Wireless tech firm Telit Communications ramped up first half revenue and adjusted pre-tax profit and said the outlook for the rest of the year remains positive.

The machine-to-machine (M2M) firm, which wirelessly connects devices to a network to enable monitoring of real-time information for equipment such as heart monitors, vending machines and trucks, said revenue increased by 21.6% to $98.6m for the six months ended June 30th 2012.

Adjusted EBITDA increased to $8.5m during the period from $8.1m before. Pre-tax profit fell to $2.7m from $2.8m. Telit said the results were affected by significant investments in sales and marketing expenses including the set-up of the m2mAIR business unit, the integration of Navman Wireless OEM Solutions and the opening of new sales offices in Australia and Czech Republic.

The group, which last year integrated Motorola's m2m business and GlobalConect, said net cash flow from operating activities increased by 39% to $8.3m.

Commenting on the results, Chief Executive Officer Oozi Cats said: "During this period, the revenue growth rate achieved in recent years continued. Alongside the successful integration of Navman, revenue growth was sustained with a positive impact on profitability."

Telit expects gross margins to remain stable in the near term and is working on improving cost base, logistics and purchasing to achieve and maintain profitability.

Cats added: "The launch of our m2mAIR business unit is a significant development. It opens new horizons and will change the revenue model of the company to include a layer of recurring revenues".

Telit trading has remained stable since the half-year end and the outlook for the rest of 2012 remains positive.

"We believe we are well positioned to benefit from key trends in the technology market and will look to leverage our strong position to further increase market share in 2012 and beyond. We will continue to review expansion opportunities, both organic and through potential acquisitions, to maintain momentum and continue to expand activities within the m2m value chain."


Specialist recruitment firm Hydrogen reported a slight rise in first half profit thanks to robust performances from its international operations and its Technical & Scientific practices, but it expects the overall economic backdrop to remain challenging.

Net fee income rose to £15.6m in the six months to the end of June from £15.1m the year before. Net fee income from permanent placements climbed to £7.6m from £7m while contract NFI was broadly unchanged at £8m.

Pre-tax profit rose to £1.9m during the period compared to £1.8m a year ago while basic EPS increased to 6.13p from 6.01p.

Executive chairman Ian Temple said: "Strong performances from our international operations and our Technical & Scientific practices have enabled us to deliver NFI and profit growth in the first half of 2012 despite difficult market conditions."

He added that the group continues to trade in line with the board's expectations and there has been no adverse impact on recruitment activity in the UK because of the Olympic Games.

"We remains on target to meet our expectations for the year as a whole and we expect the overall economic backdrop to remain challenging but will continue to develop our practice-led strategy, investing in markets where we see potential for growth," he added.

The interim dividend has been increased by 7% to 1.5p.

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