Infoserve posts a full year profit

ONLINE search firm Infoserve today delivered its first full year profit but warned that it would have to work hard to keep growing.

In the year ended March 31 2010, the company's turnover increased by 11 per cent to 6.1m. The group achieved a pre-tax profit for the first time, with profits up 1.1m on the last financial year.

In February 2010, the Leeds-based group announced the successful restructuring of its debts, converting 2m debt into equity and arranging a new 800,000 loan facility. Following the year-end, the group signed a joint venture agreement with newspaper group Iliffe News and Media Limited to provide a combined internet and print advertising package.

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In a statement to accompany the results, the company said: "The macro economic difficulties have affected most businesses in the UK, and we have seen marked evidence of a substantial downturn in marketing expenditure in certain of our customer categories.

"While online advertising, and the group's revenues continue to grow, in the medium term the wider economy is unlikely to provide stimulus and impetus on its own. We believe that initiatives such as our joint venture that bring together a range of media will continue to provide the best opportunity for the group as customers will seek to purchase a number of services from a single trusted source.

"We will need to remain flexible in switching focus away from those business categories most affected by the downturn in order to concentrate resources on growth areas.

"Once again, forecasters predict that online paid-for local search will continue to grow and lead online advertising and marketing, but the group expects that this growth will be at lower rates than in previous years and that we will have to work hard to continue the business and profitability growth experienced in each of the last four years."

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