Preliminary Results

GETECH Group plc 30 October 2006 For Immediate Release 30 October 2006 GETECH Group plc PRELIMINARY RESULTS For the year ended 31 July 2006 FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS •Profit before tax of £1,010,013 (2005: £730,460) •Turnover of £3,228,573 (2005: £3,481,743) •Earnings per share of 2.65p (2005: 2.47p) •Dividend payment of 0.6p per share (subject to shareholder approval at the Annual General Meeting) •Total dividend for the year 1.0p per share OPERATIONAL HIGHLIGHTS •Securing through the Company's reputation, two R&D projects with a major European oil company to a value in excess of £0.5m •Signing a Memorandum of Understanding with the China Geological Survey to market their digital products outside China •One complete sale and several part sales of our Global Continental Margins Gravity Study •Winning the British Chamber of Commerce in Singapore 2005 Award in the Category 'Energy and Utilities'. •Continued growth of the PSEG with recruitment of technical specialists with a range of experience to fill key roles For further information, please contact: Derek Fairhead, Managing Director, GETECH Group Plc 0113 343 5240 Colin Glass, Finance Director, GETECH Group Plc 07831 258494 Rob Naylor, Teather & Greenwood 020 7426 9000 Kelly-Ann French, Buchanan Communications 01943 883990 www.getech.com CHAIRMAN'S STATEMENT I am pleased to report the inaugural full year results of GETECH Group plc ('GETECH' or 'the Company') as an AIM listed company for the year ended 31 July 2006. GETECH is in the oil services sector specialising in the provision and interpretation of exploration data and petroleum systems evaluations. Results The Company, including its US subsidiary, reported a profit before tax of £1,010,013 (2005: £730,460) after interest receivable of £140,124 (2005: £33,126) on a turnover of £3,228,573 (2005: £3,481,743). The post tax profit was £733,560 (2005: £534,140) giving earnings per share of 2.65p (2005: 2.47p) adjusted. Admission to AIM On 23 September 2005 the Company was admitted to AIM, simultaneously raising £3m for the Company from a share issue at 39p. Prior to Admission and also at Admission, share options under an Enterprise Management Incentive Scheme and an Unapproved Scheme, were granted to ensure that key management and staff were appropriately incentivised to deliver shareholder value. Dividends As the Company is strongly capitalised and continues to generate cash from its trading operations, I am delighted to report that your Board intends to pay a final dividend for the year, subject to shareholder approval at the Annual Gener al Meeting, of 0.6p per share, to shareholders registered on 10 November 2006. The final dividend will cost the Company £166,154 and will be paid on 8 December 2006. This dividend, together with the interim dividend of 0.4p per share paid on 5 May 2006, will bring the total dividend for the year to 1.0p per share, which is in line with our stated intention to operate a progressive dividend policy. Business Review In my interim report I reminded shareholders that a substantial part of the Company's turnover tends to be made up of large contracts whose nature and timing cannot always be accurately predicted. This is still the case but GETECH continues to broaden its client base both in its core business and through the steady growth of the Petroleum Systems Evaluation Group (PSEG). The PSEG has been working throughout the year on a number of projects with a diverse range of established and newer resource companies in many areas of the world on either a non-exclusive or proprietary basis. Where the project is on a non-exclusive basis we expect to make multiple sales of the resultant report. The existing projects should be completed in the current financial year and new projects are being commenced in line with expectations. This has resulted in the requirement to employ additional, highly qualified, staff which was recognised at the time of our Admission to AIM as a key area of investment. We are confident that under the leadership of Dr Paul Markwick, this division will continue to grow in the foreseeable future. A further consequence of the dependence on a relatively small number of large projects, is that the gross margin on sales income is highly dependent on the product sales mix - significant external costs are associated with some sales but not others. During the year reported upon, the product mix resulted in a higher gross margin than in the previous year by ten percentage points. Generally, your Board believes that oil exploration budgets will increase to reflect the need to replace reserves in the context of a buoyant oil price. GETECH expects to benefit from this situation, and with its strong balance sheet and increased profile as a quoted company, it will be in a good position to exploit opportunities to acquire key data and prove an attraction for the calibre of geoscientists it requires to develop all aspects of its business. Premises GETECH has expanded beyond the capacity of its accommodation on the University of Leeds campus and the Board recognised that it was vital to find suitable premises for the anticipated further growth of the business. I am pleased to report that the Company has exchanged contracts to purchase freehold premises at Roundhay, north east of Leeds city centre, for £2.5m to provide superb facilities to cope with our expansion plans. Completion is anticipated before the end of 2006. In order to avoid the disruption of having to move again as we expand, the facilities purchased will exceed our immediate needs and we intend to rent out the surplus accommodation on shortterm leases. We fully expect the rental received to cover the deposit interest foregone and we will have an unencumbered asset should we wish to raise funding in the future. The new premises will be able to accommodate our staff in excellent working conditions with modern IT and communications support. Outlook Your Board believes there is an exciting future for GETECH given its first class reputation as a supplier and interpreter of gravity and magnetic data to a host of blue-chip oil, gas and mineral companies worldwide. We intend to build on these relationships and develop new ones, and to continue to recruit the best geoscientists available to enable us to provide an unrivalled service to our clients. In addition, having now established ourselves as a quoted company we will be looking for appropriate acquisitions to enhance the Company's value. Finally, on behalf of the Board, I would like to thank our employees for their continued dedication and commitment to the Company. PETER STEPHENS Chairman OPERATING REVIEW Business Setting Hydrocarbon exploration is currently experiencing significant investment due to strong global demand for oil, high commodity prices and the need for oil and gas companies to replace their depleting reserves. These factors have resulted in oil and gas companies searching more widely, in fact globally, for new resources. As a result many companies are entering countries for the first time and need to come up-to-speed on hydrocarbon exploration opportunities. Our products and services allow them to do just this in a cost effective manner and in a way that will help these companies to reduce their exploration risk. GETECH's products and services in oil and gas consulting have been developed over 20 years by the compilation of one of the world's most extensive global gravity and magnetic databases based on a dozen or so oil and mineral industry funded studies since 1986. These data enable the imaging of subsurface geological structures based on corresponding changes in rock density (gravity) and rock magnetisation (magnetic). Careful analysis of such data enables the mapping of tectonic structures (faults and contacts), calculation of depth of sedimentary basins and delineation of areas affected by volcanics. Oil and mining companies license our data when they are evaluating a new exploration area and/or when they wish to expand their current exploration activities into neighbouring regions. Company History GETECH has its origins as a small research group at the University of Leeds, Department of Earth Sciences, which in 1986 initiated the compilation of gravity data for the continent of Africa supported by a group of oil and mining company sponsors. By 1996 GETECH had amassed a global gravity and magnetic database through compilation studies covering almost the whole world. GETECH opened an office in Houston, Texas in 1996, as a separate company, Geophysical Exploration Technology Inc. In 1999 GETECH Inc acquired the business of Precision Mapping Inc - further enhancing the Company's data assets. In 2000 GETECH, including GETECH Inc, spun out from the University of Leeds as a private company (Geophysical Exploration Technology Limited). The subsequent success of the business resulted in the flotation of the company on AIM in September 2005 with a name change to GETECH Group plc. GETECH was the first spin out company from the University of Leeds to float on AIM. Close links with its clients and an understanding of their future needs has encouraged the Company to be innovative and to develop a global strategy that has resulted in the development of new datasets for the continental margins of the world and the frontier areas such as Russia and China. In addition GETECH has developed the PSEG which is a rapidly expanding part of the Company. Business Activities GETECH's business is primarily: •licensing global gravity and magnetic data to oil and mineral companies; •undertaking integrated geophysical interpretation studies; and •evaluating the petroleum systems within basins The first two elements currently contribute to the majority of the Company's revenue. The third element relates to the PSEG, which provides oil companies with detailed insights into the key source, reservoir and seal issues relating to hydrocarbon basins. Since 2004 the group has grown from 2 to 9 staff and further growth is anticipated during the current year. Our business success in Southeast Asia, helped by the pro-active marketing activities of our representative based in Singapore, resulted in GETECH being awarded 'The British Business Award, 2005 (category Energy and Utilities)'. The comment by Mervyn Davies of the British Chamber of Commerce in Singapore, who presented the award, stated ' GETECH stands out as a company which has found its place by enlarging the boundaries of knowledge and cutting through the fog of gravity and magnetic data interpretation. The Company has, at the same time, brought this knowledge into successful commercial application.' The success of the PSEG has been its ability to integrate traditional and innovative methods through the latest GIS (Geographic Information System) technology to help clients reduce exploration risk in frontier areas. Much of this type of work was traditionally carried out in-house within oil companies. The PSEG is rapidly establishing its reputation for its quality of work and expertise and has developed an international portfolio of non-exclusive and proprietary studies funded by a range of 'super majors' to medium size oil companies. One of our particular strengths which differentiates us from our competitors, is the ability to integrate our global gravity and magnetic data holdings into regional geological and petroleum systems interpretation studies. These are preserved as non-exclusive, thus allowing us to resell each study many times. This then provides the option for clients to follow up these regional studies with proprietary studies as oil companies focus on specific exploration blocks. Such an approach maximises the value of our innovative skills in project generation and minimises the need to compete for work offered by oil companies. In summary, the strength of the business during the year reflects: •strong demand for our products and services on a global scale from a wide spectrum of oil and mining companies; •the ever growing range of products for key frontier areas; •the growth of the PSEG business which has helped the oil industry to appreciate how gravity and magnetic data can be used as an integral part of reducing risk in frontier areas. This has helped to 'lever' sales of gravity and magnetic data; and •the re-structuring of our US office (in 2004) enabling us to focus on marketing to the key North American client base. The Future The rapid and continued growth of the PSEG has resulted in GETECH needing to move off the University of Leeds campus as the company has completely outgrown its present facilities. To enable the Company to cope with its anticipated expansion we have exchanged contracts to purchase the freehold of part of Elmete Hall in Roundhay, located north east of Leeds city centre. This commitment to purchase quality premises with excellent communication equipment reflects the importance we place on our most important asset - our people. Communication is very important to GETECH and therefore a high speed internet connection capable of delivering 100 Mbits/second is being installed. The accommodation will provide a new stimulating working environment and our staff are looking forward to the move, which we hope will be completed before the end of 2006. The prognosis for the current year is continued growth of the PSEG and its ever wider acceptance within the industry. Discussions are well advanced with organisations in many countries to allow GETECH to market their data so that our data holdings continue to grow. Some of these data sets are in key exploration areas, where clients have expressed strong interest in obtaining data. With GETECH continuing to expand the scope of its products and services, and to draw together the skills and experience of its growing team of geoscience specialists, I am confident we will continue to build on this year's success. Finally I would like to thank all my colleagues for their unstinting efforts on behalf of the Company and we all look forward to an exciting future. PROFESSOR J DEREK FAIRHEAD Managing Director FULL RESULTS BELOW CONSOLIDATED PROFIT AND LOSS ACCOUNT for the year ended 31 July 2006 2006 2005 TURNOVER - continuing activities 3,228,573 3,481,743 Cost of sales (783,875) (1,317,375) __________ __________ GROSS PROFIT 2,444,698 2,164,368 Distribution costs (870) (2,839) Administrative expenses (1,573,910) (1,464,195) __________ __________ OPERATING PROFIT - continuing activities 869,918 697,334 Interest receivable 140,124 33,126 Interest payable (29) - __________ __________ PROFIT ON ORDINARY ACTIVITIES BEFORE TAXATION 1,010,013 730,460 Tax on profit on ordinary activities (276,453) (196,320) __________ __________ PROFIT ON ORDINARY ACTIVITIES AFTER TAXATION and FOR THE YEAR £733,560 £534,140 ========= ========= Basic earnings per share 2.76p 10.14p Diluted earnings per share 2.76p 10.14p There were no recognised gains or losses other than profit or loss for the period. All the group's activities are classed as continuing for the period. CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEET 31 July 2006 2006 2005 FIXED ASSETS Intangible assets 1,415 1,592 Tangible assets 37,907 34,337 _________ _________ 39,322 35,929 CURRENT ASSETS Stocks 166,504 - Debtors 807,905 645,404 Investments 23,880 - Cash at bank and in hand 4,317,913 1,423,703 _________ _________ 5,316,202 2,069,107 _________ _________ CREDITORS - amounts falling due within one year 1,357,135 1,209,596 _________ _________ NET CURRENT ASSETS 3,959,067 859,511 _________ _________ TOTAL ASSETS LESS CURRENT LIABILITIES £3,998,389 £895,440 ======== ======== CAPITAL AND RESERVES Called up share capital 69,231 94 Share premium account 2,460,927 - Capital redemption reserve 6 6 Profit and loss account 1,468,225 895,340 _________ _________ SHAREHOLDERS' FUNDS - equity £3,998,389 £895,440 interests ======== ======= CONSOLIDATED CASH FLOW STATEMENT for the year ended 31 July 2006 2006 2005 NET CASH INFLOW FROM OPERATING ACTIVITIES 653,496 780,647 RETURNS ON INVESTMENTS AND SERVICING OF FINANCE Interest received 140,124 33,126 Interest paid (29) - _________ _________ 140,095 33,126 TAXATION - corporation tax paid (222,453) (32,851) CAPITAL EXPENDITURE and FINANCIAL INVESTMENT Payments to acquire tangible fixed (46,317) (28,346) assets _________ _________ (46,317) (28,346) EQUITY DIVIDENDS PAID (110,769) (50,000) _________ ________ NET CASH INFLOW BEFORE USE OF LIQUID RESOURCES and FINANCING 414,052 702,576 FINANCING Issue of share capital 3,000,000 - Costs of share issue (519,842) - Amount paid for redemption of - (78,750) shares _________ _________ 2,480,158 (78,750) _________ ________ INCREASE IN CASH IN THE YEAR £2,894,210 £623,826 ======== ======= NOTES: There are no recognised gains or losses other than the profit for the year and therefore no separate statement of total recognised gains and losses has been presented. There is no difference between the profit on ordinary activities before taxation and the retained profit for the year as stated above, and their historical cost equivalents. The above financial information does not constitute statutory accounts for the year ended 31 July 2006 or 2005. Statutory accounts for the year ended 31 July 2005 have been delivered to the Registrar of Companies. The auditors have reported on the year ended 31 July 2006 financial statements and their report was unqualified and did not contain a statement under section 237 (2) or (3) of the Companies Act 1985. The statutory accounts for the year ended 31 July 2006 will be delivered to the Registrar of Companies following the Company's Annual General Meeting. EARNINGS PER SHARE Basic earnings per share is calculated on the basis of the profit for the year after tax, divided by the weighted average number of the ordinary shares in issue in the year. Diluted earnings per share is calculated on the basis of the profit for the year after tax, divided by the weighted average number of shares which would be issued if all options granted were exercised. All options were anti-dilutive at 31 July 2006. Reconciliations of the earnings and weighted average number of shares used in the calculations are set out below: 2006 2005 Per share Earnings Weighted Per Share Earnings Weighted amount average amount average number of number of shares shares Profit £733,560 £ 534,140 attributable to shareholders Basic earnings per share Earnings attributable to ordinary £733,560 26,575,666 2.76p £534,140 5,268,403 10.14p share- holders An adjusted earnings per share has also been presented based on the earnings attributable to ordinary shareholders and is calculated as if all shares in issue at 31 July 2006 had been in issue for the whole of the year and the previous year. This basis has been used because as a result of the Admission to AIM on 23 September 2005 there was a significant restructuring of the share capital of the Company to make it more suitable for a publicly traded company. Details of this are disclosed in Note 17. 2006 2005 Per share Earnings Weighted Per share Earnings Weighted amount average amount average number of number of shares shares Basic earnings per share £733,560 26,575,666 2.76p £534,140 5,268,403 10.14p Adjustments: Issue of shares - 1,116,641 150,000 22,423,904 Basic earnings per share Earnings attributable to ordinary share- £733,560 27,692,307 2.65p £684,140 27,692,307 2.47p holders DIVIDENDS 2006 2005 Paid during the year: £110,769 £ Interim dividend at 0.4p per share (2005:£Nil) Proposed after the year end (not recognised as a liability): Final dividend at 0.6p per share £166,154 £ (2005:£Nil) Copies of this preliminary report will be distributed to all holders of the Company's ordinary shares. Copies will also be available at the Company's registered office: Convention House, St Mary's Street, Leeds LS9 7DP. In addition, this report will be available on the Company's website: www.getech.com -ENDS- This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange

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