Telecoms and data centre group COLT almost doubled its pre-tax profits in the first quarter of 2009 and reported a 32.7% increase in managed services revenue (to €37.3 million).

The company’s managed services division includes application hosting, infrastructure management, IT services and network and facilities management.

However, revenue growth in COLT’s primary product, its data telecoms division, was more sluggish, at 3.7% on the first quarter of 2008 to €199.7 million.

Also during the quarter, the company dropped its quarterly capital expenditure from €67.5 million to €49.6 million, and raised €199.1 million from investors.

That, says CEO Rakesh Bhasin, gives COLT “a significantly improved financial position. Despite ongoing tough trading conditions, I am pleased to report another solid quarter of progress reflecting the resilience in COLT’s business model.”