TECH DARLING CUTS LOSSES AFTER BLOCKBUSTER FLOAT
CYBER security star Darktrace is set to narrow its losses to £5m this week after its blockbuster float in London.
The Cambridge-based firm, led by chief executive Poppy Gustafsson, is due to report its full-year results on Wednesday. Analysts expect it to post revenues of £201m for the year to June 30, up from £144m in 2020.
Darktrace is still on course to make a net loss of £5m. However, that is down from £20.7m the previous year.
The company has previously warned investors that it may continue to be loss-making while it pursues rapid expansion including pumping money into research. Darktrace floated in April valued at £1.7bn, or 250p per share. But since then its stock has surged to 728p, valuing it at £5bn.
But the involvement of British tech billionaire Mike Lynch, whose Invoke Capital was Darktrace’s first shareholder, has cast a cloud.
Lynch is accused of cooking the books at his former company Autonomy before it was sold to US giant HP in 2011. He is currently battling against extradition to the US, and denies allegations of fraud.