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NET Netcall Plc

90.00
1.00 (1.12%)
26 Apr 2024 - Closed
Delayed by 15 minutes
Share Name Share Symbol Market Type Share ISIN Share Description
Netcall Plc LSE:NET London Ordinary Share GB0000060532 ORD 5P
  Price Change % Change Share Price Bid Price Offer Price High Price Low Price Open Price Shares Traded Last Trade
  1.00 1.12% 90.00 88.00 92.00 90.00 89.00 89.00 873,620 14:50:58
Industry Sector Turnover Profit EPS - Basic PE Ratio Market Cap
Information Retrieval Svcs 36.04M 4.21M 0.0257 35.02 147.53M

Netcall PLC Half-year Report (8129R)

05/03/2019 7:01am

UK Regulatory


Netcall (LSE:NET)
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TIDMNET

RNS Number : 8129R

Netcall PLC

05 March 2019

5 March 2019

NETCALL PLC

("Netcall", the "Company", or the "Group")

Interim results for the six months ended 31 December 2018

Approaching inflection point as Cloud services growth accelerates

Netcall plc (AIM: NET), the leading provider of Low-code and customer engagement software, today announces its unaudited interim results for the six months ended 31 December 2018.

Financial highlights

   --      Revenue up 6% to GBP11.4m (H1-FY18: GBP10.7m) 
   --      Cloud services and product bookings(1) increased by 96% to GBP5.22m (H1-FY18: GBP2.67m) 

-- Total annual contract value(2) ('ACV') at 31 Dec 2018 up 10% to GBP15.1m (H1-FY18: GBP13.7m) - Low-code ACV up 40% year over year

-- Adjusted EBITDA(3) GBP2.02m (H1-FY18: GBP2.69m) after approximately GBP0.75m spend of the growth investment programme

   --      Profit before tax increased 49% to GBP0.42m (H1-FY18: GBP0.28m) 
   --      Cash generated from operations of GBP1.85m (H1-FY18: GBP0.30m) 

Operational highlights

   --      Substantial growth in cloud business with a number of notable multi-year contracts 
   --      Cloud service bookings exceeding product sales for the first time 
   --      New Low-code customer wins and cross sales 
   --      High levels of customer renewals 
   --      Significant new Low-code and Liberty cloud product releases 

Henrik Bang, CEO at Netcall, commented:

"We are now approaching a clear inflexion point in our transition from a traditional software business to a high growth digital cloud operation, with our Cloud service bookings exceeding product sales.

"The increase in our total ACV and Low-code ACV provides a clear demonstration of the growing forward visibility of our revenue streams.

"Trading is in line with our expectations for the year so far. We expect revenues for the year to be more weighted toward the second half given the move to a recurring revenue model and the timing of product sales. Our strong sales momentum has continued into the second half with order inflow significantly ahead compared with the same period last year."

(1) Cloud services and product bookings is the total of all new orders received classified as cloud subscription and support, product and first year support contract revenues.

(2) ACV, as of a given date, is the total of the value of each cloud and support contract divided by the total number of years of the contract.

(3) Profit before interest, tax, depreciations and amortisation adjusted to exclude the effects of acquisition, impairment, contingent consideration and non-recurring transaction costs. The forecast is based on unaudited management accounts for the 6 months ended 31 December 2018.

Enquiries:

 
 Netcall plc                                      Tel. +44 (0) 330 
                                                      333 6100 
 Henrik Bang, CEO 
  Michael Jackson, Chairman 
  James Ormondroyd, Group Finance Director 
 
 finnCap Limited (Nominated Adviser and Broker)    Tel. +44 (0) 20 
                                                         7220 0500 
 Stuart Andrews / James Thompson, Corporate 
  Finance 
 Tim Redfern, Corporate Broking 
 
 Alma PR                                           Tel. +44 (0) 20 
                                                         3405 0212 
 Caroline Forde / Hilary Buchanan / Helena 
  Bogle 
 

About Netcall:

Netcall develops and markets platforms for customer engagement and digital process automation using its market leading Low-code technology. This provides a compelling proposition to improve customer experience as well as deliver operational excellence.

Netcall's Low-code platform uses drag and drop technology that enables organisations to scale and rapidly develop, test and deploy digital enterprise applications. This empowers business users and IT developers to collaboratively develop products and systems that create a leaner, more customer-centric organisation.

The Group is transitioning from a stable traditional software business to become a high growth cloud-led digital operation. Netcall has a growing international presence and is recognised by both Forrester and Gartner as a leading provider of Low-code in its industry.

Netcall's customers span enterprise, healthcare and government sectors. These include two-thirds of the NHS Acute Health Trusts, major telecoms operators such as BT, and leading corporates including Lloyds Banking Group, ITV and Nationwide Building Society.

Netcall is a UK company quoted on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange.

Prior to publication the information communicated in this announcement was deemed by the Company to constitute inside information as stipulated under the Market Abuse Regulations (EU) No 596/2014 ('MAR') With the publication of this announcement, this information is now considered to be in the public domain.

Strategic overview

The Group is transitioning from a traditional software business to a high growth digital cloud operation, blending its Liberty platform with its recently acquired Low-code cloud operation. The aim is that the cloud business becomes the majority of the Group's revenue by 2021.

The Group is now well positioned to capitalise on the fast growing Low-code market and is accelerating its investment in the business. The cash generative Liberty business, which has a strong position in healthcare and public sector markets, is providing the resource to support substantial new growth opportunities.

The combination of Netcall's products provides organisations with a unique proposition for their customer engagement and digital process automation requirements. It enables significant customer experience improvements and delivery of operational excellence with efficiency savings.

Netcall has seen a notable rise in interest and new customer wins for its solutions, as a growing number of organisations evaluate and adopt these capabilities across their enterprises. The Group has also seen an increase in cross selling of Low-code solutions into existing customers as they digitise and modernise their operations.

The average annual contract value of these initial Low-code cross-sales is three times higher than the average of the Netcall customer base. This gives an early indication of the potential value of Low-code sales into the existing customer base.

Netcall is also developing its partner strategy and activity in this area is growing. Partners using the Group's Low-code platform can gain significant advantages including using the speed and flexibility of its software to disrupt their market place, being able to scale with customer demand and create profitable recurring revenue streams.

Netcall's software is highly operationally geared, scalable and easy to deploy and use for enterprises. The Low-code market is worth more than an estimated $6 billion and is expected to grow rapidly in the coming years(1) .

In addition to the Group's focussed organic growth strategy, the Board continues to look for selective acquisitions with complementary proprietary software and/or additional customers in its target markets.

1 Source: https://go.forrester.com/blogs/why-you-need-to-know-about-low-code-even-if-youre-not-responsible-for-software-delivery/

Current trading and outlook

Netcall is now approaching a clear inflexion point with Cloud service bookings exceeding product sales for the first time in a six-month reporting period and the Group's forward visibility of revenue continues to grow strongly.

The Group has traded in line with the Board's expectations for the year to date. As previously stated, Netcall expects revenues for the year to be more weighted toward the second half given the transition to a recurring revenue model and the timing of product sales. The Group experienced strong sales momentum in the first half which has continued into the second half with order inflow significantly ahead of the comparable period last year.

Operational review

Markets and opportunities

Enterprises of all sizes are undertaking digital transition projects as they modernise their legacy customer engagement and business systems. According to Forrester, "Corporate's principal focus on process improvement is on improving customer experience and accelerate digital business transformation."(2) However, many enterprises lack resources and capabilities to deliver the projects.

Netcall's offerings empowers businesses to rapidly implement digital transformation projects. The ease of use and flexibility of the platforms is accelerating the speed and widening the range of applications organisations can implement to significantly improve their customer experience while reducing the cost base.

Combining the Low-code capability with the Liberty customer engagement platform enables Netcall to provide compelling solutions. Digital business processes on the Group's Low-code platform can seamlessly drive customer journeys with integrated customer interactions carried out using Liberty capabilities such as chat, SMS, messaging or contact centre. With its rich API capabilities these journeys can integrate with other systems, holding information required to deliver a smooth experience for customers and thereby retrieving or updating data critical for record management and back-end systems.

Netcall is also assisting its customers to build and develop tailored applications using the Low-code technology across their own external communities, such as public sector bodies. At the same time partner firms are using Low-code to develop solutions as part of their consultancy services to provide broader offerings and create new revenue and growth opportunities.

The Group has continued to win business across a range of vertical markets, including:

   -- A minimum four-year agreement worth more than GBP1.4m with an international business process outsourcer for a 
      Low-code and Liberty solution; 
 
   -- A three-year agreement worth a minimum of GBP1.5m with an infrastructure business for a Low-code platform to be 
      used for a broad range of applications to modernise their systems;  and, 
 
   -- Cross-sales of Low-code solutions into our existing markets including local authorities, government agencies, 
      housing associations and NHS trusts. 

In addition, we have seen significant projects go-live including:

   -- Lloyd's Market Association, which provides services to members of the Lloyds of London insurance market, launched 
      a claims expert management hub, Gemini, built on the Group's Low-code platform. The platform helps the Lloyds 
      markets managing agents to contract and manage spend on claims experts exceeding an estimated GBP500m per year. 
 
   -- Hampshire Trust Bank selected the Low-code platform to enable "digital innovation, process and customer 
      experience improvements" and has launched its first solutions to support mortgage applications. 

Products

A new version of the Group's Low-code platform has been released addressing the growing demand from IT professionals for Low-code capabilities to help them benefit further from the platform's speed and flexibility. The release included the ability for developers to create custom code and embedded integrations with other applications. The interface has also been updated with new performance reporting giving IT increased control and governance over the applications delivered on the platform.

In January 2019, the Group launched a new Low-code community, where customers can engage with other Low-code users to find, collaborate and contribute to creating better solutions. The launch included an Appshare allowing users to download and share free to use apps, adaptors, plugins, themes and widgets. In addition, the release included a Training Academy for eLearning and a Forum which includes app building advice, suggestions and feedback.

The Group also expanded its customer engagement platform, Liberty, with support for a new cloud based conversational messaging service. Built on Microsoft Azure cloud infrastructure, this new service provides support for channels such as Facebook, Twitter and various SMS providers and it will be used by both Liberty and Low-code solutions to ensure that the Group can rapidly add further messaging channels across its product portfolio. The release of this service is a further example of the continued expansion of the Liberty platform from a premise-based solution to the cloud.

2 Source: Forrester - Q1 2018 Digital Business Automation Survey

Financial Review

Group revenue increased 6% to GBP11.4m (H1-FY18: GBP10.7m).

The Group's revenue comprises the following components, reflecting the movement of the business towards primarily a provider of Cloud based software and services:

   -- Cloud services: subscription and usage fees of our cloud-based offerings. 
 
   -- Product support contracts: provision of software updates, system monitoring and technical support services for 
      our products. 
 
   -- Communications services: fees for telephony and messaging services. 
 
   -- Product revenues: predominantly software license sales with supporting hardware. 
 
   -- Professional services: consultancy, implementation and training services. 

The Board has, for a number of years, measured financial performance using the following KPIs: revenue, EBITDA, and operating cash flow. In addition, the Group will now also report Cloud and product bookings and ACV. These metrics measure sales momentum and give a lead indicator on future revenue.

Cloud and product bookings (the total of all new orders received classified as cloud subscription and support, product and first year support contract revenues) in the period increased by 96% year over year to GBP5.2m, of which Low-code rose seven-fold to GBP3.9m.

As a result, revenue from Cloud services, which are a key strategic focus, have grown strongly and increased by 48% to GBP3.01m (H1-FY18: GBP2.04m).

Total Low-code ACV as at 31 December 2018 increased by 40% year over year to GBP4.2m (H1-FY18: GBP3.0m). In the seventeen months of acquisition of the Low-code platform the Group has increased the Low-code ACV by 48%.

Total ACV increased by 10% year over year to GBP15.1m (H1-FY18: GBP13.7m). ACV, as of a given date, is the total of the value of each cloud and support contract divided by the total number of years of the contract.

Product support contract revenue increased by 5% to GBP4.63m (H1-FY18: GBP4.42m) reflecting very high contract retention combined with the contribution of new product sales and price rises.

Communications services revenue was GBP0.94m (H1-FY18: GBP1.11m) due to lower usage of call-back services in the period by a partner.

Product revenue was disappointing at GBP0.98m (H1-FY18: GBP1.81m) as a higher proportion of the sales pipeline was carried forward into the second half than normal, due to purchasing delays by some public sector organisations. As set out above the weaker performance in this area in the first half along with the transition to recurring revenues has led to an expectation that revenue will be more weighted to the second half than historically and will require a higher level of conversion of the existing pipeline than in the first half.

Professional services revenues increased 36% to GBP1.80m (H1-FY18: GBP1.32m) due to implementation services increasing in line with new sales of cloud solutions.

Gross profit margin was maintained at 90% (H1-FY18: 90%).

Administrative expenses, before depreciation, amortisation, impairment, share-based payments and acquisition related items increased to GBP8.23m (H1-FY18: GBP6.98m) which is in line with expectations following the previously announced investment programme. Investments have mainly been made in expanding sales and marketing, professional services teams to deliver implementation services for the growing cloud solutions and our own digital business operation to support a larger and growing organisation.

Consequently, the Group adjusted EBITDA was GBP2.02m (H1-FY18: GBP2.68m), a margin of 18% of revenue (H1-FY18: 25%).

Profit before tax increased 49% to GBP0.42m (H1-FY18: GBP0.28m) after taking into account acquisition related items and interest on borrowings taken out to fund the acquisition of MatsSoft in August 2017.

The Group tax charge of GBP0.12m (H1 FY18: GBP0.10m) represents an underlying effective rate of tax of 14% (H1 FY18: 5%) on adjusted profit before tax. The underlying effective rate of tax benefited from additional deductions for R&D expenditure and utilisation of previously unrecognised losses brought forward.

Diluted earnings per share increased by 67% to 0.20 pence (H1-FY18: 0.12 pence) and was 0.60 pence on an adjusted basis (H1-FY18: 1.03 pence).

Cash generated from operations before non-recurring transaction cost payments was GBP1.85m (H1-FY18: GBP0.30m), as previously announced returning to a normal level of conversion of 92% (H1-FY18: 11%) of adjusted EBITDA following last year's one-off impact from the MatsSoft acquisition.

Spending on research and development, including capitalised software development, was maintained at GBP1.45m (H1-FY18: GBP1.45m) of which capitalised software expenditure was GBP0.71m (H1-FY18: GBP0.83m).

Total capital expenditure was GBP1.07m (H1-FY18: GBP1.01m); the balance after capitalised development, being GBP0.36m (H1-FY18: GBP0.18m) relating to IT equipment, software and office fit out.

The Company acquired MatsSoft Limited in August 2017. The purchase agreement provided for potential further cash and share to be paid dependent on achieving specified performance targets over various periods from completion of the acquisition. During the period the Company paid GBP0.46m in cash under this arrangement. At 31 December 2018 the fair value of the remaining contingent consideration was re-estimated at a lower amount of GBP2.42m resulting in GBP0.12m being credited to the income statement as a change in estimate.

To support the acquisition, the Company issued a GBP7m Loan Note (see note 7). Loan Note interest payments in the period totalled GBP0.30m (H1-FY18: GBP0.20m).

As a result of these factors, net debt was GBP0.77m at 31 December 2018 (31 December 2017: GBP0.81m).

Unaudited consolidated income statement for the six months to 31 December 2018

 
                                                              Unaudited           Unaudited         Audited 
                                                          Six months to       Six months to    12 months to 
 GBP'000                                               31 December 2018    31 December 2017    30 June 2018 
--------------------------------------------------   ------------------  ------------------  -------------- 
 Revenue                                                         11,354              10,712          21,875 
 Cost of sales                                                  (1,121)             (1,046)         (2,143) 
---------------------------------------------------  ------------------  ------------------  -------------- 
 Gross profit                                                    10,233               9,666          19,732 
 
 Administrative expenses                                        (9,450)             (9,093)        (18,961) 
 Other income                                                         -                  12              23 
 Other gains/ (losses) - net                                         15                (15)              12 
---------------------------------------------------  ------------------  ------------------  -------------- 
 
 Adjusted EBITDA                                                  2,015               2,688           5,421 
 Depreciation                                                     (143)               (127)           (252) 
 Impairment charge on intangible assets                               -                   -           (792) 
 Amortisation of acquired intangible assets                       (259)               (323)           (547) 
 Amortisation of other intangible assets                          (509)               (454)         (1,119) 
 Non-recurring transaction costs                                      -               (236)           (464) 
 Change in fair value of contingent consideration                   121                   -               - 
 Post-completion services                                         (147)               (456)           (464) 
 Share-based payments                                             (280)               (522)         (1,001) 
 
 Operating profit                                                   798                 570             782 
 
 Finance income                                                      20                  12              29 
 Finance costs                                                    (403)               (304)           (766) 
---------------------------------------------------  ------------------  ------------------  -------------- 
 Finance costs - net                                              (383)               (292)           (737) 
---------------------------------------------------  ------------------  ------------------  -------------- 
 
 Profit before tax                                                  415                 278              45 
 
 Tax (charge)/ credit                                             (124)                (97)              91 
---------------------------------------------------  ------------------  ------------------  -------------- 
 Profit for the period                                              291                 181             136 
===================================================  ==================  ==================  ============== 
 
 Earnings per share - pence 
 Basic                                                             0.20                0.13            0.10 
 Diluted                                                           0.20                0.12            0.09 
===================================================  ==================  ==================  ============== 
 

All activities of the Group in the current and prior periods are classed as continuing. All of the profit for the period is attributable to the shareholders of Netcall plc.

Statement of comprehensive income for the six months to 31 December 2018

 
                                                                       Unaudited           Unaudited         Audited 
                                                                   Six months to       Six months to    12 months to 
 GBP'000                                                        31 December 2018    31 December 2017    30 June 2018 
 
 Profit for the period                                                       291                 181             136 
 
 Other comprehensive income 
 Items that may be reclassified to profit or loss 
     Exchange differences on translation of foreign 
      operations                                                            (19)                   5             (5) 
 
 Total comprehensive income for the period                                   272                 186             131 
============================================================  ==================  ==================  ============== 
 

All of the comprehensive income for the period is attributable to the shareholders of Netcall plc.

Unaudited consolidated balance sheet at 31 December 2018

 
                                                             Unaudited           Unaudited         Audited 
 GBP'000                                              31 December 2018    31 December 2017    30 June 2018 
-------------------------------------------------   ------------------  ------------------  -------------- 
 Assets 
 Non-current assets 
 Property, plant and equipment                                     627                 453             445 
 Intangible assets                                              28,913              30,026          28,938 
 Deferred tax asset                                                473                 425             584 
 Other investments                                                 288                 288             288 
 Total non-current assets                                       30,301              31,192          30,255 
--------------------------------------------------  ------------------  ------------------  -------------- 
 Current assets 
 Inventories                                                       186                 214             215 
 Other current assets                                            1,186                 904           1,077 
 Trade receivables                                               5,028               3,916           6,078 
 Other financial assets at amortised cost                        1,941               1,415           1,554 
 Current tax asset                                                   -                   -               - 
 Cash and cash equivalents                                       5,808               5,650           5,779 
--------------------------------------------------  ------------------  ------------------  -------------- 
 Total current assets                                           14,149              12,099          14,703 
--------------------------------------------------  ------------------  ------------------  -------------- 
 Total assets                                                   44,450              43,291          44,958 
--------------------------------------------------  ------------------  ------------------  -------------- 
 Liabilities 
 Non-current liabilities 
 Other payables                                                      -                 978             925 
 Borrowings                                                      6,576               6,462           6,518 
 Deferred tax liabilities                                          786               1,177             754 
 Provisions                                                         57                 132              44 
--------------------------------------------------  ------------------  ------------------  -------------- 
 Total non-current liabilities                                   7,419               8,749           8,241 
--------------------------------------------------  ------------------  ------------------  -------------- 
 Current liabilities 
 Trade and other payables                                        5,512               4,207           5,095 
 Dividend payable                                                  758               1,656               - 
 Current tax liabilities                                            18                   -               - 
 Deferred income                                                 9,059               7,355           9,790 
 Provisions                                                        128                   -             128 
 Total current liabilities                                      15,475              13,218          15,013 
--------------------------------------------------  ------------------  ------------------  -------------- 
 Total liabilities                                              22,894              21,967          23,254 
--------------------------------------------------  ------------------  ------------------  -------------- 
 Net assets                                                     21,556              21,324          21,704 
==================================================  ==================  ==================  ============== 
 
 Equity attributable to the owners of the parent 
 Share capital                                                   7,242               7,229           7,242 
 Share premium                                                   3,015               3,015           3,015 
 Other equity                                                    4,832               4,832           4,832 
 Other reserves                                                  4,447               3,792           4,133 
 Retained earnings                                               2,020               2,456           2,482 
--------------------------------------------------  ------------------  ------------------  -------------- 
 Total equity                                                   21,556              21,324          21,704 
==================================================  ==================  ==================  ============== 
 

Unaudited consolidated statement of changes in equity at 31 December 2018

 
                                      Share      Share     Other       Other    Retained     Total 
 GBP'000                            capital    premium    equity    reserves    earnings    equity 
--------------------------------  ---------  ---------  --------  ----------  ----------  -------- 
 Balance at 1 July 2017               7,054      3,015     2,697       2,854       5,386    21,006 
--------------------------------  ---------  ---------  --------  ----------  ----------  -------- 
 Proceeds from share issue                -          -         -           -           -         - 
 Issue of ordinary shares 
  as consideration for 
  acquisition for a business 
  combination                           175          -     2,135           -           -     2,310 
 Increase in equity in 
  relation to options issued              -          -         -         975           -       975 
 Tax debit relating to 
  share options                           -          -         -        (36)           -      (36) 
 Reclassification following 
  exercise or lapse of 
  share options                           -          -         -         (6)           6         - 
 Dividends to equity holders 
  of the company                          -          -         -           -     (3,117)   (3,117) 
--------------------------------  ---------  ---------  --------  ----------  ----------  -------- 
 Transactions with owners               175          -     2,135         933     (3,111)       132 
--------------------------------  ---------  ---------  --------  ----------  ----------  -------- 
 Profit for the period                    -          -         -           -         181       181 
 Other comprehensive income 
  for the period                          -          -         -           5           -         5 
--------------------------------  ---------  ---------  --------  ----------  ----------  -------- 
 Total comprehensive income 
  for the period                          -          -         -           5         181       186 
--------------------------------  ---------  ---------  --------  ----------  ----------  -------- 
 Balance at 31 December 
  2017                                7,229      3,015     4,832       3,792       2,456    21,324 
 Balance at 1 January 
  2018                                7,229      3,015     4,832       3,792       2,456    21,324 
--------------------------------  ---------  ---------  --------  ----------  ----------  -------- 
 Proceeds from share issue                9          -         -           -           -         9 
 Increase in equity in 
  relation to options issued              -          -         -         389           -       389 
 Tax credit relating to 
  share options                           -          -         -          37           -        37 
 Reclassification following 
  exercise or lapse of 
  share options                           4          -         -        (75)          71         - 
 Transactions with owners                 4          -         -         351          71       435 
--------------------------------  ---------  ---------  --------  ----------  ----------  -------- 
 Loss for the period                      -          -         -           -        (45)      (45) 
 Other comprehensive income 
  for the period                          -          -         -        (10)           -      (10) 
--------------------------------  ---------  ---------  --------  ----------  ----------  -------- 
 Total comprehensive income 
  for the period                          -          -         -        (10)        (45)      (55) 
--------------------------------  ---------  ---------  --------  ----------  ----------  -------- 
 Balance at 30 June 2018              7,242      3,015     4,832       4,133       2,482    21,704 
--------------------------------  ---------  ---------  --------  ----------  ----------  -------- 
 Balance at 1 July 2018               7,242      3,015     4,832       4,133       2,482    21,704 
--------------------------------  ---------  ---------  --------  ----------  ----------  -------- 
 Increase in equity reserve 
  in relation to options 
  issued                                  -          -         -         376           -       376 
 Reclassification following 
  exercise or lapse of 
  share options                           -          -         -         (5)           5         - 
 Tax debit relating to 
  share options                           -          -         -        (38)           -      (38) 
 Dividends to equity holders 
  of the company                          -          -         -           -       (758)     (758) 
 Transactions with owners                 -          -         -         333       (753)     (420) 
--------------------------------  ---------  ---------  --------  ----------  ----------  -------- 
 Profit for the period                    -          -         -           -         291       291 
 Other comprehensive income 
  for the period                          -          -         -        (19)           -      (10) 
--------------------------------  ---------  ---------  --------  ----------  ----------  -------- 
 Profit and total comprehensive 
  income for the period                   -          -         -        (19)         291       272 
--------------------------------  ---------  ---------  --------  ----------  ----------  -------- 
 Balance at 31 December 
  2018                                7,242      3,015     4,832       4,447       2,020    21,556 
================================  =========  =========  ========  ==========  ==========  ======== 
 

Unaudited consolidated cash flow statement for the six months to 31 December 2018

 
                                                                         Unaudited           Unaudited         Audited 
                                                                     Six months to       Six months to    12 months to 
 GBP'000                                                          31 December 2018    31 December 2017    30 June 2018 
--------------------------------------------------------------  ------------------  ------------------  -------------- 
 Cash flows from operating activities 
 Profit before tax                                                             414                 278              45 
 Adjustments for: 
   Depreciation and amortisation                                               911                 903           1,918 
   Impairment                                                                    -                   -             792 
   Loss on disposal of fixed assets                                              4                   -               - 
   Share-based payments                                                        280                 521           1,103 
   Net finance costs                                                           383                 292             635 
 Changes in working capital 
   Decrease in inventories                                                      30                 120             118 
   Decrease/ (increase) in trade receivables                                 1,052               (509)         (2,575) 
  (Increase)/ decrease in other financial assets at amortised 
   cost                                                                      (387)               (163)           (194) 
   (Increase)/ decrease in other current assets                              (124)                  81           (303) 
   Decrease in trade and other payables                                       (49)             (1,222)           (900) 
   Increase/ (decrease) in deferred income                                   (679)               (739)           1,675 
   Increase/ (decrease) in provisions                                           12                   9             341 
 Cash inflow/ (outflow) from operations                                      1,847               (447)           2,655 
 
 Analysed as: 
 Cash flows from operations before payment of non-recurring 
  transaction costs                                                          1,847                 298           3,420 
 Non-recurring transaction cost payments                                         -               (745)           (765) 
--------------------------------------------------------------  ------------------  ------------------  -------------- 
 
 Interest received                                                              20                  12              29 
 Interest paid                                                               (294)               (207)           (478) 
 Income tax refund                                                               -                  11              11 
--------------------------------------------------------------  ------------------  ------------------  -------------- 
 Net cash inflow/ (outflow) from operating activities                        1,573               (643)           2,217 
--------------------------------------------------------------  ------------------  ------------------  -------------- 
 Cash flows from investing activities 
 Payment for acquisition of subsidiary, net of cash acquired                 (462)            (10,974)        (10,974) 
 Purchases of property, plant and equipment                                  (327)                (54)           (171) 
 Payment of software development costs                                       (709)               (830)         (1,764) 
 Purchases of other intangible assets                                         (34)               (123)           (137) 
 Net cash outflow in investing activities                                  (1,532)            (11,969)        (13,046) 
--------------------------------------------------------------  ------------------  ------------------  -------------- 
 Cash flows from financing activities 
 Proceeds from issue of ordinary shares                                          -                   -               9 
 Proceeds from borrowings                                                        -               7,000           7,000 
 Dividends paid to Company's shareholders                                        -             (1,461)         (3,117) 
--------------------------------------------------------------  ------------------  ------------------  -------------- 
 Net cash inflow in financing activities                                         -               5,539           3,892 
--------------------------------------------------------------  ------------------  ------------------  -------------- 
 Net increase/ (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents                          41             (7,073)         (6,937) 
 Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period                            5,779              12,724          12,724 
 Effects of exchange rate changes on cash and cash equivalents                (12)                 (1)             (8) 
--------------------------------------------------------------  ------------------  ------------------  -------------- 
 Cash and cash equivalents at end of period                                  5,808               5,650           5,779 
==============================================================  ==================  ==================  ============== 
 

Notes to the financial information for the six months ended 31 December 2018

1. General information

Netcall plc (AIM: "NET", "Netcall", or the "Company") is a leading provider of customer engagement software. It is a public limited company which is quoted on AIM (a market of the London Stock Exchange). The Company's registered address is 1st Floor, Building 2, Peoplebuilding Estate, Maylands Avenue, Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, HP2 4NW and the Company's registered number is 01812912.

2. Basis of preparation

The Group interim results consolidate those of the Company and its subsidiaries (together referred to as the 'Group'). The principal trading subsidiaries of Netcall are Netcall Telecom Ltd and MatsSoft Ltd.

These consolidated interim financial statements (the 'results') have been prepared in accordance with those IFRS standards and IFRIC interpretations issued and effective or issued and early adopted as at the time of preparing these statements (February 2019). This results announcement are unaudited and does not constitute statutory accounts of the Group within the meaning of sections 434(3) and 435(3) of the Companies Act 2006 (the 'Act'). The balance sheet at 30 June 2018 has been derived from the full Group accounts published in the Annual Report and Accounts 2018, which has been delivered to the Registrar of Companies and on which the report of the independent auditors was unqualified and did not contain a statement under either section 498(2) or section 498(3) of the Act.

The results have been prepared in accordance with the accounting policies set out in the Group's 30 June 2018 statutory accounts, which are based on the recognition and measurement principles of IFRS in issue as adopted by the European Union ("EU").

The Group has adopted IFRS 9 'Financial Instruments' and IFRS 15 'Revenue from Contracts from customers' which have become effective for this financial year.

IFRS 9 replaces IAS 39, the previous Standard dealing with the recognition and measurement of financial instruments. The adoption of IFRS 9 has impacted the classification and measurement of the Group's financial assets. The Company holds most financial assets to collect the associated cash flows and those will continue to be initially recognised at fair value and subsequently carried at amortised cost. However, the Company's equity investment in Macranet Limited which was previously classified as an available-for-sale financial asset is now measured at fair value through other comprehensive income.

IFRS 15 establishes a principles-based approach for revenue recognition and is based on the concept of recognising revenue for obligations only when they are satisfied and the control of goods or services is transferred. It applies to all contracts with customers, except those in the scope of other standards. It replaces separate models for goods, services and construction contracts under the current accounting standards. The adoption of IFRS 15 did not have a significant impact on the timing or amount of revenue recognised by the Group in any year.

No other significant changes to accounting policies are expected for the year ending 30 June 2019.

The results for the six months ended 31 December 2018 were approved by the Board on 4 March 2019. A copy of these interim results will be available on the Company's web site www.netcall.com from 5 March 2019.

The principal risks and uncertainties faced by the Group have not changed from those set out on page 9 of the annual report for the year ended 30 June 2018.

3. Segmental analysis

The Board considers that there is one operating business segment being the design, development, sale and support of software products and services, which is consistent with the information reviewed by the Board when making strategic decisions. Resources are reviewed on the basis of the whole of the business performance.

The key segmental measure is adjusted EBITDA which is profit before interest, tax, depreciation, amortisation, acquisition and reorganisation expenses and share-based payments, which is set out on the consolidated income statement.

4. Earnings per share

The basic earnings per share is calculated by dividing the net profit attributable to equity holders of the Company by the weighted average number of ordinary shares in issue during the year excluding those held in treasury:

 
                                                                     Six months to       Six months to    12 months to 
                                                                  31 December 2018    31 December 2017    30 June 2018 
--------------------------------------------------------------  ------------------  ------------------  -------------- 
 Net earnings attributable to ordinary shareholders (GBP'000s)                 291                 181             136 
 Weighted average number of ordinary shares in issue (000s)                142,978             142,134         142,460 
 Basic earnings per share (pence)                                             0.20                0.13            0.10 
==============================================================  ==================  ==================  ============== 
 

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

 
                                                                     Six months to       Six months to    12 months to 
                                                                  31 December 2018    31 December 2017    30 June 2018 
--------------------------------------------------------------  ------------------  ------------------  -------------- 
 Weighted average number of ordinary shares in issue (000s)                142,978             142,134         142,460 
 Adjustments for share options (000s)                                        2,561               4,922           4,901 
 Weighted average number of potential ordinary shares in issue 
  (000s)                                                                   145,539             147,056         147,361 
--------------------------------------------------------------  ------------------  ------------------  -------------- 
 Diluted earnings per share (pence)                                           0.20                0.12            0.09 
==============================================================  ==================  ==================  ============== 
 

Adjusted basic and diluted earnings per share have been calculated to exclude the effect of acquisition, contingent consideration and reorganisation costs, share-based payment charges, amortisation of acquired intangible assets and utilisation of historic tax losses. The Board believes this gives a better view of ongoing maintainable earnings. The table below sets out a reconciliation of the earnings used for the calculation of earnings per share to that used in the calculation of adjusted earnings per share:

 
                                                                     Six months to       Six months to    12 months to 
 GBP'000s                                                         31 December 2018    31 December 2017    30 June 2018 
--------------------------------------------------------------  ------------------  ------------------  -------------- 
 Profit used for calculation of basic and diluted EPS                          291                 181             136 
 Impairment charge on intangible assets                                          -                   -             792 
 Amortisation of acquired intangible assets                                    259                 323             547 
 Non-recurring transaction costs                                                 -                 456             464 
 Change in fair value of contingent consideration                            (121)                   -               - 
 Post-completion services                                                      147                 235             464 
 Share-based payments                                                          280                 521           1,001 
 Unwinding of discount - contingent consideration & borrowings                  95                  52             208 
 Tax adjustment                                                               (81)               (257)           (613) 
 Profit used for calculation of adjusted basic and diluted EPS                 870               1,511           2,999 
==============================================================  ==================  ==================  ============== 
 
 
                                            Six months to       Six months to    12 months to 
 Pence                                   31 December 2018    31 December 2017    30 June 2018 
-------------------------------------  ------------------  ------------------  -------------- 
 Adjusted basic earnings per share                   0.61                1.06            2.02 
 Adjusted diluted earnings per share                 0.60                1.03            1.95 
=====================================  ==================  ==================  ============== 
 

5. Dividends

Dividends paid or declared during the period were as follows:

 
 
 
                                                                                   Statement of          December 2018 
 Six months to                                       Cash flow statement      changes in equity          balance sheet 
 December 2018              Paid   Pence per share             (GBP'000)              (GBP'000)              (GBP'000) 
---------------------  ---------  ----------------  --------------------  ---------------------  --------------------- 
 
 Final ordinary 
  dividend for year 
  to June 2018(1)         6/2/19             0.53p                     -                    758                    758 
---------------------  ---------  ----------------  --------------------  ---------------------  --------------------- 
                                                                       -                    758                    758 
 -------------------------------  ----------------  --------------------  ---------------------  --------------------- 
 
 
                                                                                   Statement of          December 2017 
 Six months to                                       Cash flow statement      changes in equity          balance sheet 
 December 2017              Paid   Pence per share             (GBP'000)              (GBP'000)              (GBP'000) 
---------------------  ---------  ----------------  --------------------  ---------------------  --------------------- 
 
 Interim enhanced 
  dividend for year 
  to June 2017           27/7/17             1.05p                 1,461                  1,461                      - 
 Final ordinary 
  dividend for year 
  to June 2017           12/1/18             1.16p                     -                  1,656                  1,656 
                                                                   1,461                  3,117                  1,656 
 -------------------------------  ----------------  --------------------  ---------------------  --------------------- 
 

(1) The final ordinary dividend for the year ended 30 June 2018 was approved at the Annual General Meeting held on 12 December 2018.

6. Net debt reconciliation

 
                                             31 December 2018   31 December 2017   30 June 2018 
------------------------------------------  -----------------  -----------------  ------------- 
 Cash and cash equivalents                              5,808              5,650          5,779 
 Borrowings - repayable after one year(1)             (6,576)            (6,462)        (6,518) 
 Net debt                                               (768)              (812)          (739) 
==========================================  =================  =================  ============= 
 

(1) To support the acquisition of MatsSoft Limited in August 2017, the Company issued a GBP7m Loan Note with options over 4.8m new ordinary shares of 5p each priced at 58p. The Loan Note is unsecured, has an annual interest rate of 8.5% payable quarterly in arrears and is repayable in six instalments from 30 September 2022 to 31 March 2025. The Loan Note was initially allocated a fair value of GBP6.42m and the share option a fair value of GBP0.58m. The discount on the carrying value of the Loan Note is being amortised via the profit and loss account over the expected option life of five years.

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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