TELECOMS equipment group Marconi has come through "the worst six months" in the history of the telecoms sector to report an increase in pre-tax profits.

For the year ending March 31, the group saw pre-tax profits, excluding exceptional items, edge up from £654m a year ago, to £662m this time.

Sales were also up, by 21 per cent to £6.94bn, putting the group in a confident frame of mind for the coming year.

This was despite the chief executive George Simpson describing the past six months as "probably the worst in the history of our industry". However, Lord Simpson predicted the telecoms market would show signs of recovery by the end of this year.

But he refused to rule out the possibility of further redundancies following the 3,000 announced last month.

He said: "If the much-talked-about recovery does not happen, then every company is going to have to look at its cost bases.

"At the end of the day, we are running a business and will have to do what we have to."