JSE-listed tech giant takes a hit

JSE-listed Bytes Technology Group has reported mixed interim results, as the UK-based tech giant settles into its new sales structure.

Bytes is one of the United Kingdom’s leading software, security, cloud and AI service specialists. Its primary listing is on the London Stock Exchange, with a secondary listing on the JSE.

Established in 1982, Bytes has grown rapidly and now employs over 710 people in the UK and Ireland.

The company came under some pressure in 2024, when it announced that its former CEO, Neil Murphy, traded shares in the company during his tenure without notifying the board, which is illegal under UK and EU law.

Bytes announced on Wednesday, 21 February 2024, that Murphy had resigned from the position of CEO effective immediately.

In that announcement, Bytes revealed Murphy had notified its board that he had made several trades in the company’s shares that were not disclosed to the board or the market. 

The board has since investigated the nature of the trades and outlined how Murphy had been consistently buying and selling shares in the company for his personal gain. 

Since January 2021, Murphy purchased 313,741 shares at different share prices, with a total value of R31.01 million.

He then sold all these shares within the 2023 calendar year for a total value of R34.69 million. Therefore, profiting R3.68 million without informing the company.

This marked a difficult period for the company, which was also facing challenging economic conditions that continued into the first half of its 2026 financial year.

On Tuesday, 14 October, the company released its interim results for the six months ended 31 August 2025.

These results revealed a mixed performance, with modest 2.5% revenue growth to £108.1 million and gross profit growth of 0.4% to £82.4 million.

The company’s operating profit declined by 7% to £33.1 million, while its earnings per share sank 5.1% to 12.03 pence.

However, Bytes reported strong cash generation for the period, with cash up 15.1% to £82.3 million.

These results come as the company has been implementing a new corporate sales structure.

“We delivered a resilient performance, building positive momentum through the period as we settled into our new corporate sales structure,” CEO Sam Mudd said. 

“Despite the challenging economic climate and our internal and industry changes over the past six months, we have maintained our share of wallet amongst our existing customers as they continued to invest in their IT needs, and we have continued to expand our client base in both the public and corporate sectors.”

“We are particularly pleased that retention has remained very high, consistent with prior periods, amongst both our sales team and customer base, which provides a solid foundation for future growth.” 

Looking forward, Mudd said Bytes is well-positioned to benefit from the structural demand drivers seen in the tech markets, including cloud computing, cyber security and AI for the remainder of its 2026 financial year. 

“We have a strong pipeline and have started H2 FY26 well, but are mindful that comparatives will be impacted by the particularly strong trading performance we saw in the last few months of the prior financial year,” it said. 

“We remain confident of delivering a full-year outcome within the range of market expectations.” The company declared an interim dividend of 3.2 pence per share.

Bytes’ share price is down nearly 7% on the JSE following this interim results announcement.