New chairman for TMN as group sales climb

by Paul McNally, Brand Republic 11-Oct-07, 14:00

LONDON - Data and market research group TMN has reported a sales boost of over 12.5% in the past six months, buoyed by increased investment in staff and infrastructure.

In a trading update ahead of its half-year results, TMN said it expected to see "solid growth" for the rest of the year, with strong performances in its online advertising division.

The group's newly formed research division, ICD Research, created last October to increase TMN's share of the online research market, has also performed "particularly strongly".

The division acts as a full-service research consultancy and has worked with clients including the International Herald Tribune, Virgin Money and Royal Mail.

TMN said it had invested over £500,000 in new staff this year, and plans to further develop its online work with the launch of an email delivery platform called Envoy.

Meanwhile, Warren Tayler, the TMN chairman, has announced he intends to retire from the company next month.

He will be replaced by Peter Harkness, who joined the board as a non-executive director in August. His previous work has included spells at Datamonitor and Magicalia.

Mark Smith, TMN Group chief executive, said the company remained "well-positioned" to meet its targets for the year.

Smith said: "The group has continued to evolve with a great deal of investment in staff and infrastructure. We are firmly focused on expanding our existing divisions and delivering new products."

The company is expected to release its half-year results, covering May to October, on December 5.

In its final results for the last financial year, TMN saw its post-tax profits almost double, from £1.5m to £2.7m.