Hasgrove swings to annual profit

Hasgrove swung to a profit in 2012 as the digital and communications group secured new contracts.

The company posted a pre-tax profit of £1.1m for the year ended December 31st 2012, compared to a loss of £3.0m the previous year.

Revenue rose 9.2% to £24.9m from £22.8m on the back of strong results across all units.

"The last year has seen a good recovery in performance in all our businesses along with a strong level of new business wins," Chief Executive, Paul Sanders, said.

"Having reviewed all the options open to us, we believe that considering the current size and scale, as well as the needs of the business, the best return for our Shareholders is now to buy back a proportion of their shares and delist."

This year the company sold its marketing and technology unit Amaze to St Ives for £15.3m which Sanders said has allowed the group to focus on growing remaining businesses including trading subsidiaries Interact, The Chase and Landmarks.

Amaze delivered revenues of £18.9m in 2012, up from £17.4m the prior year, and gross profit grew to £13.8 from £11.9m.

The company said Interact, The Chase and Landmarks have traded steadily since the end of the last financial year and was "optimistic" about the group's future prospects.

Net debt at the end of the period reduced to £0.1m from £1.5m.

The firm proposed a dividend of 2.0p per share, up from 1.0p a year earlier.

Shares rose 0.65% to 77p at 15:19 Friday.

RD