Redcentric smashes £100m barrier

The MSP made two acquisitions in the last financial year

Redcentric saw its revenue smash the £100m mark in the year ending 31 March 2016.

The managed services provider recorded a 16 per cent annual revenue increase to £109.5m, up from £94.3m in 2015.

But over the same period, operating profit fell 3.4 per cent to £8.4m and net borrowing increased from £7.2m to £25.3m.

Chris Cole, chairman of Redcentric, said: "These results show that Redcentric has continued to follow its strategic plan with very solid organic growth and recurring revenue being augmented by two successful acquisitions in the year.

"This combination reflects the strength of the underlying platform, and the board's confidence in continuing to deliver shareholder value in the future."

Martin Courtney, principal analyst at TechMarketView, believes that Redcentric will need to continue down the acquisition path if it is to reach its revenue target of between £300m-£500m in the next five years.

He said: "To achieve that sort of expansion, Redcentric will have to continue buying other companies which already play in the managed infrastructure/cloud services space, or risk branching out into other markets.

"Rival network service providers, including Alternative Networks and Six Degrees Group, have the same idea however and we expect to see more acquisition activity all round in FY17."

At the beginning of the year Redcentric acquired London-based datacentre owner City Lifeline for £4.8m, after it swallowed Calyx Managed Services for £12m in April 2015.

In an announcement on the London Stock Exchange, Redcentric said that Calyx is now fully integrated, with City Lifeline's integration "on track".

According to annual report accompanying the stock exchange announcement, from the date of acquisition to the end of March, Calyx recorded a revenue of £6.7m and a profit before tax of £600,000.

Over the same period, City Lifeline's revenue was £600,000 and profit before tax was £100,000.

Fraser Fisher, CEO of Redcentric, said: "The good progress seen in the first half continued into the second half of the year, and we're pleased with the 17 per cent growth in our recurring revenue base and the increase in profitability.

"The two acquisitions we completed during the year have been integrated and are performing well.

"We are continuing to invest in the business to provide our customers with a broad range of solutions delivered from our own infrastructure, allowing them to concentrate on growing their own businesses."