Iomart in buying mode

By PETER RANSCOMBE
Published on 02/06/2012 20:00

CLOUD computing specialist Iomart is sitting on a £30 million war chest that it will use to fuel up to four takeovers over the next 12 months, according to the Glasgow-based firm’s house broker.

With £10m in cash expected to be amassed by the end of its current financial year, the website hosting firm has also secured a £20m banking facility to “raise its firepower”.

Analysts at Peel Hunt said: “We understand that Iomart has a strong pipeline of opportunities and hopes to make three to four more acquisitions by this time next year.

“Iomart has the facilities in place to continue its high rate of growth for at least the next four years.”

The analysts’ comments came after Iomart last week posted a 33 per cent rise in full-year revenues to £33.5m, which pushed up adjusted profits to £6.9m from £3.6m.

Analysts expect profits to rise to about £9.6m during the current year, with Peel Hunt pencilling in £20m of profits during 2014.

The Aim-quoted company – which lists Edinburgh-based flight search engine Skyscanner and fashion retailer Reiss among its clients – made three acquisitions in the past year, snapping up rivals EQSN, Global Gold and Switch Media.