Profit fuels Morse double acquisition
Reseller Morse has made two acquisitions and created a third division as it seeks to build on a good half-year performance.
Reseller Morse has made two acquisitions and created a third division as it seeks to build on a good half-year performance.
The corporate reseller posted pre-tax profit of £14.5m for the six months ended 31 December, up from £11.4m for the half year 1999. Turnover jumped 41 per cent from £144.3m to £203.1m.
Morse said it had also acquired the systems integration business of customer relationship management (CRM) company Portfolio Systems and taken a 20 per cent share in Portfolio's software solutions business, Coranta, for £4.5m to expand its CRM capabilities.
The company has also bought RCL Computing, an Oracle applications consultancy firm, for £4.5m in an attempt to expand its application services portfolio.
Morse said turnover for the UK had increased by 20 per cent to £152.6m. Turnover for Germany was £19.3m and France accounted for £31.2m.
The infrastructure arm posted turnover up 38 per cent to £183.1m, on the back of growth in the internet and the telecommunications industry.
Integration services sales were up 79 per cent to £20m. The Year 2000 issue had not led to a "significant downturn in orders".
Morse said it had created an ebusiness venture management arm called Red Creation to provide strategic advice and operational support to ebusiness startups. The new division is expected to build on the success of its consultancy business, Hughes Rae.
Duncan McIntyre, chief executive of Morse, said: "I'm delighted by the progress in developing our service offering. With strong investment for the future in this area and with the recent acquisitions we are well placed to support our customers with all their technology requirements.
"We continue to reap the benefits of our strategic acquisition of Hughes Rae, and with the launch of Red Creation, we'll increase our presence in the boardrooms of potential ebusiness customers.
"All the indications since 1 January are that trading has begun well. The Morse group has a strong and secure foundation for continued growth."