After what we tagged a ‘best in class’ profit warning in February (see Nakama – how to make a profit warning sound like good news), the ‘Highams enhanced’ digital media and IT staffing firm, Nakama (see Last waltz for Highams as Nakama reverses in), confirmed the bad news in similar style.
Headline revenues jumped by nearly half to £13.3m mainly on the back of Highams, which a year earlier was turning over £9m p.a. (see Highams waltzes on). However, acquisition costs proved more daunting than expected and the combined entity lost money to the tune of £180k net, a performance chairman Ken Ford referred to as ‘disappointing’. There will be no ‘div’ for the foreseeable future.
But on the bright side (and there’s always a bright side with Nakama), they are ploughing ahead with their expansion plans, which saw them open an office in Singapore and acquire executive search firm Libby Fisher Associates. Next stop Munich and maybe even China.
As I said before, the Nakama/Highams merger strategy seemed sensible and still does. Now that the combined business has settled down (I assume!), management has to turn the theory into practice.