DATA specialist GB Group has moved into profit after a strong year that saw revenues rise by 23%.

The Chester company reported a pre-tax profit of £1.4m for the year ended March 31, compared to a loss of £400,000 in 2008 and a loss of £1.2m in 2007.

GB provides electronic identity verification services to help firms guard against fraud and give companies up-to-date information about their customers.

The company says it has been able to grow through the recession as the number of people shopping online is still growing, meaning more companies are looking for ways to verify the identity of their customers.

But the group has warned that the current financial year has got off to a slower start.

Chairman John Walker-Haworthsaid: “The group is well- placed to respond to the continuing shift in purchasing behaviour as consumers spend increasing amounts of time and money purchasing online as their confidence and familiarity in doing business over the internet increases.

“Within this environment, the traditional use of documents to verify age and identity is not practical or time or cost-efficient.

“Accordingly, our growth prospects are linked to an increasing need for businesses to verify and manage their customers online and we believe that a new industry sector of ‘identity management’ is emerging to address this need.”

Revenues for the year rose 23% to £23.8m.

Chief executive Richard Law said: “GB made excellent progress in the year ending March 31 and, despite more subdued market conditions, we continue to demonstrate leadership in the emerging market for identity management.

“We believe that identity management is a fundamental enabler of online business and, accordingly, represents an exceptional opportunity for the group.”

GB’s DataAuthentication business saw revenues rise 56% to £11.7m as it both won new customers and carried out more work for existing clients.

The division specialises in age and data verification services to help companies combat identity fraud, money laundering and under-age gambling.

Its DataIntegrity and DataSolutions database management businesses saw their joint revenue rise 1.7% to £12.1m.

GB said revenues since March were down slightly on last year.

Mr Law said: “Throughout the second half of the year, and in the current year to date, levels of consumer activity, on which our transactional services are based, have moderated somewhat.”