Horizon, the Anglo-Irish Sun reseller, has reported a pretty good year, with sales for the 12 months to 30 June 2001 up 38 per cent to EUR409.5m and EBITDA up 15 per cent to EUR18.5m.

But as with rival Morse, it was a tale of two halves, with the second half suffering what Horizon describes as "an environmental downturn". And like Morse, the company has implemented cost-cutting measures to bring expenses into line with expenses.

These include "very significant" job cuts, the consolidation/closure of three offices, and the discontinuation of a number of loss-making operations, resulting in annual savings of E10m. The restructure left Horizon with 614 staff at the end of its financial year, against 720 in March, 2001. Another 60 staff are expected to go.

Horizon expresses confidence in the future, reporting a strong order pipeline, and healthy growth for its high-margin Internet services/integrator business. ®