RNS Number : 9817N
Gladstone PLC
27 February 2009
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Press Release
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27 February 2009
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Gladstone plc
('Gladstone' or 'the Company')
AGM Statement and Trading Update
Gladstone plc (AIM: GLD.L), the leading provider of software solutions and services to the Health & Leisure and Education markets, will hold its Annual General Meeting at 10.00am today at the offices of Grant Thornton UK LLP, 30 Finsbury Square, London, EC2P 2YU. Dr. Said Ziai, Chairman and Chief Executive of Gladstone plc, will make the following statement:
'I am pleased to report that Gladstone has performed well in the first half of the current financial year and that results for the six months ending 28 February 2009 are expected to be in-line with last year's interim results despite the challenges the rapid deteriorating economic conditions have presented. The management team is fully focused on ensuring that Gladstone continues to perform well in the second half of the current financial year.
'We will continue to focus on generating solid revenues following the considerable investments we have made in our products and executing our stated strategy for future growth.'
The Chairman will also announce a number of major new client wins, which will further consolidate Gladstone's position as the market leader in leisure management solutions within a fragmented market and will say:
'Gladstone is delighted to announce that it has recently been chosen by a number of leading leisure trusts, local council leisure departments and privately-owned leisure facility management companies, as their preferred partner for enterprise member relationship management (MRM) solutions.
'Many of these customers have indicated that after lengthy evaluation and selection processes, their choice of Gladstone as their strategic partner was made simpler by Gladstone's clearly articulated corporate vision, the strategic development road map and the depth of relationships; which only it, as the market leader, can offer either large multi-site or single site leisure operations.
'To be chosen by a growing number of new and existing high-profile leisure industry service providers, and to see a material difference to their business models that Gladstone' solutions and technology makes, is particularly rewarding for our entire team'.
Further details of the contract wins are set out below:
Gladstone's new customers include a growing number of organisations who are replacing their incumbent MRM solution with Gladstone's flagship Plus2 platform. These include Scotland's South Lanarkshire Leisure Ltd, which operates 33 leisure centres on behalf of South Lanarkshire Council, and Bromley Mytime which manages 17 leisure sites on behalf of the London Borough of Bromley.
The Board of Gladstone is also pleased to note that Bromley Mytime in particular will be adopting Gladstone's Plus2 and its web-based Customer Service software suite within two weeks of Gladstone's release of key product upgrades. The upgrades enable the Plus2 central database solution for multi-site gyms, leisure centres and health clubs to be fully compatible with Gladstone's web-based customer service software suite using the Connect and Kiosk products. Online customer software solutions such as Gladstone's on-line booking portal Connect and the on-site booking and ticket collection platform Kiosk are now the standard benchmark for customer service solutions in the broader leisure industry such as travel, theatres, cinemas and theme parks.
In addition, Gladstone is pleased to announce that it has expanded its customer base further after a number of its existing customers in the public sector recently won contracts to manage additional leisure facilities. These customers will replace the incumbent MRM solutions at those facilities with Gladstone's Plus2 platform. These customers include Fusion Lifestyle Ltd which has selected the platform to manage 13 additional sites within its growing portfolio of 30 leisure facilities across seven different local authorities, and Leisure Connections Ltd which will be managing a further 4 leisure sites within its existing portfolio of 70 centres.
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For further information, please contact:
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Gladstone plc
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Dr. Said Ziai, Chairman and Chief Executive
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Tel: +44 (0) 1491 201010
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Nicholas Montgomery, Finance Director
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www.gladstoneplc.com
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Financial Adviser & Nominated Adviser to Gladstone:
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Grant Thornton UK LLP
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Charles Cattaneo
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Tel: +44 (0) 7774 276512
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Ian Stanway
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Tel: +44 (0) 121 232 5193
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Gerry Beaney
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Tel: +44 (0) 20 7728 2589
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Broker to Gladstone:
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Fairfax I.S. PLC
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Simon Bennett / Laura Littley
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Tel: +44 (0) 20 7598 5368
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Media enquiries:
Notes to Editors
Gladstone plc's innovative software products and services, currently targeted at the global health and leisure and education markets, are used daily by thousands of front line staff, managers, end users and students.
Gladstone is a market leader in the provision of member relationship management solutions for a wide range of health and leisure organisations including trusts, leisure centres, and major private leisure chains and is established as the de facto standard for UK local authorities. The Company enables all its clients in both public and private sectors to utilise central database facilities for central and cross-site on-line bookings, Customer Relationship Management ('CRM') and membership management, centralisation of administration, marketing and reporting.
The Company also provides a wide range of integrated systems and software-based solutions for the rapidly expanding Education Facilities Management Solutions ('EFMS') market across the entire spectrum of educational establishments and is a key supplier to the UK Government's Building Schools for the Future ('BSF') initiative.
Gladstone is focused on extending its solutions capabilities, which enable its clients to maximise resource usage, retain customers and improve operational performance, thereby making cost efficiencies, into new vertical and geographic markets aligned with its growth strategy.
The Company's current solutions include the comprehensive Plus2TM product suite which incorporates advanced functionality including web-based remote booking, advanced analysis and the use of kiosks, as well as Gladstone OnRecordTM which serves the education industry with e-registration, biometric and smart card recognition, cashless payment systems, extensive information portals, libraries usage and access control.
Based in Oxfordshire, the Company has sales offices in Glasgow, Dublin (Ireland) and Sydney (Australia), in addition to development facilities in Sonderborg (Denmark) and Karachi (Pakistan).
For further information, visit www.gladstoneplc.com
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
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