Yorkshire Bank set to benefit from SME sector

A WIN is a win as they say and I will happily take victory in my inaugural share tip prediction, although I cannot deny the razor thin margin.

Leeds-based transport software provider Tracsis is one of Yorkshire’s most impressive business success stories in recent years and that is why I backed them this time last year.

On the face of it, Tracsis saw modest but solid growth of just under 1 per cent in 2017.

It enjoyed another successful year, having won a major multimillion pound contract with a major UK rail operator in July. The contract will be delivered over four years and includes the renewal of some existing systems

In its full year results the firm reported a big jump in annual profits and it can look back on 2017 as a year of progress, consolidation and growth following the acquisitions of SEP and Ontrac, which have substantially increased the group’s client base.

In all revenue rose 6 per cent to £34.5m in the year to July 31 and pre-tax profit rose 14 per cent to £4.6m. So all in all a success, albeit a minor one.

I must confess that I have seriously racked my brains as to where to plant my flag for 2018.

Among the companies I came close to backing include newly-floated Sumo Digital in Sheffield, who are targeting a whole raft of acquisitions in the coming months and Sirius Minerals who enjoyed a very successful 2017.

However my tip this year lies in the financial sector.

Clydesdale Yorkshire Bank (CYBG) had a splendid 2017. Since becoming a plc and demerging from National Australia Bank it really seems to have its mojo back.

In November it posted bottomline pre-tax profits of £77m for the 12 months to September 30 against a loss of £285m the previous year.

The Yorkshire Bank brand is back where it should be and I was heartened to hear its chief executive David Duffy saying he wanted the company to be both the “bank of the north” and to be focused on the small and medium-sized business sector.

It is an oft-mentioned cliché that SMEs are the engine room of the economy and I see this being truer than ever in 2018, meaning that the bank’s strategy has the potential to be a real winner.

Another string to its bow is the deal with fintech EzBob which will dramatically reduce the wait time for firms to access capital.

In general the top team seems to have a really positive vibe about them, one that it has to be said is infectious, hence my plumping for them.

Regular readers of my column know I am an unashamedly partisan in my views of our great county and I am extremely proud this year to be selecting a company with that most glorious of words, Yorkshire, in its title.

Here’s to another great year for all of our firms, listed or otherwise.

The economy may be turbulent but in my experience most companies are ignoring the Brexit melodrama and cracking on with business.