Unipalm Group Plc, the Cambridge-based personal computer to Unix communications software developer, may have exceeded the profit forecast at the time of its March flotation but pre-tax profits for the group as a whole were down 55.0% to ?272,000, on turnover up 28.2% to ?10.8m. Tumbling profits were due to the group’s ?1m investment in its subsidiary, Public I P Exchange Ltd, which was set up two years ago to provide Unix users with connection to the Internet. Pipex made a loss for the second year running, to the tune of ?444,000 this time. According to Unipalm’s managing director, Peter Dawes, Pipex performance is going to plan and the company will continue to invest at least as much again in Pipex until sales level off; he predicts this will happen in the next three to five years. Pipex is currently growing at a rate of 10% a month. Since Unipalm’s flotation, Pipex has extended its Internet network connections to eight other countries including Germany, Italy and the Benelux countries. Pipex has also won a contract to provide the backbone network for the BBC Network Club. The service, to be launched on Thursday, will provide a bulletin board and interactive communication to any customer with a personal computer and modem. The announcement of its year end result pushed the Unipalm share price up by tuppence to 107 pence.
