TRADING has improved "markedly" at Gresham Computing over the first six months of the year, the company yesterday said.
Gresham Computing added that it expects to report a "significantly improved result" for the first half of the year.
Eric Sep
kes, who was appointed as Gresham's chairman in April, yesterday told its annual general meeting: "Our business is at an exciting phase in its development and demand is growing despite the current state of flux in world markets; I might argue, because of it.
"I am looking forward to us delivering some truly great solutions to our customers over the next six months and, as a result, an improved trading performance for 2008 and beyond."
The computer systems sold by Gresham, including its Clareti packages, provide "real time" financial information to banks and large companies.
The company said it specialises in payments and cash reporting and lending software.
Gresham, which has a market cap of about £29 million, has offices in London and Southampton.
It also has operations in Australia, Canada, Malaysia and the United States.
RUMOUR OF THE DAY
Spanish bid is pie in the SkyBSKYB is mulling over a £2 billion bid for Digital Plus, a Spanish television group, according to market rumours.
Sources said no firm decision had been made to proceed, but Sky's strong cash flow could allow it to finance an acquisition.
Prisa is reportedly putting Digital Plus up for sale in the early autumn to repay debts.
Some analysts were sceptical about any bid, saying Sky is unlikely to take on the debt needed to make the deal.
Simon Baker, an analyst at Credit Suisse, said: "Sky bidding for Digital Plus would be a negative. It doesn't have sufficient debt capacity to afford it."
Other groups reportedly interested in taking over Digital Plus include Telefonica and Ono, both Spanish groups, along with French businesses Vivendi and Orange.
Car sales misfiring badly
Inchcape
291.25p -3.75p
B&B
50p -11p NEWS that car sales went spinning into reverse last month is another clear sign of belt tightening among consumers.
Soaring fuel bills, rising living expenses and the squeeze on credit for big-ticket purchases kept punters away from the not-so-bright lights of the showroom.
A total of 209,190 new vehicles were registered in June – a 6.1 per cent slide on the same month last year, according to industry figures. Private car registrations (as opposed to fleet sales and light vans) plunged 11.9 per cent, year-on-year.
Overall, new vehicle registrations for the first half of 2008 were down by 1.6 per cent.
Hardly a case of the bottom falling out of the market (at least, not yet), but a pretty clear indication of the direction things are travelling in.
It's little comfort then, that, in real terms, new cars have never been cheaper.
Shop around and you can get a lively family hatch with some fancy wheels, air-con and a brace of airbags for well below £10K. Try buying a similar spec motor for the same money ten years ago.
The figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) came at the end of a week that produced warnings from listed car dealership heavyweights Pendragon and Lookers. Pendragon, owner of the Evans Halshaw and Stratstone chains, admitted it had been forced to lay off 500 staff from its 15,000-strong workforce amid a sharp downturn in used and new car markets.
The group, which holds more than 300 franchises across the UK, including about 30 north of the Border, said it was "difficult to forecast" prospects this year.
Lookers, meanwhile, warned investors that trading had become more challenging since the end of the first quarter.
There may have been a couple of glimmers of hope in yesterday's SMMT data – rising sales of diesel cars and low- polluting/tax efficient vehicles – but those will provide cold comfort for an industry gearing up for the toughest summer in years.
Investors setting out on such a bumpy road should perhaps cast an eye over London-listed Inchcape.
Last month's trading update flagged total and like-for-like sales in positive territory.
The international group's ability to offset testing domestic conditions with stronger growth in emerging markets such as Russia and China make it the pick of a battered sector.
WHERE now for the board of Bradford & Bingley? If there is justice for small investors it will be straight out the door, writes Hamish Rutherford.
First, to recap on an ongoing and undignified saga, the company said earlier this year it did not need to go to the market for cash to strengthen its balance sheet, despite bigger, stronger banks taking such action.
Then suddenly in May, it did just that, unveiling plans to raise £400 million, as the market deteriorated.
But, within weeks, B&B got so nervous about its ability to raise the cash that it signed up American buyout group TPG to take a 23 per cent stake in the company, reducing the amount other shareholders had to stump up.
Little did executive chairman Rod Kent seem to realise that many of his biggest shareholders, Standard Life and HBOS among them, opposed such a move.
So against the proposal were investors representing 13 per cent of B&B shares that they came up with an alternative plan in the form of Resolution, which pushed and pushed to be able to look into the lender's books.
But B&B held firm, insisting it would maintain its course with TPG, convincing rebel shareholders to support the plan or risk its downfall.
Then the white knight bolted, with TPG using a credit rating downgrade to excuse itself from the deal.
For B&B shareholders, this is a better deal than the one on offer from TPG, but it could not be worse for B&B's board, which was last night accused of "bungling" the fund-raising.
The very justification that B&B gave for rejecting an approach from Resolution was an apparent lack of certainty that the deal could be completed, opting instead to woo a partner which has now turned and run, forcing the Financial Services Authority (which, by the way, appears to have learnt a thing or two since Northern Rock), to intervene to prevent queues forming outside branches yesterday.
There is likely to be a queue of investors at Kent's door, however, and his days could be numbered.
The full article contains 1086 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
