Sagentia, the AIM-listed, Cambridge-headquartered multidiscipline R&D outsourcing firm chaired by Martyn Ratcliffe, seems to have got itself back on track in the second half of the year after a major US project was suspended in H1 (see here). Although the company returned to growth in H2, this was not enough to mitigate the revenue loss, leaving headline revenues for the year to 31st Dec. 6% down at £22.3m. Operating profit fell more sharply, by 11%, to £3.2m, shaving nearly a point off margins, to 14.5%. However, carried-forward tax losses left EPS 3% higher at 7.5p.
Ratcliffe, should have more time to devote to Sagentia after he steps down as chairman of UK education software and IT services firm, RM (see RM enters next phase as Ratcliffe exits). He remains long-time chairman at Microgen. Despite the share price dip earlier in the year, Sagentia’s shares are back trading over 95p, 13% higher than 12 months ago. The company also announced a maiden 1p a share div.