Proact blames loss on shortened year and staff investment

Underlying business is healthy, claims VAR

VAR Proact IT UK has stressed the underlying health of its business is "extremely positive" despite posting a loss in its latest accounts.

The Chesterfield-based NetApp and Cisco partner – formerly B2Net – has aligned its fiscal year with Swedish parent Proact, meaning it reported numbers for the eight months to 31 December 2011 only in its latest Companies House filing.

Driven mainly by new business sales, revenue stood at £32.9m, 15.7 per cent up on the same eight-month period in 2010.

Headline losses before tax hit £1.14m, compared with a profit of £1.27m for the 12 months to 31 December 2010.

An investment in sales heads to drive new business was partly to blame, Proact said, but margins were also hit by a "management fee from group" and the shortened financial year.

Managing director Jason Clark said operating under the Proact umbrella had led to a number of economies of scale but said operating a second financial year end in quick succession was resource intensive.

"The underlying health of the business is extremely positive," he said.

"The strong growth in recurring revenue streams, while affecting short-term profitability, is underpinning the future success of the business... New customer take-on has been above expectations, a strong achievement in difficult economic times."

Clark added that the loss meant Proact was in technical breach of its loan covenants at the period end, but that these covenants have since been successfully renegotiated.

"The results for December 2011 show that the company is still growing and we look forward to presenting the results for December 2012 to show the profitability of the business for a full year of trading," he said.

Average monthly headcount rose from 121 to 144 during the period.