Cloud computing provider Iomart has declared its confidence in the outlook for the business following the abrupt departure last month of its former chief executive.
The Glasgow-based compnay, which employs about 400 people, said it has seen continued momentum in the execution of its growth strategy as it issued a trading update for the six months to September 30. The group attributed this to the strength of its cloud capabilities, the breadth of its customer base, and continued growth in the overall market.
READ MORE: Boss of Iomart quits with immediate effect
First-half revenues are expected to be up 18% on the same period last year at £62 million, with adjusted earnings 4% higher at approximately £18.5m. Rising interest rates that have increased the cost of servicing Iomart's debts means that adjusted pre-tax profits will rise more modestly, edging up to £7.5m versus £7.4m previously.
The update came less than a month after Iomart announced that chief executive Reece Donovan had quite the role with immediate effect to be replaced by executive chair Lucy Dimes.
Mr Donovan succeeded long-standing Iomart boss Angus MacSween in September 2020 with the aim of raising the company's profile and focusing acquisitions of "capability, rather than just market share". He steered the company through the pandemic and the energy crisis, and led on the most recent acquisitions of Concepta Capital in August 2022 and Extrinsica Global in May of this year.
No details were given about the reason for his departure.
Ms Dimes became non-executive chair of Iomart in August 2022 and moved into the role of executive chair on a part-time basis in July of this year with "a focus on the further development of external corporate opportunities".
Commenting on yesterday's trading update, she said: "This has been a solid first half of the financial year, seeing growth in both revenue and profitability.
READ MORE: New broom at Iomart looks to ‘tweaks’ for future growth
"Since assuming the role of CEO in the last few weeks, I have been impressed by the knowledge and skills of our team, range of service offering and diversity of our customer base. These are powerful building blocks for us to take iomart forward with confidence."
As expected, the company's debts have increased to approximately £49m following the £4m acquisition of Extrinsica plus a £4m earn-out payment on the Concepta deal. That compares to debts of £39.8m at the end of March.
Shares in AIM-listed Iomart closed yesterday's trading a penny higher at 158p.
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