Alphameric Group Plc has found one way to cheer shareholders faced with a dismal set of results – the 3.8m pound acquisition of Computer 100, which provides Electronic Point of Sale EPoS systems for confectionery, tobacco, news and convenience stores. Given the bumpy ride that Alphameric investors have suffered, it is little surprise that Computer 100 shareholders are insisting that 2.75m pounds of the purchase price is in cash. So Alphameric will have to raise 3.5m pounds net with a placing and open offer of 10.8 million new shares at 37 pence each. Computer 100 fits neatly in with Alphameric’s own retail systems business – and it has bought a highly profitable operation, with pre-tax income of 177,549 pounds on revenues of 1.5 million pounds in the 11 months to March 31. The plan is to bring together Computer 100’s retail applications with Alphameric’s EpoS platform to offer retailers an integrated system. In the fragmented market for retail software, Alphameric has been making good progress with revenues up 20% over the past year. And the company is moving into the more profitable sector in the design and supply of tailored applications. The company’s problem this year has been its data broadcast and multimedia division, which was hit by the postponement of two major orders. Alphameric has been on a revenue plateau for the past four years, and unless it can show substantial improvement in the current financial year, radical changes may well be forced on the company.
