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LOOP Loopup Group Plc

0.70
0.00 (0.00%)
25 Apr 2024 - Closed
Delayed by 15 minutes
Share Name Share Symbol Market Type Share ISIN Share Description
Loopup Group Plc LSE:LOOP London Ordinary Share GB00BYQP6S60 ORD 0.5P
  Price Change % Change Share Price Bid Price Offer Price High Price Low Price Open Price Shares Traded Last Trade
  0.00 0.00% 0.70 0.60 0.80 0.00 01:00:00
Industry Sector Turnover Profit EPS - Basic PE Ratio Market Cap
Computers & Software-whsl 16.48M -21.8M -0.1102 -0.06 1.39M

LoopUp Group PLC Preliminary results (5142T)

21/03/2019 7:01am

UK Regulatory


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TIDMLOOP

RNS Number : 5142T

LoopUp Group PLC

21 March 2019

LOOPUP GROUP PLC

("LoopUp Group" or the "Group")

Preliminary results for the year ended 31 December 2018

Transformative growth year, enabling increased investment in proven sales structure

LoopUp Group plc (AIM: LOOP), the premium remote meetings company, today announces its unaudited preliminary results for the year ended 31 December 2018.

The results demonstrate transformational growth for the Group, driven by both the acquisition of MeetingZone in June 2018 and our organic LoopUp growth engine. The maintenance of strong organic unit economics, combined with a successful proof-of-concept programme to accelerate recruitment into our proven new business pods, now lead the Group to announce additional investment out of its increasingly cash-generative operations to accelerate future growth.

Financial Highlights

 
                                       FY2018       FY2017 
                                                             Year-on-year 
 GBP million                      (unaudited)    (audited)         growth 
------------------------------  -------------  -----------  ------------- 
 Revenue                                 34.2         17.5            96% 
 Gross profit                            23.9         13.4            78% 
 Adjusted EBITDA (1)                      7.7          3.5           121% 
 Adjusted operating profit 
  (2)                                     4.5          0.7           521% 
 Operating profit                         0.9          0.7            16% 
 Adjusted diluted EPS (pence) 
  (2)                                     9.3          4.4           111% 
------------------------------  -------------  -----------  ------------- 
 

1. Earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation, adjusted to exclude non-recurring transaction costs, exceptional reorganisation costs and share-based payment charges

2. Adjusted to exclude non-recurring transaction costs, exceptional reorganisation costs, amortisation of acquired intangibles and share-based payment charges

-- Adjusted diluted EPS(2) grew by 111% to 9.3 pence in FY2018 (FY2017: 4.4 pence), well ahead of market expectations.

-- Adjusted operating profit(2) grew by 521% to GBP4.5 million in FY2018 (FY2017: GBP0.7 million), and adjusted EBITDA(2) grew by 121% to GBP7.7 million in FY2018 (FY2017: GBP3.5 million).

   --      Group revenue increased by 96% to GBP34.2 million in FY2018 (FY2017: GBP17.5 million). 
   --      The Group ended the year with cash of GBP5.6 million and net debt of GBP10.6 million. 

Operating Highlights

-- On 4 June 2018, the Group completed the acquisition of MeetingZone, which is now fully integrated into a unified Group organisational structure with annualised cost synergies materially above the GBP3 million announced at the time of acquisition.

-- The project to transition MeetingZone's audio conferencing business over to the LoopUp platform has progressed positively and the Group expects a successful overall transition to be completed by Summer 2019.

-- The Group has maintained its track record of 'negative net churn' - i.e. net growth - in its long-term established customer base, driven by continued strong end user engagement with differentiated capabilities of the LoopUp product.

-- The unit economics of our seven UK and US team-based 'pods' for new business acquisition have remained highly efficient during FY2018, returning GBP0.73 of Year 1 gross margin for every pound invested (FY2017: GBP0.75).

-- The Group entered the Australian market in March 2018 and has won 55 new customers to date in the region.

-- The Group operated at a total of approximately 7.5 quota-effective pods during the year (7 in the UK/US and 0.5 in Australia), below the expected level of 11. This was partly due to necessary pipeline build in Australia and partly due to the Group's decision not to migrate any MeetingZone sales staff over to LoopUp pods during the period. This resulted in constant currency organic LoopUp revenue growth of approximately 20% in the period (FY15-FY17 average: 32%).

Post Period Highlights

-- The Group has closed a material contract renewal with leading global law firm, Clifford Chance for a minimum contract value of GBP2.34 million in aggregate over its 3-year term.

-- To boost its number of pods for FY2019, the Group has successfully completed its inaugural 'Pod Academy' programme, bringing 14 career change recruits into more senior sales and account executive pod roles.

-- Our Pod Academy graduates have been joined by 30 new Business Development Associates, recruited through the Group's established graduate recruitment program.

-- In line with the above expanded Pods, in February 2019, the Group opened new offices in Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, Atlanta and Madrid, employing 32 people in aggregate.

-- Following the success of Pod Academy, the Group now plans to invest an additional GBP2.0 million out of its increasingly cash-generative operations in the faster expansion of pods, bringing the total number of quota-effective pods back on track with prior expectations by the end of FY2019 and ahead of prior expectations from FY2020 onwards.

Steve Flavell and Michael Hughes, co-CEOs of LoopUp Group, commented,

"We're delighted to announce strong results at the end of a busy, exciting and transformational year for the Group. MeetingZone is now bedded in organisationally, with greater cost savings delivered than envisaged at the time of acquisition and the transition to the LoopUp platform progressing positively.

Our core business metrics all remain strong: further improved end user engagement with the LoopUp product; continued net revenue growth in our long-term established customer base; and continued efficient return on investment metrics from our new business pods.

We're incredibly excited by the success and potential of our new Pod Academy programme. Pod Academy now provides a more dynamic lever to expand our established and consistently-efficient pods structure, and we're excited to announce additional investment into this programme to drive future growth.

We continue to see strong demand for the LoopUp product from our target market of mid-large enterprises and professional services firms. We've started 2019 with healthy pipelines and we're confident in our ability to deliver continued strong growth."

Market abuse regulation:

This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of Regulation (EU) No 596/2014.

For further information, please contact:

 
LoopUp Group plc                                     via FTI 
Steve Flavell, co-CEO 
 
                                                       +44 (0) 20 7886 
  Panmure Gordon (UK) Limited                          2500 
Dominic Morley / Alina Vaskina (Corporate Finance) 
Erik Anderson (Corporate Broking) 
 
                                                     +44 (0) 20 7260 
Numis Securities Limited                              1000 
Simon Willis / Jonny Abbott (Corporate Finance) 
Tom Ballard (Corporate Broking) 
 
                                                     +44 (0) 20 3727 
FTI Consulting, LLP                                   1000 
Matt Dixon / Harry Staight 
 

About LoopUp Group plc

LoopUp (LSE AIM: LOOP) is a premium remote meetings solution. Streamlined and intuitive, LoopUp is built to give mainstream business professionals a better and more productive experience than basic dial-in conferencing, while delivering the quality, security and reliability required in the enterprise. One-click screen sharing and integration with tools business people use every day, like Outlook(TM), make it easy for LoopUp users to collaborate in real time. LoopUp's award-winning SaaS solution doesn't overwhelm users with features and doesn't require training. Over 2,000 enterprises worldwide, including Travelex, Kia Motors America, Planet Hollywood, National Geographic and Clifford Chance trust LoopUp with their remote meetings.

The Group is headquartered in London, with offices in San Francisco, New York, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Denver, Cardiff, Milton Keynes, Madrid, Berlin, Malmo, Hong Kong, Sydney and Barbados, and is listed on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange (LOOP). For further information, please visit: www.loopup.com.

Chief Executive Officers' Business Review

We are pleased to report on a period of transformational growth for the Group during financial year 2018, with revenue growing by 96% and adjusted operating profit(2) by 521%. This strong performance has been driven by both the acquisition of MeetingZone and continued robust organic growth of the LoopUp product, delivered by our efficient new business acquisition pods.

The Group has also strengthened its senior management team during the period with several key hires: Robert Jardine as Chief Marketing Officer; Ben Fried as VP of Group Commercial; Dave Carroll as VP of Network Operations; Paul Tunstall as Senior Director of Account Management; Sarah Cranston as Head of Customer Support; and Angel Junio as Director of HR.

Acquisition of MeetingZone

On 4 June 2018, the Group completed the acquisition of MeetingZone for GBP61.4 million, funded by a GBP50 million equity placing and a new GBP17 million term loan. Following a detailed strategic review of the MeetingZone business during the summer, LoopUp and MeetingZone are now fully integrated into a unified organisational structure for new business acquisition, customer success and operations. This reorganisation has resulted in annualised cost synergies in excess of the GBP3 million announced at the time of acquisition.

The Group's strategic rationale for the acquisition was to transition MeetingZone's audio conferencing business over to the LoopUp platform, and by so doing, amplify the established 'network effect' in the LoopUp product that accounts for approximately 30% of the Group's new business origination. The transition project continues to progress well, and the Group expects a successful transition to be completed by Summer 2019.

Continued strong organic growth metrics

The Group has continued to see strong organic demand for the LoopUp product from its target market of mid-large enterprises and professional services firms. Landmark accounts won during the period included a publicly-quoted UK telecommunications company, a leading pet products retailer, multiple major international law firms including Australia's largest law firm; a US-headquartered medical non-profit organization operating in 43 countries; and a leading global brokerage company with joint headquarters in London and New York.

As announced on 18 January 2019, the Group closed a material contract renewal with leading global law firm, Clifford Chance. The minimum total contract value of GBP2.34 million in aggregate over the 3-year term is for the provision of conference calls across Clifford Chance's global operations, spanning 32 major financial centres in the Americas, Asia Pacific, Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

The Group's strong organic growth has continued to be driven by our compelling retention and new business metrics.

The Group maintained its track record of low gross revenue churn at 5.5% (FY2017: 5%; FY2016: 5% and FY2015: 6%) and 'negative net churn' - i.e. net growth of 1% (FY2017: 2%[1]) - in its long-term established customer base, driven by continued strong end user engagement with differentiated capabilities of the LoopUp product. All newly-provisioned users during FY2018 joined 79%[2] of their meetings via the LoopUp join link - and so used the LoopUp software - rather than via traditional dial-in.

Our seven UK and US pods delivered on average approximately GBP471,000 of new annual recurring revenue (FY2017: GBP472,000) - or approximately GBP368,000 of new annual recurring gross margin (FY2017: GBP362,000) - at an average fully-loaded cost of approximately GBP508,000 (FY2017: GBP483,000). This equates to a Year 1 gross margin return of GBP0.73 for every pound invested (FY2017: GBP0.75).

As announced on 28 March 2018, the Group entered the Australian market with two Pods, formed by a mix of senior team members exported from the UK and US and junior team members recruited locally. Notwithstanding their need to build pipelines from a standing start, our Australian team has already closed 55 accounts and their performance has ramped from zero in the first half to approximately 50% of UK/US pod levels in the second half. They are now working under fully-ramped quota levels during FY2019.

Additional investment in growth via 'Pod Academy'

The Group met its top line growth expectations despite only running at an average of 7.5 quota-effective pods during the year (7 in the UK/US and 0.5 in Australia), versus our plans of 11. This was partly due to necessary pipeline build in Australia and partly due to the Group's decision not to migrate any MeetingZone sales staff over to LoopUp pods during the period, although some such migration will start to occur in the German and Swedish markets from April 2019. This resulted in constant currency organic LoopUp revenue growth of approximately 20% in the period (FY15-FY17 average: 32%).

The Group's strategy to address this shortfall in the number of pods going into 2019 has been to conduct a major 'career change' recruitment and training programme called 'Pod Academy'. The Group's first 'Pod Academy' programme ran from November 2018 to January 2019 inclusive, involving 20 recruits with experience from outside of sales. Following three months of intensive training, 14 graduated Pod Academy in January 2019 as sales and account executives, the more senior roles within Pods. They have been joined by 30 new Business Development Associates, recruited through the Group's established graduate recruitment programme, resulting in new Pods forming in Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, Atlanta and Madrid in February 2019, employing 32 people in aggregate.

The success of the Pod Academy program now provides a proven and more dynamic lever to accelerate the expansion of our established and consistently-efficient pods distribution structure. As such, we are excited to announce additional investment of GBP2.0 million into this programme during FY2019 out of our increasingly cash-generative operations to accelerate future growth. Looking forward, therefore, the Group now expects to have the following number of quota-productive Pods on average during the period:

   --      H1 2019: approximately 10 
   --      H2 2019: approximately 16 
   --      H1 2020: approximately 21 
   --      H2 2020: approximately 27 
   --      H1 2021: approximately 31 
   --      H2 2021: approximately 35 

Continued product development and innovation

We continue to invest in developing the LoopUp product. During 2018, we worked on scaling various aspects of the LoopUp platform and network operations in preparation to accommodate the extra scale required by the MeetingZone platform transition project. We also introduced language support into the product, making the LoopUp software available to users in German, French, Spanish, Swedish and both traditional and simplified Chinese. A considerable amount of work has also been done on new product innovation projects that the Group plans to announce during 2019.

Positive Outlook

We continue to see strong demand for the LoopUp product, and our compelling product differentiation combined with our efficient new business unit economics, make for an exciting outlook. Pipelines are healthy and we remain confident in our ability to deliver further strong growth.

   Steve Flavell                Michael Hughes 
   co-CEO                         co-CEO 

Chief Financial Officer's Review

2018 was a transformative year for LoopUp, with the acquisition of MeetingZone significantly increasing the scale and profitability of the business.

The acquisition was completed in June 2018 for a total consideration of GBP61.4m. Since the acquisition, the Group has made significant progress with both integrating MeetingZone into the LoopUp business, and in releasing significant cost synergies principally through reorganization of the MeetingZone management structure.

Operating results

Group revenues increased by 96% year-on-year to GBP34.2m, including seven months of revenue from MeetingZone.

The Group has continued to benefit from improvements to its gross margin due to the benefits of scale impacting the cost of bought-in telephony. Overall gross margin on the Group's core conferencing revenue grew from 76.7% in FY2017 to 78.2% in FY2018. Certain other revenue streams acquired as part of the MeetingZone acquisition operate at a lower margin, meaning that overall gross margin was 70% for the year (2017: 76.7%).

Adjusted EBITDA[3] grew from GBP3.5m in FY2017 to GBP7.7m in FY2018.

The Group's spend on development costs rose from GBP3.8m in FY2017 to GBP4.3m in FY2018. The resulting amortisation charge is lower at GBP2.6m (FY2017: GBP2.1m) due to the timing of completion of individual development projects. There were no issues with impairment of development projects during 2018.

The acquisition of MeetingZone has resulted in two one-off charges to the income statement in FY2018. Firstly, the Group incurred GBP3.8m of legal and professional fees in relation the acquisition and fundraise - of these costs, GBP1.0m have been charged to the income statement as non-recurring transaction costs in relation to acquisition expenses. Of the remainder, GBP2.5m relating to the GBP50m equity placing have been set against share premium and GBP0.3m relating to the new debt facility have been charged to finance costs (of which GBP0.2m are spread over the life of the debt facility). Secondly, GBP1.2m of exceptional reorganisation costs have been incurred, in relation to the restructuring of MeetingZone.

Of the intangible assets created from the acquisition, GBP31m has been classified as goodwill, with GBP33m considered to relate to specific identifiable assets (customer relationships and brands). The latter will be amortised over an estimated 15-year life, resulting in a charge to the income statement of GBP1.3m in FY2018.

The Group continues to receive a tax benefit from its product development activity, and we expect to submit a claim for approximately GBP1.0m of tax cash credit for FY2018, in addition to the GBP0.9m successfully claimed for FY2017.

Assets and cash flows

The Group generated operating cash flows of GBP5.3m (FY2017: GBP4.0m) and net cashflow before financing for the year was GBP0.6m (FY2017: (GBP0.1m)). These numbers are after non-recurring transaction costs and exceptional reorganization costs of GBP2.2m. The Group ended the year with cash of GBP5.6m and net debt of GBP10.6m.

To finance the acquisition of MeetingZone, the Group issued 12,500,000 new shares at an issue price of GBP4.00 per share. The Group also arranged a GBP17m term loan through Bank of Ireland at an interest rate of LIBOR plus 2.5%, repayable over five years (with a 50% bullet payment). Separately, the Group has access to a GBP3m revolving credit facility from the same lender, which was undrawn at the end of 2018. The Group has significant headroom against the covenants attached to these facilities.

The Group has over GBP13m of accumulated tax losses available for relief against future taxable profits. The Directors have decided not to recognise a deferred tax asset on these losses at this time, as the significant investment being made in product development is still generating tax losses in the UK. This policy will be reviewed during 2019.

Simon Healey

CFO

 
 Unaudited Consolidated Statement of Comprehensive income 
 For the year ended 31 December 
  2018 
                                                     2018      2017 
                                          Note     GBP000    GBP000 
 
 Revenue                                           34,213    17,465 
 Cost of sales                                   (10,314)   (4,076) 
                                                ---------  -------- 
 Gross profit                              2       23,899    13,389 
 Adjusted operating expenses(i)                  (16,246)   (9,926) 
                                                ---------  -------- 
 Adjusted EBITDA(ii)                                7,653     3,463 
 Depreciation                                       (546)     (291) 
 Amortisation of development costs                (2,558)   (2,140) 
 Impairment of development costs                        -     (300) 
                                                ---------  -------- 
 Adjusted operating profit (iii)                    4,549       732 
 Non-recurring transaction costs                    (994)         - 
 Exceptional reorganisation costs                 (1,223)         - 
 Amortisation of acquired intangibles             (1,289)         - 
 Share-based payment charges                        (191)         - 
 Operating profit                                     852       732 
 Finance costs                                      (467)       (3) 
                                                ---------  -------- 
 Profit before income tax                             385       729 
 Income tax                                           858     1,260 
                                                ---------  -------- 
 Profit for the year                                1,243     1,989 
                                                ---------  -------- 
 Currency translation gain / (loss)                    48     (175) 
                                                ---------  -------- 
 Total comprehensive income for 
  the year attributable to the 
  equity holders of the parent                      1,291     1,814 
                                                =========  ======== 
 
 Earnings per share (pence):                3 
 Basic                                                2.5       4.8 
 Diluted                                              2.4       4.4 
                                                =========  ======== 
 

(i) Total administrative expenses excluding depreciation, amortisation and impairment of development costs and acquired intangibles, non-recurring transaction costs, exceptional reorganisation costs and share-based payments charges.

(ii) Adjusted EBITDA is operating profit stated before depreciation, amortisation and impairment of development costs and acquired intangibles, non-recurring transaction costs, exceptional reorganisation costs and share-based payments charges.

(iii) Before amortisation of other intangible assets, non-recurring transaction costs, exceptional reorganisation costs and share-based payments charges.

Unaudited Consolidated Statement of Financial Position

 
 As at 31 December 2018 
                                           2018       2017 
                                         GBP000     GBP000 
 Assets: 
 Property, plant and equipment            2,168        466 
 Development costs                        7,880      6,142 
 Other intangible assets                 31,866          - 
 Goodwill                                30,950          - 
 Total non-current assets                72,864      6,608 
                                      ---------  --------- 
 
 Trade and other receivables              9,326      3,348 
 Cash and cash equivalents                5,581      2,902 
 Current tax                              1,153        904 
 Total current assets                    16,060      7,154 
                                      ---------  --------- 
 Total assets                            88,924     13,762 
                                      ---------  --------- 
 
 Liabilities: 
 Trade and other payables               (4,486)    (2,118) 
 Accruals and deferred income           (2,709)    (1,189) 
 Borrowings                             (1,700)          - 
 Total current liabilities              (8,895)    (3,307) 
                                      ---------  --------- 
 Net current assets                       7,165      3,847 
 Non-current liabilities: 
 Borrowings                            (14,450)          - 
 Deferred tax liability                 (5,709)          - 
                                      ---------  --------- 
 Total non-current liabilities         (20,159)          - 
                                      ---------  --------- 
 Total liabilities                     (29,054)    (3,307) 
 Net assets                              59,870     10,455 
                                      =========  ========= 
 
 Equity 
 Share capital                              276        210 
 Share premium                           60,504     12,637 
 Other reserve                           12,691     12,691 
 Foreign currency translation 
  reserve                               (1,935)    (1,983) 
 Retained loss                         (11,666)   (13,100) 
                                      ---------  --------- 
 Shareholders' funds attributable 
  to equity owners of parent             59,870     10,455 
                                      =========  ========= 
 
 

Unaudited Consolidated Statement of Changes in Equity

For the year ended 31 December 2018

 
                             Share      Share      Other        Foreign    Retained    Shareholders 
                           capital    premium    reserve       currency      profit          funds/ 
                                                            translation    / (loss)       (deficit) 
                                                                reserve                attributable 
                                                                                          to equity 
                                                                                             owners 
                                                                                          of parent 
                            GBP000     GBP000     GBP000         GBP000      GBP000          GBP000 
 
 As at 1 January 
  2017                         204     11,708     12,691        (1,808)    (15,089)           7,706 
                         ---------  ---------  ---------  -------------  ----------  -------------- 
 Profit for the year             -          -          -              -       1,989           1,989 
 Other comprehensive 
  loss                           -          -          -          (175)           -           (175) 
 Total comprehensive 
  profit / (loss) 
  for the year                   -          -          -          (175)       1,989           1,814 
                         ---------  ---------  ---------  -------------  ---------- 
 Transactions with 
  owners of parent 
  in their capacity 
  as owners: 
 Share issues                    6        929          -              -           -             935 
                         ---------  ---------  ---------  -------------  ----------  -------------- 
 As at 31 December 
  2017                         210     12,637     12,691        (1,983)    (13,100)          10,455 
                         ---------  ---------  ---------  -------------  ----------  -------------- 
 As at 1 January 
  2018                         210     12,637     12,691        (1,983)    (13,100)          10,455 
                         ---------  ---------  ---------  -------------  ----------  -------------- 
 Profit for the year             -          -          -              -       1,243           1,243 
 Other comprehensive 
  income                         -          -          -             48           -              48 
 Equity share-based 
  payment compensation           -          -          -              -         191             191 
                         ---------  ---------  ---------  -------------  ----------  -------------- 
 Total comprehensive 
  profit for the year            -          -          -             48       1,434           1,482 
                         ---------  ---------  ---------  -------------  ----------  -------------- 
 Transactions with 
  owners of parent 
  in their capacity 
  as owners: 
 Share issues                   66     47,867          -              -           -          47,933 
 As at 31 December 
  2018                         276     60,504     12,691        (1,935)    (11,666)          59,870 
                         ---------  ---------  ---------  -------------  ----------  -------------- 
 
 
 Unaudited Consolidated Statement of Cash Flows 
 For the year ended 31 December 2018 
                                                   2018      2017 
                                                 GBP000    GBP000 
 Net cash flows from operating activities 
 Profit before income tax                           385       729 
 Non-cash adjustments 
 Depreciation and amortisation                    4,393     2,430 
 Impairment of intangible fixed 
  assets                                              -       300 
 Share-based payments charges                       191         - 
 Interest payable                                   467         - 
 Working capital adjustments 
 Increase in trade and other receivables          (651)     (547) 
 Increase / (decrease) in trade 
  and other payables                              (359)       183 
 Tax received                                       836       858 
 Net cash generated by operations                 5,262     3,953 
                                              ---------  -------- 
 Cash flows from investing activities 
 Purchase of property, plant and 
  equipment                                       (373)     (331) 
 Addition of intangible assets                  (4,296)   (3,760) 
 Payment for acquisition of subsidiary,        (61,579)         - 
  net of cash acquired 
 Net cash used by investing activities         (66,248)   (4,091) 
                                              ---------  -------- 
 Cash flows from financing activities 
 Proceeds of borrowings                          17,000         - 
 Proceeds from share issue net of 
  issue costs                                    47,933       935 
 Repayment of loans                               (850)     (306) 
 Interest and finance fees paid                   (467)         - 
 Net cash generated from financing 
  activities                                     63,616       629 
                                              ---------  -------- 
 Net increase in cash and equivalents             2,630       491 
 Cash and cash equivalents brought 
  forward                                         2,902     2,547 
 Effect of foreign exchange rate 
  changes                                            48     (136) 
                                              ---------  -------- 
 Cash and cash equivalents carried 
  forward                                         5,580     2,902 
                                              =========  ======== 
 
 

Notes to the Financial Statements

   1.         Background and basis of preparation 

The principal activity of the Group is the provision of a software-as-a-service (SaaS) solution for remote business meetings.

LoopUp Group plc ('the Group') is a limited liability company incorporated and domiciled in England and Wales, with company number 09980752. Its registered office is 78 Kingsland Road, London E2 8DP.

The unaudited summary financial information set out in this announcement does not constitute the Group's consolidated statutory accounts for the years ended 31 December 2018 or 31 December 2017. The results for the year ended 31 December 2018 are unaudited. The statutory accounts for the year ended 31 December 2018 will be finalised on the basis of the financial information presented by the Directors in this preliminary announcement and will be delivered to the Registrar of Companies in due course. The statutory accounts are subject to completion of the audit and may change should a significant adjusting event occur before the approval of the Annual Report.

In the past year the Group has applied a number of amendments to IFRS's issued by the IASB. The adoption has not had a material impact on the disclosures or the amounts reported in the Group's consolidated statutory accounts. The following amendments were applied:

   --      IFRS 9: Financial Instruments -classification and measurement 
   --      IFRS 15: Revenue from contracts with customers 

The statutory accounts for the Group for the year ended 31 December 2017 have been reported on by the Group's auditors and delivered to the Registrar of Companies. The auditor's report on those accounts was unqualified and did not include references to any matter which the auditors drew attention by way of emphasis without qualifying their report and did not contain statements under section 498(2) or (3) of the Companies Act 2006.

The preliminary announcement for the year ended 31 December 2018 was approved by the Board for release on 20 March 2019.

   2.         Segmental information 

The Directors have identified the segments by reference to the principal groups of services offered and the geographical organisation of the business as reported to the chief operating decision-maker (CODM). The main segment is LoopUp Group meetings services, which represents revenue generated from providing customers access to the LoopUp conferencing platform as well as the acquired MeetingZone conferencing platform. Other collaboration services consist of revenues from the resale and augmentation of third party conferencing platforms, along with related hardware and consultancy sales.

Segmental revenues are external and there are no material transactions between segments.

The Group's largest customer represented less than 5% of total revenue in both years.

No segmental balance sheet was presented to the CODM.

 
                                                       2018      2017 
                                                     GBP000    GBP000 
  Analysis of revenue by segment: 
  LoopUp Group meetings services                     27,916    17,465 
  Third party and other services                      6,297         - 
                                                   --------  -------- 
                                                     34,213    17,465 
                                                   ========  ======== 
  Analysis of gross profit before tax 
   by segment: 
  LoopUp Group meetings services                     21,845    13,389 
  Third party and other services                      2,054         - 
                                                   --------  -------- 
                                                     23,899    13,389 
                                                   ========  ======== 
  Geographical analysis of total revenue: 
  UK                                                 18,004     6,957 
  Other EU                                            4,243     1,267 
  North America                                      11,622     8,968 
  Rest of World                                         344       273 
                                                   --------  -------- 
                                                     34,213    17,465 
                                                   --------  -------- 
  Geographical analysis of audio conferencing 
   revenue 
  UK                                                 13,455     6,957 
  Other EU                                            3,555     1,267 
  North America                                      10,562     8,968 
  Rest of World                                         344       273 
                                                   --------  -------- 
                                                     27,916    17,465 
                                                   ========  ======== 
  Geographical analysis of other collaboration 
  services revenue: 
  UK                                                  4,113         - 
  Other EU                                              970         - 
  North America                                       1,214         - 
  Rest of World                                           -         - 
                                                   --------  -------- 
                                                      6,297         - 
                                                   --------  -------- 
  Geographical analysis of non-current 
   assets: 
  UK                                                 72,482     6,209 
  Other EU                                               10         - 
  North America                                         243       354 
  Rest of World                                          29        45 
                                                   --------  -------- 
                                                     72,764     6,608 
                                                   ========  ======== 
 
   3.         Earnings per share 

The basic earnings per share is calculated by dividing the net profit attributable to equity holders of the Group by the weighted average number of ordinary shares in issue during the year.

 
                                           2018     2017 
  Profit attributable to equity 
   holders (GBP000)                       1,242    1,989 
                                        -------  ------- 
  Adjusted profit attributable to 
   equity holders (GBP000) (i)            4,939    1,989 
                                        -------  ------- 
  Weighted average no. of ordinary 
   shares in issue ('000)                49,563   41,208 
                                        -------  ------- 
  Basic adjusted earnings per share 
  (pence) (i)                              10.0      4.8 
                                        -------  ------- 
  Basic earnings per share (pence)          2.5      4.8 
                                        =======  ======= 
 

The diluted earnings per share has been calculated by dividing the net profit attributable to equity holders of the Group by the weighted average number of shares in issue during the year, adjusted for potentially dilutive shares that are not anti-dilutive.

 
                                              2018     2017 
                                              '000     '000 
  Weighted average number of ordinary 
   shares in issue                          49,563   41,208 
  Adjustment for share options               3,583    3,669 
                                           -------  ------- 
  Weighted average number of potential 
  ordinary shares in issue                  53,146   44,907 
  Diluted adjusted earnings per share 
   (pence) (i)                                 9.3      4.4 
                                           =======  ======= 
  Diluted earnings per share (pence)           2.4      4.4 
                                           =======  ======= 
 

(i) Basic adjusted and diluted adjusted earnings per share are calculated using profit attributable to shareholders, adjusted for non-recurring transaction costs, exceptional reorganisation costs, amortisation of acquired intangibles and share-based payment charges.

   4.      Dividends 

The Directors do not recommend the payment of a dividend (2017: GBPnil).

   5.            Acquisitions and financing 

On 4 June 2018, the Group acquired the entire issued share capital of Warwick Holdco Limited, the holding company of the MeetingZone group. The acquisition from GMT Communication Partners was on a debt-free and cash-free basis for a total consideration of GBP61.4 million paid in cash. To fund the acquisition, the group issued 12,500,000 new Ordinary Shares at a placing price of GBP4.00 each and secured a new GBP17.0 million term loan from the Bank of Ireland.

The amounts recognised for each class of assets and liabilities at the acquisition date were as follows:

 
                                           Fair Value 
                                               GBP000 
  Intangible assets consisting of: 
 
    *    Customer relationships                31,178 
 
    *    Brand and trademarks                   1,977 
  Net assets acquired consisting of : 
 
   *    Property, plant and equipment           1,875 
 
    *    Trade and other receivables            5,325 
 
    *    Trade and other payables             (4,091) 
 
    *    Deferred tax liability               (5,636) 
  Net identifiable assets acquired             30,628 
  Add: goodwill on acquisition                 30,950 
                                          ----------- 
  Net assets acquired                          61,578 
                                          =========== 
 

In addition, GBP3,004,000 of cash was acquired.

The goodwill is attributable to the workforce acquired and the value projected to be generated through future new business and the expected benefits from integrating MeetingZone into the LoopUp group.

The customer relationship and brand and trademark assets are being amortised over 15 years, resulting in a charge to the income statement of GBP1,289,000 (2017: GBPnil) in the year.

The Group incurred legal and professional fees of GBP3.8m in relation to the acquisition. GBP2.5m of these costs were set against share premium, GBP1.0m were included in administrative expenses and GBP0.1m related to finance costs. In addition, GBP0.2m of arrangement fees for the term loan are being expensed over the five year life of the facility.

In the year ended 31 December 2017 the trade of Warwick Holdco Limited and its subsidiaries generated revenues of GBP22.5m and Adjusted EBITDA of GBP5.0m. The business generated revenues of GBP13.8m and EBITDA (before exceptional reorganisation costs) of GBP3.5m in the period from acquisition to 31 December 2018 - these amounts are included in the consolidated results of the Group.

Total revenue associated with MeetingZone for the year to 31 December 2018 was GBP23.7m, with EBITDA (before exceptional costs) of GBP5.5m.

If the acquisition had occurred on 1 January 2018, the Group revenue for the year to 31 December 2018 would have been GBP44.2m, and Adjusted EBITDA (as defined in the consolidated statement of comprehensive income) would have been GBP9.7m.

[1] At FY2018 constant currency

[2] 2016 cohort: 77%; 2017 cohort: 71%; 2018 cohort: 79%: 2016-18 cohort: 76%

[3] Earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation, adjusted to exclude non-recurring transaction costs, exceptional reorganisation costs and share-based payment charges

This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United Kingdom. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution of this information may apply. For further information, please contact rns@lseg.com or visit www.rns.com.

END

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