The share price of digital and communication services group Hasgrove rose on Friday, after pre-tax profits for the half year came in signifcantly above the previous year.
With revenues higher at £9.0m (2011 £7.7m), profits climbed to £0.7m from £0.1m the same half the year before.
New business activity in the Amaze division continued to be successful with the securing of significant pan-European and global accounts, particularly in growth areas such as e-commerce. Significant projects in the first half were delivered in line with expectations and the overruns experienced in the second half of 2011 have not been repeated.
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Interact, the intranet business, recorded its highest ever figure for new business sales including two intranet sales in excess of £100,000. Following the recruitment of new sales staff in the US in mid-February, a number of intranets have been sold in the US in the second quarter and the pipeline is developing ahead of expectations.
The Chase division had a difficult start to the year due to delayed spend from its major client for the second consecutive year. However, the firm has increased emphasis on new business development and cost reduction to manage this temporary situation.
There have been no exceptional costs in the period (2011: £0.5m) with the group's restructuring now largely complete.
Net debt decreased to £1.0m as at June 30th 2012 (December 31st 2011: £1.5m). The net reduction is after payment of earn-outs of £0.5m and the buy-back of shares of £0.2m. The first deferred payment of €375,000 due following the sale of Interel in 2011 was received in early July.
Paul Sanders, Group Chief Executive, said: "The improved performance in both Amaze and Interact is very pleasing. Both businesses have secured significant new wins with prestigious clients, avoiding the project overruns that impacted last year's performance. Amaze and Interact also have strong new business pipelines, giving us confidence in being able to achieve our full year expectations."
The share price rose 4.48% to 35p by 11:49.
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