Delphi flogs off US and French branches

Training and recruitment company Delphi is lopping off its US and French branches in the face of worse than expected interim results for the six months ending 30 June. For the first half of 1998, turnover stood at £162.2 million, an increase of some 22 per cent on £133.4 million for the first six months of last year. Profit, however, fared less well; operating profit fell by 23 per cent to £5.8 million, from last year's figure of £7.6 million In a statement issued today, Delphi chairman and CEO, Tony Reeves, said figures had been hampered by a "poor performance in the US" which he hoped would soon be eliminated. In October 1996, Delphi bought Alpine - a solutions provider, based in the US - but, less than two years later, the decision has been taken to find a buyer for the struggling reseller. Delphi is in talks with three interested parties.® Delphi is also selling off its stake in a French company, Decan, even though this company has out-performed expectations. Delphi owns 30.8 per cent of Decan, representing an investment of £10.7 million, whereas the market value of Delphi's stake in the publicly quoted company stands at £23 million. The sale will provide Delphi with a welcome injection of cash. Reeves said: "We have taken the decision to exit solutions, to divest our investment in Decan and sell Alpine to a strategic partner as soon as practical." This will leave Delphi focused exclusively on staffing and training provision. A representative of Delphi Group said that despite recent difficulties, the company was optimistic. "The management's strengths have always been in the fields of staffing and training," she said. "This is a process of restructuring which will see good growth across the whole of the group." Novell is embarking on a major push to promote the latest gong for its channel partners to hang on their walls. The PartnerNet programme, which is scheduled to complete its roll out at the end of October, offers resellers throughout the EMEA region training, cut-price support and free software.