19th Oct 2006 07:01
Findel PLC19 October 2006 19 October 2006 Findel plc Trading Update The Board of Findel plc, one of the country's leading Home Shopping andEducational Supplies businesses, today announces a trading update for the sixmonths ended 30 September 2006. Group sales in the first six months of the current year are broadly in line withthe same period last year. The Home Shopping division commenced the year with its customer base some 9%lower than the prior year. Given this, it is particularly encouraging to reportsales to the established base are running some 7% ahead of last year. Followinglast year's disappointing recruitment experience in September, this year'srecruitment campaign has been planned to take place largely in October. Theeffect of this has been to delay sales from new customers resulting in overalldivisional sales for the first half being similar to last year. The initialresponse to this season's recruitment campaign has been encouraging andindicates that we will achieve our stated objective of growing our customer baseby 5% in the current year. In the Educational Supplies division, total sales in the first six months arelevel with last year. The introduction of the new multi year funding policy forschools has led to a slower than expected start to the year whilst the effectsof this new policy were digested by schools. However, the Board believes thatbetter visibility of funding is beginning to restore spending confidence andwill prove to be beneficial to our Educational Supplies business. In the Healthcare division like for like sales in the first six months of theyear are over 2% ahead of last year. During the same period, contract extensionsworth £15m in revenue over 2 years have been agreed with three NHS trusts and,after a period of some inactivity in the marketplace, a number of new contractsare now in the tender process. The implementation of the new PDA based iCONcontract management system is proceeding as planned. This system will not onlyenhance our competitive position but provide vital management information inreal time to assist in the continued growth of the business. Strategy We have made significant progress with our stated strategy of growing our HomeShopping division through the delivery of bolt-on, EPS enhancing cash with orderand internet businesses with the acquisitions of LetterBox, Kitbag.com, I WantOne of Those.Com, Kleeneze and Cabouchon. Following this activity, theimmediate focus of the Group is concentrated on the successful integration ofthese businesses. The period between now and Christmas is also the busiestperiod of the year for the Group. Although the strategic assessment of the Groupis continuing, these operational matters will necessarily take precedence overthe short term. Outlook The Board is pleased with the progress made in the year to date which supportsits belief that the Group is well positioned to make further good progress inthe full year. A further trading update will be provided at the time of theannouncement of the Group's interim results on 30 November 2006. Ends For further information please contact: Patrick Jolly,Chief Executive,Findel plcTel: 01943 864686 David DuttonGroup Finance DirectorFindel plc01943 864686 Keith Chapman,Chairman, Findel plcTel: 01943 864686 Jonathon Brill/Billy Clegg,Financial DynamicsTel: 020 7269 7170 This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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