Craneware turns heads on huge share price jump

The share price of Craneware took flight and moved away from its 52-week low after the software supplier to the US health-care market announced a new contract win.

The deal will see an unnamed "channel supplier" pay Craneware $7.5m between now and June 30th, 2014, in exchange for multi-year licences for its work with Federal and State Healthcare facilities.

The news has come on the same day that Edinburgh headquartered Craneware reported half year revenues of $18.8m in the second six months of 2011, up 13% on the same point of 2011.

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Adjusted earnings before interest, tax depreciation and amortisation came in at $4.7m; the equivalent figure for last year was $4.6m. Profit before tax fell from $4.3m in 2011 to $3.8m this year.

The proposed interim dividend is 4.8p per share, up from 4p in the previous six months.

Shares have risen spectacularly on news of the contract win. At 12:07 the stock was up 24% although over the past 12 months Craneware is still down by 35%, with much of the fall coming after the group announced in January the loss of a contract administered through a third party .

BS