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Insurance services specialist Innovation Group claims to see imminent improvements, after losing £800,000 in the first half year.

The fully listed company, a prominent technology-led business process outsourcing company catering for the insurance sector, increased turnover by 33 per cent to £64.2 million in the six months to March. However, exceptional costs of £1.5 million, a £1.7 million amortisation charge, a £1.2 million share based payments charge and brought-forward tax losses of £400,000 helped to turn a previous first half pre-tax profit of £3.9 million into an £800,000 loss.

Even without these exceptional costs, which include integrating the £590,000 purchase of parts of Dutch chemical group AKZO Nobel’s Nobilias claims and fleet solutions arm, Innovation’s profits would have been 33 per cent lower at £4 million. The company, which last week agreed to pay up to £5.75 million for maintenance and repair garage network NSN Holdings, says it won 25 new clients in the first half and argues that ‘upfront’ investments made during the six months will ‘generate revenues and profits in the second half of this year.

Emphasising that ‘underlying’ interim profits were £7 million, chief executive Hassan Sadiq says the company is ‘well placed to generate growth and profit in the second half and beyond’. At 25p, the shares have fallen 32 per cent since a year ago and value the company at £162.5 million.

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Innovation Group	LSE	£28.6m	4.40p	-0.73p
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Other company articles:
Innovation into the red			21/05/2008
Innovation Group			24/05/2006
Innovation: time to cut			09/05/2006
Innovation eyes US targets			09/02/2006
Innovation: it’s Bonnier			11/02/2005