Fronde back in the black, but growth remains elusive

Wellington-based cloud service provider Fronde is back in the black for the half-year ended 30 September.

Profit before tax was NZ$1.2 million, from a loss in the same period of 2014 of NZ$1.1 million.

However, growth remains elusive. Revenue was flat at NZ$31.5 million and chairman Jon Mayson said challenges remain.
"We are forecasting a more challenging second half, and will continue to keep a close eye on costs and take action to ensure Fronde remains profitable over the balance of the year," Mayson said.

The result was achieved through strong cost control, better matching of capacity to workflow, and a 12 per cent improvement in operating margins, he said.

Fronde saved NZ$1.5 million in costs for the half year.

"We've also made changes internally in terms of staffing and business focus to be able to effectively meet the changing needs of the market and our customers who are more and more looking to us for cloud and digital solutions."

As previously reported on ZDNet the company also renegotiated the earn-out agreement with the former owners of its Australian acquisition, OnlineOne, a Netsuite specialist.

Fronde's Australian grew by 7 percent for the six month period that was cancelled overall by contraction in New Zealand.

Fronde appointed a new CEO, Anthony Belsham, last month. He replaces Ian Clarke, who led the company for eight years.