MXCP.L Regulatory News (MXCP)

15 Sep 2005 07:04

2 ergo Group plc15 September 2005 Embargoed until 07.00 15 September 2005 2ergo Group plc ("2ergo" or "the Group") TRADING UPDATE AHEAD OF MARKET FORECASTS FOR THE FULL YEAR 2ergo, the AIM listed provider of convergent mobile communication solutions, ispleased to announce that trading for the 12 month period to 31 August 2005 isexpected to be ahead of market forecasts when it announces its results inNovember. Following its IPO in March 2004, the Group has continued to mature and has awell established core business supporting a client list that includesorganisations from many sectors of industry, from SMEs to multi-nationalenterprises, to the public sector. Since the start of the year 2ergo has established its US division which is nowpoised to expand into other fields where the UK business has traditionally beenstrong. As predicted earlier in the year, the US business has started tocontribute profit to the Group. The period has seen a mixture of both organic and acquisitive growth, throughthe launch of new applications, such as 2NC (for truancy and bullyingprevention) and the purchase of Natural Response, an automated, intuitive voicetechnology. It is expected that further acquisitions will be made to furtherexpand the Group's solutions and services portfolio. The Group's model of protocol and device independence is proving to be a keydifferentiator. This is largely enabled by the modular design of the MultiservePlatform which remains at the heart of 2ergo's product development strategy andservice delivery capabilities. It is through this strategy that 2ergo carefullyassesses new technology investments, to optimise the value of returns andincrease the Group's intellectual property. The Multiserve Platform allows 2ergo to offer a diverse array of applications.This enables the Group to deliver solutions from standard, single protocolapplications to highly complex, interactive and multi channel communicationssolutions. Following the recent purchase of the patent to Sure on Sight Limited's uniqueResponse and Authentication Messaging Process, now branded as 2safeguard, theGroup is uniquely positioned to offer the Mobile Industry a new protocol todeliver secure communications. The Board expects this to open up a wealth ofnew opportunities for 2ergo and its business partners, ranging from mobilecommerce and credit cardholder 'not present' transactions, to secureperson-to-person communications. The Group is confident of future successes and expects to see excellentcontinued growth throughout the coming year and beyond. Following approval of the share buy back agreement by the Company's shareholdersat the Annual General Meeting of the Company held on 7 April 2005, the Companyis pleased to announce that a further 318,182 ordinary shares of 1p each in theissued share capital of the Company were purchased on 13 September from MichaelKilgannon and are to be held in treasury. Following this purchase of shares, Michael Kilgannon now holds 1,463,636ordinary shares of 1p each, representing 5.2 per cent of the Company's issuedshare capital (excluding shares held in treasury). The Company also holds afurther option over Mr Kilgannon's remaining shares at a price of 110p pershare. The Company holds in treasury a total of 1,036,364 ordinary shares of 1peach and has in issue 27,933,736 ordinary shares of 1p each, excluding thoseheld in treasury. The shares were purchased at a price of 110p per share, which the Board believesrepresents excellent value for shareholders. Placing these shares into treasurywill enable the Company to use them to facilitate future transactions withoutdiluting existing shareholdings. The Board also expects this buy back to improvethe Company's earnings per share. -ends- For further information, please contact: 2ergo group 01706 221 777Neale Graham, Joint MDBarry Sharples, Joint MD Tavistock Communications 020 7920 3150Christian Taylor-WilkinsonPaul Dulieu This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange