Anite on track to meet top end of full-year forecasts

Anite, which provides software to wireless and travel industries, said its annual pre-tax profit will meet the top end of market forecasts.

In an update ahead of its results for the year ended April 30th, the company reported strong trading in the final quarter which helped drive profits.

Revenue will be slightly below expectations but margins in the final quarter were robust across all businesses.

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Cash generation was in line with predictions, with net debt of £0.9m at the end of April, down from £8.5m at the end of February. It followed a £1.5m purchase of further shares for the employee benefit trust.

The Handset Testing business finished the year on the high note, with fourth quarter revenue, margin and operating profit all ahead of the board's expectations. Organic revenue grew 10% supported by a higher software mix which improved margins.

The Propsim Channel Emulator product line, acquired in January, performed slightly above forecasts for revenue and operating profit in its first quarter of ownership, with particularly encouraging order intake.

Network Testing's second half revenues and profit grew in line with the mid to high single digit growth rates expected. However, full year revenue in sterling terms was flat year-on-year due to the adverse currency impact seen in the first half.

The company made good progress in America and Asia Pacific, particularly with the Invex benchmarking product, but the European market remained a challenge given the tough economic climate.

Travel profit was in line with last year despite the business securing only a relatively small amount of the £1.0m licence revenue targeted for the fourth quarter due to customer-related delays. It was, however, mitigated by extra man-time revenue and cost controls.

"The group has capitalised on its growing pipeline of opportunities, resulting in a strong finish to the year," said Chief Executive Officer, Christopher Humphrey.

"This has enabled us to achieve our full-year target and I am pleased with the progress we have made throughout the year."

Shares rose 5.84% to 128.60p at 09:22 Thursday.