Tribal Group PLC
09 April 2003
Tribal Group plc
9 April 2003
Tribal Group plc ('Tribal Group' or the 'Company')
Trading statement for the 12 months ended 31 March 2003, contract win
and acquisition
The Board of Tribal Group will be presenting its strategy to equity analysts
today ahead of the Company's close period.
As indicated in the announcement made on 27 March 2003, the Board is confident
of being able to report another good set of results for the year ended 31 March
2003. It is expected that turnover for the year will be at least £100m,
representing growth of over 115% on the previous year. As anticipated,
operating margins were significantly higher in the second half such that Group
profitability is expected to be ahead of market expectations. Cash generation
has continued to be strong and the order book continues to increase. The
preliminary announcement of these results will be made on, or around, 25 June.
Tribal Group also announces today the award of a contract from the Office for
Standards in Education to carry out 498 school inspections during the period to
the end of September 2004. This contract, on which work will commence in
September 2003, is valued at £6m and represents an approximate 12% market share.
Tribal Group has recently been appointed preferred bidder on a number of
contract opportunities and it is expected that further contract wins will be
announced in the coming months.
Tribal Group is also pleased to announce the acquisition of Foundation Software
Solutions Limited ('FSSL') for a total consideration of up to £4.85 million.
FSSL is one of the leading suppliers of management information systems to local
education authorities ('LEAs'). FSSL has developed a suite of applications
covering areas such as pupil and school records, admissions and transfers,
special needs and information systems covering pre-school education providers.
FSSL is now working with more than 80 LEAs. Approximately 50 per cent. of
FSSL's annual revenue is underpinned by support and maintenance contracts.
Tribal Group is already a leading provider of management information systems to
the further education sector. The acquisition of FSSL will extend its
activities into the LEA market and will provide a platform for providing a wide
range of IT services to the education sector as a whole.
Tribal Group has purchased the entire issued share capital of FSSL on a
debt-free basis. In the 12 months ended 31 December 2002, FSSL had operating
profit of £480,000 on turnover of £2.152 million. Net assets at 31 December
2002 were £349,000. The initial consideration of £3.25 million has been
satisfied in cash and bank guaranteed loan notes.
Further consideration of up to £1,600,000 will be paid based on the growth in
operating profit of FSSL in the periods ending 31 March 2006. The deferred
consideration will be satisfied by the issue of new Tribal Group shares or, at
Tribal Group's option, loan notes, save for the first £600,000 of deferred
consideration which will be satisfied in cash and bank guaranteed loan notes.
Commenting on the acquisition, Henry Pitman, Chief Executive of Tribal Group,
said: 'We are delighted to announce the acquisition of FSSL, which will allow
us to extend our range of IT services into the LEA market. We have identified a
number of areas where we believe there will be opportunities to accelerate the
growth of FSSL within our wider IT offering.'
For further information contact:
Henry Pitman, Chief Executive - Tribal Group plc - 01285 886020
9 April 2003
End
This information is provided by RNS
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