Cybersecurity firm Sophos posts loss ahead of £3bn sale
Cybersecurity firm Sophos today posted a loss for the first half of the year, blaming restructuring and legal costs.
The UK listed firm is set to be taken private after accepting a £3bn takeover bid from US private equity firm Thoma Bravo last month.
It today announced a loss before tax of $1.5m (£1.16m) for the six months to 30 September, which it said was due to restructuring and legal costs.
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It said its $26m profit in the first half last year was also boosted by an exceptional credit.
Reported group revenue of $365.8m grew five per cent year-on-year and eight per cent at constant currency.
It said exceptional items were a net expense of $14.3m during the period compared to a net credit of $5.5m in the prior year.
Sophos said its expenses arose as a result of restructuring costs, legal costs and legal and professional fees incurred in connection with a review of “apparent non-compliance with certain regulatory matters pertaining to the use of some of the group’s products in certain overseas territories”.
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Sophos shareholders are yet to approve Thoma Bravo’s offer of $7.40 per share to take the company private.
Chief executive Kris Hagerman said: “Our performance in H1 FY20 shows the continued progress we are making towards fully transitioning our business to next-generation cybersecurity.
“As we pursue this strategy, we are benefiting from our advanced capabilities and investments in the cloud, machine-learning, APIs, synchronized security, automation, managed threat response and more, to deliver enterprise-grade protection to organisations of any size.”