Top-line growth drives jump in pre-tax profit at Pace

Top-line growth combined with operational efficiency helped drive strong financial results at FTSE 250-listed Pace, a global developer of technologies and products for PayTV and broadband service providers.

Pre-tax profit soared 46.4% to $80.1m in the year ended December 31st, while basic earnings per share jumped 47% to 19.4 cents. Revenue rose 4.1% to $2.4bn.

The group reported that a focus on operating efficiency delivered sustainable savings in the year and said Pace was "well underway in the transition of its supply chain that will deliver tangible benefits in 2013 and beyond".

Operating expenses, pre-IAS 38 adjustments, reduced by $33.0m, or 10.6%, in 2012. This was achieved through the scaling down of corporate resources and a re-organisation of the Americas and International business units, whilst Pace continued to invest in the growth areas of Software and Services.

As a result of this, Pace reported that research and development expenditure as a percentage of underlying administrative spend increased by 2.4 percentage points to 57.0%, marking a trend which Pace said it intended to continue.

Mike Pulli, Pace's Chief Executive Officer, said: "I am pleased to report that Pace has performed impressively in 2012, by delivering increased operating profits through both top-line growth and operational efficiency, with a particularly strong second half of the year. We have made good headway on executing our strategy and Pace is becoming a more profitable, cash generative company.

"The strong operational performance in 2012 and the momentum we take into 2013 give the board confidence to continue building on the progressive dividend policy that was introduced in 2009."

Pace's share price was up 0.88% to 229.50p on at 11:01 on Tuesday.

MF