Date: Wednesday 05 Sep 2007
LONDON (ShareCast) - Northern Recruitment shares jumped after its year end results came in better than expected as operating profit rose 6% to £1.8m. Expectations were that it would be similar to last year.
Profit before tax in the period rose 4% to £2.03m on revenue that increased 22% to £22.3m.
The group said strong growth in its core permanent recruitment businesses, and in the delivery of temporary staff, was partially offset by continuing low activity levels at its NRG Connect national response handling unit.
"In the absence of major new project wins, this will constrain the company's progress in the first half, though the strong demand we are experiencing across our other major business streams gives me confidence in our prospects over the year as a whole," it added.
CCTV and networked video systems supplier Quadnetics saw full-year profits soar by 199% and said it is looking forward to another year of good progress.
Pre-tax profit rose to £3.8m compared to £1.3m last year on turnover up 33% to £66.1m. The final dividend is 20% better at 4p per share.
“During the year just started, we expect to see increased investment in new product development and a reduced contribution from historical elements of our managed services activities, together more than offset by continued revenue growth and margin improvements elsewhere,” said chairman David Coghlan.
Exhibitions and conference firm Tarsus said it has bought SEPIC SAS from the Federation Francaise de la Chaussure for €13.5m in cash, adding that 2007 will be an excellent year.
“Our four main drivers of growth in the second half - Labelexpo in Brussels, the MCII medical division, our French portfolio and our Off-Price clothing division - are all on track to deliver record results,” said chairman Neville Buch.
Pre-tax profit is down 1% to £0.7m for the six month to 30 June on revenue up by 32% to £11.3m. The interim dividend stands at 1.5p per share, an increase of 20%.
Shares in Humberts jumped after it announced the acquisition of three separate estate agency businesses.
The group purchased Halls Participants, based in Shrewsbury, for an initial consideration of £3.6m with a deferred payment of up to £1.95m dependent on target achievements. A further £820,000 will also be payable.
It also purchased Richard Harding, a Bristol based estate agency, for an initial consideration of £2.03m with a deferred consideration of up to £1m dependent on performance criteria. Kent based Fox & Manwaring was also acquired for a fee that could reach £635,000.
REA Holdings posted a 60% jump in pre-tax profits, helped by a year of favourable crude palm oil prices. Pre-tax profit rose to £8.8m for the six months to 30 June against £5.5m last year on revenue up by 35% to £12.2m.
The group also said that the fresh fruit bunches crop to end August was 19,000t ahead of budget, adding 380,000t budget for 2007 remains a realistic projection.
Food producer Total Produce, which was demerged from Fyffes, saw interim sales rise 33% to €1,220m, reflecting the acquisition of Redbridge Holdings, good organic growth and higher average prices. Pre-tax profit increased 13% to €21.5m.
"Taking into account our better than expected first half performance, we have revised upwards our year-end target for 2007 EPS growth from mid to high single digit," the group said.
Wireless network provider DragonWave announced the signing of a strategic network solutions agreement with NextWave Broadband, a subsidiary of NextWave Wireless.
Under the agreement, NextWave will adopt DragonWave's AirPair and Horizon products as its preferred wireless backhaul solution and combine to supply service providers worldwide with mobile broadband and transport network solutions.
They have also agreed to collaborate on the development of the next-generation wireless backhaul products and technologies.
Avid Holdings said its subsidiary Electro-mec Limited won a major precision engineering contract worth £480,000 over a six-month period starting in October 2007.
