Services boom gives Centerprise profit boost in FY11

End of the Home Access scheme means system builder drops out of the £50m club, but margins show healthy rise

An increase in services business helped Centerprise post a healthy increase in operating margins during FY11, but the curtailment of the Home Access scheme left a dent in its top line.

Documents filed with Companies House this month reveal that for the 12 months to 31 August the system builder's sales fell almost 10 per cent annually to £46.4m. Revenue stemming from the now defunct Home Access scheme stood at £4.9m in FY11, compared with £12.8m in the prior year. Centerprise claims that, outside of this, turnover was up 7.5 per cent last year.

Despite the sales drop, FY11 operating profit grew from £1.8m to £1.9m, equating to a rise in operational margins from 3.5 to 4.1 per cent. Services, which now provides a fifth of the Hampshire-based firm's revenue, provided "considerably higher margin than budgeted", according to the directors' business review of the year.

"Our ongoing development of the security division... remains largely on plan and will provide a small profit in the coming financial year," adds the review.

Staff numbers at the system builder rose from 86 to 98 over the course of FY11. Seven additional sales and technical staff took headcount in this area to 72, while office and admin employee numbers rose by five to 26.