Interim Results
Cube8 Group PLC
9 August 2001
CUBE 8.COM PLC
Preliminary announcement of interim results for the six months to 30 June 2001
Key announcements
Lucy Beverley, Finance Director, has been promoted to the Board as an
executive director.
Alistair Angus, co-founder of Pets Pyjamas, has been appointed as a
non-executive director.
Brian Hindson, former CEO of Cube8, has become a non-executive director.
£1.82m cash at the bank and in hand as at 30 June 2001. Total capital and
reserves £4.5m.
The Group has disposed of its stake in PVC PR and decided to discontinue the
activities carried out by Prizescratch.com Limited and Antique Street Limited.
Report of the Chairman and Chief Executive
Summary of operations
I made a commitment in our full year report to continue to cut costs while
pursuing fee-based revenues to reduce the company's cash burn rate. This will
allow us greater resources and time to continue to nurture our investments.
We have rationalised our portfolio and substantially cut our overheads in the
past six months.
I am sad to report the departure of our Chief Executive, Brian Hindson, who
joined the company in September 2000 from the British Red Cross. Brian will
remain with the company as a non-executive director. I am taking the role of
Chief Executive, remaining as Chairman. My fellow director and a co-founder of
the company, Steve Masters, is to become Chief Operating Officer with
immediate effect. Lucy Beverley is joining the board as Finance Director.
Alistair Angus, CEO and co-founder of Pets Pyjamas, joins the board as a
non-executive director.
Cash position
As at 30 June 2001 Cube8 had £1.82m in the bank. I feel comfortable that with
substantial recent savings and increased revenues from charges to some of the
portfolio companies, Cube8 is in a secure position. We still hope for our main
wins to come from capital appreciation of our investments, and we have been in
discussion with several parties about investment in, or acquisition of,
several of our companies.
The portfolio
The portfolio has been rationalised, allowing us to focus our financial and
management resources on those investments where we see the largest upside
potential, in particular the subsidiaries BorisCommerce and Freeloader.com. We
recently announced the closure of Planet Three Limited, and we have disposed
of our stake in PVC PR.
Cube8 acquired Freeloader.com in May from Pure Entertainment Games plc for £
600,000 in Cube8 shares. Freeloader is an exciting opportunity, and Cube8 has
resurrected the online games service with the monthly cost base reduced from
more than £400,000 to less than £70,000. Cube8 non-executive director Tarick
Kreimeia has been appointed as managing director and is driving Freeloader
forward. Freeloader recently signed up its millionth member, and is currently
gaining 2,000 new members per day. Substantial advertising and sponsorship
revenues have been generated, and the company plans to launch pay-per-play
premium games later this year. There is further potential to separately
exploit the patented Adloader(TM) and DigiCutter(TM) technologies.
Project Boris is now up and running and the company has been renamed
BorisCommerce Limited. The first 'Powered by BorisMart' shopping malls went
live in July, and BorisMart continues to sign new retailers and new
distributors. BorisMart proprietary technology allows site owners to easily
add customised shopping malls with multiple retailers. BorisMart malls allow
consumers to buy multiple items from multiple retailers in a single
transaction, and have other advanced features. The shopping malls and further
information on the technology can be accessed at http://www.boriscommerce.com.
Other companies in our portfolio are also showing encouraging signs, some of
which I will highlight here:
- Dynamid completed its merger with ByBox, has raised a further round of
funding, and has strong interest from several large multi-national fulfilment
groups.
- The Sticks has raised a further £270,000 of funding.
- Room Service has raised a further round of funding. It has established a
wine club and acquired an executive car service to add to its range of
lifestyle services.
- Itchy Media has signed a major sponsor for next year's books, and is
currently finalising the 2002 editions of its guides for 18 cities in the UK.
- Articulate Ads, in which we took a 10% stake earlier this year, is now well
positioned to become the leading UK player for the use of articulated lorries
for billboard style advertising. It has now signed more than 14,000 trailers,
and expect the first major campaign later this year.
Overall, for a predominantly young portfolio, there has been good progress and
a low proportion of failed companies to date.
Consultancy
Our consultancy business is beginning to generate income by forming
partnerships with companies that not only give us revenues, but which add
value to the Cube8 network of companies. We provide management consultancy to
Cyberbritain Holdings, and services to QMS and email marketing company
Maildrive. We are starting to advise other companies on the design and
creation of websites and on their online business development.
Moving forward
I said at the end of December that we planned to make no significant cash
investments in the next six to twelve months, and this remains the case. Our
goal is to concentrate on the continued development and growth of the
100%-owned BorisCommerce and Freeloader, while assisting other portfolio
companies where we can. I believe that we have the time to develop our
investments to maturity, and that this will deliver substantial value to our
shareholders.
Tim Dean-Smith, Chairman
6th August 2001.
CUBE 8.COM PLC
CONSOLIDATED PROFIT AND LOSS ACCOUNT
for the six months ended 30 June 2001
The Cube8 Group plc
Consolidated profit and loss account
FOR SIX MONTHS ENDED 30 JUNE 2001
6 mths 6 mths Year ended
ended ended 31 Dec
30 June 30 June 2000
2001 2000
(unaudited) (unaudited)(audited)
£'000 £'000 £'000
Turnover 867 324 1,560
Cost of sales (480) (243) 670
Gross profit 387 81 670
Administrative expenses (2,129) (1,164) (4,284)
Amounts written off investments - - (1,313)
Operating loss (1,742) (1,083) (4,927)
Profit on disposal of discontinued operation 17 - -
Share of operating loss of associated (160) (59) (205)
undertakings
Loss on ordinary activities before interest (1,885) (1,142) (5,132)
and tax
Interest receivable and similar income 68 147 298
Loss on ordinary activities before tax (1,817) (995) (4,834)
Tax - (49) (1)
Loss on ordinary activities after taxation (1,817) (1,044) (4,835)
Minority interest (186) 3 142
Retained loss (2,003) (1,041) (4,693)
Loss per ordinary share (0.6p) (0.3p) (1.7p)
Fully diluted loss per share (0.5p) (0.3p) (1.5p)
The Group has no recognised gains or losses other than the loss for the
period.
THE CUBE8 GROUP PLC
CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEET
as at 30 June 2001
30 June 30 June 31 Dec
2001 2000 2000
(unaudited) (unaudited) (audited)
£'000 £'000 £'000
Intangible fixed assets
Goodwill 605 - -
Tangible fixed assets
Computers, fixtures and fittings 200 139 343
Investments 2,054 1,375 1,664
Investments in associates (78) - 3
2,176 1,514 2,010
Current assets
Debtors 642 621 860
Cash at bank and in hand 1,824 7,009 3,996
2,466 7,630 4,856
Creditors: amounts falling due within one (769) (444) (1,206)
year
Net current assets 1,697 7,186 3,650
Total assets less current liabilities 4,478 8,700 5,660
Provisions for liabilities and charges - (117) (15)
Net assets 4,478 8,583 5,645
Capital and reserve
Called up share capital 4,180 3,510 3,530
Share premium account 9,371 9,317 9,371
Profit and loss account (9,051) (4,427) (7,048)
Equity shareholders' funds 4,500 8,580 5,853
Minority interest (22) 3 (208)
Total capital and reserves 4,478 8,583 5,645
Approved by the Board on 6th August 2001 and signed on its behalf by:
LUCY BEVERLEY
FINANCE DIRECTOR
The Cube8 Group plc
Consolidated cash flow statement
FOR SIX MONTHS ENDED 30 JUNE 2001
6 mths 6 mths Year ended
ended ended 31 Dec
30 June 30 June 2000
2001 2000
(unaudited) (unaudited)(audited)
£'000 £'000 £'000
Net cash outflow from operating activities (1,750) (1,201) (2,809)
Returns on investments and servicing of
finance
Interest received 68 128 300
Interest paid - - (2)
Acquisitions
Acquisition of and advances fixed asset (341) (900) (2,170)
investments
Acquisition of investments in associates - (700) (716)
Loans and advances to associates (79) (250) (284)
Purchases of tangible fixed assets (25) (121) (327)
Acquisition of subsidiaries (18) - (14)
Net overdraft acquired with subsidiaries - - (14)
Disposals
Cash balance of discontinued activity (28) - -
Sales of tangible fixed assets 1 - -
Financing
Issue of equity shares - 9,975 9,975
(Decrease)/Increase in cash in the period (2,172) 6,931 3,918
For further information, please visit the Cube8 website http://www.cube8.com
Or call Paul Munford, Communications Director
07970 673695
paulm@cube8.com