ULS Technology reports 'robust' trading in first half

Conveyancing and financial intermediary platform provider ULS Technology updated the market on its trading on Tuesday, ahead of its half-year results for the six months ended 30 September.

The AIM-traded firm said that during the first half of the financial year, it continued to trade “robustly” in a difficult housing market, with profit before tax in line with the board's expectations.

It said it had concentrated on higher margin segments of the market, and had continued to invest in its key products, which would allow growth to accelerate over time.

As a result, underlying profit before tax for the period was said to be similar to last year at £2.8m with revenue, as was expected, which was down around 9%.

The group said it was continuing to generate strong cash flow, which enabled the payment of a progressive dividend for the half-year period.

Looking ahead, ULS said it had a “strong” distribution network, was “highly operationally geared”, and remained well placed to generate “significant” returns as the market improved.

The focus remained on developing high-margin routes to market, with the continued roll out of its new flagship product, DigitalMove.

To date, it said DigitalMove had received “strong” positive feedback and was proven to have “significantly reduced” transaction times as it was being rolled out across the company’s customer base.

DigitalMove was expected to start contributing directly to revenues during the next financial year.

The board said the roll-out of DigitalMove would enable the company to optimise commercial opportunities within its existing client base, in addition to enabling it to target non-ULS cases, providing a “potentially significant” new revenue stream.

“In a difficult operating environment, the group remains highly cash generative and continues to maintain good profit margins,” said chief executive officer Steve Goodall.

“At the same time, we continue to invest in developing DigitalMove, which we believe will revolutionise the conveyancing experience for all parties involved in the process while further enhancing margins and growth opportunities.”

Early feedback had been “extremely positive”, Goodall said, adding that the company would continue to accelerate the development to ensure that it established itself as market leaders in the area.

“We believe we are well placed to transform the industry on the back of our continued investment into DigitalMove, and given our proven capabilities, are primed to scale up quickly within our existing customer base and beyond as and when conditions improve.”

The company said it would announce its half-year results on 3 December.

As at 1321 GMT, shares in ULS Technology were down 1.41% at 50.04p.