AVA.L Regulatory News (AVA)

28 Jun 2007 14:47

Avanti Capital PLC28 June 2007 Avanti Capital plc Full Year Pre-Close Update Avanti Capital plc ("the Company") the private equity company is updating themarket today prior to its year-end on 30 June 2007. Eclectic Bars Limited (formerly Barclub Ltd) Eclectic owns and operates 14 late night bars and clubs. Following the restructuring changes announced this time last year, themanagement team has successfully completed the transformation of the business.In addition to the changes at site level, further substantial central costssavings have been achieved. This has been reflected in the results for the period to date which show anincrease in like-for-like sales and profits ahead of internal forecasts. During the period the business has investigated a number of bolt-on acquisitionopportunities. This reflects the confidence of the management team in being ableto manage a larger portfolio of sites. An acquisition of a profitable portfolio of sites of a material scale makessound financial sense as, given the strength of the management team running thebusiness, there would not be a material increase in central costs as a result ofan acquisition, allowing profits from the acquired sites to largely fall to thebottom line. In addition, the business has recently agreed to open a new bar in Lincoln whichis a reflection of management's plan to grow by new site openings whereappropriate as well as acquisitions. mBlox mblox is the world's largest mobile transaction network. At the beginning of February 2007 mBlox announced a record number of off-portaltransactions for 2006, with over 1.4 billion application-to-person transactionsprocessed worldwide. 2006 was the fifth consecutive year of high growth for mBlox with business up40% over 2005. In the US, the number of premium SMS transactions mBloxprocessed increased 100% over 2005 and globally mBlox cleared and settledpayments for mobile content transactions worth more than $500 million in streetrevenue. For the first 6 months of 2007 mBlox has achieved further substantial growth andachieved results in line with its internal forecasts. mBlox continues to prosper in this dynamic business sector. Medcenter Medcenter improves communications between the pharmaceutical industry and theprescribing and dispensing community. The company has recently completed areview of its business and decided that it will focus on its core Iberian market(namely South America, Spain and Portugal). With the recent wave of online advertising transactions and the massiveinvestment that is going into the online health sector, Medcenter, with itsready made Latin language content (which is highly relevant to the growing NorthAmerican Hispanic market) and its substantial revenue base, represents anattractive acquisition target. Espresso Broadband Espresso provides educational packages to primary and secondary schools in theUK Espresso has continued to progress well and has traded in line with its internalforecasts. In March 2007, it completed the acquisition of Channel 4 Learningwhich has taken Espresso into the secondary school market in a material way.Espresso is already seeing the financial benefits of this acquisition as itintegrates Channel 4 Learning into the overall Espresso offering. Legacy Portfolio The Company reiterates its policy of disposing of its investments in the legacyportfolio at the earliest possible time. The book value of the legacy portfoliois not material. Property During the last quarter the Company disposed of its leasehold interest atMotcomb Street. The consideration received for the property was £700,000 ascompared to a book value at the last audited balance sheet date of £331,000. Buyback of shares As previously stated, the Company continues to be a keen purchaser of its ownshares. During the current financial year, the Company has purchased a total of526,340 shares at an average price of 127p per share. Contact: Avanti Capital plc 020 7299 1459Julian FellermanRichard Kleiner Collins Stewart Europe Limited 0207 523 8350Adrian Hadden Notes to Editors Avanti Capital is listed on the Alternative Investment Market of the LondonStock Exchange and therefore offers shareholders participation in private equitydeals through a quoted vehicle. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange