Maxima Holdings

Maxima Holdings PLC
23 December 2005


For immediate release 23 December 2005

Maxima Holdings plc

Half Year Trading Update

Maxima Holdings plc, the acquisitive AIM-listed provider of software and IT
solutions to the mid-market, announces an update on trading for the first half
year to 30 November 2005.

Maxima expects revenues and operating profit from continuing operations to be ahead of the comparable period in the previous year. The Azur for SAP division has won seven new clients, most notably a major SAP Business One development and implementation project for Otto Bock Healthcare Ltd, a leading manufacturer of prosthetics and orthotics. Azur Business Solutions and Minerva Industrial Systems continue to focus on servicing their substantial existing client bases.

The document management software company acquired in August 2005 has been fully
integrated with Azur Business Solutions, Maxima's "own-brand" software business.

It has been restored to profitability and is winning new clients again in
Financial Services, Healthcare and Local Government. Hanston, the Oracle managed services business we acquired in September 2005, continues to expand in-line with pre-acquisition budgets and has only been integrated at back-office level; it will continue to operate as a stand-alone business. Cross-selling opportunities have been identified across the client bases of the existing and new businesses.

Operating profits and cash flow for the full year are expected to be in line
with expectations, although turnover may fall below forecasts as a result of
greater proportion of services work.

Maxima continues to consider early adoption of IFRS and will announce results
for the first half year, together with details of the interim dividend payment,
on 27 February 2006.

Kelvin Harrison, Maxima's Chief Executive said:

"Whilst market conditions continue to be tough, Maxima is holding its own and
driving value from carefully targeted acquisitions. We are very pleased with the integration of the two businesses acquired during the period and the
opportunities for cross-selling these present. The software and IT services
market continues to consolidate and we have a healthy pipeline of further
acquisition opportunities."

For further information, please contact:

Maxima
Kelvin Harrison, Chief Executive 07801 380 616
Linda Andrews, Finance Director

Seymour Pierce
Mark Percy/John Depasquale 020 7107 8000

Smithfield
Sara Musgrave/Sarah Richardson 020 7360 4900

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Notes to editors:

Maxima Holdings floated on AIM on 24 November 2004 at an issue price of 110p,
and acquired Azur Holdings Ltd, an IT professional services group, on the same
day. Maxima was established to acquire companies or businesses supplying
computer software or services to specialist niche and vertical markets, with the
objective of building a focused IT services group. It brings together a
management team with skill, experience and incentive to deliver significant
shareholder value through a combination of acquisition and organic growth.

Maxima's first acquisition, Azur, implements and supports enterprise software
solutions for small and mid-sized, UK-based manufacturing, distribution and
service organisations. These solutions are built upon leading software suites,
such as SAP, as well as products developed in-house by Azur.

Ringwood Group plc, Maxima's second acquisition, has a suite of software
products that enable any organization to manage the content, publish, distribute
and archive any type of documentation. The products employ the latest
technologies and can be used over the internet. They are widely used in
organizations of all sizes in the private and public sector. They are
particularly valuable where regulatory compliance needs to be maintained and
demonstrated e.g. medical, financial, safety etc.

The latest acquisition, Hanston Technology Partners Limited, is a fast growing
managed services business providing applications support and IT consultancy
services to Oracle users. Many of these are in the public sector and include
organizations engaged in transportation, central government, telecommunications
and pharmaceuticals. The business puts Maxima firmly in the Oracle IT Services
market and complements the SAP skills already in the Group as part of Azur.

Ringwood and Hanston have both been integrated with Azur and the business now
has more than 180 staff, operating from 8 offices and serving over 500 clients,
many with multiple sites in the UK and internationally.




This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange