Acquisitions on hold as Tenon sees resurgence

Link; Tenon’s odd couple

Rayner said the firm was not looking at acquisitions. ‘Consolidation is a process you go through to reach “critical mass”. Although I don’t think we have reached that point, we don’t have any more acquisitions planned.’

Tenon’s operating profit increased to £4.5m for the six months to 31 December 2003, from £1.3m in the same period in 2002. But the firm was forced to write off £114m early last year, as a charge incurred due to the revaluation of the business.

Matthew Brabin, Tenon’s financial director, said the charge was related to 14 acquisitions made by the firm. He added: ‘The most important thing is that our operating profit has grown considerably over the last year.’

Raynor said that most of Tenon’s problems were because it was ‘not structured properly’. ‘We needed to concentrate on our strengths. The second half of 2003 saw us do just that – providing a service to our clients.’

When asked about the future of consolidator Numerica, Raynor said that their rival was ‘clearly having to make difficult management decisions at the moment’.