Mark Crouch, market analyst at eToro, says Cerillion's (AIM:CER) first-half numbers look softer at first glance, but new orders more than doubled to £39.6 million, helped by a landmark £42.5 million contract with Oman’s national telecoms operator, and the back-order book climbed to a record £82.1 million.
The analyst argues that, for a relatively small UK technology company competing against much larger international software providers, Cerillion has steadily built a reputation in telecoms billing and customer management, and has transformed from a niche domestic player into a credible global contender.
Crouch points to a record customer pipeline, a cash-rich balance sheet and the prospect of substantial high-margin software revenues being recognised in the second half as the signals that demand remains robust and that management’s decision to maintain full-year guidance is defensible.
He says the recognition of those high-margin software revenues in the second half will be the key test of this view and of management’s maintained full-year guidance.
