KCOM Regulatory News (KCOM)

24 Jul 2009 07:00



24 July 2009

KCOM Group PLC (KCOM.L) AGM and Interim Management Statement

KCOM Group plc ("KCOM") today publishes its Interim Management Statement for the period from 1 April to 30 June 2009. This update will also be provided to shareholders attending the company's AGM later today.

Current trading

Group trading has been in line with our expectations, as set out in our preliminary results announcement in June 2009.

Consistent with the outcomes of the strategic review, we maintain our focus on cost and capital management which will continue to support our objective of achieving a sustainable reduction in net debt, thereby strengthening our financial position.

Strategic review

Ahead of the half year, we will move towards a more integrated and tightly focused Group structure based on two businesses; the first includes our East Yorkshire business and Eclipse Internet and the second comprises those activities that will form a national managed communications services business. We will report in this format at the interim results in November.

Following the recently announced strategic agreement with BT, work is progressing well and we remain on schedule to transfer the management of our network operations to BT on 1 September 2009. KCOM employees working in our core network operations will also transfer to BT at this time. We plan to introduce our enhanced service portfolio, reflecting our agreement with BT, during the third quarter of the year.

Outlook

The Board's focus for the current financial year remains the continuing improvement in overall quality of the Group's activities, positioning it for subsequent profitable growth.

The Board remains confident that the actions taken so far have strengthened the Group and will deliver an improved overall financial performance.

KCOM Group announces its interim results on 24 November 2009.

Notes to editors

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About the KCOM Group 

The KCOM Group utilises its expertise in local and wide area networks, hosting and communications technology, to design, deliver and manage end to end network based solutions.

Those solutions are targeted at enterprises and Public Sector markets and satisfy a growing need for colleagues and customers to communicate and collaborate more effectively, as IP networks and desktops converge.

The Group's credentials and capabilities as a trusted expert in this field have grown out of the Company's heritage in East Yorkshire, where it has provided telecommunication services to businesses and consumers for over 100 years.

The KCOM Group is listed on the London Stock Exchange. For more information on the Group go to www.kcom.com