Kainos, the recently listed Northern Ireland software and consulting group, has reported a small dip in pre-tax profits in its first half year results since debuting on the London stock exchange in July.

The former Queen’s University spin out reported pre-tax profits of more than £5.1million for the six months to September 2015 compared to over £5.6 million for the corresponding period the previous year.

The slight dip relates to exceptional expenses of more than £1.2 million associated with its initial public offering (IPO) and share based payments.

The latest financial results show that with these expenses discounted adjusted pre-tax profits rose by 20 per cent to £6.8 million on a significantly improved turnover of £37.2 million - up from a corresponding £28.8 million the previous year.

Kainos, which provides digital technology solutions to more than 150 global customers in the healthcare, government and financial sectors, now intends to make its first interim dividend payment next January.

It highlights in its interim report today how it has made a “successful transition from a private to a public company” and that the IPO has widened share ownership among its employees as a total of 276 staff bought shares in the company - 37 per cent of its 800 strong workforce are now shareholders.

Belfast headquartered Kainos is currently one of just three listed companies in the North.

The other two are Newry based First Derivatives, which is traded on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) Alternative Investment Market (Aim) and the Enterprise Securities Market and UTV Media, listed on the LSE and ISEQ, which is in the process of selling its television assets to ITV in a £100 million deal.

According to Brendan Mooney, the chief executive of Kainos, the completion of the IPO was a "highly significant event" in the company's history and has helped to increased its corporate profile which in turn is reflected in its sales pipeline.

“We have seen solid performance across the group during this reporting period, with increasing levels of demand across each of our operating divisions. We are confident that trading is in line with market expectations and we are well positioned to deliver future growth,” Mr Mooney said.