I thought you might like to hear how veteran AIM-listed software and IT services firm, Ultima Networks, got on last year as it has indeed been a year since last I wrote about them (see Ultima Networks – ten years after). Ultima, you may recall, is following the not-so-well trodden path from software play to ‘green technology’ play.
It’s just as well they’re still hanging on to the software business – aka Cognito (software for legal eagles) – as it’s providing essentially 100% of the profit (and I assume, therefore, the cash) to finance the development of its range of electric bicycles and a solar park in Spain. Just for the record, Ultima's headline revenues were up 9% to £1.9m, while operating profit jumped 61% to £356k.
I truly don’t know what to make of Ultima, but investors have enjoyed a near-40% stock appreciation over the past year (with ups and downs) and the shares are up 3% as I write, so there are clearly ‘believers’ out there.