SHARES in shopping centre marketing and promotion company SpaceandPeople hit a four-year high after it defied the gloom on the high street to boost its UK income by 5% last year.
SpaceandPeople said its final results for the year are expected to be in line with market expectations when they are announced on March 25.
The City anticipates profits at the Glasgow company have risen by around a quarter to £2.1 million last year.
The company's reach in the UK extends from Inverness Retail Park in the Highlands to West Cornwall Shopping Centre in south-west England.
Over the year, UK client venue sales increased by 16% to £21.4 million while net income to the Glasgow-based company increased by 5% to £8.4m,
SpaceandPeople said: "Trading throughout the second half of the year continued strongly, with revenue from existing clients increasing as well as significant new client gains such as Land Securities and Capital Shopping Centres in the UK."
In Germany, venue sales increased by 52% to €10.1m (£8.6m) and net income to the Company soared by 70% to €3.7m.
Its reach in Germany is continuing to increase after it signed a deal last month with MEC METRO-ECE Centermanagement to manage and sell promotional space in another 36 shopping malls on top of the 10 centres in which it already operates.
Led by Matthew Bending, the company built a cash pile of £391,000 during the year, having ended 2011 with £2000.
This was after expanding its mobile kiosk business in Germany and the UK and investing significantly in information technology.
SpaceandPeople's shares rose 4p to 95.5p.
Kevin Lapwood, industrial goods and services analyst at broker Seymour Pierce, said he would retain his "buy" stance on the stock with an unchanged target price of 110p.
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