9 May 2014 – preliminary results
The specialist provider of CCTV and monitoring systems to the fleet and network operators in the bus and rail industries has announced its results for the year to 31 December 2013. These have shown that revenue for the year fell to £10.8m (2012: £14.0m) with a pre-tax loss of £218k being reported (2012: profit £1.83m). The group lost the contract for Go-Ahead Group last August although it remains a preferred supplier to First Group UK Bus and Arriva UK Bus. There was a change in the senior management team last October with the arrival of a new CEO and Group FD, with Russ Singleton, the new CEO, having been part of the management team at Synectics, where he was one of the founders. Given his successful track record at that company there are clearly grounds for believing that he can replicate that success at 21st Century. We therefore rate the shares as a BUY.