Synstar Plc, the UK-based IT services company, recorded preliminary profit for the year ending September 30 up 191.4% at 5m pounds ($8.1m) on revenue up 30.3% to 214.2m pounds ($348m). Earnings per share rose 111.7% to 3.6 pence ($0.06). Announcing its results, Synstar chief executive Richard Ferre said the company’s back-up and recovery operations and help-desk services had performed well in the year, and predicted 40% growth for its desktop management operations in the year ahead.
Synstar raised 144m pounds ($234m) from an IPO on the London Stock Exchange in March (CI No 3,599), most of which went to pay of debt related to a $120m management buy-out in 1997. However, with $20m is left over, Ferre said the company is seeking suitable acquisitions to drive European expansion of its business. He said Synstar expects to acquire companies in Germany and France in the next six months, with likely targets being small business recovery, desktop management or network provisioning firms with revenues between 5m pounds to 15m pounds ($8.1m to $24.3m) in the sectors.
After that, the firm will look for bigger companies, possibly as large as 100m pound ($162m) revenue. To do this, Synstar may take more funding either through debt or creating new shares. Just over half of the company (53%) is currently in public hands. Ferre says he wants to get up with the big players, firms like Cap Gemini and ICL, and to do that successfully, he says he needs to grow the business through acquisition.
