TIDMANS
Final Results for the year ended 31 March 2009
08/07/2009 2009
GB0009606764
ANS GROUP PLC
(PLUS: ANS.PL)
("ANS Group" or "the Company")
Final Results for the year ended 31 March 2009
Headlines
Turnover increased by GBP2.1m to GBP12.4m up 20%
Operating Profit increased by 13% to GBP1.2m
Profit Before Tax up from GBP1.39m to GBP1.41m
Second Interim dividend retained at 2.75p (2008 -2.75p)
Normalised EPS growth of 9% from 7.31p to 7.94p
Cash Reserves increased by 47% from GBP2.2m to GBP3.3m
Contracted revenue growth of 12% to GBP3.6m
Chairman's Statement by Scott. J. Fletcher
I am pleased to report another exceptional year of growth for your business for the trading year
ended 31st March 2009. This is the 8th consecutive year that we have been able to report an
improved financial performance and in the light of the current economic climate I feel that the
achievements of the whole team have been truly outstanding. During the year we have seen an
increase in turnover of GBP2.1m (20%) to GBP12.4m and, despite pricing pressure, our operating profit
performance has shown 13% growth.
The results have been a reward for the continued focus of the business following our strategic
drive to develop our Unified Communications and Collaboration solutions with Cisco and Microsoft,
Storage and Virtualisation solutions with VMware and NetApps as well as our traditional Networking
and Security business. To support this we have had outstanding growth in our Managed Services
division which has now been developed into a fully 24/7 managed service offering, ready to drive
the business forward again once more in the coming year.
To complement our excellent trading performance we have also seen our cash reserves grow by a very
healthy GBP1.0m to leave our cash balance at a record GBP3.3m at the year end.
Financial Highlights by Chris Malthouse
With an increase in our turnover by 20% to GBP12.4m we have delivered the first part of our
commitment to grow the business organically and we have managed to increase the operating profit
by 13% to GBP1.2m. Our strategy of moving towards more balanced services and products portfolio
along with market pressure on margins has resulted in a reduction of gross margins from 32% to
28%.
After significant investment in the business including the appointment of two new directors, costs
have been controlled extremely tightly with a growth of 6% and the Operating Profit Margin has
been maintained at 10%.
We have improved pre-tax profits to GBP1.41m.The normalised EPS growth (excluding profit on
disposals and share option exercises) is 7.94p (7.31p 2008).
Allied to a strong trading performance there has been positive growth in our contracted Managed
Services revenues which now total GBP1.7m. The Balance Sheet remains well capitalised with a healthy
cash position of GBP3.3m and no debt.
Dividends
I am pleased to announce that we have maintained our second interim dividend at 2.75p (2008
2.75p). Having previously paid an interim dividend of 1.25p (2008 1.25p) this gives a total for
the year of 4p (2008 4p). The dividend will be paid by 21st August 2009 to shareholders on the
register at close of business on 24th July 2009.
Operational Review. by Paul. P. Sweeney
The Unified Communications and Collaboration portfolio where our strategic partners Cisco,
Microsoft and Lifesize have been combined to deliver cost efficient business solutions has
delivered growth of over 49% to revenues of GBP3.1m.
The Data Centre division where Storage and Virtualisation partners Cisco, VMware, Netapp and
Microsoft deliver outstanding efficiency and cost reduction benefits, accounts for 37% of our
business. This has grown by 10% during the year to GBP4.1m and the benefits are being delivered
across the whole of our customer base whether it is within the NHS, Local Government or the
Commercial Sector.
In the Networking and Security Division the key partners for the ANS developed solutions are
Cisco, SmartID, Imperva and Vasco and there has been significant growth of 28% during this current
financial year.
Finally, throughout the current year we have seen the further development of the ANS Managed
Services offering where the group contracted Managed Service revenues have grown by 40% to GBP1.7m
whilst the total annualised recurring revenues have grown 12% to GBP3.6m. Our support team
maintained their outstanding levels of customer service again this year and our customer retention
performance of over 90% demonstrates the valuable contribution our services division made to our
financial results.
Accreditations and Key Partnerships
This year we have enhanced our Cisco Gold accreditation by achieving two new specialisations, the
Advanced Data Centre Networking Infrastructure (DCNI) Specialisation and the Advanced Data Centre
Storage and Networking Specialisation.
Our Gold Level partnership with Cisco allows us not only to obtain the highest level of product
discounts but more importantly the high level support and issue escalation process ensures that
our customers receive a premium service at all times. The relationship also gives us the
opportunity to take advantage of the high quality new business leads that are developed within the
Cisco operation.
We also achieved the highest level of accreditation with Vmware, our chosen virtualisation Partner
and we are now an authorised Gold Partner. Towards the end of the year we became a NetApp Gold
Partner as we chose them as our top tier storage partner to further develop our best of breed
Storage and Virtualisation Solutions.
With the addition of the NetApp and VMware Gold accreditations to the already acquired Cisco and
Microsoft Gold partnerships ANS Group is one of only a few resellers who can boast this rare
position.
During the year we have developed some very robust solutions that have enabled us to continue to
grow as a key supplier within the NHS and local government markets whilst our corporate business
has held up very well with our cost-effective business solutions that provide early and
significant financial returns for our customers. We have had a positive response from all of our
customers with our "Spend to Save" approach and we look forward to developing our key
relationships further using our business solution focus rather than technology led sales.
We have developed strong relationships with two major Business Support Services companies in the
UK. Working in partnership with them we have been able to grow both our Networking Infrastructure
and Managed Service business significantly during the year.
Appointment of Two Additional Directors
In January we took the decision to strengthen the Board of Directors as part of our ongoing
strategy for significant growth over the coming three years. Both new directors bring a wealth of
experience and prior achievements to the Board and their pedigree and proven track record give the
company a stronger and more balanced management team.
Paul Sweeney can now concentrate fully on the role of Managing Director with day to day
responsibility for the operating performance of the business. His experience and service with the
Company from the outset means he is the ideal person to deliver the business strategy and working
under the direction of Chairman, Scott Fletcher, he is driving the Company forward organically.
Further to this the Board is now in a strong position to take on further complementary
acquisitions which Chris Malthouse and Scott Fletcher are heavily involved in targeting. It is
proving difficult to find high quality targets at the right price in the current market place;
your Board feels that this may change in the coming months.
David Hutton Sales Director
David, a specialist in business growth and development, has over 15 years' experience in the
technology sector.
David's career began in a sales role for Word Perfect, the original word processing software
package. During the dot com boom he influenced the path of several start up companies before
moving to Notability in 2003. David was instrumental in turning this underperforming reseller
into a desirable acquisition for ICT solutions giant Logicalis who bought the company in 2005. As
a sales director with Logicalis, David was responsible for growing the sales team from 12 to 65,
enabling the company to become one of the largest computing and IBM hardware resellers in the
UK. At ANS Group, David will be focussed on growing revenues through increased sales of our key
solutions.
Richard Gascoigne Operations Director
Richard has 20 years experience in technology and began his career in the Army as a technician
where he served across the world and in many conflict areas as a non-commissioned officer.
Departing his distinguished, decorated service career Richard moved to IT as a software engineer
and then technical manager before moving to sales during the dot com peak. Latterly he co-founded
and supported a number of successful, award winning start-ups before joining a national software
house as Services Director.
Richard has spent his entire career working on delivering high quality, best practice with an
infectious enthusiasm. His broad business skills mean that he can lead and support teams at every
level and he is a vital addition to the Board as Operations Director.
Awards
Alongside our pride in our solution portfolio and corporate achievements, we also take tremendous
pleasure in informing you of the numerous achievements of our staff members this year. They have
won a number of awards that underline their ability and commitment: most recently, Scott
Fletcher, CEO, won Entrepreneur of the Year at the National Business Awards Regional Finals, IOD
Young Director of the Year, and Chairman of the Year for PLUS. Our Finance Director Chris
Malthouse was named Best Finance Director 2008 of a PLUS Listed Company. Michelle Officer, who
started at ANS Group as a Trainee Web Designer, was recently awarded Apprentice of the Year by the
Learning and Skills Council. This award not only demonstrates the motivation and dedication of our
team at ANS Group, but also the amount that we invest in our staff.
This has been a successful year and it has not just been individual staff members that have won
prestigious awards. As a company we were awarded the Microscope ACES Networking/Comms Reseller of
the Year, placed 24th in the Sunday Times Top 100 Small Companies to work for, awarded the highest
rating of 3 star company in the Best Companies to work for 2009, appeared in the Sunday Times Tech
track, awarded the Emerging Company of the Year, Editor's Choice by CRN plus a whole host more. In
total we have had our most successful year regarding 3rd party recognition and it's heartening to
know that other people are acknowledging the success story at ANS Group Plc. The company was also
a regional finalist for the Bank of Scotland/ Sunday Times Corporate GBP35 Million Entrepreneur
Challenge.
Outlook by Scott.J. Fletcher
As with all sectors of business we are trading in very difficult times however your Board are
confident of delivering another positive performance during the coming year. There is currently a
degree of uncertainty about public sector spending levels however traditionally quarter one has
always been slow and I am pleased to report that we are currently standing in a similar position
to last year. The overall spread of the Company's business gives the board the confidence to
deliver an acceptable performance in the current trading year. We have invested heavily in the
infrastructure of the business and our strong cash position leaves us very well placed to drive
both trading growth and acquisition strategies as the upturn emerges. We are satisfied that the
prudent approach that your Board have taken will pay rewards as the economic situation improves.
The Board feels that the significant investment in the business infrastructure means that we are
well placed to take on further acquisitions and capitalise on the upturn in the economy whenever
this should happen.
Scott J Fletcher
Founder and Chairman
ANS Group Plc
AUDITED GROUP PROFIT AND LOSS ACCOUNT
YEAR ENDED 31ST MARCH 2009
2009 2008
GBP GBP
Turnover 12,361,106 10,286,041
Cost of sales 8,843,422 7,037,224
Gross profit 3,517,684 3,248,817
Administrative expenses 2,328,209 2,191,591
Operating profit 1,189,475 1,057,226
Share of associate operating profit 18,244 12,081
Profit on disposal of investments 99,862 252,949
Interest receivable and similar income 98,778 74,552
1,406,358 1,396,808
Interest payable and similar charges 504 1,940
Profit on ordinary activities before taxation 1,405,854 1,394,868
Tax on profit on ordinary activities 293,682 78,929
Profit on ordinary activities after taxation 1,112,172 1,315,939
Minority interests (8,003) (27,927)
Profit for the financial year 1,104,170 1,288,012
Earnings per ordinary share 9.16 10.50
Diluted earnings per ordinary share 8.85 9.90
AUDITED GROUP BALANCE SHEET
31ST MARCH 2009
2009 2008
GBP GBP
Fixed assets
Intangible assets 724,690 801,071
Tangible assets 137,941 155,756
Investments 273,826 259,414
1,136,457 1,216,241
Current assets
Debtors 4,516,342 4,080,955
Investments 49,811 7,993
Cash at bank and in hand 3,254,523 2,217,266
7,820,676 6,306,214
Creditors: amounts falling due within one year (6,138,415 (5,309,820
) )
Net current assets 1,682,261 996,394
Total assets less current liabilities 2,818,718 2,212,635
Provision for liabilities
Deferred taxation - (16,460)
Net assets 2,818,718 2,196,175
Capital and Reserves
Called up share capital 121,263 119,768
Share premium account 1,261,997 1,216,492
Other reserve 38,512 26,480
Profit and loss account 1,396,946 816,658
Shareholders' funds 2,818,718 2,179,398
Minority interest - 16,777
2,818,718 2,196,175
The figures above are extracted from the full financial statements.
The Directors of the Issuer accept responsibility for this announcement.
ENQUIRIES
ANS GROUP PLC TEL: 0161 227 1000
Scott Fletcher, Chairman
scott.fletcher@ansgroup.co.uk
ST HELEN'S CAPITAL PLC TEL: 020 7628 5582
Duncan Vasey/Mark Anwyl
MC2 TEL: 0161 236 1352
Claire Tennant
clairet@mcmc.co.uk
About ANS Group
ANS Group is a technology infrastructure specialist in the provision of hardware, software
and 24/7 managed services to UK Enterprise businesses. Operating within both public and
private sectors, its leading and award-winning solutions are offered in four key areas;
Unified Communications and Collaboration
Networking and Security
Data Centre
Managed Services
Based in Manchester, ANS Group delivers consistently high levels of customer service through all
project deployments and ongoing support to its 400 plus client base. Working closely with key
partners Cisco, Microsoft, VMware, NetApp, Lifesize and Smart ID allows ANS Group to offer an
unrivalled level of expertise and experience in the multifaceted industry of IT.
ANS Group Plc
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