While directors of so many IT companies have sat back watching their revenues, income and share price rise inexorably, the grim-faced team who sit round the boardroom table at Azlan Plc have been fighting for survival as an independent company. When the heavy footsteps the serious fraud squad officers have echoed down a company’s corridors at its Wokingham, Berkshire HQ, competitors rub their hands in glee. But given the problems the company faced when last year’s 15.1m profit had to be re-stated as a 14.3m loss, Azlan has at least held its own. Only the police investigation will determine whether what occurred last year was serious management neglect – as the company described it – or something considerably more serious. Revenues are virtually unchanged at 292m pounds, though it says this figure would have risen 10% to 321m pounds at constant exchange rates. Most of the net loss of 9.1m pounds were recorded during the first half and the group moved towards breaking even in the second six months. As a company which specializes in LANS and WANS, its product business in the main area of concern. While the European networking market continued to grow, revenue was down 8% to 245m pounds. The board insists that the business has a profitable future but claims that in the past it has lacked focus. The training side has taught the rest of the group how it ought to proceed with revenues up 76% to 37.7m pounds and the services side also showed growth. With a share price which once hit the 270 pence level now at 52.5 pence, there is a long way for the new management team to go to fully regain shareholder confidence. Azlan is stable – now it has to prove it can grow.
