Hasgrove bounces back with £1.4m profit
HASGROVE, the Manchester-based media company which owns the PR firm Amaze, expects to move back into profit when it posts full year figures in April.
In a trading update for the year to December 31, it said turnover should rise from £16.5m to £19.1m, and pre-tax profit should come in at £1.4m.
In 2011 the Manchester company reported a pre-tax loss of £3m.
Chief executive Paul Sanders said: “2012 was a good year for us. Performance was much improved, due to our focus on efficiencies and better project delivery.
“The level and quality of new business wins so far, combined with our strong revenue pipelines give us continued confidence for the year ahead.”
Hasgrove now employs around 260 staff across three businesses: Amaze, design firm The Chase, and Interact, a supplier of intranet software.
It said Amaze had continued to perform strongly and won a number of new clients. Interact benefited from its entry into the US market and saw increased sales in Europe and Australia. The Chase had a “challenging year” but Hasgrove was encouraged by new business wins towards the end of the year.
The group has cut net debt from £1.5m to £100,000, despite paying earn-outs of £700,000 and buying back shares worth £200,000.
