21st Sep 2006 07:01
NCC Group PLC21 September 2006 21 September 2006 NCC Group plc AGM Statement NCC Group plc (AIM: NCC), the international provider of Escrow Solutions,Testing Solutions and Consultancy, is holding its Annual General Meeting thismorning. At the meeting the Non-Executive Chairman, Paul Mitchell, will state: "The Group's trading performance to date has been good, with business levelsslightly ahead of plan at this early stage of the year. All three UK Divisions, Escrow Solutions, Testing Solutions and Consultancy,have seen good growth in prospects, orders and sales during the first threemonths of the current financial year. UK Escrow Solutions has seen a growth in the number of contracts to over 7,100,up from 6,200 this time last year and of licensees to 13,700 (September 2005:12,200). The Group will increase Escrow Solutions contract and testing pricesby just over 6% from the beginning of November. The Testing Solutions division currently has an order book of £2.1m (September2005: £1.5m) and the Consultancy order book stands at £1.8m (September 2005:£1.2m). As stated with the preliminary results in May 2006, the Group is reviewing anumber of options to develop the UK business from a southern location. Goodprogress has been made and the Board expects to update shareholders by ourInterims and implement the next steps during 2007. We are confident that thiswill be a positive development and rapidly enhance the profile for Escrow andTesting Solutions. As we enter a positive time of the year for recruitment, good progress has beenmade in securing additional Escrow Solutions account managers and testers. Our two US operations, acquired in January and in July this year, areintegrating well and early indications suggest that the eight person sales teamwill deliver strong results in the financial year. In Germany the general lack of awareness of escrow has held back the rate ofgrowth of our operation. However, we are addressing this with more focusedmarketing and believe that the performance targets set will be achieved. During the period we welcomed Andy Hague as an Operational Director, to furthercomplement the Testing Solutions Senior Management team. Felicity Brandwood wasalso promoted to Escrow Solutions Group Operational Director. Reporting to JonLeigh, Director of Escrow Solutions, she will be responsible for the day to daymanagement of all operational processes and the US Escrow businesses. Overall the Board remains confident that the Group is in line to deliver anothergood year." Enquiries: NCC Group (www.nccgroup.com) 0161 209 5432/5200 Rob Cotton, Chief Executive Paul Edwards, Group Finance Director College Hill 020 7457 2020 Adrian Duffield/Corinna Dorward This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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