GRC billings slide as Brexit puts discretionary spending on hold

IT governance, risk management and compliance products and services supplier GRC International turned in a mixed trading performance from the tail end of its trading year.

Trading against "an uncertain macro-economic and political backdrop", particularly in the fourth quarter, GRC revealed that its cyber-security-focused products and services delivered a "strong performance" but noted that billings from its general data protection services "were significantly down on the same period a year ago".

Billings for the half were down 31% year-on-year to £7m, while full-year billings fell 3% to £15.8m as clients delayed discretionary spending as they await the outcome of ongoing Brexit negotiations.

Despite the slow end to the year, the AIM-listed firm was cash flow positive in the month of March, which had a number of one-off inflows and outflows, following ongoing tight control of costs. Net cash was just £100,000 as of 31 March.

Chief executive Alan Calder said: "Whilst trading over the past six months has been mixed, particularly in Q4, against an uncertain macro-economic and political backdrop, we are pleased that Q4 also saw us sign a number of high-value multi-year contracts, giving us a strong-run rate into the new financial year.

"As we enter the new financial year, given our strong exit run-rate, we are cautiously optimistic on outlook and maintain guidance for FY20."

As of 1100 BST, GRC shares were down 6.67% at 70p.