Veteran disty Northamber reported "positive progress" today as it unveiled its interim management statement.

In a comparatively numbers-free statement this morning, chairman David Phillips said: "After the challenging trading conditions of very recent years, it is pleasant to be able to report positive progress and support my cautiously optimistic statement in the recent annual report."

He said that "with the added benefit of some newer areas of activity", first quarter turnover was up on the year and on the previous quarter.

Those additional sales were lower gross margin, he added, but "the net result was increased pre-tax profitability but at a slightly lower overall gross margin".

The penny-conscious firm managed to further drive down operating costs, with the net result of managing to move into an operating profit compared to last year's operating loss.

That said, the firm sounded notes of caution on everything from the "future" and the economy to "the cuts" and VAT rates. ®