The highlights for 2007 include:

• Revenue increased to £150.21m (2006, £74.77m).
• Pre-tax profit improved to £17.86m (2006, £5.20m).
• Basic earnings per share increased to 16.06p (2006, 4.99p).
• Strong cash generation, particularly in the UK, resulting in net cash of £47.56m (2006, £24.30m).
• Final dividend increased 10% to 3.30p per share (2006, 3.00p). Full year dividend increased by 9.3% to 4.00p (2006, 3.66p).
• Strong balance sheet which positions group for future growth.
• Good start to current year with a strong pipeline of new titles, in line with the Board's expectations.
• Acquisition of Featherstone Education Limited, a specialist educational publisher, on 31 March, 2008.

Operating highlights

• Record breaking performance from adult and children's titles.
• Continued reduction in the Group's cost base following overhead reviews in UK and USA.
• Strong sales of Khaled Hosseini's The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns and of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.
• Substantial growth in Berlin Verlag, where Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows in the English language sold over one million copies. Both Khaled Hosseini's books enjoyed strong success. Current trading has also been boosted by the launch of Jonathan Littell's controversial book Die Wohlgesinnten resulting in hardcover sales exceeding 100,000 copies.
• Future revenue streams generated by deals with existing and new partners on database content, including Qatar Finance - The Ultimate Resource, a book and online service.
  

Commenting on the results and prospects for Bloomsbury, Nigel Newton, Chief Executive, said:

"This is a good set of results, substantially ahead of last year. We saw strong growth from our Adult and Children's publishing and also from A&C Black and Berlin Verlag.

We are now well positioned for the post Harry Potter era. We have reduced overhead costs, are successfully developing new business areas in specialist publishing, and have a strong pipeline of titles. We will continue to do what Bloomsbury does best - discovering new talent and developing it both in the UK and overseas.

The first quarter of 2008 has started strongly and we have a number of new database projects under development."

This is the first Chairman's statement for Bloomsbury since the Group split the role of Chairman and Chief Executive in September 2007.

Bloomsbury is a group of businesses, many with a long history, spanning trade and specialist publishing. Last year Bloomsbury completed 21 years, and much has been done in 2007 to position the Group for growth in a new stage of its development. The historic success of Bloomsbury, in which Harry Potter has played a key role, has unquestionably positioned it well for the future.

The strategy of the Group has therefore been re-defined, changes have been made to the Board. The Chief Executive and his executive team have organised the business to take advantage of opportunities in areas where it has growing strength. They have also rationalised its businesses where needed.

There is now a real momentum behind the Bloomsbury Group. The focus of the Group's strategy has seen a drive to improve performance and eliminate some of the inherent risk of the publishing industry. Notable achievements in 2007 included the seventh and final Harry Potter book, and a significant licensing deal with Qatar Financial Centre Authority. The detailed strategy of the Group and the structure to deliver that strategy are dealt with in the Chief Executive's statement.

As far as the Board is concerned, Nigel Newton, the Founder and Chief Executive of Bloomsbury, has achieved what few founders of a successful company achieve - transformation of a team where he played a dominant role in making it what it is today into a business where his leadership allows the interaction of the non-executive directors and the executive team for constructive, balanced debate and decision taking.

The clearer reorganised roles of the Board and some significant structural reorganisation within the Group since those basic changes are evidence of that. In addition to the split of the roles of Chairman and Chief Executive, the changes have been helped by further re-composition of the Board. Richard Charkin, appointed as Executive Director in October 2007, brings a wealth of experience, leadership, and industry knowledge to Bloomsbury, and an injection of fresh blood into a stable, long-established management team. Liz Calder is stepping down from the Board today after twenty one years but she will very much remain with Bloomsbury, looking after her list of authors. She has made a huge contribution to the Board, and we are tremendously grateful to her.

There is, as a result of these changes, a growing distinction between Board and Executive management, and these changes have introduced a different dynamic into the Group.

The Combined Code on Corporate Governance issued by the Financial Services Authority is designed to enhance Board effectiveness and to improve investor confidence by raising standards of corporate governance. It has been valuable in giving Bloomsbury a framework against which to assess its own governance requirements. However, it is deliberately not prescriptive but rather provides a framework of principles against which Bloomsbury must set the needs of the Group and its shareholders.

My job, as Non-Executive Chairman, in the year ahead, will be to oversee the continued development of the Board and its committees, so that they support the Chief Executive and his Executive team in the realisation of the Group's strategy and exploitation of the opportunities it brings.

Profitable new publishing opportunities are emerging. Such times as these have great potential for far-sighted, experienced and nimble businesses with vision and a strong capital base, and with the organisational capacity to get things done. Bloomsbury is well placed to realise that potential.

None of Bloomsbury's ambitions would be possible without the commitment of its entire staff. This Group employs some of the finest and most experienced people in the industry; it lives by their professionalism, commitment, and dedication. Without them it would not have its distinguished history and unique brand and, critically, it would not have the opportunity to realise its ambitions for the future. On behalf of the Board, of Bloomsbury's authors, of all their readers, of all the Group's business partners, and - critically - of all the shareholders, I would like to thank each and every one of them - they have done an outstanding job.

Jeremy J O'B Wilson
Non-Executive Chairman

Overview

I am pleased to report excellent results, substantially ahead of last year.

2007 was a landmark year for Bloomsbury Publishing. There were a number of changes made to the structure of the Group. In September, we split the roles of Chairman and Chief Executive and Jeremy Wilson was appointed as Non Executive Chairman alongside me as Chief Executive. In October, Richard Charkin joined as an Executive Director bringing a wealth of experience, leadership and industry knowledge.

The Group has conducted a thorough internal strategic review to examine how best to position the business and maximise returns. As a result, the Board has decided to divide the Group into two overarching divisions:  Trade and Specialist. We are seeking to maintain our strong position in the UK, US and German consumer trade publishing sectors whilst expanding organically and through acquisition our specialist publishing in the educational, academic and reference fields. I will have responsibility for the Specialist Division and Richard Charkin for the Trade Division, reporting to me.

Following the review, we are driving reductions in our cost base directly and through our supply chain. We have completed a thorough overhead review and have made annualised cost savings to date of £1.75m the principal benefit of which will be felt in 2008. We are continuing the process and expect to make another £0.78m of annualised cost savings this year.

Financial performance

Revenue increased by 100.9% to £150.21m (2006, £74.77m), reflecting strong performances from a number of our key authors including JK Rowling, Khaled Hosseini, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and William Boyd. Revenues from Continental Europe, which were generated by Berlin Verlag, increased 45.1% to £8.53m (2006, £5.88m). Revenues from the US operations reduced by 10.8% to £13.39m (2006, £15.01m) although in local currency the underlying reduction was only 3.6% to £14.47m.

Profit before tax increased 243.5% to £17.86m (2006, £5.20m). Basic earnings per share rose by 221.8% to 16.06 pence (2006, 4.99 pence). Diluted earnings per share increased by 219.0% to 15.63 pence (2006, 4.90 pence).

At the end of the year the Group had increased its net cash balances to £47.56m (2006, £24.30m) before the half yearly royalty payments made on 31 March 2008. We continue to invest in future growth through acquiring new authors, new titles and specialist publishing acquisitions. Our strong balance sheet supports this strategy. At 31 December 2007, the Group had under contract 1,240 titles (2006, 1,149) for future publication, with a gross investment of £27.58m (2006, £30.77m). After payment of the initial tranches of advances to authors, our liability for future cash payments on these contracted titles at that date was £16.32m (2006, £18.48m). This is a good time for acquisitions.

Specialist Publishing Division

This is a growth area for us in a publishing sector with lower volatility and strong margins.

Reference

In 2007 we undertook a number of significant initiatives as part of our strategy to exploit our content in a wide variety of different formats, in print and online.

A new publishing agreement was signed with Oxford University Press to produce an online version of Who's Who. Launched in December 2007, this specially designed website will join The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, thus creating the country's best online biographical source. A major licensing agreement was also made with Microsoft for a new database.

Also, in conjunction with Microsoft and Ingram/Lightning Source, Bloomsbury is digitising the Group's entire worldwide backlist thereby becoming fully digitally, ready to exploit the emerging marketing, sales and rights opportunities in print and digital editions of our titles, including e-books.  The digital archive will bring operational efficiencies enabling print on demand where appropriate, thereby unleashing the long tail potential of our content to niche markets. By participating in Microsoft's Live Search programme, Bloomsbury Group titles will benefit from controlled search on the internet leading to increased sales.

A&C Black's backlist sales have always been a core strength. In 2007 print on demand technology, combined with a new system at our distributor, enabled us to republish out of print backlist titles using print on demand. Over 500 previously out of print titles were republished in 2007, generating approximately £126,000 of additional sales.

To mark A&C Black's 200th anniversary, we published editions of two books from our archive: Don'ts for Wives and Don'ts for Husbands. First published in 1913, these little books of wise and witty advice for married couples caught the media and the public imagination and were bestsellers selling nearly half a million copies. They continue to sell strongly and, for Fathers' Day 2008, we will also publish another book in the same series, Don'ts for Golfers.

In the last days of 2007 we finalised a significant new agreement to publish online the annual compendium of navigational data, Reeds Nautical Almanac. The new website, Reeds Online Almanac, will be aimed at the growing number of recreational sailors who wish to access navigation and port information online. Launching in May 2008, it will provide the current navigational information in the print version, updated in real time, and other enhanced features including weather forecasting, dynamic synoptic charts as well as a powerful database to aid quick retrieval of information.

On 31 March 2008 we acquired Featherstone Education Limited. Featherstone focuses on publishing to support teachers and of education of children up to seven years old, a rapidly expanding part of the UK market. Responding to the government's increased emphasis on, and funding for, this sector, Featherstone is now a market leader in this niche. Sales are likely to be boosted by school's implementation of the new ‘Early Years Foundation Stage' in September 2008 which requires teachers and educators to follow a ‘joined up' learning programme from years 0-8. Education is core to A&C Black and this acquisition extends our reach to the 0-7 ages, and to a wider range of customers. Featherstone has a highly effective direct mail system which will be of considerable benefit in increasing our direct sales to customers for educational and children's products. A&C Black will be able to add value to the list with our current sales and marketing operations to schools, including our school rep force and with our editorial expertise, particularly in the area of children's music.

In 2008 we will continue to develop and exploit the range of electronic formats now available for our products, the publication of new mixed media and whiteboard products for the educational market and website developments such as an enhanced Writers' and Artists' Yearbook website.

Databases

The creation and ongoing exploitation of content databases in which Bloomsbury owns all IP rights has been an important element in Bloomsbury's long-term strategy and these IP projects have contributed good revenue streams and profits to the Group.

2007 saw significant new activity in this area. We completed new deals with existing partners, including Microsoft, and we also agreed partnerships with several new customers.

Foremost among these is the Qatar Financial Centre Authority with whom we concluded a significant deal in August. Qatar Finance - The Ultimate Resource will be a new information resource aimed at financial professionals from CEOs and CFOs to junior accountants. Unique in the breadth and depth of information and including particular emphasis on best practice and thought leadership, the project, being written by over 300 high level contributors, will be launched in 2009. The first revenue from this source will occur in 2008.

We are also working on a major new database for licensing, and a number of parties have expressed interest. We will seek to develop more partnerships and associations with established websites in our niche areas where we see both marketing and publishing opportunities for our mutual benefit.

Trade Publishing Division

2007 has been an outstanding year for our Trade Publishing Division, both in terms of sales and profit growth. The continuing success of Harry Potter, and individual titles and initiatives are described below. During the year several key strategic initiatives have also been pursued:

1. maximising the benefits of individual copyrights through publication wherever possible throughout the English- and German-speaking worlds with new books by Khaled Hosseini, Ben Schott, William Boyd and Elizabeth Gilbert.
2. recognition of the need to embrace fully the opportunities offered by digital technology - the Microsoft Live Search Programme, the development of www.bloomsbury.com.
3. the need to address continuously the cost base of our publishing operations.
4. a sharper approach to pricing and margins and careful review of distribution costs in response to tougher trading conditions.

UK

Children's

2007 saw the publication of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the final title in the Harry Potter series. With 2,652,656 copies sold out of UK bookshops on the first day of release, the book exceeded all expectations. With all seven books in the series now published, the books are available in a range of box sets and formats. The series will remain a children's classic for years to come.

In 2007 we further established ourselves in the area of series fiction with the launch of the successful Mermaids SOS series, and we will continue to grow in this area with the launch in 2008 of The Glitterwings Academy, another series aimed at young, primarily female, readers. We will launch in 2008 with eight titles featuring this magical school and one special Christmas volume.

Adult

In 2007 we reduced the number of new titles in the publishing programme, but committed more time and energy to ensure that each title generated a higher contribution to revenues and profits.  

We continue to develop new talent and to pursue a vigorous marketing strategy on some promising titles that are not an immediate success. The Kite Runner and Elizabeth Gilbert's Eat, Pray, Love are notable examples of such ‘slow burn' titles.

We also continue to develop our strategy of buying titles internationally, Khaled Hosseini and Elizabeth Gilbert are two authors we share with Berlin Verlag, and, with Bloomsbury USA, Katie Hickman's The Aviary Gate. We continue to buy world rights where possible, and gain revenue from the sale of some translation rights where appropriate.

Established Bloomsbury authors with new books coming include David Guterson, whose Snow Falling on Cedars sold over one million copies, Margaret Atwood, Justin Cartwright, Anne Michaels (author of Fugitive Pieces) and Ben Schott.

Our strategy to develop our list of serious non-fiction came to fruition in 2007. Bloomsbury won the Samuel Johnson prize with Rajiv Chadresekeran's Imperial Life in the Emerald City. We had a paperback bestseller with Ben McIntyre's Agent Zigzag, and his new book about James Bond is published in 2008. We also had a hardback bestseller, The Last Fighting Tommy and the first volume of a history of post-war Britain, David Kynaston's Austerity Britain, was published to spectacular acclaim in 2007.

Our series of highly illustrated food and television tie-in books continues, and 2007 saw the further success of this list with David Dimbleby's TV tie-in How We Built Britain, Heston Blumenthal's Further Adventures in Search of Perfection and Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's River Cottage Fish Book.

Bloomsbury USA

In spite of tough market conditions in 2007, our US Children's lists have performed well with several awards and bestsellers, including Newberry winner Shannon Hale's Princess Academy, and a number of titles are selling well into 2008. The Adult list has proved difficult with fewer books breaking through than expected. The level of book returns has been high as customers continue to reduce stock levels. The new publishing lists started in 2006 and launched in 2007 have yet to build critical mass and, to accelerate the US's move back into profit, we reduced staff and office overheads.

Berlin Verlag

2007 saw substantial growth across all of Berlin Verlag's lists.

In the Spring Ingo Schulze's short story collection, Handy, won the Leipzig Book Fair Prize. Building on the successes of the Bloomsbury Berlin list in the Spring, we had several bestsellers including Die Flucht by Tatjana Gräfin Dönhoff, a tie-in to a prime time TV series. Khaled Hosseini's new novel, 1000 Strahlende Sonnen (A Thousand Splendid Suns), entered the bestseller charts immediately on publication.

The paperback list continued to do well, with several titles performing well and turnover exceeding budget. The main success was the continuing backlist sales of Khaled Hosseini's Drachenläufer (The Kite Runner). Originally published in paperback in November 2004, sales have grown significantly each year, initially through word of mouth but also, in 2007, backed by a targeted marketing campaign. Consequently the book climbed the bestseller lists steadily throughout the year.

Publication of the English language edition of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows in July was a major event in Germany where for the first time many shops stayed open till 1:00AM so that German children could buy the book in English at the same time as the rest of the world.

The prospects for 2008 are positive. Berlin's lead title Die Wohlgesinnten by Jonathan Littell was published in late February. Sales are strong, and the press and publicity campaign has already ensured massive coverage in important broadsheets including the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, which had not only covered the book extensively but has also created a microsite devoted exclusively to the book. It created a furore when it was initially published in France, where Jonathan Littell, an American author, became the first foreigner to win the Prix Goncourt.

Dividend

The Directors are recommending a final dividend of 3.30 pence per share (2006, 3.00 pence) making a total of 4.00 pence per share (2006, 3.66 pence) for the year. This represents a 9.3% increase in the full year dividend. The final dividend will be payable on 1 July 2008 to Ordinary Shareholders on the register at the close of business on 23 May 2008.

Management and staff

I would like to thank our staff for their tremendous contribution to a very busy year where we have seen major strategic as well as operational achievements.

Current trading, developments and prospects

The major agreement just signed with Microsoft to digitise Bloomsbury's entire backlist will enable e-book sales and print on demand orders. The paperback edition of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows will be published in July. Sales across the Group in the first quarter have been encouraging and we are looking to build on this through the rest of the year.

Nigel Newton
Chief Executive
1 April 2008

Results

Revenue for the Group increased 100.9% to £150.21m (2006, £74.77m). Bloomsbury's primary segmental analysis is by geographic breakdown, which follows our international publishing strategy. Revenue in the UK increased 138.1% to £128.29m (2006, £53.88m) driven by contributions from key authors including JK Rowling, Khaled Hosseini, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and William Boyd. US revenue reduced by 10.8% to £13.39m (2006, £15.01m) as a result of a tough market and a higher than expected level of book returns, though at 2006 exchange rates the reduction in US revenue was only 3.6% to £14.47m. For Continental Europe, revenue, which was generated by Berlin Verlag, increased 45.1% to £8.53m (2006, £5.88m) on the back of strong performances from authors including Khaled Hosseini, William Boyd, Ingo Schulze and Zeruya Shalev.

The Group's secondary segmental disclosure is split into three main operating areas: Children's, Adult and Reference publishing. Under the new Group structure Children's and Adult form the Trade Publishing Division, and Reference the Specialist Publishing Division. Children's is a combination of the UK, US and German lists. For 2007 the breakdown of revenue between the three areas was: Children's 66% (2006, 37%), Adult 24% (2006, 44%) and Reference 10% (2006, 19%).

Revenue in Children's increased 261.4% to £98.92m (2006, £27.37m). Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, published in July 2007, was the main contributor to the increase. Gross profit for Children's for 2007 increased 198.9% to £39.60m (2006, £13.25m) with the contribution to administrative expenses up 219.6% to £30.01m (2006, £9.39m).

Adult revenue increased 9.7% to £35.85m (2006, £32.67m). The revenue increase was driven by a number of strong selling titles including The Kite Runner (UK and Germany), A Thousand Splendid Suns (UK and Germany), The River Cottage Fish Book (UK)and Restless (UK, USA and Germany). Gross profit for Adult for 2007 was down 17.3% to £13.26m (2006, £16.04m) with contribution to administrative expenses down 34.0% to £6.01m (2006, £9.10m) which is primarily as a result of additional advance and stock provision made.

Reference revenue increased 4.8% to £15.45m (2006, £14.74m) due to the full year results of Methuen Drama, acquired during 2006, and the success of a number of titles including Don'ts for Husbands and Don'ts for Wives. The gross profit for 2007 was down 8.3% to £6.31m (2006, £6.88m) with contribution before administrative expenses down 20.7% to £2.64m (2006, £3.33m), which is primarily as a result of £0.75m (2006, £0.090m) of database development costs carried in inventories in previous financial years being written down to nil value.

Rights revenue, which includes subsidiary rights, electronic database income and income derived from third party agencies, increased 8.7% to £5.24m (2006, £4.82m). The profit attributable to this revenue was £2.95m (2006, £2.67m). £1.92m (2006, £1.42m) of the profit was generated in the Specialist Publishing Division and £1.03m (2006, £1.25m) was generated in the Trade Publishing Division.

Gross profit for the Group increased 63.6% to £59.17m (2006, £36.17m). Gross profit margin decreased to 39.4% (2006, 48.4%). The decrease was due to a combination of increased royalty costs, the high level of book returns experienced and expected in future periods in the UK, US and Germany and increased stock and advance provisions in Adult across all territories on books published in previous financial years. Royalty costs increased to £44.00m (2006, £8.17m) and represented 29.3% of revenues (2006, 10.9% of revenues). Provisions on unearned advances increased to £9.23m (2006, £2.46m) and represented 6.1% of revenues (2006, 3.3% of revenues). Stock provisions increased to £4.30m (2006, £1.59m) and represented 2.9% of revenues (2006, 2.1% of revenues). The additional stock and advance provisions were made to cover returns of books into stock during the year and a valuation of advances on titles at their recoverable amount. In addition to the normal amortisation policy, in the Specialist Publishing Division £0.75m (2006, £0.09m) of database development costs carried in inventories in previous financial years have been written down to nil value.

Marketing and distribution costs increased by 42.9% to £20.51m (2006, £14.35m). The variable element of these costs increased in line with revenue. Administrative expenses increased 21.1% to £22.18m (2006, £18.31m). The increase included a dilapidation accrual of £0.63m (2006, £nil) on the Group's offices in Soho Square, three of which have leases expiring in 2010, the fourth with a break in 2011. In addition, performance bonuses were also accrued for the first time since 2005.

Profit before investment income increased 369.5% to £16.48m (2006, £3.51m). Profit before investment income for the UK increased 388.2% to £18.16m (2006, £3.72m). The US loss before investment income for the year was £1.64m (2006, loss £0.26m). Germany's profit before investment income for the year was £0.28m (2006, £0.20m).

Investment income decreased by 14.5% to £1.48m (2006, £1.73m) primarily as a result of lower average cash balances during the year.

The effective corporation tax rate for the year is 33.9% (2006, 29.7%). The increase in the rate from 2006 mainly reflects partial recognition of current year US tax losses as an increased deferred tax asset, the inability to recognise an increased deferred tax asset for share based payment charges, for which tax relief will not be given until the relevant options are exercised, and certain expenses that are permanently disallowable for tax purposes. The Group continues to recognise deferred tax assets in respect of tax losses of Bloomsbury USA and Berlin Verlag which we expect will be utilised in the foreseeable future.

Basic earnings per share rose by 221.8% to 16.06 pence (2006, 4.99 pence). Diluted earnings per share increased by 219.0% to 15.63 pence (2006, 4.90 pence).

Balance sheet

Current assets

Inventories decreased 8.9% to £14.41m (2006, £15.82m). Work in progress remained consistent with 2006 levels. Stocks of finished goods decreased 11.9% to £10.94m (2006, £12.42m), due to a combination of improved stock control and increased provisions.

Trade and other receivables increased 54.8% to £76.21m (2006, £49.22m). Trade receivables increased 169.9% to £47.53m (2006, £17.61m) as a result of the increase in revenue. Since books sold are generally returnable by customers, the Group makes a provision against books sold in the accounting period. The unused provision at year-end is then carried forward as an offset to trade receivables in the balance sheet, in anticipation of further book returns subsequent to the year-end. A provision for the Group of £13.03m (2006, £5.51m) for future returns relating to 2007 and prior sales including Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows has been carried forward in trade receivables in the balance sheet at 31 December 2007. This provision at margin represents 8.7% (2006, 7.4%) of revenues. Within trade and other receivables, prepayments and accrued income decreased 4.9% to £27.91m (2006, £29.34m) due to increased advance provisions of £9.23m (2006, £2.46m) against titles published in previous financial years.

Equity and liabilities

At 31 December 2007 total equity stood at £100.07m (2006, £89.33m). The increase was due to retained earnings of £9.11m (2006, £0.98m), less the increase in share-based payment reserve due to the share-based payment charge for the year of £1.01m (2006, £0.65m) and share options exercised during the year.

Current liabilities increased 176.5% to £58.9m (2006, £21.3m). Accruals and deferred income, which is included in trade and other payables, increased to £47.04m (2006, £12.23m). Accruals and deferred income includes royalty payments to authors, which vary from year to year depending on turnover and the authors' royalty rates which typically escalate on triggered thresholds as volume sales increase. In 2007 the Group published the highest selling book in its history. The royalties due to authors, accrued at 31st December 2007, were paid on 31 March 2008. Corporation tax payable increased to £3.10m (2006, £0.52m).

Cash Flow

The Group had a net cash inflow from operating activities before tax of £26.60m for the year (2006, outflow of £19.92m). Cash generation was particularly strong for the UK operation by the publication of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Corporation tax paid during the year was £1.93m (2006, £5.20m). The amount paid in 2007 included the impact of a claw-back of corporation tax over-paid on account for the 2006 financial year. During the year £1.35m (2006, £1.73m) of interest was received from deposits, and £2.72m (2006, £2.67m) of dividends were paid. The Group's net cash on the balance sheet as at 31 December 2007 was £47.56m (2006, £24.30m).

Colin Adams ACA
Group Finance Director
1 April 2008