Shares in cyber firm ECSC spike as home working drives up demand
Shares in ECSC jumped more than 11 per cent this morning as the cybersecurity firm said a shift to home working during the pandemic had boosted demand for its services.
In a trading update for the four months since June, ECSC said revenue and profit had continued to rise as clients bolstered their cyber defences.
The Aim-listed firm said third-quarter revenue had exceeded its average quarterly revenue in 2019, with recurring revenue in its managed detection and response division growing 22 per cent year on year.
Adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation exceeded £50,000 per month.
Cybersecurity companies have enjoyed a significant boost in trading this year due to the outbreak of coronavirus, which has prompted a shift to home working and sparked an increase in cyber attacks.
This week the National Cyber Security Centre, which is part of GCHQ, had dealt with a record 723 attempted cyber attacks over the last year, more than a quarter of which were related to Covid-19.
ECSC said a significant proportion of its order book for managed detection and response, which offers IT monitoring and threat detection services, came from major new contract wins.
The company also added 16 new sales partners over the quarter, taking its total number of partners to 136 since the programme was launched in January last year.
“We are pleased to announce continued positive momentum in revenue and adjusted Ebitda for the third quarter,” said chief executive Ian Mann.
“ECSC is securing major contracts, adding partners to drive commercial opportunities and resuming recruitment, which demonstrates the resilience and strength of our business model in these challenging times.
“We believe the group is well positioned to continue to deliver quality services meeting growing demand from existing and potential clients despite continuing Covid-19 related regional lockdowns.”