Wilding Office Equipment Plc of Ilford, Essex, has announced pre tax profits up 32% following a year of growth when four acquisitions were made. The most recent acquisition is of the Sheffield-based small office equipment retailer, Typewriter Services, which cost Wilding UKP138,000. Typewriter Services made a pre-tax profit of UKP47,000 on a turnover of UKP396,000 in the year to March 31, and has net assets of UKP53,000. Wilding believes this acquisition will strengthen its presence in the North East, along with the purchase in July of Newcastle-upon-Tyne retailers Tyne & Wear Office Supplies. In October in an effort to develop and market its own brand of office screens and system furniture, Wilding bought Open-Plan, a manufacturer for this market, at a price of approximately UKP11.7m. Machineman, a retailer of office equipment in Darlington was also acquired in October. Building on these acquisitions, Wilding is planning expansion into the distribution of more complex MS-DOS micro systems, as well as of networking products, and has recently been granted an IBM dealership. In terms of organic growth, the company’s sales force has increased to 117 people from 91; six new shops have opened, with two being relocated to larger premises, giving a total of 56 shops and a further seven in-store concessions. Furthermore, Wilding Office Equipment says its financial progress in the current year is looking excellent, all of which was good for 10 on the shares at 200p.
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