Change to Board of Directors
Intec Telecom Systems PLC
16 June 2000
Not for release, publication or distribution in, or into, the United
States, Canada, Australia or Japan.
New board appointments at Intec Telecom Systems PLC underline post-
flotation global growth strategy
Intec Telecom Systems PLC (the 'Company'), whose 10 times oversubscribed
flotation will debut on the London Stock Exchange on Friday 16 June, has
announced the appointment of three highly experienced Non-executive
Directors, Gordon Crawford, Dr Ceri James and Edward Astle, to add
additional strength to its board. The new Directors bring substantial
experience of growing high-technology businesses internationally in a
public company environment.
Chief Executive, Kevin Adams, commented: 'Intec Telecom Systems is a
business undergoing dramatic growth in a dynamic international
marketplace. These three new Non-executive Directors bring valuable
experience to our Board and will be a major asset in building upon our
current market leadership in packaged interconnect solutions.'
Gordon Crawford
Gordon Crawford, aged 45, is Executive Chairman, Chief Executive and
founder of London Bridge Software Holdings plc, a company capitalised at
about £800 million which provides credit management based software and
consultancy services.
Gordon has been involved in the computer software industry for over 20
years. After graduating from the University of Newcastle upon Tyne, he
spent a number of years in software development, before joining Wang UK
Limited in 1982 where he was involved in the management of sales and
marketing of the company's hardware and software products to the
insurance sector. He left Wang in 1987 to start his own software
company.
Ceri James
Ceri James, aged 55, was co-founder and a major shareholder of Admiral
plc from 1979 until 1999. As Chief Executive of Admiral he was
instrumental in growing the IT development, consultancy and training
services business throughout Europe, the Far East and Australia. Admiral
joined the FTSE 250 in 1997 and is currently capitalised at approximately
£1 billion.
Prior to co-founding Admiral, Ceri worked for ICL, Nokia, and John Bell.
He is currently a Non-executive Director of London Welsh RFC Limited.
Edward Astle
Edward Astle, aged 46, is currently Non-executive Chairman of Dataflex
Plc, one of Europe's leading suppliers of technology for the alternative
telecoms market, and is also Non-executive Chairman of two new telecoms-
related businesses backed by 3i plc.
Between 1997 and 1999 he was a main board director of BICC plc
responsible for the international telecoms cable systems division, which
he successfully restructured before selling it to Corning. Previously he
spent eight years at Cable & Wireless plc, rising to the main board where
he was responsible for the company's US long distance business and three
global businesses.
For further information:
Intec Telecom Systems Limited +44 (0) 1483 745800
Andrew Rodaway +44 (0) 7768 808082 (mobile)
Kevin Adams, Chief Executive +44 (0) 468 172277 (mobile)
Robert Fleming & Co. Limited +44 (0) 20 7638 5858
Simon Gorringe
Edward Roskill
Arjun Khullar
GCI Financial Group Limited +44 (0) 20 7398 0800
Roger Leboff
Sally Streeter
Notes to Editors:
About interconnection
Telecommunication networks cannot exist in isolation. Telecommunication
traffic (telephone voice and data calls) must be able to pass from one
telecommunication operator's network to another, for example from a fixed
line operator to a mobile operator or from a national to a regional
operator or a national operator to an international operator. Charges,
known as interconnect charges, are payable, usually by the operator
originating the call, for the use of the other telecommunication
operators' networks in order to terminate a call at its destination.
An interconnect billing and settlement solution is a system for managing
the calculation of charges levied between telecommunication service
providers for carrying and terminating other telecommunication operators'
traffic on their network and supporting the accounting process between
them. It must be capable of calculating charges for the millions of
telephone calls passed between telecommunication operators each day.
Intec Telecom Systems PLC
Intec Telecom Systems PLC and its subsidiaries ('the Group') is the
world's leading provider of third party packaged interconnect billing and
settlement software in terms of market share with more installations and
more telecom operators using its software than any competitor. The
Group's core product is InterconnecT, a software platform which allows
billing and settlement between telecommunication operators to occur
reliably, accurately and speedily. The Group has a contracted customer
base of 45 telecommunication operators with 60 installations world-wide.
The Group's customer base includes, amongst others, MCI Worldcom, COLT
Telecom, Swisscom, Thus and Telkom South Africa. Other product offerings
include InterconnecT ITU and the recently launched InterconnecT ASP
service. The Group has its own international direct sales force and also
operates an alliance partner programme through which sales of the Group's
software are also made. Alliance partners include Andersen Consulting,
Hewlett-Packard, Logica, KSCL, Sun Microsystems and Compaq.
The Group's software is used by telecommunication operators to bill and
settle interconnection charges for the use of each other's
telecommunication networks. Currently the Group's addressable market is
estimated to be in the order of 3,000 telecommunication operators world-
wide of which in the order of five per cent. are estimated to have a
specialist third-party interconnect billing and settlement software
solution. The market for interconnect billing and settlement software is
being driven by deregulation, rising voice and data traffic volumes, and
Internet traffic.
The Group is headquartered in the UK with offices in 13 countries
worldwide. As at 31 March 2000, the Group had 168 employees. On
acquisition of the InterconnecT product in September 1997 there was a
contracted customer base of eight. There have since been releases of two
new major versions of InterconnecT.
The audited interim results for the Group show revenues for the six
months ended 31 March 2000 of £7.6 million and profit before taxation
(PBT) of £1.0 million. Revenues for the twelve month period to 30
September 1999 were £8.4 million with a loss before taxation of £0.6
million.
This announcement has been issued by and is the sole responsibility of
Intec Telecom Systems PLC and has been approved solely for the purposes
of Section 57 of the Financial Services Act 1986 by Robert Fleming & Co.
Limited, which is regulated by The Securities and Futures Authority
Limited and is acting as Sponsor and financial adviser to Intec Telecom
Systems PLC in connection with the proposed flotation and public offering
of shares in Intec Telecom Systems PLC (the 'Global Offer'). Robert
Fleming & Co. Limited is advising Intec Telecom Systems PLC and certain
selling shareholders in relation to the proposed Global Offer and no one
else and will not be responsible to anyone other than Intec Telecom
Systems PLC and certain selling shareholders for providing the
protections afforded to customers of Robert Fleming & Co. Limited nor for
providing any advice in relation to the proposed Global Offer.
This announcement does not constitute, or form part of, an offer or
solicitation of an offer for securities and any purchase of, or
application for, shares to be issued or sold in connection with the
Global Offer should only be made on the basis of information contained in
the prospectus to be issued in connection with the Global Offer. This
announcement is not for distribution or release in the United States of
America, Canada, Australia and Japan.
Past share price performance is not a guide to future performance. The
value of shares can go down as well as up. Persons needing advice should
consult a professional adviser. Stabilisation / FSA.
This announcement does not constitute an offer of securities for sale in
the United States. The securities are not being registered under the US
Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the 'Securities Act') and may not be
offered or sold in the United States or to US Persons (as such terms are
defined in Regulation S under the Securities Act) unless registered under
the Securities Act or pursuant to an exemption from such registration.
No public offering of securities is being made in the United States.