Conduit moves into profit

Directory assistance company Conduit increased its revenues by 79% to €37.4m in the third quarter, which ended 31 December, 2001.

It made a profit EBITDA of € 0.3m, compared with a loss of €1.5m in Q2.

Its operating loss was down over the previous quarter from € 2.64m to €1.05m.

For the nine months ended 31st December, call volumes were up 90%.

Conduit operates in Ireland, the UK, Switzerland and Austria.

The company announced that it had acquired, for €4m, the remaining 45% of 118 Ltd from Sonera Media Holdings.

Liam Young said "118 Ltd is of strategic significance to the Group given the recent moves by Oftel to deregulate the UK directory enquiry market.

"This is the largest directory enquiry market in Europe with approximately 700 million calls annually and Conduit's principal objective is to replicate its successful Irish model by capturing significant market share following deregulation. "

There has been a refocusing of Conduit Software activities and CEO, Shane Buckley has resigned.

Overall employee numbers have increased and from 1,077 in December 2000 to 1,400 at 31 December, 2001.

Conduit operates call centres in Dublin, Cardiff, Biel and Vienna and provides directory assistance services to clients in the UK, Switzerland and Austria.