CentralNic Group PLC Annual Report 2021 and Notice of Q1 Update and AGM (1999H)

TIDMCNIC

RNS Number : 1999H

CentralNic Group PLC

04 April 2022

4 April 2022

CentralNic Group plc

("CentralNic" or the "Company" or the "Group")

Audited Annual Report 2021

and

Notice of Q1 Trading Update

and

Notice of Annual General Meeting

CentralNic Group plc (AIM: CNIC), the global internet platform company that derives recurring revenues from the sale of online presence and marketing services, is pleased to announce that, further to its announcement on 28 February 2022 titled "UNAUDITED PRELIMINARY RESULTS FULL YEAR 2021", the Audited Annual Report for the financial year 2021 is now available on the Company's website at the following link: https://investor.centralnicgroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Annual-Report-2021.pdf . The Annual Report and Accounts will shortly be posted to shareholders.

All key figures have been confirmed and are without change from the announcement made on 28 February 2022, namely:

   --       Revenue increased by 71% to USD 410.5m (FY2020: USD 240.0m) 
   --       Organic revenue increased by 39% (FY2020: 9%) 
   --       Net revenue (gross profit) increased by 58% to USD 118.5m (FY2020: USD 75.1m) 

-- Adjusted EBITDA* increased by 57% to USD 46.3m (FY2020: USD 29.4m) resulting in a margin of 11.3% on gross revenue and 39.0% on net revenue, i.e. excluding passthrough expenses such as registry fees and revenue shares

   --       Operating profit of USD 12.4m (FY2020: operating loss of USD 2.1m) 
   --       Profit before tax of USD 1.6m (FY2020: loss before tax of USD 11.8m) 

-- Net debt** down to USD 75.0m (gross interest-bearing debt of USD 131.1m, cash of USD 56.1m) as compared to USD 85.0m in FY2020 - despite four acquisitions for a combined USD 18.3m in the year, and the settlement of combined deferred consideration of USD 1.7m

   --       Adjusted EPS for the year increased by 18% to USD 11.80 cents (FY2020: USD 9.96 cents) 

Minor adjustments arising from the audit process include:

   --      Operating Cashflow has improved from USD 40.7m to USD 43.3m 
   --      Adjusted cash conversion ratio has improved from 116% to 122% 

There are no other changes or adjustments to the annual results as announced on 28 February 2021.

In line with the increasing importance of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) considerations in the Group's decision processes, the Annual Report 2021 includes a more comprehensive presentation of our strategy on ESG and how our initiatives feed into that strategy.

The Directors are also pleased to confirm that the Company continues to trade at least at or above the high-end of current analyst expectations.

Notice of Q1 Trading Update

The Company further announces that it will publish a trading update for the three months ended 31 March 2022 on Monday, 25 April 2022.

Annual General Meeting

The Company also announces that its 2022 Annual General Meeting ("AGM") will be held at 10:00 BST on Wednesday, 4 May 2022 at the Company's registered office at 4th Floor, Saddlers House, 44 Gutter Lane, London, EC2V 6BR. The Forms of Proxy and Notice of AGM document can be found on the Company's website at: https://investor.centralnicgroup.com/investors/announcements/ .

The Board takes the well-being of its employees, customers and shareholders very seriously and strongly recommends that shareholders do not attend the AGM in person. The Company is offering facilities for shareholders to attend by conference call to ask questions in real time should they wish to do so. Shareholders will be able to follow the proceeding of the AGM over the online Investor Meet Company platform by registering in advance via the following link: https://www.investormeetcompany.com/centralnic-group-plc/register-investor

Shareholders are invited to submit any questions in respect of the meeting for the Board to consider. Questions may be submitted in advance or during the meeting over the Investor Meet Company platform following registration, and the Board will aim to respond to any such questions relevant to the business of the meeting.

Ben Crawford, CEO of CentralNic, said:

"CentralNic's results for 2021 demonstrate the potential of its strong marketplace model for Online Presence and Online Marketing services. With the completion of the acquisition of VGL in March 2022, we have recently enriched our Online Marketing marketplace with a perfectly complementary asset. Strong earnings, excellent cash conversion and a sound balance sheet will allow us to add more well curated offerings to our two marketplaces, further augmenting our strong organic growth. Whilst it remains early into the new financial year, we remain confident in our outlook for this year and beyond."

Enquiries:

 
 CentralNic Group Plc 
  Ben Crawford, Chief Executive Officer 
  Don Baladasan, Group Managing Director 
  Michael Riedl, Chief Financial Officer             [phone] 
 
 Zeus (NOMAD and Joint Broker) 
  Nick Cowles / Jamie Peel / James Edis 
  (Investment Banking)                                [phone] 
  Dominic King (Corporate Broking)                    [phone] 
 Berenberg (Joint Broker) 
  Mark Whitmore / Richard Andrews / Alix 
  Mecklenburg-Solodkoff                               [phone] 
 SEC Newgate (for Media)                            [phone] 
  Bob Huxford / Isabelle Smurfit/ Max Richardson     [e-mail] 
 

About CentralNic Group plc

CentralNic (AIM: CNIC) is a London-based AIM-quoted company which drives the growth of the global digital economy by developing and managing software platforms allows businesses globally to buy subscriptions to domain names for websites and email, monetise their websites, and acquire customers online. Its core growth strategy is identifying and acquiring cash-generative businesses in its industry with annuity revenue streams and exposure to growth markets and migrating them onto the CentralNic software and operating platforms.

CentralNic operates globally with customers in almost every country in the world. It earns recurring revenues from the worldwide sales of internet domain names and other services on an annual subscription basis.

For more information please visit: www.centralnicgroup.com

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April 04, 2022 10:49 ET (14:49 GMT)