Interim Results

ADVFN PLC 30 March 2005 Embargoed for release until 7.00 a.m. Wednesday 30th March 2005 ADVFN PLC ('ADVFN' or 'the Company') Unaudited Interim Results for the Six Months Ended 31 December 2004 ADVFN, Europe's leading stocks and shares website, today announces maiden profits in its unaudited interim results for the six months ended 31 December 2004. Highlights: • A maiden profit of £2.36M (including exceptional profit) (2003: £147K loss) • Exceptional profit of £2.2M on sale of subsidiary • EBITDA up 112% to £638K (2003: £301K) • Operating profit for the first time of £113K (2003: £153K loss) • Earnings per share of 0.56p (including exceptional profit) (2003: 0.04p loss) • Record user numbers up 50% to 450,000 (2003: 300,000) Clement Chambers, Managing Director of ADVFN commented: 'We are pleased to announce our interim figures which show a very strong performance and are delighted to announce a maiden profit. ADVFN has never been in a stronger position and the figures reflect an ongoing momentum. ADVFN is well placed for the next phase of expansion and this process is well underway. We firmly believe we can reproduce ADVFN's UK success on a global scale. While this is a significant challenge which will not be achieved overnight, it is one that is well within our capabilities and one that offers exciting prospects for the business and our shareholders.' For further information, please contact: ADVFN Clement Chambers, Managing Director clemc@advfn.com Michael Hodges, Chairman mikeh@advfn.com Francesca De Franco, PR francescad@advfn.com 020 7070 0932 ADVFN PLC Chairman's Statement As you will have seen from the attached results we have had a good start to the year, which sees us announcing a maiden profit. . We have continued to expand the ADVFN service and have added more exchanges including the Singapore Stock Exchange, the first in a range of Asian markets coming to the site. This has come as a result of a reengineering of our infrastructure which now allows for 24 hour uninterrupted service, crucial for markets which operate in windows once used for downtime, like Singapore and other Asian markets. This is the first of the Asian exchanges to come online and opens the way for ADVFN to become a leading provider in these exciting markets. Parallel to these plans we are actively looking for acquisitions. We feel that now is a good moment to be more active in this area as we have built a strong platform of audience and technology that acquired companies would benefit from. Late last year, we raised £1.9 million after costs to allow us to accelerate our growth and expansion plans. ADVFN's success has allowed us to explore other areas of business and in November we reversed one of our subsidiaries All Ipo Limited into Akaei PLC and formed ALL IPO PLC of which we now own 48.3%, worth approximately £3 million in the market today. This transaction gave rise to the exceptional profit of £2.2 million included within the results. ALL IPO will make available, to private investors, shares of companies that are coming to the market and wishing to raise capital via the Internet. Retail investors will be able to participate on-line in IPOs and other fundraisings by applying for new issues of shares during an IPO via a fully on-line process. Investors will be able to view investment opportunities, apply for shares, pay and have their investments confirmed in an end-to-end electronic process. CupidBay (www.cupidbay.com) has continued to move ahead at a relentless pace, which has seen it very rapidly move up the web rankings. CupidBay is still in its early development stage but the site has now surpassed the 200,000 registered user level, with members from over 233 countries, and it continues to expand beyond our expectations. All of the ADVFN team have worked exceptionally hard over the past six months and continue to do so and I would like to thank them all for their time and effort. I would urge all shareholders to take a look at the site at: www.advfn.com, as we believe the tools and data available are invaluable to anyone with an interest in the financial markets. Michael J Hodges Chairman 29th March 2005 Managing Director's Review Operating Review We achieved operating profits for the first time of £113K, for the six month period to 31st December 2004, compared to a £153K loss for the same period last year and a net profit after tax of £2.36M (after including the exceptional profit of £2.2M) compared to £147K loss last year. Turnover was up 13% to £1.5M from £1.3M last year. We also recorded our first earnings per share of 0.56p per share (after including the exceptional profit) compared to 0.04p loss last year and our EBITDA figures displayed the strength in our performance with a 112% increase to £638K from £301K last year as can be seen from the following table:- EBITDA - Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, amortisation and exceptional items December December June 2004 2003 2004 £'000 £'000 £'000 Profit/ (loss) before tax - per accounts 2,356 (147) (86) Amortisation 130 130 260 Depreciation 400 324 690 Exceptional item - Profit on sale of subsidiary (2,239) 0 0 Net interest (9) (6) (12) EBITDA 638 301 852 We are pleased that despite aggressively investing in ADVFN's platform and brand we have managed to achieve a maiden profit and continued strong growth in EBITDA. In addition we have accelerated our programme of introducing new stock markets and other data to our site. Since our last results we have expanded our offerings to include market data from Poland, South Africa, Sweden, Canada, Switzerland and Singapore and also additional data from Archipelago and GTIS Forex. Our user base has continued to grow and at the end of December 2004 had grown 50% to over 450,000 users compared to 300,000 at December of the previous year. Current Trading Since the period end I am pleased to report that our user base has continued to expand further and our turnover has grown in line with improved market conditions for both subscription income and advertising revenue. We are actively involved in negotiations for the majority of remaining stock markets around the world and expect to bring most of these on-line over the next year. Progress in the US has been solid, with subscriptions growing and advertising income rising with traffic levels. With NASDAQ and NYSE Level 2 products now set to come on stream we are hopeful the US business will experience more accelerated growth. CupidBay continues to expand and in many ways is outstripping its development plans. Subscription income and advertising revenue continue to increase at levels well in excess of our original expectations. The coming year will see CupidBay continue to build its income by monetising its growing traffic. Prospects ADVFN is moving towards becoming a mature platform and as it does our focus is moving subtly towards a greater emphasis on marketing and sales. This does not mean we will be reducing our development outlay but we will be increasingly more focused in growing our revenues by leveraging the product potential of the ADVFN platform. We see no reason why ADVFN should not be as successful in other global markets as it is in the UK. We are addressing this vision in our normal way, by close interaction with our user base, innovation and close regard to costs. While ADVFN continues to enjoy its market leading status in the UK, we have no plans to sit back on our laurels. The global potential of ADVFN is the real opportunity and one we are committed to deliver. Clement Chambers Managing Director 29th March 2005 ADVFN PLC CONSOLIDATED PROFIT AND LOSS ACCOUNT for the six months ended 31 December 2004 Six months ended Six months ended Year ended 31 December 2004 31 December 2003 30 June 2004 Unaudited Unaudited Audited £'000 £'000 £'000 Turnover 1,503 1,334 2,951 Cost of sales (87) (60) (128) __________ __________ __________ Gross profit 1,416 1,274 2,823 Administrative expenses (1,303) (1,427) (2,969) __________ __________ __________ Operating profit / (loss) 113 (153) (146) Share of operating losses of associate (5) - - Profit on sale of investments - - 48 Exceptional item : profit on sale of subsidiary 2,239 - - __________ __________ __________ 2,347 (153) (98) Net interest 9 6 12 __________ __________ __________ Profit / (loss) on ordinary activities before taxation 2,356 (147) (86) Tax on profit / (loss) on ordinary activities - - 7 __________ __________ __________ Profit / (loss) on ordinary activities after taxation 2,356 (147) (79) __________ __________ __________ Earnings / (loss) per ordinary share 0.56p (0.04p) (0.019p) There were no recognised gains or losses other than the result for the financial period. ADVFN PLC Consolidated Balance Sheets at 31 December 2004 31 December 2004 31 December 2003 30 June 2004 Unaudited Unaudited Audited £'000 £'000 £'000 Fixed Assets Intangible assets 412 672 541 Tangible assets 2,195 1,140 1,412 Investments 2,234 - - 4,841 1,812 1,953 Current Assets Debtors 493 560 544 Cash at bank and in hand 2,100 430 530 2,593 990 1,074 Creditors: amounts falling due within one year (712) (527) (667) Net current assets 1,881 463 407 Total assets less current liabilities 6,722 2,275 2,360 Capital and Reserves Called up share capital 4,609 4,059 4,070 Share premium account 5,400 3,926 3,933 Profit and loss account (3,287) (5,710) (5,643) Shareholders' funds - equity 6,722 2,275 2,360 ADVFN PLC Consolidated Cash Flow Statements for the six months ended 31 December 2004 Six months Six months Year ended ended ended 31 December 31 December 30 June 2004 2003 2004 Unaudited Unaudited Audited £'000 £'000 £'000 Net cash inflow from operating activities 717 209 706 ----------- ----------- ----------- Returns on investment and servicing of finance Interest received 10 7 13 Interest paid (1) (1) (1) ----------- ----------- ----------- 9 6 12 ----------- ----------- ----------- Taxation - 204 311 Capital expenditure Payments to acquire tangible fixed assets (1,152) (610) (1,248) Proceeds from disposal of fixed asset investments - - 110 ----------- ----------- ----------- (1,152) (610) (1,138) ----------- ----------- ----------- Net cash outflow before financing (426) (191) (109) Financing Issue of ordinary share capital 2,117 - 18 Share issue costs (121) - - ----------- ----------- ----------- Net cash inflow from financing 1,996 - 18 ----------- ----------- ----------- Increase / (decrease) in cash 1,570 (191) (91) =========== =========== =========== ADVFN PLC Notes to the interim statement for the six months ended 31 December 2004 1. Earnings / (loss) per ordinary share Six months ended Six months ended Year ended 31 December 2004 31 December 2003 30 June 2004 Profit / (loss) for the period £'000 2,356 (147) (79) Weighted average number of shares '000 418,652 405,900 406,304 Earnings / (loss) per share P 0.56p (0.04p) (0.019p) 2. The directors do not recommend the payment of a dividend. 3. The financial information contained in this document does not constitute statutory accounts within the meaning of Section 240 of the Companies Act 1985. The financial information for the year ended 30 June 2004 is extracted from the audited financial statements for that period on which the auditors gave an unqualified report. A copy of those financial statements has been filed with the Registrar of Companies. 4. Copies of this statement are being posted to shareholders shortly and will be available from the company's registered office at 642a Lea Bridge Road, Leyton, London, E10 6AP. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange FSVEIAFIE

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