Interim Results

RM PLC 27 May 2003 27th May 2003 RM announces Interim results for the six months to 31st March 2003 RM plc, the UK's leading supplier of ICT software, systems and services to education establishments, announces results for the six months ended 31st March 2003. Highlights • Results ahead of market expectations • Group turnover of £85.4m (2002: £ 89.1m) • Underlying turnover (excluding Learning Schools Programme*) up 12% to £84.6m (2002: £75.8m) • Operating costs down 8% to £22.9m (2002: £25m) • Interim loss before tax and goodwill amortisation much reduced at £0.8m (2002: £4.7m loss before exceptional costs) (note: RM's business is highly seasonal, with the majority of turnover and an even higher proportion of gross profit arising in second half of the year) • Continuing strong cash generation with net funds at 31st March of £33.2m (2002: £26.3m) • Unchanged interim dividend of 0.95p per share • Significant progress in strategic projects with £110m business wins in first half *RM's response to a one-off government lottery funded teacher training project which has now finished Commenting today, Tim Pearson, Chief Executive of RM said: 'RM is now a healthier business with a reduced cost base, improved customer satisfaction and strengthened management. During the first half of the year our core schools business has grown faster than the market as a whole, and we've made excellent progress with our strategic projects activities. 'As always RM's core business is highly seasonal, and the first half is not a good indicator of full-year performance. Whilst it is difficult this year to predict the impact of the school budget settlement, I believe that RM will see good progress for the year as a whole.' - Ends - For further information, please contact: Tim Pearson, CEO RM plc 08709 200200 Mike Greig, Finance Director Phil Hemmings, Director of Investor Relations Andrew Fenwick Brunswick 020 7404 5959 Fiona Fong A briefing to analysts will take place at 9.30 am on Tuesday 27th May at Brunswick's offices, 16 Lincoln's Inn Fields, London WC2A 3ED. A live audio feed will be available to analysts who are unable to attend this meeting in person. Please dial telephone number: +44 (0) 20 8901 6903 to access this facility. A copy of the presentation will be available on www.rm.com at 9.30am. Chairman's Statement Fifteen months after Tim Pearson took over as CEO, RM's business is significantly healthier, with a reduced cost base, improved customer satisfaction and strengthened management. We have seen growth in our core schools ICT business; made excellent progress in our strategic projects activities; and efficiency and effectiveness are improving across the business. Results Results for the six months to 31st March 2003 were ahead of market expectations. As anticipated, the government's lottery-funded teacher training project has now effectively finished, resulting in a decrease in Learning Schools Programme (LSP) revenues. Underlying turnover (excluding LSP) increased 12% to £84.6 million (2002: £75.8 million), reflecting good growth in the Group's core schools business - albeit from a relatively weak comparative period. Total Group turnover was £85.4 million (2002: £89.1 million). Operating costs (excluding amortisation of goodwill) for the period were down 8% to £22.9 million (2002: £25 million excluding exceptional costs), reflecting the impact of the cost reduction programme put in place during the second half of last year. RM's business is highly seasonal, with the majority of turnover, and an even higher proportion of gross profit, arising in the second half of the year. This year, as expected, the seasonality has resulted in a loss at the Interim stage. Loss before tax and amortisation of goodwill was much reduced at £0.8 million (2002: £4.7 million loss before exceptional costs), and diluted loss-per-share before amortisation of goodwill was 0.6p (2002: 3.5p loss before exceptional costs). RM continues to be strongly cash generative, with net funds at the end of the period of £33.2 million - up £6.9 million on a year ago. Net cash inflow from operating activities was £4.3 million (2002: £12.2 million). The Board has declared an unchanged interim dividend of 0.95p, payable on 4th July 2003 to shareholders on the register at 6th June 2003. Market The government continues to focus on education as a key priority, with further top-line funding growth planned over the next three years. However, we reported at our Preliminary Results announcement that changes to teachers' pay arrangements were putting individual schools' budgets under pressure. Following the start of the new government financial year it has become clear that some schools are experiencing budget difficulties. To a limited extent this issue can be countered by the reserves schools have built up, and the DfES has allowed schools to use devolved capital funding to cover certain shortfalls. However, complex funding changes, with different effects on different schools, make it hard to predict the level of our individual schools business in the second half. RM's strategic project contracts are funded from sources other than individual school budgets, and growth in this area of our business is unlikely to be impacted by the state of individual school budgets. Operations We have made good progress in each of the three stages of our medium-term plan: controlling costs; improving efficiency and effectiveness; and identifying areas of growth. Controlling costs The immediate benefits of last year's cost reduction programme have now been achieved, and the Group is operating on a significantly lower cost base than it was a year ago. We have made, and will continue to make, limited investments to allow us to address market opportunities. RM Education Solutions India Pvt Ltd - our wholly-owned software development company - is now established in Thiruvananthapuram, India. Initial development projects have been identified, which are related to our strategic project wins and will reduce the need to take on UK contract staff. Whilst cost management remains important, our focus has now moved to improving efficiency. Improving efficiency and effectiveness Our continuous customer satisfaction programme is now providing us with a clear and current view of how customers feel about us. We have received more than 7,000 customer responses and over 3,000 individual improvement suggestions. Satisfaction levels have increased, and the most common customer suggestions are being used to drive business improvements that will increase them further. The Group's PC and 3rd party products business has performed well as a result of a better-targeted product range. In particular a much more attractive mobile computing offer - including the RM Tablet PC - has driven a four-fold volume increase in this area. RM Community Connect 3 has now established itself as our flagship product for schools networking, with significant growth in both server and station licence sales. Education software product sales continue to be impacted by confusion related to the DfES Curriculum Online initiative and the anticipation of the BBC's entry into the market. However, 3T Productions made a strong contribution during the period, and our education services business as a whole has seen growth. Identifying growth The dedicated strategic projects team we put in place a year ago has made excellent progress, achieving business wins worth £110 million from the £120 million bid pipeline reported at our preliminary results announcement in November 2002. The bid pipeline now stands at approximately half the size it was in November 2002. Our success in bidding for strategic projects demonstrates the attractiveness of RM as a partner, and the value of the projects we have won increases the visibility of revenues for future years. RM brings a broad range of capabilities to these projects. The Group has technical, operational, educational and financial strengths, and can also demonstrate a track record of successful delivery of large and complex educational projects. Education services - a key area of growth for the Group - is making progress, with both the South Yorkshire eLearning Programme and the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority contracts including a broad range of education services elements. Prospects RM has made good progress during the last six months, with our core schools business growing faster than the market as a whole and our strategic projects activity performing well. Turnover from our strategic projects contracts will be ahead of expectations for the year. However, because these projects are all in their start-up phase, they will not contribute significantly to profits during 2003. As always RM's core schools business is highly seasonal, and the first half is never a good indicator of full-year performance. In particular this year, it is difficult to predict the full impact of the school budget settlement. Although this is a more uncertain outlook than I would wish, education spending has increased steadily over the last decade and RM is exposed to less volatility than the general ICT market. The Board believes that, for the year as a whole, RM will see good progress. CONSOLIDATED PROFIT AND LOSS ACCOUNT Half year ended Year ended 31st March 31st March 30th September £000 2003 2002 2002 __________________________________________________ ________________ ________________ ________________ Turnover 85,363 89,133 202,158 Cost of sales (63,740) (69,351) (150,914) __________________________________________________ ________________ ________________ ________________ Gross profit 21,623 19,782 51,244 __________________________________________________ ________________ ________________ ________________ Operating expenses: Selling & distribution (13,293) (14,548) (26,457) Research & development (5,760) (6,557) (13,836) Administration (4,922) (13,317) (17,848) __________________________________________________ ________________ ________________ ________________ (23,975) (34,422) (58,141) __________________________________________________ ________________ ________________ ________________ Operating loss (2,352) (14,640) (6,897) Operating (loss)/profit: __________________________________________________ ________________ ________________ ________________ Before exceptional items and goodwill amortisation (1,296) (5,249) 4,059 Exceptional administration - (8,468) (8,968) Amortisation of goodwill (1,056) (923) (1,988) __________________________________________________ ________________ ________________ ________________ Net interest receivable 532 509 983 __________________________________________________ ________________ ________________ ________________ Loss on ordinary activities before taxation (1,820) (14,131) (5,914) (Loss)/Profit on ordinary activities before taxation analysed: __________________________________________________ ________________ ________________ ________________ Before exceptional items and goodwill amortisation (764) (4,740) 5,042 Exceptional administration - (8,468) (8,968) Amortisation of goodwill (1,056) (923) (1,988) __________________________________________________ ________________ ________________ ________________ (1,820) (14,131) (5,914) __________________________________________________ ________________ ________________ ________________ Tax credit on loss on ordinary activities 214 3,488 1,095 __________________________________________________ ________________ ________________ ________________ Loss on ordinary activities after taxation (1,606) (10,643) (4,819) Dividends paid and proposed (847) (897) (3,767) __________________________________________________ ________________ ________________ ________________ Retained loss (2,453) (11,540) (8,586) __________________________________________________ ________________ ________________ ________________ (Loss)/Earnings per ordinary share: Basic (1.8p) (11.3p) (5.1p) Diluted (1.8p) (11.2p) (5.1p) Diluted - before amortisation of goodwill (0.6p) (10.3p) (3.0p) Diluted - before amortisation of goodwill and (0.6p) (3.5p) 3.8p exceptional items CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEET As at As at As at 31st March 31st March 30th September £000 2003 2002 2002 __________________________________________________ ________________ ________________ ________________ Fixed assets Intangible fixed assets 5,952 8,235 7,141 Tangible fixed assets 17,420 23,603 20,199 Investment in own shares 165 - - __________________________________________________ ________________ ________________ ________________ 23,537 31,838 27,340 Current assets Stocks 8,452 8,712 9,954 Debtors 33,768 41,302 43,041 Investments - short term cash deposits 14,670 9,236 20,157 Cash at bank and in hand 22,307 23,927 18,968 __________________________________________________ ________________ ________________ ________________ 79,197 83,177 92,120 Creditors Amounts falling due within one year (57,713) (63,340) (70,327) __________________________________________________ ________________ ________________ ________________ Net current assets 21,484 19,837 21,793 __________________________________________________ ________________ ________________ ________________ Total assets less current liabilities 45,021 51,675 49,133 Creditors Amounts falling due after more than one year (4,659) (4,942) (5,943) Provisions for liabilities and charges (1,726) (5,261) (2,131) __________________________________________________ ________________ ________________ ________________ Net assets 38,636 41,472 41,059 __________________________________________________ ________________ ________________ ________________ Capital and reserves Called-up share capital 1,794 1,888 1,794 Share premium account 20,349 20,349 20,349 Capital redemption reserve 94 - 94 Profit and loss account 16,399 19,235 18,822 __________________________________________________ ________________ ________________ ________________ Equity shareholders' funds 38,636 41,472 41,059 __________________________________________________ ________________ ________________ ________________ CONSOLIDATED CASH FLOW STATEMENT Half year ended Year ended 31st March 31st March 30th September £000 2003 2002 2002 __________________________________________________ ________________ ________________ ________________ Net cash inflow from operating activities 4,339 12,212 25,019 Returns on investments and servicing of finance 532 509 983 Taxation (291) (2,701) (4,209) Capital expenditure and financial investment (1,208) (2,460) (3,506) Acquisitions and disposals - (498) (499) Equity dividends paid (2,870) (3,020) (3,916) __________________________________________________ ________________ ________________ ________________ Net cash inflow before use of liquid resources and 502 4,042 13,872 financing Management of liquid resources 5,487 (1,141) (12,062) Financing (2,680) (22) (3,903) __________________________________________________ ________________ ________________ ________________ Increase/(Decrease) in cash in the period 3,309 2,879 (2,093) __________________________________________________ ________________ ________________ ________________ RECONCILIATION OF NET CASH FLOW TO MOVEMENT IN NET FUNDS Half year ended Year ended 31st March 31st March 30th September £000 2003 2002 2002 __________________________________________________ ________________ ________________ ________________ Increase/(Decrease) in cash in the period 3,309 2,879 (2,093) Capital element of finance lease payments 20 5 11 Cash (outflow)/inflow from change in liquid resources (5,487) 1,141 12,062 Settlement of loan notes 2,660 - 522 __________________________________________________ ________________ ________________ ________________ Change in net cash resulting from cash flows 502 4,025 10,502 Issue of loan notes - (4,764) (4,898) Exchange translation 30 (22) (9) __________________________________________________ ________________ ________________ ________________ Movement in net funds in the period 532 (761) 5,595 Net funds brought forward 32,663 27,068 27,068 __________________________________________________ ________________ ________________ ________________ Net funds carried forward 33,195 26,307 32,663 __________________________________________________ ________________ ________________ ________________ NOTES TO THE INTERIM STATEMENTS 1. Basis of preparation The financial information contained in this statement does not constitute statutory accounts within the meaning of section 240 of the Companies Act 1985, and has not been audited or reviewed. The unaudited financial statements for the half years ended 31st March 2002 and 31st March 2003 have been prepared on a basis consistent with the statutory accounts for the year ended 30th September 2002. Those accounts received an unqualified auditor's report and have been filed with the Registrar of Companies. 2. Tax credit on loss on ordinary activities The tax credit for the half year ended 31st March 2003 has been provided at the estimated effective rate for the full year. 3. Dividend The proposed interim dividend of 0.95p per ordinary share (2002: 0.95p) will be paid on 4th July 2003 to shareholders on the register on 6th June 2003. 4. Loss per share Loss per share for the half year ended 31st March 2003 is based on a loss of £1,606,000 (2002: loss of £10,643.000). Basic loss per share is based on 89,623,535 ordinary shares (2002: 94,377,184), being the weighted average number of ordinary shares in issue during the half year ended 31st March 2003. The diluted loss per share is based on a weighted average of 89,624,717 (2002: 94,607,543) ordinary shares issued and issuable. A reconciliation of basic loss per share with diluted loss per share is as follows: Half year ended 31st March Half year ended 31st March 2003 2002 Loss after No. of Pence per Loss after No. of Pence per tax Shares share tax Shares share (£000) ('000) £000 ('000) Basic loss per share (1,606) 89,624 (1.8) (10,643) 94,377 (11.3) Impact of share options - 1 - - 231 0.1 _______________________________________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________ Diluted loss per share (1,606) 89,625 (1.8) (10,643) 94,608 (11.2) _______________________________________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________ Supplementary loss per share before amortisation of goodwill and exceptional items: Diluted loss per share (1,606) 89,625 (1.8) (10,643) 94,608 (11.2) Effect of amortisation of goodwill 1,056 - 1.2 923 - 0.9 _______________________________________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________ Diluted loss per share before amortisation of goodwill (550) 89,625 (0.6) (9,720) 94,608 (10.3) Effect of exceptional items - - - 6,402 - 6.8 _______________________________________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________ Diluted loss per share before amortisation of goodwill and exceptional items (550) 89,625 (0.6) (3,318) 94,608 (3.5) _______________________________________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________ In order to show results from operating activities on a comparable basis, an adjusted loss per share is presented which excludes items of an unusual nature and goodwill amortisation as shown above. NOTES TO THE INTERIM STATEMENTS 5. Investment in own shares Following shareholder approval the Company implemented a long term incentive plan for senior executives in the Group. Under the plan, contingent awards of shares ('Matching shares') are made pro rata to shares acquired by the participants ('Investment shares'). The interest in shares awarded by the Company will only vest if prescribed minimum performance conditions relating to total shareholder return (TSR - share price growth plus reinvested dividends) and earnings per share are achieved over a three year period. Above that minimum, the interest will vest in whole or in part depending on the level of achievement of the performance conditions. The Group has purchased shares in order to provide investment shares. These shares are held by an Employee Share Trust and are shown within fixed assets as investment in own shares and comprised 150,000 Ordinary shares of 2p each at 31st March 2003. 6. Reserves and reconciliation of movements in shareholders' funds Half year ended 31st March 2003 £000 Share capital Share premium Capital Profit and loss Total account redemption account shareholders' reserve funds Beginning of the period 1,794 20,349 94 18,822 41,059 Retained loss for the period - - - (2,453) (2,453) Exchange translation differences - - - 30 30 _____________________________ ____________ ____________ ____________ ____________ _____________ End of the period 1,794 20,349 94 16,399 38,636 _____________________________ ____________ ____________ ____________ ____________ _____________ 7. Reconciliation of operating loss to operating cash flows Half year ended Year ended 31st March 31st March 30th September £000 2003 2002 2002 Operating loss (2,352) (14,640) (6,897) Depreciation charge 3,953 4,360 8,805 Exceptional amortisation of intangible fixed assets - 5,000 5,000 Normal amortisation of intangible fixed assets 1,189 1,418 2,619 Profit on disposal of fixed assets (131) (135) (130) Decrease in stock 1,502 2,271 1,029 Decrease in debtors 9,273 12,465 11,660 (Decrease)/Increase in creditors (9,095) 1,473 2,933 _____________________________________________________ _____________ _____________ _____________ Net cash inflow from operating activities 4,339 12,212 25,019 _____________________________________________________ _____________ _____________ _____________ This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange

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