Courteville Business Solutions Plc. the e-business solutions and business process outsourcing company, sustained its momentum in the first six months of the year despite a dip in the macroeconomic situation. The company posted revenues of N822.2 million for the half year ended June 30, showing an increase of 1.9 percent over last year. Impressively, the company’s cost of sales also fell to N308.2 million, a drop of 21 percent from the same period in 2014. This, however, was muted by rising operating costs, which climbed 25 percent to N248 million.
The company declared pre-tax profit of N250.6 million against N256.8 million in the first six months of last year. Profit after tax stood at N210.5 million in comparison with N215.7 million reported in the second quarter of 2014. Earnings per share came in at 5.94 kobo, off 2.3 percent from last year.
Speaking on the results, Mr. Adebola Akindele, Group Managing Director of Courteville Business Solutions said the results were ‘proof that Courteville’s demand environment is resilient through the business cycle.’
‘Courteville Business Solutions delivered consistent financial performance in our business process outsourcing platforms such as AutoReg, which handles registration for eight out of every ten vehicles on Nigerian roads. We also recorded over 30 percent growth on Egole, our ecommerce portal. The results were achieved in a difficult and volatile economic environment driven by the drop in oil prices, a depreciating naira, and uncertainty in the run-up to the general elections. In consequence, consumer spending dampened, and business confidence declined, while government budgets underwent deep cuts.’
It has been a busy past few months for Courteville. Recently, it announced that in line with its 5-year strategy (2013-18) centred on diversification, and international expansion, it had acquired Priority Loss Adjusters Limited (PLA), a market leader in motor vehicle administration and testing in Jamaica.
The company will begin operations next month in Zimbabwe. It will be introducing its Insurance Policies’ Database solution in partnership with the Insurance Council of Zimbabwe. This solution is already in use in Nigeria by the Nigerian Insurance Association.
Akindele revealed that Courteville was recently named to a place of pride on Great Place to Work® Nigeria. In almost every category, the e-business solutions developer outperformed its peers in the local and global ICT and professional services industries.
Describing the company’s winning formula, he said clients recognize Courteville’s ability to ‘help them simplify, optimize and automate their operations.’ This empowers them to ‘bring digital solutions faster to the market, so that they can maximize their opportunities.’ He gave assurances that the company would stay focused on further differentiating its ‘proprietary capabilities, capturing new growth opportunities, and delivering sustainable value to our clients and our shareholders.’
Source: Courteville Investor Relations
