13th Apr 2007 12:30
ILX Group PLC13 April 2007 ILX Group plc Year end trading update ILX Group plc ('ILX' or 'the Group'), the AIM quoted business education andtraining company, today gave the following trading update for the year to 31March 2007. ILX plans to announce its preliminary results in June 2007. "At the interim results we announced that trading at Mount Lane in the firsthalf of the year had been very disappointing. The performance of Mount Lane hasnot improved in the second half and a number of deals that were expected tocomplete before the financial year end and which would have been majorcontributors to profit have been delayed. The Directors anticipate that thesewill be completed in the first few months of the current financial year. Whilst we expect the Group as a whole to show 60% growth in operating profitsfor the year to 31 March 2007, the reduced revenues from Mount Lane haveadversely affected the Group's performance. Operating profits are now expectedto increase from £1m for the year ended 31 March 2006 to £1.6m for the year toMarch 2007 but nevertheless will be significantly behind current marketexpectations. The Board has taken action to reduce operating costs and it is intended thatMount Lane and Customer Projects will be integrated within the Best Practicedivision. The Board anticipates that operating expenses in this division will bereduced by approximately 7% on an ongoing basis. Mount Lane is already a veryhigh margin business and any recovery of revenues from this business is expectedto have a strong impact on our future profits. We are pleased that the rest of the Best Practice division has performed wellwith a number of new contract wins and both our computer based training andblended training offerings have grown at a rate of above 27% year on year. Our recent acquisition, Corporate Training Group (CTG), is delivering stronggrowth and has performed significantly ahead of expectations. In addition, thevalue of CTG courses currently booked to the end of March 2008 is in excess of£4m, a 35% increase on the equivalent figures for last year of £2.9m. The highvisibility of CTG's order book provides the Group with secure earnings growth. Whilst the performance of Mount Lane has been disappointing, steps are beingtaken to address this issue and we still believe that ILX is well positioned todeliver strong profit growth. We remain optimistic about the future prospects for the Company." ENDS For further information, please contact: ILX Group plc Parkgreen Communications Ltd Charles Stanley SecuritiesKen Scott Paul McManus Philip DaviesTel: 020 7371 4444 Tel: 020 7479 7933 Tel: 020 7149 6457 Mob: 07980 541 893 This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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