SmartFOCUS slips to first-half loss, shares plunge

Sept 5 (Reuters) - Shares in smartFOCUS Group Plc (SMTF.L: Quote, Profile, Research) fell more than 30 percent to 7.5 pence in early trade after the company slipped to a first-half loss and said revenue and profit would be hit by a change in its software licensing model.

The marketing software company said it had been experiencing difficult trading conditions, specifically in Europe.

SmartFOCUS posted a pretax loss of 0.6 million pounds for the six months to June 30, 2008, from a profit of 0.2 million a year ago, with revenue flat at 5 million pounds.

At 0810 GMT, shares of the company were down 28 percent at 8.25 pence, having fallen as low as 7.5 pence. (Reporting by Srikanth Srinivasa in Bangalore)