Interim Results
Proteome Sciences plc
28th September 2006
RESULTS FOR THE SIX MONTHS ENDED 3Oth JUNE 2006
HIGHLIGHTS
Commercialisation
TMT® licence negotiations at advanced stage and close to conclusion
Isobaric mass tags highlighted at Siena : raised profile and perceived economic
value of TMT®
Further stroke licence announced, taking the total to 4
Targeted global top twenty IVD companies. Discussions underway
NDKA - new blood biomarker for early diagnosis, treatment and management of
stroke
Highly accurate quantitative six-plex TMT® data from plasma samples of kidney
transplant rejection
Novel biomarkers in colorectal cancer
Discovery of novel AD biomarkers in blood using qPST®
Patents filed in vCJD and Huntingtons for plasma protein markers
BSE candidate biomarkers assessed for suitability on panels
ProteoSHOP®
Extensive marketing campaign to raise profile
Strong level of enquiries with new contracts under discussion
Cross platform validation increases coverage and data confidence
Veri-Q Inc
Two high profile scientific papers in Analytical Biochemistry and Nucleic Acids
Research
Scientific articles and pilot projects to accelerate and support outlicensing
Intronn Inc.
SMaRT® in-vivo proof of principle in haemophilia
Seeking the right strategic partner/alliances for clinical and commercial
development
In negotiations to secure funding for clinical trials
NIH grant awarded for SMaRT® with RNAi
Issuance of SMaRT® patents in US, Europe, Australia and Canada
Financial
Headline Loss (excluding non-cash items and associates) £2.28m (2005 : £1.91m)
Loss after tax £3.20m (2005 : £3.34m)
Cash balance at 30th June, 2006 of £0.9m (2005 : £4.9m)
Loan facility of £2.0m in place
Warranty claim expected to move forward 2nd half 2006
Current Outlook
No evidence of any technology breakthroughs that undermine the company's
position
Quantitative mass spectrometry a critical requirement for future research
Completing the TMT® licence the short term commercial priority which should
transform the financial basis of the Company
Other commercialisation to come from licensing biomarkers and from ProteoSHOP®
alliances/contracts
Commenting on these results, Christopher Pearce, Chief Executive of Proteome
Sciences, said:
"The commercialisation of our TMT® quantitative mass spectrometry technology,
which remains our primary objective, is progressing well with advanced stage
negotiations being close to conclusion. The completion of a deal should
transform the financial outlook for the Company."
"We are encouraged by the progress made across the business since the beginning
of the year, with a fourth licence having been signed today for testing stroke
, new biomarkers having been identified in relation to stroke, Alzheimer's
disease, kidney transplant rejection and colorectal cancer and with patents
filed in vCJD and Huntingdon's disease. Our ProteoSHOP® suite of products
continues to receive an increasing level of interest and following a major
marketing drive a number of new contracts and strategic alliances are under
discussion."
"The development and application of our technology achieved considerable
recognition at the recent global proteomics conference held in Siena and this
together with a growing requirement for biomarkers to accelerate drug
development, to improve the early diagnosis of disease and the development of
personalised medicine, leads the Board to look to the future with confidence."
ENDS
Attached: Full text of Chairman's statement, consolidated profit and loss
account, consolidated balance sheet, consolidated cash flow statement and notes
to the financial information.
For further information please contact:
Proteome Sciences plc
www.proteomics.com
Christopher Pearce, Chief Executive Tel: +44 (0)1932 865065
Email: christopher.pearce@proteomics.com
Public Relations for Proteome Sciences
IKON Associates
Adrian Shaw Tel: +44 (0)1483 535102
Mobile: +44 (0)797 9900733
Email: adrian@ikonassociates.com
Notes to Editors:
Proteome Sciences plc applies high sensitivity proteomics to identify and characterise differential protein expression in diseases for diagnostic, prognostic and therapeutic applications. It has to date developed sensitive blood assays for stroke, vCJD, BSE, solid organ transplant rejection and Alzheimer's disease. The main focus of its research currently addresses neurological, neurodegenerative, diabetes/obesity, oncology and cardiovascular conditions.
In addition to its own proprietary biomarkers, Proteome Sciences has developed ProteoShop® (Proteome Sciences High Output Proteomics), a tool box that offers high sensitivity and high throughput gel and gel-free proprietary technologies for the identification of potential biomarkers and drug targets. These include specialisation in membrane proteins and protein phosphorylation.
The Company has developed a range of specialist reagents to improve the performance and quantitation of protein separation and characterisation with mass spectrometry, bioinformatics, statistics and pattern recognition. These include Sensitizer®, PST®, qPST® and TMT®.
Commercialisation is being actively pursued across the portfolio of the Company's programmes and technologies with licensing deals signed in biomarkers for Stroke and TSEs and for ProteoSHOP®.
Proteome Sciences is headquartered in Cobham, Surrey in the UK and has laboratories at King's College Hospital, London and in Frankfurt. It employs 40 full time scientists, in addition to its corporate and business development staff. The Company is listed on the Alternative Investment Market.
Chairman's Statement :
Reagents
Currently, the principal commercial priority for our company in the short term,
and the main focus of shareholder interest is concentrated on TMT® and the
commercialisation of the two streams of revenue that TMT® will generate, one
from the reagent products and the other from the intellectual property relating
to the field of isobaric mass labelling.
The TMT® patent position continues to make excellent progress, and over the
same period the TMT® isobaric mass labelling technology has advanced
considerably. A duplex reagent was initially developed and this has now been
superceded by a fully functioning six-plex set of mass tags. These permit
accurate differential quantification of protein expression in six samples
simultaneously. Strong data using six-plex TMT® in complex samples of human
plasma in renal transplant rejection was publicly presented for the first time
at the 7th Siena Meeting, 'From Genome to Proteome: Back to the Future', in
September.
Considerable interest has been received from a shortlisted group of prospective
licencees, all of which are suitable to commercialise TMT® globally with
negotiations at an advanced stage and close to conclusion. We would reiterate
our belief that the TMT® licence agreement will be concluded satisfactorily and
that the delays that have arisen should enhance the deal value for Proteome
Sciences over the levels originally contemplated. This was clearly reflected
at the Siena meeting earlier this month where isobaric mass tagging featured as
one of the key highlights, with extensive objective third party recognition and
endorsement of the technology through presentations, publications and posters.
In addition, many of the keynote speakers at the meeting talked about the
critical requirement to move things forward with quantitative mass
spectrometry, and this is achieved using isobaric mass labels.
This has substantially raised the profile and the perceived economic value of
isobaric mass tags, in particular, TMT®.
Biomarkers
Proteome Sciences has continued to apply its research primarily to discover and
validate a large portfolio of biomarkers for diagnostic and prognostic uses in
major human and veterinary diseases, the evaluation of new compounds and for
measuring and monitoring the efficiency of treatment.
Stroke/Neurology
In stroke, two licences were announced in high throughput screening HTS in the
first half of 2006 with two of the top ten global companies in clinical
diagnostics. We announced a further research licence agreement with another
global diagnostics player, taking the total licences to date in stroke to
four. We have targeted the remaining IVD (in-vitro diagnostics) companies in
the global top twenty, and discussions are actively underway.
Stroke and stroke mimic samples sourced over the summer are generating good new
data to provide further validation of the existing biomarkers and allowing
identification of additional markers for inclusion on HTS stroke panels.
A new blood biomarker for the early diagnosis of stroke NDKA was presented by
our collaborators at the Biomedical Proteomics Research Group, Medical
University Center, Geneva at the Siena meeting, for which Proteome Sciences has
the commercial rights. NDKA discriminates stroke from a range of mimic
pathologies, correlates with the clinical outcome of patients and may well
further improve the performance of our stroke panel for stroke treatment and
management.
We have extended the research effort in brain disease, identifying around 200
novel candidate biomarkers in cerebrospinal fluid. A targeted approach to
address and leverage this valuable resource across a diverse range of brain
disorders has been started. This should provide outstanding opportunities for
commercial exploitation over many years to come through research reagents and
disease specific diagnostic and prognostic markers.
Transplant Rejection
Data was presented at the 7th International Siena Proteomics meeting using our
proprietary ProteoSHOP® platform which was the first public demonstration of
the power of the six-plex TMT® isobaric mass tags to optimise the power of mass
spectrometry in plasma for biomarker discovery. This provided highly accurate
relative quantitation across several hundred proteins and revealed further
novel differentially expressed biomarkers. These confirmed and extended the
validation of the results previously announced and added significantly to the
candidate biomarkers discovered from the earlier 2-DE study.
In comparison with the 2DE study of the same samples, the six-plex TMT® took
considerably less time, provided direct quantitative comparison of protein
abundance and identified a greater number of novel candidate biomarkers of
renal transplant rejection. The data presented will be submitted for
publication in the relevant scientific journals and will provide the first
published reports of six-plex TMT® isobaric mass tags.
This clearly demonstrates the potential and utility of isobaric mass labels to
rapidly discover and validate biomarkers and the impact that they will have on
the future of proteomics.
Cancer
The latest annual report mentioned the results of a collaborative agreement in
colon cancer and the discovery of 22 differentially expressed proteins in
tissue, half of which appeared to be novel biomarkers of colorectal cancer.
Further validation work is continuing and plasma samples have now been received
and are currently under evaluation.
Following the immunohistochemistry validation study earlier this year of
Annexin 1 and 2 expression in lung and oesophageal cancer, we have developed a
quality-controlled immunohistochemical assay for assessing the levels of
Annexin 1 and 2 protein expression in tissue from patients with various lung
cancers. From this, the expression of Annexins in non-small cell lung cancers
may offer a valuable new diagnostic tool for the early identification of tumour
cells from lung biopsies compared to normal cells and to inflammatory cells
migrating to the lung in response to conditions such as COPD and lung fibrosis.
Neurodegeneration / TSE
In a new study, using a combination of 2-DE and multi-dimensional
chromatographic protein separations using proprietary qPST® isotopically
labelled mass tags with multiple mass spectrometry systems, a number of
proteins discovered from the 30 plus candidate markers disclosed are now being
evaluated for their utility in diagnosing and monitoring disease progression in
Alzheimer's disease (AD).
The identification of 37 different phosphorylation sites in tau, 12 of which
were entirely novel, has enabled Proteome Sciences to use proteomics in a
completely different setting to find novel tau kinase activity in AD, a
discovery which may be of considerable importance in the development and
activity of AD drugs. The design of a virtual library of small molecule 'hits'
has been built to validate these new targets. The first part of the programme
has been completed and has delivered a selection of compounds with drug-like
properties. The second part will involve testing the compounds activities.
From the vCJD research programme, patents have been filed for plasma protein
markers in plasma for vCJD and Huntington's disease, with a patent also being
filed for a novel test looking for disease specific peptide fragmentation.
These protein markers are being further validated as are the large set of BSE
samples, where candidate biomarkers are being assessed for suitability for
panels.
ProteoSHOP®
With qPST® developed and available for routine use, we launched an extensive
marketing campaign to raise the profile of ProteoSHOP® to customers in the
second quarter. This has resulted in a strong level of enquiries and new
contracts under discussion. qPST® increases the coverage of proteins in
combination with 2-DE by 50% and provides a high level of confidence in the
data and results. It also provides independent secondary validation of 50% of
the total number of proteins identified using two separate and different
approaches.
A co-marketing agreement was announced in March with Medical Solutions plc, a
company specialising in immunohistochemistry with automated image analysis in
histopathology. The combination of the two companies' complementary
technologies provide customers with a one-stop-shop from biomarker discovery
through to implementation in diagnostics and drug development.
We are strongly encouraged by the interest generated and expect to convert this
into ProteoSHOP® strategic alliances and contracts.
Veri-Q
The quality of oligonucleotides is often compromised by the incomplete removal
(de-protection) of certain chemical groups required for proper chemical
synthesis which creates inaccurate and misleading results. Veri-Q has shown
that the presence of these impurities also has a substantial effect on the
performance of gene expression analysis using microarrays.
Two high profile scientific papers are in process of publication, one in
Nucleic Acids Research 'Assessing incomplete deprotection of microarray
oligonucleotides in situ' and the second, in Analytical Biochemistry entitled
'Quality assessment of commercial small interfering RNA and DNA : Monoclonal
antibodies and a high-throughput chemiluminesce assay'. The backcloth of these
articles, and the pilot projects undertaken and in process, highlight the
prospects of these QC reagents and should accelerate the outlicencing process
for RNAi and DNA microarrays.
Intronn
After the outstanding performance of the science last year with in-vivo proof
of principle for dyslipidemia, AAT and most recently haemophilia nearly 12
months ahead of schedule, progress has continued in the current year.
With the development of the high throughput screen and the in-vivo proof of
principles completed for SMaRT®, the research was focused accordingly to
contain costs by moving to smaller facilities and to make Intronn self
sufficient from grants and its other resources to concentrate on the
preparation and design of clinical trials for two high-value lead programmes,
dyslipidemia and haemophilia.
Intronn is working hard to establish the right strategic partners/alliances for
the clinical and commercial development of SMaRT®, and is in negotiations to
secure further funding to move it into clinical trials. This process will be
assisted by the recent issuance of SMaRT® patents in the US, Europe, Australia
and Canada. Intronn has also been awarded a NIH grant to use SMaRT® in
combination with RNAi and has submitted a major NIH grant application in July.
Financial Results
The financial results for the six months to 30th June, 2006 confirm a
continuing tight control of costs and the Headline Loss (being the operational
loss excluding non-cash operating costs and share of associate's losses) of £
2,283,788 compares with £1,911,083 in the corresponding period in 2005.
Non-cash operating costs (amortisation of goodwill, depreciation and National
Insurance on notional share option gains and share based payment, as extracted
from the profit and loss account) were £747,067 against £1,112,693 in 2005.
The period to 30th June, 2006 also contains a share of associates' losses at
Intronn Inc. of £171,346 (30th June, 2005 : £362,749). Under FRS 20 Share Based
Payment the Company is required to recognise an expense in the profit and loss
account in respect of share options and awards under the Long-Term Incentive
Plan. The charge is based on the fair value of the option at the time of grant,
calculated using the Black Scholes option pricing model, and expensed to the
profit and loss account over the related vesting period of the option. The
resulting charge in the first half of 2006 was £355,948 compared to £311,764 in
the first half of 2005. The loss on ordinary activities after taxation for the
six months to 30th June, 2006 was £3,202,201 (30th June, 2005 : £3,386,525).
Cash at 30th June, 2006 stood at £875,011.
The cash spend in the first half of 2006 was consistent with previous years and
this is expected to continue. The licences announced this year to date, the
anticipated commercialisation, combined with grant income and the R&D tax
credit, should provide significant cash inflows and provide a positive impact
on the financial requirements of the Company.
As previously announced, a loan facility of up to £2 million was made available
from C.D.J. Pearce, the Chief Executive, from August 2006. In addition,
certain of the directors have agreed not to draw salaries until the group
finances have been further strengthened. This will reduce the level of costs
in the business, and preserve cash.
Warranty Claim
On 29th December, 2005, the company filed a claim in the District Court of
Frankfurt am Main ("the Court") against Sanofi-Aventis Deutschland GmbH
("Sanofi-Aventis") under which it is seeking damages of up to €30 million for,
amongst other things, the breach of certain warranties provided by
Sanofi-Aventis at the time of the acquisition of Xzillion Proteomics GmbH Co.
KG (now Proteome Sciences R&D GmbH Co. KG) on 4th July, 2002. On 7th June,
2006, Sanofi-Aventis filed a notice with the Court of its intention to defend
the claim.
There have been no major developments since that time, but it is expected that
things will move forward in the second half of 2006. Shareholders will be
informed of any material developments.
Appointment of Research & Development Director
We were delighted to announce the appointment of Dr. Peter Schulz-Knappe to the
Board of the Company on 5th September, 2006, having joined the group on 1st
August. He is based in Frankfurt and splits his responsibilities between the
Head Office in Cobham and the laboratories in Frankfurt and London.
Dr. Schulz-Knappe has been one of the pioneers in the development of
peptidomics, concentrating on the use of mass spectrometry to quantify and
sequence biomarkers in pharmacogenomics and personalised medicine through
differential peptide display.
Formerly Head of the Department of preparative Peptide Chemistry at the Lower
Saxony Institute of Peptide Research, then founder, managing director and CSO
of BioVision AG, Hannover, Germany, Dr. Schulz-Knappe worked in cell biology
and peptide and protein related science, and he established a large network
within the pharma, diagnostics and biotech industries. These have included
strategic research alliances with many majors including Abbott, Novartis, Novo
Nordisk, Astra Zeneca and Roche.
Dr. Schulz-Knappe is already making a considerable contribution to the science
and commercial development of the group.
Future Prospects
In technology, a constant concern is whether a new invention or process has
been developed which may overtake and replace existing methodologies and
applications. The bi-annual Siena proteomics meeting is the main global forum
for proteomics at which the latest developments are presented and discussed and
there was no evidence of major new breakthroughs at this September's meeting
that undermined or compromised Proteome Sciences position in the field.
Quantitative mass spectrometry using tandem mass tags was highlighted as a
critical requirement by many of the speakers, and this has substantially raised
the profile and the perceived economic value and utility of isobaric mass
labelling, in particular TMT®.
The TMT® licence agreement is the highest short term commercial priority for
our company. Considerable interest has been received from the short-listed
group of prospective licencees with negotiations at an advanced stage and close
to conclusion. Completion of the TMT® licence should provide a long,
sustainable and rising revenue stream as the requirement for isobaric mass tags
increases with quantitative mass spectrometry. This should transform the
financial basis of our company and will demonstrate commercial revenue from all
three main areas of our business.
Further licence agreements are expected in high-throughput stroke and from the
growing number of biomarkers discovered and validated from our other research
programmes. We are strongly encouraged by the interest generated on the back
of the extensive marketing campaign in the first half of 2006 and we would
expect to convert this into significant ProteoSHOP® strategic alliances and
contracts.
The US FDA's Critical Path Initiative earlier this year raised the profile to
use biomarkers and biomarker data to accelerate and improve drug development
and the advancement of early diagnosis and personalised medicine. This is
where Proteome Sciences has developed and applied its research and why the
Board looks to the future with confidence and expectation.
R.S. Harris
Chairman 28 th September, 2006
Unaudited consolidated profit and loss account
For the Six Months ended 30th June, 2006
Six months ended Six months ended Year ended 31st December 2005
30th June 2006 30th June 2005 (as re-stated)*
(as re-stated)*
£ £ £
Turnover - continuing operations
7,731 16,200 16,200
Cost of sales (5,412) (11,340) (11,340)
Gross profit 2,319 4,860 4,860
Administrative expenses excluding (2,552,562) (2,208,442) (4,764,026)
non-cash items
Amortisation of goodwill (324,480) (324,480) (648,960)
Depreciation (157,923) (247,647) (425,843)
National Insurance on notional share 91,284 (228,802) (75,008)
option gains
Share based payment (355,948) (311,764) (731,659)
Administrative expenses (3,299,629) (3,321,135) (6,645,496)
Operating loss - continuing operations (3,297,310) (3,316,275) (6,640,636)
Share of associate's operating loss (171,346) (362,749) (735,684)
Group operating loss - continuing (3,468,656) (3,679,024) (7,376,320)
operations
Interest receivable and similar income 40,304 61,075 140,628
Interest payable and similar charges (1,028) (456)
(882)
Amounts written off fixed asset (112,878)
investment - -
Loss on ordinary activities before (3,429,380) (3,618,405) (7,349,452)
taxation
Tax credit on loss on ordinary 227,179 231,880 452,747
activities
Loss for the financial period (3,202,201) (3,386,525) (6,896,705)
Headline loss (2,283,788) (1,911,083) (4,166,673)
Loss per share
Basic and diluted loss per share (note (2.44p) (2.67p) (5.34p)
3a)
Headline loss per share (note 3c) (1.74p) (1.50p) (3.22p)
* Refer to Note 1 for details of the restatement
Unaudited consolidated balance sheet
As at 30th June, 2006
30th June 30th June
2006 2005
(as re-stated)
*
£ £
Fixed Assets
Intangible assets 4,617,643 5,356,832
Tangible assets 668,271 599,558
Investments in associates 49,440 372,340
Other investments 112,878
-
5,335,354 6,441,608
Current Assets
Debtors 1,092,489 902,095
Cash held on deposit as short term investment 250,000 3,300,000)
Cash at bank and in hand 625,011 1,642,061
1,967,500 5,844,156
Creditors : Amounts falling due within one year (2,111,649) (1,153,981)
________ ________
Net current (liabilities)/assets (144,149) 4,690,175
Total assets less current liabilities 5,191,205 11,131,783
Creditors : Amounts falling due after more than (188,043) (123,000)
one year
Provisions for liabilities and charges (12,653) (242,313)
Net assets 4,990,509 10,766,470
Capital and reserves
Called-up share capital 1,314,511 1,314,511
Share premium account 29,145,773 29,145,773
Equity reserve 1,542,369 913,415
Other reserve 10,755,000 10,755,000
Profit and loss account (37,767,144) (31,362,229)
Equity shareholders' funds 4,990,509 10,766,470
* Refer to Note 1 for details of the restatement
Unaudited consolidated cash flow statement
For six months 30th June, 2006
Six Months Six Months
ended ended
30th June 2006 30th June 2005
(as re-stated)*
£ £
Net cash outflow from operating activities (1,900,091) (2,442,636)
Returns on investments and servicing of 39,276 60,619
finance
Taxation 485,391 -
Capital expenditure and financial (336,720) (128,804)
investment
Cash outflow before use of liquid (1,712,144) (2,510,821)
resources and financing
Management of liquid resources 1,650,000 (1,500,000)
Financing 5,026,939
-
(Decrease) / Increase in cash in the (62,144) 1,016,118
period
Reconciliation of operating loss to operating cash flows
2006 2005
£ (as re-stated)*
£
Operating loss (3,297,310) (3,316,275)
Depreciation charges 157,923 247,647
Amortisation charges 324,480 324,480
Non-cash share based payment 355,948 311,764
National Insurance on notional share (91,284) 228,802
option gains
Loss on sale of tangible fixed assets - 680
(Increase) / Decrease in debtors (9,298) 5,756
Increase / (Decrease) in creditors 659,450 (245,490)
Net cash outflow from operating activities (1,900,091) (2,442,636)
* Refer to Note 1 for details of re-statement
Notes to the Financial Information
1. In preparing the unaudited figures for the six months to the 30th June,
2006, the company has applied the provisions of FRS 20, Share Based Payment.
The comparative figures for the six months to the 30th June, 2005 and the year
to the 31st December, 2005 have been re-stated on a comparable basis.
The effect of these re-statements is as follows:
As Originally Share based Re- stated
Stated Payment Loss
£ £ £
i) Loss for the six months to 30th (3,074,761) (311,764) (3,386,525)
June, 2005
Loss for the year to the 31st (6,165,046) (731,659) (6,896,705)
December, 2005
ii) Retained earnings at 30th June, (30,448,814) (913,415) (31,362,229)
2005
Retained earnings at 31st (33,364,642) (1,333,310) (34,697,952)
December, 2005
There has been no other change to any of the accounting policies set out in the
2005 statutory accounts.
2. Following the loss of £3,202,201 incurred in the period, the Directors do
not recommend the payment of a dividend.
3. a. The calculation of the loss per share for the six months ended 30th
June 2006 is based on the loss for the financial period of £3,202,201 and on
131,451,147 Ordinary Shares, being the number of shares in issue and ranking
for dividend during the period (six months ended 30th June 2005 re-stated loss
£3,386,525, weighted average number of Ordinary Shares in issue and ranking for
dividend, 126,999,658).
b. The calculation of the loss per share for the year ended 31st December
2005 is based on the re-stated loss for the year of £6,896,765 and on
129,243,696 Ordinary Shares, being the weighted average number of shares in
issue and ranking for dividend during the year.
c. The losses used to calculate the headline loss per share are as follows :
Year
Six Months Ended 31st
Ended 30th December,
June, 2005 2005
Six Months 2006 2005 2005
Ended 30th Loss per (as Loss per (as Loss per
June, 2006 share re-stated)* share re-stated)* share
£ p £ p £ p
Loss for the (3,202,201) (2.44) (3,386,525) (2.67) (6,896,705) (5.34)
Financial Period
Deduct / (Add)
Amortisation of 324,480 0.25 324,480 0.26 648,960 0.50
Goodwill
Amounts written off
fixed asset - - - - 112,878 0.09
investment
Depreciation 157,923 0.12 247,647 0.19 425,843 0.33
National Insurance
on notional share (91,284) (0.07) 228,802 0.18 75,008 0.06
option gains
Share-based payment 355,948 0.27 311,764 0.25 731,659 0.57
Share of associate's 171,346 0.13 362,749 0.29 735,684 0.57
operating loss
Headline Loss (2,283,788) (1.74) (1,911,083) (1.50) (4,166,673) (3.22)
The Headline loss per share is considered by the Directors to be a more
meaningful measurement of financial performance than the basic loss per share
as it excludes goodwill amortisation and other non-cash items and better
reflects the cash outflow of the business.
* Refer to Note 1 for details of the re-statement
4. The preceding financial information does not constitute statutory
accounts as defined in Section 240 of the Companies Act 1985.
The comparative figures for the financial year ended 31st December, 2005
are extracted from the company's statutory financial statements for that
financial year, and adjusted for the adoption of FRS 20 Share-Based Payment.
Those financial statements have been reported on by the company's auditors and
delivered to the Registrar of Companies. The report of the auditors was
unqualified and did not contain a statement under section 237 (2) or (3) of the
Companies Act 1985. The comparative figures for the six months ended 30th
June, 2005 have been adjusted for the adoption of FRS 20 Share-Based Payment.
Copies of the Annual Report for 2005 are available from the company's
registered office.