Orders booming at Sanderson

Software and information technology services group Sanderson saw a sharp increase in order intake in the first half of its financial year.Overall order intake was up by more than 10% in the six months to March 31st compared to the corresponding period a year ealier, whle at the end of March the order book was up by more than 30% from the level at the end of September 2011.The order intake in the Sanderson ecommerce software business, which addresses the fast growing market for online, catalogue and internet sales, was ahead over 25% compared with the same period in 2011.Sales and profits also rose. At the half year stage, trading results for the group's continuing operations, excluding the now disposed of Sanderson RBS, revenue exceeded £6m and profit from operating activities came in at around £0.8m, being some 6% of the comparable period to 31st March 2011.Having got shot of Sanderson RBS, the group is now debt free."Notwithstanding the challenging UK economic environment, the improved order intake and strong order book provides the board with a good level of confidence that Sanderson is on-track to achieve its financial targets for the full year ending September 30th 2012," the company's trading statement concluded. The shares were trading 4.75p higher at 40p in the afternoon session on the day of the trading update. JH