Cambridge technology business AVEVA has defied tough global trading conditions by posting increased revenues and turning a slight loss into a healthy profit in the six months to September 30.

The engineering software company’s UK share price opened slightly up to 1,781p and AVEVA maintains a market cap of £1.14 billion.

Interim revenue was up three per cent to £84.3 million and the company turned a half year loss of £0.8m last time to a profit of £5.5m.

CEO Richard Longdon, who steps up to president and adviser at the end of this year, said the business was retaining a tight rein on costs while increasing the range and reach of its new generation technologies.

AVEVA has net cash 18 per cent ahead of last time at £124.4m and shareholders get an early Christmas present after the interim dividend was more than doubled to 13p a share – up 117 per cent year-on-year.

Longdon said it was a “solid set of results despite tough trading conditions globally” He reported notable new customer wins, success in diversifying end markets and a broadening solution footprint within itsexisting customer base.

Regionally, the trading environment remained mixed, he said.

In Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) AVEVA saw generally stable conditions with an increase in solution sales and cross-selling new products to existing customers.

AVEVA enjoyed strong progress in North America where business grew 33 per cent but witnessed lower levels of demand in Latin America, where Brazil remains particularly subdued, as expected. In China, the economic backdrop has been generally slower compared to a year ago resulting in a weaker overall performance.

Longdon said: “Revenue from China was lower than the comparative period in 2015 and we were disappointed not to close two deals which we now expect to close in the second half.

“Elsewhere in Asia, sales in South Korea and Japan were strong and improved over the prior year, despite a reduction in offshore projects in the major shipyards.”

He said AVEVA continued to be impacted by the slowdown in Oil & Gas capex and most of its EPC customers had now responded by downsizing their own operations and adapted to current activity levels. Commodity prices remain relatively low and volatile.

AVEVA remains confident that the medium-term prospects for its key vertical markets of Oil & Gas and Power are fundamentally strong and says a proactive focus on its key strategies “will deliver resilience in the short term and strong growth when more favourable market conditions return.

“Despite the tough market conditions, we have made good strategic progress in the first six months and we expect to achieve a result for the full year in line with the board’s expectations,” Longdon said.