The DWS Ltd (ASX: DWS) share price dropped 3.3% this morning after the company announced its interim results for the first half of the 2019 financial year.
DWS provides IT services to large corporate entities and government agencies. It offers products and services including systems development, application-managed services, business process automation, and business analytics.
Although the company saw a 33% increase in revenue on the prior corresponding period, underlying EBITDA was down 13% and the net profit after tax was 34% lower.
The revenue result was bolstered significantly by the acquisition of Projects Assured, a management consultancy firm based in Canberra. Headwinds included lower than expected demand in some sectors, as well as acquisition costs relating to Projects Assured.
The Board has declared a 4.0 cent fully-franked interim dividend, down from the 5.0 cent interim dividend in the previous corresponding period.
CEO and Managing Director of DWS Limited, Danny Wallis said: "DWS was impacted by variable and lower than expected demand in the Banking & Finance sector and lower than expected demand in the IT&C and Utilities sectors which led to lower staff utilisation. In response, we have continued to invest in licensed products and Robotic Process Automation as well as supporting Projects Assured in their growth."
Over the last 12 months, the DWS share price has fallen by over 25% lower, compared to a gain of 3.5% for the S&P/ASX 200 index.
