Data centres and hosting set to serve up iomart’s future growth

November 29, 2007; 01:21 AM

iomart group plc today presented its consolidated interim results for the six month period ended 30^th September 2007.
The results show that the group swung to a first-half pre-tax loss due to the initial development of the datacentre business but that trading since the end of the period has been in line with expectations.
The Group posted a pre-tax loss of £435,000 compared with a pre-tax profit of £30,000 a year ago. Revenue fell to £9.6M versus £10.9 M a year earlier.
 
Commenting on the results, Angus MacSween, CEO,stated: “We are seeing considerable and growing interest in both our datacentre services and our complex hosting capability - particularly from our target market of blue-chip enterprises seeking long term solutions. These will form the core of the group’s future revenue streams, providing high margin earnings with good visibility.”
The Group sees positive market dynamics within the datacentre space, as echoed by numerous market commentators. With demand outstripping supply, prices for datacentre space are inevitably increasing.
MacSween added: “This increasing market demand, coupled with iomart’s ability to offer the complete set of components in the hosting arena from dedicated servers through to complex managed hosting solutions and co-location space, means that the Group is well positioned to win high-value contracts with large organisations requiring significant amounts of rack space. Contracts of this kind, usually long-term, attract a premium price while offering numerous up-selling opportunities”
The main focus of the management team, during the reporting period, has been to make the datacentres fully operational and able to deliver according to the highest industry standards. Both the London and Glasgow datacentres are fully operational and commissioning work has begun on the Nottingham and Leicester datacentres.
“We have significantly increased our profile as a prominent player within the datacentre market, capable of offering a full end-to-end service. As a result of these developments, combined with encouraging market conditions, we are very positive regarding the long term prospects for its datacentre business. We believe that our strategy of becoming a leader in managed complex hosting, leveraging our own national infrastructure and experience will create a business with strong revenue streams, providing high margin earnings and good visibility.”