Cloud ace iomart issues bullish update

CEO says he is 'very pleased' with first-half trading as acquisitive firm promises further M&A

Cloud computing specialist iomart has declared itself "very pleased" with its last six months' trading in a bullish pre-close trading update.

The AIM-listed public, private and hybrid cloud purveyor, which operates eight UK datacentres, told the market this morning that both revenues and profits for its first-half ending 30 September will be "materially ahead" of the same period last year.

It posted an adjusted pre-tax profit of £8m on revenues of £31.5m in the year-ago period.

Having bought public cloud consultancy SystemsUp in June, iomart also used the pre-close statement to reiterate its intent to make further strategic acquisitions.

The Glasgow-based outfit draws over 80 per cent of revenues from its hosting segment, where it positions itself as a hybrid cloud expert. Recent acquisitions in this area, including not only SystemsUp but the September 2013 purchases of Redstation and Backup Technology and December 2014 buy of Server Space, helped imoart record an 18 per cent rise in sales in its fiscal 2015 to £65.8m.

Its ‘Easyspace' division, which offers a range of products to SME and micro customers, including domain names, shared, dedicated and virtual servers, and email services, contributes the remainder.

"We are very pleased with the way the business has performed in the period and the Board is highly confident in the future," chief executive Angus MacSween said in this morning's statement.

"The group is well positioned to sustain its competitive advantage within the hybrid cloud market with its strong customer base and growing expertise in private cloud. With an outstanding track record and an established reputation as the UK's leading cloud computing company, we believe the prospects for iomart continue to be excellent."