Tribal Group Plc reported pre-tax profits of £1.1m for the nine months to December. The consulting and professional support services firm revealed a turnaround against a £4.34m loss for the year to end-March 2007. It was driven by strong demand for its consultancy services in education, health, housing and regeneration. The group, which has changed its year-end to December, said adjusted pre-tax profits for the nine months to end-December were £11.1m, 98% up on the pro-forma period in 2006, while sales were up 11% to £153.3m. Operating margins improved to 7.6% from 6.1% in the equivalent period in 2006, it said. The sale of Mercury Health during the period realised a profit of £27m which enabled it to reduce net debt substantially to £6.8m at end-December – a drop from £55.7m at end-March. Tribal is recommending a final dividend of 1.8p, making a total pay-out for the nine months to end-December of 2.95p, equivalent to an annual increase of 13%. Tribal said it had started its new financial year with about 40% of planned revenue already committed, up from 29% at the end of 2006, and with total committed income up 15% at £124m. The company told City investors it had continued to make progress since the start of the year. A Tribal Group spokesman said: ‘We saw good growth in education and an improvement in the performance of consulting. We are making a significant investment in new products and services, and will continue to look selectively at strategic acquisitions that will complement and enhance our offering. We believe we are well-placed to build on this improved performance and are confident about our future prospects in 2008 and beyond.'
