AMO.L Regulatory News (AMO)

21 Apr 2005 07:00

Amino Technologies PLC21 April 2005 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 21 April 2005 AMINO TECHNOLOGIES PLC PLACING OF NEW ORDINARY SHARES TO RAISE £15.27M Amino Technologies plc ("Amino" or "the Company"; stock code: AMO), theCambridge based broadband network software and systems company, announces thatit has conditionally placed 7,200,000 new Ordinary Shares of 1p each at a priceof 220 pence per share. Once completed, this placing will raise approximately£15.27 million (net of expenses). In addition, new banking facilities of up to£10 million are in the process of being finalised. BACKGROUND TO AND REASONS FOR THE PLACING AND NEW BANKING FACILITIES Amino progress During the past 18 months, Amino has successfully established itself as amarket-leading supplier of set-top box technologies which enabletelecommunications companies ("telcos") to deliver internet protocol TV ("IPTV")services including video-on-demand, interactive TV and scheduled TV servicesover broadband networks. Amino delivered a strong commercial and financial performance in the 11-monthfinancial period to 30 November 2004: • AmiNET set top box volume shipments of 174,000 (2003: 11,500); • 13-fold growth in revenue to £13.2 million (2003: £1.0 million); and • Operating profit before tax and exceptional items of £0.5 million (2003: loss of £3.4 million). Amino has established a global reach having recently added local sales presenceacross the USA, and is in the process of doing so in Singapore and China,complementing the existing offices in Cambridge, Atlanta and Hong Kong. Thegroup headcount is 84. In recent months, Amino has continued to make strong progress in winning newcustomers with further increases in the number of field trials and volumedeployments: • Significant new field trials (typically 500 to 1,000 units) have been established in India, Brazil, China, Spain, Netherlands and Russia. • New volume deployments (single orders greater than 1,000 units) have commenced in Russia, Hong Kong, Thailand, Ireland and Japan. Meanwhile, the development of partnerships with leading systems integrators hascontinued and now includes many of the leading participants in the IPTV market.Amino continues to invest heavily in new product development, and recent newproduct launches include the AmiNET 120 - a high definition TV set top box andassociated software. Market development There is now firm evidence that the consumer is prepared to pay for the servicesand functionality provided by IPTV. This is generating increasing interest andactivity in the market generally, but is being seen most markedly within "Tier2" telcos (telcos having over 1 million phone subscribers). "Tier 1" telcos(over 10 million phone subscribers) have made public statements of commitment toIPTV, but are largely still in the system evaluation and testing phase - areflection of the size of any potential investment they might make in rollingout such services. Currently, the bigger IPTV deployments are taking place inthe Far East and Eastern Europe, followed by the Americas; this is reflected inAmino's recent commercial progress. Increase in working capital base As the IPTV market is growing more strongly than previously expected, withincreasing activity by larger systems integrators and telcos, Amino now needs toincrease its working capital base to enable it to take advantage of theincreased opportunities for growth. At the time of Amino's Admission to Aim in June 2004, £6.31 million (net ofexpenses) was raised. The placing announced today will raise a further £15.27million (net of expenses). In addition, new banking facilities of up to £10million are in the process of being finalised. The Board considers that thisincreased availability of working capital will be sufficient for Amino tocontinue to take advantage of the opportunities available to it, takingparticular regard of potential shipment volumes and the demands placed on theCompany when dealing with large organisations such as Tier 1 telcos and globalsystem integrators. Grant Masom, Amino's Chairman stated: "When Amino floated on AIM in June last year, we intentionally raised only amodest amount of new capital. Since then, Amino has demonstrated its ability todevelop into a company capable of serving a rapidly growing global market. Thegrowth in the IPTV market is still accelerating with an increasing interest fromthe larger telcos. The additional working capital now being raised will enableAmino to capitalise on its market leading position." DETAILS OF THE PLACING The Company is proposing to raise approximately £15.84 million, before expenses,by the issue of 7,200,000 new Ordinary Shares at 220 pence per share. Pursuantto the terms of the Placing Agreement, KBC Peel Hunt, as agent for Amino, hasagreed conditionally to use reasonable endeavours to place the Placing Sharesinvestors procured by it. The Placing Price represents a discount of approximately 0.45 per cent. to theclosing mid-market price of 221 pence per Ordinary Share on 20 April 2005 beingthe last dealing day prior to this announcement. The Placing Shares representapproximately 12.36 per cent. of the enlarged issued share capital of theCompany immediately following Admission (assuming none of the Company'soutstanding Options are exercised). The issue of the Placing Shares is conditional upon the passing of theResolutions set out in the Notice of Extraordinary General Meeting convened for16 May 2005 and their Admission to AIM. Application will be made to the LondonStock Exchange for the Placing Shares to be admitted to trading on AIM and it isanticipated that dealings in the Placing Shares will commence on 17 May 2005. CONTACTS Amino Technologies: 01954-234100Grant Masom, Chairman www.aminocom.comBob Giddy, Chief ExecutiveStuart Darling, Finance Director KBC Peel Hunt: 020-7418-8900David Davies Bankside:Steve Liebmann or Susan Scott 020-7444-4163 / 07802-888159 About Amino Amino (www.aminocom.com) is a designer and supplier of electronic systems andconsultancy, specialising in products for digital broadcast and on-demand TV,IPTV (telco triple-play applications) and in-home multimedia distribution. Its range of small, low cost, high functionality set-top boxes and gatewayproducts is designed for consumer applications in telecom, satellite and digitalterrestrial broadcast markets, as well as on-demand systems for hotels andhospitality markets, healthcare, retail and education. Amino also providessystems consultancy and partners with world-leading companies in contentaggregation, middleware, conditional access and head-end systems. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange