LONDON (ShareCast) - (Sharecast News) - Identity technology business GB Group said it expects to accelerate growth in the second half after a flat first half, as it reported the bolt-on acquisition of DataTools, an address validation and data quality solutions provider in Australia and New Zealand.
The "financially attractive" purchase, for AUD$16.0m (£7.9m), adds scale in a region where GBG is already enjoying "strong growth" and is highly complementary to the company's existing identity verification platform, GBG said.

Thursday's acquisition coincided with a first-half trading update, in which GBG said financial results for the six months to 30 September were in line with the board's expectations.

Revenues totalled £135.5m, slightly lower than the £136.9m reported a year earlier, but 1.8% higher on a constant currency basis.

GBG said that two key factors weighed on the top line during the period: tough comparatives with last year, when the identity business delivered high transaction volumes for a project with Santander; and the withdrawal of GBG's compliance platform as part of the company's "strategic simplification".

Excluding these impacts, underlying revenue growth was around 4%.

"The board and I are pleased with the operational execution delivered in the first half, underpinning our confidence into the second half of the year," said chief executive Dev Dhiman.

"We successfully delivered our financial plan for the first half and taken together with the strength of our current sales pipeline for the remainder of the year, GBG is well positioned to accelerate growth in the second half and achieve our revenue outlook for the full year consistent with current market expectations."

Shares were up 1.1% at 245.26p in early deals on Thursday.

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