Hasgrove Share Chat (HGV)

oh and

Paul Sanders, Group Chief Executive, said: "2012 was a good year for us. Performance was much improved, due to our focus on efficiencies and better project delivery. The level and quality of new business wins so far, combined with our strong revenue pipelines give us continued confidence for the year ahead."

AIM-listed communication services group Hasgrove has published a full year trading update, forecasting pre-tax profit of 1.4m pounds.

The company said that it expected gross income in the region of £19.1m, 16% higher than was recorded in 2011, and a pre-tax profit of approximately £1.4m compared to a loss of £3.0m in 2011.

The group further reported that Hasgrove's operating units continued to be cash generative, resulting in net debt reducing to £0.1m as of December 31st. This compared to a £1.5m net debt at the end of December 2011.

Top Director Buys

Hasgrove (HGV)

Director name: Mr Godfery Taylor

Amount purchased: 200,000 @ 48.50p

Value: £97,000

Interact, the firms intelligent intranet software supplier, made a gross profit of £1.5m and recorded its highest ever figure for new business sales of its flagship software, Interact Intranet, including three intranet sales each in excess of £100,000. The average sales value for an intranet continues to increase and support revenues should now exceed £0.8m on an annualised basis.

Hasgrove's creative design consultancy delivered a gross profit of £1.0m. It had a difficult start to the year due to delayed spend from a major client for the second consecutive year. However, there has been an increased effort in new business development and cost reduction to manage this temporary situation, it said.

Based on the improved performance of both Amaze and Interact, the company is confident of achieving its full year targets.

Paul Sanders, Group Chief Executive, said: "The first half of 2012 has seen a significant improvement on the second half of last year. Our focus on the provision of digital solutions for global organisations, along with our restructuring, has paid dividends resulting in improved efficiency, better delivery of projects and good new business wins.

"The pipelines of both Amaze and Interact are strong, having secured wins with prestigious clients, giving us confidence in achieving our full year expectations."

Digital and communication services group Hasgrove reported a 16 per cent like-for-life (LFL) increase in revenue for the half year ended June 30th, boosted by an improved performance by both Amaze and Interact.

Gross profit rose 11% on a LFL basis to £9.1m (H1 2011: £8.2m) on revenues of £12.2m (H1 2011: £10.5m). Pre-tax profit came in at £0.7m (H1 2011: £0.1m), with basic earnings per share at 2.0p, up from 0.5p the previous year.

The group's net debt at June 30th was £1.0m (December 31st 2011: £1.5m).

The first half of 2012, in comparison with the second half of last year, has seen a significant improvement in the performance of Amaze and Interact with improved efficiencies and greater control of projects.

Amaze, a full-service marketing and technology company, delivered a gross profit of £6.6m during the period partly on the back of successful new business activity.

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 Chase had a difficult start to the year due to delayed spend from its major client for the second consecutive year. However, there has been an 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 30 June 2012 (31 December 2011: £1.5 million). 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.

The Group expects to publish its half year results for the six months to 30 June 2012 at the end of September 2012.

Half year trading update

Hasgrove plc (AIM: HGV, 'Hasgrove' 'the Group'), the digital and communications services group, announces a trading update for the six month period ended 30 June 2012.

For the first half Hasgrove expects to report gross income in the region of £9.0m (2011 restated1: £7.7m), an increase of 16% compared to the previous year and a pre-tax profit of approximately £0.7m (2011 restated1: £0.1m).

Amaze continued to strengthen its expertise of working with central marketing teams, supporting the development of digital strategy, communications and infrastructure for large organisations. New business activity has continued to be successful with the securing of significant pan-European and global accounts, particularly in growth areas such as e-commerce. Encouragingly, significant projects in the first half have been delivered in line with expectations and the overruns experienced in the second half of 2011, have not been repeated.

In the first half of the year, 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. This is very encouraging and there will be continued and equal focus on both UK and non-UK sales.

Hasgrove, a digital and communication services group, has posted a 2.4% rise in revenue to £22.8m, and a pre-tax loss of £3.0m, (2011: profit of £1.1m) following a "challenging year" and the impact of a goodwill impairment charge of £2.7m. The company admitted it was a "very disappointing year" and blamed a combination of delayed client spending and overruns on two significant business solutions projects, which resulted in changes to the way the group operates. Basic loss per share was 12.9p (2010: earnings per share 2.6p) and the proposed dividend doubled to 1p per share. Net debt was reduced from £6.7m to £1.5m, helped by the sale of the public affairs and strategic communications division, Interel, for €9.5m. "More than 25% of the group's expected profits for 2012 have been generated in the first quarter, substantially more than in previous years," the firm said.