Trading Update

NCC Group PLC
08 November 2006

8 November 2006



NCC Group - Trading Update



NCC Group plc, (AIM: NCC) the international, independent provider of Escrow
Solutions, Testing Solutions and Consultancy, is today publishing a trading
update covering the period to 8 November 2006. The Group's overall trading
performance continues to be in line with the statement published at the AGM on
21 September 2006.



All three UK divisions, Escrow Solutions, Testing Solutions and Consultancy,
have seen good growth in prospects, orders and sales during the first five
months of the current financial year.  The Board expects the H1:H2 profits split
will be similar to last year.



The performance of the Group's core division, Escrow Solutions, continues to be
strong.  Group renewals for the full year are now forecast to be £9.1m (May
2006: £7.6m) for the year as termination rates continue to be tightly
controlled.  The annual price increase has been implemented, with prices for the
main product lines increased by around 6% with no impact on termination rates.
The Group now expects termination rates to remain on or below 11% for contracts
and beneficiaries for the foreseeable future.



UK Escrow Solutions has continued to grow strongly.  It now has 7,144 contracts
(2005: 6,414) and 13,935 licensees to contracts (2005: 11,597) of which 932
(2005: 957) are minimum annual fee arrangements (see appendix for more details).
Escrow Solutions in the US continues to perform in line with expectations,
whilst in Germany although the potential remains, the market is still proving
difficult.



The Testing Solutions division currently has an order book of £2.1m (2005:
£1.7m.)  Sales growth is coming from an increased demand for high quality
independent security testing and in the take up rate from Escrow customers for
the source code verification services.



The Consultancy division grew its order book to £1.7m (2005: £1.4m) despite the
competitive market conditions.



The Group's cash position has continued to strengthen with currently a cash
position of £0.8m.



The Group expects to report its interim figures for the six months to 30
November 2006 in late January 2007 and to provide details about the development
of a southern based operation.



Overall the Board remains confident that the Group is in line to deliver another
good year.


Enquiries:


NCC Group  (www.nccgroup.com)                              0161 209 5432
    Rob Cotton, Chief Executive
    Paul Edwards, Group Finance Director

College Hill
    Adrian Duffield/Corinna Dorward                        020 7457 2020






Appendix



UK Escrow Contracts and Beneficiaries


Date           No of Contracts         No of Beneficiaries           No of min annual fee
                                                                            charges
                                 Incl min annual  Excl min annual
                                   fee charges      fee charges

May 2004            5,420            10,483            9,448                 1,035
July 2004           5,586            10,769            9,770                  999
Oct 2004            5,760            11,193            10,225                 968
Jan 2005            5,901            11,384            10,399                 985
May 2005            6,154            11,911            10,961                 950
Jul 2005            6,236            12,060            11,115                 945
Oct 2005            6,414            12,554            11,597                 957
Jan 2006            6,630            12,943            11,954                 989
May 2006            6,868            13,381            12,406                 975
Jul 2006            6,970            13,615            12,637                 978
Oct 2006            7,144            13,935            13,003                 932





A software escrow agreement is a contract made between three parties: the
software vendor (the licensor), the software customer (the licensee) and an
independent third party (the escrow agent, such as NCC Group). Under the terms
of the agreement, the licensor agrees to send a copy of the source code to the
escrow agent and the escrow agent agrees to hold the source code securely, and
to release it to the licensee only in the event of certain predefined trigger
events. These include the insolvency of the licensor or its failure to provide
support services as defined in the software license agreement.



Contract - represents an escrow agreement to provide escrow services for an
owner of the software on behalf of licensees who have signed to the agreement.



Beneficiary - represents licensees who have signed to the contract and who
receive the benefits of escrow as set out in the contract.



Minimum Annual Fee - a charge is levied on the owner of the software under a
multiple agreement where there are fewer than two beneficiaries to the contract.
  Once two or more beneficiaries are signed to the agreement the minimum fee is
no longer charged.  The fee is charged at the end of the year and released to
the P&L account over the following twelve months.  This will decline as it
intended that beneficiaries are signed to agreements.


                      This information is provided by RNS
            The company news service from the London Stock Exchange