TURNOVER was up but profits were down at Sussex software company Macro 4.

The Crawley-based firm returned operating profits of £4.63 million for the six months to December 31, down 6.5 per cent on the £4.95 million recorded during the same period in 1997.

Turnover was £13.15 million, up by 8.2 per cent during the period.

Chief executive Ronnie Wilson said: "The results show early indications that the group's new strategy for revenue growth is working.

"Progress has been made on all our three business platforms and we have also expanded our fault management product portfolio with the acquisition of Insync Software Inc.

"Our order pipeline is building satisfactorily. New market opportunities through repositioning and a partnering are also being pursued in line with our plans presented in December.

"The board feels that the outcome for the second half will continue to reflect the benefit of implementing our new strategy."

The strategy has been designed to ensure Macro 4 can grow and compete in a changing market place.

In its early stages it is focusing on Open Systems (Unix/Windows NT) business in the form of new sales and marketing-led approaches appropriate for an enterprise solutions approach.

An interim dividend of 10.2p per share will be paid on April 26.

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