Final Results

Intec Telecom Systems PLC Tuesday 24 November 2009 Results for the year ended 30 September 2009 Intec Telecom Systems PLC (ITL.L/ITL LN, 'Intec', the 'Company' or the 'Group'), a leading supplier of billing and operations support systems to the global telecoms industry, announces audited results for the year ended 30 September 2009. 2009 2008 Growth 2008 Growth Reported Reported Reported Constant Constant Currency Currency Revenue (£m) 167.9 135.8 23.6% 158.7 5.8% Adjusted EBITDA (£m) 31.2 19.3 61.7% 26.9 16.0% Adjusted profit before 27.1 14.2 90.8% 21.5 26.0% tax (£m) Profit before tax (£m) 24.7 13.7 80.0% 20.9 18.2% Basic EPS (p) 12.5 3.4 267.6% 5.7 119.3% Adjusted diluted EPS (p) 7.5 3.5 114.2% 5.7 31.6% Cash (£m) 74.8 28.9 158.8% 32.5 130.2% For definition of constant currency, adjusted EBITDA, adjusted profit before tax and adjusted diluted EPS, please see notes to the highlights. Highlights (at constant currency) * Organic revenue growth of 5.8% * Improved profitability with adjusted EBITDA margins of 18.6% * Inaugural full year dividend of 1p per share proposed * Cash increased to £74.8m * Contracted revenue backlog at 30 September 2009 over 20 % higher than in 2008 * Continued focus on sustainable growth Commenting on today's results, Andrew Taylor, CEO, said: "Intec has built upon the very strong performance in 2008 and delivered an excellent performance in 2009 across all key metrics. We have made substantial progress in executing against each of our strategic priorities and have focused on excellence by continuing to build and develop a world class team. Notwithstanding the challenging economic and market conditions, we believe that with Intec's established and growing customer base, robust financial position and market relevance, we are well placed to continue to deliver against our strategic objectives during 2010 and beyond." John Hughes, Non-executive Chairman, said: "The last year has seen Intec transform itself as a business. In addition to our strong revenue and profit performance it was particularly pleasing to deliver excellent cash generation. This puts the Company on a solid footing for the future, as well as enabling us to invest in our internal infrastructure and systems to support further growth. The strength of the business has led the Board to propose the introduction of a dividend for the first time, with an inaugural proposed full year dividend of 1p per share." A presentation to analysts will be held at 9:30 on 24 November 2009 at the offices of Financial Dynamics, please contact intec@fd.com for further details. The presentation will be available on the website: www.intecbilling.com Enquiries: Intec Telecom Systems PLC www.intecbilling.com Andrew Taylor, Chief Executive Officer +44 (0)1483 745 800 Robin Taylor, Group Finance Director Financial Dynamics +44 (0)20 7831 3113 Giles Sanderson/Juliet Clarke/Haya Herbert-Burns About Intec Telecom Systems PLC Intec supplies solutions to over 70 of the world's top 100 telecoms carriers and is one of the world's fastest growing major BSS/OSS (business and operations support systems) vendors. Intec's 400 customers include AT&T, Cable & Wireless, The Carphone Warehouse (UK), China Unicom, Deutsche Telekom, Eircom (Ireland), France Telecom, Hutchison 3G, O2, Orange, T-Mobile, Telefonica, Vodafone, Virgin Mobile, Vivo and Verizon. Intec works closely with customers, many of whom have been with Intec since its inception, to provide the highest standards of performance, flexibility and robustness to help carriers service their customers effectively and profitably. Founded in 1997, Intec is listed on the London Stock Exchange (ITL.L) and has over 1,700 staff and 31 offices in 24 countries. For more information visit www.intecbilling.com NOTES TO THE HIGHLIGHTS Profit before tax is reconciled to adjusted profit before tax, adjusted EBITDA and adjusted profit after tax in the table below: 2008 2009 2008 Constant Reported Reported Currency £m £m £m Profit before tax 24.7 13.7 20.9 Exceptional items 1.6 (0.3) (0.2) Amortisation of acquired intangible assets 0.8 0.8 0.8 Adjusted profit before tax 1 27.1 14.2 21.5 Net finance income (0.6) (0.4) (0.5) Depreciation 3.0 3.1 3.4 Amortisation of other intangible assets 1.7 2.4 2.5 Adjusted EBITDA 2 31.2 19.3 26.9 Profit after tax 38.4 10.5 17.5 Amortisation of acquired intangible assets 0.8 0.8 0.8 After tax impact of exceptional 3 items (15.1) (0.3) (0.2) Adjusted profit after tax 4 24.1 11.0 17.3 Throughout this report: 1 Adjusted profit before tax is stated before exceptional items and amortisation of acquired intangible assets. 2 Adjusted EBITDA is earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, amortisation (including acquired intangibles but excluding amortisation of intangibles included in cost of sales) and exceptional items. 3 Exceptional items are detailed in note 3 to the financial information. 4 Adjusted profit after tax, which excludes the amortisation of acquired intangibles and the after tax effect of exceptional items from reported profit after tax, is used as the basis for calculating adjusted diluted earnings per share. 5 The constant currency comparatives have been calculated by translating the 2008 results at 2009 exchange rates. This disclosure has been provided as a guide to the underlying growth in the business before the effect of the change in exchange rates. This press release and preliminary financial information (press release) have only been prepared for the shareholders of the Company, as a whole, and their sole purpose and use is to assist shareholders to exercise their governance rights and are not audited annual financial statements. The Company and its directors and employees are not responsible for any other purpose or use, or to any other person, in relation to this press release. This press release contains indications of likely future developments and other forward looking statements that are subject to risk factors associated with, among other things, the economic and business circumstances occurring from time to time in the countries, sectors and business segments in which the Group operates. These and other factors could adversely affect the Group's results, strategy and prospects. Forward looking statements involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions. They relate to events and/or depend on circumstances in the future which could cause actual results and outcomes to differ. No obligation is assumed to update any forward looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER'S STATEMENT Intec has reported an excellent performance in 2009, delivering growth in revenues, profitability and cash. We have strengthened management across our organisation and have sharpened execution with a focus on sales, delivery and operational optimisation. We have improved our targeting of opportunities and our ability to both win and deliver new customer contracts. Cross-selling and up-selling to existing customers has been an important feature of this performance. Our broad spread of addressable markets has protected us somewhat from current global economic conditions and we have been successful in increasing our pipeline and contracted backlog following our increased focus on sales execution. Mature market operators have continued to upgrade and renew their legacy systems to improve efficiency and gain competitive advantage and in emerging markets growth has come from deregulation and an increase in wireless subscribers. Although we are pleased with our results, we believe there is still an opportunity to further enhance our financial performance. While continuing to monitor closely the economic pulse of our customers, we will make targeted investments to further improve our business. An important event for our employees, customers, partners and other stakeholders has been the re-launch of Intec both internally and externally through our "One Intec" vision. This vision for the future is underpinned by the launch of clearly defined corporate values, refreshed imagery and a new corporate profile for the Group. FINANCIAL RESULTS I am especially pleased not only by our growth in revenue, profit and cash but also by our ability to build a strong backlog of business during a period of challenging economic conditions. During the year, we restructured, consolidated and strengthened our teams in both the Americas and APAC regions, and delivered 2% and 14% growth at constant currency respectively. The comparison with the exceptional performance in 2008 masks the growth in the Americas, where business in the last quarter of 2009 for North America was particularly strong with several new strategic customer wins. APAC benefited from increased management focus as a primary growth area and in Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) we won business across the region enabling very good growth of 7%. Sales and delivery execution has been excellent and our investment in new systems has substantially improved our pipeline and forecast management, leading to a higher degree of forecast accuracy and predictability and a better level of sales performance across our business. The year has been characterised by high sales conversion levels and an increase in our 30 September 2009 contracted revenue backlog by over 20% when compared to the same time last year. Our global pipeline cover is significantly higher than it was at the start of 2009. CUSTOMER WINS AND PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT Intec's strong sales results in 2009 arise from a healthy mix of new customer wins and repeat business from our existing customer base leading to an increase in market share against our major competitors. A recent report from Analysys Mason[1], the telecoms industry analysts, now places Intec as the number three software provider by revenue of Billing Systems in the world. Overall, Intec signed twenty four new licence contracts in 2009 of which fifteen were with new name customers and nine with our existing customer base. Nine of the twenty four contracts are for multi-product sales, resulting in thirty eight new product installations in total. In addition, strong business growth among our existing licensed customers meant that thirty eight of them exceeded their licensed volume thresholds during the year triggering volume-based licence upgrades. In our managed services business, we signed a number of small renewals and three major outsourcing contracts: a five-year deal with a new customer and two multi-year renewals. Customer wins came across all product categories and a broad geographical constituency spanning mature and emerging markets, with customers ranging from new 'greenfield' operators to long-established PTTs. Of particular note was our success in winning eight new contracts for our Singl.eView retail billing solution, including two strategically important new customers outside of our traditional telecommunications service provider market: a global handset manufacturer and a global electronics retailer. In each case, Singl.eView will provide solutions for the commercialisation of content and online services, demonstrating the flexibility of the Singl.eView solution in addressing the business needs of the burgeoning Content and New Media markets. We have extended our market leadership in the settlement market with nineteen new installations of our Wholesale Business Management Solution (WBMS). As with Singl.eView, these solutions are fully adapted for the next-generation content market and we were particularly pleased to win the contract to provide a multi-party content settlement solution for a Tier 1 'app store'. We continue to win significant new business in our core service provider market where we have demonstrated the capability of Intec's product portfolio by delivering contracts to a range of companies providing mobile, fixed-line, broadband and cable services. In this market, we are seeing an increasing requirement for real-time solutions across mediation, rating, charging and settlement. Multiple wins in 2009 for our Singl.eView on-line charging solution and our active mediation solution, IntersessioN, indicate that Intec is well-positioned to meet these requirements. We have continued to improve the competitiveness of our core portfolio and over the last year Intec has brought to market a number of new releases, offering enhanced functionality across all three product families. As well as the move to real-time, other common themes include features to increase scalability, reduce cost of ownership and provide more flexible reporting. Particularly significant is our ability to support low-cost commodity hardware, which will significantly reduce up-front and ongoing costs for our customer base and open up new potential markets for Intec. STRATEGY Intec's vision is to become the most trusted supplier of Business Support Software (BSS) products and solutions in the world. Earlier this year, we conducted an in-depth market and company assessment, resulting in the creation of a clear strategy, vision and set of business priorities for the future. This exercise included an evaluation of the relevancy of Intec to our customers and an examination of ways to improve our overall competitiveness and create the ability to drive growth and profitability. We will continue to invest prudently in our leading software products and solutions and will focus that investment in high value and high growth markets. The BSS market offers significant growth potential and, despite the current economic conditions, continues to attract investment from telecoms service providers as they seek to adapt their business practices in search of new revenue streams and improved margins. In developed markets, investment is focused on support for next generation value-added services (also known as "Content Services"), whilst in emerging economies investment is driven by continued rapid subscriber growth, particularly in wireless. Intec's recent product investments have anticipated many of these key market trends, ensuring that Intec's portfolio remains as relevant as ever to the needs of our customer base. In 2010, we will increase our investment in products and skills to ensure that our products remain world-class and deliver competitive advantage to our customers. These investments will occur across our portfolio and include innovative solutions for emerging business models in the settlement market, support for new technologies that take Singl.eView to new price-performance levels and investments in our mediation suite that will enhance our real-time capabilities. In support of these product investments, we shall also focus on a number of complementary strategic initiatives across the business: * Customer Centricity: Intec takes pride in the depth and quality of its customer relationships. Our broad and varied customer base is crucial to our future growth. By remaining close to our customers, we can learn at first-hand the issues they are facing in their markets and make sure that our solutions continue to meet their needs. In early 2010, we shall be conducting a comprehensive customer survey which will be used to drive continued improvements in our service levels and strengthen further our customer engagements. * Partnering: We will establish strategic alliances and partnerships in order to increase our market reach and growth prospects, while augmenting our delivery and solutions capability and breadth. In 2009, we created a dedicated partner team and business plan that will ensure that partnerships are at the centre of our strategy moving forward. In line with this plan, we have recently signed two major new partnership agreements. A number of our new business wins were closed in collaboration with partners and we anticipate that this will be an important feature of our business development going forward. * People: We will strive to attract and retain the very best staff as we increase our shift to a performance-driven culture. During 2009, we worked with our employee base to develop a shared set of corporate values. These values, which are tightly aligned with our overall strategic goals, are now firmly embedded across all of our activities and play an important role in our internal performance management programme. A recent employee survey shows a very high level of employee engagement and has provided excellent feedback which we will use to drive further improvements across the business. * Business Optimisation: We will take steps to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of our operations, while continuing to simplify our business, making it easier to understand and do business with. We have continued to invest in our Professional Services centre in India (Bangalore) and have increased staffing at our Professional Services centres in Malaysia (Kuala Lumpur) and Brazil (Sao Paulo). This emphasis will continue throughout 2010 as we develop further our off- and near-shore capabilities, while also enhancing our customer-facing capabilities across all regions. We have strengthened our management team with senior hires to run our Customer Services, Managed Services and Global IT activities and identified a number of key initiatives that will enable us to further optimise our future performance. We will continue to develop our service delivery and product-support capabilities, ensuring that we strengthen our reputation for delivering high quality software products on time and to excellent levels of customer satisfaction. SUMMARY AND OUTLOOK Following on from a very strong performance in 2008, Intec has delivered an excellent performance in 2009. We have made substantial progress in executing against each of our strategic priorities and have focused on excellence by continuing to build and develop a world class team. We strengthened our regional business leadership, which, coupled with the implementation of global sales management, has enabled us to strengthen the quality of our new business pipeline. Our sales performance has been very strong with high win rates, which has enabled us to build a strong contracted revenue back-log for 2010. We have continued to focus on efficiency by managing our costs more effectively and improving our delivery execution, ensuring that contracts are delivered on time and to a high level of customer satisfaction. We have continued to expand our geographical footprint in emerging growth markets. Looking forward, Intec enters the 2010 financial year as a stronger and more mature business with an increased level of focus on executing our strategy and building a truly world class software company. We continue to invest in organic growth as well as considering earnings accretive acquisitions. We will continue to concentrate on delivering excellence across our business and through targeted investments in 2010 we will continue to optimise our operations, strengthen our global delivery model, improve our competitiveness and deliver long term sustainable revenue growth. This continued focus on enhancing our financial performance further will be balanced by our efforts to create a great place to work and a great company to work with and to deliver against our "One Intec" vision and values. We enter 2010 with a strong pipe-line of prospects and contracted revenue 20% higher than we entered 2009. Notwithstanding the challenging economic and market conditions, we believe that with Intec's established and growing customer base, robust financial position and market relevance we are well placed to continue to deliver against our strategic objectives during 2010 and beyond. ANDREW TAYLOR CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER 23 NOVEMBER 2009 CHIEF FINANCE OFFICER'S STATEMENT GROUP PERFORMANCE The financial results represent another year of growth in revenue, profit and cash. Table 1 (£m) 2009 2008 Growth 2008 Growth Reported Reported Reported Constant Constant Currency Currency Revenue 167.9 135.8 23.6% 158.7 5.8% Adjusted EBITDA 31.2 19.3 61.7% 26.9 16.0% Adjusted profit before 27.1 14.2 90.8% 21.5 26.0% tax Profit before tax 24.7 13.7 80.0% 20.9 18.2% Basic EPS (pence) 12.5p 3.4p 267.6% 5.7p 119.3% Adjusted diluted EPS 7.5p 3.5p 114.2% 5.7p 31.6% (pence) Cash 74.8 28.9 158.8% 32.5 130.2% In delivering these results, we have increased investment in sales and marketing, strengthened the team and made operational improvements to the business. We continue to improve profit margins and adjusted EBITDA (defined in Table 2) has increased to 18.6% of revenue (2008: 14.2%). Foreign exchange The Group operates across multiple geographies and therefore has substantial transactions in currencies other than UK Pounds Sterling (GBP). Approximately 80% of the Group's revenues and 40% of costs are Euro or US Dollar denominated. Over 10% of costs are incurred in Australian Dollars and between 5% and 10% are incurred in each of Canadian Dollars, Indian Rupees and South African Rand. In view of the very high proportion of the Group's revenues and costs denominated in currencies other than GBP, it is not considered practical to attempt to hedge translation exposure. Steps taken to mitigate identified transaction exposures include matching the currency of current assets and liabilities and the use of forward contracts and swaps. During 2009, revenue benefited from translation gains of £22.9m when compared to 2008. The estimated translation benefit in profit for the year attributable to equity shareholders amounted to £7.0m which equates to a benefit of 2.3p in adjusted EPS. Where applicable, subsequent commentary in this report is with reference to the 2008 constant currency comparatives (designated 2008 CC) which have been calculated by translating the 2008 results at 2009 exchange rates. Income statement The following table is a presentation of the income statement incorporating non-statutory measures that the Board considers to be appropriate key performance indicators together with a constant currency restatement of the 2008 results. Table 2 (£m) Note 2009 2008 CC Growth CC Revenue KPI 167.9 158.7 +5.8% Cost of sales A (76.0) (76.1) -0.1% Amortisation of intangibles in (0.9) (0.3) cost of sales Gross profit 91.0 82.3 +10.6% Operating expenses A (59.4) (56.3) +5.5% Foreign exchange (loss)/gain (0.4) 0.9 Adjusted EBITDA KPI 31.2 26.9 +16.0% Depreciation and amortisation B (4.7) (5.9) Net finance income 0.6 0.5 Adjusted profit before tax 27.1 21.5 +26.0% Tax on adjusted profit before tax (3.0) (3.4) Adjusted profit after tax 24.1 18.1 +33.1% Amortisation of acquired (0.8) (0.8) intangibles Exceptional items (1.6) 0.2 Profit before exceptional 21.7 17.5 +24.0% taxation Exceptional taxation 16.7 - Profit for the year 38.4 17.5 +119.4% Adjusted diluted EPS C, KPI 7.5p 5.7p +31.6% Gross margin 54.2% 51.9% +2.3 points Adjusted EBITDA as % of Revenue KPI 18.6% 17.0% +1.6 points Notes: KPI financial metrics considered to be key performance indicators A excluding depreciation, amortisation, foreign exchange differences and exceptional items B excluding acquired intangibles C calculated with reference to adjusted profit after tax Revenue Revenue by region Growth Table 3 (£m) 2009 2008 CC CC Americas 73.3 71.8 +2.0% Europe Middle East and Africa (EMEA) 64.4 60.3 +6.8% Asia Pacific (APAC) 30.2 26.6 +13.5% Total revenue 167.9 158.7 +5.8% Revenue for the Group increased to £167.9m (2008 CC: £158.7m) with growth in all three Regions. Americas continues to grow and the 16.5% constant currency growth in 2008 was followed by a further 2.0% growth to £73.3m revenue in 2009. The majority of the Group's non-Telco revenue in the year has been in this region which also accounts for most of the Group's Managed Services revenue. Revenue from the EMEA region grew by 6.8% with particularly strong growth in the Middle East and Africa where consumer demand for mobile and broadband connections continued to expand rapidly. Licence revenue, from both new clients and increases in existing clients' subscriber volumes, accounted for just under one third of this region's revenue. A strong second half resulted in APAC recording a 13.5% increase in revenue to £30.2m. Growth has been driven by new business in India which accounted for three of the region's five largest deals. Revenue by type Growth Table 4 (£m) 2009 2008 CC CC Licence 32.0 34.7 -7.8% Professional Services 76.5 62.3 +22.8% Managed Services 16.0 15.7 +1.9% Support and maintenance 39.9 39.1 +2.0% Hardware 3.5 6.9 -49.3% Total revenue 167.9 158.7 +5.8% There was strong growth in Professional Services revenue due to a higher number of transactions involving the sale of integrated solutions. Professional services accounted for 45.6% of the Group's revenue (2008 CC: 39.3%). Good growth in Licence revenue in EMEA and APAC was not quite sufficient to compensate for a decline in the Americas which had benefited from a very large non-Telco licence deal in 2008. As a result, the proportion of the Group's 2009 revenue derived from Licence sales reduced to 19.1% (2008 CC: 21.9%). Hardware revenue is considered incidental and the decline was expected as a major integrated project, secured in 2008, progressed to the next phase. Gross profit Gross profit, as set out in Table 2, increased by 10.6% to £91.0m reflecting the increase in revenue and improvement in gross margin rate to 54.2% (2008 CC: 51.9%). Estimated margin dilution of 2.2 points, arising from the change in revenue mix by category, was more than compensated for by efficiency improvements. These improvements have arisen primarily in our Professional Services business where: * utilisation (i.e. the proportion of time chargeable to customer projects) has been significantly higher than in the prior year; and * there has been an increase in the proportion of work carried out in lower cost locations, under our Global Delivery Model. Operating expenses We remain focused on optimising our cost base and, although we have achieved further efficiencies in a number of areas, we made investments in sales and marketing which resulted in our net operating expenses, before depreciation, amortisation, foreign exchange differences and exceptional items increasing by 5.5% to £59.4m. The commentary, which follows, discusses changes in net operating expenses before incentive plan (IP), share based payments (SBP), exceptional items and depreciation and amortisation. Table 5 (£m) 2009 2008 CC Net IP/SBP Total Net IP/SBP Total Development 15.1 1.3 16.4 15.2 0.9 16.1 Distribution 22.7 1.3 24.0 20.4 1.0 21.4 Administration 17.0 2.0 19.0 17.3 1.5 18.8 Operating expenses 54.8 4.6 59.4 52.9 3.4 56.3 Development costs were consistent with the prior year, although investment increased in the second half and is planned to increase further in 2010. Distribution costs increased to 13.5% of revenue (2008 CC: 12.9%) reflecting the creation of our partner programme and the full-year impact of the investment in new systems and people which was commenced in 2008. Administrative expenses showed a net decrease of £0.3m as the benefit of cost reduction initiatives was partially offset by an increase in vacant property provision and related costs of £0.5m and non-recurrence of the 2008 net reduction in provision for doubtful debts of £1.2m. Incentive plan costs increased to £6.0m (2008 CC: £4.3m), reflecting the record results, and share based payments rose to £2.0m (2008 CC: £1.5m) due to additional participants and a higher cost in the context of the recent share price performance. £4.6m (2008 CC: £3.4m) of these costs are included in Operating expenses (see Table 5) with the balance of £3.4m (2008 CC: £2.4m) recorded under Cost of sales. Depreciation and amortisation Depreciation and amortisation, excluding amortisation of acquired intangibles and amortisation included in cost of sales, as set out in Table 2, reduced to £4.7m (2008 CC: £5.9m) reflecting the lower levels of capital expenditure on computer equipment and software in recent years, following the significant investment in group systems in 2005. Capital expenditure has increased to £3.8m in 2009 (2008: £2.3m) and is planned to increase further in 2010. Exceptional items During the first half-year we incurred exceptional costs of £2.2m in a cost-reduction exercise. This was partly offset by gains totalling £0.6m which relate to deferred consideration received on the business sold to Volubill SA in 2008 and the recovery of previously written off balances relating to a former associate company. To aid comparability within the 2008 results presented in this report, we have reclassified the one-time costs of £1.1m for the closure of the Mechanicsburg facility, which were previously included in cost of sales, to exceptional items (see note 3 to the accounts). Taxation The overall tax credit for the year is £13.7m (2008: charge £3.3m). This represents a current tax charge of £4.8m (2008: £1.9m) and a deferred tax credit of £18.5m (2008: charge £1.4m). £16.7m (2008: £nil) of the total tax credit has been included in exceptional items. The pre-exceptional tax charge is thus £3.0m or 11.5% of pre-exceptional profit before tax (2008: £3.3m and 26.6%). The current tax charge comprises £2.2m (2008: £1.0m) of taxes on local profits in a number of group companies across the world and £2.6m (2008: £0.8m) of withholding taxes for which full credit relief is not available. There were no significant prior year charges (2008: £0.1m). The deferred tax credit includes first time recognition of tax losses in the UK, Ireland and the USA and also the future benefit of annual goodwill allowances available to the US operations reflecting the continuing forecast profitability of the group entities in those countries. These amounts have been included in exceptional items and total £16.7m (2008: £nil). The remaining deferred tax credit of £1.8m (2008: charge £1.4m) relates to other temporary differences and, for the first time, share options. Intec has operations in numerous countries and with a worldwide customer base, there is a natural level of complexity in our tax affairs meaning that future levels of tax will be dependent on a number of factors. Following the recognition of the deferred tax assets in respect of tax losses, other than those in the US, the benefit to the tax charge in the accounts will be less in future years. EPS Basic earnings per share increased to 12.5p (2008: 3.4p) and is materially impacted by the deferred tax credit as discussed in the taxation section above. Adjusted diluted earnings per share, which the directors consider provides a useful measure of underlying trading, increased by 114.2% to 7.5p (2008: 3.5p and 2008 CC: 5.7p). The weighted average number of shares used to calculate basic earnings per share is 306.1m (2008: 305.6m) and for the fully diluted equivalent 320.5m (2008: 314.1m). The significant increase in the latter has arisen due to this year's rise in the share price increasing the number of dilutive share options included in the calculation. GROUP FINANCIAL POSITION Balance sheet review The Group's balance sheet has strengthened considerably during the year and net assets have increased to £204.7m. Table 6 is a presentation of net assets, with 2008 balances restated to 2009 exchange rates, to aid discussion of material changes. 2009 2008 CC Change 2008 Table 6 (£m) CC Property plant and equipment 6.5 6.1 +6.6% 5.5 Goodwill 93.0 93.0 - 93.0 Other intangible assets 5.7 8.1 -29.6% 7.4 Deferred tax asset 21.8 2.1 938.1% 1.8 Trade and other receivables 63.9 75.4 -15.3% 66.5 Cash and cash equivalents 74.8 32.5 +130.2% 28.9 Trade and other payables (53.0) (47.0) +12.8% (42.1) Other liabilities (8.0) (9.0) -11.1% (8.1) Net assets 204.7 161.2 +27.0% 152.9 Other intangible assets Amortisation in the year exceeded additions leading to a decrease of 29.6% in the carrying value of other intangible assets, principally purchased software, capitalised development and project costs, to £5.7m. Deferred tax asset The Group's improved trading performance has resulted in the recognition of a number of assets including tax losses in the UK and Ireland and the future benefit of annual goodwill allowances available in the USA (as further described under the Taxation heading above). This has led to a near tenfold increase in the deferred tax asset on the balance sheet to £21.8m. Cash and cash equivalents Cash generation has been very strong and we have ended the year with record cash balances of £74.8m (2008 CC: £32.5m), an increase of £42.3m. Key components of the increase were adjusted EBITDA of £31.2m and a net reduction in working capital of £14.4m, part of which is expected to reverse in the first quarter of 2010 as a number of annual payments are made. Trade and other receivables Trade and other receivables decreased to £63.9m (2008 CC: £75.4m), an improvement of £11.5m. Trade debtors, where the average credit period based on invoice date has reduced from 64 days to 57 days, decreased by £11.4m and various other receivables decreased by £1.7m. These were partially offset by an increase of £1.6m in accrued income to £19.0m, reflecting the usual effect of billing on projects accounted for under the percentage of completion method, and contractual negotiations concluded in September but invoiced during October. Trade and other payables Trade and other payables increased to £53.0m (2008 CC: £47.0m), an increase of £6.0m. Accruals accounted for £3.6m of the increase and deferred revenue, representing amounts invoiced to customers but not yet recognised as revenue, increased by £1.6m to a total of £25.8m. Other liabilities This is an amalgamation of borrowings, provisions and other liability headings, each of which has moved by £0.5m or less. Shareholders' equity There have been material changes in the components of shareholders' equity during 2009 as summarised in the table below. Table 7 (£m) 2009 2008 Change Share capital 3.1 3.0 0.1 Share premium account 0.1 162.0 (161.9) Other reserves 135.4 0.2 135.2 Translation reserve 7.9 (2.2) 10.1 Retained earnings 58.2 (10.1) 69.1 Shareholders' equity 205.7 152.9 53.7 Share premium account and Other reserves On 29 April 2009, the High Court of Justice consented to the cancellation of the Company's share premium account of £162.0m approved by shareholders at a general meeting on 14 April 2009. The resulting capital reconstruction led to an increase of £135.2m in other reserves and elimination of the deficit in retained earnings. Shares issued since April 2009 in satisfaction of option exercises has resulted in an increase of £0.1m in the share premium account. Translation reserve The functional currencies of many Group companies have strengthened since 30 September 2008 resulting in a gain in the year of £10.1m on the translation of non-UK net assets. Retained earnings The profit for the year accounts for £38.4m of the £68.3m increase in the Group's retained earnings. A further £26.9m arose on the April 2009 cancellation of the share premium account, as described above, with a further £3.1m arising on the recognition of share-based payments and related deferred tax. Going Concern The Group has a strong balance sheet and an established customer base across different geographic areas. Consequently, the Board believes that the Group is well placed to manage business risks successfully despite the current uncertain economic outlook. The Board therefore has a reasonable expectation that the Group has adequate resources to continue to operate for the foreseeable future and that it is appropriate to continue to adopt the going concern basis in the financial information. Dividend The capital reconstruction in April 2009 extinguished the deficit in the distributable reserves of Intec Telecom Systems PLC which had arisen from the previous impairment in the carrying value of certain investments. Distributable profits earned by the Company from April 2009 to 30 September 2009 were in excess of £4.0m and the Company is in a position to add substantially to this balance throughout the coming year. In view of this and taking into account the Group's performance and strong balance sheet, the Board are pleased to propose an inaugural full-year dividend of 1.0p per ordinary share amounting to £3.1m which, subject to approval at the Annual General Meeting on 4 February 2010, will be paid on 18 February 2010 to shareholders on the register at 15 January 2010. ROBIN TAYLOR CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER 23 NOVEMBER 2009 CONSOLIDATED INCOME STATEMENT Year ended 30 September 2009 Before Exceptional Before Exceptional exceptional items exceptional items items (Note 3) Total items (Note 3) Total 2009 2009 2009 2008 2008 2008 Note £000 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000 Revenue Continuing 2 operations 167,891 - 167,891 135,786 - 135,786 Cost of sales (76,897) (889) (77,786) (66,140) (1,098) (67,238) Gross profit 90,994 (889) 90,105 69,646 (1,098) 68,548 Distribution costs (23,986) (152) (24,138) (18,819) - (18,819) Development expenditure (16,437) (416) (16,853) (14,880) - (14,880) Depreciation and amortisation (5,513) - (5,513) (6,237) - (6,237) Other administrative expenses (19,413) (719) (20,132) (16,643) - (16,643) Total administrative expenses (24,926) (719) (25,645) (22,880) - (22,880) Operating profit/ (loss) 25,645 (2,176) 23,469 13,067 (1,098) 11,969 Other gains and losses - 596 596 - 1,350 1,350 Finance income 710 - 710 752 - 752 Finance costs (82) - (82) (321) - (321) Profit/ (loss) before tax 26,273 (1,580) 24,693 13,498 252 13,750 Income tax 4 credit/ (expense) (3,026) 16,701 13,675 (3,298) - (3,298) Profit for the year attributable to equity shareholders 23,247 15,121 38,368 10,200 252 10,452 2009 2008 Earnings per share Pence Pence - basic 5 12.53 3.42 - diluted 5 11.97 3.32 All the results above relate to continuing operations. CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEET 30 September 2009 2009 2008 Note £000 £000 Non-current assets Goodwill 93,022 93,022 Other intangible assets 5,723 7,443 Property, plant and equipment 6,543 5,455 Trade and other receivables 6 2,659 2,258 Deferred tax asset 21,767 1,791 129,714 109,969 Current assets Trade and other receivables 6 61,205 64,192 Cash and cash equivalents 74,832 28,927 136,037 93,119 Total assets 265,751 203,088 Equity and liabilities Equity attributable to equity holders of the parent Share capital 9 3,077 3,060 Share premium account 9 129 162,044 Other reserves 9 135,362 249 Own shares 9 (95) (95) Translation reserve 9 7,938 (2,187) Retained earnings 9 58,243 (10,192) Total equity 204,654 152,879 Non-current liabilities Other payables 7 3,048 2,948 Deferred tax liabilities 50 601 Borrowings 336 194 Provisions 8 2,311 2,592 5,745 6,335 Current liabilities Trade and other payables 7 53,050 42,086 Current tax liabilities 996 770 Borrowings 220 396 Provisions 8 1,086 622 55,352 43,874 Total liabilities 61,097 50,209 Total equity and liabilities 265,751 203,088 CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED CASH FLOW STATEMENT Year ended 30 September 2009 2009 2008 Note £000 £000 Operating profit 23,469 11,969 Adjustments for: Depreciation of property, plant and equipment 3,049 3,076 Amortisation of intangible assets 2,201 2,741 Amortisation of capitalised development expenditure 263 420 Amortisation of capitalised project costs 928 296 Loss on disposal of property, plant and equipment 38 28 Share-based payment expense 2,043 1,458 Increase in provisions 92 40 Operating cash flows before movements in working capital 32,083 20,028 Decrease/ (increase) in receivables 9,994 (11,171) Increase in payables 4,356 3,511 Cash generated by operations 46,433 12,368 Income taxes paid (net) (2,935) (2,462) Net cash from operating activities 43,498 9,906 Investing activities Interest received 710 751 Purchase of property, plant, and equipment (3,210) (1,783) Purchase of intangible assets (139) (259) Expenditure on capitalised project costs (640) (2,842) Proceeds on disposal of property, plant and equipment 21 136 Net proceeds on disposal of business 3 591 538 Net cash used in investing activities (2,667) (3,459) Financing activities Interest paid (3) (34) Interest element of finance lease rental payments (27) (98) Proceeds on issue of shares 147 57 Repayments of obligations under finance leases (362) (427) Net cash used in financing activities (245) (502) Net increase in cash and cash equivalents 40,586 5,945 Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of year 28,927 22,580 Effect of foreign exchange rates 5,319 402 Cash and cash equivalents at end of year 74,832 28,927 NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL INFORMATION Year ended 30 September 2009 1. BASIS OF PREPARATION The financial information set out in this preliminary announcement does not constitute the company's financial statements for the years ended 30 September 2009 or 2008 but is derived from those financial statements. The financial statements for 2008 have been delivered to the Registrar of Companies and those for 2009 will be delivered following the company's annual general meeting. The auditors have reported on those accounts; their report was unqualified and did not contain statements under Section 498(2) or 498(3) of the Companies Act 2006. Whilst the financial information included in this preliminary announcement had been prepared in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) as adopted for use in the European Union, this announcement does not in itself contain sufficient information to comply with IFRS. The preliminary announcement was approved by the Board of Directors on 23 November 2009. The financial information has been prepared on a basis consistent with the accounting policies set out in the 2008 annual accounts, with the exceptions disclosed below: The 2008 results have been expanded to disclose separately the one-time charge for the closure of the Mechanicsburg facility in order to provide additional clarity of the underlying results for the comparative period; and From 1 October 2008, two of the Group's key geographical regions comprising North America and Caribbean and Latin America (CALA) have been combined for operational reasons. As a consequence the segmental analysis disclosed in Note 2 now comprises three key geographical segments comprising Americas, Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA), and Asia-Pacific (APAC) and product operations. The geographical segments are based on customer location. Product operations comprise our development, product management and offshore operations. The 2008 numbers have been restated to provide comparable information. 2. SEGMENTAL INFORMATION The Directors consider that the Group operates in one continuing class of business, namely that of the development, sale, implementation and support of business support software solutions. Inter-segmental revenue and expenses comprise amounts charged to other regions for resources used on projects outside their home region. The revenue and expenses are determined on an arms'-length basis. Segment results include items directly attributable to a segment as well as those that can be allocated on a reasonable basis. Unallocated items comprise corporate assets, liabilities and expenses. Segment information under the primary reporting format is as disclosed in the table below: Product Americas EMEA APAC operations Total 2009 2009 2009 2009 2009 Continuing operations £000 £000 £000 £000 £000 Gross revenue 74,717 64,371 30,182 14,914 184,184 Inter-segment revenue (1,379) - - (14,914) (16,293) Revenue 73,338 64,371 30,182 - 167,891 Gross expenses 56,214 40,024 19,587 30,531 146,356 Inter-segment expenses (3,948) (6,318) (6,027) - (16,293) Expenses 52,266 33,706 13,560 30,531 130,063 Segment profit /(loss) before exceptional items 21,072 30,665 16,622 (30,531) 37,828 Exceptional costs (1,113) (213) (196) (172) (1,694) Segment profit/ (loss) 19,959 30,452 16,426 (30,703) 36,134 Unallocated costs: - corporate costs (11,740) - corporate costs - exceptional (482) - foreign exchange loss (443) Operating profit 23,469 Other gains and losses 596 Finance income 710 Finance costs (82) Profit before tax 24,693 Taxation 13,675 Profit after tax 38,368 2. Revenue and segmental analysis (continued) Product Americas EMEA APAC operations Total 2008 2008 2008 2008 2008 Continuing operations £000 £000 £000 £000 £000 Gross revenue 60,399 52,712 24,334 9,967 147,412 Inter-segment revenue (1,659) - - (9,967) (11,626) Revenue 58,740 52,712 24,334 - 135,786 Gross expenses 45,250 35,990 16,560 27,047 124,847 Inter-segment expenses (1,676) (6,333) (3,617) - (11,626) Expenses 43,574 29,657 12,943 27,047 113,221 Segment profit /(loss) before exceptional items 15,166 23,055 11,391 (27,047) 22,565 Exceptional costs (1,098) - - - (1,098) Segment profit/ (loss) 14,068 23,055 11,391 (27,047) 21,467 Unallocated costs: - corporate costs (10,303) - foreign exchange gain 805 Operating profit 11,969 Other gains and losses 1,350 Finance income 752 Finance costs (321) Profit before tax 13,750 Taxation (3,298) Profit after tax 10,452 Revenue by category Additional disclosures on revenue by category is set out below. 2009 2008 £000 £000 Licence 32,009 30,377 Professional services income 76,472 52,988 Managed services 16,083 12,299 Support and maintenance fees 39,857 34,598 Hardware 3,470 5,524 167,891 135,786 3. EXCEPTIONAL ITEMS Exceptional items comprise exceptional 2009 2008 costs and gains as set out below: £000 £000 Deferred tax credit a) 16,701 - Restructuring costs b) (2,176) (1,098) Disposed business c) 322 1,182 Other gains d) 274 168 15,121 252 a) The deferred tax credit arises due to first time recognition of deferred tax assets on tax losses in the US, Ireland and the UK. b) Restructuring costs in 2009 comprise termination pay on staff redundancies across the group amounting to £2.1 million and £0.1 million for closure costs of the Dallas facility. The restructuring costs attributable to the closure of the Mechanicsburg facility were £1.1 million for the year ended 30 September 2008. To aid comparability, the one-time costs of £1.1m for the closure of the Mechanicsburg facility, which were previously included in cost of sales within the 2008 Annual Report, have been reclassified as exceptional. c) On 19 November 2007, an asset sale and purchase agreement was announced with Volubill SA to sell certain assets and liabilities of Intec Denmark for an initial consideration of £1 million in cash plus additional consideration based on support and maintenance revenues and new licence sales recognised by Volubill for a period of two years from completion. During the year the estimated additional consideration increased from £451,000 to £916,000. Accordingly an updated table is set out below. £000 Net liabilities disposed (418) Initial consideration 1,000 Estimated additional consideration 916 Working capital adjustments (572) Net consideration 1,344 Profit on disposal before adjustments 1,762 Costs attributable to the disposal (217) Translation differences (41) Profit on disposal 1,504 Split as: Recognised in the year ended 30 September 2008 1,182 Recognised in the year ended 30 September 2009 322 1,504 Net cash flows in respect of the disposed business are as follows: Initial consideration 1,000 Additional consideration received 701 Working capital payments (572) Net proceeds on disposal of business 1,129 Net proceeds in the year ended 30 September 2009 591 Net proceeds in the year ended 30 September 2008 538 1,129 d) Other gains represent recovery of amounts in relation to an investment in Poland previously written off in 2002. 4. INCOME TAX EXPENSE The charge for the year comprises 2009 2008 £000 £000 Current taxation: UK Corporation tax at 28% (2008: 29%) 1,165 1,479 Utilisation of previously unrecognised UK tax losses (1,165) (1,479) Foreign tax 6,072 1,841 Utilisation of previously unrecognised foreign tax losses (1,286) (41) 4,786 1,800 Adjustments in respect of prior years: UK Corporation tax - (81) Foreign tax 6 164 6 83 Total current tax expense 4,792 1,883 Deferred taxation: UK (3,765) - Foreign (14,702) 1,415 Total deferred taxation (18,467) 1,415 Total income tax (credit)/expense (13,675) 3,298 UK Corporation tax is calculated at 28% (2008: 29%) of the estimated assessable profit for the year. Taxation for other jurisdictions is calculated at the rates prevailing in the respective jurisdictions. Factors affecting the tax charge for the year: 2009 2008 £000 £000 Profit on ordinary activities before tax 24,693 13,750 Tax on Group profit at a weighted average standard UK Corporation tax rate of 28% (2008 - 29%) 6,914 3,988 Net disallowed expenses and (non-taxable income ) (1,540) 1,451 Tax effect of share based payments (90) 413 Utilisation of previously unrecognised tax losses (2,451) (1,520) Derecognition of previously recognised tax losses 384 1,158 Utilisation of previously unrecognised other deferred tax assets (3,307) (3,630) Current year tax losses not recognised 979 122 Withholding taxes 2,570 2,948 Lower rates of foreign tax (439) (1,715) Adjustments to current tax expense in respect of previous periods 6 83 Total pre-exceptional tax expense 3,026 3,298 Exceptional increase in previously unrecognised tax losses (7,636) - Exceptional increase in previously unrecognised deferred tax assets (9,065) - Total tax (credit)/expense (13,675) 3,298 The standard rate of current tax in the UK (being the country of residence of the parent company) for the year is 28% (2008 - 29%). The tax reconciliation is based on this rate due to the difficulty in selecting a weighted average rate given the range of tax rates (0% - 39%) and countries in which the Group operates and the range of profits and losses arising in those countries. The amount of the future tax charge will depend primarily on the level of profits together with the jurisdiction in which they are achieved and the ability to use available tax losses. 5. EARNINGS PER SHARE Continuing operations 2009 2008 £000 £000 Profit for the year - basic and diluted 38,368 10,452 - Reconciliation: Profit for the year - basic and diluted 38,368 10,452 First time recognition of deferred tax asset shown in exceptional items (16,701) - After tax effect of exceptional items 1,580 (252) Amortisation of acquired intangibles 770 767 Adjusted profit for the year 24,017 10,967 Number Number '000 '000 Weighted average number of shares - basic 306,119 305,552 Effect of dilutive potential ordinary shares 14,344 8,581 Weighted average number of shares - diluted 320,463 314,133 2009 2008 £000 £000 Basic earnings per share 12.53 3.42 First time recognition of deferred tax asset shown in exceptional items (5.46) - After tax effect of exceptional items 0.52 (0.08) Amortisation of acquired intangibles 0.25 0.25 Adjusted basic earnings per share 7.84 3.59 Basic earnings per share 12.53 3.42 Effect of dilutive potential ordinary shares (0.56) (0.10) Diluted earnings per share 11.97 3.32 First time recognition of deferred tax asset shown in exceptional items (5.21) - After tax effect of exceptional items 0.49 (0.08) Amortisation of acquired intangibles 0.24 0.24 Adjusted diluted earnings per share 7.49 3.48 Basic earnings per share is calculated by dividing the earnings attributable to ordinary shareholders by the weighted average number of ordinary shares outstanding during the year. The average number of shares outstanding excludes those held in trust by the Group, which are treated as cancelled. Diluted earnings per share is calculated on the same basis as the basic earnings per share with a further adjustment to the weighted average number of ordinary shares outstanding to reflect the effect of all dilutive potential ordinary shares. The number of dilutive potential ordinary shares is derived from the number of share options granted to employees where the exercise price is less than the average market price of the Company's ordinary shares during the year. Adjusted earnings per share, which is defined as basic earnings per share before exceptional items, amortisation of acquired intangible assets and the first time recognition of deferred tax shown in exceptional items, has been calculated and disclosed above as the directors consider it provides an additional indication of underlying trading performance. 6. TRADE AND OTHER RECEIVABLES Non-current Current 2009 2008 2009 2008 £000 £000 £000 £000 Trade receivables - - 36,920 43,241 Provision for impairment of trade receivables - - (895) (1,070) Net trade receivables - - 36,025 42,171 Corporation tax - - - 81 Overseas tax - 268 356 931 Other receivables 386 159 1,328 2,209 Prepayments 2,273 1,831 4,458 3,737 Accrued income - - 19,038 15,063 2,659 2,258 61,205 64,192 7. TRADE AND OTHER PAYABLES Non-current Current 2009 2008 2009 2008 £000 £000 £000 £000 Trade payables - - 4,231 4,438 Other payables 1,651 1,401 4,082 2,188 Accruals 1,397 1,547 18,939 13,971 Deferred revenue - - 25,798 21,489 3,048 2,948 53,050 42,086 8. PROVISIONS Onerous lease Other commitments provisions Total Group £000 £000 £000 At 1 October 2008 2,162 1,052 3,214 Established during the year 502 - 502 Utilised during the year (565) (108) (673) Unwinding of discount 44 4 48 Translation differences 256 50 306 At 30 September 2009 2,399 998 3,397 Analysed as: Current liabilities 606 480 1,086 Non-current liabilities 1,793 518 2,311 Onerous lease commitments disclosed above relate to future estimated losses on sub-let or vacant lease commitments on a number of properties within the group where the lease commitment is expected to be greater than any sub-lease income (where applicable). Amounts provided brought forward are for the period up to the first option to break in 2011 on a property lease in Denmark and up to September 2010 for part of the office space at the Group's UK headquarters. As a result of the change in the economic outlook related to sub-letting of properties in the UK, an additional provision of £469,000 was established during the year which now covers the period to 2012. As a result of a change in tenancy in the Denmark property, an additional provision of £33,000 was established during the year. The other provisions category relates to the estimated restoration costs of properties, primarily within North America and the UK, and are expected to be incurred in 2010 in North America and 2015 in the UK. 9. Consolidated statement of changes in equity Share Share premium Other Own Translation Retained Total capital account reserves shares reserve earnings equity Group £000 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000 Balance at 1 October 2007 3,057 161,989 249 (95) (4,020) (22,102) 139,078 Exchange differences arising on translation of foreign operations - - - - 1,833 - 1,833 Profit for the year - - - - - 10,452 10,452 Total recognised income and expense for the period - - - - 1,833 10,452 12,285 Issue of share capital net of share issue expenses 3 55 - - - - 58 Recognition of share-based payments - - - - - 1,458 1,458 Balance at 1 October 2008 3,060 162,044 249 (95) (2,187) (10,192) 152,879 Exchange differences arising on translation of foreign operations - - - - 10,125 - 10,125 Deferred tax on share based payments - - - - - 1,800 1,800 Profit for the year - - - - - 38,368 38,368 Total recognised income and expense for the period - - - - 10,125 40,168 50,293 Issue of share capital net of share issue expenses 17 129 - - - - 146 Cancellation of share premium account - (162,044) 135,113 - - 26,931 - Recognition of share-based payments - - - - - 1,336 1,336 Balance at 30 September 2009 3,077 129 135,362 (95) 7,938 58,243 204,654 [1] Analysys Mason Billing Multi-client Briefing, 28 October 2009 ---END OF MESSAGE--- This announcement was originally distributed by Hugin. 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