter of its financial year, which will benefit the new financial year and beyond.

For the full year, the company reported profit before tax of 0.46 million pounds, compared with 6.04 million pounds a year ago. Adjusted for 0.73 million pounds of exceptional costs, profit before tax decreased to 4.37 million pounds, compared with 10.2 million pounds last year. After tax, profit for the period was 1.2 million pounds or 4.2 pence per share, compared with 5.7 million pounds or 19.8 pence per share a year earlier. Adjusted earnings per share decreased to 14 pence per share from prior year’s 30.2 pence per share. Revenues generated for the year was 63.51 million pounds,down from 67.96 million pounds reported a year ago. The company declared a final dividend of 1 pence per share, payable on January 17, 2014 to shareholders of record on December 13, 2013.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Simon Malia .