NCC Group's profit hit by contract cancellations

UK security firm's chairman steps down

NCC Group’s chairman Paul Mitchell said he would be stepping down as he UK cyber security consultancy announced a drop in profits on Thursday.

The UK-based firm - which was hit by the cancellation of three large contracts and the deferral of a fourth - posted a dip in pre-tax profits from £7.5m in its previous year to £7.4m for the six months to 30 November 2016. Group revenues increased by 35 per cent to £125.8m for the six months to November 2016 compared to £93.5m in the same period last year. The rise is still strong, but down on the 50 per cent growth in sales posted last year.

“Three large unrelated contract cancellations in quick succession and one deferral in the assurance division impacted rate of growth,” NCC said in statement (pdf) on its financial results.

NCC, which offers cyber security consulting and managed services, also said that Paul Mitchell, its chairman for 17 years, would be leaving the company a the end of its current financial year in May.

The firm said that the "fundamentals" of its business were strong and that it was looking forward to growth spurred on by factors such as enterprises investing in security consulting ahead of 2018 introduction of the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation.

Rob Cotton, group chief exec, commented: “We have continued to see strong organic growth across the business, particularly in assurance, albeit that earlier contract cancellations were disappointing. Our EBITDA has increased by 15 per cent.”

“With our global reach and increased product range, we are in a prime position to help organisations as they tackle compliance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) ahead of 25 May 2018,” he added. ®