In common with a host of other concerns listed in London, Magic intends to become one of the leading European providers of internet and e-commerce solutions for the SME market. Whether it actually gets there or not is a moot point, but the group is certainly moving in the right direction. At the halfway stage to December 1999, Magic achieved turnover of £892,000, up from £234,000. The number of hosted domains increased from 310% to 7,850 and chief executive Abby Hardoon added that the group's annual hosting service renewal rates were in excess of 75%. Hardoon was also keen to emphasise that the group's European ambitions were running according to schedule. In January, Magic raised a further £2.4m to fund its expansion plans and just recently it initiated its entry into the French market with the launch of Moments Magiques. The pre-tax loss at the interim stage was £700,352.