Redstone owner says it’s turned the financial corner

Coms, the provider of technology and services for smart buildings and commercial spaces, has announced its year end results for 31 January 2016.

Operating profit from continued operations before “integration and transactional items” was £700,000, compared to a 2015 loss of £1.3 million.

Revenues from continued operations was up 36 percent to £40.1 million, compared to £29.5 million last time.

Coms disposed of its loss-making telephony services division for £2.5 million in cash during the year, as well as its loss-making Darkside Studios media division for a “nominal consideration”.

The group says it is now “refocused” around its remaining trading entity, Redstone, the IT network and smart buildings systems integrator. Redstone is said to have secured a “number of significant projects” from within the financial services and media sectors during the year.

Coms acquired Connect IB, a smart buildings application software business, for £1.3 million in March this year.

Mark Braund, chief executive officer of Coms, said: “This was a transformational period for Coms, which saw the company radically refocus its efforts in order to capitalise on the strong market position of our core Redstone operations, which facilitate greater engagement between buildings and commercial spaces and the people who use them.”

He said: “We have now successfully exited our non-core businesses and, more recently, completed the acquisition of Connect IB, which further enhances our smart technology capabilities. The company is providing enterprise-wide solutions to blue chip clients and, increasingly, achieving recurring and annuity revenues.”

Braund said Coms had made a “strong start to 2016”.

As for potential litigation, the company added: “Further to the information in last year’s Annual Report and Accounts, we can report that the various issues with the previous group CEO Dave Breith have now been fully resolved.”

@AntonySavvas