Final Results

ADVFN PLC 30 September 2004 Embargoed for release until 7.30 a.m. Thursday 30th September 2004 ADVFN PLC ('ADVFN' or 'the Company') Preliminary Results for the Year Ended 30 June 2004 ADVFN, the UK's number one stocks and shares Website, today announces preliminary results for the year ended 30 June 2004. Highlights: • Close to break even - net loss after tax reduced by 91% to £79K (2003: £914K) • EBITDA profits up 111% to £852K (2003: £404K) • Net loss per ordinary share reduced by 93% to 0.019p (2003: 0.26p loss) • Net loss before tax reduced by 93% to £86K (2003: £1.2M) • Revenues up by 30% to £3.0 million (2003: £2.3M) • User numbers up nearly 50% to 370,000 (2003: 250,000) Clement Chambers, Managing Director of ADVFN commented: 'Our results for the year are very encouraging having virtually broken even and more than doubled our EBITDA profit. Our expansion into other world markets leaves us well positioned to exploit any improvement in the general market conditions.' For further information, please contact: ADVFN Clement Chambers, Managing Director clemc@advfn.com 020 7070 0948 Michael Hodges, Chairman mikeh@advfn.com 020 7070 0946 Francesca De Franco, PR francescad@advfn.com 020 7070 0932 Chairman's Statement ADVFN has continued to make good progress in all areas of its business. We are now not only the UK's leading supplier of stock market data to the private investor via the Internet but can now also claim to be Europe's leading supplier. We have increased our EBITDA profit by 111% from £404K (2003) to £825K (2004) and grown our user base from 250,000 (2003) to 370,000 (2004) - an increase of 50%. Furthermore, since the year-end we have broken through the significant 400,000 barrier. We continue to develop ADVFN's core offering by continually adding more information, tools and stock market feeds from around the World. In addition we are extending and diversifying the service to include features such as weather and news, all with the aim of providing our users with the highest quality and range of tools and information available. The development process has continued at great pace during 2004. As well as the front-end additions and enhancements, the ADVFN service has been extensively upgraded behind the scenes. This means we are now able to provide stock market data 24 hours a day - we are already offering FOREX data around the clock - and we will be able to open up new and exciting markets in Asia and the Far East to our users. I could list all of the features and tools within the site, which would run for many pages. However as this is about our year-end results and as we believe that the ADVFN Website is the best advertisement for the company, I recommend that you continue to view www.advfn.com and see for yourself as a shareholder what we have added in the past 12 months. The improvements in all of the year's figures have been achieved because of the dedication, long hours and hard work that all of the ADVFN team have put in. They have strived to ensure that we have the best service possible. I thank everyone at ADVFN for their efforts. Michael J Hodges Chairman 29th September 2004 Managing Director's Review Operating Review Turnover for the year to the end of June 2004 was £3.0M up from £2.3M for the previous year - a 30 % growth in income. Net losses before tax were almost eliminated having been reduced by 93% to £86K from £1.2M last year and loss per ordinary share similarly reduced by 93% to 0.019p from 0.26p. Our EBITDA has improved very strongly more than doubling (up 111%) to £852K from last year's £404K, as can be seen from the table below: EBITDA - Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, amortisation and exceptional items 2004 2003 £'000 £'000 Loss before tax - per financial statements (86) (1,218) Amortisation 260 329 Depreciation 690 944 Exceptional item - Impairment 0 352 Net interest (12) (3) EBITDA 852 404 These results are very encouraging, especially considering the investment we have made in growing our platform. We continue to report very strong growth in our user numbers - up nearly 50% from 250,000 at June 2003 to over 370,000 at June 2004. This increase in our user base and market share had a direct impact on our appeal to advertisers, which in turn contributed towards the impressive 32% growth in our advertising revenues for the year, which now nearly equal our subscription revenues. The year to June 2004 was a solid year of growth for ADVFN. We have consolidated our position as Europe's leading stocks and shares website and established a robust platform for global expansion. The brand has enjoyed further penetration in the UK and is gaining profile in the US as well as the rest of the World. In this period we have once again expanded our offerings, introducing many new international markets including Germany, Russia, Denmark, Ireland, Greece, Canada, Finland as well as COMEX and NYMEX, the World's leading commodities exchange; UK managed funds, Crest shorting data, derivative markets, news feeds and a plethora of other new functions. We have introduced numerous new tools and other products including the highly acclaimed US financial data on all US listed companies. This addition is expected to accelerate the growth of our US subscribers. ADVFN's subscription base has grown hand in hand with these developments and this has run in tandem with an increase in the rate of user acquisition that accelerated at the beginning of 2004 with the introduction of several successful marketing initiatives. Current Trading The ADVFN brand is becoming increasingly known and recognised globally, and we continue, with our marketing, to further develop our market profile. From registrations it appears that ADVFN is making good progress overseas, which is now responsible for more than 50% of our sign ups. We are now generating significant income from Rest Of World advertisers, particularly in the US and we are confident that our burgeoning sign-ups from this area will convert into subscriptions in due course. As with many online services, ADVFN subscribers have a fairly long gestation between free users and premium subscribers. We have been building our user base at a significantly faster rate than in the past, suggesting that we have a sound pipeline of subscriptions to look forward to. Our figures show that our user base is very loyal and will over time buy a number of products. The summer saw our subscription levels running around all time highs, with new advertising highs expected after the summer recess. Prospects 2004 has seen ADVFN re-engineer itself to be a 24-hour service, so that the site can now run uninterrupted in all world markets. Our plan is to continue to roll out new products and offerings to the world market, with an eye to capturing the world's private investor community. We will continue to expand our offering in our core UK market and will be doing this in conjunction with our expansion in the US, where our marketing initiative with the Nasdaq is expected to begin bearing fruit in the near future. In 2003 we announced that we had bought an IPO platform known as EO. Subsequently a new company has been formed called ALLIPO, which has been set up to take the concept forward. We feel there are significant synergies between ADVFN and ALLIPO and the best way ahead for ALLIPO is as a separate, dedicated, independently financed company. A further announcement will be made in due course concerning this transaction. I would like to take this opportunity once again to thank the staff of ADVFN, as our progress continues to be the result of their hard work. Clement Chambers Managing Director 29th September 2004 Consolidated Profit and Loss Account for the year ended 30 June 2004 2004 2004 2003 2003 Notes £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 Turnover 2,951 2,264 Cost of sales (128) (74) Gross profit 2,823 2,190 Administrative expenses Exceptional item - impairment loss - (352) Other administrative expenses (2,969) (2,921) Total administrative expenses (2,969) (3,273) Operating loss (146) (1,083) Amounts written off investments 48 (138) (98) (1,221) Net interest 12 3 Loss on ordinary activities before taxation (86) (1,218) Tax on loss on ordinary activities 7 304 Loss on ordinary activities after taxation (79) (914) Loss per ordinary share 2 (0.019p) (0.26p) All operations are continuing. There were no recognised gains or losses other than the loss for the financial year. Balance Sheets at 30 June 2004 Group and Group and Company Company 2004 2003 Notes £'000 £'000 Fixed Assets Intangible assets 541 801 Tangible assets 1,412 854 Investments - 62 1,953 1,717 Current Assets Debtors 544 710 Cash at bank and in hand 530 621 1,074 1,331 Creditors: amounts falling due within one year (667) (627) Net current assets 407 704 Total assets less current liabilities 2,360 2,421 Capital and Reserves Called up share capital 4,070 4,059 Share premium account 3,933 3,926 Profit and loss account (5,643) (5,564) Shareholders' funds - equity 3 2,360 2,421 The financial statements were approved by the Board of Directors on 29 September 2004. Consolidated Cash Flow Statement for the year ended 30 June 2004 2004 2003 Notes £'000 £'000 Net cash inflow from operating activities 4 706 593 Returns on investment and servicing of finance Interest received 13 8 Interest paid (1) (5) 12 3 Taxation 311 - Capital expenditure Payments to acquire tangible fixed assets (1,248) (804) Proceeds from disposal of fixed asset investments 110 - (1,138) (804) Net cash outflow before financing (109) (208) Financing Issue of ordinary share capital 18 626 Share issue costs - (52) Capital element of hire purchase contracts repaid - (6) Net cash inflow from financing 18 568 (Decrease)/increase in cash 5 (91) 360 Notes for the year ended 30 June 2004 1. General The financial information herein does not constitute statutory accounts as defined in section 240 of the Companies Act 1985. The financial information has been extracted from the group's 2004 statutory financial statements upon which the auditors reported on 29 September 2004. Their opinion is unqualified and does not include any statement under section 237 of the Companies Act 1985. The accounts have been prepared in accordance with applicable accounting standards and under the historical cost convention. The principal accounting policies of the group have remained unchanged from the previous annual report. Copies of the annual report are being posted to shareholders and copies will be available from the company's registered office at 642a Lea Bridge Road, Leyton, London, E10 6AP. 2. Loss per ordinary share 2004 2003 Number of Loss Number of Loss Loss shares per share Loss shares per share £'000 '000 p £'000 '000 p Loss for the (79) (914) year Weighted average number of shares 406,304 350,253 Loss per share (0,019p) (0.26p) The options are anti-dilutive so there is no diluted loss per share. 3. Reconciliation of movements in shareholders' funds 2004 2003 £'000 £'000 Loss for the financial year (79) (914) Net receipts from issues of shares 18 924 Net (decrease)/increase in shareholders' funds (61) 10 Shareholders' funds at 1 July 2,421 2,411 Shareholders' funds at 30 June 2,360 2,421 4. Reconciliation of operating loss to net cash inflow from operating activities 2004 2003 £'000 £'000 Operating loss (146) (1,083) Exchange differences - 44 Exceptional item - impairment loss - 352 Amortisation 260 329 Depreciation 690 944 (Increase)/decrease in debtors (138) 44 Increase/(decrease) in creditors 40 (37) Net cash inflow from operating activities 706 593 5. Reconciliation of net cash flow to movement in net funds 2004 2003 £'000 £'000 (Decrease)/increase in cash for the year (91) 360 Cash outflow from capital repayments of hire purchase agreements - 6 Movement in net cash in the year (91) 366 Net funds at 1 July 621 255 Net funds at 30 June 530 621 6. Analysis of movements in net funds At 1 July 2003 Cash flow At 30 June 2004 £'000 £'000 £'000 Cash in hand and at bank 621 (91) 530 This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange

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