Redstone steadies the ship in cost-cutting FY12

Integrator cuts borrowing and operating costs, with sales flat and bottom line nearing break-even point

Redstone claims it is once again "a sound and stable business" after a 2012 fiscal year in which losses narrowed to almost break-even point and bank debt was reduced.

The London-listed integrator has had a choppy few years, but a major restructuring process was completed prior to the start of FY12 on 1 April 2011. Its full-year figures show revenue more or less flat at £67.2m, while operating losses narrowed from £5.3m in FY11 to £219,000 this time out.

Bank borrowing was also cut from £12.1m to £10.8m over the course of the year, while operating expenses were slashed by more than £5m to £31.6m.

The cost base was further stripped by a fall in staff numbers, from 446 to 409. Cost reduction is also afoot in the boardroom, where M&A veteran Ian Smith is to move from an executive to a non-executive directorship.

Redstone pointed today to a rash of recent contract wins, worth more than £55m in total over the next five years. In his statement accompanying today's results, non-executive chairman Richard Ramsey claimed the VAR is no longer operating from shifting sands.

"The economic outlook remains fragile on a macro level, with continued uncertainty as to how significantly the eurozone debt crisis will ultimately impact UK business," he said. "However, despite the difficult market conditions, and as demonstrated by these results, we have re-established Redstone as a sound and stable business and have protected and maintained the strength of our brand with our clients.

"Our balance sheet is strong and we are fortunate to have established relationships and credentials with a resilient and largely blue-chip client base. We will continue to expand the capabilities of our core network to ensure we are at the forefront of the expected growth in cloud-based shared services."