Final Results
MediaZest plc (the "Company")
Final results for the year to 31 December 2008
The Board of the Company announces that it has today posted the Annual Report
and Financial Statements for the year to 31 December 2008 to all shareholders.
A copy of the report and accounts is also available from the company's
registered office and from the Company's web site, www.mediazest.com.
Contact:
Geoff Robertson, Chief Executive Officer 020 7724 5680
MediaZest plc
Liam Murray / Jo Turner 020 7492 4777
Dowgate Capital Advisers Limited
CHAIRMAN'S STATEMENT
Introduction
The results for MediaZest plc (the "Group") for the year to 31 December 2008
incorporate the results of its subsidiaries, all of which are wholly owned.
Results for the Period and Key Performance Indicators
Turnover for the year was £4,424,000 (2007 - £3,857,000), cost of sales was £
2,846,000 (2007 - £2,328,000) and the Group made a loss for the year, after
taxation, of £605,000 (2007 - £497,000) after paying interest of £7,000 (2007 -
£2,000) and having paid administrative expenses of £2,176,000 (2007 - £
2,024,000). The loss for the year included £91,000 of costs written off
relating to previous years, predominantly bad debts and slow moving stock.
The basic loss and diluted loss per share was 3 pence (2007 - 2 pence). The
Group had cash in hand £102,000 (2007 - £34,000) at the year end, and an
invoice discounting facility over the debtors of Touch Vision of which £220,000
was in use at the year end date. In addition the Group had a loan from a
shareholder of £85,000 at this time.
As at 18 June 2009, the Group has net cash balances of £32,600 and an unused
overdraft facility with Touch Vision of up to £100,000 and £94,700 outstanding
under the invoice discounting facility which has a current maximum limit of £
350,000. £47,500 of the loan from the shareholder has been repaid leaving a
current outstanding balance of £37,500. Finally, post year end the Group has
also secured an invoice discounting facility with two parties over the debtors
of MediaZest Ventures, with £93,241 of funds currently in use.
Overview
The Group continued to increase revenue during the year, with a 15% growth
rate. However, this revenue growth was not as strong as anticipated or the
business plan required and whilst margins were maintained, administrative costs
were too high to be supported by this level of activity, resulting in
continuing losses during the financial year.
After a difficult first six months of the year, the second half of 2008 showed
progress. Excluding write offs from previous periods, EBITDA for July to
December 2008 was a loss of £107,000 which is a significant improvement on
previous results although still reveals much work to do. Therefore, in view of
continuing losses and the repeated failure of large scale opportunities within
the sector as a whole to materialise, the Directors recognise that further cost
cutting and reorganisation is required. As result the Board have instigated and
executed a restructuring plan to reduce administrative overhead to £1.5m in
2009 with further reductions as deemed necessary thereafter.
Although the second half of 2008 saw an improvement in our turnover, the first
half of 2009 has seen a drop in activity as a consequence of the economic
downturn and in particular its impact on the retail sector. In anticipation of
this we began restructuring and cutting costs in October 2008 and continued
with further cuts in 2009, with the situation constantly monitored.
In view of the Group's situation and the market currently faced, the Directors
have been discussing options to restore shareholder value with a number of
parties. As a consequence, the Group will hold a General Meeting on 6th July
2009 in order for the Board to request powers to restructure share capital and
issue new equity in order to be in a position to raise further capital as and
when appropriate. Given our progress in the second half of 2008 we believe that
when macroeconomic conditions improve, we will be in a better position to
develop our offering further.
MediaZest Ventures
The ongoing demonstration of the Company's concept over the past 2 years led to
an increasing number of customer sites in 2008. We have seen customers progress
from testing our technology in single sites, to proving the concept over a
handful of stores and then developing further to up to a dozen during the
second half of the year.
In particular following a successful trade exhibition and marketing campaign in
Summer 2008, we acquired some high profile new clients. With several of these
we have developed both a variety of sites and also executed repeat campaigns
thereby improving the quality of earnings. We install, typically, the audio
visual infrastructure for these customers and then use its flexibility to
provide a variety of dynamic, creative campaign led installations. The appeal
of this offering is evident in the amount of repeat business we are beginning
to get. Although marketing budgets have tightened considerably in 2009, the
existence of these installations has enabled us to continue generating revenue
from these clients even in the first quarter.
Also for the first time, our growing site numbers have enabled us to sign up a
number of customers to service and maintenance contracts, again improving
quality of earnings.
In response to the economic downturn we have revisited our pricing structure
and product range in order to offer our retail clients even more value for
money. The Board expect revenues to increase in the second half of 2009 partly
as a result of this, and in line with the usual cyclical nature of this
business.
Touch Vision
2008 was another robust year within our Education division. Under one of our
tender contracts the Group was pleased to undertake our largest ever University
project, a £700,000 refit at London Metropolitan University in the first half
of the year. Our delivery on this project was of a high standard and led to
significant further orders from the same client during the remainder of the
year.
TouchVision also developed a number of clients in its Education portfolio with
repeat orders and projects based on engineering excellence. It continues to
have a strong reputation within the industry.
We have maintained a number of long standing relationships, with a variety of
customers, in the retail sector. The longevity of many of TouchVision's key
client relationships has undoubtedly helped the Company's performance in the
first half of 2009 although it too has seen a reduction in revenues as a result
of the economic downturn and reductions in client budgets.
The Future
Trading conditions remain very challenging, but as the year has progressed we
have received ongoing enquiries in MediaZest Ventures and with the second half
of the year approaching we anticipate an increase in sales as we move towards
Christmas. In the current economic climate, it is more vital than ever for our
clients to attract customers as effectively as possible. Therefore, there
remains a valid reason for retailers to continue to utilise our services
particularly now that we have launched a range of lower priced products.
TouchVision continues to operate in a difficult market but has already won
three large contracts in the region of £100,000 or greater this year.
In order to both maintain and develop the business, the Board believes it is
necessary to raise further funding and has been discussing various options with
existing shareholders and several interested third parties. The Board hopes to
be able to announce additional funding from one or more of these sources in the
second half of 2009.
The restructuring programme has been executed and will give the Group a
significantly reduced cost base (in excess of 30% year on year). The Board has
put various initiatives in place to mitigate against this having a negative
impact upon the ability of the Group to generate revenue. However, subject to
future trading conditions, further cost reductions may become necessary.
As we move forward, the initiatives referred to above along with a growing blue
chip client base and improvement in quality of earnings combined with the
reduced cost base will leave us in a better position to move the business
forward.
Lance O'Neill
Chairman
CONSOLIDATED INCOME STATEMENT
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2008
2008 2007
£'000 £'000
Revenue 4,424 3,857
Cost of sales (2,846) (2,328)
Gross profit 1,578 1,529
Administrative expenses (2,176) (2,024)
Operating loss (598) (495)
Finance costs (7) (2)
Loss on ordinary activities before (605) (497)
taxation
Tax on loss on ordinary activities - -
Loss on ordinary activities after taxation (605) (497)
Loss per ordinary 10p share
Basic (£0.03) (£0.02)
Diluted (£0.03) (£0.02)
CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEET
AS AT 31 DECEMBER 2008
2008 2007
£'000 £'000
Non-current Assets
Goodwill 2,772 2,772
Property, plant and 87 107
equipment
Total Non-current Assets 2,859 2,879
Current Assets
Inventories 107 172
Trade and other receivables 617 1,052
Cash and cash equivalents 102 34
Total Current Assets 826 1,258
Current Liabilities
Trade and other payables (1,055) (917)
Current tax liability (110) (95)
Total Current Liabilities (1,165) (1,012)
Net Current (Liabilities) / (339) 246
Assets
Net Assets 2,520 3,125
Equity
Share capital 2,283 2,283
Share premium account 3,211 3,211
Share options reserves 7 7
Retained earnings (2,981) (2,376)
Total equity 2,520 3,125
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF CHANGES IN EQUITY
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2008
Share Share Share Retained Total
Options
Capital Premium Reserves Earnings Equity
£'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000
Balance at 1 January 2007 2,283 3,211 5 (1,879) 3,620
Loss for the year - - - (497) (497)
Total recognised income and expenses - - - (497) (497)
for the year
Share based payments - - 2 - 2
Balance at 31st December 2007 2,283 3,211 7 (2,376) 3,125
Loss for the year - - - (605) (605)
Total recognised income and expenses - - - (605) (605)
for the year
Share based payments - - - - -
Balance at 31st December 2008 2,283 3,211 7 (2,981) 2,520
CONSOLIDATED CASH FLOW STATEMENT
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2008
2008 2007
£'000 £'000
Cash Flows from Operating Activities
Cash used in operations (118) (470)
Net cash (used in) operating activities (118) (470)
Cash Flows from Investing Activities
Purchase of property, plant and equipment (27) (67)
Proceeds from disposal of property, plant and - 4
equipment
Net cash (used in) investing activities (27) (63)
Cash Flow from Financing Activities
Invoice discounting facility 220 -
Interest paid (7) (2)
Net cash generated from / (used in) financing 213 (2)
activities
Net increase / (decrease) in cash and cash 68 (535)
equivalents
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of year 34 569
Cash and cash equivalents at end of year 102 34
Notes:
1. Basis of preparation
The financial information set out above does not constitute the company's
statutory accounts for the years ended 31 December 2008 or 2007 within the
meaning of section 240 of the Companies Act 1985. Statutory accounts for 2007
have been delivered to the registrar of companies and those for 2008 will be
delivered in due course. The auditors have reported on the accounts for the
year ended 31 December 2008; their report was unqualified and did not contain a
statement under section 237(2) or (3) of the Companies Act 1985. Their report
did include reference to matters to which they drew attention by way of
emphasis without qualifying their report in respect of the uncertainty
surrounding the ability of the Company and Group to continue as going concerns
which is explained in more detail in Note 2 below.
The auditors have reported on the accounts for the year ended 31 December 2007:
their report was unqualified, and did not include references to any matters to
which the auditors drew attention by way of emphasis without qualifying their
report, and did not contain a statement under section 237 (2) or (3) of the
Companies Act 1985.
MediaZest plc has produced its statutory accounts for the year ended 31
December 2008 in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards
("IFRS") as adopted by the European Union ("EU") and in accordance with the
Group's accounting policies as set out in the 2007 statutory accounts.
The financial statements have been prepared under the historic cost convention
unless otherwise stated.
2. Going Concern
In view of the losses and cash outflows incurred by the Group, the Directors
have carefully considered the going concern assumption on the basis of
financial projections and the factors outlined below, and existing debt based
facilities..
The Directors have considered financial projections based upon known future
invoicing, existing contracts, pipeline of new business, previous experience in
the various markets in which it operates and the seasonal nature of each of
these markets. In addition these forecasts have been considered in light of the
global recession and the decline in Group turnover in the first half of the
year. They also reflect the significant cost restructuring that has been
undertaken in the final quarter of 2008 and the first half of 2009 as a
response to these conditions. These forecasts indicate that the company will
generate sufficient cash resources to meet its liabilities as they fall due
over the 12 month period from the date of the approval of the accounts.
However, the Board believes it is necessary and prudent to raise further
funding due to historical losses and the inherent uncertainty in forecasting
future revenue, and in particular the timing of such revenues in the current
economic climate. As such it issued a circular to Shareholders on 12 June 2009
to request powers to re-organise the share capital of the Company and
furthermore powers to raise share capital. Over the past six months the Board
has engaged in a number of discussions with interested parties and existing
shareholders to this end and believe this will be achieved in the second half
of 2009.
As a result the directors consider that it is appropriate to draw up the
accounts on a going concern basis. Accordingly, no adjustments have been made
to reflect any write downs or provisions that would be necessary should the
Group prove not to be a going concern, including further provisions for
impairment to goodwill and investments in Group companies.
3. Loss per ordinary share
2008 2007
£'000 £'000
Losses
Losses for the purposes of basic and diluted 605 497
earnings per share being net loss
attributable to equity shareholders
Number of shares
Weighted average number of ordinary shares 22,825,327 22,825,327
for the purposes of basic earnings per share
Number of dilutive shares under option or - -
warrant
Weighted average number of ordinary shares 22,825,327 22,825,327
for the purposes of dilutive loss per share
Basic loss per share is calculated by dividing the loss attributed to ordinary
shareholders of £605,000 (2007: £497,000) by the weighted average number of
shares during the year of 22,825,327 (2007: 22,825,327). The diluted loss per
share is identical to that used for basic loss per share as the exercise of
warrants and options would have the effect of reducing the loss per share and
therefore is not dilutive.
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