(Alliance News) - Cerillion PLC on Monday said it signed a new "major" contract worth an initial USD11.1 million with an unnamed provider of connectivity solutions in southern Africa.

The London-based billing, charging and customer relationship management software solutions provider also reported interim results for the six months that ended March 31.

Revenue rose 10% to GBP22.5 million from GBP20.5 million a year earlier, with annualised recurring revenue up 14% to GBP15.0 million from GBP13.1 million.

This improved Cerillion's bottom line, as pretax profit rose 21% to GBP10.4 million from GBP8.6 million.

It also increased its first half dividend by 21% to 4.0 pence from 3.3p, while new customer pipeline was up 20% to a record GBP254.0 million from GBP212.0 million.

Net cash at March 31 was up 13% to GBP26.6 million from GBP23.6 million a year earlier.

"Cerillion's interim results again set new records for our key performance indicators in any six-month period and demonstrate the strong momentum in the business and the significant growth opportunities available," said Chief Executive Officer Louis Hall.

"With an ever-growing sales pipeline, increasingly strong demand amongst telcos for digital transformation via SaaS solutions, and some exciting innovation in our product suite, we expect to continue to grow strongly. Given the company's progress - including the major new contract announced today - and prospects, we believe it is well-placed to deliver market expectations for the full year and beyond, and we view the future with confidence."

Meanwhile, Cerillion said its USD11.1 million contract win is for an initial five years and has "scope to develop further" over time.

The new customer serves both the business-to-business and business-to-consumer markets in Southern Africa, Cerillion said, with an offering that encompasses a wide range of technologies, including fibre, satellite, microwave, and 5G stand alone.

Under the terms of the deal, Cerillion will be "supplying, implementing and maintaining its flagship operations support system and business support system solution on a software-as-a-service basis".

Cerillion said its software comes as an 'off-the-shelf' product solution, providing the "benefits of a customised solution without the attendant cost and integration risk typically associated with bespoke solutions".

"This 'productised' approach has become a clear differentiator for Cerillion in a market that has been traditionally dominated by vendors providing tailored solutions, which are less flexible and far more complex to implement," the company said.

CEO Hall commented on the deal: "We are extremely pleased to have secured a major new contract with this leading southern Africa solutions provider. Our solution was put through its paces in the evaluation stages, and we are delighted that the advantages of our productised approach and the quality and breadth of our offering were so clear to see. We look forward to a successful partnership with our new client."

Shares in Cerillion were flat to 1,575 pence each in London on Monday late morning.

By Greg Rosenvinge, Alliance News senior reporter

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