Craneware cash outflow catches market off guard

Craneware (CRW) shares fell on the release of these ‘in-line’ half-year numbers and it’s quite puzzling why. The healthcare billing software group posted a 15 per cent rise in half-year revenues to $35.9m (£27.1m), while adjusted cash profits rose by a fifth to $11.6m. Perhaps it was the group’s cash position – now $38.7m, compared with the last half-year’s $52.2m – which caught investors off guard. This was the result of shareholder returns and research and development (R&D) investments in the period, although an extra $10m in collected receivables means analysts at Investec see “no lasting issue” with future cash outflows.