GB moves into profit

IDENTITY management company GB Group has moved into the black after recording a 30% hike in revenues.

The Chester-based IT business, which runs the National Register database of 48m people and households in the UK, said in a management statement that it made a pre-tax profit of £440,000 in the nine months to December 31.

This compares with an £860,000 loss for the same period in 2007 and reflects a 30% increase in revenues to £16.59m.

GB said revenues increased by 10% in the last quarter, helped by its identity verification business DataAuthentication which saw income rise by a third to £2.61m.

GB added that trading was also strong in January, with like-for-like sales up 10%. Cash balances improved by £1m to £4.3m.

The company provides its customers, which include utility groups, transport companies and financial groups, with information on who their customers are and how they behave as consumers.