Concurrent Technologies PLC on Monday said it expects profit to multiply in the first half of 2023 from a year earlier, as revenue is believed to reach record levels for the computer boards designer and manufacturer.

Shares in Concurrent jumped 26% on Monday morning to 71.70 pence each in London.

In the six months that ended June 30, Colchester, England-based Concurrent expects pretax profit to be around £1 million, rising tenfold from £100,000.

This is in line with an expected ‘record’ first half revenue of around £12 million, up 62% from £7.4 million a year earlier.

Order intake ‘remains strong’, Concurrent said, with an intake of £14.5 million during the first half and a backlog of around £29 million at June 30.

Concurrent said while global supply chain shortages continued to suppress revenue during the half-year period, the current position is ‘much more favourable’ and will continue to improve compared to January. It noted that supply chains have still not returned to historical norms.

The company has taken ‘significant’ deliveries of previously supply-restricted components and is seeing improved forecasts from suppliers for both schedules and quantities, Concurrent said.

‘Cash management remained a focus for the company during [the first half] and working capital employed in the business remained higher than would be typically required,’ the company said.

‘It is expected that this position will begin to reduce across the second half of the year, with potentially stronger revenues, and the unwinding of the inventory holdings that have been established to date.’

Looking ahead, Concurrent said it believes the company is in line to deliver revenues ‘slightly ahead’ of current market expectations and pretax profit ‘materially ahead’ of market expectations.

‘We are at an inflection point. Now that components are becoming more readily available, we will enter a period of growth. [First half] revenue was a record first half for us, and I believe [second half] will be better still,’ said Chief Executive Officer Miles Adcock.

‘Following a period of ongoing transformation, this business now has the capability, capacity, and ambition to deliver sustained growth...Fuelled by record levels of order intake and customer engagement, we are driving to continuously improve our performance for all our stakeholders.’

Concurrent said it expects to publish its interim results on September 19.

At the end of June, Concurrent reported annual profit had fallen and its revenue was down due to constraints of component supplies.

Pretax profit in 2022 dropped to £400,000 from £3.5 million the previous year, while revenue was down 11% to £18.3 million from £20.5 million.

Concurrent’s cash balance was also hit in the year, falling 62% to £4.5 million from £11.7 million; the company said this was a factor of reduced receipts in revenue. The company declared no dividend, from a 2.55 pence per share the year prior.

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