Companies: RGS   

‘Product management services’ concern Regenersis plans further expansion after turning £500,000 first-half losses into £1.6 million pre-tax profits.

The fully listed company, formerly Fonebak, which repairs, re-markets and recycles mobile phones and other technical equipment, has been restructuring and re-orienting itself after taking over mobile phone repairer CRC. It increased turnover nearly 50 per cent to £55 million in the six months to December. Regernesis claims £25 million worth of business ‘wins’, with the likes of Apple and Sony Ericsson, including set-top box repairing for Virgin Media and similar work for Dutch group UPC.

Gary Stokes, who joined as chief executive officer from CRC early last year, says the company, which lost £10.7 million in the year to last June, has re-branded itself and is looking for growth opportunities, which could include more acquisitions. In particular, he cites Regenersis’s ‘green’ credentials. These include lengthening the life and serviceability of products and disposing of old models in an environmentally friendly way, with no use of landfill and environmental audits to back up the company’s claims. Regenersis has already renewed an environmental service contract with mobile phone group O2.

Stokes says the company’s restructuring since last June addressed several inherited problems. Among them were an ill-fated excursion into low-margin mobile phone broking and trading, the loss of a big contract, high borrowings and loss-making acquisitions, including one in Romania.

He maintains Regenersis has now closed surplus sites, ‘down-sized’ Romania and aligned it with CRC. According to Stokes, the company has established a sales presence in Hong Kong, rationalised the Fonebak operations, which contributed £24 million of interim turnover, ‘all profitable', and achieved £31 million of first-half turnover.

Stokes insists Regenersis has ‘sorted out’ its debts, having drawn £10 million of a £23.25 million bank facility, which has now been reduced to £18.25 million. The company had £6 million cash at the end of December.

Shares in Regenersis have fallen from 168.5p in 2005 to 57.5p today, up 3p on the interim figures. They have speculative recovery appeal, overall stock market conditions permitting.

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Regenersis	AIM	£15.45m	54.50p	1.00p
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