Strong start for Hasgrove
Hasgrove, the Manchester-based media company which owns the PR firm Amaze, has enjoyed a strong first half.
In the year to December it posted a £3m loss blaming the wider economy, delayed client spending and overruns on two projects.
But in the following six months to June 30 revenue grew 16% to £12.2m (2011: £10.5m) and pre-tax profits increased to £700,000 from £100,000.
The business said the improvement was down to better efficiency, following a restructure, and new business wins.
Hasgrove now employs 260 staff across three businesses: Amaze, design firm The Chase, and Interact, a supplier of intranet software. In March it sold the London e-commerce specialist Underwired Amaze, which it acquired in 2009, to management.
Amaze delivered £6.6m of the group’s £9.1m gross profit and secured pan-European and global accounts during the period. Interact delivered a gross profit of £1.5m and made progress in the US, while The Chase made £1m but had a “sifficult” start to the year due to delayed spending from a major client.
Chief executive Paul Sanders said: “The first half of 2012 has seen a significant improvement on the second half of last year. Our focus on the provision of digital solutions for global organisations, along with our restructuring, has paid dividends resulting in improved efficiency, better delivery of projects and good new business wins.
“The pipelines of both Amaze and Interact are strong, having secured wins with prestigious clients, giving us confidence in achieving our full year expectations.”
The firm, which reduced net debt by £500,000 to £1m, said it did not expect any exceptional costs this year after completing a restructuring and office integration.
