Kainos issues positive trading update as employee numbers grow 20%

Kainos, a Belfast-based provider of digital services and platforms, issued a positive trading update to the market on Monday, but warned of the impact of constrained funding in the UK's National Health Service (NHS). The IT company flagged trading "in line with market expectations" in the 12-month period to the end of March with the group "well positioned in its core markets". It said its number of employees grew almost 20 per cent in a year.

Although positive on growth prospects, Kainos flagged constrained funding in the UK’s National Health Service (NHS) as a factor that impacts short-term growth of its “evolve” platforms. The “evolve” suite of products includes the company’s software as a service (SaaS) offering for healthcare providers.

Aside from that, however, Kainos said growth, particularly in digital services, was strong while its international client base “continued to expand” supported by its growing European footprint.

‘Robust balance sheet’

“Kainos has a robust balance sheet with no debt and strong cash generation,” the market update said. “The company has a growing level of recurring revenue and has a solid pipeline.”

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The strong sales performance on the digital services side of the group has, however, generated a “comparable increase in contracted backlog”, it said.

The group said recruitment in the period remained strong, with more than 194 people joining since the beginning of April last year, bringing the total number of employees and contractors worldwide to 1,169 by the end of March.

Kainos is the North's largest locally-owned IT services company and its chief executive, Brendan Mooney, won the EY Entrepreneur of the Year award in 2016.

Group results for the year to the end of March will be issued on May 29th.