Final Results

i-documentsystems Group PLC 08 December 2003 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 8 December 2003 i-documentsystems group plc Results for the year ended 31 October 2003 Highlights • Turnover up 48% to £4.47 million (2002: £3.02 million), in line with expectations • Cash of £2.65 million as at 31 October 2003 (2002: £2.54 million) • Three consecutive months of profitable trading, consistent with projection • Loss lower than expected at £0.59 million (2002: loss of £1.48 million) • Annualised recurring revenue of £2.25 million (2002: £1.20 million) • Successful acquisition and integration of Mandoforms • Raised £1.22 million from new and existing investors • Strengthened market position by winning both new customers and expanding within local authorities • Pipeline opportunities continue to increase both in quantity and quality For further information please contact: John Wisbey, Chairman 020 7353 5330 Andrew Fraser, CEO 020 7427 0660 Tim Bowen, CFO and COO 020 7427 0660 Richard Fallowfield / Nadja Vetter, Cardew Chancery 020 7930 0777 Notes to editors: i-documentsystems group plc (IDOX) is a fast-growing information services company, specialising in the development of products and services for information management and content provision. The Group has three key business areas - software, information and managed services. Provided separately, or as a joint offering, these areas of expertise allow IDOX to provide for the majority of the information provision and information management needs of Local Government. IDOX Software is a sophisticated web-based software package delivering platform-independent solutions for document management and workflow with proven information and knowledge management capabilities. The Group maintains the most comprehensive collection of information in the UK on all aspects of best practice and governance in the public sector. This library is available to clients through membership of the IDOX Information Service. Information projects are also undertaken for public sector clients. The Group has a leading position in putting the Local Government Planning process online (its flagship Managed Services solution) and has developed the first true end-to-end e-Planning solution for Local Authorities and their citizens - UKPlanning. i-documentsystems group plc Chairman's Statement For the year ended 31 October 2003 The year 2003 represents an important milestone for i-documentsystems group plc (IDOX). The Group has not only met its targets but, for the first time, has also recorded three consecutive months of profitable trading, consistent with our stated aim of becoming a profitable and cash generative company. The Board feels that the Group is now close to achieving critical mass in the Local Government sector, in line with its chosen strategy. Revenues, in line with market expectations, have risen 48% from £3.02 million to £4.47 million. As a result of tight cost controls, losses for the full year are lower than expected at £0.59 million (2002: loss of £1.48 million). The loss for the second half of the financial year was £0.13 million. Cash reserves stand at approximately £2.65 million. We are particularly pleased that we have increased our recurring revenue from software maintenance, longer term managed service contracts and information subscriptions. Some £2.25 million of annualised recurring revenues were achieved by the end of the year compared with £1.20 million at the end of 2002 and £1.51 million at the interim stage this year. This underpins our long term growth and will help to improve our quality of earnings. During the period under review, IDOX acquired Nettgain Solutions Limited, the online forms specialist, trading as Mandoforms. The acquisition has provided IDOX with market-leading electronic forms technology enabling the Group to offer significantly enhanced services to existing and potential customers. This acquisition has proved highly successful and is already earnings enhancing. We were pleased to welcome Peter Lilley MP to the IDOX Board at the start of the year. His experience of government has given us breadth of understanding of the marketplace and is of significant benefit in assisting with our future strategic direction. IDOX is now successfully positioned as an important provider of software, information and managed services to Local Government. The Group's offering is unparalleled in the sector and would be exceedingly difficult to replicate. The Group has increased its portfolio of local authority software implementations to over 100 through both organic growth and the acquisition of Mandoforms. The overall number of local authority clients exceeds 160 as of today. IDOX is now winning an increasing number of contracts to supply software into multiple departments, even across entire councils and by moving outside its traditional heartland of the Planning department, thus increasing its share of existing customers' business. This year's results continue the successful implementation of our strategy as outlined at the time of our AIM flotation in 2000. Our adherence to this strategy, coupled with a robust business pipeline, heralds a solid platform for expansion, both organically and through acquisitions. In line with stated policy, earnings for the foreseeable future will be re-invested to finance the growth of the Group's business. The Directors do not recommend the payment of a dividend. The Group has increasingly become known as IDOX, its core product brand as well as its AIM stock symbol, and accordingly the Board intends to recommend to shareholders at the next AGM that the Group change its name to IDOX plc during 2004. In anticipation of this event, the Group's web site has become www.idoxplc.com. Finally, I would like to extend my gratitude to our employees, customers, suppliers and shareholders whose respective commitments to IDOX represent an integral aspect of our continued success. The staff at IDOX, in London and Glasgow as well as those in our recently acquired Manchester office, have all worked hard to maintain the Group's high reputation in the marketplace and deserve considerable recognition and thanks for their excellent achievements. John Wisbey Chairman 5 December 2003 i-documentsystems group plc Chief Executive's Report For the year ended 31 October 2003 Financial Review The Group's revenues rose from £3.02 million to £4.47 million, a 48% gain, for the year ended 31 October 2003. The Group reduced its losses from £1.48 million in 2002 to £0.59 million, with the majority of the loss incurred in the first half of the year. This equates to a loss per share of 0.42 pence (2002: loss per share of 1.11 pence). The gross margin improved to 86% (2002: 78%) for the period. Net cash as at 31 October 2003 amounted to £2.65 million (2002: £2.54 million) following the acquisition of Mandoforms. I am delighted to report that, for the last three months of the financial year, the Group has been trading profitably as forecast at this time last year. Throughout the year, we greatly increased our annualised recurring revenue, giving the Group a solid base of long term contracts on which to build. Annualised recurring revenues increased from £1.20 million at the end of October 2002 to £1.51 million at the half year, and £2.25 million at year end. While in the first year of a managed service contract we receive less revenue than we would for an outright sale of the software, we believe that the creation of strong recurring revenue streams will give the Group a higher quality of earnings and greater visibility in the future. Market Place and Market Dynamics One of the key issues facing local authorities is the handling and sourcing of the vast quantities of information they generate and store, and how they can make best use of this information to improve services to their customers - the public. An increasing amount of legislation and Government directives in recent years are aimed to help local authorities to: • store their information in a more structured and accessible format (Records Management) • share information across service areas and also with other authorities and partner organisations (Joined-Up Government) • give the public access to all relevant information (Freedom of Information and Data Protection) • restructure their systems and streamline their processes using technology (e-Government) • use the experiences of other authorities to improve their own operations (Best Practice, Pathfinder and Beacon councils). In addition, the Government is encouraging local authorities not just to add technology on top of their existing processes, but to re-evaluate those processes themselves completely in order to fully support e-services. It is clear that local authorities are struggling to understand how to manage and use the wealth of information around them. IDOX aims to take a more comprehensive approach than its competitors by providing the information, the tools to handle the information and the expertise to implement and manage the process. Consequently the Group continues to believe that it is well-placed to gain significant additional contracts from the remainder of the UK local authorities, as well as additional business from existing local authority customers. In the 2003 financial year we have won a number of corporate contracts where our software and services will be rolled out across the entire council as the backbone of its IT systems, rather than being limited to a single department. These include the Borough of Poole, where the council required an integrated system to bring online forms, document management and workflow together. Education, Housing and Planning have already been installed, and a further 23 business units will be linked to our systems over the course of the project. We have also expanded our footprint in existing clients, for instance at the London Borough of Hillingdon where our existing installation has been joined by new implementations within the Human Resources and Education departments. We have nearly doubled the number of implementations in Corporate Services, and increased our penetration in Housing, Community Services and Education. Our UKPlanning managed service, which makes planning information available on the Internet both within the council and to citizens, has been especially successful this year, growing its customer base from 5 councils last year to 15 councils at the end of 2003. We are particularly pleased with our success in Kent, where Thanet District Council's good experience of the system since it joined UKPlanning in July 2002 has encouraged three other local councils to sign up. Now that we have demonstrated the value of the service, we expect to see further strong growth in the number of councils taking up the offering. The number of online searches being carried out has also increased to nearly 40,000 a month, a strong validation this e-Government service is meeting citizens' needs. While more firms have attempted to enter the local authority marketplace, the only real impact on the Group has been that councils have taken longer to evaluate tenders as a result of an increase in volume of responses. Reference sites remain crucial to the sales effort and create a substantial barrier to entry. Although the sales lead-time in the local authority marketplace continues to be lengthy, local authorities are under considerable pressure to meet the requirements of the implementation of the Freedom of Information Act in 2005 and to achieve the Government's target of improving the delivery of services through the use of technology by the same deadline. Acquisition and Placing In the period under review, IDOX acquired the entire issued share capital of the online forms specialist, Nettgain Solutions Limited, trading as Mandoforms, for a consideration of approximately £1,500 in cash and £0.18 million in deferred contingent cash consideration. In addition, IDOX assumed net liabilities of up to £0.81 million. Mandoforms was founded as an e-commerce consultancy developing sophisticated Java-based software solutions for online data capture and data processing to generate fast, simple, safe and secure online forms. Since 2000, Mandoforms has established a significant presence in the UK local authority marketplace. Mandoforms' core product has gained wide acceptance within the local authority market due to its ease of use and its ability to enable councils to build their own forms. As at 31 October 2003, Mandoforms had supplied its products and services to 47 UK local authorities. This acquisition provides IDOX with market leading electronic forms technology to meet the needs of existing and potential customers. Furthermore, with only 5 customers in common as at 31 October 2003, the acquisition presents IDOX with considerable cross-selling opportunities in respect of its unique e-Government solutions offerings encompassing software, information and managed services. An excellent team of people at Mandoforms has further strengthened the existing IDOX team. Funding for the transaction was arranged via a placing of new ordinary shares in the Company. Noble & Company, acting as agent for the Group, placed a total of 11,500,000 ordinary shares of 1p each on behalf of the Group, raising £1.15 million before issue expenses, at a price of 10p per share. The proceeds were used towards the acquisition of the entire issued share capital of Mandoforms, the settlement of certain liabilities of Mandoforms and to augment the Group's existing working capital. The resulting new ordinary shares rank pari passu with the existing ordinary shares of the Group and represent 7.48% of the enlarged issued share capital of the Group at that time. Dealings in the new ordinary shares commenced on 4 September 2003. IDOX Product and Service Offerings The Group's business base comprises three core elements: software, information and managed services, combined under the strapline of 'Information into Intelligence'. All three divisions within the Group have made considerable progress during the period. IDOX is now successfully positioned not only as an important provider of information and software to Local Government but increasingly as an information management company providing information, software and professional expertise in the handling of information. The Directors believe this represents a unique offering in the local authority and wider public sector marketplace. IDOX continues to make rapid progress in winning contracts in departments outside its original expertise of Planning, such as Education, Chief Executive's and Social Services departments. As providers of corporate solutions, the Group is exploring a broad range of further opportunities in National and Local Government and in non-Government markets. IDOX Software is now being implemented within departments such as Housing and Revenues & Benefits, where vendors of traditional transactional systems have historically enjoyed a strong foothold. As a result of the move to single solutions for multiple departments, IDOX is now being awarded larger 'corporate solution' type contracts, and is also seeing significant revenues from increasing penetration within existing customers. The Group continues to strengthen further its Revenues & Benefits solutions. Mandoforms has taken steps this year to expand into the mobile electronic forms market. Two implementations, one at Teignbridge District Council and one at Leicestershire County Council, have seen the installation of benefits and social services forms on hand held PC Tablets, enabling officers to capture information in citizens' homes. The captured information is integrated directly into their back office benefits systems. Recent Project Wins The combination of IDOX's software and information provision was instrumental in the Group's winning a number of information projects over the past year, including: • Building and maintaining a searchable web based database of labour market intelligence for Futureskills Scotland. Research material is sourced from over 100 journals and a similar number of web sites around the globe (www.futureskillsscotland.org.uk) • Creating a searchable database of regeneration projects in the North East of England for the Regeneration Exchange in Newcastle • Undertaking a content development project for the North East regional pages of renewal.net, the Government's key web service supporting thousands of urban regeneration practitioners; a service which IDOX manages under a long term contract (www.renewal.net). Product and Service Development IDOX continues to invest in the development of its products and services to meet the needs of its current and future customers, and during 2003 over £1 million was invested in product research and development. Developments in IDOX Software over the past year have included improvements to process workflow to improve the Group's offering in areas such as Revenues & Benefits, increased functionality in management reporting functions to help managers in all departments and the development of a records management module to meet the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act, Data Protection Act and the requirements of The National Archives (formerly Public Records Office). The National Archives has updated its Electronic Records Management compliance standards and IDOX is at the final stages of development of software to meet these latest requirements. To this end, IDOX has made the formal application for testing under the approval scheme. The development of the Electronic Records Management component of IDOX Software has been a major effort, including a new state-of-the-art architecture based around the Sun J2EE architecture. We have also had excellent initial user feedback in terms of its look-and-feel and useability. A key improvement to the IDOX Information Service has been the extension of functionality to the online search facility of the database. It is now possible for members to search the complete library database, and to order many more items in full text online. Hypertext links also guide members to relevant online items where appropriate. In addition to this work, areas of interest to members are reviewed regularly for updating of titles, journals and web references held. The Group has recently reviewed the entire Environmental Services subject area and has extended its service offering to ensure that comprehensive coverage is provided. People Our workforce grew from 80 at 31 October 2002 to 94 at the end of this financial year. The Group possesses a team and infrastructure capable of delivering and managing rapid business growth, so that increasing revenue can be accommodated within a stable cost base. At the same time the Group continues to exercise tight internal financial control in order to meet its financial goals. The Group received the Investor in People award in March 2003, having achieved ISO9001 status last year. The benefit of such accreditations is not only that they act as a useful audit of our internal policies and procedures, but that they further enhance our eligibility to participate successfully in the local authority tender process. Strategy and Outlook This year the Group fulfilled its primary financial objective of enjoying regular profitability on a monthly basis by the end of the financial year. The Board's goal now is to build on this progress thereby ensuring profitability for 2004, while increasing its revenues and improving its market share. While it remains difficult to predict the timing of contract signings, the pipeline is strong, and a number of new contracts have already been secured since the end of the year. The Group's recurring revenue streams from maintenance, information services and UKPlanning form a secure underpinning for our business and we remain conservatively optimistic about next year's growth plans. The Group will continue to seek to increase its market share, revenue and profitability, both through organic growth and through appropriate acquisitions. The Board remains committed to fulfilling the best interests of our shareholders while securing a leading place within the Local Government market. Andrew Fraser Chief Executive 5 December 2003 This announcement was approved by the Board of Directors on 5 December 2003. i-documentsystems group plc Consolidated Profit and Loss Account For the year ended 31 October 2003 Note 2003 2002 £ £ Turnover Continuing 4,211,401 3,017,602 Acquisitions 260,904 - 4,472,305 3,017,602 External charges Continuing (611,361) (667,161) Acquisitions - - (611,361) (667,161) 3,860,944 2,350,441 Staff costs Continuing (3,099,052) (2,524,671) Acquisitions (125,097) - (3,224,149) (2,524,671) Other operating charges Continuing (1,272,430) (1,386,671) Acquisitions (33,287) - (1,305,717) (1,386,671) Operating (loss)/profit Continuing (771,442) (1,560,901) Acquisitions 102,520 - (668,922) (1,560,901) Interest receivable 73,862 77,428 Loss on ordinary activities before taxation (595,060) (1,483,473) Tax on loss on ordinary activities 2 - - Loss for the period transferred from reserves (595,060) (1,483,473) Loss per share (pence) 3 (0.42)p (1.11)p All operations are attributable to continuing operations. There are no recognised gains or losses other than those set out above. i-documentsystems group plc Consolidated Balance Sheet At 31 October 2003 2003 2002 £ £ Fixed assets Intangible assets 1,703,513 696,906 Tangible assets 255,561 259,727 Investments 28,344 28,344 1,987,418 984,977 Current assets Debtors 1,530,906 1,167,227 Cash at bank and in hand 2,646,695 2,537,752 4,177,601 3,704,979 Creditors: amounts falling due within one year (2,840,376) (1,949,553) Net current assets 1,337,225 1,755,426 Total assets less current liabilities 3,324,643 2,740,403 Creditors: amounts falling due after more than one (30,000) (40,000) year Net assets 3,294,643 2,700,403 Capital and reserves Called up share capital 1,536,789 1,408,039 Deferred share capital - 1,112,014 Capital redemption reserve 1,112,014 - Share premium account 5,159,088 4,098,538 Other reserves 1,294,745 1,294,745 Profit and loss account (5,807,993) (5,212,933) Shareholders' funds 3,294,643 2,700,403 i-documentsystems group plc Consolidated Cash Flow Statement For the year ended 31 October 2003 Note 2003 2002 £ £ Net cash outflow from operating activities 4 (624,388) (843,324) Returns on investments and servicing of finance Interest received 71,825 77,143 Net cash inflow from returns on investments and 71,825 77,143 servicing of finance Capital expenditure and financial investment Purchase of tangible fixed assets (210,810) (236,377) Sale of tangible fixed assets 3,026 - Purchase of investment - (28,344) Net cash outflow from capital expenditure and (207,784) (264,721) financial investment Acquisitions Purchase of company (89,591) (418,601) Net cash balances acquired with the company (230,419) 181,481 Net cash outflow from acquisitions (320,010) (237,120) Financing Issue of shares 1,189,300 1,434,016 Net cash inflow from returns on investments and 1,189,300 1,434,016 servicing of finance Increase in cash 5 108,943 165,994 i-documentsystems group plc Reconciliation of Movements in Shareholders' Funds For the year ended 31 October 2003 2003 2002 £ £ Loss for the financial year (595,060) (1,483,473) New share issue 1,189,300 1,434,016 Provision for issue costs released - 55,274 Share options exercised - 27,500 Net increase in shareholders' funds 594,240 33,317 Shareholders' funds at 1 November 2002 2,700,403 2,667,086 Shareholders' funds at 31 October 2003 3,294,643 2,700,403 i-documentsystems group plc Notes to the announcement For the year ended 31 October 2003 1 BASIS OF PREPARATION The announcement has been prepared in accordance with applicable United Kingdom accounting standards and under the historical cost convention. The principal accounting policies have remained unchanged from those set out in the Group's 2002 annual report and accounts. The financial information set out in this announcement does not constitute statutory accounts as defined in section 240 of the Companies Act 1985. The consolidated balance sheet at 31 October 2003 and the consolidated profit and loss account, consolidated cash flow statement and associated notes for the year ended 31 October 2003 have been extracted from the statutory accounts upon which the auditors opinion is unqualified and does not include any a statement under section 237 of the Companies Act 1985. 2 TAX ON LOSS ON ORDINARY ACTIVITIES There was no charge for taxation for the year ended 31 October 2003 (2002: nil) due to operating losses in the current year. Unrelieved trading losses of £4,492,620 (2002: £2,658,543), amounting to £1,347,786 (2002: £797,563), calculated at the standard rate of corporation tax in the UK of 30%, remain available to offset against future taxable trading profits in certain companies within the Group. Factors affecting tax losses available for carry forward in the period are: 2003 2002 £ £ Loss on ordinary activities before taxation (595,060) (1,483,473) Loss on ordinary activities multiplied by the standard rate of corporation tax in the UK of 30% (178,518) (445,042) Effects of: Expenses not deductible for tax purposes 4,034 21,048 Depreciation in excess of capital allowances 23,366 45,005 Capital expenditure in revenue - 1,753 General provision 6,333 5,577 Increase in tax losses 144,785 371,659 - - Total unrecognised deferred tax asset amounts to £1,384,575 (2002: £793,023). The Directors consider that it is unlikely that this deferred tax asset will crystallise in the foreseeable future. 3 LOSS PER SHARE The loss per ordinary share is calculated by reference to the loss attributable to ordinary shareholders divided by the weighted average number of shares in issue during each period, as follows: 2003 2002 £ £ Loss for the year (595,060) (1,483,473) Weighted average number of shares in issue 142,805,965 133,976,939 Loss per share (0.42)p (1.11)p The deferred ordinary shares and options are anti dilutive under FRS 14. 4 NET CASH OUTFLOW FROM OPERATING ACTIVITIES 2003 2002 £ £ Operating loss (668,922) (1,560,901) Depreciation 216,644 150,029 Goodwill amortisation 81,669 30,250 Profit on sale of fixed assets (834) - Gain on share options - 27,500 Increase in debtors (217,592) (14,150) (Decrease)/increase in creditors (35,353) 523,948 Net cash outflow from operating activities (624,388) (843,324) 5 RECONCILIATION OF NET CASH FLOW TO MOVEMENT IN NET FUNDS 2003 2002 £ £ Increase in cash in the year, being movement in net 108,943 165,994 funds in the year Net funds at 1 November 2002 2,537,752 2,371,758 Net funds at 31 October 2003 2,646,695 2,537,752 6 FURTHER COPIES Copies of this announcement and the full annual report and accounts are available, free of charge, for a period of one month from the Company's Nominated Adviser and Broker Noble & Company Limited, 1 Frederick's Place, London, EC2R 8AB, Tel: 020 7367 5600 or from i-documentsystems group plc, 10th Floor, 21 New Fetter Lane, London EC4A 1AJ, Tel: 020 7427 0660. Copies of the full financial statements will be posted to shareholders on 8 December 2003. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange FR TABFTMMJMBAJ

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