KCOM Regulatory News (KCOM)

29 Sep 2006 07:03

Kingston Communications(Hull)PLC29 September 2006 Kingston Communications (HULL) PLC29 September 2006 KINGSTON COMMUNICATIONS (HULL) PLC (KCOM.L) PRE-CLOSE STATEMENT Kingston Communications (HULL) PLC (KCOM.L) is holding its normal series ofpre-close period meetings with analysts, ahead of its interim resultsannouncement on 28 November. Trading Update The Group has had a satisfactory first half year and has performed in line withour expectations. Kingston Communications The business continues to perform strongly. The combination of our inclusivecall packages together with growth in our broadband subscriber base hasdelivered a successful rebalancing of our revenues towards a greater level ofrecurring subscription income. Whilst the broadband market remains very competitive in the consumer massmarket, we have delivered growth by focusing on ensuring we have a qualityservice proposition, particularly targeted at the small medium business market.At the end of the half year we anticipate that our aggregate broadbandsubscriber base will exceed 139,000. Affiniti The implementation of our strategic repositioning towards the delivery ofintegrated converged communications services has continued over the first halfof the year. The Affiniti business mix has moved further away from traditionalnetwork services, particularly those delivered through our partner channels,into delivering more complex projects and managed solutions direct to customers. As a consequence, over the first six months of the year Affiniti will deliverstrong growth in direct revenues, including a number of large enterprise networkupgrade projects in the financial services sector. As anticipated we have seencontinued pressure in the indirect channel. This is particularly evident withthe ISP and premium rate markets. The rapid growth within the interactive mediachannel has, however, offset this decline such that indirect revenues year overyear are expected to be flat. As a consequence of these continuing trends, the anticipated reduction inAffiniti EBITDA margins has been matched by a reduction in the correspondingcapital intensity of the business. Acquisition of Smart421 To both complement and extend the Group's managed service offering to itscorporate customers, Kingston Communications has today announced the acquisitionof Smart421. The business is a specialist in the area of business applicationsintegration and increasingly delivers both integration and on going applicationsmanaged services (see separate announcement). Michael Abrahams, Chairman, commented on the Group's overall performance: "Thishas been a satisfactory half year for the Group. Strong sales momentum,continued growth across the businesses and a solid financial performance hasresulted in an overall performance that is in line with our expectations. Weexpect this trend to continue in the second half .The Board remains confidentthat the Group will continue to grow dividends in line with the continuingimprovement in earnings." Kingston Communications will announce its Interim results for the six monthsending 30 September on 28 November. ENDS For further information, please contact: Kingston Communications (HULL) PLC Corporate CommunicationsAnita Pace Tel: 01482 602666 Mobile: 07770 744322 The Maitland ConsultancyColin Browne Tel: 020 7379 5151 Mobile: 07733 103800 This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange