Final Results

RNS Number : 8554U
Anite PLC
01 July 2009
 



 

For immediate release                                                                                                                                              1 July 2009


ANITE PLC


Results for the year ended 30 April 2009


Anite plc ('Anite' or 'the Company'), the international software and solutions company, today announces its results for the year ended 30 April 2009.


Financial highlights (adjusted)1

  • Revenue of £90.1m (2008: £91.6m)at constant currency revenue was £82.6m

  • EBITDA £25.8m (2008: £24.7m)

  • Operating profit of £20.0m (2008: £18.7m):

    • benefited from £2.3m early settlement from MyTravel

    • benefited by £3.9m from currency movements 

    • Non-operational property costs increased by £0.8m

  • Operating margin of 22.2% (2008: 20.4%)

  • Profit before tax of £18.1m (2008: £16.7m) 

  • Basic earnings per share 4.4p (2008: 3.3p) 

  • Final dividend of 0.65p per share (2008: 0.60p) making a total of 0.95p (2008: 0.875p)

  • Net cash of £27.3m (2008: net debt £15.4m); this includes the impact of: 

    • gross cash receipt £56.8m from Anite Public Sector disposal 

    • £25m reduction in term loan

    • £9.9m returned to shareholders through 3.0p special dividend

    • part settlement of currency swap £8.9m  


Statutory results2

  • Revenue from continuing operations £90.1m (2008: £92.8m)

  • Profit from continuing operations before tax £6.4m (2008: £9.5m)

  • Profit for the year £36.3m (2008: £13.2m)

  • Basic earnings per share 11.3p (2008:3.8p)

  • Diluted earnings per share 10.8p (2008: 3.7p)


Operating highlights

  • Disposal of Public Sector completed on 31 October 2008 

  • Improved operating performance from Wireless benefited from cost cutting and favourable currency 

  • Stable underlying performance from Travel excluding one-off customer impacts

  • 72% of revenues now derived from international markets: Wireless 95%, Travel 30%

  • Orders:

    • intake down to £77.6m (2008: £101.8m) reflecting XL Leisure administration and significant multi-year orders in prior year 
    • closing order book £59.3m (2008: £69.0m) 


1 Adjusted results are for continuing operations for the year before disposed businesses, share-based payments, amortisation of acquired intangible assets and restructuring costs.

For a reconciliation of adjusted results highlights to reported statutory results see Financial Review.


Commenting, Christopher Humphrey, Chief Executive said:

'I expect the current trading year to be challenging, particularly in the first half, given the impact of our additional investment in LTE and the effect of customer changes in Travel. The longer-term outlook for our new travel system and its international market, and for the growing adoption of LTE technology is, however, very positive.


'We continue to execute our strategy and I am confident that the work we will undertake during the current financial year will help us to build foundations for future growth, to ride out the prevailing economic storm and to deliver shareholder value.'





For further information, please contact:




Anite plc

www.anite.com

Christopher Humphrey, Chief Executive 

01753 804000



Smithfield

020 7360 4900

Reg Hoare/Tania Wild/Will Henderson 





An analysts' meeting will be held today at 9.15am for 9.30am at the offices of JP Morgan Cazenove, 20 Moorgate, London, EC2R 6DA.


Print resolution images are available for the media to view and download from www.vismedia.co.uk


Notes to editors 

Anite is an international software and solutions company focused on the provision of test and operational systems in the wireless market and reservation and e-commerce solutions to the leisure travel industry.


Our comprehensive solutions have developed from Anite's deep sector knowledge and are focused around the supply of Anite-owned software products.  Anite provides a full range of services to its customers, including implementation, systems integration, maintenance and managed services, enabling it to maximise customer satisfaction. With its headquarters in the UK, Anite employs around 500 staff in 13 countries across Europe, America, Asia and the Middle East.


  Preliminary results for the year ended 30 April 2009


All references to adjusted revenues and profits relate to continuing operations for the year before disposed businesses, share-based payments, amortisation of acquired intangible assets and restructuring costs. See the attached income statement and notes for details. A reconciliation of adjusted results to reported statutory results is given below.


Chairman's statement


Introduction

I am pleased to report a good set of results for the year. These were achieved  against the background of a global recession and the changes we made to the business during 2008/09. The sale of our Public Sector Division in October 2008 was the latest, and most significant, step in our strategy of transforming the Company into a more tightly-focused software business.


We now operate in two divisions. Our Wireless business is a global leader in both handset and air interface testing and is firmly positioned at the heart of our Company. Our Travel business is the market leader for travel technology solutions in the UK and northern Europe. Both operations have a strong international presence and the Company now derives 72% (2008: 67%) of revenues from international markets (Wireless 95% (2008: 92%), Travel 30% (2008: 19%)).


Further details of the Company's performance are in the Chief Executive's review and the Financial review below. 


Acquisitions and disposals

The sale of Public Sector for a gross consideration of £56.8m (net proceeds £44.8m) resulted in a net profit on the disposal of £27.6m. 


Since 2004, the Company has raised £90.6m by disposing of 11 businesses and has invested £65.4m in acquiring two businesses. The disposal programme has enabled us to sharpen the focus of the Company further, and to return value to shareholders, while making selective acquisitions to strengthen our position in our chosen markets. 


Strategy 

Our strategy is to position Anite as a global leader in Wireless test software. The disposal of Public Sector was a major step in transforming Anite into a more focused company and of improving its long-term prospects for growth, higher margins and greater international exposure. 


The Board believes that Wireless is a long-term growth market, which has high barriers to entry and limited competition in those areas in which Anite operates. This makes it possible to achieve good margins and to add value by making selective acquisitions. In Travel, following the various one-off customer changes over the past year and the strengthening of the management team, the Board believes the best strategy is to optimise the business's long-term value by continuing to strengthen and improve its market position. 


In the Board's view these factors together with operational success, tempered by a reduction in the predictability and visibility of earnings, should ultimately improve the rating of Anite's shares. 


Results 

Adjusted revenue from continuing operations was £90.1m (2008: £91.6m). Adjusted operating profit was £20.0m (2008: £18.7m) and the adjusted operating margin was 22.2% (2008: 20.4%). The adjusted operating profit is stated before disposed businesses, share-based payments charge, amortisation of acquired intangible assets, and restructuring costs. 


Revenue and profit benefited from a £2.3m early settlement of part of our contract with MyTravel. Profitability was, however, affected by a one-off £0.8m increase in legacy, non-operating property costs. The effect of currency movements during the year was to improve revenue by £7.5m and operating profit by £3.9m (based on this year's result at last year's average exchange rates). Net amortisation of research and development costs (R&D) in the year reduced profits by £1.0m (2008: £nil).


Adjusted profit before tax from continuing operations was £18.1m (2008: £16.7m) after net finance charges of £1.9m (2008: £2.0m), giving basic earnings per share (after tax) of 4.4p (2008: 3.3p). Profit for the year, including profit from discontinued operations of £31.4m (2008: £6.5m), was £36.3m (2008: £13.2m). This gives basic earnings per share of 11.3p (2008: 3.8p). 


Dividend and share buyback 

The Board has declared a final dividend of 0.65p per share (2008: 0.6p), making a total dividend for the year of 0.95p per share (2008: 0.875p). This dividend will be payable on 20 October 2009 to shareholders on the register at 18 September 2009. 


Following the disposal of Public Sector, the Board returned £9.9m in cash to shareholders in February 2009 by means of the payment of a special dividend of 3.0p per ordinary share. This was combined with an eight for nine share consolidation that reduced the number of shares in issue to 298.6 million (2008: 338.0 million). The Board has also committed to continuing a share buyback programme worth up to £10.0m, subject to market conditions. 


Balance sheet and cash

Anite has a strong balance sheet, financial flexibility and good cash resources.


Net cash of £27.3m (2008: net debt £15.4m) at the year end included the net cash proceeds of £45.5m from the disposal of Anite Public Sector, enabling us to reduce our term loan by £25.0m, the £9.9m cost of the special dividend, and an £8.9m part settlement of a currency swap.  


Given the current macroeconomic conditions, the Board believes it prudent to retain a strong cash balance. In addition, in order to provide the financial flexibility to enable us to consider acquisitions, we retain total bank facilities of £45.0m, of which £25.0m remains undrawn. 


The Board, management and people

During the year, a number of Board and senior management changes reflected the continuing development of the Company. Christopher Humphrey, the Group's Finance Director since 2003, was appointed Chief Executive on 1 January 2009. He replaced Steve Rowley, who had been Chief Executive since 2003. 


Steve led Anite's transformation from a troubled and fragmented IT services' company to a focused international software company, culminating in the sale of Public Sector and the return of significant shareholder value. We thank him for his major contribution to the Company and wish him well in his new role at Torex. 


The Board is making progress with the recruitment of a new Group Finance Director, and will announce an appointment as soon as possible. 


Nigel Clifford, Chief Executive at Symbian Limited (a subsidiary of Nokia), was appointed as a Non-Executive Director on 1 April 2009. Nigel's global experience and knowledge in the mobile handset and wireless operator industries will be invaluable as we continue to progress our wireless strategy. Peter Bertram, a non-executive Director since 2004, has decided to step down from the Board during the current year once a new Finance Director has been appointed. He is Chairman or a Non-Executive Director of a number of listed companies and has made a valuable contribution as Chairman of the Audit Committee. The Board intends to appoint another Non-Executive Director in the near future.

 

During the year we also made a number of important senior management changes in our Wireless and Travel businesses to strengthen the teams in place and to take Anite through the next phases of its development. 


On behalf of the Directors, I thank all our staff for their hard work and support during such an important year.


Summary

We expect profits for 2009/10 as a whole to be lower than in 2008/09. This will be more marked in the first half as a result of the re-basing of our Travel business and an increased customer-led one-off investment in LTE (4G).


We now have the strategy and the team in place to take us into the next phase of our transformation. We also have the financial platform and market positions from which to consolidate, invest and develop our two strong businesses in these challenging economic times.  


Clay Brendish 

Chairman

  Chief Executive's review


Overview of the year

In my first review as Chief Executive, I am delighted to be able to report that Anite is in a robust condition. In what was an extremely challenging economic environment, our Wireless and Travel divisions both performed well in the year, while the sale of our Public Sector division was a further demonstration of our commitment to refocusing our business. 


The divisional results were achieved despite the ongoing consolidation among our customers in the travel industry and the long development phase of 4G - the next-generation mobile phone technology - having an impact on our revenue. In addition, the sale of our Public Sector division enabled us to reduce our bank borrowings, to focus our resources on our core businesses and to pay a special dividend to our shareholders. As a result of the sale the group now employs fewer people and has lower sales, but margins and profits are higher than they were five years ago and our balance sheet is much stronger.


Our revenue and operating profit benefited from significant currency movements during the year, volatility which directly resulted from the global economic crisis. Currency and interest rate changes also, however, had an impact on the value of the Company's investments and hedging liabilities. In short, the sterling value of our underlying euro-denominated assets - represented by our Network Testing business - increased, but were matched by a rise in the total value of our derivative financial liabilities taken out at the time of its purchase. Delivering shareholder value continues to be imperative: during the year we returned cash to shareholders through a special dividend, increased the ordinary dividend, cancelled shares through a share consolidation and began buying back shares.


Our markets

Anite is structured into two market-facing divisions: Wireless and Travel. Wireless is further structured into two operations: Handset Testing and Network Testing. Handset Testing provides specialist systems and software to enable mobile phone manufacturers to bring new handsets and data cards to market quickly. Network Testing provides a range of systems which enable mobile phone operators to test the efficiency and effectiveness of their networks, as well as of different makes of handset, in live situations. Travel provides industry-leading reservation systems to tour operators, airline consolidators and cruise, ferry and rail companies.


Wireless

Handset Testing 

Our Handset Testing business, based in Fleet, Hampshire, provides customers with a single expandable platform to test new handsets' viability, conformance with industry standards and ability to interoperate with multiple networks and other devices. 


The main drivers of growth in Handset Testing are the constant changes and improvements in mobile phone technology and the number of new handset models which are launched each year. These, combined with the different configurations used by network operators, mean that before mobile phones are ready to be sold they must go through development testing to ensure functionality; conformance testing to ensure they meet industry standards; and interoperability testing (IOT) to ensure they are able to communicate with multiple networks and other devices. Older technologies do not become redundant when new generations are introduced and any new testing regime must also incorporate the means to test them


Our strongest market has historically been in conformance testing, but we have recently strengthened our position in IOT and are working with our hardware partner, Agilent, on the development of our new system for 4G (LTE) testing. Our initial system, which has secured early market position with key LTE customers, will be replaced by an Agilent hardware-based system in due course. Full functionality will be progressively introduced during 2009 and enhanced during 2010. In common with all our competitors, the very nature of this leading - edge development programme means that risks remain around the timing and delivery of the completed products. 


  LTE (4G)

The introduction of next-generation devices (such as smart phones and data dongles) has created a rapidly increasing demand for data services: it is predicted that over the next five years mobile data traffic will increase 100-fold. Network operators face a limit on how much traffic their existing 
networks can support, yet competition from WiFi hotspots and wired broadband limits their ability to charge for data transmission at rates comparable to those for voice calls. This clearly represents a long term threat to their profitability. As a result, the network operators are constantly seeking faster, more efficient, and cheaper, ways to deliver data. 
 

By the end of 2007, it was clear that 4G LTE (Long Term Evolution) had gained wide acceptance as the most effective and universal technology to deliver the high data capacity that is needed. LTE enables network operators to support more subscribers on their spectrum allocations at a reduced cost per bit. To date 31 major operators around the globe, including industry giants AT&T, Verizon and Vodafone, have committed to LTE for their 4G networks from 2010.


Anite has backed LTE since its inception and continues to invest strongly in products to support its introduction. Working with key mobile equipment manufacturers our 
initial LTE testing solution is already being used to test around ten devices. We expect to be able to supply our customers with our proprietary testing system during the current financial year and for LTE to begin to make a significant impact on our revenue from 2010/11.

Performance 

We achieved a growth in profits this year, despite a minor decline in revenue from legacy products and an increase in development costs for our 4G testing solutions. Since a large proportion of Handset Testing's revenue is in US dollars and euros - while the majority of its cost base is in sterling - the business benefited from the appreciation of the US dollar and the euro against sterling.


During the year, we made good progress in the development of our software for testing 4G devices and are already supplying key customers with our own initial systems. We also restructured the business: new management and sales executives have resulted in the business becoming more market facing and we now have established regional directors in each major geographic area: Europe and the Middle East, Asia and the Americas.

 

We also strengthened the Handset Testing management team with a number of senior appointments, including Mike Bonin, formerly Managing Director of TEMS, the network testing division of Ericsson, as Managing Director.


Strategy 

Our objective is to complete our basic products for testing 4G devices and to supply customers with a common platform which has been customised to their particular needs for development testing, conformance testing and interoperability testing.


Outlook 

The current year will be affected by the continuing cyclical lull between testing different generations of handsets and by a one-off additional customer-led £4m investment that we are making in our LTE solutions. Following the strong take-up of smart phones and the consequent growth of data revenues there is undoubtedly a very strong case for LTE rather than any other technology and, by the end of the current financial year, we expect to have made further significant progress in the development of our offer and to have generated additional revenues from LTE in the final quarter. 


It is currently not possible to predict the rate of growth and customers' take-up of next-generation devices, but we are confident that our proprietary testing equipment will be in demand. While we do not expect to see a significant return on our investment in the technology until 2010/11, it will ultimately broaden our market and will confirm our position as one of the leaders in testing 4G devices.



  Network Testing

Our Network Testing business (Nemo), based in Oulu, Finland, provides the measurement tools to enable mobile network operators to verify, test and improve coverage and quality; to test the effect of new services on existing networks; and to compare the performance of different manufacturers' mobile phones in the same environments to enable mobile network operators to choose the best handsets to endorse.


Performance

In a challenging market, we defied the general trend and improved our market position and profitability by winning new customers. The introduction of 3G in China brought new business, and we also increased our market share elsewhere in Asia and in other emerging markets. Nevertheless, following the general decline in economic conditions, the second half of the year was characterised by customers reducing their operating budgets and making short-term deferrals of expenditure.


We finished the year with an increase in profits, which, as elsewhere in Anite's business, was helped by the translation of euro-denominated profits into sterling.


Strategy 

We focus on winning and retaining customers by being first with new technology, by providing excellent after-sales service and technical support, and by maintaining strong relationships direct with customers or through local distributors on three continents. 


Outlook

In the short term, we predict that the visibility of sales and customers' budgets will become more uncertain and this, combined with the recent trend of a weakening euro, is likely to result in the current financial year being more challenging than that of 2008/09. In the longer term, we expect growth to continue in developing countries, particularly in the emerging markets of Africa, India and Latin America.


In common with Handset Testing, each evolution of technology creates a demand for new testing and, as mobile phone use expands around the world and technology continues to develop, the longer-term prospects for our Network Testing business are positive. 


Travel

Our travel division, based in Slough, Berkshire, is a leading supplier of reservation, content management and Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software for holiday companies, airline consolidators and packaged holiday operators.


Performance 

We continued to make good progress in our relationship with TUI Germany, now Europe's leading travel group, during the year. We are putting into live operation the second phase of our contract with the company - implementing @comRes reservations software across its operations in central Europe - and have recently been contracted by TUI to build the third phase. In addition, since the year end we have signed an initial contract for @comRes with REWE, Germany's third-largest tour operator.


Significant projects in this business tend to come in uneven blocks and our results for the year should be viewed against the exceptionally high value multi-year orders taken in the previous year. Revenue and profit in 2008/09 were better than expected, but were influenced by a number of one-off events.


The economic climate put pressure on end consumers' disposable incomes with the result that travel operators were also under pressure. In September 2008 our customer XL, which had been the UK's third-largest tour operator, went into administration.


In 2007, major consolidation took place in the UK when Thomson (TUI) and First Choice merged, and Thomas Cook acquired MyTravel. TUI achieved synergies by bringing Thomson and First Choice together and moving them onto the reservations system which was already in use at Thomson, and Thomas Cook moved the MyTravel business to the Thomas Cook system. Since First Choice and MyTravel were both our customers these changes had an impact on our results. The termination of the MyTravel contract added £2.3m to profit, but the loss of the two companies as clients will affect future revenues.


Since 2004 the Travel business unit had supplied managed IT services to Norwich Union (NU) for one of its financial services products; this was non-core business for us which had grown from a small initial contract. At the end of the financial year, NU moved this product platform to another financial services provider. This, too, will reduce revenue and profit in 2009/10. 


We re-energised our Travel business when we strengthened its management team during the year and appointed Mike Kingswood, formerly Managing Director of our Public Sector business, as Managing Director. This has not only improved leadership, but has also revitalised the division's strategic direction.


Strategy 

Over the past three years we have invested heavily in @comRes, our comprehensive and versatile browser-based reservations system. Our objective is to capitalise on its ability to handle fixed and flexible packaging, component-based travel, dynamic packaging and all specialist operations from a single system, to enable us to continue our overseas expansion. In the short term, we foresee our growth as being in Germany, and central and eastern Europe. We already operate a sales office in Cologne, Germany, and are strengthening our resources in that country.


In addition, we plan to migrate customers who use our legacy ATOP system to @comRes, and also to change our revenue model to one in which we licence the system to customers on an annual basis. This will have benefits on both sides: it will reduce the initial capital cost for customers and will augment our recurring revenue in the future. 


Outlook 

Business failures and consolidation are undoubtedly putting the travel industry under pressure. On a pro-forma basis, we estimate that the effect of the one-off customer events detailed above has reduced Travel's revenues by £11m, and operating profits by £6m on an annualised basis. We aim partly to mitigate this reduction through new business and the migration of existing customers from ATOP to @comRes. 


In the medium term we are confident that we will be able to accelerate the installation rate of our increasingly configurable and feature-rich @comRes product at customers in the UK and overseas. It is scalable and robust, and we have a proven reputation for developing and installing software that works. We believe that customers' increasing confidence in our @comRes software will enable us to maximise the shareholder value that is inherent in this product.


Group strategy 

Our longer-term strategy is unchanged - to put Wireless at the heart of our business - but we are currently committed to operating two successful divisions: Wireless and Travel. We will continue to look at world markets for the organic growth of both businesses, to improve margins and to maintain strong operational cash flow. 


Equally, we will continue to invest in the development of our market-leading software, and will take advantage of our strong balance sheet and financial position to invest in carefully-considered complementary acquisitions, particularly in the network testing market.


Group outlook

I expect the current trading year to be challenging, particularly in the first half, given the impact of our additional investment in LTE and the effect of customer changes in Travel. The longer-term outlook for our new travel system and its international market and for the growing adoption of LTE technology is, however, very positive.


We continue to execute our strategy and I am confident that the work we will undertake during the current financial year will help us to build foundations for future growth, to ride out the prevailing economic storm and to deliver shareholder value. 


Christopher Humphrey

Chief Executive 

  Financial review

The Group continued to progress its strategy during the year to improve the quality of its earnings.

The disposal of its Public Sector business provided the funds to reduce its borrowing, to pay a special dividend to shareholders and to focus on its core Wireless and Travel businesses.


Overview

We reported good underlying margins in our businesses, strong cash generation and a reduction in debt. 

The Group disposed of its Public Sector business in October 2008 for a total consideration of £56.8m in cash, including additional consideration from a final working capital adjustment of £2.5m, generating a profit on disposal of £27.6m after costs. As a result the Group reduced its bank borrowings (term loan) by £25.0m, returned £9.9m to shareholders by way of a special dividend and share consolidation and part-settled a cross-currency swap for £8.9m, further details of which are shown below. The adjusted results for the continuing operations (excluding disposed businesses, amortisation of acquired intangible assets, share-based payments and restructuring costs) were as follows:

  • Revenue fell by 1.6% to £90.1m (2008: £91.6m)

  • Operating profit increased by 6.9% to £20.0m (2008: £18.7m) benefiting from the one-off MyTravel contract settlement in Travel, strong cost control and the general weakness of sterling in the period 

  • Profit before taxation improved by 8.4% to £18.1m (2008: £16.7m)


Currency effect

During the year there were significant movements in foreign currency exchange rates. The average rate for the US dollar strengthened 16.4% against sterling from £1= $2.01 to £1 = $1.68 and the average rate of the euro strengthened by 15.0% from £1= €1.40 to €1.19, both of which had a favourable transactional effect on our trading results. The effect of these changes was to improve revenue by £7.5m and operating profit by £3.9m on a constant currency basis. Also on a constant currency basis, revenues were £82.6m and operating profits were £16.1m. The impact on divisional results is shown in the divisional overviews below. In the current financial year, we have budgeted using the following average exchange rates: £1= $1.50 and £1= €1.15.


Group KPIs

The Group uses a variety of key performance indicators (KPIs) across its various businesses as well as at Group level. The most important of these for the adjusted results1 at Group level for continuing operations are:


Group KPIs

2009

2008

2007





Order intake, £m

77.6

101.8

112.5

Revenue, £m

90.1

91.6

92.2

Adjusted operating profit1, £m (note 2.3)

20.0

18.7

22.5

Operating margin, %

22.2

20.4

24.4

EBITDA, £m

25.8

24.7

27.7

Free cash2 , £m

19.0

16.0

6.8

R&D P&L expense, £m (note 2.4)

10.8

12.7

10.1

R&D total spend3, £m

9.8

12.7

11.6

Headcount (closing) 

492

520

546


1    Continuing operations before disposed businesses, share-based payments, amortisation of acquired intangible assets and restructuring costs.

2 Free cash represents net cash generated from operating activities less capital expenditure and capitalised development costs.

3 R&D total spend is the total development cost before the effect of capitalisation/amortisation. Net amortisation of research and development costs (R&D) in the year reduced profits by £1.0m (2008: £nil).



  

Divisional overview

The two remaining operating divisions both improved their profitability during the year, with Travel benefiting from a one-off settlement of the MyTravel contract and Wireless from the weakness in sterling.


Wireless 

Anite provides specialist test systems and software which enable manufacturers of mobile phones to bring their new products to market quickly and mobile operators to optimise their networks.


Wireless KPIs - based on adjusted results1

2009

2008

2007

Orders, £m 

53.7

61.0

68.4

Revenue, £m

59.0

60.4

64.7

Adjusted operating profit1, £m

14.0

11.7

18.5

Operating margin2 %

23.7

19.4

28.6

EBITDA, £m

18.4

17.9

24.1

R&D P&L expense, £m

10.8

12.2

9.6

R&D total spend3, £m

9.8

12.2

11.1

Headcount (closing)

269

265

283


1 Continuing operations before disposed businesses, share-based payments, amortisation of acquired intangible assets and restructuring costs.

2 Operating margin represents adjusted operating profit divided by revenue

3 R&D total spend is the total development cost before the effect of capitalisation/amortisation.

 

 

Overall Wireless orders were down 12.0% in the year, reflecting an anticipated reduction resulting from weaker market conditions in the Wireless market. In addition a number of three-year maintenance contracts, totalling £6.4m, which were won in 2007/08 were not repeated this year. Revenues were marginally down by 2.3% although operating profits, helped by the weaker pound, were up 19.7%.


The effect of capitalisation of R&D under IAS 38 had the effect of reducing profits by £1.0m (net amortisation), compared with the previous year, in which net capitalised R&D had no net effect. 


The currency effect of exchange rate fluctuations in the US dollar had the effect of improving overall Wireless revenues by £6.7m and operating profits by £3.3m. 


Handset testing

In Handset Testing, as anticipated, fewer new system sales were achieved, as customers generally now have sufficient 2G and 3G testing capability, but maintenance revenues with existing customers remained robust. Consolidation among chip set manufacturers reduced the scale of that customer base, which is being replaced in part by manufacturers of new smart devices. There was a recovery in sales in North America, but European and Asian performance was weaker. 


To mitigate the impact of these trends on profitability, while at the same time taking our partnership with Agilent Technologies into consideration, we made a number of changes to the business to increase focus and reduce costs. 


Network Testing (Nemo) 

In Network Testing, technology upgrades and a growing amount of business coming from emerging markets contributed to revenue growth, as did the effect of US$/€ exchange rates. In mature markets, the launch and take-up by consumers of new smart devices that use more data is resulting in operators needing to upgrade their infrastructure. 


The network testing market continues to be extremely competitive and order book visibility is generally very short, but the business has excellent products - on which investment continues - and improved routes to market. Overall, Nemo's market position has improved during the year and we believe that we can increase our network test presence further, both organically and through acquisition.




Travel 

Anite is the leading provider of travel technology solutions for tour operators, low-cost airlines, ferry and holiday park operators in the UK and Europe. Customers can choose to license our products with applications support, then either host the system themselves, or - as many do - take advantage of our fee based service which provides hosting and 24/7 system availability from our secure data centre. Customer relationships are long term and contracts typically operate over 3-7 years. 


Travel KPIs - based on adjusted results1

2009

2008

2007





Orders, £m

23.9

40.8

44.1

Revenue, £m

31.1

31.2

27.5

Adjusted operating profit1, £m

9.5

8.5

6.4

Operating margin2, %

30.5

27.2

23.3

EBITDA, £m

10.4

8.8

6.6

R&D P&L expense and total spend, £m

-

0.5

0.5

Headcount (closing)

194

218

222


1    Continuing operations before disposed businesses and share-based payments.

2 Operating margin represents adjusted operating profit divided by revenue.


The Travel division performed reasonably well in the year, benefiting from some one-off revenue and profit and a good underlying performance. 


During the year, part of the MyTravel (Thomas Cook) contract was settled early, resulting in a one-off £2.3m benefit to revenue and profit, but against this there were some management restructuring costs in the second half-year. Excluding these, but including a very small bad debt as a result of XL Leisure going into administration, divisional operating profit was approximately 14% down, compared with the same period last year, with revenue 7.7% down. The reduction in ongoing work from MyTravel and the loss of work from XL Leisure had an impact on our profitability; this was, however, improved by the strength of the euro, which increased overall revenue by £0.8m and profits by £0.6m. The divisional order intake was reduced by some £1.7m as a result of the XL Leisure administration and is down compared with the previous year's record order intake. The total order book at the year end stood at £43.2m (2008: £50.4m). 


As anticipated, the managed services contract with Norwich Union has not been renewed, as a result of a change in its business strategy. Five new contracts, including three international customers, were signed during the period for @comRes, our market-leading solution for tour operators. Continued good progress was achieved on our large contract with TUI Germany: delivery of Phase Two of the contract has been completed and a series of Brands went 'live' as planned in June 2009. An additional order for Phase Three was also taken in May 2009. We still have a long- term relationship with MyTravel, despite the early settlement of part of the original contract, including a commitment to provide a modified service for a minimum of five years.


During the period under review, @comRes revenues exceeded ATOP revenues for the first time. 

There continues to be good interest in, and a strong international order pipeline for, @comRes set against a difficult trading background for the sector and tough comparatives. Customers' investment in their reservation systems is being driven by the need to reduce costs and to take advantage of opportunities provided by the internet, while the number of holiday transactions has a minor direct impact on our revenues.

  

Good progress with TUI Central Europe and other customers has resulted in 30% (2008: 19%) of our revenue now being derived from international customers. This is expected to rise in the future. We see further opportunities within the TUI Group and the German market as a whole.  


Although overall Travel profitability will be reduced next year by the one-off customer issues referred to above, its underlying performance is stable and its prospects are good.

  Group results: continuing operations


The reconciliation of adjusted operating profit to profit before tax from continuing operations is as follows:


2009

£m

2008

£m

Adjusted operating profit1

20.0

18.7

Disposed businesses

-

0.2

Share-based payments charge

(1.8)

(2.0)

Restructuring costs (see note 2.6)

(4.8)

(3.3)

Amortisation of acquired intangible assets

(4.0)

(3.4)

Operating profit from continuing operations

9.4

10.2

Other gains and losses 2

(1.1)

(0.1)

Finance income

1.2

2.9

Finance charges

(3.1)

(3.6)

Profit before tax from continuing operations

6.4

9.4


1    Before share-based payments, amortisation of acquired intangible assets and restructuring costs.

2    Ineffectiveness of the net investment hedge of £1.1m (2008: £43k) and loss on disposal of disposed business £nil (2008 £65k).



Group results: adjusted EBITDA (excluding disposed businesses)


The reconciliation of adjusted operating profit to adjusted EBITDA from continuing businesses is as follows:  



2009

2008


£m

£m




Adjusted operating profit

20.0

18.7

Depreciation

3.2

3.9

Amortisation

2.6

2.1




EBITDA

25.8

24.7


Divisional results


2009

2008


Revenue1

Adjusted profit1

Adjustments2

Profit3

Revenue1

Adjusted profit1

Adjustments2

Profit3


£m

£m

£m

£m

£m

£m

£m

£m

Wireless - Handset

37.7

7.1

(0.6)

6.5

41.6

6.2

(4.0)

2.2

Wireless - Networks

21.3

6.9

(3.5)

3.4

18.8

5.5

(3.2)

2.3

Total Wireless

59.0

14.0

(4.1)

9.9

60.4

11.7

(7.2)

4.5

Travel

31.1

9.5

(0.3)

9.2

31.2

8.5

(0.3)

8.2

Total operations

90.1

23.5

(4.4)

19.1

91.6

20.2

(7.5)

12.7

Unallocated corporate costs


(2.7)

(1.3)

(4.0)


(1.6)

(1.2)

(2.8)

Surplus properties


(0.8)

(4.9)

(5.7)


0.1

-

0.1

Operating profit


20.0

(10.6)

9.4


18.7

(8.7)

10.0

Net finance charges


(1.9)

-

(1.9)


(2.0)

1.3

(0.7)

Other gains and losses


-

(1.1)

(1.1)


-

-

-

Profit before tax


18.1

(11.7)

6.4


16.7

(7.4)

9.3

Basic EPS


4.4p

(2.9)p

1.5p


3.3p

(1.4)p

1.9p


1    Continuing operations (excluding disposed businesses) before adjustments.

2 Adjustments-Share-based payments (SBP), amortisation of acquired intangible assets (AAIA), restructuring costs, other gains and losses and exchange gain on translation of Nemo escrow account.

3    Continuing operations excluding disposed businesses



Orders

Orders for continuing businesses (excluding disposed businesses) decreased by 23.8% and are analysed by division below:


2009

2008




Order intake

as a %

of revenue



Order intake

as a %

of revenue







Order intake

Revenue

Order intake

Revenue


£m

£m

%

£m

£m

%

Wireless

53.7

59.0

91

61.0

60.4

101

Travel

23.9

31.1

77

40.8

31.2

131

Total 

77.6

90.1

86

101.8

91.6

111


Revenue

Revenue for continuing businesses, excluding disposed businesses, decreased by 1.6% to £90.1.m and is analysed by type in the table below:


One of the Group's financial objectives is to improve the quality of its earnings by increasing the proportion of revenue that comes from recurring business, such as managed services and software maintenance, both of which are longer-term in nature, together with the revenue from sales of its own software licences. 


Revenue analysis


Wireless

Travel

Total


2009

2008

2009

2008

2009

2008


£m

£m

£m

£m

£m

£m








Managed services

-

-

10.1

10.2

10.1

10.2

Software maintenance

16.9

16.1

4.5

4.5

21.4

20.6


16.9

16.1

14.6

14.7

31.5

30.8

Software licences

29.5

31.4

1.5

0.7

31.0

32.1

Sub-total

46.4

47.5

16.1

15.4

62.5

62.9








% of total

78.6%

78.6%

51.8%

49.4%

69.4%

68.7%








Bespoke and SI

­-

-

9.0

10.0

9.0

10.0

Third-party

12.6

12.9

3.7

5.8

16.3

18.7

Other- contract settlement*

-

-

2.3

-

2.3

-

Total

59.0

60.4

31.1

31.2

90.1

91.6

* settlement of the MyTravel contract.


Overhead costs

Group overhead costs (excluding research and development, amortisation, share-based payments and restructuring costs) reduced from £34.7m to £33.4m (see note 2.4) in the year. Restructuring costs included a £4.9m provision required for our Slough property which is now more than 50% empty, following the disposal of Public Sector. We are actively marketing the empty floor to try to mitigate our costs, although this is likely to be challenging in the current economic climate.


Divisional performances are stated before unallocated corporate costs, which include head office staff costs, Directors' remuneration, professional and office costs, and non-operational costs. During the period, unallocated corporate costs totalled £2.7m (2008: £1.6m) and included higher professional fees and increased bonus provisions (nil in 2008). Unallocated share-based payments totalled £1.3m (2008: £1.2m). Following the disposal of Public Sector central staff numbers, including shared services such as IT and HR, reduced from 37 to 29.


During the year we paid £2.6m to exit an onerous property lease within our legacy portfolio and our overall non-operational property costs increased to £0.8m (2008: net surplus £0.1m). We continue to manage an orderly and low-risk run-down of this portfolio which comprises properties previously occupied by Group businesses. We take the opportunity to exit non-operational property leases, where economically advantageous to do so, although it creates fluctuations in our costs and cash flows from time to time. 


Development costs

Development spending by division during the year was as follows:


2009

2008


Capitalised development costs

Capitalised development costs


P&L

Gross

Amortisation

Net

Total spend

P&L

Gross

Amortisation

Net

Total spend


£m

£m

£m

£m

£m

£m

£m

£m

£m

£m

Wireless

10.8

0.9

(1.9)

(1.0)

9.8

12.2

2.3

(2.3)

-

12.2

Travel

-

-

-

-

-

0.5

-

-

-

0.5

Total

10.8

0.9

(1.9)

(1.0)

9.8

12.7

2.3

(2.3)

-

12.7


Total development spending (excluding the effect of capitalisation/amortisation) reduced in the year to £9.8m (2008: £12.7m). £10.8m (2008: £12.7m) was expensed in the year, including net amortisation of £1.0m (2008: nil). The amount of capitalised development costs, which are principally in respect of test cases, declined in the year to £0.9m (2008: £2.3m) Development spending is wholly focused on the Wireless division in which there will be increased investment in LTE (4G) in the coming year.


Group finance costs

Net finance costs (note 5) were £1.9m (2008: £0.7m - included a one-off exchange gain of £1.3m on the translation of the escrow account (euro denominated) held for the Nemo earnout). The Group used interest rate Swaps to manage its exposure to interest rate movements on bank borrowings incurred at the time of the acquisition of Nemo. As a result of this, and of the cross-currency Swap taken out at the same time, the Group has an effective fixed rate of borrowing on its term loan and Swap against which floating rate Libor (sterling) and Euribor (euro) interest rates are received. 


Taxation

The tax rate for the continuing operations for the year was 22.7% (2008 28.9%).The charge for the year amounted to £1.4m (2008 £2.7m). The cash payment for the year amounted to £3.4m (2008: £3.9m). The tax rate decreased in the year, as a result of adjustments to the provisions made for deferred tax in prior years. As Wireless continues to widen its geographic spread of profits, the Group tax rate is expected to show some volatility as the profit mix between high-tax and low-tax locations changes from year to year.


Shareholder returns and dividends

  • Adjusted basic earnings per share was 4.4p (2008: 3.3p).

  • The Company returned £9.9m to its shareholders through a special dividend and share consolidation of 3.0p per share following the disposal of Public Sector.

  • The Board has proposed a final dividend of 0.65p per share (2008: 0.6p) making a total for the year of 0.95p (2008: 0.875p) - covered 4.6 times by adjusted earnings.

  • Retained earnings attributable to equity holders were £36.3m (2008: £13.2m) for the year.


At 30 April 2009, the number of shares in issue had decreased by 39.43m to 298.61m, (from 338.04m at 30 April 2008). In total 37.33m shares were cancelled as part of the share consolidation in February 2009, 2.56m shares were bought back and cancelled at an average price of 25.8p per share and for a total cost of £0.7m; 0.46m new shares were issued to settle SAYE and grant/award maturities. The weighted average number of shares in issue used to calculate basic earnings per share was 321.7m (2008: 344.53m). This does not include the dilutive effect of share option and grant/award schemes.


Disposals

On 31 October the Group disposed of its Public Sector business for a gross consideration of £56.8m (including final working capital adjustment of £2.5m) and £44.8m net of costs (£3.7m) and cash disposed (£8.3m). This generated a profit on disposal of £27.6m. 

  Derivative financial liabilities

When Anite purchased Nemo in December 2006, it entered into a number of Swaps designed to hedge against movements in interest and foreign exchange rates, and to protect the value of both the investment and the reserves of the Group. As a result of significant movements in interest rates and £/€ exchange rates since that date, the sterling value of the underlying euro-denominated assets has increased, but has been matched by a rise in the value of the derivative financial liabilities. The latter had risen to a total liability of £24.5m at 30 April 2009, after having paid £8.9m in April 2009 to settle one of the cross-currency Swaps. 


The Group continues to have a fully effective hedge against the net investment in Nemo with all effective foreign exchange movements being taken directly to reserves. The maturity date of all derivative instruments is 31 October 2011 and the value of any final settlement will depend on the interest rates and exchange rates at that time.


Cash management

The Group achieved strong cash conversion from operating profits during the year with the benefit of the cash proceeds from the Public Sector disposal. The key movements in the year were as follows:


  • Net proceeds from disposals - £45.5m (2008: £7.9m)

  • Tax paid - £3.4m (2008: £3.9m)

  • Capital expenditure - £3.7m (2008: £3.9m)

  • Shares bought back for cancellation - £0.7m (2008: £7.5m)

  • Shares bought for employee trust - £0.2m (2008: £4.3m)

  • Dividends paid - £3.0m (2008: £3.7m)

  • Special dividend paid of 3.0p per share - £9.9m (2008: £nil)

  • Part repayment of cross-currency Swap - £8.9m (2008: £0.4m)

  • Term loan repayment - voluntary repayment £25m (2008: scheduled repayment £5m)


Balance sheet and cash

The Group had a net cash position on 30 April 2009 of £27.3m (2008: net debt £15.4m). This included the cash consideration of £56.8m from the sale of Anite Public Sector in October 2008. The Company used some of the proceeds to repay £25.0m of its term loan, reducing it to £20.0m. Gearing was nil% (2008: 24.7%).


Analysis of net cash/(debt)


2009

2008


£m

£m

Cash and cash equivalents

47.2

29.4

Bank borrowings

(20.0)

(45.0)

Unamortised issue costs

0.1

0.2

Net cash/(debt)

27.3

(15.4)


Following the disposal of Public Sector and because of its strong cash position the Group reviewed its other facilities and, as a result, the syndicated revolving facility was reduced to £20.0m (2008: £40.0m) and the net overdraft facility reduced to £5.0m (2008: £10.0m). Both of these facilities, which we believe are appropriate for our expected future requirements, remained undrawn at 30 April 2009. 


Going concern

The Directors acknowledge the latest guidance on going concern. Despite the current volatility in the financial markets and uncertain economic outlook, the Directors believe that the Group has a robust business model - as evidenced by the trading of the business over the past six months - strong free cash flow generation, and complies with all its banking covenants. In making their assessment of going concern, the Directors consider the budgets, including the Wireless research and development commitments, cash forecasts for the following 18 months together with forecast covenant positions. In addition, they take into account the current strong net cash position, the availability of banking facilities and the maturity profile of debt obligations. After considering the above, the Directors have a reasonable expectation that the Group has adequate resources to continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future. Accordingly Anite continues to adopt the going concern basis in preparing the consolidated financial statements.


Christopher Humphrey 

Chief Executive 

  

Consolidated income statement




2009

2008


Note

£000

£000

Continuing operations




Revenue

2.2

90,098

92,807

Cost of sales


(34,835)

(36,900)

Gross profit


55,263

55,907

Distribution costs


(10,755)

(10,133)

Research and development


(12,474)

(16,687)

Administrative expenses


(22,673)

(18,871)

Operating expenses

2.4

(45,902)

(45,691)

Operating profit before disposed businesses, share-based payments, amortisation ofacquired intangible assets and restructuring costs 

2.3

20,045

18,709

Disposed businesses

2.3

-

202

Share-based payments


(1,874)

(1,951)

Amortisation of acquired intangible assets


(4,040)

(3,416)

Restructuring costs

2.1

(4,770)

(3,328)

Operating profit

2.2

9,361

10,216

Other gains and losses

3

(1,057)

(108)

Finance income

5

1,199

2,932

Finance charges

5

(3,090)

(3,573)

Profit from continuing operations before tax


6,413

9,467

Tax expense

6

(1,454)

(2,739)

Profit from continuing operations


4,959

6,728

Profit from discontinued operations

4(a)

31,384

6,506

Profit for the year


36,343

13,234

Profit attributable to equity holders of the parent


36,343

13,234

Continuing and discontinued operations




Earnings per share     - basic

7

11.3p

3.8p

    - diluted


10.8p

3.7p

Continuing operations




Earnings per share     - basic

7

1.5p

1.9p

    - diluted


1.5p

1.9p

  Consolidated balance sheet




2009

2008


Note

£000

£000

Non-current assets




Goodwill


64,415

78,658

Other intangible assets


26,553

30,755

Property, plant and equipment


10,893

11,653

Deferred tax assets


1,731

104



103,592

121,170

Current assets




Inventories


2,289

3,885

Trade and other receivables


24,297

53,123

Derivative financial assets


75

13

Current tax assets


381

160

Cash and cash equivalents


47,177

29,374



74,219

86,555

Total assets


177,811

207,725

Current liabilities




Trade and other payables


(24,699)

(57,617)

Bank borrowings

8

(4,979)

(4,981)

Current tax payable


(7,236)

(10,283)

Derivative financial liabilities


-

(4,328)

Provisions

10

(5,389)

(4,887)



(42,303)

(82,096)

Non-current liabilities




Bank borrowings

8

(14,936)

(39,843)

Deferred tax liabilities


(6,181)

(6,356)

Derivative financial liabilities


(24,487)

(11,949)

Provisions

10

(5,994)

(4,937)



(51,598)

(63,085)

Total liabilities


(93,901)

(145,181)

Net assets


83,910

62,544

Equity




Issued share capital


33,644

33,854

Share premium account


25,485

25,406

Own shares


(3,657)

(5,132)

Merger reserve


722

6,538

Capital redemption reserve


2,741

2,485

Other reserves


(5,087)

(940)

Retained earnings


30,062

333

Total equity


83,910

62,544


  Consolidated statement of changes in equity



Issued

share

capital

£000

Share

premium

account

£000

Own

shares

£000

Merger

reserve

£000

Capital

redemption

reserve

£000

Other

reserves

£000

Retained

earnings

£000

Total

£000




Balance at 1 May 2007

Changes in equity for the year to 30 April 2008

35,325 

25,010 

(1,019)

6,538 

859 

(7)

(1,764)

64,942 









Exchange differences arising on translation of foreign operations

-

-

-

-

-

(25)

-

(25)

Cash flow hedges taken to equity

-

-

-

-

-

(263)

-

(263)

Fair value losses on net investment hedges (net of foreign exchange and tax)1

-

-

-

-

-

(645) 

-

(645)

Net loss recognised directly in equity

-

-

-

-

-

(933) 

-

(933) 

Profit for the year

-

-

-

-

-

-

13,234 

13,234

Total recognised income and expense for the year

-

-

-

-

-

(933) 

13,234 

12,301 

Issue of share capital

155 

396 

-

-

-

-

-

551 

Purchase of own shares into treasury

-

-

(4,333)

-

-

-

-

(4,333)

Sale of own shares from treasury

-

-

220 

-

-

-

(220)

-

Dividend paid

-

-

-

-

-

-

(3,709)

(3,709)

Share buy back and cancellation

(1,626)

-

-

-

1,626 

-

(7,497)

(7,497)

Recognition of share-based payments 









before tax

-

-

-

-

-

-

2,294 

2,294 

Deferred tax related to share-based 









payments

-

-

-

-

-

-

(2,005)

(2,005)

Balance at 30 April 2008

Changes in equity for the year to 30 April 2009

33,854 

25,406 

(5,132)

6,538 

2,485 

(940) 

333

62,544

Exchange differences arising on translation of foreign operations2

-

-

-

-

-

449

-

449

Cash flow hedges taken to equity

-

-

-

-

-

(1,514)

-

(1,514)

Fair value losses on net investment hedges (net of foreign exchange and tax)1

-

-

-

-

-

(3,082)

-

(3,082)

Net loss recognised directly in equity

-

-

-

-

-

(4,147)

-

(4,147)

Profit for the year







36,343

36,343

Total recognised income and expense for the year

-

-

-

-

-

(4,147)

36,343

32,196

Issue of share capital

46

79

-

-

-

-

-

125

Purchase of own shares in treasury

-

-

(195)

-

-

-

-

(195)

Sale of own shares from treasury

-

-

1,670

-

-

-

(1,670)

-

Dividends paid

-

-

-

-

-

-

(12,903)

(12,903)

Utilisation of merger reserve

-

-

-

(5,816)

-

-

5,816

-

Share buy back and cancellation

(256)

-

-

-

256

-

(660)

(660)

Recognition of share-based payments before tax

-

-

-

-

-

-

2,783

2,783

Deferred tax related to share-based 

-

-

-

-

-

-

20

20

payments









Balance at 30 April 2009

33,644

25,485

(3,657)

722

2,741

(5,087)

30,062

83,910

1    The net loss of £3,082,000 (2008: £645,000) comprises the fair value loss on the net investment hedge of £14,124,000 (2008: £14,807,000) relating to the effective portion of the cross currency swaps, partly offset by the foreign exchange gains £10,393,000 (2008: £10,745,000) and tax credit of £649,000 (2008: £3,417,000), totalling £11,042,000 (2008: £14,162,000).

2    Includes amounts recycled through the income statement on disposal of businesses (note 4(b)).

  Consolidated cash flow statement




2009

2008


Note

£000

£000





Profit for the year




Continuing operations


4,959

6,728

Discontinued operations


31,384

6,506



36,343

13,234

Adjustments for:




Tax (credit)/expense - continuing and discontinued

6

(1,194)

5,049

Profit before tax on disposal of discontinued operations

4(a)

(28,182)

(3,200)

Loss before tax on disposal of disposed businesses

3

-

65

Hedge ineffectiveness on the net investment hedge

3

1,057

43

Finance charges - continuing and discontinued

5

1,791

719

Depreciation and impairment of property, plant and equipment


3,535

4,583

Amortisation and impairment of intangible assets


3,605

5,320

Amortisation of acquired intangible assets


4,040

3,416

Loss on disposal of property, plant and equipment


-

94

Share-based payments


2,783

2,294

Decrease in provisions


(1,946)

(1,260)

Increase in provisions - restructuring costs


4,770

-

Operating cash flows before movements in working capital


26,602

30,357

Decrease in inventories


1,248

624

Decrease in receivables


15,360

2,979

Decrease in payables


(14,548)

(5,613)

Movements in working capital


2,060

(2,010)

Cash generated from operations before exceptional cash payments


31,312

28,347

Cash payments for onerous property lease


(2,650)

-

Cash generated from operations


28,662

28,347

Interest received


1,297

2,104

Interest paid


(2,664)

(3,699)

Income taxes paid


(3,410)

(3,928)

Net cash generated from operating activities


23,885

22,824

Cash flow from investing activities




Proceeds from disposal of subsidiary undertakings

4(b)

53,835

8,535

Net bank balance disposed with subsidiary undertakings


(8,315)

(677)

Increase in cash held in escrow related to acquisitions


-

9,471

Net payments to previously closed businesses


(201)

(492)

Deferred consideration paid


-

(2,309)

Part settlement of cross currency swap


(8,884)

(440)

Purchase of property, plant and equipment 


(3,184)

(2,781)

Proceeds from disposal of property, plant and equipment 


34

43

Purchase of software licences


(544)

(1,080)

Expenditure on capitalised product development


(1,142)

(2,982)

Net cash generated from investing activities


31,599

7,288

Cash flow from financing activities




Issue of ordinary share capital


125

551

Share buy back for cancellation


(660)

(7,497)

Purchase of own shares into treasury


(195)

(4,333)

Dividend paid to Company's shareholders


(12,903)

(3,709)

Decrease in bank loans


(25,000)

(5,000)

Net cash used in financing activities


(38,633)

(19,988)

Net increase in cash and cash equivalents


16,851

10,124

Effect of exchange rate changes


952

585

Cash and cash equivalents at 1 May


29,374

18,665

Cash and cash equivalents at 30 April


47,177

29,374


    Discontinued operations include Anite Public Sector (2008: Anite Deutschland) which generated net operating cash inflows of £3,406,000 (2008: outflow £4,789,000), paid £nil (2008: £16,000) in respect of net returns on investment and servicing of financing, and paid £526,000 (2008: £714,000) for capital expenditure.

  1 Statement of accounting policies

a) Basis of preparation

The preliminary results have been prepared under the historical cost convention and in accordance with current International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) and International Financial Reporting Interpretations Committee (IFRIC) interpretations. However, this announcement does not contain sufficient information to comply with all the disclosure requirements of IFRS.

The preparation of the consolidated financial statements in conformity with IFRS requires management to make estimates and assumptions in certain areas that affect the reported amounts in the financial statements. Although these estimates and assumptions are based on management's best knowledge, the actual results ultimately may differ from those estimates.

The statutory accounts for 2009 have been prepared following accounting policies consistent with those for the year ended 30 April 2008. These can be found on our website www.anite.com. The financial statements are presented in Pounds Sterling because that is the currency of the primary economic environment in which the Group operates.

The financial information set out in this announcement does not constitute statutory accounts within the meaning of Sections 434 to 436 of the Companies Act 2006 and is an abridged version of the Group's financial statements for the year ended 30 April 2009 which were approved by the directors on 30 June 2009. Statutory accounts for the year ended 2008 have been delivered to the Registrar of Companies, the auditors have reported on those accounts, their report was unqualified and did not contain statements under Section 237(2) or (3) of the Companies Act 1985. Statutory accounts for the period ended 30 April 2009 will be delivered following the Company's annual general meeting. The auditors have reported on those accounts, their reports were unqualified and did not contain statements under Section 498 of the Companies Act 2006.


The preliminary announcement for the year ended 30 April 2009 was approved by the Board of Directors on 30 June 2009.

2 Revenue and segmental information

2.1 Restructuring costs

As a result of the disposal of Anite Public Sector, the head office property at 353 Buckingham Avenue, Slough will be underutilised due to the relocation of Anite Public Sector staff. In light of the current market conditions for office space, there is uncertainty over whether the Group will be able to utilise or sublet the empty space in the near future although management are actively seeking to mitigate this. A provision has been established in the current period.

The provision in the prior period relates to the restructuring of the Wireless division. This provision includes the impact of both asset write-downs of the own-platform development costs and other costs of restructuring and redundancy.


2009

2008


£000

£000

Net property provision established

4,909

-

Cost of exiting own-platform development

(139)

2,474

Other restructuring / redundancy costs

-

854


4,770

3,328


  2.2 Business segments - primary basis

The Group is organised into two business segments: Wireless and Travel.

These two business segments are the Group's primary reporting format for segment information. During the period, Anite Public Sector Holdings Ltd and its subsidiaries ('Anite Public Sector') were sold. Its results are included as a discontinued operation and details are disclosed in note 4.

Segmental information under the primary reporting format is as disclosed in the table below:



Wireless


Travel


Unallocated items

Total




2009

2008

2009

2008

2009

2008

2009

2008


Note

£000

£000

£000

£000

£000

£000

£000

£000

Revenue










- continuing businesses1


58,988

60,410

31,207

31,598

-

-

90,195

92,008

- inter-segment revenue2


-

-

(97)

(360)

-

-

(97)

(360)



58,988

60,410

31,110

31,238

-

-

90,098

91,648

- disposed businesses3


-

-

-

1,159

-

-

-

1,159

Revenue










- continuing operations


58,988

60,410

31,110

32,397

-

-

90,098

92,807

- discontinued operations3


-

-

-

-

-

-

28,810

64,428

Total revenue


58,988

60,410

31,110

32,397

-

-

118,908

157,235

Continuing operations

Segment profit










- continuing businesses1


13,758

11,277

9,213

8,217

(4,800)

(2,736)

18,171

16,758

- disposed businesses3


-

-

-

202

-

-

-

202

Operating profit for continuing operations before amortisation and restructuring costs


13,758

11,277

9,213

8,419

(4,800)

(2,736)

18,171

16,960

Amortisation of acquired intangible assets


(4,040)

(3,416)

-

-

-

-

(4,040)

(3,416)

Restructuring costs


139

(3,328)

-

-

(4,909)

-

(4,770)

(3,328)

Segment operating profit


9,857

4,533

9,213

8,419

 (9,709)

(2,736)

9,361

10,216

Other gains and losses

3

-

-

-

(65)

(1,057)

(43)

(1,057)

(108)

Finance charges 

5

-

-

-

-

(1,891)

(641)

(1,891)

(641)

Profit from continuing operations before tax


9,857

4,533

9,213

8,354

(12,657)

(3,420)

6,413

9,467

Tax expense


-

-

-

-

(1,454)

(2,739)

(1,454)

(2,739)

Profit from continuing operations


9,857

4,533

9,213

8,354

(14,111)

(6,159)

4,959

6,728











Discontinued operations










Operating profit from discontinued operations 

4 (a)







454

5,694

Profit on sale of discontinued operations

4 (a)







28,182

3,200

Finance income 

5







100

(78)

Profit from discontinued operations








28,736

8,816

Tax charge








2,648

(2,310)

Profit from discontinued operations








31,384

6,506

Profit for the year








36,343

13,234











Profit for the period is stated after:










Capitalisation of development costs ('DC') 


869

2,309

-

-

-

-

869

2,309

Amortisation of DC


(1,855)

(2,309)

-

-

-

-

(1,855)

(2,309)

Net amortisation of DC


(986)

-

-

-

-

-

(986)

-


1    Continuing businesses comprise operating results of continuing operations before the operating results of disposed businesses.

2    Inter-segment revenues are charged at prevailing market rates.

3    Disposed businesses comprise the operating results of continuing operations which have ceased during the year and which do not meet the definition of discontinued operations under IFRS 5

  

2.3 Business segments - continuing operations




Wireless


Travel


Unallocated items

Total




2009

2008

2009

2008

2009

2008

2009

2008


Note

£000

£000

£000

£000

£000

£000

£000

£000

Revenue










- continuing before disposed businesses


58,988

60,410

31,110

31,238

-

-

90,098

91,648

Adjusted operating profit1


13,992

11,768

9,542

8,461

(3,489)

(1,520)

20,045

18,709

Net finance charges before exchange gain 

5

-

-

-

-

(1,891)

(1,923)

(1,891)

(1,923)

Adjusted profitbefore tax


13,992

11,768

9,542

8,461

(5,380)

(3,443)

18,154

16,786











Restructuring costs 

2.1

139

(3,328)

-

-

(4,909)

-

(4,770)

(3,328)

Share-based payments 


(234)

(491)

(329)

(244)

(1,311)

(1,216)

(1,874)

(1,951)

Amortisation of acquired intangible assets


(4,040)

(3,416)

-

-

-

-

(4,040)

(3,416)

Net finance charge - exchange gain 

5

-

-

-

-

-

1,282

-

1,282

Other gains and losses 

3

-

-

-

-

(1,057)

(43)

(1,057)

(43)

Segment operating profit before disposed businesses & tax


9,857

4,533

9,213

8,217

(12,657)

(3,420)

6,413

9,330

Disposed businesses:










- Operating profit


-

-

-

202

-

-

-

202

- Other gains and losses 

3

-

-

-

(65)

-

-

-

(65)

Profit from continuing operations before tax

2.2

9,857

4,533

9,213

8,354

(12,657)

(3,420)

6,413

9,467


1    Continuing operations before disposed businesses, share-based payments, amortisation of acquired intangible assets, other gains and losses and restructuring costs.

    This additional information has been disclosed to give a clearer understanding of the results of the business segments before and after non-trading and one-off items


2.4 Operating expenses


2009

2008


£000

£000

Distribution costs



- amortisation of acquired intangible assets

2,234

1,900

- other

8,521

8,233


10,755

10,133

Research and development



- amortisation of internally generated assets

1,855

2,309

- other

8,952

10,388


10,807

12,697

- amortisation of acquired intangible assets

1,806

1,516

- restructuring costs

(139)

2,474


12,474

16,687

Administrative expenses



- restructuring costs

4,909

854

- share-based payments

1,874

1,951

- other

15,890

16,066


22,673

18,871

Total operating expenses

45,902

45,691

Analysed as:



- amortisation of acquired intangible assets

4,040

3,416

- amortisation of internally generated assets

1,855

2,309

- restructuring costs

4,770

3,328

share-based payments

1,874

1,951

other

33,363

34,687


45,902

45,691



  3 OTHER GAINS AND LOSSES


2009

2008


£000

£000

Hedge ineffectiveness on the net investment hedge

(1,057)

(43)

Loss on sale of disposed business

-

(65)


(1,057)

(108)


The losses arising due to ineffectiveness on the net investment hedge are derived from the differences in the movement in the fair value of the cross currency swap taken out to hedge the net investment in Anite Finland Ltd and the hypothetical derivative that represented the market value of the swap on the date of designation. 

The other gains and losses for the year ended 30 April 2008 relate to the loss on the disposal of Anite Travel Systems Ab Ltd within the Travel business segment.

4 Discontinued operations

a) Discontinued operations

The Group completed its disposal of the Anite Public Sector division with the sale of its 100% interest in the ordinary share capital of Anite Public Sector Holdings Ltd and its subsidiaries on 31 October 2008.

The profits in respect of the disposal of Anite Public Sector are set out below. The operating profit before interest of Anite Public Sector up to the date of the disposal was £467,000 (2008: £5,598,000). These results, including other discontinued businesses, are shown in the results below:


2009

2008


£000

£000

Profit after tax for the year from discontinued operations



Revenue

28,810

64,428

Cost of sales

(16,323)

(35,731)

Gross profit

12,487

28,697

Operating expenses

(12,033)

(23,003)

Operating profit before interest

454

5,694

Finance income

100

(78)

Profit before tax

554

5,616

Tax credit

(488)

(1,110)

Profit after tax

66

4,506

Profit on sale of discontinued operations



Net movement in provision in relation to previously discontinued operations

574

1,935

Profit on disposal of Anite Public Sector (note 4(b))

27,608

-

Profit on disposal of Anite Deutschland (note 4(b))

-

1,265

Net profit before tax on sale of discontinued operations

28,182

3,200

Tax charge on the profit on sale of discontinued operations

-

(1,200)

Tax credit relating to activities discontinued in prior years

3,136

-

Profit after tax on sale of discontinued operations

31,318

2,000

Total

31,384

6,506


  b) Sale of discontinued operations

The net assets and consideration in respect of the disposal of Anite Public Sector (2008: Anite Deutschland) are set out below:


2009

2008


£000

£000


Anite Public Sector

Anite Deutschland

Goodwill

22,210

4,000

Intangible assets

1,675

91

Property, plant and equipment

1,132

87

Current assets

14,024

2,716

Cash and cash equivalents

8,315

397

Current liabilities

(20,541)

(1,220)

Provisions

(925)

(170)

Net assets

25,890

5,901

Recycled foreign exchange

(363)

38

Profit on disposal

27,608

1,265

Net consideration

53,135

7,204

Relating to:



Cash consideration

56,783

8,000

Disposal costs

(3,648)

(796)


53,135

7,204

Net cash flows in respect of the disposal of operations are as follows:



Cash received (net of disposal costs paid)

53,835

7,204

Cash and cash equivalents sold

(8,315)

(397)


45,520

6,807


5 Net finance (charge)/income


Continuing operations


Discontinued operations


Total



2009

2008

2009

2008

2009

2008


£000

£000

£000

£000

£000

£000

Finance income







Interest receivable and similar income

92

106

-

-

92

106

Interest on short-term deposits

1,107

614

100

98

1,207

712

Exchange gain on translation of the cash deposit held in escrow

-

1,282

-

-

-

1,282

Gains on financial instruments in a hedging relationship:







- Interest rate swaps and caps - cash flow hedges

-

76

-

-

-

76

- Cross currency swaps - net investment hedge

-

694

-

-

-

694

Others

-

160

-

-

-

160


1,199

2,932

100

98

1,299

3,030

Finance charges







Bank loans and overdrafts1

(2,023)

(3,305)

-

(157)

(2,023)

(3,462)

Other loans/commitment fees

(101)

(118)

-

(19)

(101)

(137)

Losses on financial instruments in a hedging relationship:







- Interest rate swaps and caps - cash flow hedges

(121)

-

-

-

(121)

-

- Cross currency swaps - net investment hedge

(638)

-

-

-

(638)

-

Unwinding of discount on provisions 2

(207)

(150)

-

-

(207)

(150)


(3,090)

(3,573)

-

(176)

(3,090)

(3,749)

Net finance (charge)/income

(1,891)

(641)

100

(78)

(1,791)

(719)


1 Finance charges on bank loans and overdrafts include amortisation of issue costs of £91,000 (2008: £385,000).

2 The unwinding of discount on provisions (note 10) relates to property and deferred consideration provisions.

  6 Income tax expense


Continuing operations

Discontinued operations

Total


2009

2008

2009

2008

2009

2008


£000

£000

£000

£000

£000

£000

Current tax







UK corporation tax

1,110

2,590 

488

1,110

1,598

3,700 

Foreign tax

3,151

2,587 

-

-

3,151

2,587 


4,261

5,177 

488

1,110

4,749

6,287 

Adjustments in respect of prior years







UK corporation tax

-

9

(3,136)

-

(3,136)

9

Foreign tax

70

-

-

70


70

9

(3,136)

-

(3,066)

9

Total current tax expense/(credit)

4,331

5,186 

(2,648)

1,110

1,683

6,296 

Deferred tax







UK

(1,754)

(1,414)

-

-

(1,754)

(1,414)

Foreign

(1,123)

(1,033)

-

1,200 

(1,123)

167 

Total deferred tax (credit)/expense (note 24)

(2,877)

(2,447)

-

1,200 

(2,877)

(1,247)

Total income tax expense/(credit)

1,454

2,739 

(2,648)

2,310 

(1,194)

5,049 


The tax charge on the profit on sale of discontinued operations was £nil (2008: £1.2m).

Corporation tax is calculated at 28% (2008: 29.84%) of the estimated assessable profit for the year. Taxation for other jurisdictions is calculated at the rates prevailing in the respective jurisdictions.


2009

2008


£000

£000

Charged/(credited) to equity



Deferred tax relating to share-based payments

(20)

2,005

Deferred tax relating to amortisation of acquired intangibles

948

908

UK corporation tax relating to foreign exchange

(1,597)

(4,325)


(669)

(1,412)


Factors affecting tax charge for the year

The tax assessed on the profit on ordinary activities for the year is different to the standard rate of corporation tax in the UK. The differences are explained below:


2009

2008


£000

£000

Profit before tax



Continuing operations

6,413

9,467

Tax on Group profit at standard UK corporation tax rate of 28% (2008: 29.84%)

1,796

2,840

Effects of:



Impairments and sale/closure of discontinued operations

(32)

(398)

Disallowed expenses and non-taxable income (net)

107

352

Ineligible depreciation

3

137

Prior year adjustment in relation to deferred tax

(968)

-

Short-term timing differences

616

310

Tax losses carried forward

162

509

Utilisation of tax losses

(195)

(1,153)

(Lower)/higher tax rates on overseas earnings

(120)

158

Changes to tax rate

-

19

Adjustments to current tax charge in respect of previous periods

70

9

Other

15

(44)

Income tax expense for year

1,454

2,739

Tax rate for continuing operations

22.7%

28.9%


The Group earns its profits in the UK and overseas. The tax rate used for tax on profit on ordinary activities is 28%, reduced from 30% in periods to 31 March 2008, being the standard rate for UK corporation tax, as the Group's head office is in UK.

Some components of the Group's overseas profits are likely to be taxed at an effective rate that is higher than the UK rate. Other components, due to the availability of losses brought forward in certain countries, are likely to be taxed at a lower rate.

  7 Earnings per share

The calculations of earnings per share are based on the Group profit for the year, adjusted profit1 and weighted average number of shares in issue:


Basic


Diluted



2009

2008

2009

2008

EPS summary





Basic EPS

11.3p

3.8p

10.8p

3.7p

Basic EPS for continuing operations

1.5p

1.9p

1.5p

1.9p

Adjusted EPS2

4.4p

3.3p

4.2p

3.2p


2009

2008

2009

2008


Pence per share

Pence per share

£000

£000

Profit for the year

11.3

3.8 

36,343

 13,234 

Profit from discontinued operations

(9.8)

(1.9)

(31,384)

(6,506)

Profit for the year on continuing operations

1.5

1.9 

4,959

6,728 

Reconciliation to adjusted profit:





Operating (profit) from disposed businesses

 (0.1)

 (202)

Loss on sale of disposed businesses

 65 

Profit for the year on continuing operations (before impact of disposed businesses)

1.5

1.8 

4,959

6,591 

Other gains and losses (net of tax)

0.2

761

30 

Exchange gain on retranslation of the cash deposit held in escrow (net of tax)

(0.2)

(899)

Restructuring costs (net of tax)

1.1

 0.7 

3,434

 2,354 

Amortisation of acquired intangible assets (net of tax)

0.9

0.7 

2,917

2,383 

Share-based payments (net of tax)

0.7

 0.3 

2,097

853 

Adjusted profit1

4.4

 3.3 

14,168

11,312 


1    Profit from continuing businesses before disposed businesses, other gains and losses, share-based payments, amortisation of acquired intangible assets and restructuring costs.

2    Earnings per share on adjusted profit1 have been included to give an additional understanding of the results of the continuing businesses.

Both basic and diluted EPS for discontinued operations is 9.8p (2008: 1.9p).

Number of shares ('000)

2009

 2008

Weighted average number of shares in issue - used to calculate basic earnings per share

321,714

344,533

Effect of dilutive ordinary shares



- SAYE and share option schemes

13,507

12,296

Number of shares used to calculate diluted earnings per share 

335,221

356,829


8 Bank borrowings


2009

2008


£000

£000

Current



Bank loans

4,979

4,981

Non-current



Bank loans

14,936

39,843


19,915

44,824

The borrowings are repayable as follows:



On demand or within one year

4,979

4,981

In the second year

4,979

4,980

In the third to fifth years inclusive

9,957

34,863


19,915

44,824

Less: amounts due for settlement within 12 months (shown under current liabilities)

(4,979)

(4,981)

Amount due for settlement after 12 months

14,936

39,843


The current and non-current bank loans comprise a £20m (2008: £45m) fixed term loan less £0.085m (2008: £0.176m) of unamortised issue costs being amortised over the period of the loan.

The loan was taken out on 30 November 2006 under a borrowing facility maturing on 30 November 2011. This loan is secured by a fixed and floating charge on the Group's assets.

  9 Net CASH / (debt)



2009

2008



£000

£000

Cash and cash equivalents


47,177

29,374

Bank borrowings - current


(4,979)

(4,981)

Bank borrowings - non-current


(14,936)

(39,843)

Net cash / (debt)


27,262

(15,450)

A reconciliation of the movement in net cash/(debt) for the year is as detailed below:






2009

2008



£000

£000

Net debt at 1 May


(15,450)

(22,577)

Decrease in cash deposit held in escrow


-

(9,471)

Net increase in cash and cash equivalents


16,851

10,124

Unamortised issue costs of bank borrowings


(91)

(385)

Decrease in bank borrowings


25,000

5,000

Exchange movement


952

1,859

Net cash / (debt) at 30 April


27,262

(15,450)


10 Provisions








Deferred


Property

Other

Group


consideration

Warranties

provision

provisions

total


£000

£000

£000

£000

£000

At 1 May 2008

202

3,234

5,368

1,020

9,824

Establish deferred consideration provision debited to goodwill

140

-

-

-

140

Release of provision credited to income statement

-

(4)

(396)

(202)

(602)

Established during the year

-

500

6,289

614

7,403

Disposal of subsidiaries in current period (note 4(b))

-

-

(751)

(174)

(925)

Disposal of subsidiaries in prior period (note 4(a))

-

(329)

-

(245)

(574)

Utilised during the year (continuing)

(32)

(8)

(3,424)

(512)

(3,976)

Utilised during the year (discontinued)

-

(201)

-

-

(201)

Unwinding of discount

-

-

207

-

207

Exchange movement

70

18

-

(1)

87

At 30 April 2009

380

3,210

7,293

500

11,383



2009

2008


£000

£000

Analysed as:



Current liabilities

5,389

4,887

Non-current liabilities

5,994

4,937


11,383

9,824


The deferred consideration balance of £0.4m (US$0.6m) represents the final element of the cash earnout consideration payable following the acquisition of Invenova Corporation in January 2007. This was settled in full in May 2009.

The warranty provision has been made to cover any potential claims made by disposed businesses during the contractual warranty period. It is expected to be utilised in one to six years.

The property provision is in respect of all properties surplus to business requirements and dilapidation provisions for properties currently in use. It is expected to be utilised in one to 13 years. The established provision in the year includes an amount of £4.9m in relation to the empty space within the Group's corporate office in Slough resulting from the disposal of Anite Public Sector in October 2008 and is included within restructuring costs in the income statement. The property provision of £3.4m utilised during the year includes £2.6m in respect of the cost of exiting a non operational property during the year. Additional dilapidation provisions for properties were established during the year amounting to £0.5m (2008: £0.9m). These were capitalised in 'property, plant, and equipment' and will be charged to the income statement on a straight line basis over the remaining term of the relevant property lease.

Other provisions include provisions for contractual items expected to be utilised within one year.

  11 Called up share capital


Ordinary shares

of 11.25p each

Deferred

redeemable shares

of £1 each




Number

£000

Number

£000

Authorised:





At 30 April 2008

400,000,000

40,000

50,000

50

Share consolidation

(44,444,444)

-

-

-

At 30 April 2009

355,555,556

40,000

50,000

50

Allotted, issued and fully paid:





At 30 April 2008

338,036,645

33,804

50,000

50

Issued during the year

460,124

46

-

-

Cancelled during the year

(2,560,698)

(256)

-

-

Share consolidation

(37,326,231)

-

-

-

At 30 April 2009

298,609,840

33,594

50,000

50


a) Redeemable share capital

These deferred shares of £1 each may be redeemed at any time at the option of the Company at a price of 1p each. They are non-equity shares and have no voting rights.

b) Shares issued during the year

i) 194,239 ordinary shares were issued, at prices between 23p and 46p each, in connection with options exercised under the Company's Save As You Earn (SAYE) schemes.

ii) 265,885 ordinary shares were issued at prices between 10p and 56.5p each in respect of the exercise of options under the Approved Share Option Scheme, the Long Term Incentive Plan ('Executive Share Option Schemes') and the Performance Share Plan.

c) Share consolidation

On 2 February 2009, the Group carried out a share consolidation in which 8 new shares were granted for each 9 shares redeemed. This resulted in an increase in the nominal share value to 11.25p and a reduction of 44.4m in the number of authorised shares. The number of allotted, issued and fully paid Ordinary 11.25p shares reduced by 37,326,231.

d) Outstanding options

As at 30 April 2009, the following options over the Company's ordinary shares had been granted and were still outstanding:


Executive




Share Option

SAYE Option



Grants/Awards

Schemes

Total

Outstanding at 1 May

22,439,013

354,440

22,793,453

Granted during the year

4,361,317

-

4,361,317

Exercised during the year

(1,483,105)

(194,239)

(1,677,344)

Lapsed during the year

(7,493,102)

(126,435)

(7,619,537)

Outstanding at 30 April

17,824,123

33,766

17,857,889

Subscription price

0p - 207p

23p - 128p


Dates exercisable

August 2009-

May 2009-



August 2014

August 2009


Weighted average exercise price

20p

46p



e) Cancelled shares

2,560,698 shares were cancelled during the year, having been acquired at an average cost of 25.8p per share, as part of the Group's share buy-back programme.

f) Own shares reserve

The own shares reserve £3,657,000 (2008: £5,132,000) represents the cost of shares in Anite plc purchased in the market for the following trusts of the Company:

i) At the start of the year, 6,542,355 shares at a cost of £4,375,000 were held in the Company's Employee Share Ownership Plan ('ESOP') to satisfy some of the PSP and SMP awards, that part of the employers' NIC liability of the Group's share options schemes and all of the MIP awards. These shares will be held until the performance conditions of the relevant share plan awards are fulfilled. During the year 1,217,220 shares were sold at fair value of £354,000 to satisfy awards that were vested and 591,682 shares were redeemed under the share consolidation.

ii) 1,712,524 shares at a cost of £953,000 are held for the Company's Share Incentive Plan (SIP) under the SIP scheme. These shares will be held until the conditions of the SIP are fulfilled. Of this amount, 568,906 shares were purchased at a cost of £195,000 during the year.



This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
 
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