County Contact Centres PLC
21 April 2005
COUNTY CONTACT CENTRES PLC (the "Company")
Trading Statement
As previously reported, trading had been satisfactory and growing during the
first half of the Group's financial year, but a post Christmas lull in Ansaback
sales in January continued into February when a major customer decided to take
significant call volumes back in house. While the Board anticipated a recovery
in sales from various orderline businesses and new multi-lingual contracts, this
did not materialise. It is this type of call traffic that has been the principal
customer base of the Romanian operation.
As a consequence of this, and due to the small size of the Group and its limited
financial resources, it has been decided to close the office in Bucharest,
whilst still retaining a contracted Romanian resource. The UK contact centre is
unaffected.
The Group is expected to report Ansaback turnover substantially ahead of the
year ended 30 June 2004, while CallScripter, with the benefit of the recently
announced ININ OEM (original equipment manufacturer) deal, continues to perform
satisfactorily. However the effects of the closure costs and the lower than
anticipated call traffic in the third quarter will undoubtedly impact on the
Group's second half performance for the year ending 30 June 2005, which will be
below market expectations with a loss being incurred during the second six
months.
As previously the Group will announce its results for the year ending 30 June
2005 during August 2005.
The board is committed to the strategy of building a profitable business and
remains cautiously optimistic.
For further information please contact:
William Catchpole (Managing Director) 01473 321813
Stuart Gordon (Finance Director) 01473 321811
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange