Radius Plc, the systems integrator from Hull, has bounced back to profit for the first six months to June 30. Pre-tax profit was UKP808,000 and turnover grew a healthy 14.9% to UKP12.3m, against a half and full year with pre-tax losses of UKP466,000 and UKP1.0m respectively. The company has also returned to more healthy cash levels of UKP4.3m, up from UKP2.0m last time, and dipping to UKP1.2m at December 31 1993. It has resumed the payment of a dividend, with an interim dividend of 0.35 pence. The figures represented positive contributions from all Radius’s subsidiaries, though the mainframe market remained flat. Indeed the company expects this sector of its business to continue to shrink as Radius shifts to the open systems market. Radius also benefited from a non-recurring gain from its Professional sector of UKP269,000 from the sale of surplus land. The company saw particular growth in its retail operation and expects major growth here in the medium term. At the end of June, Radius’s order book was up 30% on this stage last year, and it expects at least UKP1.0m in pre-tax profits for the full year. However the company will not make any predictions, after the shock of last year. At the half year Radius suffered unexpected losses, predicted it would make up the shortfall, only to see the losses grow and has now decided that caution is the best policy. Since the results, Radius has purchased Avalon Systems Ltd, supplier of management information and financial systems to the carton printing industry. The markets liked the results and the shares added 4 pence to 44 pence.
