Bytes Technology Group plc has reported its half-year results following the trials and tribulations of the past 18 months.
The software, security, AI and cloud services specialist, based in Surrey, saw its shares lose a third of their value in one day in early July after it issued a profit warning.
Beginning that day, 2nd July, at around 508p, by its end its share price stood at 353p: it had recovered to 412p (before trading commenced this morning) following the recent announcement of a £25m share repurchase programme.
For the six months ended 31st August 2025, Bytes revealed a 2.5% rise in revenue to £108.1m. Gross profit increased slightly to £82.4m but operating profit dropped 7% to £33.1m.
The firm blamed a higher headcount, salary and national insurance costs for the drop in operating profit, saying this was only partly mitigated by a lower variable remuneration.
In issuing the profit warning in early July, Bytes said trading across the first months of the year had been impacted by a challenging macroeconomic environment, leading to some deferral of customer buying decisions, particularly in the corporate sector.
Last year Bytes began investigating the shock resignation of its former CEO Neil Murphy after he was accused of unauthorised trading in the company’s shares.
The investigation ultimately found 119 unauthorised transactions on 66 trading days between January 2021 and November 2023 which sent the London-listed stock plummeting.
However it would rebound as the software company announced a 12.3% rise in annual revenue to £207m and 12.2% leap in adjusted operating profit to £63.3m.
Sam Mudd (pictured), installed as interim CEO, was appointed to the role on a permanent basis in May 2024 while two independent non-executive directors were also added to its board. Its share price rose above 500p on that news, and it was holding steady around that mark until early July.
“We delivered a resilient performance, building positive momentum through the period as we settled into our new corporate sales structure,” Mudd said in the firm’s notice to the London Stock Exchange this morning.
“Despite the challenging economic climate, and our internal and industry changes over the past six months, we have maintained our share of wallet amongst our existing customers as they continued to invest in their IT needs and we have continued to expand our client base in both the public and corporate sectors.
“Our passionate, talented, and experienced staff continue to position BTG to provide high-quality licensing advice, technical enablement and support to meet our customers’ needs. This differentiates us from the competition and underpins our confidence for the remainder of the year. I would like to extend my gratitude to our teams for their hard work and dedication to the business.”
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