Vipera Plc (LON:VIP) Chief Financial Officer Martin Perrin caught up with DirectorsTalk for an exclusive interview to discuss their interim results for six months ended 30th June 2017
Q1: Good news out in your half-year report, could you talk us through the financial highlights?
A1: Well, obviously, the headline number is our revenue and our revenue was up 15% on the prior year H1 and within this our recurring revenue which is the transaction and per user fees as well as support and maintenance, all of that is up 38%. In parallel, the consultants revenue was relatively flat but the other revenue stream, licence and project fees, are up so that’s progressing well. At profit line, the operating loss at €0.5 million, which is a bit more than last year but in no small part, that reflects our involved and spending more money on growing and accelerating our path to profitability.
Q2: What about Vipera’s operational highlights?
A2: We had some excellent operating successes in the first half, notably Vipera being awarded our biggest contract ever, in fact we thought that this, from an existing customer, was a good illustration of how much more there is to what we do with mobile functionality. We’ve had other contract wins too, we are seeing exciting opportunities in the field of what’s being called ‘open banking’ and these opportunities certainly play to our strengths.
Q3: Now, you acquired SofTelecom in the period, what does this mean for Vipera?
A3: We have been, and remain, alert for acquisition opportunities. SofTelecom in Spain brings us two things really, first of all it’s a spring board into Spain and you can imagine, it’s a lot easier to sell in a country where one can show customers their local presence. It also brings us additional engineers which is something we constantly need.
Q4: You recently raised €2.5 million, what will the proceeds be used for?
A4: So, the additional capital, partly of course, it reflects a relationship with Sella which is a customer of ours now. The primary use of the additional funds is to position us to make acquisitions whilst, at the same time preserve our working capital, especially as we expect our trade receivable to increase in the second half.
Q5: How are Vipera plc set for the rest of the year?
A5: Actually, our order book and pipeline is rather higher than this time last year so in our view there’s plenty to go for.
