The directory services business 118 118, which recently scrapped plans for a $1.1 billion (£580 million) flotation, has suffered a near 100 per cent fall in profits.
New accounts filed at Companies House by The Number UK, the company behind the service, show that operating profit in the year to last December fell to £444,000 from £12 million the previous year. The figures come months after the group’s parent, InfonXX, ruled out a flotation. It said that it had secured financing from elsewhere.
A spokesman for 118 118 declined to comment on any link between the ruling out of the float and the new figures. However, he said that the drop was “directly related” to the launch of two new 118 118 businesses in Italy and France last year. The creation of the businesses — Il numero and Le numero — “required significant resources, management, legal and regulatory costs,” he said.