AMO.L Regulatory News (AMO)

28 Nov 2005 07:01

Amino Technologies PLC28 November 2005 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 28 November 2005 AMINO TECHNOLOGIES PLC YEAR END TRADING UPDATE Amino Technologies plc ("Amino"; stock code : AMO), the Cambridge basedbroadband network software and systems company, presents an update on tradingfor the year ending 30 November 2005. The Board is pleased with the strong progress being made. At the time of thehalf year results announcement in July 2005, we stated clearly that the resultsfor the current year would be biased heavily towards the end of the year andnoted the relative immaturity of the IPTV market with the associated challengesin terms of forecasting. Revenues for the year to 30 November 2005 are expected to be around £24m (£13.8mfor the period ended 30 November 2004), with unit shipments of around 315,000units (174,000 for the year to 30 November 2004). Accordingly, revenue in H2,2005 is expected to be double that for H1, 2005 and more than the total revenuefor the previous year. Profit before tax for the year is expected to be in arange of £1.0m to £1.5m, having reported a loss of £0.9m for H1, 2005 and apre-tax profit of £0.3m for 2004. During H2, new order intake has been runningat an annualised rate of £38m, enabling Amino to start the new financial yearwith a healthy backlog. Unit pricing and margins continue to be robust and inline with our expectations. Net cash at the year end is expected to be £14m. Our licensing business model is beginning to gain traction. In a separatestatement today, we have announced a major licensing contract with AS IntercomLtd. for the manufacture and distribution of Amino IPTV set top boxes within theRussian Federation, Kazakhstan and the Ukraine. The contract for this licensingdeal has been signed and, on the current assumptions for revenue recognition for2005 and 2006, will contribute significantly to the expected results for 2005.Other potential licensing negotiations are progressing well. Amino's key business metrics are maintaining a strong upwards momentum. As at 31October 2005, 55 customers have taken over 1,000 units (35 at the half year), ofwhich 14 have taken over 10,000 units (11 at the half year); and a further 124customers are in system trials or small-scale roll-out phase (98 at the halfyear). These and other customer adoption metrics show a three-fold improvementover the past 12 months. The customer base is spread across all geographies,ranging in size from regional operators ("Tier 2 and 3") to large nationaltelcos ("Tier 1"). In the short term, and as previously indicated, the costs ofsupporting this broader customer base has had a downward effect on near-termprofits. The Board believes that this investment will be fully validated both bythe growth potential represented by our many and geographically diverse salesopportunities and by the risk-diversification that this spread provides. We note that many well known market participants have reported delays in theirIPTV developments. While highlighting these effects on our own business inprevious announcements, the benefits of Amino's IntActTM software technology andour commitment to customer support have helped our many customers to negotiatethese challenges successfully. Against this background, we are pleased to beable to report strong growth at such an early stage in market evolution. Over the past 3 years, Amino has established itself as a market leader in thegrowing IPTV market. In H2, 2005, Amino has: • been named top worldwide supplier of IP set-top boxes by US technology analyst organisation, ABI research; • begun shipments of the AmiNET 124, the world's first single chip MPEG-4 (H.264) IPTV set-top box; • been selected for the first High Definition IPTV deployment in the US; and • expanded our key supplier agreements by adding a further 3 major tier 1 Systems Integrators: Lucent, Nortel and Unisys. We note an increased level of M&A activity within the IPTV sector and areencouraged by the support this gives to predictions of substantial market growthand opportunity. Given our market positioning, and strong customer and partnerrelationships, we see such developments as representing positive opportunitiesfor Amino. Looking forward, the market continues to show strong growth throughout the world- but with the unpredictability which is characteristic of an early stagemarket. We continue to be confident of sustaining the growth in revenue andshipments seen in our business over the past three years. Amino believes thatthe interests of both shareholders and the Group will be served best by ensuringthat investment in new products, technologies, commercial partner relationshipsand customer trials should be sustained at the level required to consolidate itspositioning and market leadership. Whilst this investment may reduce near-termprofitability, Amino is well placed to benefit from the many opportunities asthe market matures. About Amino Amino (www.aminocom.com) is a designer and supplier of electronic systems,software and consultancy, specialising in applications for on-demand video, IPTV(telco triple-play applications) and in-home multimedia distribution. Amino'sIntActTM client-side system software provides users with the twin benefits oflow cost deployment and rapid time-to-market. The key to these benefits is asoftware stack with a wide selection of pre-integrated third-party components. Amino's own range of small, low cost, high functionality set-top boxes andgateways incorporating its IntActTM software is designed for consumerapplications in telecommunications and broadcast markets, as well as on-demandsystems for hotels and hospitality markets, healthcare, retail and education.Amino also provides systems consultancy and partners with world-leadingcompanies in content aggregation, middleware, conditional access and head-endsystems. CONTACTS Amino Technologies: 01954-234100Grant Masom, Chairman www.aminocom.comBob Giddy, Chief ExecutiveStuart Darling, Finance Director Bankside:Steve Liebmann or Susan Scott 020-7367-8883 or 07802-888159 This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange