REG - Intercede Group PLC - Final Results
18/06/2024 07:00
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RNS Number : 7820S Intercede Group PLC 18 June 2024
18 June 2024
INTERCEDE GROUP plc
('Intercede', the 'Company' or the 'Group')
Preliminary Results for the year ended 31 March 2024
Intercede, the leading cybersecurity software company specialising in digital
identities, today announces its preliminary results for the year ended 31
March 2024 ("FY24").
Headlines:
· Record Group revenues of £20.0 million.
· Record net profit of £6.0 million.
· Net cash generation from operating activities of £9.6 million.
· Basic EPS of 10.3p.
· Rebranding acquired Authlogics solutions as part of an expanded MyID
product family, now comprising MyID CMS, MyID MFA and MyID PSM.
· Continued investment in product and code, including internal IT
infrastructure.
· Clear strategic vision on M&A plans.
· Strong and unleveraged financial position.
Financial Highlights
FY24 FY23 % Change
£ million £ million
Revenue 20.0 12.1 65.3%
Gross profit 19.4 11.7 65.8%
Profit before Tax 5.6 0.6 833.3%
Net Profit 6.0 1.3 361.5%
EPS - basic 10.3p 2.3p
EPS - diluted 9.6p 2.2p
Gross Margin 97.2% 96.7%
Net Margin 30.2% 10.7%
Cash and cash equivalents 17.2 8.3 107.2%
Net cash from operating activities 9.6 2.9 231.0%
Deferred revenue 8.6 7.5 14.7%
Total Assets 25.7 17.4 47.7%
Total Equity 13.2 7.0 88.6%
Adjusted EBITDA 6.2 1.3 376.9%
Less:
Amortisation of intangibles 0.2 0.1
Depreciation of assets 0.1 0.1
Right-of-use depreciation 0.2 0.2
Acquisition costs 0.1 0.2
Employee Share/Unit incentive & option plan charges 0.2 -
Exceptional costs 0.1 0.1
Operating Profit 5.3 0.6 783.3%
Revenue highlights for the year include:
· Revenues for the year ended 31 March 2024 totalling £20.0 million
were approximately 65% higher than last year (2023: £12.1 million) and a 67%
increase on a constant currency basis.
· Contract 1 - announced in December 2023:
- Major new contract win with a large US Federal Agency.
- Purchase order received, via our partners, of perpetual licences worth
approximately $6.6 million.
- Associated annual support and maintenance of approximately $1.4 million;
this is the Group's largest single order to date and the Group highlights that
this contract was an exceptional order and deemed 'one-off' due to the
substantial number of perpetual licences purchased, which have been recognised
in FY24.
· Contract 2 - announced in January 2024:
- A major licence order with associated support and maintenance totaling
approximately $1.0 million for a new client in the US Intelligence Community.
In addition to the perpetual licence order, the client was also contracted for
a separate annual subscription of $0.2 million.
· Licence orders in the first half of the year included a multiple MyID
PIV licence orders from the US Department of State (DoS) for its Identity
Management System (IDMS) solution totalling $0.9 million and a new three year
licence order for MyID MFA from a global aluminium producer in the Middle East
as well as key subscription renewals for MyID PSM and MyID MFA.
· An order for a new licence test environment for an existing US
Federal Agency at the year end with the potential to expand further in the
coming years.
· In total, 17 new deployments were added in the year (including MyID
MFA and PSM new deployments).
Operating Highlights for the year include:
· Quarterly release cycle for MyID CMS (with versions of CMS v12.7 to
v12.10 being released in FY24) and six-monthly releases for MyID MFA (MFA v4.2
and MFA v5.0 being released).
· During the year, in response to customer interest, we released a beta
version of our CMS client compatible with Mac OS.
· Successfully delivered over 30 projects to a variety of customers and
partners across the UK, Europe, the Middle East and the United States. These
included both new; a large defence agency in the US, a defence customer in the
UK, a global aluminium manufacturer, a major trust of the UK health agency, a
global technology provider in West Asia; and long standing customers in
federal, defence, telecoms, and finance sectors.
· Strengthened our delivery team with new employees across Development,
Test, Professional Services and Customer Support including an experienced new
Director of Software Development.
· Investment in internal IT infrastructure continued and the Group
moved a majority of back-end support systems from on premise into the Azure
Cloud. We invested in our development and testing platforms to increase
performance and capacity.
· The M&A programme continued, focused on targets that add
recurring revenues and have a strong industry and product logic.
· The Group successfully maintained ISO 9001 and 27001 certifications
without any non-conformances.
· Successful execution and opening of a major new contemporary US
office in Reston, close to Washington D.C., which facilitates customer and
partner demonstrations with a dedicated "demo wall" and conference facilities.
· Our customer Net Promoter Score (NPS) in FY24 was 50 (increased from
31 in FY23) and underscores our commitment to continue to achieve greater
customer satisfaction. Our focus is on high quality software products, first
class support, excellent professional services and engaging with our customers
to obtain their feedback through executive service reviews and our Customer
Advisory Board, which are all aimed at providing better customer service and
satisfaction.
Outlook
FY24 was an exceptional year for the Group. Intercede continues to invest in
its colleagues, IT Infrastructure, product development, sales and marketing to
maintain and sustain it current momentum.
We embark into FY25 with good visibility on the pipeline, known and fully
resourced internal critical investments, and with a clear roadmap on our
acquisition strategy. As mentioned earlier, the focus is on growth and
execution of strategic plans to deliver it.
Board Changes
In the year Charles Pol and Rob Chandhok resigned from the Board and John
Linwood and Daniel O'Brien joined, with Tina Whitley moving to Chair the
Remuneration Committee whilst Daniel, with his extensive financial experience
and acumen, became Chair of the Audit Committee. All three are independent
members of both Committees.
Royston Hoggarth, Chairman, said:
"In this challenging global environment, the Group has delivered record
revenues in what has been an exceptional year. We look forward to building on
this momentum."
ENQUIRIES
Intercede Group plc Tel. +44 (0)1455 558 111
Klaas van der Leest CEO
CFO
Nitil Patel
Cavendish Capital Markets Limited Tel. +44 (0)20 7220 0500
Simon Hicks/Fergus Sullivan Corporate Finance
Tim Redfern/Ondraya Swanson ECM
About Intercede
Intercede is a cybersecurity software company specialising in digital
identities, and its innovative solutions enable organisations to protect
themselves against the number one cause of data breach: compromised user
credentials.
The Intercede suite of products allows customers to choose the level of
security that best fits their needs, from Secure Registration and ID
Verification to Password Security Management, One-Time Passwords, FIDO and
PKI. Uniquely, Intercede provides the entire set of authentication options
from Passwords to PKI, supporting customers on their journey to passwordless
and stronger authentication environments. In addition to developing and
supporting Intercede software, the Group offers professional services and
custom development capabilities as well as managing the world's largest
password breach database.
For over 20 years, global customers in government, aerospace and defence,
financial services, healthcare, telecommunications, cloud services and
information technology have trusted Intercede solutions and expertise in
protecting their mission critical data and systems at the highest level of
assurance.
For more information visit: www.intercede.com (http://www.intercede.com)
The information communicated in this announcement contains inside information
for the purposes of Article 7 of the Market Abuse Regulation (EU) 596/2014 as
it forms part of UK domestic law by virtue of the European Union (Withdrawal)
Act 2018 ("MAR"), and is disclosed in accordance with the company's
obligations under Article 17 of MAR.
Strategic Report
The Investment Case
Intercede provides business critical authentication software in a growing
cyber security market and does this by protecting organisations against data
breaches.
Our Business
Intercede has a scalable software business that has transitioned from Phase
One - Transformation to Phase Two - Growth. The operating model is structured
to enable the Group to grow, and key strategic investments have been made in
people and infrastructure to enable execution of these growth plans.
The Group's strategy of focusing on our customers and solving real-world
problems has resulted in a net promoter score of 50 in the financial year.
This demonstrates the Group's capability to deliver value to our customers,
which protects recurring revenue and strongly positions us for new
opportunities.
Our Market
We believe we are a recognised global market leader for MyID CMS solution and
with this competitive advantage we plan to defend and expand on this through
innovation, intellectual investment by recruiting the best people and
introducing flexible pricing to customers. With a business-critical offering
and non-discretionary nature of the expenditure, the Group has low attrition
and growing recurring revenues.
Since the acquisition of Authlogics in October 2022, the Group has moved down
the authentication pyramid (See Products) and has been able to further expand
its offering with the addition of MyID MFA and MyID PSM. This has
significantly increased the addressable market, which with an integrated
offering (MyID MFA v5), has enhanced our opportunities.
Our Current Financials
Following an exceptional year of delivery both in growth and other KPIs, the
Group is in a strong position to continue the momentum into the new fiscal
year. With cash generation resulting in a year-end balance of £17.2m, no debt
and tight working capital management, it has the ability to source, engage and
execute on larger M&A transactions.
Our Business Principles
As the Group has evolved by way of both organic and inorganic growth, it has
adopted an enhanced set of business principles to deliver on its stated KPIs.
The Board is confirming a key target of doubling revenues from the FY2023 base
of £12m.
Customer First Approach
Understanding our customers and their requirements are key for the Group and
we are focused on supporting their use cases with Intercede solutions. Our
customer journey begins when they first engage with the Group and continues
through their software purchase, onboarding, training, services, and long-term
support. At each point of engagement, we aim to deliver an excellent Intercede
service.
Engaging, via Customer Advisory Boards (CABs) in the US and Europe, educates
our teams from development, sales to professional services how best to address
user enhancement and experience of our software solutions. As the product
innovates and develops, we aim to increase our customer satisfaction and
retention rates, which are already market leading.
This approach facilitates the Group aim to increase revenue, delivering even
better customer experience and supporting long term customer relationships and
retention. Our most loyal customer has been with us for more than 20 years,
which underlines our commitment to longstanding relationships.
Invest in Product
Stable and scalable Intercede software solutions allow our customers to deploy
effective authentication management across their organisations. To have that
capability the Group constantly invests in the product and has recently
expanded that ability via strategic investment in people across development,
testing and software management.
We innovate constantly to ensure we maintain technology independence with a
wide range of partners and once deployed, is accessible by all employees
within an organisation. (See Section on Intercede MyID Solutions for further
information).
Colleagues
Putting our colleagues first and creating an environment where they can
perform to their best abilities is a key principle of the Group. We do this to
enable our colleagues to create the code and product that enables the sales
team to sell and professional services to help successfully deploy.
During the last two years the Group has developed a succession plan by
recruiting the next generation of colleagues of the Group, and to date we have
been successful in that KPI. As we invest more in development, testing,
presales, professional services, and customer support, we increase the
bandwidth of the Group. This ensures we can deliver for our customer as we
grow.
By building a more diverse and representative group of colleagues we increase
innovation and foster growth. We will continue to enable opportunities for
equitable growth, development, and advancement for our employees. This also
attracts and retains engaged talent.
GTMM
The Group has believed in and enacted a channel go-to-market model (GTMM)
whereby our products and services are delivered to our customers through
various distribution and resale channels. We do this by selecting and
supporting the right channel partners, creating a value proposition that
resonates with customers and partners, with the key aim of increasing our
reach, generating revenue and minimising our direct sales costs whilst
increasing market coverage.
We partner with channels like distributors and resellers who:
· align with our values,
· have a strong customer base and
· possess the necessary expertise to effectively sell and distribute
our products and services.
A well-defined indirect channel go-to-market strategy offers several benefits
to the Group, including:
· access to new markets and customer segments through the expertise and
reach of our channel partners.
· expanding our market reach in a cost-effective and efficient manner.
· streamlining our sales efforts by focusing on what we do best: we act
as subject matter experts.
· fostering strong relationships with channel partners, leading to
increased loyalty and collaboration.
During the year 94% of all new business was contracted through this channel.
Pricing
We believe we have a unique offering whose combination of features, benefits,
and pricing sets us apart from our competitors. This has enabled us to provide
a value proposition that resonates with both customers and channel partners.
With the introduction of a new flexible pricing structure, whereby the Group
now offers a subscription option on MyID CMS in addition to the
well-established perpetual pricing model, we believe we have further increased
the opportunities the Group can achieve.
M&A
Inorganic growth is a key strategy for the Group, and it enables it to assess
gaps in capabilities across its solutions by considering whether it is cost
effective to build the technology deck or purchase it. In addition, our
M&A is focused on broadening the service offerings, expanding the client
portfolio, and increasing recurring revenues.
As we have moved purposefully down the employee authentication pyramid, the
Group is consciously aware that a pyramid has more than one side and therefore
has opportunities to expand into markets with complimentary products and
intellectual property via acquisitions.
With an in-house corporate development capability, the Group has adopted a
strict criterion in assessing these M&A opportunities which it applies
vigorously.
Intercede MyID Solutions
Products
Authentication
Intercede protect our customers against data breach by enabling them to
replace weak user credentials with stronger authentication simply, securely
and at scale.
The number one cause of a data breach is compromised user credentials. Put
another way, 'hackers don't break in, they log in.' Intercede solutions enable
our customers to choose the level of security that is appropriate for them,
helping them wherever they are on their journey to better security.
The authentication pyramid (below) shows the relative strength of various
authentication mechanisms, with the strength of authentication increasing as
the pyramid is climbed.
· Passwords and Security Phrases (longer passwords based on a number of
disconnected words) are the weakest as they only comprise a single factor (if
I know your password I can authenticate as you), are subject to phishing
attacks, and are often reused online where they can be stolen and used by bad
actors.
· Multi-Factor Authentication, also known as strong authentication,
comprises two or more factors from 'something I have' (e.g. a phone or smart
card), 'something I know' (e.g. a PIN or password) and 'something I am' (e.g.
a fingerprint or face match) and typically generates a one-time password (OTP)
which is valid for a short time only. Using two factors significantly
increases the level of security as it protects against password reuse and
several automated attacks.
· The highest level of security is based on cryptographic keys and
includes both Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) and Faster IDentity Online
(FIDO) credentials/FIDO passkeys. These provide phishing-resistance, making it
extremely difficult for a bad actor to steal and reuse a credential. They are
recognised by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) as
offering the highest level of authentication assurance.
The MyID product family
Historically, Intercede have focused on the 'top of the' pyramid, delivering
credential management systems that enable issuance of high-assurance PKI and
FIDO credentials to security demanding customers in government, aerospace
& defence, healthcare and financial services. With a business critical
offering and non-discretionary nature of the expenditure, the Group has low
attrition and growing recurring revenues.
Following the acquisition of Authlogics in October 2022, Intercede has
completed the integration of the Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) and
Password Security Management (PSM) solutions into a rebranded and fully
integrated MyID product family:
· MyID PSM - Secure your passwords, with user-friendly policies to help
users set good passwords, and continuous assessment against the world's
largest database of compromised credentials.
· MyID MFA - Authenticate to anything from anywhere, with modern
authentication that is easy to use, deploy and manage.
· MyID CMS - Issue and manage high-assurance credentials simply,
securely and at scale, compliant with security guidelines such as FIPS-201 and
NIS2,
Intercede are now a multi-product company who uniquely offer our customers a
solution wherever they are on their security journey from passwords to PKI,
enabling us to address a wider range of customers including small to medium
businesses.
Market drivers
Intercede offers solutions to a number of factors in the cybersecurity market
which are driving organisations towards improved security:
· The number of, and sophistication of cyberattacks, is on the
increase, be they state sponsored due to the current geopolitical climate, or
criminally motivated (e.g. ransomware). Of particular note is the increased
use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to generate phishing attacks which are
virtually indistinguishable from genuine communications, as well as the use of
AI-powered deepfake technology to fool voice and facial recognition systems.
· The range of cybersecurity legislation is increasing and driving
organisations towards improved cybersecurity solutions. In the US, a
presidential executive order pushing MFA 'to the maximum extent possible' and
updates to FIPS 201* in the US giving guidance on the use a wider range of
credentials including FIDO is one example of this. Of particular note is
NIS2** in Europe. The NIS2 Directive is EU-wide legislation on cybersecurity
providing legal measures to boost the overall level of cybersecurity in the
EU. NIS2 becomes law at the end of 2024, and member states and organisations
affected must comply with local country regulations by this time.
· Due to the increased level of cyber-attack combined with the
increasing level of cybersecurity legislation, spending in cybersecurity is
continuing to increase and is seen as essential.
· In government, there is a drive to move away from bespoke or 'GOTS'
government off-the-shelf software towards COTS (commercial off-the-shelf)
solutions. This will enable customers to benefit from vendor investments in
roadmap and to keep up with the rapidly changing cybersecurity landscape
including adopting modern technologies faster.
*FIPS 201 link is: Giving NIST Digital Identity Guidelines a Boost: Supplement
for Incorporating Syncable Authenticators | NIST
(https://www.nist.gov/blogs/cybersecurity-insights/giving-nist-digital-identity-guidelines-boost-supplement-incorporating)
**NIS2 link is: The NIS2 Directive: A high common level of cybersecurity in
the EU | Think Tank | European Parliament (europa.eu)
(https://www.europarl.europa.eu/thinktank/en/document/EPRS_BRI%282021%29689333)
Roadmap
Intercede continues to invest in research and product development to maintain
our market leading position in digital identity and credential management.
Inputs into the roadmap can be split into three categories:
· Support and Maintenance - customers gain access to upgrades and
product support. As a security product this is vital to our customers and
Intercede invest in keeping the product family up to date with the latest
security standards and support for third party systems and devices. This
protects our S&M revenue which is either an annual contract or included in
subscription pricing.
· Customer funded - on occasion a customer wishes to accelerate
particular features on the product roadmap. This work is funded with Intercede
retaining the intellectual property.
· Strategic - a combination of research and development activities,
resulting in new features or modules in the product family, maintain or
increase Intercede's competitive position. Examples over the current period
have included:
Ø The addition of FIDO to the MyID MFA solution, bringing high assurance
authentication to an easy deploy mid-market product.
Ø Support for mobile driving licence style credentials on mobile devices in
the MyID CMS solution, enabling consumer devices to be used for carrying
high-assurance digital identity information.
Ø The introduction of a self-service client on Apple Mac, enabling customers
to benefit from reduced help desk calls via user-enablement on a wider range
of platforms.
The roadmap process is tightly managed, taking input from multiple internal
and external stakeholders, including the Client Advisory Boards, and results
in quarterly product updates.
A key initiative of Intercede is to continue to increase the percentage of
resources allocated to strategic roadmap development to ensure Intercede
maintains and increases competitive advantage.
Specific roadmap items for the fiscal year FY25 include:
Password Security management:
· Increased marketing/awareness campaign of existing capabilities,
particularly around the password breach database - with over 8 billion
records, the largest collection of known compromised credentials in the world
(see https://www.intercede.com/myid-product-suite/myid-psm/)
(https://www.intercede.com/myid-product-suite/myid-psm/) .
· Extend the solution to manage a wider range of passwords used within
the enterprise.
· Extend the solution to provide enterprise password management
capabilities; where passwords for applications are learned, scrambled and then
replayed at logon, giving a single-sign on experience.
· Investigation into providing FIDO Passkeys management - placing
Enterprise and Government organisations in control of their passkeys.
Multi-Factor Authentication
· Provide out-of-the box connectors to enable specific national ID
issued credentials to be used to authenticate to MyID MFA protected resources,
enabling customers to leverage high-assurance national credentials to protect
local resources.
· Extend the existing authentication solution to provide authorisation
and single-sign on capabilities, delivering flexible access control in a
mid-market product.
· Investigation into utilising AI for risk-based and ongoing
authentication.
Credential Management System
· Provide the ability to issue FIDO passkeys and then pass them to a
third party IDP for authentication, enabling customers to leverage MyID CMS to
issue high assurance PKI and FIDO credentials compatible with their existing
identity infrastructure (e.g. Microsoft Entra ID).
· Enhanced project toolkit enabling customers to configure the CMS
solution to meet their needs without the need for custom coding.
· Investigation into use of AI in identity onboarding and credential
management.
· Investigation into support of quantum resistant cryptographic
algorithms.
· Investigation into supporting device identity management (non-person
entities) in the CMS in addition to person identities.
Market Opportunities
Breaking the total market size down further into market opportunities
available to Intercede, follows a three-step process:
Addressable Market
Intercede's addressable market is any organisation globally that needs to
secure and manage their user identities. Our key segments are US federal
government (and related aerospace and defence suppliers) and
enterprise/workforce identity, into which we provide password management,
multi-factor authentication and credential management solutions.
Served Market
Within the addressable market Intercede have a strong footprint in the US and
EMEA, and a growing footprint in the APAC region.
Actual Market
Within the served markets Intercede is focused on a number of growth areas:
· PKI and FIDO credential management in high assurance environments.
· Multi-Factor Authentication in the mid-size enterprise, particularly
those affected by NIS2 regulations in Europe.
· Multi-Factor Authentication in small businesses, served by embedding
Intercede technology into established managed service provider (MSP)/managed
security service provider (MSSP) offerings.
· Password Security Management as a simple first step on a journey
towards better authentication.
Accounting for the actual market opportunity and Intercede's focused growth
areas, the Group is confident that the stated aim of doubling revenue within
3-4 years from the 2023 base is achievable.
Summary
Intercede has expanded the product portfolio to uniquely cover the complete
set of authentication options from passwords to PKI We give our customers
choice and help them wherever they are on their journey to stronger
authentication and better security.
We continue to invest in the CMS, MFA and PSM products to ensure increased
competitive positioning.
With the increased demand for high-assurance cybersecurity products, Intercede
is well positioned to capitalise on the reputation gained from multiple
high-profile deployments and to bring enhanced capabilities to the mid-market.
Financial Review
Income Statement
Revenue and operating results
The Group's revenue from continuing operations increased by 65% to £20.0
million (2023: £12.1 million) and gross profit increased by 66% to £19.4
million (2023: £11.7 million). Gross margin is broadly flat at 97% as a
similar level of third-party product was sold as part of licence sale in both
years.
The Group's operating profit was £5.3 million (2023: £0.6 million), after
non-cash depreciation charge for property, plant and equipment in the year of
£0.1 million (2023: £0.1 million), a right-of-use depreciation charge of
£0.2 million (2023: £0.2 million) and amortisation costs of £0.2 million
(2023: £0.1 million). Acquisition costs for the year were £0.1 million
(2023: £0.2 million) with exceptional expense of £0.1 million relating to
costs for moving IT infrastructure to the cloud (2023: £0.1 million relating
to exiting CFO expense overlapping incoming CFO). Operating expenses increased
by 27% to £14.1 million (2023: £11.1 million).
Tight cost control continues to be a focus for the Group in conjunction with
considered project expenditure to support revenue growth. Meanwhile the Group
continues to recognise the achievements of its staff with pay rises and
performance-related rewards. Staff costs represents the highest area of
expense representing 80% of total operating costs (2023: 81%). Intercede had
108 employees and contractors as at 31 March 2024 (2023: 94). The average
number of employees and contractors during the period was 102 (2023: 91).
The statutory profit before tax for the period was £5.6 million (2023: £0.6
million) and profit for year was £6.0 million (2023: £1.3 million).
Taxation
The Group has a tax credit of £0.4 million for the year due to amounts
received from HMRC in respect of R&D claims, less US corporation tax
payable. (2023: tax credit of £0.7 million). The Group has carried forward
unused tax losses of £3.7 million (2023: £9.9 million). Intercede makes an
R&D claim as part of its annual tax return and can choose whether to carry
taxable losses forward or to request a cash repayment from the UK government.
The Group continues to review its R&D capitalisation policy in accordance
with accounting standards as the Group develops out its product portfolio.
Finance Income
Net finance income was £0.3 million (2023: £0.1 million) reflecting
increased interest income due to a combination of higher cash balances and
rate rises.
Earnings per share
Earnings per share from continuing operations in the year was 10.3 pence for
basic and 9.6 pence for diluted (2023: 2.3p pence for basic and 2.2p diluted)
and was based on the profit for the year of £6.0 million (2023: £1.3
million) with a basic weighted average number of shares in issue during the
period of 58,231,712 (2023: 57,939,548 shares). For diluted the weighted
average number of shares in issue during the year was 62,429,062 (2023:
60,595,485).
Dividend
The Board is not proposing a dividend (2023: £nil).
Financial Position
Assets
Non-current assets of £4.2 million comprise goodwill of £2.4 million (2023:
£2.4 million), identifiable intangibles of £0.6 million (2023: £0.8
million), property, plant and equipment of £0.4 million (2023: £0.1 million)
and IFRS 16 right of use assets of £0.7 million (2023: £0.2 million).
Trade and other receivables decreased by £1.2 million to £4.3 million (2023:
£5.5 million) reflecting a more even spread of customer orders over the year,
compared to a concentration towards the end of the previous year.
Liabilities
Current liabilities increased by £1.6 million to £11.1 million (2023: £9.5
million) reflecting increased deferred revenue at the year end of £7.9
million (2023: £7.0 million).
Non-Current liabilities increased by £0.6 million to £1.5 million (2023:
£0.9 million), which also reflects increased deferred revenue at the year end
of £0.7 million (2023: £0.6 million) and the impact of increase lease
liabilities of £0.6 million (2023: £0.2 million).
Contingent Consideration
Included in current and non-current liabilities are contingent consideration
amounts due on the acquisition of Authlogics Ltd. These amounts have been
based on the reasonable estimates by management of Authlogics achieving its
recognised revenue targets for the calendar years ending June 2024 and June
2025. The Group's current and non-current liabilities include £0.3 million
(2023: £0.3 million) and £0.2 million (2023: £0.2 million) respectively for
the contingent consideration liabilities.
Capital and Reserves
Total equity increased to £13.2 million (2023: £7.0 million), reflecting the
profit for the year. Accordingly, the accumulated deficit account has now
moved into a retained earnings position of £5.7 million for the year (2023:
£0.5 million accumulated deficit).
The Group regularly assesses its capital position and maintains a disciplined
approach to the allocation of excess capital.
Liquidity and capital resources
The Group remains in a good financial position, with gross cash balances of
£17.2 million as at 31 March 2024 compared to £8.3 million held at 31 March
2023. During the year there has been a cash outflow for investing activities
of £0.4 million (2023: £2.2 million, mainly due to the £2.0 million
acquisition of Authlogics Ltd).
The net cash inflow from operating activities rose significantly to £9.6
million (2023: £2.9 million) which reflects an increased profit for the year
and good management of working capital movements thanks to tight management of
debtors. The increased profit for the year is underpinned by strong licence
orders in the year.
The Group has refined its Treasury Policy and spread its cash balances held
across a number of UK banking institutions with reputable credit ratings.
The Group had no debt at the year-end (2023: £nil).
Outlook
FY24 was an exceptional year for the Group. Intercede continues to invest in
its colleagues, IT Infrastructure, product development, sales and marketing to
maintain and sustain its current momentum.
We embark into FY25 with good visibility on the pipeline, known and fully
resourced internal critical investments, and with a clear roadmap on our
acquisition strategy. As mentioned earlier, the focus is on growth and
execution of strategic plans to deliver it.
By order of the Board
Klaas van der
Leest
Nitil Patel
Chief Executive
Officer
Chief Financial Officer
17 June 2024
INTERCEDE GROUP plc
Consolidated Statement of Comprehensive Income for the year ended 31 March
2024
2024 2023
£'000 £'000
Continuing operations
Revenue 19,963 12,110
Cost of sales (560) (403)
Gross profit 19,403 11,707
Operating expenses (14,138) (11,136)
Operating profit 5,265 571
Finance income 393 130
Finance costs (63) (75)
Profit before tax 5,595 626
Taxation 428 685
Profit for the year 6,023 1,311
Total comprehensive income attributable to owners of the parent company 6,023 1,311
Earnings per share (pence)
- basic 10.3p 2.3p
- diluted 9.6p 2.2p
INTERCEDE GROUP plc
Consolidated Balance Sheet as at 31 March 2024
2024 2023
£'000 £'000
Non-current assets
Goodwill arising on acquisition 2,442 2,442
Other intangible assets 611 785
Property, plant and equipment 399 125
Right-of-use assets 709 262
4,161 3,614
Current assets
Trade and other receivables 4,307 5,489
Cash and cash equivalents 17,226 8,334
21,533 13,823
Total assets 25,694 17,437
Equity
Share capital 584 584
Share premium 5,430 5,430
Merger reserve 1,508 1,508
Retained earnings / (Accumulated deficit) 5,656 (492)
Total equity 13,178 7,030
Non-current liabilities
Lease liabilities 631 204
Deferred Consideration 160 174
Deferred revenue 667 550
1,458 928
Current liabilities
Lease liabilities 173 261
Deferred consideration 282 313
Trade and other payables 2,686 1,918
Deferred revenue 7,917 6,987
11,058 9,479
Total liabilities 12,516 10,407
Total equity and liabilities 25,694 17,437
INTERCEDE GROUP plc
Consolidated Statement of Changes in Equity for the year ended 31 March 2024
Share Share Merger Accumulated Total
capital premium reserve deficit equity
£'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000
As at 1 April 2022 577 5,268 1,508 (1,842) 5,511
Purchase of own shares for SIP (for employees) - - - (54) (54)
Issue of new shares 7 162 - - 169
Employee share option plan charge - - - 50 50
Employee share incentive plan charge - - - 43 43
Profit for the year and total comprehensive income - - - 1,311 1,311
As at 31 March 2023 584 5,430 1,508 (492) 7,030
Purchase of own shares for SIP (for employees) - - - (54) (54)
Employee share option plan charge - - - 134 134
Employee share incentive plan charge - - - 45 45
Profit for the year and total comprehensive income - - - 6,023 6,023
As at 31 March 2024 584 5,430 1,508 5,656 13,178
All amounts included in the table above are attributable to owners of the
parent company.
INTERCEDE GROUP plc
Consolidated Cash Flow Statement for the year ended 31 March 2024
2024 2023
£'000 £'000
Cash flows from operating activities
Profit for the year 6,023 1,311
Taxation (428) (685)
Finance income (393) (130)
Finance costs 63 75
Depreciation of property, plant & equipment 84 66
Depreciation of right-of-use assets 196 246
Amortisation 174 83
Exchange (gains) / losses on foreign currency lease liabilities (24) 40
Employee share option plan charge 134 50
Employee share incentive plan charge 45 43
Employee unit incentive plan charge / (credit) 13 (51)
Employee unit incentive plan payment (14) (3)
Decrease / (increase) in trade and other receivables 1,218 (831)
Increase in trade and other payables 721 334
Increase in deferred revenue 1,046 1,668
Cash generated from operations 8,858 2,216
Finance income 403 116
Finance costs on leases (60) (44)
Tax received 428 574
Net cash generated from operating activities 9,629 2,862
Investing activities
Purchases of property, plant and equipment (358) (70)
Purchase of business (net of cash acquired) - (2,009)
Cash used in investing activities (358) (2,079)
Financing activities
Purchase of own shares (54) (54)
Proceeds from issue of ordinary share capital - 169
Principal element of lease payments (279) (409)
Cash used in financing activities (333) (294)
Net increase in cash and cash equivalents 8,938 489
Cash and cash equivalents at the beginning of the year 8,334 7,787
Exchange (losses) / gains on cash and cash equivalents (46) 58
Cash and cash equivalents at the end of the year 17,226 8,334
INTERCEDE GROUP plc
Preliminary Results for the Year Ended 31 March 2024
NOTES
1. While the financial information included in this
annual financial results announcement has been prepared in accordance with UK
adopted international accounting standards (IFRS) and with those parts of the
Companies Act 2006 applicable to companies reporting under IFRS, this
announcement does not contain sufficient information to comply therewith. The
financial information set out in this announcement does not constitute the
Group's Statutory Accounts for the years ended 31 March 2024 or 2023.
Statutory Accounts for 2023 have been delivered to the Registrar of Companies
and those for 2023, which have been approved by the Board of Directors, will
be delivered following the Group's Annual General Meeting. The Company's
auditors have reported on those accounts; their reports were unqualified and
did not contain statements under Section 498 of the Companies Act 2006.
The Annual General Meeting will be held on Wednesday 25 September 2024. Copies
of the full Statutory Accounts and the Notice of Annual General Meeting will
be despatched to shareholders in due course. Copies will also be available on
the website (www.intercede.com
(file:///C:/Users/Andrew.Walker/AppData/Local/Microsoft/Windows/Temporary%20Internet%20Files/Content.Outlook/KLE57QMN/www.intercede.com)
) and from the registered office of the Company: Lutterworth Hall, St. Mary's
Road, Lutterworth, Leicestershire, LE17 4PS.
Going concern assessment
Reported profit in each of the last five years have been underpinned by
increasing recurring revenues and a continued high level of cash balances. The
Directors have reviewed forecasts for the years ended 31 March 2025 and 31
March 2026 and concluded that the Group is expected to have sufficient cash to
enable it to meet its liabilities, as and when they fall due, for a period of
at least 12 months from the date of signing these financial statements.
Accordingly, they believe it is appropriate to prepare the financial
statements on a going concern basis under the historical cost convention.
2. REVENUE
All of the Group's revenue, operating profits and net assets originate from
operations in the UK. The Directors consider that the activities of the Group
constitute a single business segment.
The split of revenue by geographical location of the end customer can be
analysed as follows:
2024 2023
£'000 £'000
UK 388 539
Rest of Europe 1,172 906
Americas 17,492 9,879
Rest of World 911 786
19,963 12,110
Analysis of revenue is as follows:
2024 2023
£'000 £'000
Software Licences 7,672 2,268
Professional services 3,568 2,526
Support and maintenance 8,723 7,316
19,963 12,110
3. OPERATING PROFIT
Operating profit is stated after charging / (crediting):
2024 2023
£'000 £'000
Staff costs 11,259 9,027
Foreign exchange loss / (gain) 167 (19)
Depreciation of property, plant and equipment 84 66
Depreciation of right-of-use buildings 196 226
Depreciation of right-of-use equipment - 20
Amortisation 174 83
Included in the staff costs above is research and development expenditure
totalling £3,311,000 (2023: £3,053,000).
4. TAXATION
The tax credit comprises: 2024 2023
£'000 £'000
Current year - UK corporation tax - -
Current year - US corporation tax (39) (30)
Research and development tax credits relating to prior years 467 604
Deferred tax on separately identifiable acquired intangibles - 111
Taxation 428 685
The Group has unused tax losses of £3,916,000 (2023: £9,946,000) and
unrecognised deferred tax assets of £979,000 (2023: £2,486,000) calculated
at the corporation tax rate of 25% (2023: 25%), being the enacted rate at
which the deferred tax assets would unwind, were they to be recognised.
Intercede makes an R&D Claim as part of its annual tax return and can
choose whether to carry taxable losses forward or to request a cash repayment
from the UK government.
5. EARNINGS PER SHARE
The calculations of earnings per ordinary share are based on the profit for
the financial year and the weighted average number of ordinary shares in issue
during each year.
2024 2023
£'000 £'000
Profit for the year 6,023 1,311
Number Number
Weighted average number of shares - basic 58,231,712 57,939,548
62,429,062 60,595,485
- diluted
Pence Pence
Earnings per share - basic 10.3p 2.3p
- diluted 9.6p 2.2p
The weighted average number of shares used in the calculation of basic and
diluted earnings per share for each year were calculated as
follows:
2024 2023
Number Number
Issued ordinary shares at start of year 58,363,357 57,743,357
Effect of treasury shares (131,645) (131,645)
Effect of issue of ordinary share capital - 327,836
Weighted average number of shares - basic 58,231,712 57,939,548
Add back effect of treasury shares 131,645 131,645
Effect of share options in issue 4,065,705 2,524,292
Weighted average number of shares - diluted 62,429,062 60,595,485
Please see note 7 for details of issues of ordinary share capital.
6. DIVIDEND
The Directors do not recommend the payment of a dividend.
7. SHARE CAPITAL
2024 2023
£'000 £'000
Authorised
481,861,616 ordinary shares of 1p each (2023: 481,861,616) 4,819 4,819
Issued and fully paid
58,363,357 ordinary shares of 1p each (2023: 58,363,357) 584 584
There were no changes to share capital during the year (2023: issue of 620,000
ordinary shares to facilitate the exercise of options by a Director in
September 2022). As at 31 March 2024, the Company had 131,645 ordinary shares
held in treasury (2023: 131,645).
8. INTANGIBLE ASSETS
Acquired intangible assets Goodwill Total
£'000 £'000 £'000
Cost
At 1 April 2022 - - -
Businesses acquired 868 2,442 3,310
At 1 April 2023 868 2,442 3,310
Businesses acquired - - -
At 31 March 2024 868 2,442 3,310
Amortisation
At 1 April 2022 - - -
Charge for the year 83 - 83
At 1 April 2023 83 - 83
Charge for the year 174 - 174
At 31 March 2024 257 - 257
Carrying amount
At 31 March 2024 611 2,442 3,053
At 31 March 2023 785 2,442 3,227
Acquired intangible assets are made up of the separately identified
intangibles acquired with the purchase of Authlogics Ltd in October 2022.
END
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