Software Radio Technology (LON:SRT) , the company that makes communications systems used in the maritime industry and, increasingly, in a new generation of tracking equipment for other markets, turned a profit in the first six months of this year. A growing number of regulatory mandates in territories around the world for vessels to install AIS communications devices helped push revenues up by 94% to £4.42m in the six months to September 30. Post-tax profits came in at £1.33m, up from a £31k loss in the same period last year, while cash on hand increased by 46% to £1.39m and gross margins increased by 48% from 36% previously. The company’s order book this week stands at US$6.6m.

Simon Rogers, SRT's chairman, said: “Demand in the AIS market continues to grow as existing mandates start to take effect and we are now seeing the start of this reflected in the figures we are reporting today. We expect the market to continue to grow and see many opportunities arising for our technologies and new products in the future.”

SRT added the Class A product to its range of other AIS devices earlier this year in a move designed to meet the requirements of any market. In June, its technology was given formal EU, US and Canadian certification, meaning that it could start shipping the units to customers. In today’s results, the company said it had encountered “the usual issues associated with new products of such complexity” but had nevertheless succeeded in ramping up shipments of its AIS Class A devices.

SRT estimates that there are currently mandates in effect which require approximately one million vessels to be fitted with an AIS device within the next four years, of which 80,000 have now been fitted, with more mandates expected in the future. The company is also keen to adapt the technology for use in new markets such as personal tracking and other safety, security and tracking applications. It said there were “significant opportunities” for it to apply its technologies in different products and applications. Revenues from derivatives of SRT’s core AIS technology are expected to begin in the first quarter of 2011.

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