Azlan profits set to top £18m

COMPUTER services group Azlan has defied the gloom surrounding the wider technology sector by confirming it would hit its full-year profits forecast despite slightly lower-than-expected sales.

The group, which was on the brink of collapse in 1997 but has since been one of the sector's best recovery plays, saw its shares add 9 1/2p to 146p after it said it expected to net profits to top £18m in the year to 31 March on sales up 4% to £610m.

Broker UBS Warburg had expected profits of £18m on sales of £632m.

The upside was tempered, however, by an admission that its training division was still struggling to cope with more difficult market conditions.

But the group's core computer networking business, which is focused on small business customers and sells Nortel and Cisco equipment, continues to perform in line with management expectation and the group is winning market share.