Printable Edition Click Here  :  Subscribe   :   Page  5  : Feature   :  November 2006 
  Go to page:  1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10  11  12  13  14  15  16           Previous Page      Next Page
Axon expects to beat full-year forecast
 
 Axon Group plc
anticipates its results
for the year ending 31
December 2006 to be at
least 10% ahead of
current market
expectations.
   "Despite significant
investment in our US
operations, we have
maintained the positive
momentum that we
reported at our interim
results in September
2006, and we anticipate
that our full year
result will be at least
10% ahead of current
market expectations,"
Mark Hunter, chairman
and CEO, commented in a
trading update.
   While reporting
interim results last
month, Axon had said it
had a “strong order
book, a good pipeline
and excellent
operational controls,”
and that it was
confident performance in
the second half of 2006
could be as good as
these first half
results. 		 
  
   
 
 
 
 
 Consulting.
   Growth also continued
in the Malaysia offshore
centre, where Axon
recently won a 10,000
man day development
project for an existing
client.
   EMEA revenues grew by
29% to £48.3m (H1 2005:
£37.5m), primarily
driven by UK demand
through the expansion of
offerings to existing
clients, as well as
buoyant demand in the
Public Sector, Utilities
and Oil and Gas markets.
   Axon said it’s now
seeing a slight increase
in demand for
pan-European programmes
and as a consequence
Europe accounted for
revenues of £7.7m (H1
2005: £5.4m).
   Overall, EMEA
delivered a good
operating result before
restructuring costs of
£4.9m (H1 2005: £2.9m),
which equates to 10.2%
of EMEA revenues (H1
2005: 7.7%). This
increase in		 
 profitability can be
attributed to reduced
operating losses in the
Middle East, high
consultant utilisation
and good client
satisfaction.
   Business Consulting,
which is predominantly
UK-focused, grew
revenues by 61% to
£10.6m (H1 2005: £6.6m)
driven by the need for
business consultants in
large programmes such as
Birmingham City Council.
Systems Implementation
delivered very strong
growth and revenues grew
by 84% to £40.4m (H1
2005: £21.9m) which was
driven both by strong
demand in the UK as well
as acquisitions and
organic growth in the
US. Applications
Management revenues grew
by 4% to £12.4m (H1
2005: £11.9m) which was
a good performance
considering the firm’s
decision to exit a low
margin contract in the
second half of 2005.
   Axon exited its		 
 troubled business in the
Middle East with an
operating loss before
restructuring costs of
£0.5m (H1 2005: £0.9m)
and £1.2m of
restructuring costs
relating to the exit of
client contracts, the
closure of
infrastructure and the
reduction in headcount.
   High levels of demand
across the business
drove consultant
utilisation up to 75% (H
2005: 72%) which,
coupled with a reduction
in loss-making contracts
in the Middle East and
general high levels of
client satisfaction,
delivered an excellent
adjusted gross margin
increase to 28% (H1
2005: 25%).
   Axon said it was
continuing its
recruitment drive; it
finished the first half
with a total headcount
of 959, which is up 23%
since J
   		 
    For the six-month
period to 30 June 2006,
Axon said turnover
increased to £63.4m (H1
2005: £40.4m), and
profit before tax
increased 58% to £5.6m
(H1 2005: £3.5m).
   Axon said its core UK
business continued to
maintain its positive
momentum and that it had
secured new business
with organisations such
as Northgate, Birmingham
City Council and
Herefordshire Council.
   Axon’s US expansion
has continued; the
company won new
contracts with
organisations such as
Aquarian Water, Lansing
Board of Water, Goodrich
Corporation and Mobile
Gas. The company said it
had hired more people in
the US than it gained
via the January 2006
acquisition of TUI		 
 
Diamond reports healthy second quarter results
 
 Diamond Management &
Technology Consultants
saw net revenue from
continuing operations
rise in the second
quarter of the fiscal
year 2007, up 13% to
$41.2m, compared to
$36.6m in the same
period of fiscal year
2006.
   Net income was
$24.6m, or $0.73 per
diluted share, primarily
due to the $23m net gain
from the sale of certain
portions of its
international operations
during the second
quarter.
   "The market for our
services is strong,"		 
 said Adam Gutstein,
president and CEO of
Diamond. "We are
initiating and
converting more
opportunities, which
resulted in 23 new
clients in the second
quarter.
   "We are confident in
the business and believe
this is the right time
to make investments for
the future, to grow our
business and to
recognize people for
their contributions to
the company's
performance," Gutstein
continued. "We are
making important
investments in		 
 people-related programs
in the second, third and
fourth quarters of the
fiscal year that we
expect will grow our
revenue, improve
profitability over the
long term, and return
superior results to
shareholders."
   Diamond said it
served 63 clients in
continuing operations
during the second
quarter of fiscal year
2007, compared with 51
clients in the first
quarter and 43 in the
same period last year.
The company added 23 new
clients in the second
quarter compared with 12		 
 in the first quarter and
17 in the year-ago
period. The top five
clients represented 41%
of revenue during the
second quarter compared
to 40% in the first
quarter and 40% in the
year-ago period.
   Diamond ended the
second quarter with 502
client-serving
professionals, up from
449 in the first quarter
and 454 in the same
period last year.
   "Our improving trends
and the continued strong
market make us more
positive on our
outlook," said Gutstein.
"As a result, we are		 
 raising net revenue
guidance for the third
quarter and full fiscal
year 2007."
   For fiscal year 2007,
Diamond is raising this
figure from 16% to 20%.
It anticipates its
continuing operations to
generate net revenue in
the range of $168m to
$174m, pretax income of
$12m to $16m, and
earnings per diluted
share of $0.17 to
$0.24.
  
  
   		 
  Consulting Times | Page 5 Previous Page     Next Page