Final Results

Moneybox PLC 17 March 2005 Preliminary results for the year ended 31 December 2004 Results ahead of expectations despite challenging market conditions Year ended 11 months ended Change 31 December 31 December 2003 2004 (i) Turnover £42.9m £29.3m Up £13.6m or +46% EBITDA (ii) before exceptional items £5.1m £(0.1)m Up £5.2m Profit / (loss) on ordinary activities before taxation, exceptional items and goodwill amortisation - UK ATMs £3.5m £2.0m Up £1.5m - Rest of Europe ATMs £(0.8)m £(2.4)m Down £1.6m - Cashless payments and access control £0.5m - Up £0.5m - Central costs including interest £(1.1)m £(0.9)m Up £0.2m Total profit / (loss) on ordinary activities before taxation, £2.1m £(1.3)m Up £3.4m exceptional items and goodwill amortisation Loss on ordinary activities before taxation £(3.4)m £(1.3)m Up £2.1m (i) Includes the results of G2 from acquisition on 18 March 2004 (ii) A reconciliation of EBITDA to operating profit / (loss) is set out in note 5 to the preliminary announcement HIGHLIGHTS • Profit before tax, exceptional items and goodwill amortisation ahead of revised market expectations at £2.1m (2003: loss of £1.3m) • H2 profit before tax, exceptional items and goodwill amortisation £1.8m compared to £0.3m in H1 • Exceptional items of £4.3m (2003: nil) incurred in 2004 on AIM flotation, aborted acquisition and bid defence costs, reorganisation and restructuring costs and loss on fixed asset impairments • Results delivered against a difficult H2 trading background in the independent ATM sector • New management structure in place dedicated to delivering sustainable shareholder value • UK ATM estate increased by 18% from 2,471 in December 2003 to 2,912 in December 2004 and in Europe the estate increased by 67% from 343 in December 2003 to 573 in December 2004 • Major ATM contract won with Compass Group • Free-standing ATM kiosk programme underway • Acquisition of G2 has delivered the expected ATM maintenance cost savings • Successful launch of G2's 'Myriad' prepayment, ID and access control platform in schools, universities and major financial institutions highlights the excellent growth opportunities for the Group's cashless payments and access control division Peter McNamara, Executive Chairman of Moneybox plc, said: 'Our first year as a public company has been eventful. The profits warning in September 2004 led to significant changes at Board level and a subsequent restructuring of the business to cut costs, improve operating margins and streamline operations. While the business remains focused on top line growth, the new management team has been careful to ensure that capital is only committed to opportunities that generate an attractive rate of return. Your Board is confident that this approach, coupled with continuing tight cost control, will allow the Group to deliver strong future profits growth.' For further information please contact Moneybox plc Peter McNamara, Executive Chairman 020 7452 5400 Reputation Inc Tom Wyatt 020 7758 2800 Chairman's Statement Our first year as a public company has been eventful. The profits warning in September 2004 led to significant changes at Board level and a subsequent restructuring of the business to cut costs, improve operating margins and streamline operations. Since that time, excellent progress has been made in laying the foundations to deliver strong further growth of the business. As part of the Company's flotation in March 2004, Moneybox acquired G2, one of the UK's leading providers of cashless payments and access control systems. We have taken significant steps to bring the two businesses together and to obtain cost saving benefits and synergies from shared investment in services and facilities. We have also been able to build, from the existing G2 maintenance field force, an in-house maintenance and deployment capability for our ATMs. The second half of 2004 saw challenging trading conditions particularly impacting on UK surcharging ATM transactions. These conditions have continued in early 2005 reflecting the difficult external background of unprecedented press criticism of charging ATMs and the consequence of engineering work required to complete the upgrade of our ATM estate to meet 'Chip and Pin' and revised encryption standards imposed by LINK. As these factors start to fall away we are confident that transaction volumes will improve. The planned rationalisation and streamlining of the business gathered pace in the Autumn, after a thorough review of the business identified that we should take a number of measures to improve the Group's profitability and return on capital. As a result of this exercise, we downsized the management structure to be leaner and more customer-responsive and have taken steps to restructure certain ATM supplier contracts. These measures, together with exceptional items previously announced, have given rise to £4.3m of exceptional items in 2004, and we anticipate that up to a further £2m will arise in 2005 in order to complete this cost reduction programme. As a consequence results for the year were affected but we nevertheless believe that the actions taken place Moneybox in a far stronger position to go forward into the next phase of our growth. In addition, despite the challenging conditions, we are extremely pleased to have exceeded the revised market expectations in achieving a profit before tax, exceptional items and goodwill amortisation for the year of £2.1m (2003: loss of £1.3m). We have reorganised and streamlined our whole organisation with a view to lowering operating costs at every level and we have examined opportunities to develop new profitable business, both in the UK and in Europe. We have won a number of important new contracts and have exciting prospects in our new business pipeline. Moneybox has a successful business that remains strongly positioned strategically. We have a major share of the fast growing market for independently deployed ATMs and are a leader in the development of complementary access control and cashless payment systems. We are now also lean and hungry, with the new management team focusing its full attention on the delivery of shareholder value. There has also been recent press speculation over the potential sale of Independent ATM Deployer ('IAD') businesses and there are undoubtedly further economies of scale to be achieved through the consolidation of the UK IAD market as the sector matures. I must thank, on behalf of the Board, all our staff for their work towards the considerable achievements the business has made during 2004. They are an enthusiastic and hard working team, with whom it is a pleasure to work. Financial Overview Turnover for the 2004 year rose by 46%, from £29.3m to £42.9m, partly reflecting a 9 month first time contribution from our acquisition of G2. However, the existing Moneybox ATM deployment business also showed strong organic growth, with sales ahead by 26%, from £29.3m to £37.0m. On a like for like basis, excluding G2 and annualising the prior period, group sales growth was 16%. Profit before tax, exceptional items and goodwill amortisation was £2.1m, compared with a loss of £1.3m for 2003. This principally reflected the continuing growth of the profitability of our UK ATM business and reduced losses in our other European ATM operations as we reached critical mass in Germany and reduced costs further in the Netherlands. After exceptional items of £4.3m and goodwill amortisation of £1.2m, there was a loss on ordinary activities before taxation of £3.4m (2003: loss of £1.3m). I have already outlined the strong action taken last September to restructure the group's activities and re-balance the cost base to more appropriately match the level of business. Whilst turnover in our main ATM business improved in 2004, we should be in no doubt that we are in a highly competitive service industry where reducing costs and efficiency savings are likely to remain the best driver of profitability. We are fully committed to this aspect of the business model and believe that we are now gaining an operating cost advantage to compliment our technical expertise. The 2004 balance sheet shows shareholders' funds of £29.9m, equivalent to 15p per share compared with less than £1m in the pre-float 2003 balance sheet. Capital expenditure in the year totalled £18.6m, but this figure included the £13m cost of acquiring our UK and European ATM estates, previously rented from NCR under long term operating leases. The balance sheet at 31 December 2004 includes £14.9m of goodwill, arising from the G2 acquisition, which is being amortised over a ten year period. We will obtain significant cost savings in future years as a result of refinancing these ATM assets, although the immediate benefits in 2004 and 2005 have been more than offset by the additional costs of upgrading our ATM estate for EMV ('Chip and Pin') technology. During the year, Moneybox drew down a £10m five-year term loan from The Royal Bank of Scotland plc to help finance the ATM estate purchase. At 31 December 2004, the Group had a cash balance of £6.5m and net debt was £4.1m. Review of Operations ATM Deployment and Management UK ATMs Turnover for the UK ATM business in 2004 was £32.8m (2003: £27.6m) generating a profit before tax, exceptional items and goodwill amortisation of £3.5m (2003: £2.0m). At 31 December 2004, the Group operated 2,912 ATMs in the UK (31 December 2003: 2,471 ATMs). Moneybox has seen further rapid expansion of its UK ATM estate during 2004. This includes the installation of over 130 freestanding kiosks. These are able to offer 24-hour cash availability and their greater visibility has proved highly effective in helping us win new contracts. We are necessarily investing in the updating of our entire estate for 'Chip and Pin' and improved encryption technology. This mandatory upgrade programme will be substantially completed by May 2005. We are also beginning to see the roll-out of mobile phone top-up functionality: the market has developed rapidly in recent months and now more than 50% of bank cards offer the facility of a mobile phone top-up at an ATM. We believe this will radically change the nature of the top-up market and that ATMs will become an increasingly convenient destination for mobile phone top-ups. Our expansion in the UK to date has been almost entirely by organic development, and we now have a strong pipeline of new ATM sites that will enable us to redeploy unprofitable ATMs to further improve our overall estate quality. In 2005 we plan to accelerate this redeployment programme in order to maximise medium term returns on capital. Our long-term plans for developing this business include the strategic aim of developing long-term contracts with major retailers, leisure groups and financial institutions to establish a solid core of recurring revenue streams. We already have some of the highest transaction levels in the industry for a fee charging estate and we intend to continue driving up the quality of our ATM portfolio, by replacing poorly performing sites and acquiring better and more profitable sites, rather than playing a pure ATM numbers growth game. While the business remains focussed on top-line growth, the new management team has been careful to ensure that available capital is only committed to opportunities that generate an attractive rate of return. Recent major contract wins have included an agreement with the UK and Ireland division of Compass Group, the world's biggest contract caterer, to install ATM machines in suitable locations identified from their 9,000 locations across the UK. This gives us a major reserve of potential new sites and we expect to deploy machines in at least 100 new Compass locations in 2005. We have also signed an agreement with X-Leisure Group, an operator of retail/leisure parks throughout the UK, to install and operate ATM machines and freestanding ATM kiosks in X-Leisure locations. The roll-out of our own ATM maintenance operation is now complete and gives us full coverage of the UK. We have also recently replaced third party providers with our own installation teams delivering both logistical and cost benefits. Both of these new capabilities will drive costs lower and our ability to deliver an in-house service and maintenance function will allow us to achieve further improvements in ATM availability and customer service. Shareholders will be aware that the influential Treasury Select Committee (' TSC') has recently undertaken a brief inquiry into ATM charging, in which it has identified a particular interest in three aspects of the industry's operations: the reasons for the recent rapid growth in the number of charging ATM machines, the transparency of charges, and what impact the growth in the number of charging machines might be having on individual low-income communities - in short the issue of financial inclusion. Along with other leading industry participants, we were invited to make a submission to the TSC and, later, with other IAD representatives, were requested to appear at one of the TSC's public hearings. We were pleased to have the opportunity to address the TSC on the important issues they were examining, and in particular to explain the basis of our belief that the current rules of the LINK network are operated in such a way as to be detrimental to the interests of consumers and to the disadvantage of the IADs. The Board of Moneybox believes that the TSC's decision to examine ATM charges provides an opportunity to encourage wider scrutiny of the current regulatory regime governing ATMs. We believe strongly that changes in the structure of charges made by LINK, the monopoly supplier of switching services between card-issuers and ATM deployers, would potentially be of benefit to consumers and would significantly improve the competitive position of IADs. We wait with interest to hear the TSC's conclusions and recommendations. We are confident that we can demonstrate that IADs provide choice and a service that is valued by consumers. Charges could be lower if IADs were able to recover an interchange fee for cash withdrawals through the existing LINK network system. We have also pointed out that the transparency of our charges is in marked contrast to other card-based transactions. Finally, we have already acted to improve signage and consumer information on our ATMs. In view of our discussions with the TSC, we would be surprised if they were to direct any actions that could be materially damaging to the IAD market. Rest of Europe ATMs Turnover for the other European ATM businesses in 2004 was £4.7m (2003: £1.7m) producing a loss before tax, exceptional items and goodwill amortisation of £0.8m (2003: loss of £2.4m). At 31 December 2004, the Group operated 573 ATMs in the rest of Europe (31 December 2003: 343 ATMs). Overall, our overseas ATM deployment business remained loss making in 2004. However, we made significant progress during the year, not just in increasing the scale of our involvement towards the level of critical mass necessary to move into profitability, but also in driving the same principles of cost-reduction and efficiency improvement into the management of the business. In Germany, which we entered for the first time in mid 2002 and where we see particularly exciting prospects for expansion, we have increased the number of machines deployed from 178 at 31 December 2003 to 400 at 31 December 2004. This business became profitable in the second half of the year. In the Netherlands, we have grown our estate to 173 ATMs and have significantly reduced our operating costs. In addition, we are now exploring expansion into self-fill and interchange ATMs in major retailers. Our German ATM business has delivered consistent growth in terms of machine installations and revenue throughout the second half of the year. Our business model of installing ATMs in transport and other high frequency remote locations has been extended to include the installation and management of ATMs within bank branches. Cashless Payments and Access Control Since acquisition on 18 March 2004, and up to 31 December 2004, this division generated turnover of £5.4m and profit before tax, exceptional items and goodwill amortisation of £0.5m. However, its value to Moneybox far outweighs its immediate contribution to the bottom line with a medium term growth rate that we believe could exceed that of our core ATM activities. Our acquisition of G2 at the time of our float in March 2004 brought into the group one of the UK's leading developers and deployers of access control and cashless payment systems. There are considerable synergistic overlaps between this new area of activity and our core ATM business: both use similar card technology and secure messaging software systems, both have a common need for payment processing facilities and the operational support of dedicated maintenance and installation teams, and there is significant overlap between the customer bases of the two businesses. Even more importantly, we see exciting prospects for developing new products and new technologies on the back of our existing activities. Access control, stored value cards and cashless payments are technologies for which demand is growing at a rapid pace, for obvious reasons in a world which has an ever greater need for better security and more efficient payments. Customers include organisations that operate in a wide range of high-security environments, including universities, corporate headquarters, large manufacturing plants and schools, and an even wider range of users of cashless payment systems. Access control and cashless payment system sales form the core area of G2's activity and business has continued to show some major contract wins in the current year, with recent orders from Johnson & Johnson, Unilever, Addenbrooke's Hospital and the University of Durham. Cashless payment technology can deliver an almost endless catalogue of benefits to its users. Apart from increasing customers' propensity to spend, it can be used to generate significantly quicker customer service, to allow variable tariffs for different user groups, to simplify accounting and eliminate the handling of cash, to provide a complete audit trail and detailed management reports, to centrally manage pricing, promotional activity, incentives, allowances and subsidies - in summary, it can provide a management tool across an extraordinarily wide range of tasks. G2 has an unrivalled expertise in the cashless payment business going back nearly two decades. Its wide customer base gives it an outstanding range of experience and capability. It has a multi-skilled in-house engineering resource and a modular range of flexible products to match the customer's specific requirements. And it has brought together its complete in-house operation - covering design, development, manufacture, sales, installation and service support - to launch a new range of products and services. At the centre of this is G2's innovative cashless payment system, Myriad. Myriad has the capability to deliver flexible solutions to the management of access control and cashless payments to users who may require unusually complex operations. For example, it can handle access control via ID production, including visitor management, across multiple locations via the use of local or wireless networks. It can manage cashless payment systems offering a range of value loading options - note and coin loading, credit and debit card loading or back-office cheque loading. It can handle complicated purse options which recognise subsidies, special offers, reward points and meal tokens. And it can provide full transaction histories by product, location or cardholder, available via a local or web-based reporting tool. During 2004, G2 has successfully installed a number of Myriad systems in public and private organisations throughout the UK and Europe including Kelloggs, Diageo and British Nuclear Group. In particular, this new product has received a very positive reception in the catering and vending industry. With the launch of further Myriad products and services in the first half of 2005, we anticipate strong progress from G2 in 2005. Outlook As some of the negative factors that have impacted transaction volumes over recent months start to fall away, we are confident that the business is now in better shape to deliver profitable growth. While 2005 should deliver a significantly improved result over 2004, it will to some extent be a year of consolidation. The benefits of the actions already taken, and those being taken during 2005, gives your Board confidence of a further strengthening of performance in 2006. Peter McNamara Executive Chairman 17 March 2005 CONSOLIDATED PROFIT AND LOSS ACCOUNT For the year ended 31 December 2004 Year ended 31 December 2004 11 months ended 31 December 2003 Before Goodwill Total Before Goodwill Total goodwill amortisation goodwill amortisation and amortisation amortisation and and and exceptional exceptional exceptional exceptional items items items items (Note 3) Notes £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 Turnover 2 Continuing operations 37,022 - 37,022 29,335 - 29,335 Acquisitions 5,840 - 5,840 - - - 42,862 - 42,862 29,335 - 29,335 Cost of sales (29,758) (2,250) (32,008) (24,170) - (24,170) Gross profit 13,104 (2,250) 10,854 5,165 - 5,165 Administrative expenses Goodwill amortisation - (1,198) (1,198) - - - Exceptional items 3 - (2,078) (2,078) - - - Other (11,146) - (11,146) (6,492) - (6,492) Total administrative (11,146) (3,276) (14,422) (6,492) - (6,492) expenses Operating profit / (loss) Continuing operations 1,305 (4,328) (3,023) (1,327) - (1,327) Acquisitions 653 (1,198) (545) - - - 1,958 (5,526) (3,568) (1,327) - (1,327) Net interest 151 - 151 44 - 44 Profit / (loss) on ordinary 2 2,109 (5,526) (3,417) (1,283) - (1,283) activities before taxation Tax on profit / (loss) on 335 - 335 900 - 900 ordinary activities Profit / (loss) on ordinary 2,444 (5,526) (3,082) (383) - (383) activities after taxation Equity minority interests 248 35 283 552 - 552 Retained profit / (loss) 2,692 (5,491) (2,799) 169 - 169 for the financial period Earnings / (loss) per 4 ordinary share Basic 1.47p (2.99)p (1.52)p 0.13p - 0.13p Diluted 1.43p (2.95)p (1.52)p 0.13p - 0.13p CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEET As at 31 December 2004 31 December 31 December 2004 2003 (as restated note 1) Notes £'000 £'000 Fixed assets Goodwill 14,946 - Negative goodwill (64) - 14,882 - Other intangible assets 80 77 14,962 77 Tangible assets 20,050 5,372 35,012 5,449 Current assets Stocks 4,283 215 Debtors: amounts falling due within one year - Deferred tax asset 1,150 900 - Other 5,688 2,907 6,838 3,807 Debtors: amounts falling due after more than one year 1,000 - Cash at bank and in hand 7 6,540 2,627 18,661 6,649 Creditors: amounts falling due within one year (14,331) (9,595) Net current assets / (liabilities) 4,330 (2,946) Total assets less current liabilities 39,342 2,503 Creditors: amounts falling due after more than one year (8,915) (1,562) Net assets 2 30,427 941 Capital and reserves Called up share capital 19,911 12,699 Share premium account 24,584 - Merger reserve 8,459 8,459 Profit and loss account (23,085) (20,334) Equity shareholders' funds 29,869 824 Equity minority interests 558 117 Total capital employed 30,427 941 CONSOLIDATED CASH FLOW STATEMENT For the year ended 31 December 2004 Year ended 11 months 31 December ended 31 December 2003 2004 Notes £'000 £'000 Net cash (outflow) / inflow from operating activities 5 (1,051) 718 Returns on investments and servicing of finance 6 303 44 Taxation 6 (575) - Capital expenditure and financial investment 6 (18,070) (1,520) Acquisitions and disposals 6 (6,679) - Net cash outflow before financing (26,072) (758) Financing 6 29,984 517 Increase / (decrease) in cash in the period 3,912 (241) Reconciliation of net cash flow to movement in net (debt) / funds Increase / (decrease) in cash in the period 3,912 (241) Cash inflow from increase in debt financing (10,000) - Cash outflow from decrease in debt financing 220 110 Debt issue costs for new debt financing 144 - Change in net funds resulting from cash flows (5,724) (131) Increase in debt financing - (1,100) Debt issue costs charged to interest in the period (9) - Translation difference 1 12 Change in net funds resulting from non cash flows (8) (1,088) Change in net funds (5,732) (1,219) Net funds at start of period 1,637 2,856 Net (debt) / funds at end of period 7 (4,095) 1,637 CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF TOTAL RECOGNISED GAINS AND LOSSES For the year ended 31 December 2004 Year ended 11 months ended 31 December 2003 31 December 2004 £'000 £'000 Retained (loss) / profit for the financial period (2,799) 169 Translation differences on foreign currency net investments 48 (117) Total recognised (losses) / gains for the financial period (2,751) 52 RECONCILIATION OF MOVEMENTS IN EQUITY SHAREHOLDERS' FUNDS For the year ended 31 December 2004 Year ended 11 months ended 31 December 2003 31 December 2004 £'000 £'000 Retained (loss) / profit for the financial period (2,799) 169 Issue of share capital 33,909 - Redemption of share capital (13) - Share issue expenses (2,100) - Translation differences on foreign currency net investments 48 (117) Net increase in equity shareholders' funds 29,045 52 Opening equity shareholders' funds 824 772 Closing equity shareholders' funds 29,869 824 1. Financial information and basis of preparation (a) Financial information The financial information set out in this preliminary announcement does not constitute the Company's statutory accounts for the year ended 31 December 2004 or for the period ended 31 December 2003. The financial information for the year ended 31 December 2004 has been derived from the Company's statutory accounts that will be delivered to the Registrar of Companies following the Company's Annual General Meeting. The auditors' report was unqualified and did not contain any statements under section 237(2) or (3) of the Companies Act 1985. The financial information relating to the 11 months ended 31 December 2003 has been extracted, as restated for the group reconstruction, from the consolidated statutory accounts of Moneybox Corporation Limited which have been reported on by the group's auditors and have been delivered to the Registrar of Companies. The auditors' report was unqualified and did not contain any statements under section 237(2) or (3) of the Companies Act 1985. (b) Basis of preparation The financial statements have been prepared under the historical cost convention and in accordance with applicable accounting standards in the United Kingdom. The principal accounting policies have been applied consistently throughout the current year and the preceding period. In March 2004, Moneybox plc acquired by way of a scheme of arrangement the entire issued share capital of Moneybox Holdings Limited (formerly Ambient Corporation Limited) and the remaining shareholdings in Moneybox Corporation Limited not already held by Moneybox Holdings Limited in exchange for the issue of ordinary shares in Moneybox plc. This group reconstruction has been accounted for in accordance with the principles of merger accounting set out in Financial Reporting Standard 6 - 'Acquisitions and Mergers'. The financial information is therefore presented as if Moneybox Corporation Limited and its subsidiaries had been owned and controlled by the Company throughout the periods ended 31 December 2003 and 31 December 2004. 2. Segmental analysis Year ended 31 December 2004 11 months ended December 2003 Market analysis Turnover Profit / Net Turnover Profit / Net (loss) (loss) before tax assets assets before tax £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 ATM deployment and management - UK 32,778 3,449 8,118 27,584 1,996 477 ATM deployment and management - 4,705 (795) 5,079 1,751 (2,429) 464 Rest of Europe Cashless payments and access 5,379 499 2,348 - - - control Central - (1,195) - - (894) - 42,862 1,958 15,545 29,335 (1,327) 941 Net interest 151 44 Profit / (loss) before amortisation 2,109 (1,283) of goodwill, exceptional items and taxation Exceptional items - ATM deployment (4,328) - and management Goodwill amortisation (1,198) - Loss before taxation (3,417) (1,283) Goodwill 14,882 - 30,427 941 3. Exceptional items Cost of Administrative Year ended 11 months sales expenses 31 December ended 2004 31 December 2003 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 AIM flotation costs (i) - 897 897 - Aborted acquisition and bid defence costs (ii) - 477 477 - Reorganisation and restructuring costs (iii) 1,274 704 1,978 - Loss on impairment of tangible fixed assets 976 - 976 - (iv) 2,250 2,078 4,328 - (i) Costs associated with the Company's flotation on the Alternative Investment Market of the London Stock Exchange in March 2004 that were not direct expenses of the share issue and were not capitalised on the acquisition of G2 Limited. (ii) Professional fees incurred in connection with due diligence on potential acquisitions that did not proceed to completion and professional advice on the merits of potential offers for the Company. (iii) Costs associated with restructuring the ATM deployment and management headcount and termination of supplier contracts. (iv) Reflects the impairment of ATM installation and associated costs previously capitalised at sites where the asset is not expected to generate sufficient returns to recover its carrying amount. 4. Earnings / (loss) per share The weighted average number of shares in the period was: Year ended 11 months ended 31 31 December 2004 December 2003 Ordinary shares - basic 183,735,828 126,986,360 Dilutive ordinary shares from share options (i) 4,717,236 2,155,820 Ordinary shares - diluted 188,453,064 129,142,180 (i) As the group made a retained loss for the year ended 31 December 2004 no share options outstanding were considered to be dilutive for this loss per share calculation. The earnings / (loss) per share has been calculated using Year ended 11 months ended 31 the following information: 31 December 2004 December 2003 £'000 £'000 Retained profit for the period before goodwill 2,692 169 amortisation and exceptional items Goodwill amortisation (1,198) - Exceptional items (net of minority share) (4,293) - (Loss) / profit for the period as calculated under FRS 14 (2,799) 169 Earnings / (loss) per share is shown calculated by reference to profits / (losses) both before and after goodwill amortisation and exceptional items since the Directors consider that this gives a useful additional measure of underlying performance. 5. Reconciliation of operating profit / (loss) to net cash inflow / (outflow) from operating activities Year ended 31 December 2004 11 months ended December 2003 Before Goodwill Total Before Goodwill Total goodwill amortisation goodwill amortisation amortisation and and amortisation exceptional and exceptional and exceptional exceptional items items items items £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 Operating profit / (loss) 1,958 (5,526) (3,568) (1,327) - (1,327) Goodwill amortisation - 1,198 1,198 - - - Amortisation of other 21 - 21 11 - 11 intangible assets Depreciation of tangible 3,142 - 3,142 1,243 - 1,243 assets Earnings before interest, 5,121 (4,328) 793 (73) - (73) tax, depreciation and amortisation Loss on disposal of fixed 223 - 223 294 - 294 assets Fixed asset impairment - 976 976 - - - losses (Increase) / decrease in (3,555) - (3,555) 321 - 321 stock (Increase) in debtors (727) - (727) (619) - (619) Increase in creditors 300 939 1,239 795 - 795 Net cash inflow / (outflow) 1,362 (2,413) (1,051) 718 - 718 from operating activities 6. Analysis of cash flows Year ended 11 months 31 December ended 31 December 2003 2004 £'000 £'000 Returns on investment and servicing of finance Interest received 352 44 Interest paid (49) - Net cash inflow from returns on investments and servicing of finance 303 44 Taxation UK corporation tax paid (575) - Capital expenditure and financial investment Purchase of intangible fixed assets (12) (1) Purchase of tangible fixed assets (18,058) (1,744) Proceeds from sale of fixed assets - 225 Net cash outflow from capital expenditure and financial investment (18,070) (1,520) 6. Analysis of cash flows (continued) Year ended 11 months 31 December ended 31 December 2003 2004 £'000 £'000 Acquisitions and disposals Acquisition of shares in subsidiaries (7,257) - Acquisition costs (352) - Net cash acquired with subsidiary (note 8) 930 - Net cash outflow from acquisitions and disposals (6,679) - Financing Issue of share capital in the Company 21,862 - Redemption of share capital (13) - Share issue costs (2,100) - Issue of share capital in subsidiary undertaking 599 627 New secured bank loan 10,000 - Debt issue costs (144) - Repayment of secured bank loan (220) (110) Net cash inflow from financing 29,984 517 7. Analysis of net funds / (debt) 31 December Cash Other 31 December 2004 2003 flows movements £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 Cash at bank and in hand 2,627 3,912 1 6,540 Debt due within one year (220) (1,500) - (1,720) Debt due after more than one year (770) (8,136) (9) (8,915) Net funds / (debt) 1,637 (5,724) (8) (4,095) As at 31 December 2004, included within cash at bank and in hand is an amount of £430,000 (2003 - £807,000) held on trust on behalf of third parties. 8. Acquisitions On 18 March 2004, the company acquired the entire issued share capital of G2 Limited for a consideration of £19,298,000 plus acquisition costs of £352,000 (total £19,650,000). The consideration was satisfied by a cash payment of £7,251,000 and the issue of 25,632,490 ordinary shares at an issue price of 47p each. The book values and fair values of the net assets of G2 Limited immediately prior to acquisition were as follows: Book value Fair value Fair value adjustments (i) £'000 £'000 £'000 Intangible fixed assets - negative goodwill (97) - (97) Intangible fixed assets - other 12 - 12 Tangible fixed assets 433 - 433 Stock 872 (359) 513 Trade debtors 5,043 - 5,043 Cash 930 - 930 Corporation tax (660) - (660) Creditors due within one year (2,516) (54) (2,570) Total net assets acquired 4,017 (413) 3,604 Minority interests (125) Goodwill 16,171 Total consideration 19,650 Satisfied by: £'000 Cash 7,251 Issue of ordinary shares 12,047 Acquisition expenses 352 19,650 (i) The fair value adjustments reflect a £359,000 write down of parts stock held on legacy cashless payment systems and the appropriate recognition of £54,000 of deferred income. The acquisition has been accounted for using the acquisition method of accounting and the goodwill of £16,171,000 arising on consolidation has been capitalised and is being amortised over a period of 10 years. 9. Copies of this preliminary announcement are available from the Company's registered office at 5th Floor Caxton House, 2 Farringdon Road, London EC1M 3HN. The Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 December 2004 will be posted to shareholders on or about 31 March 2005. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
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