Holding(s) in Company

Parity Group PLC 08 February 2006 8 February 2006 Parity Group plc ('Parity' or the 'Group') Parity announces that on 7 February 2006 it received notification that Dominick Company AG ('Dominick Company'), a Swiss based private bank which provides a range of private and investment banking services, and Dominion Holdings Limited ('Dominion'), a Swiss based investment company, are now the beneficial owners of, respectively, 12,738,936 and 55,000,000 Parity shares representing 4.4% and 19.1% of Parity's issued share capital. These interests have arisen as a result of the non repayment of financial facilities made available by Dominick Company to one of its customers to acquire these shares and Dominick Company exercising its right to take ownership of the shares itself. Dominion subsequently acquired 55,000,000 Parity shares from Dominick Company at a price of 6.75 pence per Parity share and is also interested in the 12,738,936 Parity shares beneficially owned by Dominick Company by virtue of put and call options. The Board of Parity welcomes Dominick Company and Dominion as shareholders of Parity. Parity has met with the advisers to Dominick Company and Dominion who have confirmed that Dominick Company and Dominion are supportive of the current management of Parity. As previously announced, Parity will be progressing discussions with Dominick Company, Dominion and other shareholders over the coming weeks in relation to the strengthening of Parity's balance sheet equity, referred to in its announcement of 9 December 2005. As at 31 December 2005, Parity's net debt amounted to approximately £20.5 million, an increase from £15.5 million reported as at 30 June 2005. The increase in debt levels is due to the on-going effect of previously announced restructuring measures including continuing payments for surplus property, which are only now starting to be mitigated by the sub-leases signed, the delay in the sale of the French and German businesses and associated working capital growth and the fact that proceeds from the US disposal will be received over a 15 month period. Additionally, as expected, the on-going losses in the period resulted in an operating cash outflow in the second half of 2005. While the sale of the US business in November 2005 and the sale of the French and German businesses in January 2006 will reduce Group net debt by approximately £5.5 million during 2006, the continuing cash impact of the 2005 restructuring charges and working capital investment will partially offset this, as will the anticipated settlement of one of the Group's major supply agreements, which will be treated as an exceptional in 2005. This latter change of supplier is now complete and will have a strongly positive effect on both the P&L and cashflow in future periods. In summary, to grow the business going forward, the Group's balance sheet equity must be strengthened. In a separate announcement released today, Parity is delighted to announce the appointment of Alwyn Welch as Chief Executive. With over 25 years experience in the technology sector with leading sector companies such as Unisys, Cap Gemini and Logica, he will have full day to day responsibility for the running of the business, working alongside Executive Chairman, John Hughes. This strengthening of the leadership team marks the end of a period of major reorganisation, a challenging but necessary task that was required to achieve the previously stated objectives of returning the Group to profitability and delivering a more robust performance in the future. While it is clearly still early in 2006, we have the objective of achieving breakeven at the pre-tax level during the year, after taking into account the service costs of our projected debt levels and charges under IFRS relating to pensions and incentivisation. The proposed strengthening of the balance sheet equity will place the Group in a strong position to grow the business from the rationalised base. In the light of the notification, the Board of Parity continues to seek clarification from Spearhead in relation to its intentions pursuant to its announcement on 9 January 2006. Enquiries: Financial Dynamics - 020 7831 3113 Giles Sanderson Harriet Keen Cass Helstrip This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
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