Preliminary Results
Centaur Holdings PLC
20 September 2005
Centaur Holdings plc
Preliminary Results for the year ended 30 June 2005
Centaur Holdings plc (Centaur), the specialist business publishing and
information group, announces results for the year ended 30 June 2005.
Centaur's premier brands include Marketing Week, Design Week, Creative Review,
Money Marketing, Mortgage Strategy, The Lawyer, The Engineer, New Media Age and
Homebuilding & Renovating and the online service Perfect Information.
Highlights
•Turnover up 6% to £72.2m (2004 (note 1): £68.3m)
•EBITDA (note 2) up 38% to £12.2m (2004: £8.8m)
•EBITDA margin strongly ahead at 17% after costs associated with Finance
Week and Perfect Information (2004: 13%)
•Underlying EBITDA (note 2) at £14.3m, giving a margin of 20% (2004:
£9.7m; 14%)
•Profit before tax ('PBT') of £2.6m compared to £3.4m in Pro Forma year
ended 30 June 2004 due to full year impact of amortisation of goodwill
•Adjusted profit before tax (note 3) up 60% to £10.2m (2004: £6.3m)
•Continuing recovery in advertising with revenues up by 8% on 2004, led by
recruitment advertising up 16%
•Continued growth in exhibitions, including 4 new shows launched during
the year
•Fully diluted EPS before amortisation and exceptional items up 64% to
4.80p (2004: 2.93p)
•Proposed final dividend of 1.2p per share (full year dividend of 1.7p
compared with 1p in 2004)
•Strong balance sheet and cash generation with net cash of £10.0m at 30
June 2005 (2004: £5.7m)
•Positive start to new financial year
Commenting on the preliminary results, Graham Sherren, Chairman and Chief
Executive Officer of Centaur said:
'I am pleased to announce that Centaur is reporting record profits in the 12
months to 30 June 2005, with adjusted PBT, at the top end of expectations, up
60% to £10.2m. Revenue, which grew 6% in the year, benefited from further
recovery in the advertising cycle and from the results of new and recently
launched products. This performance has resulted in a dramatic improvement in
our reported ebitda margins to 17% (2004: 13%). Excluding our two major new
development initiatives (Perfect Analysis and Finance Week) the margin achieved
was 20% (2004: 14%).
'The recovery in the advertising cycle that started towards the end of 2003 is
continuing. Our growth prospects continue to be well supported by our pipeline
of new and recently launched products. Revenues in the first quarter are ahead
of the same period last year. The outlook is encouraging and we expect 2006
results to demonstrate further good progress.'
Notes
1. The Pro Forma 2004 ('2004') results are based on a full 12 months
trading for the Centaur Communications Group that became part of Centaur
Holdings plc on 10 March 2004.
2. Centaur's key internal measure of profit is earnings before interest,tax,
depreciation and amortisation and excluding exceptionals (EBITDA). In
addition, 'underlying' results of continuing operations are presented to provide
a better indication of overall financial performance. The 'underlying' results
exclude the impact of recent acquisitions or disposals and of new launches into
new communities.
3. Adjusted PBT is profit before tax, excluding the impact of amortisation
of intangibles and of exceptional items and amounts written off investments.
Enquiries:
Centaur Holdings plc Graham Sherren, CEO Tel: 020 7970 4000
Geoff Wilmot, CFO
Gavin Anderson & Company Richard Constant Tel: 020 7554 1400
Robert Speed
Janine Brewis
Chairman's Statement
Introduction
I am pleased to announce that Centaur is reporting record profits in the 12
months to 30 June 2005, with adjusted PBT at the top of expectations up 60% to
£10.2million. Revenues, which grew 6% in the year, benefited from further
recovery in the advertising cycle and from the results of new and recently
launched products. This year on year revenue growth was partially offset by the
adverse impact of biannual engineering exhibitions held in the prior year and
by our decision to reduce the number of conferences staged in the year to June
2005,which resulted in a corresponding improvement in margins from events.
EBITDA increased by 38% to £12.2million, representing a dramatic improvement in
margin to 17% from 13% in the previous year. Meanwhile, underlying margins,
after excluding the results of our major new development initiatives, Finance
Week and Perfect Analysis, rose to 20% (2004: 14%).
Profit before tax amounted to £2.6million compared with £3.4million in the year
ended 30 June 2004. The 2005 result is stated after charging, within
administrative expenses, £7.1million of goodwill amortisation (2004
£2.4million), principally relating to the goodwill arising on the purchase of
the Centaur Communications Group (CCG) by the Company on 10 March 2004. PBT in
the year to 30 June 2005 also included deductions of £0.5million of exceptional
administrative costs associated with the move of the Company from AIM to the
Official List in December 2004. Finally, cash balances at 30 June 2005, net of
loan note creditors, stood at £10.0million (2004: £5.7million).
In light of this performance, the Board is recommending a final dividend of 1.2p
per share, which will be paid to shareholders on the register as at 18 November
2005. It is proposed that the dividend will be paid on 16 December 2005. The
Company will not be proposing any Scrip Dividends or Dividend Reinvestment Plan
Options.
The recovery in the advertising cycle that started towards the end of 2003
continued through the year to June 2005, although certain business sectors
performed more strongly than others. Nevertheless, total advertising turnover
during the year increased by 8% over the equivalent prior year period. As in the
previous year, this recovery was led by growth in recruitment advertising, which
increased by 16% on the previous year.
We also continued to see promising growth in other areas of the business, in
particular our internet businesses and our exhibitions. This reflected the
success of the principal focus of our strategy in the past few years, which has
been to extend our major publishing brands into other media, notably events and
online. The Centaur Communications Group (CCG) has developed most of its
business organically. Where acquisitions have been made, they have tended to be
early stage acquisitions, rather than the purchase of established businesses or
products. This strategy continued in the year to 30 June 2005 and the key
developments and initiatives in the period are outlined in the Operating Review.
The recovery in the advertising cycle is continuing and our growth prospects
continue to be well supported by our pipeline of new and recently launched
products. Revenues in the first quarter are ahead of the same period last year.
The outlook is encouraging and we expect FY 2006 results to demonstrate further
good progress.
Finally, my thanks to all my colleagues who as always have performed with great
energy and enthusiasm.
Operating Review
Trading Review
Centaur's rapid growth in the year continued to be supported by its pipeline of
new and recently launched products. Overall, about 15% of revenues generated in
the last financial year were from products or events launched within the past
three years and less than 2% of revenues were from businesses acquired within
the same period. The bulk of these new launches have been in existing
communities, exploiting and extending established leading brands. As a result
these are already significantly profitable, generating an EBITDA margin in the
year of 10%. Losses from acquisitions were generated principally by the new
product development costs in Perfect Information arising from the acquisition of
Synergy.
Marketing, Creative & New Media
Revenues in our largest market segment grew 3% in the year, but tight cost
control, notably in conferences, enabled us to improve margins to 19% (2004:
15%).
The advertising recovery in this sector has been variable, partly reflecting the
consumer and retail slowdown experienced in the last year. Nevertheless,
recruitment advertising in particular has held up reasonably well and our
leading magazines in this sector, Marketing Week, Design Week and Creative
Review all achieved modest revenue growth in the year as a whole. The direct
marketing segment, for which we publish the weekly magazine Precision Marketing,
remained weak.
The Insight and InStore shows both delivered strong revenue and profits growth.
The DM Show, run in September 2004, did not improve its results year on year and
the new show, the Total Motivation Show, operated close to break-even. The
second new marketing show, the Online Marketing Show, made a useful profit
contribution in its first year. As noted above, we reduced the number of
conferences, but improved the profitability of these events.
Our internet portal, mad.co.uk, which serves the marketing, advertising and
design communities, also had a successful year, delivering record profits and
margins.
Legal & Financial
This was our most successful market segment, reflecting the strength of the
underlying communities served. Revenue grew 12% year on year and we achieved a
margin of 20% (2004:17%). If the results of the newly launched Finance Week were
excluded, the margin would have been 27%.
This division's two leading titles, Money Marketing and The Lawyer, each ended
the year strongly. Money Marketing recovered from a weak third quarter, and the
improved outlook also helped its sister title, Fund Strategy, to end the year
strongly. The Lawyer, meanwhile, recorded its best performance ever. Mortgage
Strategy, launched in autumn 2001, continued to grow throughout the year.
Finance Week revenues have been building steadily. Recruitment revenues grew
more slowly than anticipated, but are expected to be a major source of income
for the magazine. We believe it is essential to provide the market with an
electronic job site alongside the printed medium. Having reviewed the
possibility of acquiring an existing financial job-site, we concluded that we
would achieve a higher return in the long run by building our own, which we have
now done.
In exhibitions the previous year's partial replacement of small roadshow-style
events by larger regional events resulted in revenues and profitability
recovering strongly. We also achieved further valuable contributions from the
leading awards events run for each specialist community and from The Lawyer's
European Summit.
Revenues and profits from our three major internet businesses in this division
(Money Marketing Online, TheLawyer.com and Headline Money) grew strongly and
each of these business units is now generating a good marginal contribution to
central overheads. The first two sites noted above also successfully upgraded
their technology platforms during the year and have significant potential for
further growth.
Construction & Engineering
Despite the adverse impact of biannual exhibitions not scheduled during the year
to June 2005, revenues from this market segment grew by 6% and that, combined
with continued cost reductions in the engineering portfolio, led to a doubling
of the margin to 16%.
The leading title in the engineering portfolio is The Engineer, which we have
successfully re-positioned as the news magazine for technology and innovation,
published principally for those involved in the development of new applications
and transferable technology. The magazine delivered over 10% revenue growth in
the period and traded profitably for the year and its associated web site also
traded profitably in the fourth quarter.
Although there has been a well-publicised slowdown in the housing market, the
major title in the Construction sector, the monthly publication Homebuilding &
Renovating, delivered further growth in revenues. In addition, each of the six
established Homebuilding exhibitions generated further growth in revenues, and
were boosted by the successful launch of the Smart Homes Show, run alongside the
National Homebuilding Show in April 2005.
Perfect Information
Perfect Information's (PI) results continued to be held back by the effects of
the trading losses and development costs of Perfect Analysis (PA). The
development programme, which is being conducted partly in cooperation with a
major investment banking client, is on track to be completed in early 2006. As
noted in our interim accounts, we have taken steps to reduce the cost base of
Perfect Information, principally in respect of fixed costs taken on with the
acquisition of Synergy. As a result, losses associated with PA were
substantially reduced in the second half.
The market for PI's corporate filings service improved during the year,
supported by improving M&A activity. As a result, the company achieved a record
level of new subscriptions for its core product Perfect Filings. These
contracts, whose revenues are recognised over the life of the subscription
period, were largely second half weighted. This factor, combined with
rationalisation costs, held back underlying profitability in the year. However,
the new financial year has started strongly, including the first new
subscription business in the US market.
Other
Overall our other products experienced a small increase in revenues, but a
marked improvement in margin in the year to June 2005. Revenue growth was driven
principally by a strong performance by the Employee Benefits suite of products,
offset to an extent by continued difficulties experienced within the
international antique rugs market.
Throughout the group we continued to focus on new business opportunities in the
year to 30 June 2005 and the key initiatives in the period are outlined below.
Magazines
In November 2004 we launched Finance Week, published for senior finance
professionals working in the corporate sector. The magazine has been well
received by its readers and revenues are steadily building. As we anticipated,
we have incurred substantial start-up operating losses on this project,
amounting to £1.4m in the period to 30 June 2005. However, we believe that the
magazine will be established as a leading information brand in its sector and
its success will also present us with considerable opportunities for future
growth through other media, again particularly through events and online.
In October 2004 we launched Data Strategy, a monthly publication for data
professionals, published by the team behind our weekly periodical, Precision
Marketing. The magazine made a useful profit contribution in the year and
supported a profitable related conference in the second half.
Online
The development of the Internet as an advertising and information medium is
transforming the business opportunities available to Centaur. We have invested
steadily in our internet operations and they are now delivering high rates of
revenue growth and in many cases are already generating higher profit margins.
During the past year we upgraded the technology platforms of three of our four
largest internet services, in order to enhance the robustness, scalability and
cost-effectiveness of these operations, which we believe have high growth
potential. Investment to upgrade the technology platform of the fourth major
internet service, mad.co.uk, has just been completed and the new service
re-launched in September 2005.
The past year has also been a period of significant development activity within
our largest online business, Perfect Information. The major focus of this
development has been on its new equity research tool, Perfect Analysis (PA),
based on technology acquired in the purchase of Synergy in the previous year. We
have secured some new clients for this service during the year but our emphasis
has been on delivering the major added-value improvements we have identified as
necessary to secure competitive advantage. The development programme is in its
final stages and we expect to launch the new completed version of PA in early
2006. We have also during the year launched two new products in the PI portfolio
- Perfect Debt (a fully text and clause-searchable tool for the debt
professional) and Perfect Search (a new web-based interface for the US market).
Both products have started to generate new sales for PI.
Events
We organised four new exhibitions during the year, bringing to 17 the total
number of new shows launched in the past 5 years. In September 2004 we organised
the Business Travel Show in Dusseldorf for the first time. This show is the
first of its kind serving the largest business travel market in Europe. The
launch show was well received by exhibitors and we achieved a high level of
re-booking for the following year's show, which has just run profitably in
mid-September 2005. Also, in September 2004, we organised the first Total
Motivation Show at Olympia, a show designed for all those involved in the
incentivisation of customers and staff.
In April 2005, we organised the first Smart Homes Show alongside our National
Homebuilding Show in the NEC, Birmingham, which attracted over 40,000 visitors.
This was a great success and contributed to a record level of on-site
re-bookings by exhibitors. Its success also encouraged us to launch a second
Smart Homes show alongside our London Homebuilding Show in October 2005. Also in
April 2005, we organised a smaller version of the Subcon show, successfully
converting what had previously been a biannual event into an annual exhibition.
In June 2005, we organised the Online Marketing show, sponsored principally by
our leading magazine New Media Age. This followed on from the success of
our new awards event, the Interactive Marketing Awards, launched in November
2004 as a joint venture between Marketing Week and New Media Age.
For Conferences, this was a year of consolidation. We organised 10% fewer
conferences with a corresponding reduction in revenues from these events.
However, this loss of revenue was more than compensated for by a marked
improvement in overall margins from Events, which increased to 18% (2004: 7%).
Acquisitions
Our acquisition strategy has been based principally on early-stage or in-fill
acquisitions. In February 2005 we completed the acquisition of Logistics
Manager, a monthly magazine with two related shows. The purchase price was £0.5m
and the acquired assets had achieved a profit contribution in the 12 months
before sale amounting to approximately £0.2m. This acquisition takes us into a
new community. We believe this is a market with significant growth potential,
driven by the increased impact of the internet on distribution and these assets
constitute a good base from which to exploit that potential.
Current Development Activity
In the new financial year, we are continuing to develop new products at a steady
pace. Most of our development effort will focus on extending our established
brands into new areas. Innovation is central to Centaur's culture and is an
almost constant activity across the whole portfolio.
In mid-September 2005 we organised the first Mortgage Summit, in Spain, which
made a good first year contribution. In October 2005, we will be organising the
second Smart Homes Show alongside our London Homebuilding Show in Excel, London,
following the success of the initial event in April 2005. In March 2006, we will
organise the Scottish Financial Services Show for the first time, sponsored by
Money Marketing. Also in the Spring of 2006, we will hold the first Fund
Strategy Summit.
In autumn 2005, we plan to publish the first issue of Modern Carpets and
Textiles magazine, a bi-monthly magazine which will be published by the Hali
team. There is currently no specialist magazine dedicated to the editorial needs
of the modern carpets and textiles industry and the Hali team is well qualified
to meet those needs. Also in autumn 2005, we plan to publish a new specialist
consumer magazine entitled Move or Improve, a sister publication to the
successful monthly publication Homebuilding and Renovating.
We are continuing to develop the Logistics Manager brand, acquired in February
2005. We have redesigned the magazine, upgraded the circulation, launched a new
web-site to support the magazine and will launch a third regional exhibition in
the fourth quarter of the new financial year.
Data Strategy will run a new awards event in October 2005. The Engineer will run
a new awards event for the sector in April 2006 and will also publish a new
Annual, celebrating the 150th anniversary of the magazine.
Finance Week has in the first quarter added a job-site to its internet site,
financeweek.co.uk as an essential part of its strategy to be the market leading
recruitment advertising medium in this sector.
In early September 2005, Perfect Information (PI) released its Excel add-in
facility for Perfect Analysis (PA). This is an important milestone in the
overall development of PA and delivers a number of attractive features for its
core equity research users. In early 2006, PI plans to complete its development
of PA and release it as a fully web-based service.
Notes
1. Centaur's key internal measure of profit is earnings before interest, tax,
depreciation and amortisation and excluding exceptionals (EBITDA). In addition,
'underlying' results of continuing operations are presented to provide a better
indication of overall financial performance. The 'underlying' results exclude
the impact of recent acquisitions or disposals and of new launches into new
communities. Adjusted PBT is profit before tax, excluding the impact of
amortisation of intangibles and of exceptional items, including share-based
payments.
2. Centaur's product portfolio currently comprises 9 weekly magazines, 1
fortnightly magazine, 11 monthly magazines, 4 magazines of a quarterly or
bi-monthly frequency, 2 monthly newsletters, 27 annuals, 19 online products, 25
awards or other sponsored events, 25 exhibitions and 90 conferences.
3. Centaur reports its results within 5 distinct divisions, namely Marketing
and Creative, Legal and Financial, Engineering and Construction, Perfect
Information and Other. The first 3 segments comprise principally the following
vertical business communities in which Centaur publishes market-leading magazine
titles: Marketing Services, Creative Services, New Media, Retail Financial
Products, Legal Services, Engineering, Private Homebuilding.
4. It also enjoys strong positions in a number of other specialist
communities, namely HR, Visual Arts Production, Construction, Antique Rugs and
Textiles, Logistics and Public/Private Finance. In addition, it serves the
Business Travel community with 3 leading trade shows in the UK and overseas.
Consolidated profit and loss account for the year ended 30 June 2005
Actual Pro forma Actual
Year ended Year ended 30 Oct 2003
30 June 30 June to 30 June
2005 2004 2004
---------------------------------------------
Note £'000 £'000 £'000
Turnover 1 72,215 68,254 25,493
Cost of sales (39,248) (38,017) (13,609)
================================================================================
Gross profit 32,967 30,237 11,884
Distribution costs (4,164) (4,287) (1,259)
Administrative expenses (26,506) (22,468) (8,983)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
EBITDA before
exceptional costs 1 12,202 8,823 4,905
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Depreciation of tangible
fixed assets (2,368) (2,676) (987)
Amortisation of goodwill (7,052) (2,437) (2,186)
Exceptional administrative costs (485) (228) (90)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Operating profit 2,297 3,482 1,642
Share of associate's
operating profit 27 - -
================================================================================
Profit on ordinary activities before
interest 2,324 3,482 1,642
Interest receivable and similar
income 295 196 71
Amounts written off investments - (274) -
Interest payable and similar
charges (3) (7) (4)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Profit on ordinary activities
before taxation 2,616 3,397 1,709
Tax on profit on ordinary
activities 2 (2,760) 1,222 (1,169)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(Loss) / profit for the
financial year (144) 4,619 540
Dividends (2,532) (1,480) (1,480)
Retained (loss) / profit
for the period (2,676) 3,139 (940)
================================================================================
Earnings per share 3
Basic (loss) / earnings
per share (pence) (0.10) 3.12 0.79
Fully diluted earnings
per share (pence) - 3.00 0.73
Adjusted earnings per
share (pence) 4.99 3.04 4.13
Fully diluted adjusted
earnings per share
(pence) 4.80 2.93 3.80
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Consolidated Balance Sheet at 30 June 2005
2005 2004
------------------------------------
Note £'000 £'000
Fixed assets
Intangible fixed assets 132,062 138,701
Tangible fixed assets 5,502 5,311
Investments 212 185
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
137,776 144,197
Current assets
Stocks 1,320 1,185
Debtors 15,761 14,771
Cash at bank and in hand 12,480 9,132
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
29,561 25,088
Creditors: amounts falling
due within one year (24,621) (23,426)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Net current assets 4,940 1,662
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total assets less current liabilities 142,716 145,859
Provisions for liabilities and charges (2,500) (3,387)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total net assets 140,216 142,472
================================================================================
Capital and reserves
Called up share capital 15,012 14,879
Share premium account 287 127,047
Other reserves 1,486 1,486
Profit and loss account 123,431 (940)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Equity shareholders' funds 140,216 142,472
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Group cash flow statement for the year ended 30 June 2005
Actual Pro forma Actual
Year ended Year ended 30 Oct 2003
30 June 30 June to 30 June
2005 2004 2004
--------- --------- ---------
Note £'000 £'000 £'000
Net cash inflow from operating
activities 9,646 7,153 4,937
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Returns on investments and servicing of
finance
Interest received 293 196 71
Interest paid (49) (174) (61)
================================================================================
Net cash inflow from returns on
investments and servicing of
finance 244 22 10
Taxation (1,105) (671) (356)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Capital expenditure and financial investment
Purchase of tangible fixed assets (2,564) (2,166) (667)
Sale of tangible fixed assets 16 24 11
Purchase of intangible fixed assets (565) (195) (120)
================================================================================
Net cash outflow for capital
expenditure and financial
investment (3,113) (2,337) (776)
Acquisitions and disposals
Proceeds from the disposal of
subsidiary undertakings 417 617 -
Acquisition / disposal expenses paid - (2,921) (2,780)
Cash at bank and in hand acquired
with subsidiary undertakings - 58 6,274
Purchase of subsidiary undertakings - (128,736) (127,634)
================================================================================
Net cash inflow / (outflow) from
acquisitions and disposal of
subsidiary undertakings 417 (130,982) (124,140)
Equity dividends paid to shareholders (2,220) - -
================================================================================
Net cash inflow / (outflow) before
financing 3,869 (126,815) (120,325)
Financing
Issue of ordinary share capital 420 134,445 131,994
Cash (repaid) / received in respect
of loan notes (941) 3,429 3,429
Share capital issue costs - (5,968) (5,968)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Net cash (outflow) / inflow from
financing (521) 131,906 129,455
================================================================================
Increase in cash 3,348 5,091 9,130
================================================================================
Basis of Preparation
Actual
The consolidated financial statements include all the Group's activities for the
year ended 30 June 2005.
The company was incorporated on 30 October 2003 as a private limited company and
did not trade until 10 March 2004 when it acquired Centaur Communications Ltd
and its subsidiaries ('the Centaur Communications Group').
As a result the actual comparative refers to the period 30 October 2003 to 30
June 2004.
Pro forma
The Pro Forma results for 2004 are based on a full 12 months trading for the
Centaur Communications Group that became part of Centaur Holdings plc on 10
March 2004.
Notes to the financial statements
1 Segmental analysis
The Group is involved in the single activity of the creation and dissemination
of business and professional information in the UK. There is therefore no
segmental reporting required. However, set out below are business analyses of
Group turnover and EBITDA before exceptional costs ('EBITDA').
Analysis by division
Actual Pro forma
Year ended Year ended
30 June 30 June
2005 2004
--------------------------------------------------------
Turnover EBITDA Turnover EBITDA
£'000 £'000 £'000 £'000
Marketing, Creative and New 24,670 4,686 23,911 3,624
Media
Legal and Financial 22,049 4,447 19,677 3,385
Construction and 13,320 2,129 12,530 967
Engineering
Perfect Information 5,904 407 6,099 749
Other 6,272 533 6,037 98
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
72,215 12,202 68,254 8,823
================================================================================
Analysis by source
Actual Pro forma
Year ended Year ended
30 June 30 June
2005 2004
------------------------------------------
Turnover Turnover
£'000 £'000
Recruitment advertising 11,587 9,989
Other advertising 26,725 25,359
Circulation revenue 5,267 5,108
Online subscriptions 6,882 6,303
Events 20,819 19,722
Other 935 1,773
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
72,215 68,254
================================================================================
Analysis by product type
Actual Pro forma
Year ended Year ended
30 June 30 June
2005 2004
-------------------------------------------------------------
Turnover EBITDA Turnover EBITDA
£'000 £'000 £'000 £'000
Magazines 39,356 7,163 37,224 6,432
Events 20,819 3,754 19,722 1,338
Online Products 10,672 907 9,981 894
Other 1,368 378 1,327 159
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
72,215 12,202 68,254 8,823
================================================================================
Analysis by maturity
Actual Pro forma
Year ended Year ended
30 June 30 June
2005 2004
-----------------------------------------------
Turnover EBITDA Turnover EBITDA
£'000 £'000 £'000 £'000
Existing communities
-established products 60,538 13,256 55,560 7,948
-new products 10,377 1,077 12,077 1,781
------------------------------------------------
Underlying turnover and EBITDA 70,915 14,333 67,637 9,729
Acquisitions 1,077 (738) 617 (733)
New communities - new products 223 (1,393) - (173)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
72,215 12,202 68,254 8,823
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
New product development is defined as any product launched in the last three
years and is reported by reference to the three years preceding each reporting
date. A community is defined by reference to the consumers of the relevant
products.
A new community is defined as any group of consumers not previously served by
any products in the three years preceding each reporting date.
Acquisitions are also reported by reference to the three years preceding each
reporting date.
Substantially all net assets are located and all turnover and EBITDA are
generated in the United Kingdom.
2 Tax on profit on ordinary activities
Actual Pro forma Actual
Year ended Year ended 30 Oct
30 June 0 June 2003 to 30
2005 2004 June 2004
---------------------------------------------
£'000 £'000 £'000
Analysis of charge in period
UK corporation tax at 30%
- Current year 1,617 - -
- under/(over)provision in previous
periods 211 (156) -
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1,828 (156) -
================================================================================
Deferred taxation
Current year (origination and reversal
of timing differences) 185 (287) (96)
Utilisation and
(recognition) of tax losses 925 (779) 1,265
Adjustment in respect of prior years (178) - -
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
932 (1,066) 1,169
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tax on profit on ordinary activities 2,760 (1,222) 1,169
================================================================================
The factors affecting the tax charge for the period were:
Profit on ordinary activities
before tax 2,616 3,397 1,709
Profit on ordinary activities multiplied
by standard rate of corporation tax in the
UK 2005: 30% (2004: 30%) 785 1,019 513
Effects of:
Expenses not deductible for
tax purposes 2,161 972 656
Capital allowances for
the period (in excess of) /
less than depreciation (240) 722 219
Utilisation of tax losses (925) (2,713) (1,388)
Statutory deduction in
respect of non-capital R & D
expenditure (164) - -
Adjustments to tax charge in
respect of previous periods 211 (156) -
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Current tax charge /
(credit) for period 1,828 (156) -
================================================================================
3 Earnings per share
The calculations of earnings per share are based on the following profits and
numbers of shares:
Actual Pro forma Actual
Year ended Year ended 30 Oct 2003
30 June 30 June to 30 June
2005 2004 2004
--------------------------------------------
£'000 £'000 £'000
(Loss)/ profit for the financial year (144) 4,619 540
Amortisation of goodwill 7,052 2,437 2,186
Amount written off investments - 274 -
Exceptional deferred tax credit - (3,057) -
Exceptional administrative costs 485 228 90
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Adjusted profit for the financial
year 7,393 4,501 2.816
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Weighted average number of ordinary
shares 148,261,194 147,994,118 68,223,627
Dilutive effect of share options 5,764,839 5,807,266 5,807,226
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Weighted average number of shares in
issue taking account of applicable
outstanding share options 154,026,033 153,801,384 74,030,853
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(Loss)/ earnings per share (pence) (0.10) 3.12 0.79
Diluted (earnings per share (pence) - 3.00 0.73
Earnings per share (pence) using
adjusted profit for the financial
year 4.99 3.04 4.13
Diluted earnings per share (pence)
using adjusted profit for the
financial year 4.80 2.93 3.80
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The adjusted earnings per share have been provided in order that the effect of
goodwill amortisation, the prior year exceptional deferred tax credit together
with the other items listed above can be fully understood.
The exceptional deferred tax credit of £3,057,000 in the Pro Forma year ended 30
June 2004 related to the exercise of share options in Centaur Communications
Ltd.
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
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