Pci-pal Regulatory News (PCIP)

21 Apr 2005 07:00

County Contact Centres PLC21 April 2005 COUNTY CONTACT CENTRES PLC (the "Company") Trading Statement As previously reported, trading had been satisfactory and growing during thefirst half of the Group's financial year, but a post Christmas lull in Ansabacksales in January continued into February when a major customer decided to takesignificant call volumes back in house. While the Board anticipated a recoveryin sales from various orderline businesses and new multi-lingual contracts, thisdid not materialise. It is this type of call traffic that has been the principalcustomer base of the Romanian operation. As a consequence of this, and due to the small size of the Group and its limitedfinancial resources, it has been decided to close the office in Bucharest,whilst still retaining a contracted Romanian resource. The UK contact centre isunaffected. The Group is expected to report Ansaback turnover substantially ahead of theyear ended 30 June 2004, while CallScripter, with the benefit of the recentlyannounced ININ OEM (original equipment manufacturer) deal, continues to performsatisfactorily. However the effects of the closure costs and the lower thananticipated call traffic in the third quarter will undoubtedly impact on theGroup's second half performance for the year ending 30 June 2005, which will bebelow market expectations with a loss being incurred during the second sixmonths. As previously the Group will announce its results for the year ending 30 June2005 during August 2005. The board is committed to the strategy of building a profitable business andremains cautiously optimistic. For further information please contact: William Catchpole (Managing Director) 01473 321813 Stuart Gordon (Finance Director) 01473 321811 This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange