Offer Update

2 Apr 2008 07:01

Eckoh PLC02 April 2008 2 April 2008 Eckoh Plc ('Eckoh' or the 'Group') Takeover Discussions & Trading Update Further to the announcement of 31 January 2008, Eckoh provides an update on itsdiscussions with Telephonetics Plc ('Telephonetics') as well as an update on itsbusiness. Since 31 January 2008, Eckoh and Telephonetics have held a series of meetings todiscuss a potential offer being made for the entire issued and to be issuedshare capital of the Company. The two companies have not been able to reach anagreement that the Board believes would be in the best interests of shareholdersand consequently these discussions have been terminated. However, the Board is still in discussions with various parties in which othertransactions are being considered, although none of the discussions at thisstage contemplate an offer being made for the entire issued and to be issuedshare capital of the Group. The Directors can also announce that good progress was made in the second halfof the year and as a result the Board is confident of announcing results for theyear ended 31 March 2008 ahead of market expectations. The cost reduction programme has been completed which has reduced the annualfixed costs in the business by over £1m. The full financial benefit of thesedevelopments will be seen in 2008/9. The good progress has continued into the new financial year and Eckoh has beensuccessful in converting a number of new opportunities in the speech solutionsarea. The Company is in the process of completing and signing these contractswhich will be announced in due course and will continue to focus on its growthstrategy to aggressively expand its automated speech solutions business in theUK and continental Europe. Enquiries: Eckoh plcNik Philpot, Chief Executive OfficerAdam Moloney, Group Finance DirectorJim Hennigan, Executive Directorwww.eckoh.com Tel: 01442 458 300 Seymour Pierce LimitedJonathan Wright Tel: 020 7107 8000 Corfin CommunicationsHarry Chathli, Neil Thapar Tel: 020 7977 0020 This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange