Intec profits fall amid tough trading
BILLING company Intec Telecom Systems yesterday posted a 52 per cent fall in first-half adjusted pre-tax profit, hurt by order delays, pricing pressures and unfavourable exchange rates.
The company, which had warned of a lower results in March, said a shortfall in higher margin licence revenue had a direct impact on first half profitability. However, it plans to pay a maiden interim dividend of 40p per share.
An Intec spokesman said: “Our short-to-mid-term view is that our markets will continue to demonstrate fragility over the next 12 to18 months as our customers in both developed and developing markets squeeze their capital expenditure.”
The provider of software to AT&T, Deutsche Telekom and Vodafone said it would cut jobs and undertake a restructuring plan that would result in a one-time charge of about £4m in fiscal 2010.
The cost cutting action would result in savings of about £7m in fiscal 2011, Intec added.
For the six months ended 31 March, Intec posted adjusted pre-tax profit of £5.3m, compared with £11.1m a year ago. Revenue fell 13 per cent to £70m.