Taken a little longer then I thought but in answer to my own question,,,,,yes the worm has turned,,,,,,,,,will be holding onto this for a long time,,,,,,,,,,,DYOR
Very good indeed,,,,,,,,,just as I expected,,,,,,,,,,,,,,and an increased divi to boot,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,very happy to be in this one,,,,,no advice intended
Very pleased with that and happy to hold :-)
RNS Number : 2025Y
Networkers International PLC
22 January 2014
22 January 2014
Networkers International plc ('Networkers International' or the 'Company' or 'Group')
Pre-Close Statement and Trading Update
Networkers International, the AIM quoted International Telecom, IT and Energy technical and professional staffing company today issues its pre-close statement covering the year ended 31 December 2013 and updates the market on current trading.
Key Highlights
· The board expects pre-tax profits and earnings per share before exceptional items to be in line with board expectations for the year ended 31 December 2013;
· Net fee income ('gross margin' or 'NFI') is expected to show a 5% reduction against the record levels achieved in 2012;
· Permanent net fee income has grown by approximately 19% for the year with contract net fee income reducing by approximately 12%. Permanent placements now represent over 25% of total Group net fee income;
· Positive net operating cash inflow for the year of approximately £6.8m;
· Strong balance sheet with net debt, relating entirely to drawdown on invoice discounting for working capital purposes, reduced by more than 55% to £3.0m (2012: £6.9m). This is after paying out dividends of £1.1m and making own share purchases and purchase of minority interest shares of £0.8m during 2013; and
· An agreement has been reached with plaintiffs with regards to settling the ongoing US Class Action litigation (see below).
Litigation Update
The Board has recently agreed to settle the Group's ongoing Class Action litigation in the US. The details of the litigation are included in the 2012 Annual Report but principally relate to alleged violations of wage and hours laws governing overtime pay, rest breaks and meal breaks primarily during the period 2005 and 2006. The final settlement terms will be subject to obtaining court approval which, based on legal advice, is expected to be forthcoming. Following court approval, payments to the participating class members are likely to take place during H2 2014.
Based on the expected levels of participation, the board does not expect the total payments to exceed the existing provision of £1.6m. Notwithstanding this, the Board considers it prudent to increase the provision by £0.25m in case the uptake of participating class members is more than anticipated. In addition to this, the Group has incurred exceptional non-recurring costs of £0.25m during 2013 in relation to this litigation.
Commenting on today's announcement, Spencer Manuel, CEO said "I am pleased with the progress that the Group has made during 2013. Whilst overall net fee income is expected to show a reduction of approximately 5% ag