Third party maintenance company DPCE Holdings Plc of Wokingham, Berkshire, UK, has blamed losses caused by its new start-ups and trading difficulties at its Dutch Products company and in the US for a 19% drop in first half pre-tax profits to UKP2.10m on turnover up 31% – see Company Results. The company reported that its UK and Benelux operations surpassed their budgetry targets. A management revamp and policy reappraisal have been implemented to reduce losses and improve the profitability of its Dutch and US operations. The company will now focus on improving profitability with controlled expansion. The Dutch products business is the old Netherlands Storage Technology marketing company acquired by DPCE a couple of years back, which took the company into marketing. Seven staff – half the employees – are being laid off: additional sales people were taken on in expectation of market growth that never materialised. Despite the problems in the US, it is committed to remaining there, and looks for profits from the US this half.
