Azlan, the European networking distie/trainingfirm , has broken through the doom and gloom with an upbeat trading statement.

Sales for the half year to September 30, will "exceed £297 million (£262m) and pre-tax profits will exceed £7 million (2000: £5.4m).

Second quarter revenues were up £7m sequentially, and £5m up on Q2 last year. The company reports positive cash flow and says that order intake in September "has been consistent with the trend of previous months". ®