UK screen dealing vendor FfastFill says it expects to report a small profit for the year despite "turbulent conditions" that have resulted in delays to the signing of contracts. The company has also named current COO Hamish Purdey as chief executive officer.
In a trading update the firm says that, despite some contract signings being pushed back into next year, its second half performance saw a significant improvement on the first six months.
In November FfastFill reported a widening in interim half-yearly pre-tax losses at £0.5 million from £0.3 million but now says it expects to make a profit for the full year.
Last year the vendor reported a profit after tax of £0.92 million for its financial year.
The firm's 12 month forward order book stands at around £13 million at the year end, compared to £10.3 million for 2007/08. Its SaaS twelve month forward order book has grown to approximately £10 million compared to £7.1 million.
Cost savings of around £1.5 million per annum are expected through previous staff reductions and building and data centre consolidation. These reductions will offset increases associated with Asia Pacific expansion. There will be a one-time charge of approximately £600,000 to cover these reductions.
In addition, COO Hamish Purdey has been appointed chief executive officer with immediate effect, taking on the day to day running of the firm. Purdey also joins the board, with former CEO Keith Todd continuing as executive chairman.
Chief technology officer John Elmore is retiring and corporate development director Nigel Hartnell is "reducing the time he spends with FfastFill" and taking a non-executive role on the board.
Says Todd: "As we move into the next phase of our growth plan, it is an appropriate time to hand over the CEO role. Hamish's extensive knowledge of the company, industry, technology and our customers, together with his energetic focus on customer service make him ideally suited to lead FfastFill as CEO during its next phase of development."
The company will report results for the twelve months ended 31 March 2009 on 28 May.
FfastFill shares were up 2.38% to 5.25 pence in mid-morning trading