A cyber attack and the war in Ukraine have been cited as key reasons for a stockmarket-listed firm suffering disappointing income and profits.

Ince said today that pre-tax profits for the year ended 31 March 2022 are likely to be ‘short of market expectations’. Annual global revenue is expected to fall by 3% to £97m, after what the company described as a ‘challenging’ final quarter.

Ince said the resurgence of Covid-19 in the UK, the continuing impact of the pandemic in Hong Kong and China, and the effect of the Ukraine conflict on its key global shipping market were all factors behind the sluggish results.

In March the firm was also hit by a cyber attack, midway through an IT systems integration in Asia. Disaster recovery procedures were put in place, including taking some systems offline, with a team of specialists ‘appointed to manage the situation.

Adrian Biles, Gordon Dadds

Adrian Biles

The group said today: ‘Our first concern was to minimise the effect on client work. Once the data loss had been quantified, it was clear that the effects of the attack had principally been on non-client data and our own internal systems, which have now substantially been restored. We continue to investigate the matter and restore some data, but we remain vigilant and have successfully implemented upgrades to our IT systems and controls.'

Ince added that the ‘overwhelming majority’ of the costs incurred will be covered by insurance, and although operating conditions have been difficult, systems are now substantially restored and there should be no long-term effect on the group’s financial performance.

The publication of final results is likely to be delayed until September following the protracted acquisition of corporate adviser and stockbroker Arden Partners in April.

Adrian Biles, group chief executive, said today: ‘The UK’s Covid-19 lockdown in December 2021 and January 2022 had a negative effect on financial performance, as did similar issues in Asia, and on top of this, the group was extremely unfortunate in being victim to a cyber attack in March. The hurdles and timetable that were applied to the Arden acquisition caused much frustration. Now completed, we can move forward to pursue our vision and continue to grow our global multi-talented professional services group.’

Ince’s share price fell almost 15% by 11am today to 20p. A year ago the group was trading at 71.5p.

 

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