Full year profit took a hit at Security Research Group after revenue came in at around a third of the level seen during the previous year due largely to the completion of a major contract.

Group pre-tax profit in the 12 months ended March 31st 2014 totalled £1.74m (2013: £4.98m) on revenue of £9.1m (2013: £29.36m), which it said reflected the completion of the £50m Ministry of Defence (MoD) contract and the sea change in global markets for IED detection equipment, which was responsible for a large proportion of the profits in the previous year.

In the Specialist Electronics division, which dealt with the MoD contract, the firm is now improving its existing range of products while at the same time working on a whole new assortment of completely new products aimed at the commercial market. Profit for the 12 months dropped from £6.77m to £0.03m on revenue of £2.76m (2013: £32.57m).

Turnover from the Property Information Services division rose from £4.23m to £4.69m, with operating profit jumping from £0.15m to £0.84m, which it said was driven by its technology platform.

"The recovering housing market, coupled with recent improvements to systems and contracts, means that the business is now set for a sustained period of growth," the group predicted.

"Housing transactions are still 31% below their long-term average, and 38% off peak. With low central costs and rapidly growing revenues, profits will grow exponentially as house sales return to normal levels."

Revenue and operating profit from the Packaging Solutions business were more or less flat, as it maintained the level of performance seen the prior year.

NR

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