LONDON (Alliance News) - Avesco Group PLC saw its shares rise early Thursday after it swung to a profit in the first half of its financial year, driven by its Creative Technology business, and said the outlook for the second half is just as encouraging meaning its full year results are again likely to exceed its previous expectations.
The media services company reported a pretax profit of GBP4.6 million for the six months to end-March, compared with a loss of GBP1.1 million a year earlier, as revenue ticked up to GBP66.0 million from GBP65.4 million, and the restructuring of its CT Germany business helped drive down costs and stem the losses from that unit.
It raised its interim dividend by a third to 2.0 pence, from 1.5p.
Avesco said the results were its best interim results since 2001, when it still had an interest in popular quiz show "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?".
"The main drivers behind the successful first half of the year were a continuation of the previous excellent results from our Creative Technology division in the US and the virtual elimination of trading losses in our CT business in Germany," Chairman Richard Murray said.
"The outlook for the final six months of the financial year is just as encouraging, with the inaugural edition of the European Games expected to generate significant income for the group," he said.
"As a result the full year results are again likely to exceed the board's prior expectations. With continuing forward momentum in the businesses, we are able to maintain our focus on increasing profitability, generating cash and growing dividends," the chairman said.
Avesco shares were up 25.5% at 177.00 pence early Thursday, the best-performing stock in the AIM All-Share index.
By Steve McGrath; stevemcgrath@alliancenews.com; @stevemcgrath1
Copyright 2015 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.