Iomart eyes continued growth as profits rise by more than half

Cloud vendor claims its profits over past three years have grown by nearly 1,000 per cent

Cloud hosting firm Iomart is eyeing further growth over the coming years after increasing its sales annually by nearly a third last year, and upping its profits by more than half.

For the year ending 31 March, Iomart's pre-tax profit rose 56 per cent year on year to £10.7m on sales which jumped by 29 per cent to £43.1m over the same period.

The vendor claims that since 2010 – the first year it turned a profit – its earnings before tax have exploded by 970 per cent on revenue that has more than doubled over the same period.

Iomart recently claimed it had reaped the benefits of rivals deserting the email security market, and its chief executive Angus MacSween said its addressable market is getting bigger, spelling further opportunity for his firm.

"The market we address is growing and evolving. Mobile technology has changed the way we access the internet and this new borderless access model means the only way to deliver services securely and efficiently is from central points through the cloud," he added.

"While we are clearly extremely pleased with the development of the company over that period, we believe we are still in the early stages of providing solutions to the cloud computing market and are confident that we can continue to grow our operations significantly over the coming years."

Over the past year, the firm has acquired Skymarket, Melbourne Server and Hosting UK, increasing its UK datacentre count from five to eight and bolstering its position in the north of England and North Wales.

TechMarketView research director Kate Hanaghan said that at the rate Iomart is expanding, it is likely to smash its ambitions to double in five years.

She said: "There is no question that the UK market for hosting services (in the various flavours in which it comes) is set for continued growth. Iomart plays in the small and mid-sized markets, where it typically provides services to firms whose core business involves internet transactions.

"Its strategy of organic growth alongside acquisitive growth will continue. Indeed, by applying this approach the company intends to be twice the size within five years. At this rate, we might not even have to wait five years."