Final Results
Embargoed until 7am 15 June 2006
SOFTWARE RADIO TECHNOLOGY PLC
("SRT" or the "Company")
PRELIMINARY RESULTS
FOR THE 12 MONTHS ENDED 31 MARCH 2006
SRT, the AIM-quoted developer and licensor of digital wireless technology
reference designs that facilitate and fast-track the manufacture of
sophisticated digital communications and tracking/surveillance products within
the professional homeland security market, today announces its maiden
preliminary results for the year ended 31 March 2006. The Company was admitted
to AIM in November 2005.
HIGHLIGHTS
* Turnover increased 122% to £3.13m (2005: £1.41m)
* Gross profit up 126% to £1.56m (2005: £0.69m)
* Loss before tax (before exceptional item) slightly better than forecast at
£0.82m (2005: £1.02m)
* Successful flotation on AIM in November 2005, raising £4m (before expenses)
* Strong business development with TETRA licence contracts with HYT in China,
Unimo/Mercury in South Korea and EMMT in Taiwan
* The successful launch of SRT's low cost marine Automatic Identification
System (AIS) Class B device at the London Boat Show in January 2006
* A further placing of £4.25m to be completed on 20 June 2006, subject to
shareholder approval, specifically to provide funding to address the
significant market opportunity which the Directors believe is available in
the AIS Class B market.
Shamus Kelly, CEO of SRT commented, "The period since April 2005 has seen the
achievement of a number of significant milestones in the development of SRT.
The Company had a successful flotation on AIM and has received strong interest
from institutional investors, particularly in the recent placing. Operationally
we have progressed our existing and new TETRA development contracts, which are
all moving towards production, and therefore royalties for SRT, in this
financial year. The opportunity available to us in the AIS Class B market is
developing rapidly and we are seeing substantial interest in our product from
companies around the world."
For further information:
Software Radio Technology plc 01761 409500
Shamus Kelly shamus.kelly@softwarerad.com
Westhouse Securities LLP 0161 838 9140
Tim Feather tim.feather@westhousesecurities.com
Tavistock Communications 020 7920 3166
Christian Taylor-Wilkinson ctaylor-wilkinson@tavistock.co.uk
CHAIRMAN'S STATEMENT
Overview
SRT designs and develops complex wireless technology products, known as
"reference designs" which combine hardware and software to create a complete
core technology platform. The blue-print designs conform to international
standards and provide clients with a fully compliant design on the basis of
which a final product can be built.
SRT licenses its designs to major electronics companies and charges its
customers an initial fee for the technology transfer and design development
costs, then an ongoing royalty for its single source ASIC chip component,
without which the device would not work.
The Company has focused its energies on two distinct business opportunities -
TETRA and AIS. TETRA is the secure, digital professional mobile radio standard,
used predominantly by security forces, which is currently being rolled out in
over 75 countries. AIS is a marine identification system which allows sea-going
vessels to be recognised by radar systems. SRT has developed a low-cost Class B
system, suitable for smaller vessels, such as fishing boats and leisure craft.
Further information about each business division can be found below.
Financial Review
Revenues for the 12 months were £3.13m (2005: £1.41m), up 122% from 2005, due
primarily to the recognition of initial fees on new TETRA contracts signed
during the period, as well as development and exclusivity fees payable on
existing TETRA contracts. Gross profit increased 126% to £1.56m (2005: £0.69m)
in line with the growth in turnover.
The increase in administrative expenses reflected the growth in the scale of
activity as well as the addition of PLC costs from November onwards.
Loss before tax (and before exceptional item) of £0.82m (2005: £1.02m) was
slightly better than market forecasts published prior to the Company's
admission to AIM.
As at 31 March 2006, cash resources were £1.23m (2005: £1.07m). This will be
supplemented by the proceeds of the recent placing, further details of which
are set out below.
Placing
The Company has raised £4.25 million, subject to shareholder approval at an
extraordinary general meeting on 19 June 2006, through a placing of 9,042,552
ordinary shares at 47p per share. The funds will be used to take advantage of
the significant opportunity which has developed in the AIS Class B market.
Exceptional item
An exceptional, non-cash accounting charge to the profit and loss account of £
675,820 has been made in the year ended 31 March 2006 as a result of the
implementation of UITF 17 in respect of the grant of share options at the time
of admission to AIM.
Operations
TETRA (Professional Mobile Radio)
The key objectives within SRT's TETRA business have been, firstly, to provide
the necessary support to our existing customers in order for their handsets to
reach volume production as soon as possible and, secondly, to gain additional
customers.
SRT now has TETRA handset development contracts with five customers, all of
whom are anticipating volume end-user orders and volume production of handsets,
thereby generating royalties for SRT, during the Company's current financial
year ending 31 March 2007.
There are an estimated 32 million professional mobile radio (PMR) users
worldwide including TETRA, approximately 85% of which are still operating on
analogue systems. The overall PMR market is growing by approximately 5% per
annum, primarily driven by national security concerns and the resulting
government investment. However, the digital element of the PMR market, in which
SRT operates, is growing more rapidly, due to the migration from analogue to
digital systems. The Directors of SRT estimate that global demand will increase
from around 500,000 units in 2004 to four million users per annum by 2010.
SRT continues to work closely with its customers to advance the development of
their handsets. The delivery team has grown to 15 people, all of whom have the
specialist skills to support our customers. In addition, we have made further
investments to enhance the TETRA reference design, making it easier for our
customers to implement. This has included the provision of a framework
man-machine interface ("MMI") and additional support to enable the deployment
of the full encryption capability of the TETRA international standard.
A key development this year was the award of a contract for the supply of TETRA
handsets by a major agency of the Chinese Government to Tianjin Communication &
Broadcasting Group ("TCB"), one of SRT's customers. TCB has already placed an
order with SRT for a small quantity of ASIC chips to enable a pre-production
run of TETRA handsets. The Directors anticipate that TCB will commence volume
production within the next five months.
Shenzhen HYT Science & Technology Co. Ltd, another TETRA customer, has also
placed an order of ASIC chips for pre-production manufacturing.
The Company's contract with Hisense Co. Ltd has not progressed as quickly as
anticipated. SRT has agreed to devote further resources to support the
customer, thereby minimising the delay and ensuring the customer enters full
production by the end of the year.
AIS (Automatic Identification System for ships and boats)
The Directors have been particularly encouraged by the developments in the AIS
Class B market. The launch of SRT's low cost AIS Class B product in January
2006 has stimulated much greater market interest than anticipated and a range
of customer negotiations are underway, the largest of which involve national
AIS systems.
National AIS projects are currently being implemented in a number of countries,
including the USA, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, China and the UK and
other European Union countries. The Directors estimate that the potential
global market for AIS Class B is 26,950,000 vessels, of which the vast majority
are leisure vessels.
The marine business is now a separately defined business within SRT with a
specialist team seeking to maximise the emerging AIS opportunity.
SRT has adopted a dual strategy in addressing the AIS Class B market. As with
SRT's TETRA business, the Company offers customers a reference design model,
under which SRT's design is licensed to manufacturers in return for licence and
product development fees and ongoing royalties. In the case of AIS Class B,
however, SRT is also marketing the Class B design as a complete product, which
is manufactured on the Company's behalf by a major electronics company in
China.
Work has already commenced on the next generation of SRT's AIS Class B product,
which will be smaller and cheaper to manufacture, increasing SRT's net margin
per unit. We will also seek to develop an AtoN (aid to navigation) product,
which is suitable for use on buoys and other off-board navigational tools.
Outlook
The Directors believe that the Company is extremely well placed to benefit from
the current and forecast growth in investment in homeland security around the
world.
Our reference designs for both TETRA and AIS Class B product will be moving
into production phases and, supported by customer orders, product royalty
payments will result.
Having raised additional funds, we are now in a strong position to continue the
development of the existing products. Work is underway to reduce the costs of
both our TETRA and AIS designs substantially to our customers, ensuring that
our designs are cost competitive and provide a rapid route to market for our
customers.
Richard Moon
Chairman
15 June 2006
CONSOLIDATED PROFIT AND LOSS ACCOUNT
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2006
31 Mar 31 Mar 31 Mar 2006 31 Mar
2006 2006 Total 2005
Exceptional audited
Total
£ £
Turnover 3,125,270 - 3,125,270 1,408,786
Cost of sales (1,569,125) - (1,569,125) (714,504)
Gross profit 1,556,145 - 1,556,145 694,282
Administrative (2,389,906) (675,820) (3,065,726) (1,650,686)
expenses
Loss on ordinary (833,761) (675,820) (1,509,581) (956,404)
activities before
interest
Other interest 35,243 - 35,243 1,014
receivable and
similar income
Interest payable and (18,616) - (18,616) (62,079)
similar charges
Loss on ordinary (817,134) (675,820) (1,492,954) (1,017,469)
activities before
taxation
Tax on loss on 191,435 - 191,435 366,328
ordinary activities
Loss on ordinary (625,699) (675,820) (1,301,519) (651,141)
activities after
taxation
Loss per share (2.25p) (1.47p)
(basic and diluted)
The profit and loss account has been prepared on the basis that all operations
are continuing operations.
There are no other recognised gains or losses other than those passing through
the profit and loss account.
CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEET
AS AT 31 MARCH 2006
31 Mar 2006 31 Mar 2005
audited
£ £
Fixed Assets
Intangible assets 2,860,875 1,551,743
Tangible assets 324,199 162,503
3,185,074 1,714,246
Current Assets
Stocks 290,091 134,737
Debtors 1,903,977 635,866
Cash at bank and in hand 1,233,431 1,067,650
3,427,499 1,838,253
Creditors: amounts falling due (890,347) (789,583)
within
one year
Net current assets 2,537,152 1,048,670
Total assets less current 5,722,226 2,762,916
liabilities
Creditors: amounts falling due - (439,743)
after
more than one year, including
convertible debt
5,722,226 2,323,173
Capital and reserves
Called up share capital 69,045 12,475
Share premium account 3,659,873 -
Other reserves 5,724,512 5,416,203
Profit and loss account (3,731,204) (3,105,505)
5,722,226 2,323,173
CONSOLIDATED CASHFLOW STATEMENT
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2006
31 Mar 2006 31 Mar 2005
audited
£ £
Operating activities
Cash outflow from operating (1,878,024) (1,411,510)
activities
Returns on investment and servicing
of finance
Interest paid (18,616) (62,079)
Interest received 35,243 1,014
(1,861,397) (1,472,575)
Taxation 191,435 366,328
Capital expenditure
Payments to acquire intangible fixed (1,455,418) (813,403)
assets
Receipts from sales of tangible 198
fixed assets
Payments to acquire tangible fixed (293,850) (86,543)
assets
(3,419,230) (2,005,995)
Financing
Loans introduced 10,000 524,995
Issue cost of loans introduced - (85,252)
Issue of ordinary shares 4,093,497 2,544,856
Issue cost of ordinary shares issued (518,486) (36,537)
Increase in cash in the year 165,781 942,067
Net funds at 1 April 2005 1,067,650 125,583
Net funds at 31 March 2006 1,233,431 1,067,650
Reconciliation of operating loss to net cash outflow from operating activities
Operating loss (1,509,581) (956,404)
Exceptional item 675,820 -
Depreciation 132,154 129,045
Amortisation 146,286 87,044
Loss on sale of tangible fixed asset - 997
(Increase) in stocks (155,354) (130,047)
Increase)/ decrease in debtors (1,268,113) 46,858
Increase / (decrease) in creditors 100,764 (589,003)
Net cash outflow from operating (1,878,024) (1,411,510)
activities
Notes
1. The financial information set out above does not constitute the Group's
statutory accounts as defined in section 240 of the Companies Act 1985. The
comparative financial information is based on the statutory accounts of
Software Radio Technology (UK) Limited for the financial year ended 31
March 2005. Those accounts, which did not contain a statement under section
237 (2) or (3) of the Companies Act 1985 and upon which the auditors issued
an unqualified opinion, have been delivered to the Registrar of Companies.
The statutory accounts for the year ended 31 March 2006 will be finalised on
the basis of financial information presented by the directors in this
preliminary announcement and will be delivered to the Registrar of Companies
following the Company's annual general meeting.
2. The results have been prepared on the basis of the accounting policies
adopted in the statutory accounts for the year ended 31 March 2005, except
as detailed below. Accounting standards introduced since that date have no
impact on the accounting treatment adopted.
On 19 October 2005, the company acquired the entire issued share capital of
Software Radio Technology (UK) Limited by means of a share for share exchange.
This group reconstruction has been accounted for under merger accounting
principles. The substance of the transaction was not the acquisition of a
business but a group reconstruction under which a new holding company has been
established with all the former shareholders having the same proportionate
interest in the new holding company.
The adoption of merger accounting presents Software Radio Technology plc as if
it had always been the parent undertaking of the group. As Software Radio
Technology plc did not trade in the year ended 31 March 200 5, the comparative
results shown for the year ended 31 March 2005 and the financial position at
that year end are those presented previously as the audited consolidated
results of Software Radio Technology (UK) Limited except that the share premium
account and capital redemption reserve of Software Radio Technology (UK)
Limited have been classified as other reserves.
3. The Board is not recommending the payment of a final dividend.
4. Earnings per Ordinary Share - The calculation of basic earnings per
ordinary share is based on losses of £1,301,519 (2005 - loss £651,141) and
on 57,786,194 (2005 44,393,295) ordinary shares, being the weighted average
number of shares in issue during the year.
The warrants and share options issued and granted during the year are not
considered dilutive of earnings because they would increase the loss per share.
Similarly, share options granted post year-end are not considered dilutive of
earnings. As at 31 March 2005, there were no warrants or share options in
issue.
5. The 2006 Annual Report will be posted to shareholders on or around 30 June
2006.
-ends-