Companies: EPO   

The last three months have been a period of attrition for on-line payment solutions developer Earthport, its graduation from Ofex to Aim being marked by a 76% share price plummet to 30p. The main problem is that any progress made by the group in this period has been scuppered by delays in the development of a new version of its payment platform. The latest news proved no exception with the announcement of a one-off £2m licence sale to 'a leading international IT company' being accompanied by a warning of revenues 'materially lower' than anticipated for the year to June. Newly appointed chief executive Jonathan Baile remains upbeat claiming that in the wake of a cost-cutting review Earthport has 'a solid base from which to grow the business'. The new '3rd generation' platform - claimed to be considerably more robust and scaleable than its predecessor - is finally nearing completion.