AGM 1st QTR MNGT STMNT
GB Group PLC
19 July 2007
19 July 2007
GB Group PLC
('GB', 'Group' or 'the Company')
AGM TRADING UPDATE AND FIRST QUARTER INTERIM MANAGEMENT STATEMENT
At GB's Annual General Meeting held today, John Walker-Haworth, the Chairman,
provided the following update on the Group's trading after the first quarter of
the new financial year.
Under the UK Listing Authority's Disclosure and Transparency rules, GB Group Plc
is required to publish Interim Management Statements ('IMS'). This update also
serves as the first IMS of the Company for the period from 1 April 2007 to 19
July 2007.
Overview
Group revenue to the end of June was £3.7m (2006: £3.1m), an increase of 19% on
the previous year. Cash balances at 30 June 2007 (pre-dividend) were £5.3
million (March 2007: £5.2 million).
The Group's overall trading performance for the first quarter was ahead of our
expectations reflecting a good performance in GB's traditional business areas.
Revenue performance in GB's DataAuthentication business, which provides
electronic identity verification solutions, was £1.3m, approximately 20% up on
the same period last year but broadly in line with the preceding quarter to 31
March 2007.
DataAuthentication
GB's pipeline of major opportunities is encouraging and we expect to continue to
close a good proportion of these during the course of the year although, based
on current trends of longer sales lead times and the time taken to integrate
DataAuthentication's solutions, this is likely to be at a slower rate than
initially expected.
In addition to growth from new clients, we expect our existing customers to
increase their volume of usage. For instance, in the UK, we expect that the
recent announcement of O2 (a GB client) as the UK's exclusive distributor of
iPhone will have a positive impact on GB's volumes later in the year.
DataIntegrity and DataSolutions
Revenue performance in DataIntegrity and DataSolutions in the first quarter is
ahead of the same period last year despite operating in challenging and
competitive markets. The improved performance includes a substantial contract
with Her Majesty's Revenue & Customs, the success of which was due to the
Group's strategy to develop and introduce web-based solutions that provide
real-time availability of data.
Outlook
We are pleased to end the first quarter ahead of our expectations at a Group
level and with a robust balance sheet and resources to continue to grow our
business.
The rate of growth for the Group is dependent on growth in our
DataAuthentication business which, in turn, is expected to be weighed
significantly towards the second half of the year. Accordingly, we need to
remain cautious about the full year outcome in the light of our first quarter
experience and pending further evidence of the market shift away from existing
paper based methods to electronic methods of identity verification.
- Ends -
For further information, please contact:
GB Group plc
Richard Law, Chief Executive 01244 657333
Mona Navin-Mealey, Finance Director
Weber Shandwick Financial 020 7067 0700
Richard Hews
Hannah Marwood
Website www.gb.co.uk
Notes to Editors
About GB Group plc
GB Group plc provides a range of products and services to enable organisations
to capitalise on their greatest asset - their customers. GB has expertise across
a range of sectors and is able to transform customer data into valuable
information, enabling clients to truly fulfil the strategic objective of 'know
your customer' and in doing so make better, more informed decisions.
We are constantly improving our products and services by applying our core
values of Innovation, Quality and Excellence. This has been demonstrated over
the course of the last year by the launch of ID3-Check (TM), GB's international
identity verification service and by the launch in January 2007 by DataIntegrity
of online services which replace the periodic supply of data on disk to the real
time availability of data via a web-based delivery solution.
Know Your Customer ('KYC')
Many people will be aware that there is a regulatory requirement in the
Financial Services sector for organisations to 'Know Your Customer'. We believe
that knowing your customer is fundamental to all businesses, not just those in
financial services, and GB has three complimentary offerings enabling our
clients to achieve that. These are
• DataAuthentication helps businesses validate personal identity
information and provides anti-fraud solutions to fight crime.
• DataIntegrity helps companies capture and maintain accurate customer
contact data, an essential foundation for any profitable customer relationship.
• DataSolutions empowers companies to consolidate and analyse customer
data from various sources, enabling them to make better, more informed
decisions.
Established since 1989, GB's core competencies combined with industry sector
knowledge have enabled the company to deliver significant value to organisations
such as DSG International, Scottish Power and Lloyds TSB in helping them derive
maximum value from their customer relationships and sustain real advantage over
their competition.
GB Group is supported by its key relationships with major organisations with
whom it works on major initiatives (an example being British Telecom), together
with a team of highly talented and motivated staff successfully delivering
business solutions.
GB Group plc is listed on the London Stock Exchange (www.gb.co.uk).
DataAuthentication, GB's fastest growing business area, specializes in
electronic ID verification through its URU (TM) and ID3-Check (TM) services.
About URU (TM)
URU is an online identity verification service which was developed jointly with
BT and is DataAuthentication's principle offering. URU, which is powered by GB's
ID3(TM)search engine and decision making technology, provides access to GB's
comprehensive range of identity data and BT's high capacity web delivery. It
helps organisations to protect themselves from the growing problem of identity
theft and fraud, which is estimated to cost the UK economy over £1.7 billion per
annum. URU enables companies subscribing to the service to make an instant
decision whether to accept the identity claimed by any given individual and
confirm their age in seconds.
URU works by cross checking personal information provided by an individual at
the point of acquisition against a comprehensive range of datasources to confirm
that an individual is who they claim to be, live where they claim to live and
meet certain minimum legal age requirements.
No personal data is disclosed by the reference databases and as a result URU is
compliant with the Data Protection Act.
URU also provides a valuable audit trail demonstrating that the necessary checks
have taken place, thereby helping companies comply with legislation, including
the 2nd European Money Laundering Directive, Proceeds of Crime Act and Minimum
Legal Age requirements of certain industry sectors.
The addition of data from CallCredit also enables users of URU to incorporate
credit reference data.
As a result of legislation, new opportunities and social responsibility
requirements, the market for online ID verification is significant and growing.
Although an estimated 0.5 billion manual ID checks are conducted annually in the
UK, less than 6%* of these are currently performed electronically.
(* figures as at November 2006)
URU has demonstrated that online checks are more effective, less expensive and
more robust.
The market is moving towards online checks as fraudulent documents become ever
more sophisticated, more readily available and more difficult to check manually.
It is estimated that by 2010, the market for online ID checks could be 0.3
billion checks per annum.
GB works closely with trade and industry associations, such as the Finance and
Leasing Association, the Remote Gambling Association and the Financial
Technology Research Centre, to advise businesses that more robust processes can
prevent financial crime. We have worked closely with the Gaming Industry to
address social issues such as underage gambling and addiction and our Social
Responsibility Consultancy helps Gaming operators formulate best practice to
comply with regulatory requirements and improve profitability.
About ID3-Check (TM)
ID3-Check is an international online identity verification service developed by
GB's DataAuthentication business. It is a hybrid international version of the
technology underpinning URU, GB's joint project with BT which is now the UK's
leading online age and identity verification service.
The service helps organisations to protect themselves from the growing global
problem of identity theft and fraud. ID3-Check enables organisations subscribing
to the service to make an instant decision whether to accept the identity
claimed by an individual and confirm their age in seconds. ID3-Check can confirm
the age and identity of some 800 million individuals in 25 countries including
Australia, Canada, the USA and most Western European countries.
ID3-Check works by cross checking personal information provided by an individual
at the point of acquisition against a comprehensive range of data sources to
confirm that an individual is who they claim to be, live where they claim to
live and meet certain minimum legal age requirements.
No personal data is disclosed by the reference databases and as a result
ID3-Check is compliant with Data Protection laws.
ID3-Check also provides a valuable audit trail demonstrating that the necessary
checks have taken place, thereby helping companies comply with international
legislation, As a result of legislation, new opportunities and social
responsibility requirements, the market for online ID verification across
borders is significant and growing.
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
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