Share Buyback Programme

Big Technologies PLC

27 September 2024

 

27 September 2024

Big Technologies plc

("Big Technologies" or "the Company")

Share Buyback Programme

Big Technologies plc (AIM: BIG), the UK-based remote people monitoring technology company, announces the launch of its maiden share buyback programme of ordinary shares of £0.01 each ("Ordinary Shares") up to a maximum aggregate 5,000,000 Ordinary Shares (equating to approximately £5.9 million in value at the closing price on 26 September 2024) (the "Buyback Programme") effective today.

The Board considers the Buyback Programme to be in the best interests of all shareholders, given the cash generative nature of the business and strong ongoing performance, reflects the Company's more balanced future approach to capital allocation.

The Company has appointed its broker, Zeus Capital Limited ("Zeus"), to manage the Buyback Programme to repurchase Ordinary Shares on its behalf and entered into an irrevocable and non-discretionary arrangement on 26 September 2024 with Zeus to enable Zeus to conduct the Buyback Programme on a broker-managed basis. Zeus will make trading decisions in relation to the Buyback Programme independently of the Company, within certain defined parameters.

The Buyback Programme commences today and will end no later than the date upon which the aggregate number of shares acquired under the Buyback Programme reaches 5,000,000 Ordinary Shares, or by the time of the Company's 2025 Annual General Meeting which is to be held no later than 30 June 2025 (the "Buyback Period"). During the Buyback Period the Company has no power to invoke any changes to the authority and any purchases will be undertaken by Zeus, acting independently of, and uninfluenced by the Company.

Ordinary Share repurchases will take place in open market transactions and may be made from time to time depending on market conditions, share price and trading volume. The Buyback Programme is in accordance with the Company's general authority to purchase a maximum of 29,065,008 Ordinary Shares, granted by its shareholders at the Annual General Meeting held on 28 May 2024, including that the maximum price paid per Ordinary Share will be no more than: a) 105 per cent. of the average trading price of the Ordinary Shares as derived from the middle market quotations for an Ordinary Share on the London Stock Exchange Daily Official List for the five trading days immediately preceding the date on which an Ordinary Share is contracted to be purchased; and b) the higher of the price of the last independent trade and the highest current independent purchase bid for Ordinary Shares on the trading venue where the purchase is carried out.

Under the Buyback Programme, the repurchased shares will either be cancelled or held in treasury at the Company's discretion for later reissue or cancellation.   Shares held in treasury are not entitled to dividends and have no voting rights at the Company's general meetings.

The Buyback Programme will be conducted within the parameters of the Market Abuse Regulation 596/2014/EU and the Commission Delegated Regulation 2016/1052/EU (each as in force in the UK from time to time, including where relevant pursuant to the Market Abuse (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019). However, due to the potential for limited liquidity in the issued Ordinary Shares, the purchase by the Company of Ordinary Shares pursuant to the Authority on any trading day could represent a significant proportion of the daily trading volume in the Ordinary Shares on AIM and may therefore exceed 25 per cent. of the average daily trading volume, but will not exceed 50 per cent of such daily trading volume.

The Company will make further announcements in due course following any share purchases conducted through the Buyback Programme.

The Company confirms that it currently has no unpublished price sensitive information.

For further information:

Big Technologies	[phone]
Sara Murray (Chief Executive Officer)
Daren Morris (Chief Financial Officer)
Zeus (Nominated Adviser and Sole Broker)		[phone]
Dan Bate / Kieran Russell (Investment Banking)
Benjamin Robertson (Equity Capital Markets)

About Big Technologies Group plc

Big Technologies is the parent company of Buddi, which was founded in 2005 by its current CEO, Sara Murray, following an initial idea to create a GPS device small enough for a child to carry. Today, Big Technologies is a proven supplier of innovative and high-quality products and services to the remote personal monitoring industry. Big Technologies provides products and services under a number of brand and trading names, with 'Buddi' being the most well-known and being used in respect of activities within the core criminal justice market. Big Technologies (under the Buddi brand) has created a leading, integrated technology platform (including both hardware and software solutions) for remote monitoring of individuals, providing state-of-the-art Electronic Monitoring (EM) solutions on a SaaS-like, subscription basis.

Electronic Monitoring in the criminal justice sector involves utilising location technologies to remotely monitor and manage people at all stages of the criminal justice system. The Company's focus on the Criminal Justice market in the immediate term has been demand-driven, with significant opportunities created by a combination of favourable market tailwinds as electronic location devices are increasingly recognised as alternatives to imprisonment, and superior technological capability enabling the Company to meet this demand effectively.

Big Technologies' criminal justice solution has been iteratively developed over a 10-year period, utilising the knowledge of an experienced management team listening to customers.  The solution consists of a proprietary software platform with modular monitoring hardware, capable of being adapted to multiple applications. The Company's criminal justice solution is principally focussed around the "Buddi Smart Tag", an electronic monitoring hardware device, and "Buddi Eagle", the in-house developed, cloud-based monitoring software. Collectively, the hardware and the intelligent tools integrated into Big Technologies' software enable real-time tracking of monitored individuals with high levels of accuracy and reliability. Buddi evidences a substantial reduction in false alerts when compared to competitor systems which, combined with the reduction in subsequent investigations, can result in substantial cost savings for customers.

In addition to the high levels of accuracy, the Buddi Smart Tag has several key advantages over its competitors' devices. The tag is lighter, smaller, has longer battery life and offers a simple, contact free and shorter installation process, providing substantial staff cost savings for customers. This superior product design, coupled with the intelligent monitoring software, typically comes at a small price premium to competitor devices. However, the overall effectiveness and reliability of the solution, combined with the substantial cost savings delivered as a result of reduced monitoring costs, have helped Big Technologies deliver strong revenue growth from both existing and new customers. The Company leases its devices and software solutions to customers typically based on daily or monthly rates.

 

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