Final Results

7 March 2011 Talent Group plc ("Talent" or the "Company") Final results for the year ended 30 September 2010 Chairman's Statement This has been another difficult trading year for the Group, which has been adversely affected by events outside its control. Nevertheless the results for the year to 30 September 2010 show some improvement over the previous year. Although Group turnover has increased only slightly to £653,000 (2009 - £ 644,000), gross profit has increased to £342,000 (2009 - £197,000). Administrative costs, which for the current year include an exceptional bad debt charge of £174,000, are £792,000 (2009 - £865,000). Our loss before taxation has therefore fallen to £492,000 (2009 - £708,000). Whilst I consider any loss to be unacceptable, this is at least a step in the right direction. The extent of this year's loss is particularly disappointing as, at the time of announcing our interim results, we had expectations of a greatly improved second-half year performance. However, the subsequent cancellation of the A:3K Football Event at the O2 Arena, for which we had been commissioned to provide television coverage, not only impacted on our turnover and gross profits, but eventually left us with a bad debt of £174,000. Another of our 2009/10 commissions was the National Schools Quiz, which we produced in March and involved over seven thousand primary school children across the country competing simultaneously in a pioneering, interactive competition. The success of this had suggested further such events might be forthcoming but unfortunately the commissioning client, BECTA, was the very first quango to be abolished by the new government. Better progress has been made on other projects. During the year our regional subsidiary, Talent Television South, delivered a highly-acclaimed one-hour documentary on the notorious Kray Twins for the Crime and Investigation Network. The success of this led to a commission for a series of eight one-hour crime documentaries for the same channel: production on these commenced in August with final delivery due in March 2011. Additionally, since the year-end, we have completed a further one-hour documentary on the Damilola Taylor case. Some of our longer-term projects are also beginning to bear fruit. The Mumper, for which we acquired the film rights two years ago, has gone into production since the year-end, with Talent as co-producer. Principal photography has now been completed and the film, featuring Bob Hoskins, Jenny Agutter and Rita Tushingham, is due for cinema release later in the year. Another long-term project, My Phone Genie, is expected to go into production later this year as an international co-production with our French and Irish co-producers, for CITV and ZDF Germany. Development work on other projects has continued to make progress. On a smaller scale, during the last year we undertook work for a number of corporate clients, and completed production of two instructional DVDs: more such commissions are expected in the current year. We also continue to earn royalties from our back catalogue. The last financial year has undoubtedly been difficult, exacerbated by the A3:K situation. I commend the drive and commitment of directors and staff in striving to overcome the problems of a troublesome year, and their resolve to restore the Group to profitability. Terry Bate Chairman 4 March 2011 Business Review and Principle Activities The past year has been a very frustrating mixture of disappointments and progress. We were commissioned by ITV to produce the television version of the highly promoted A:3K Football event at the O2 Arena, but England's poor performance at the World Cup meant that the event producer decided to postpone it only two weeks before the due date, when we had everything ready to go for the production. Although we had a contract with the event producer to underwrite our position, that company has subsequently gone into liquidation which has left us with the exceptional loss in our own figures for the year. There are still plans for this event to be re-mounted at a future date and we are about to explore our potential involvement with the new owners. Whilst we didn't manage to secure any other UK commissions in our core Entertainment genre in 2010, we have continued to develop new entertainment formats which are under consideration by UK broadcasters and being taken to market internationally by our distributor DRG. However, given the still slow progress being made generally in independent production and in particular entertainment, we decided to diversify our activities a little more into the scripted area of production for both television and, for the first time, film. Having reported last year that we would be aiming to diversify our activities more into scripted projects, I am pleased to report that we have made real progress in this area. We have two scripted comedy projects for Kids television, My Phone Genie and Media Meerkats, which are now at the point of pre-production and scripting with our French partner, Moonscoop, and we recently delivered the first script of our full length TV comedy drama Head South (pilot for a potential series) which is in co-development with New Zealand producer Comedia Productions. However, most radical has been our successful move into the production of movies! Having acquired the rights for a book entitled The Mumper, in December we went into production with our co-producer Gateway Films on our first theatrical feature, inspired by the book and currently called Weighed In - The Story of The Mumper. Having attracted a first class cast of well known British movie actors for this production, it is already getting a lot of interest and press coverage and, as we have now completed filming, we have high hopes not only for the future of this movie but also in the prospect of producing others. In other areas, and as the Chairman states in his report, we were also a `related' victim of one of the first government cutbacks when BECTA, the department for next generation learning, was closed and with it, any hope of a repeat of The National Schools Quiz, which we produced so successfully and with such acclaim last March. However, our involvement with such innovative projects underlines our ability to continue to provide quality content for a variety of platforms and we are currently looking at ways to expand this experience and also to exploit some of our back catalogue and current ideas for the growing Apps/download market. Whilst some of the events refereed to above have caused us frustration, I am pleased to say that Talent South has continued to progress well. Our one-off special, `The Krays by Fred Dinenage' was a ratings winner for its channel and has, as the Chairman says, led to the commissioning of nine more hours from the same channel. Our distributor DRG has also started to exploit the Talent South back catalogue internationally, and the Talent South team continues to build a vibrant slate of other new projects which we are hopeful will lead to further business in the coming year. Our year of frustration is not over yet as the exceptional and unexpected losses were a real set-back, particularly to our immediate cash flow. That said, I am pleased to report that trading in the first quarter of 2011 has shown real progress, so we enter the coming year with the same grit and determination we did the last and can assure shareholders that even though times remain tough, we are doing everything we can to turn things around. Tony Humphreys Managing Director 4 March 2011 Further Enquiries Talent Group plc Tony Humphreys Tel: 020 7822 3900 Merchant Securities Limited John East Tel: 020 7628 2200 Audited consolidated income statement for the year ended 30 September 2010 2010 2009 Notes £'000 £'000 Revenue 653 644 Cost of sales (311) (447) Gross profit 342 197 Administrative expenses (792) (865) Operating loss (450) (668) Finance income 1 1 Finance costs (43) (41) Loss before taxation (492) (708) Income tax expense - Prior year 2 - - - Current tax 2 - - Loss for the year (492) (708) Loss per share (pence) 3 (2.76p) (4.25p) Diluted loss per share (pence) 3 (2.67p) (4.10p) The income statement has been prepared on the basis that all operations are continuing operations. The accounting policies and the notes, which are set out in the Company's report and accounts, form an integral part of these financial statements. There are no recognised gains or losses other than those passing through the income statement. Audited consolidated balance sheet as at 30 September 2010 2010 2009 Notes £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 Assets Non-current assets Goodwill 1,082 1,082 Other intangible assets 25 31 Property, plant & equipment 31 34 1,138 1,147 Current assets Inventories 6 57 Trade receivables 42 42 Cash & cash equivalents 4 31 7 79 106 Total assets 1,217 1,253 Equity and liabilities Equity Share capital 6,329 6,315 Share premium 11,731 11,675 Share option reserve 133 126 Retained earnings (18,362) (17,870) Total equity (169) 246 Current liabilities Borrowings 5 889 728 Trade & other payables 6 497 279 Total Liabilities 1,386 1,007 Total equity & liabilities 1,217 1,253 Audited consolidated cash flow statement from the year ended 30 September 2010 2010 2009 Notes £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 Cash flows from operating activities Loss before taxation (492) (708) Adjustments for: Depreciation of tangible assets 13 23 Amortisation of intangible assets 6 6 Loss on disposal of tangible - - assets Interest received (1) (1) Interest paid 43 41 (431) (639) (Increase)/decrease in trade & (1) 506 other receivables Decrease in inventories 51 11 Increase/(decrease) in other 226 (129) payables (155) (251) Tax refund received - - Tax paid - - Net cash from operating activities (155) (251) Cash flows from investing activities Purchase of property, plant and (10) (8) equipment Interest received 1 1 Net cash used in investing (9) (7) activities Cash flows from financing activities Proceeds from borrowing 162 100 Proceeds from issue of shares 70 - Interest paid (43) (41) Net cash used in financing 189 59 Net increase/(decrease) in cash 7 25 (199) and cash equivalents Cash and cash equivalents at the beginning of the year 7 (21) 178 Cash and cash equivalents at the 7 4 (21) end of the year Audited consolidated statement of changes in equity from the year ended 30 September 2010 At 1 October 20086,31511,675120(17,162)948 Share Share Share Retained Total Option Capital Premium Earnings £'000 Reserve £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 Changes in equity Loss for the year - - - (708) (708) Equity share option - - 6 - 6 recognised At 1 October 2009 6,315 11,675 126 (17,870) 246 Changes in equity Loss for the year - - - (492) (492) Equity share option - - 7 - 7 recognised New shares issued 14 56 - - 70 At 30 September 2010 6,329 11,731 133 (18,362) (169) Notes to the preliminary results for the year ended 30 September 2010 1. Basis of preparation These financial statements have been prepared in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards, International Accounting Standards and Interpretations (collectively IFRS) issued by the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) as adopted by European Union ("adopted IFRSs"), and are in accordance with IFRS as issued by the IASB. The financial information set out above does not constitute the Company's statutory accounts for the years ended 30 September 2009 and 2010, but is derived from those accounts. Statutory accounts for 2009 have been delivered to the Registrar of Companies and those for 2010 will be shortly. The Auditors have reported on those accounts; their reports were unqualified and did not contain statements under the Companies Act 2006 section 498. 2. Taxation 2010 2009 £'000 £'000 Domestic current year tax UK corporation tax - - Domestic prior year tax UK corporation tax - - - - Factors affecting the tax charge for the period: Loss on ordinary activities before taxation (492) (708) Loss on ordinary activities multiplied by the standard rate of Corporation tax in the UK of 21 per cent. (2007: 20 (103) (149) per cent.) Expenses not deductible for tax purposes 8 3 Depreciation in excess of capital allowances for the 3 5 year Unutilised tax losses 92 141 Current tax charge for the year - - 3. Loss per share 2010 2009 £'000 £'000 Numerator Basic/Diluted: Net loss (492) (708) Denominator Basic: Weighted average shares 17,847,817 16,670,284 Effect of diluted securities: stock options 577,500 591,000 Diluted: Adjusted weighted average shares 18,425,317 17,261,284 Basic loss per share is calculated by dividing the net loss for the period attributable to ordinary shareholders by the weighted average number of ordinary shares outstanding during the period. Diluted loss per share is computed using the weighted average number of shares outstanding during the period adjusted for the dilutive effect of stock options outstanding for the period. 4. Cash and cash equivalents 2010 2009 £'000 £'000 Cash at bank and in hand 31 7 Bank overdraft (27) (28) 4 (21) 5. Borrowings 2010 2009 £'000 £'000 Bank overdraft 27 28 Other loans 862 700 889 728 The above borrowings are loans from Terry Bate, Non-Executive Chairman. On the first loan of £700,000, interest is payable monthly at the rate of a minimum of 6 per cent. per annum. During the year Mr Bate provided a further loan facility to the Company as production finance for a commission that was subsequently cancelled. The maximum amount drawn under this facility was £162,000. At the year end £162,000 remained outstanding. Interest on this loan is payable at the rate of 7 per cent. per annum. The loans are unsecured and no guarantees were given. a) Ageing The loans are due on demand. b) Fair values Cash and cash equivalents The carrying value approximates to fair value. Other assets and liabilities No disclosure of fair value has been made as the carrying value is a reasonable approximation of the fair value. 6. Trade and other payables: amounts falling due within one year 2010 2009 £'000 £'000 Social security and other taxes 144 73 Other payables 58 79 Accruals and deferred income 295 127 497 279 7. Reconciliation of net cash flow to movement in cash and cash equivalents 2010 2009 £'000 £'000 Net increase/(decrease) in cash and cash 25 (199) equivalents Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of year (21) 178 Cash and cash equivalents at end of year (note 4) 4 (21) 8. Financial commitments Office Office Land and Land and equipment equipment buildings buildings 2010 2009 2010 2009 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 At 30 September 2010, the Group had commitments under non - cancellable operating leases as follows: Expiry date: Less than one year 2 - 50 - Between two and five years - 6 - 105 At 30 September 2010 there are no terms of renewal or purchase options and escalation clauses. There are also no restrictions imposed by lease arrangements concerning dividends, additional debt and further leasing. 9. Dividend The Directors do not propose a dividend payment. 10. Copies of report and accounts Copies of the Report and Accounts will be posted to shareholders shortly, will be available from the Company's registered office Lion House, Red Lion Street, London WC1R 4GB and will be available from the Company's website www.talenttv.com.
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