|
Highlights of the period: • Good progress made with restructuring and repositioning the Group as a specialised speech solutions business with the sale of Connection Makers divisions for £2.75m - Chat division sold to Antiphony Ltd for £1.75m - TV division sold for £1.0m • Speech Solutions revenues increase by 5% to £3.1m (H1 2006/7: £3.0m) with GP increasing by 14% to £1.9m (H1 2006/7: £1.6m) • Gross margin in Speech Solutions increases to 60% (H1 2006/7: 56%) • Revenues from continuing operations reflect lower call volumes in the Groups' Client IVR division • Balance Sheet holds £5.7m cash, a £4.7m receivable from Symphony Telecom and £1.0m receivable from sale of TV channel; it does not include the £1.75m receivable for the Chat sale • Initiated a cost reduction programme to streamline the business and align operating costs with ongoing revenues which is expected to reduce group expenses by £1m+ for the Full Year 2008/2009 Significant contract renewals and developments: • 5 year contract extension with TFCC Inc for the provision of services to UK utilities • 2 year contract on new terms with Trinity Mirror to provide network facilities and interactive services to their national and regional publications • Traintracker speech service provided to National Rail Enquiries awarded "Innovation of the Year" at Transport Innovations Event and "Best Use of Technology Partnership" in the Customer Contact Association's Excellence Awards Nik Philpot, Chief Executive Officer, commented today:
"We are pleased with the progress made in repositioning ourselves as a specialised speech solutions company following the disposal of Connections Makers and our balance sheet remains extremely strong. The conditions in the media sector have been challenging and we expect this to be a smaller business going forward, but despite this we have a good portfolio of clients with which we can maintain a strong and profitable position in the market. Looking ahead into 2008, our entire focus will be on aggressively driving forward the speech business and as a result we have renewed confidence, vigour and belief that we can deliver real value for shareholders." Download the full document
|