Xaar plc 2017 Full Year Results

RNS Number : 3517I

Xaar PLC

21 March 2018

 

Xaar plc

2017 FULL YEAR RESULTS

Xaar plc ("Xaar", "the Group" or "the Company"), the inkjet printing technology Group headquartered in Cambridge, UK, today announces its full year results for the 12 months ended 31 December 2017. 

Summary of results for the year to 31 December 2017

	Adjusted¹			IFRS
	2017	2016		2017	2016
Revenue	£100.1m	£96.2m		£100.1m	£96.2m
Gross Profit	£47.0m	£44.7m		£47.0m	£44.7m
Gross Margin %	47.0%	46.4%		47.0%	46.4%
Gross R&D investment²	£18.1m	£22.4m		£18.1m	£22.4m
Net R&D investment²	£12.3m	£12.2m		£12.3m	£12.2m
Operating Margin %	18%	20%		12%	18%
Profit before tax	£18.0m	£19.5m		£12.3m	£17.9m
Diluted Earnings per share	20.7p	21.2p		14.0p	18.9p
Net Cash³ at Period end	£44.7m	£49.3m		£44.7m	£49.3m
Dividend per share	10.2p	10.0p		10.2p	10.0p

¹ Excluding the impact of restructuring and acquisition expenses, share-based payment charges, exchange differences relating to overseas operations, and research and development expenditure credits, from the operating margin, profit before tax and diluted earnings per share figures. Operating margin % is calculated on operating profit, which is profit before tax less investment income

² Gross R&D investment relates to R&D expenditure before the capitalisation and amortisation of development costs. Net R&D investment relates to R&D expenditure after the capitalisation and amortisation of development costs, as recognised in the income statement

³ Net cash includes cash, cash equivalents and treasury deposits

Financial highlights

·     Total revenue grew by 4% in 2017 to £100.1 million (2016: £96.2 million)

·     JPY 2.98 billion (circa £20.0 million) royalty upgrade and replacement agreement signed with Seiko Instruments Inc. (SII), £10 million of which is recognised as revenue in 2017 with the first payment of JPY 1.5 billion received in December 2017 and the final JPY 1.48 billion received in Q1 2018.

·     Product revenues increased by £0.9 million with the continued slowdown of sales into ceramic tile decoration being offset by 23% growth in other sectors

·     Adjusted operating profit margin of 18% achieved for the year (2016: 20%) helped by £9.5m from the one-off SII royalty; underlying adjusted profit before tax in line with expectations set in November 2017

·     Gross research and development (R&D) investment (before net capitalisation/amortisation of development costs relating to the Thin Film and 3D programmes) was £18.1 million in 2017 (2016: £22.4 million)

·     Net cash of £44.7 million (2016: £49.3 million)

Strategic and operational highlights

·     In 2017 revenues from the seven new products launched in the last 24 months and the acquired Engineered Printing Solutions (EPS) business accounted for 80% of the total product revenue (2016: 48%)

·     Strong performance from the new 1201 Thin Film printhead, including a master distribution agreement signed for two years for 90,000 printheads

·     Good progress on 5601 Thin Film printhead. Design frozen; first development kits shipped to eight partners; four colour print capabilities showcased at InPrint 2017

·     Realised the first revenues from the Textiles market, largely from our 5501 bulk printhead product

·     Announcement of the Joint Development Agreement (JDA) with Xerox to develop the next generation of industrial bulk piezo printheads using the extensive resources and IP of both companies

·     Demonstrated to a small select group of partners and potential customers the first prototype Xaar 3D printer

·     Organisational restructure to strengthen our Go-To-Market capabilities

Doug Edwards, Chief Executive Officer, commented:

"We are making good progress in transforming Xaar to a more diversified and customer centric company.  Although we have had some challenges during the ramp up phase of multiple new products, the quality of our business continues to improve. I am particularly pleased that 80% of our product revenue is from new products launched in the last 24 months and acquired business which has helped product revenue excluding Ceramics grow by 23%. We regained share in the Graphic Arts market; our Thin Film technology and our 3D and Advanced Manufacturing sectors demonstrate exciting prospects for the future. 

I would like to thank all of our staff for their continued hard work and dedication as we work towards our 2020 vision."    

CONTACTS Xaar plc
Doug Edwards, Chief Executive Officer	Today: 020-7353-4200
Lily Liu, Chief Financial Officer	Thereafter: 01223-423663
	www.xaar.com
Tulchan Communications
James Macey White	020-7353-4200

Chairman's Report

2017 marked a year of progress for Xaar on many fronts.

The most significant development related to the diversification of our revenue streams which have been transformed from being over-reliant on one product for the Ceramics market to a portfolio of products addressing multiple market sectors. 80% of our product revenue was derived from products launched in the last two years or from the EPS acquisition. With new printheads launched into sectors such as Graphic Arts and Textiles (a new sector for Xaar) our Ceramics market dependence is reduced, accounting in 2017 for 34% of our revenue (2016: 44%).

We made further progress in our Thin Film technology. The product design of 5601, the result of significant R&D investment over the last eight years, was frozen and we successfully demonstrated four colour printing at the InPrint 2017 show. In addition, we shipped development kits to eight of our partners for analysis and early stage development work as they look to integrate the 5601 into their next generation printers. We have also seen great success with the 1201 in its first full year having re-established ourselves in the Graphic Arts market.

In December 2016 we announced additional investment in 3D Printing led by Professor Neil Hopkinson and during 2017 we strengthened our expertise in the area by adding a team in Copenhagen and opening our 3D centre of excellence in Nottingham. We have started to develop a 3D printer using High Speed Sintering (HSS) and successfully demonstrated this to a select group of potential customers and partners towards the end of the year. A relatively modest investment to date is generating an exciting business, potentially offering significant medium term returns to our shareholders.

In December 2017 we announced an agreement with Sieko Instruments Inc. (SII) to upgrade and replace their existing licence for JPY 2.98 billion (circa £20.0 million).

The Group achieved an adjusted operating profit margin of 18% and a very healthy cash balance of £45 million at 31 December 2017, with the final tranche of the SII royalty payment received in Q1 2018. This puts us in a good position to fund growth opportunities.

The Board remains focused in supporting the management team on delivering this challenging transformation, which now has a variety of products and end applications in the frame. Whilst we are disappointed with the slower than expected adoption of some of our new products we are confident that the transformation we are undergoing will lead us to become a more diversified and customer-centric organisation.

Important changes across the business continue and we appreciate the support of all staff in achieving our vision. Talent management is key to our strategy and we have implemented various leadership and continuous improvement training programmes. I would like to thank our employees for their hard work and dedication throughout 2017.

Changes to the Board since 1 January 2017, are set out below:

·     On 2 May 2017, Lily Liu joined Xaar as Chief Financial Officer and Company Secretary; following the departure of Alex Bevis on 29 March 2017. I am pleased to see Lily successfully transition into Xaar

·     On 8 August 2017, we announced that Ted Wiggans, our Chief Operations Officer, plans to retire from Xaar plc on 9 August 2018. I would like to thank Ted for his contribution to the business and the Board

Robin Williams

Chairman

Chief Executive Officer's Report

I am pleased to report that our transformation journey is well underway and that new products launched in the last two years and the acquired EPS business accounted for 80% of the Group's total product revenue in 2017.

We are at different stages of commercialising seven new printhead products across a diverse range of markets and applications. We signed a 90,000 unit master distribution agreement for our 1201 printhead of which we have delivered circa 13,000 units since June. The design of our 5601 printhead was frozen in July and development kits shipped to eight major Textiles, Commercial and Package Printing partners. The first product of our partnership with Xerox, the 5501, achieved revenues of £3 million largely in digital printers for textile printing. In other areas of the business we saw a significant increase in revenues from printheads being used in the manufacture of flat panel displays and we are now working with more than a dozen OEMs. 

Our Product Printing business EPS, acquired in July 2016, continues to perform to plan with growing revenues from their digital products. We strengthened our European distribution channel for EPS through a partnership with Comec Italia.

In March we opened our new 3D Centre in Nottingham and, along with the addition of a team based in Copenhagen, we continue to strengthen our position in 3D Printing. This was followed by our strategic partner announcements later in the year with Materialise and BASF. In November we demonstrated our first HSS prototype Xaar 3D printer to a number of potential partners.

In December we announced that we reached agreement with SII to upgrade and replace their existing licence agreement in exchange for JPY 2.98 billion (circa £20.0 million). We received the first tranche in December 2017 and the balance was settled in Q1 2018. This is significant as it de-risks our future royalty revenue stream.

We have made further progress in our transformation to a more customer-centric organisation, funding   additional Go-To-Market resources through efficiency savings elsewhere in the organisation. The slower than anticipated growth in sales of our new products has necessitated this strengthening of our Go-To-Market resources.

Despite the success with our new indirect channels for the 1003 bulk printhead in the replacement market our Ceramics business remains under competitive pressure. The ramp up of our new 2001+ bulk printhead was slower than planned. However, we are now starting to see improved traction helped by the adoption of our High Laydown (HL) Technology which was introduced in the middle of 2017.  

We continue to drive towards our 2020 vision with a more diverse and balanced portfolio of products and businesses. Progress made against each of the pillars that makes up our 2020 vision is described below.

Ceramics

Ceramics remained our largest market sector in 2017 and we continue to retain a strong market share with a large proportion of the printer install base still using Xaar printheads. Increased competition has seen our market share and revenues from this sector fall. With the Ceramics market having now reached maturity and nearly all lines converted to digital, the majority of new printer sales are machine replacements or upgrades.

In 2016 we launched two new products aimed largely at responding to the decline in our existing Ceramics products. The launch of the Xaar 1003 printhead has been a success in addressing the existing printer install base. It offers the ability to upgrade existing machines by replacing the Xaar 1002 printheads with one offering improved performance and longer maintenance-free production run times.

Sales of the 2001+ printhead, which was also launched in 2016, have gained traction slowly. Unlike the 1003 it is not backward compatible with existing machines and is therefore targeted solely at new machine installs. With the current level of market maturity and competition OEMs have been slow to invest in new designs and subsequently the 2001+ printhead has been slow to ramp up and unable to address the decline in Xaar's market share of new installs. However, we saw increased sales in both Q4 2017 and early 2018 as we better demonstrated the value proposition of the printhead and leveraged the new HL Technology made available mid-year.

At the Ceramics China show in June we announced our Premier Partner programme and the release of our advanced HL Technology. HL Technology is used to apply effects, such as glosses and lustres, as well as adhesives, once the tiles have been digitally decorated.

Product Printing & Packaging

In 2016 we selected two areas to focus on: Product Printing and 3D Printing; and we continue to make good progress in both.

I am delighted to report the on-going success of the EPS business acquired in July 2016 which has continued to grow, meeting our expectations. The ability of EPS to supply customised and bespoke printing solutions, which are both flexible and cost effective, to a wide variety of market sectors highlights the potential of digital inkjet in product printing. EPS has been able to outperform what is already a fast growing market and one that is still largely analogue. EPS remains predominantly based in North America, with a large growth potential. We plan on investing further in its North American operations and expanding its global reach. At InPrint 2017 EPS announced Comec Italia as its European distributor for its digital product portfolio.

During 2017 we made really exciting progress in 3D. At the end of 2016 we hired an experienced group of talented engineers working in Copenhagen, Denmark, to complement the skillset of the team already established in Nottingham. In March 2017 we announced a collaboration with Materialise to provide their market-leading 3D print software with Xaar's additive manufacturing development kit. We then officially opened the Xaar 3D centre in Nottingham, UK, an event attended by guests from a number of large international businesses including ABB, BAE Systems and Jaguar Land Rover. In November we announced a collaboration with BASF, a world-leading chemical company, to improve the Photopolymer Jetting process which will enable manufacturers to produce 3D parts with enhanced properties at lower costs. We then demonstrated, to a small select group of partners and potential customers, the first HSS prototype Xaar 3D printer designed in conjunction by the Copenhagen and Nottingham teams under the leadership of Professor Neil Hopkinson.

The 5501, our first printhead from our collaboration with Xerox, has contributed meaningful revenues since it was announced in June 2017. The bulk piezo printhead has been added to our portfolio of aqueous printheads, complementing the existing Thin Film printheads the 1201 and the 5601. The 5501 has enabled us to address more of the Textiles market and, in combination with our increased Go-To-Market capabilities, has allowed us to achieve significant revenues in the second half of 2017.

Within the Coding and Marking sector the 501 and 502 printheads have been adopted by major OEMs (Videojet, Engage, RN Mark, & Domino) and sales of these are expected to grow further in 2018. Despite the adoption of the 501 and 502 by these major OEMs the Coding and Marking sector has declined from its 2016 postion which was helped by one-off Last-Time-Buy arrangements for products manufactured in Sweden.

The Product Printing and Packaging pillar has grown 24% adjusting for the impact of the one-off Last-Time-Buy arrangements in 2016.

Thin Film

Good progress has been made in Thin Film in 2017 despite being slower than expected.

In the first half of the year we saw substantial sales of the 1201 printhead into the Graphic Arts sector and signed a master distribution agreement for the sale of 90,000 units over a two year period. Sales of the 1201 continued to grow in the second half of the year but were hampered by supply constraints that meant we were unable to fulfil all of the demand. These supply constraints have now been resolved, and with additional capacity coming on stream later in 2018 we expect to achieve further growth in sales of the 1201.

The development programme for our own Thin Film printhead technology passed several key milestones. Working with our manufacturing partner for the 5601 the design was frozen in July. Focus is now on ensuring supply chain reliability and improving our own manufacturing capability in order to ramp up production. At InPrint 2017 we showcased the 5601's four colour print capabilities and its exceptionally high resolution print quality garnering much interest. We have sold a number of 5601 development kits to our key OEM partners who now have, or will be, evaluating the printhead for their next generation of printers. Customer feedback has been very positive and we truly believe we have a printhead which will unlock the digital conversion of very large and established analogue industrial printing markets such as Textiles, Commercial Printing and Packaging.     

Acquisitions and Partnerships

As already noted, we are delighted by the success of our first acquisition as part of the 2020 vision, EPS. We continue to explore opportunities in the Product Printing space and target markets that support our vision.

The first products from the Ricoh and Xerox partnerships have yielded significant sales in 2017 and are expected to grow further in 2018. We strengthened our relationship with Xerox with the announcement of a Joint Development Agreement to develop the next generation of bulk piezo printheads. In 3D we have built partnerships with Materialise and BASF. EPS has partnered with Comec Italia to establish a European Distribution channel. We collaborated with Meteor Inkjet to produce a development kit and commercial drive electronics for the 1201 printhead that shortens OEMs' time-to-market and optimises the printhead performance.

Product and technology development

Building on the success of 2016 we have continued to deliver new products and technologies to the market. With seven new products launched in the last 24 months we have greatly diversified the portfolio we can offer to both new and existing customers.

Our development team has made significant progress on the 5601 allowing us to demonstrate the capabilities of the printhead and put it in the hands of our partners. The programme team is now focused on supporting full commercialisation of the product in 2018.

We continued our transformation from an internally focused product company to a market and customer lead business, redeploying resources from both operations and R&D to our Go-To-Market functions. As well as investing in our Sales and Marketing group we have established an Applications and Integration team to provide a new layer of technical support to help our customers shorten their development time and time to market. This strategy has already allowed us to achieve significant revenue from some of our new products.

People

As part of our transformation strategy we have invested significantly in our people in order to develop a customer focused mind-set and enhance leadership, change management and resilience skills.  During 2017 we launched a suite of Learning and Development programmes, collectively called XCEL. This includes a world class program called Inspired Leaders which was rolled out to managers across the Company and will be extended to the rest of the workforce in 2018. Inspired Leaders targets the most critical skills needed to transform a workforce's mindset and skill set. XCEL also includes a three year programme for High Potential Development called GATE which combines hands-on instruction from Senior Executives, a suite of self-assessment tools, group interaction and project work in the most business critical areas within Xaar. We have also implemented Continuous Improvement activities and Six Sigma training across the company to remove non-value add activities, streamline processes, and enhance our ability to partner with our customers effectively.

I would like to thank all of our staff for their efforts during 2017; we have had to overcome a number of challenges in the year but have taken some important steps forward in achieving our vision.

Summary and outlook

We are making good progress in transforming Xaar to a more diversified and customer centric Company. Challenges still remain in our legacy business as Ceramics matures and the speed of transition to alternative printhead technologies, such as Thin Film, gain traction. We are well positioned with a more balanced and diverse portfolio of growing new products and businesses. I am particularly pleased that 80% of our product revenues now come from the seven new printhead products and two new businesses we have added in the last 24 months and that excluding Ceramics they have grown 23% in the year. This trend is set to continue with investment in these exciting growth areas.

We remain focused on the long term opportunity, the conversion of well-established analogue manufacturing techniques to digital inkjet solutions and the delivery of our 2020 vision.

Doug Edwards

Chief Executive Officer

Chief Financial Officer's Report

Revenue

The Group achieved total revenue for the year of £100.1 million (2016: £96.2 million) representing a 4% increase. Whilst disappointed by the slower-than-anticipated revenue growth in the second half of the year, I am pleased to report a 23% product revenue growth excluding Ceramics.

In December 2017 we announced that we reached an agreement with SII to upgrade their current licence arrangement and replace its future royalty obligations in exchange for a total cash consideration of JPY 2.98 billion (circa £20.0 million). This agreement substantially de-risks our future royalty stream. The 2017 royalty revenue includes £10.0 million derived from the one-off SII licence upgrade and replacement agreement. Total Licensee Royalties in 2017 were £16.4 million (2016: £13.3 milllion).

Sales into Graphic Arts grew by 62% reaching £12.8 million for 2017 (2016: £7.9 million) and accounted for 13% of the total revenue for the year. The significant growth in this sector was driven by the success of the 1201 printhead by way of our master distribution agreement in China. In November 2017 we reported that there was a supply constraint that hampered delivery and restricted sales. These constraints have now been addressed and we expect further growth in 2018.

Our Industrial sector no longer includes revenues from the acquired EPS business as they have been reclassified to the Packaging and Product Printing sector. Industrial continues to be the largest sector for Xaar's technology, representing 43% of Group revenue in 2017 at £42.7 million, compared to 48% in 2016 (£45.9 million) on a like for like basis.

The largest revenue contributor in Industrial continues to be ceramic tile decoration. The Ceramics sector has now reached maturity with nearly all lines now converted to digital; revenue was £33.7 million in 2017 a decline from £42.3 million in 2016. The replacement market for printers and printheads has become key and intensity of competition in the sector has continued to drive down prices. The 1003 printhead has been successful and allowed the business to retain its prominent position in the replacement market for printheads. However, adoption of the 2001+ printhead has been slower than anticipated and the business has lost share in new printer installs. The Ceramics sector has fallen 20% since 2016 and now represents just over one third of total revenues.

There has been significant level of growth in nearly all other Industrial sub-sectors. We are excited about the 83% increase in the combined Advanced Manufacturing and 3D Printing sectors. This has been driven by a shift in manufacturing processes for flat panel displays and also our leading-edge technologies for 3D Printing. We are equally encouraged about our first revenues of £3.9 million from the Textiles sector, a new market for us, driven by new products within our portfolio.

The Packaging and Product Printing sector has declined slightly by 3% and at £28.3 million now represents 28% of the Group's total revenue (2016: £29.0 million, 30%). As mentioned above, we re-classified the EPS business into this sector. EPS grew by 109% thanks to a full-year contribution and continued growth in the business. Decline in sales into Coding and Marking of 53% was a combination of one-off Last-Time-Buy arrangements in 2016 for products previously manufactured in Sweden, and slower adoption of the next generation of products.

As a supplier of technology to OEM partners, our geographic sales split reflects where our OEMs are located, which is not necessarily the end-user location.

In 2017 Asia overtook Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) as the Company's largest sales region. Sales into Asia accounted for £50.9 million (2016: £36.4 million) of sales, representing 51% of the Group's revenue. Product sales i.e. excluding Licensee Royalties grew 49% largely due to the take up of new products going into Graphics Arts and Textiles. In Ceramics we have reversed the trend of decline in China with increased sales of both the 1003 and 2001+ printheads.

Sales into EMEA have fallen 28% with EMEA accounting for £29.8 million (2016: £41.7 million) of the Group's total sales. This reduction is mainly due to the result of falling sales to European Ceramics OEMs.

The Americas, with a total revenue of £19.4 million (2016: £18.1 million), grew 7%. Much of the growth in the Americas comes from the full year contribution of EPS; this growth was restricted by the decline in sales into Coding and Marking, driven by the one-off Last-Time-Buy arrangement in 2016.

Profitability

We reported an overall adjusted operating margin in 2017 of 18% (2016: 20%). This decline in profitability is due to a combination of factors. The removal of a one-off foreign exchange benefit in 2016 due to the Brexit referendum; a significant reduction of the Thin Film capitalisation from 2016 (£10.2 million) to 2017 (£4.9 million net capitalisation/amortisation) which was partially offset by a reduction in gross R&D spend; and increased royalties.

Gross profit margins increased from 46.4% in 2016 to 47.0% in 2017, helped by increased Licensee Royalties of £3.1 million. Gross profit margins excluding royalties fell from 37.8% to 36.6%. The reduction reflects increased price pressures in Ceramics, lower utilisation of the factory, higher costs on new products as sales volumes increased more slowly than anticipated, and the dilutive effect on the gross profit margin of the increased contribution of sales from products sourced from our partners.

Gross expenditure on R&D (before expense capitalisation/amortisation) decreased by 19% from £22.4 million in 2016 to £18.1 million in 2017 as a number of new products were delivered to market and resources are made available to support Go-To-Market activities. The first products from the Thin Film programme were made available in H2, and as required under International Financial Reporting Standards (specifically IAS 38) amortisation of the programme commenced. In addition to the capitalisation of the Thin Film programme, £0.9 million was capitalised relating to the development of a new 3D Printer technology platform.  This 3D Printer technology was successfully demonstrated to selected potential customers and partners in late 2017. The net R&D spend for 2017 increased from £12.2 million in 2016 to £12.3 million.

Sales, marketing and general administrative costs increased to £16.9 million (2016: £13.4 million) on an adjusted basis, due to foreign exchange trading losses (2017: £0.6 million loss, 2016: £1.9 million gain) and a full year of EPS' costs.

Adjusted profit before tax of £18.0 million was recorded for 2017 (2016: £19.5 million). Underlying adjusted profit before tax (excluding the benefit of one-off SII royalties and foreign exchange trading losses) was £9.0m, in line with revised expectations. Profit before tax as reported under IFRS was £12.3 million (2016: £17.9 million).

The tax charge on adjusted profit before tax was £1.9 million (2016: £2.9 million), representing an effective tax rate of 10% (2016:15%) which compares favourably to the blended UK corporation tax rate for 2017 of 19.25%. The effective rate is low as Xaar benefits from intellectual property and our continued investment in R&D.

The tax charge on IFRS profit before tax was £1.4 million (2016: £3.1 million) representing an effective tax rate of 11% (2016: 17%).

Effective from 1 January 2018 the US corporate income tax rate reduced from 35% to 21%. We do not expect this to significantly affect the Group's tax rate in the short term.

Adjusted profit after tax for 2017 was £16.1 million (2016: £16.6 million) and adjusted diluted earnings per share was 20.7 pence (2016: 21.2 pence).

Financial position

The Group maintains a strong financial position, which allows us to fund growth opportunities.

2017 was marked as a year for the business to start reducing its capital expenditure, as we move away from a vertically-integrated development and manufacturing model to working more closely with our strategic partners. We saw a reduction in our capital expenditure in the year of £5.3 million (or 49%); and a reduction in our capitalised development expenditure in the year of £3.8 million (or 36%).

We recorded £44.7 million of cash and treasury deposits at 31 December 2017, a decrease of £4.6 million compared to balances held at 31 December 2016, but an increase of £6.4 million from 30 June 2017. 

Operating cash inflow, being adjusted profit before tax after adding back depreciation and amortisation, was £27.3 million (2016: £28.1 million). The change in working capital during the year represented a net cash outflow of £12.9 million. Receivables increased £9.2 million reflecting the phasing of revenue in the year, the establishment of terms with new customers, and extended credit terms for customers driving the adoption of our new products. Inventory increased £5.1 million as we ramped up production of new products and as sales of these new products give rise to an increasingly complex supply chain. This working capital impact was however offset by a significant reduction in fixed capital expenditure for the Group. Total cash outflow relating to intangible and tangible assets was £12.0 million in the year, including £6.5 million of capitalised development expenditure. Dividends accounted for £7.7 million of all cash outflows.

Intangibles

Intangible assets were reported at £32.7 million at 31 December 2017 (£27.4 million at 31 December 2016). These assets are largely associated with the Thin Film development project which was capitalised over the last 4 years. Amortisation of this project commenced in August 2017 after the design was frozen and development kits were made available for sale. We will amortise this technology platform over a 20 year period.  In addition, £0.9 million was capitalised relating to the development of a new 3D Printer technology platform.

Treasury and currency management

As we continue to explore further acquisition opportunities, we carefully manage our cash and its corresponding liquidity profile.

With a more diversified business model as well as sourcing from strategic partners across the globe, the Group has increased exposure to foreign exchange risk, in particular to the US Dollar.  As much as possible, we match our billing currencies to our settlement currency to achieve a natural hedge. 

Dividend

As announced in 2014, the Company employs a progressive and sustainable dividend policy which takes into account the Group's future prospects, its underlying profitability and the future cash requirements of the business. The Board will recommend a final dividend of 6.8 pence for 2017 (2016: 6.7 pence) at the forthcoming Annual General Meeting (AGM), giving a total dividend for the year of 10.2 pence, a 2% increase over 2016 (10.0 pence). An interim dividend of 3.4 pence was paid during the year (2016: 3.3 pence). Subject to approval by shareholders at the AGM the final dividend will be paid on 29 June 2018, with an ex-dividend date of 31 May 2018, to shareholders on the register at close of business on 1 June 2018.

Lily Liu

Chief Financial Officer

CONSOLIDATED INCOME STATEMENT
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2017
		2017	2016
	Notes	£'000	£'000
Revenue		100,142	96,178
Cost of sales		(53,097)	(51,511)
Gross profit		47,045	44,667
Research and development expenses		(12,318)	(12,211)
Research and development expenditure credit		411	605
Sales and marketing expenses		(7,860)	(7,608)
General and administrative expenses		(12,627)	(6,844)
Restructuring and acquisition expenses		(2,553)	(1,205)
Operating profit		12,098	17,404
Investment income		192	449
Profit before tax		12,290	17,853
Tax		(1,358)	(3,052)
Profit for the year attributable to shareholders		10,932	14,801
Earnings per share
Basic	3	14.3p	19.4p
Diluted	3	14.0p	18.9p

Dividends paid in the year amounted to £7,728,000 (2016: £7,328,000).

All activities relate to continuing operations.

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF COMPREHENSIVE INCOME
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2017
	2017	2016
	£'000	£'000
Profit for the year attributable to shareholders	10,932	14,801
Items that may be reclassified subsequently to profit and loss:
Exchange differences on retranslation of net investment	(721)	708
Tax (charge)/credit on share option and restructuring gains	(20)	434
Other comprehensive (loss)/income for the year	(741)	1,142
Total comprehensive income for the year	10,191	15,943

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL POSITION
AS AT 31 DECEMBER 2017
	2017	2016
	£'000	£'000
Non-current assets
Goodwill	5,212	5,776
Other intangible assets	32,678	27,363
Property, plant and equipment	33,471	36,352
Receivables	858	1,516
	72,219	71,007
Current assets
Investments	-	1,000
Inventories	19,119	13,790
Trade and other receivables	30,303	20,340
Current tax asset	3,412	3,029
Treasury deposits	753	-
Cash and cash equivalents	43,944	49,321
	97,531	87,480
Total assets	169,750	158,487
Current liabilities
Trade and other payables	(16,583)	(14,314)
Other financial liabilities	(30)	(69)
Provisions	(1,911)	(774)
	(18,524)	(15,157)
Net current assets	79,007	72,323
Non-current liabilities
Deferred tax liabilities	(3,905)	(2,686)
Other financial liabilities	(137)	(188)
Total non-current liabilities	(4,042)	(2,874)
Total liabilities	(22,566)	(18,031)
Net assets	147,184	140,456
Equity
Share capital	7,833	7,778
Share premium	29,317	27,854
Own shares	(3,642)	(3,642)
Other reserves	14,638	11,891
Translation reserve	613	807
Retained earnings	98,425	95,768
Equity attributable to shareholders	147,184	140,456
Total equity	147,184	140,456

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF CHANGES IN EQUITY
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2017
	Share	Share	Own	Other	Translation	Retained
	Capital	Premium	Shares	Reserves	Reserve	Earnings	Total
	£'000	£'000	£'000	£'000	£'000	£'000	£'000
Balance at 1 January 2016	7,764	27,585	(3,796)	11,006	99	87,880	130,538
Profit for the year	-	-	-	-	-	14,801	14,801
Tax on items taken directly to equity	-	-	-	-	-	434	434
Exchange differences on retranslation of net investment	-	-	-	-	708	-	708
Total comprehensive income for the period	-	-	-	-	708	15,235	15,943
Issue of share capital	14	269	-	-	-	(2)	281
Dividends	-	-	-	-	-	(7,328)	(7,328)
Credit to equity for equity-settled share-based payments	-	-	154	885	-	(17)	1,022
Balance at 1 January 2017	7,778	27,854	(3,642)	11,891	807	95,768	140,456
Profit for the year	-	-	-	-	-	10,932	10,932
Tax on items taken directly to equity	-	-	-	-	-	(20)	(20)
Exchange differences on retranslation of net investment	-	-	-	-	(194)	(527)	(721)
Total comprehensive income for the period	-	-	-	-	(194)	10,385	10,191
Issue of share capital	55	1,463	-	-	-	-	1,518
Dividends	-	-	-	-	-	(7,728)	(7,728)
Credit to equity for equity-settled share-based payments	-	-	-	2,747	-	-	2,747
Balance at 31 December 2017	7,833	29,317	(3,642)	14,638	613	98,425	147,184

CONSOLIDATED CASH FLOW STATEMENT
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2017
		2017	2016
	Notes	£'000	£'000
Net cash from operating activities	4	12,473	13,935
Investing activities
Investment income		190	471
Acquisition of subsidiary, net of cash acquired		-	(7,556)
Redemption of investment		1,000	-
Purchases of property, plant and equipment		(5,517)	(10,831)
Proceeds on disposal of property, plant and equipment		-	16
Expenditure on software		(19)	(85)
Expenditure on capitalised product development		(6,451)	(10,222)
Net cash used in investing activities		(10,797)	(28,207)
Financing activities
Dividends paid		(7,728)	(7,328)
Treasury amounts (deposited)/withdrawn		(753)	27,098
Proceeds from the sale of ordinary share capital		-	137
Proceeds from issue of ordinary share capital		1,518	282
Net cash (used in)/from financing activities		(6,963)	20,189
Net (decrease)/increase in cash and cash equivalents		(5,287)	5,917
Effect of foreign exchange rate changes on cash balances		(90)	755
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of year		49,321	42,649
Cash and cash equivalents at end of year		43,944	49,321

Cash and cash equivalents (which are presented as a single class of asset on the face of the consolidated statement of financial position) comprise cash at bank and other short term highly liquid investments with a maturity of three months or less. The carrying amount of these assets is approximately equal to their fair value.

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL INFORMATION

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2017

1.             Basis of preparation

The financial information set out above does not constitute the Group's statutory accounts for the years ended 31 December 2016 and 2017, but is derived from those accounts. Statutory accounts for 2016 have been delivered to the Registrar of Companies and those for 2017 will be delivered following the Company's Annual General Meeting. The auditor has reported on those accounts; their reports were unqualified, did not draw attention to any matters by way of emphasis without qualifying their report and did not contain statements under s498 (2) or (3) Companies Act 2006.

While the financial information included in this preliminary announcement has been prepared in accordance with the recognition and measurement criteria of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRSs), this announcement does not itself contain sufficient information to comply with International Financial Reporting Standards. The Company expects to publish full financial statements that comply with IFRSs in April 2018.

2.             Reconciliation of adjusted financial measures

	2017	2016
	£'000	£'000
Profit before tax	12,290	17,853
Share-based payment charges	3,057	969
Exchange differences relating to intra-group transactions	523	60
Restructuring and acquisition expenses	2,553	1,205
Research and development expenditure credit	(411)	(605)
Adjusted profit before tax	18,012	19,482

Adjusted financial measures are alternative performance measures, which adjust for recurring and non-recurring items that management consider to have a distorting effect on the underlying results of the Group.

Share-based payment charges include the IFRS 2 charge for the period of £2,747,000 (2016: £885,000) and the charge relating to National Insurance on the outstanding potential share options of £310,000 (2016: £84,000). These costs were included in the general and administrative expenses in the Consolidated income statement.

Exchange differences relating to intra-group transactions represent exchange gains or losses recorded in the Consolidated income statement as a result of operating in the United States and Sweden. These costs were included in the general and administrative expenses in the Consolidated income statement.

Restructuring and acquisition expenses of £2,553,000 (2016: £1,205,000) relate to costs incurred and a provision made in relation to a reorganisation and earn-out expenses relating to the acquisition of EPS in 2016.

The research and development expenditure credit relates to the corporation tax relief receivable relating to qualifying research and development expenditure. This item is shown on the face of the Income statement.

	2017	2016
	Pence per share	Pence per share
Diluted earnings per share	14.0	18.9
Share-based payment charges	3.9	1.2
Exchange differences relating to intra-group transactions	0.7	0.2
Restructuring and acquisition expenses	3.3	1.5
Tax effect of adjusting items	(1.2)	(0.6)
Adjusted diluted earnings per share	20.7	21.2

3.             Earnings per ordinary share - basic and diluted

The calculation of basic and diluted earnings per share is based on the following data:

	2017	2016
	£'000	£'000
Earnings
Earnings for the purposes of basic earnings per share being net profit attributable to equity holders of the parent	10,932	14,801
Number of shares
Weighted average number of ordinary shares for the purposes of basic earnings per share	76,469,128	76,246,300
Effect of dilutive potential ordinary shares:
Share options	1,441,475	1,994,875
Weighted average number of ordinary shares for the purposes of diluted earnings per share	77,910,603	78,241,175
	2017	2016
	Pence per share	Pence per share
Basic	14.3	19.4
Diluted	14.0	18.9

The weighted average number of ordinary shares for the purposes of basic earnings per share is calculated after the exclusion of ordinary shares in Xaar plc held by Xaar Trustee Ltd, the Xaar plc ESOP trust and the matching shares held in trust for the Share Incentive Plan.

For 2017, there were share options granted over 382,843 shares that had not been included in the diluted earnings per share calculation because they were anti-dilutive at the period end (2016: 22,758 shares).

The performance conditions for LTIP awards over 657,355 shares (2016: 1,109,652 shares) have not been met in the current financial period or are not expected to be met in future financial periods, and therefore the dilutive effect of those shares have not been included in the diluted earnings per share calculation.

Adjusted earnings per share

This adjusted earnings per share information is considered to provide a fairer representation of the Group's trading performance year on year, as it removes items which, in the Board's opinion, do not reflect the underlying performance of the Group.

The calculation of adjusted EPS excluding share-based payment charges, exchange differences relating to intra-group transactions, and restructuring and acquisition expenses, is based on earnings of:

	2017	2016
	£'000	£'000
Earnings for the purposes of basic earnings per share being net profit attributable to equity holders of the parent	10,932	14,801
Share-based payment charges	3,057	969
Exchange differences relating to intra-group transactions	523	60
Restructuring and acquisition expenses	2,553	1,205
Tax effect of adjusting items	(929)	(447)
Adjusted profit after tax	16,136	16,588

The denominators used are the same as those detailed above for both basic and diluted earnings per share.

Adjusted earnings per share is earnings per share excluding the items adjusted for as detailed above:

	2017	2016
	Pence per Share	Pence Per Share
Adjusted basic	21.1	21.8
Adjusted diluted	20.7	21.2

 Adjusted EPS is considered to provide a fairer representation of the Group's trading performance year on year.

4.             Notes to the cash flow statement

	2017	2016
	£'000	£'000
Profit before tax	12,290	17,853
Adjustments for:
Share-based payments	3,057	969
Depreciation of property, plant and equipment	7,795	7,851
Amortisation of intangible assets	1,149	787
Research and development expenditure credit	(411)	(605)
Investment income	(186)	(449)
Foreign exchange losses/(gains)	32	(956)
Loss/(profit) on disposal of property, plant and equipment	351	(3)
Increase/(decrease) in provisions	1,133	(2,759)
Operating cash flows before movements in working capital	25,210	22,688
(Increase)/decrease in inventories	(5,071)	2,841
Increase in receivables	(9,226)	(8,910)
Increase/(decrease) in payables	1,103	(2,381)
Cash generated by operations	12,016	14,238
Income taxes received/(paid)	457	(303)
Net cash from operating activities	12,473	13,935

5.             Going concern

After making enquiries, the Directors have a reasonable expectation that the Group has adequate resources to continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future, based on the Group's forecasts and projections for the next twelve months, taking account of reasonably possible changes in trading performance. For this reason, they continue to adopt the going concern basis in preparing the financial information.

 

END

 

 

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