Frk Us Inc Etf Regulatory News (INCE)

1 Mar 2006 08:34

Work Group plc01 March 2006 Press Release 1 March 2006 WORK GROUP PLC First day of dealings on AIM Work Group plc ("Work Group" or "the Company"), a leading UK recruitmentservices provider, is pleased to announce the commencement of trading in itsordinary shares on AIM. The Company's ticker is "WORK". The Company's ordinary shares have been admitted to AIM following a placing of8,695,652 new Ordinary Shares at a price of 80.5p per share (the "PlacingPrice") which has raised approximately £7.0 million (before expenses) for theCompany. In addition, certain existing shareholders (including the executive directors)have sold, in aggregate, 4,968,944 Ordinary Shares in the Placing at the PlacingPrice. The Company has 23,742,207 Ordinary Shares in issue and a market capitalisation,at the Placing Price, of approximately £19.1 million. Simon Howard, the Executive Chairman of Work Group, said: "The successful IPO of Work Group is a significant step forward for the Companyand provides us with increased scope to make further acquisitions and to add tothe considerable growth we have experienced since we launched in 2000. The recruitment market is undergoing a fundamental change and we believe thatWork Group is well positioned to benefit from a growing demand for directresourcing, and to continue to help its clients to recruit and retain staff moreeffectively. We look forward to a long and mutually beneficial relationship withour new shareholders." Altium is acting as Nominated Adviser and Broker to the Company. ENDS Further information: Work Group plc Tel: 020 7492 0000 Simon Howard, Executive Chairman Altium Tel: 020 7484 4040 Garry Levin Tim Richardson Sam Fuller Fishburn Hedges (PR to the Company) Tel: 020 7839 4321 Andy Berry: 020 7544 3044 / 07767 374421 Mark Tierney: 020 7544 3013 / 07796 264821 Michelle James: 020 7544 3056 / 07958 451446 Copies of the Admission Document from which information contained in this pressrelease has been extracted are available free of charge at the offices of DLAPiper Rudnick Gray Cary UK LLP, 3 Noble Street, London EC2V 7EE during normalbusiness hours on any weekday (excluding public holidays) from today for aperiod of one month and on the Company's website at www.workgroup.plc.uk. The directors of the Company accept responsibility for the information containedin this announcement. To the best of the knowledge and belief of the directors(who have taken all reasonable steps to ensure that such is the case) theinformation contained in this announcement is in accordance with the facts andmakes no omission likely to affect the import of such information. Notes to editors: Work Group plc is a leading UK recruitment services provider. It offers a rangeof bespoke resourcing solutions aiming to enable employers to recruit and retainstaff more effectively, thereby reducing their traditional reliance on thirdparties such as head-hunters and recruitment firms. Central to Work Group'sapproach is the concept of 'direct resourcing' - the establishment andmaintenance of a direct relationship between employer and prospective employee.The Company believes direct resourcing provides an efficient and cost effectivealternative to traditional third party based recruitment strategies and is agrowing trend amongst UK employers. Work Group has offices in six locations: London (Farringdon and Waterloo),Manchester (airport and city centre), Birmingham and Edinburgh. Clients includeAlstom, Asda, AstraZeneca, Barclays, Cable & Wireless, Diageo, EnvironmentAgency, GlaxoSmithKline, JCB, Linklaters, London Fire Brigade, Nationwide,Nestle, Oracle, Unilever and Vodafone. Work Group currently operates through three trading divisions: WorkCommunications; Work Resourcing; and Armstrong Craven: Work Communications The Work Communications division provides clients with communications andconsulting services including advertising. Advertising relates to the creativedesign, production and placement of recruitment advertisements on behalf ofclients, predominantly in the national, regional and industry press. Othernon-press recruitment communication services include brochure design andproduction, graduate recruitment programmes, website design and development, webmarketing/recruitment and internal employee communications, advice on boardlevel human resource strategy and employment research. Work Resourcing The Work Resourcing division provides employers with recruitment processoutsourcing services. These services include the management of contracted-outrecruitment programmes (including the handling and initial assessment ofapplications), and the design, by in-house occupational psychologists, andmanagement of bespoke assessment programmes to measure potential candidatesagainst defined key competencies. Armstrong Craven Armstrong Craven was acquired by Work Group in October 2005. It providesemployers with direct access to recruitment researchers and is a directalternative to executive search. In the provision of this service, ArmstrongCraven has built up a high-quality, extensive proprietary database which is alsoutilised to provide additional, more broadly-based, value-added knowledge andinformation services. In the year ended 31 December 2005, Work Group recorded EBITDA (beforeexceptionals) of £2.12 million on net fee income of £11.9 million, in each caseon a pro forma basis assuming the acquisition of Armstrong Craven had occurredon 1 January 2005. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange