Final Results

Transense Technologies PLC 29 March 2004 Date: 29 March 2004 On behalf of: Transense Technologies plc Embargoed until: 0700hrs CHAIRMAN'S STATEMENT I am pleased to advise you that this has been an excellent development year for Transense, with a strengthening of the technology and a quickening of pace as we approach product programme start dates. It is important to state at the outset that we are a technology research licensing company with only modest income at this stage in the development cycle. This income comes from engineering and license payments but the substantial royalties we foresee will not commence until our licensees bring their product to the market place. We continuously give commercial, engineering and technological support to encourage them forward with their specific product programmes. This development phase of the cycle often seems very slow and frustrating but as I describe later we believe our two main projects are on target. The tyre pressure monitoring system 'TPMS' should commence with trucks at the end 2004, with royalties due in 2005, and on cars for the 2006 Model Year, while the electric power assisted steering 'EPAS' should commence in 2005. Many other applications for our surface acoustic wave (SAW) technology have the potential to succeed and I refer to some of these in the following review. The year under review was one of increased activity in supplying engineering development services to our licensees, with increased turnover from £123,000 to £262,000. Though the loss of £1,077,000 was £183,000 lower than last year, we still have some considerable way to go before entering positive cash flow territory. Our staff numbers increased to 22 compared to 20 last year, but strict control was kept on overheads with cash control remaining a priority. At the end of December 2003 cash balances were £2.1 million, boosted by the 5% equity placing in August last, which raised £1.2 million. At the end of March this year they stand at £1.8 million. We have made substantial progress in the last year. We signed two more significant manufacturing licence agreements during the course of the year. The first, with Temex in February, to make pressure 'SAW' devices for us, and the other, with Melexis in November, to make the application specific integrated circuits (ASIC) needed to interrogate our SAW sensors. Shareholders will recall that the previously announced licences with Sawtek and Atmel should have exploited these two very important manufacturing aspects of our business. Unfortunately, because of restructuring, both licensees failed to perform and this could have caused a severe setback for us. As it is, our remedial actions succeeded and the delays were not serious. The new manufacturing licensees are now supporting the on-going programmes of our application licensees in tyre pressure monitoring and electric power-assisted steering. Our recent engineering and commercial files record a further eight projects for development while our existing total projects list already number 16 with revenue potential over the coming years. The SAW devices for TPMS being produced by Temex have been under intensive testing for over two years and the performance now being achieved is exceptional. After manufacture, these devices are shipped to Honeywell for packaging into a sensor and then shipped on to our respective licensees. By the end of the year to December 2003 3,000 devices had been shipped to Honeywell as part of the on going testing programme and this is expected to rise substantially through the current financial year. The ASIC design is now close to completion and product is anticipated to be ready for testing in the last quarter of this year. Meanwhile, our discrete component approach will allow us to cater for the initial volume sales. One of the major break-throughs by our technical team has been to incorporate both the pressure and torque requirements into a single ASIC. In the past, two devices would have been required, but this new single ASIC gives us advantages in development speed, reduced complexity and cost/economy of scale. A number of other significant advances have been made for which we have filed patent applications. Last year, we reported a total of 6 granted patents and 25 applications. We now have 14 patents granted and 21 applications filed. The cost of maintaining and filing new applications was £164,000 (2002: £183,000). Overall, I am pleased to state that the development of our technological base and staff has continued to grow strongly, giving us renewed confidence for the future. As our licensees' products with Transense's patented technology draw near to market launch, confidentiality strictures increase concerning their precise launch timing because of competitive pressures. Forever a difficulty of licensing development companies, this secrecy does not make it easy to be certain when the launch of these products will take place. However it is important, regardless of this, for our shareholders to be given a reasonable idea of when our licensees' products might be coming to market, and this can be summarised as follows: • TPMS Proceeding well with three key routes to market over time. Our earlier statement on this programme referring initially to trucks was that volume production was unlikely to commence until late 2004, with cash receipts becoming due in early 2005. On cars, the indication was of 2006 Model Year start. At this point, we have no reason materially to change these timings. • EPAS Proceeding well, our licensees are still on target for systems incorporating our technology to go into production during 2005. I must caution against over-reliance on these timings. However, we feel confident that at least one of our licensees will announce its marketing intention publicly before the end of this year, adding to the momentum to market. If any confirmed material change occurs in these above timings, we will advise the market with an appropriate trading statement. Last year Wheelsure was taking up too much of our technical time and we appointed a dedicated management team to spin out the Company as an independent concern. This was successfully accomplished. Shareholders of Transense were offered preferential rights to subscribe for shares in Wheelsure at 10p a share, which came down to 8p if you took EIS relief into consideration. Wheelsure is making good progress and as at March 26th the shares were changing hands with JP Jenkins Limited on a matched bargain basis of approximately 24p each. Under the terms of the transaction, Transense recovered its outlay, and also retained a 12% shareholding in the enlarged Company at nil cost. In addition to discussions taking place to broaden our licensee base for capital TPMS and EPAS, we are pleased to announce a funded, demonstration project is about to start with a major vehicle manufacturer to use our technology in torque systems for powertrain (engine & transmission), driveline and vehicle stability applications. This is an important extension of our product licensing, since, for the first time, we now have a large OEM looking to integrate a series of our sensors into their vehicles. We have also received, from a senior level in another major vehicle manufacturer, a request to present our technologies for similar applications. All companies need constantly to review the challenges facing them. Our key challenge is protecting our patent base and developing technological growth in depth. We are strong on this score. We need to track competitive technology offerings and evaluate any threats they might pose - and although new offerings can always surface, it was worthy of note that TPMS battery-less offerings of late have reduced rather than increased. As we approach the market, we need to continue our search for strategic partners to strengthen our competence, broaden our product offering, reduce financial risk and improve revenue growth. We need to review our organisation structure and how it must be developed and strengthened, as well as our staff needs and rewards structure, in order to support this increase in growth. On behalf of the Board, I would like to thank all in the developing Transense team for their dedication and hard work over the past year. We value their contribution highly and look forward with them to the exciting opportunities ahead as we drive our way to market. The market for Transense's broadening intellectual property rights remains very significant and highly attractive. I am confident that with our strong team, we will reach very successful outcomes as our development programmes reach fruition over the coming years. Peter Woods Chairman 29 March, 2004 Profit & Loss Account for the year to 31 December 2003 2003 2002 £'000 £'000 Turnover 262 123 Cost of Sales (45) (27) Gross profit 217 96 Administration expenses (1,432) (1,508) Operating Loss (1,215) (1,412) Net interest income 56 100 Loss on ordinary activities before taxation (1,159) (1,312) Taxation 82 52 Loss on ordinary activities after taxation (1,077) (1,260) Dividends - - Loss per share (2.1p) (2.5p) Balance Sheet at 31 December 2003 2003 2002 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 Fixed Assets 1,492 1,401 Current assets: Debtors 141 302 Investments - 51 Cash 2,071 1,849 2,212 2,202 Less: creditors falling due within one 112 175 year Net Current assets 2,100 2,027 Net Assets 3,592 3,428 Capital & reserves: Share capital 5,319 5,066 Share premium 3,351 2,363 Profit & Loss (5,078) (4,001) account Shareholders' funds 3,592 3,428 Cash Flow Statement for the Year to 31 December 2003 2003 2002 £'000 £'000 Net cash outflow from operating activities (1,128) (1,105) Returns on investments and servicing of finance 56 100 Taxation Corporation tax received 134 20 Capital expenditure and financial investment (222) (343) (1,160) (1,328) Disposals and (acquisitions) - - Equity dividends paid - - Cash outflow before financing (1,160) (1,328) Management of liquid resources (159) 1,430 Financing Issue of new ordinary shares 1,291 - (Decrease)/increase in cash in the year (28) 102 Reconciliation of operating loss to net cash flow from operating activities Operating loss (1,215) (1,412) Depreciation, amortisation etc 132 84 Profits on disposal of fixed assets & current asset investment (41) - Net movement in current debtors & creditors (4) 223 Net cash outflow from operating activities (1,128) (1,105) Reconciliation of net cash flow to movement in net funds (Decrease)/increase in cash in the year (28) 102 Increase/(decrease) in cash flow from liquid resources 159 (1,430) Change in net funds resulting from cash flows 131 (1,328) Gain on sale of current asset investment 40 - Conversion of trade debtor into current asset investment - 51 Movement in net funds in the year 171 (1,277) Net funds at 1 January 1,900 3,177 Net funds at 31 December 2,071 1,900 Analysis of net funds Current Liquid asset Resources Cash investments Total £000 £000 £000 £000 At 1 January 1,700 149 51 1,900 Cash flow 250 (28) (91) 131 Non cash charges - - 40 40 At 31 December 1,950 121 - 2,071 Notes to the Preliminary Results for the Year 2003 1. The Accounts The summary of results for the year to 31 December, 2003 does not constitute statutory accounts within the meaning the Section 240 of the Companies Act 1985. The full statutory accounts, which will be available to shareholders shortly, have been reported on by the Company's auditors but have not yet been delivered to the Registrar of Companies. Full accounts in respect of the year to 31 December, 2002 have been delivered to the Registrar of Companies and the Audit Report on these accounts was unqualified. 2. Subsidiary Undertaking Wheelsure Limited, a 75% owned operating subsidiary undertaking at the beginning of the year, was acquired by Wheelsure Holdings plc on an exchange of shares basis. After completion of an offer for sale in August 2003 by Wheelsure Holdings plc, the Company's investment reduced to 12%. Accordingly, as the Company no longer retains a controlling interest in Wheelsure Limited or Wheelsure Holdings plc, consolidated financial statements are no longer required to be reported. The 2002 comparative figures shown in the financial statements are also not consolidated. 3. The Annual Report and the AGM The Annual Report and Accounts will be posted to shareholders by the end of April and the Annual General Meeting will be held on 21 May, 2004. For further information please contact: Jim Perry, Chief Executive Transense Technologies plc 01869 238380 Emma Kane, Chief Executive 020 7955 1410 Redleaf Communications Ltd 07876 338339 This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
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