Year end trading update
NCC Group PLC
10 May 2005
NCC Group PLC
Year end trading update
NCC Group plc, a leading independent provider of IT assurance, security and
consultancy services, is publishing today a trading update covering the period
since the Group announced its interim results on 25 January 2005. The Group's
year end is 31 May 2005.
The Group's overall trading performance during the second half of the year has
been good with revenue, profit and cash generation in line with the Board's
expectations. The Board's expectations for the Group's rate of progress remain
unchanged in the next financial year.
Renewals in the Group's core division, Escrow Solutions, continued in line with
expectations with the price rises implemented in November 2004 as usual
improving the Group's operating margins in the second half of the financial
year. Annual renewals for the 2005/2006 financial year are expected to be £6.7
million up from the £5.7 million forecast for this financial year, with the
number of beneficiaries to NCC Group escrow agreements now over 10,700, up from
10,300 in January.
The Escrow Sales team has increased in size by 13% since January to 60 people.
Board expectations for contract terminations continue to be bettered by
remaining below 11% against the planned for rate of 13%. The Copyright
Protection Escrow service was successfully launched in April.
The Testing Solutions Division order book continues to develop and now stands at
£1.3 million in line with the Board's expectations. The Penetration Testing
unit has continued to grow strongly and now has annualised turnover of over £2.5
million, as demand for high quality independent vulnerability testing increases,
for both externally and internally facing infrastructure and applications within
organisations.
The Consultancy Division's order book continues to develop and now stands at
£1.6 million. The Consultancy unit, which has increased its number of
chargeable consultants by 9% since January, is particularly benefiting from its
position as an independent trusted advisor in the BPO (Business Processing
Outsourcing) sector and sees good growth prospects in this area.
The Group continues to generate cash with net debt falling sharply. The Board
expects the Group to be almost debt free at the end of the financial year, down
from £3.1 million of net debt as at 30 November 2004.
The Group expects to report its preliminary results for the year to 31 May 2005
in mid-July 2005.
10 May 2005
Enquiries:
NCC Group (www.nccgroup.com) 0161 209 5432
Rob Cotton, Chief Executive
Paul Edwards, Group Finance Director
College Hill
Adrian Duffield/Clare Warren 020 7457 2815/2055
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
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