Civica UK joins £100m club in bumper FY12

Double-digit spikes on top and bottom lines for software and services outfit

VAR and services player Civica UK joined the £100m club in its fiscal 2012 as it posted double-digit top- and bottom-line increases during another robust year.

For the 12 months to 30 September, annual accounts for Civica UK Ltd reveal that turnover rose just over 10 per cent to £109.6m, while operating profit spiked 10.9 per cent to £12.8m. Over the course of the year net assets rose from £18.2m to £34.7m, primarily fuelled by an increase of more than £23m in money owed by debtors, which stood at £78.7m at year-end. Shareholders' funds grew from £23.4m to £30.9m during FY12.

The directors' report for last year stresses Civica's credentials as an employer, pointing out that its employee retention stands at 93.5 per cent, which it claims is above the industry average. Staff numbers grew from 841 to 1,060 last year, with the vast majority of these joining via TUPE transfers.

"Successful transfers underpinned a strong performance on new outsourcing contracts, such as at Luton [Borough Council] where a significant increase in customer satisfaction was achieved within the first six months," says the report.

Elsewhere, the report is upbeat about the firm's prospect for the years ahead as customers look to embrace outsourcing and cloud consumption models as a means of saving money.

"Throughout the year our customers continued to see the business-critical nature of the company's proprietary software applications which facilitate operational efficiency and provide a platform for customers to reduce costs and risk by enabling migration to a cloud-based or outsourced delivery model," it says.

"Our pipeline of opportunities in these areas has continued to expand quickly due to sustained customer budget and service pressures and their corresponding need to embrace more transformational ways of working. The company made further investment in the year to strengthen capability and resources, leading to new contracts, [and this] has continued beyond the end of the financial year."