APC Technology Regulatory News (APC)

17 April 2018

APC Technology Group PLC

("APC", the "Company" or the "Group")

Unaudited Interim Results for the six months ended 28 February 2018

APC Technology Group PLC (AIM: APC), the provider of design-in, specification and distribution services for specialist electronic components and systems, lighting technologies and connectivity products, announces its unaudited interim results for the six months ended 28 February 2018. 

Financial Highlights

· Operating profit before exceptional items increased 45% to £0.55m (H1 2017: £0.38m).

· Total profit for the period increased to £0.4m (H1 2017: £0.1m), compared with £0.2m for the whole year ended August 2017.

· Revenue increased to £8.6m (H1 2017 £8.3m) up 14% from the £7.3m posted in H2 2017.

· Gross margin maintained at 34.2% in the period (H1 2017: 34.4%), driving increased profitability through the lower fixed cost, design-in distribution business.

· Administrative expenses reduced by 3.5% from same period last year.

· Further reduction in trade and other creditors, as the Group invests in strengthening supplier relationships.

Operational Highlights

· Acquistion of First Byte Micro Limited in January 2018, to enhance APC Locator offering.

· Sale of investment in Open Energy Market Limited in January 2018, to concentrate on core activities.

· Group now concentrating on the proven business model of specialist electronic components, products and systems design-in distribution.

· First half bookings increased to £9.0m (H1 2017 £8.25m), representing a positive book-to-bill ratio.

· Significant traction from the focus on growth through increased bookings from existing technologies, in particular those that sit in high growth markets; growth through the signing of new complementary product lines; and growth through targeted bolt-on acquisitions.

Commenting on the results, Richard Hodgson, Chief Executive, said:

"These results represent a signiticant increase in profitability for the Group and highlight the success of following a focused strategy of driving high margin, design-in distribution sales through a reduced fixed cost base. This profit has then been re-invested into a strengthened balance sheet.

With this foundation in place, we are fully committed to delivering increased profit and cash generation from increased revenue from our existing technologies and new complementary product lines and through targeted bolt-on acquistions.

I would like to thank our staff, whose tremendous effort and unfailing team spirit has given us this great platform and opportunity."

Enquiries

APC Technology Group PLC +44 (0) 330 313 3220

Richard Hodgson, Chief Executive www.apcplc.com

Michael Thompson, Finance Director

Stockdale Securities Limited (Nominated Adviser and Broker) +44 (0)20 7601 6100

Mark Brown / Antonio Bossi / Edward Thomas

Board review

The Board is pleased to report unaudited interim financial results for the six months ended 28 February 2018.

The period has seen increases in turnover and profit compared with the equivalent period in 2017, described more fully in the financial performance section below. These encouraging results reflect the recent strategic realignment of the business to leverage our experience and expertise as a design-in distributor of specialist electronic components, products and systems.

In January 2018, the Group completed the acquisition of First Byte Micro Limited ("FBM"), for a total consideration of £1.2m, details of which are set out in note 7 to the interim financial statements. FBM sources and supplies a wide range of electronic components from major blue chip manufacturers such as Altera, Seiko Instruments, Texas Instruments, and Cypress, and from others either directly under franchise or from authorised open market and worldwide sources. Approximately 80% of FBM clients provide repeat business. As such, FBM has long-lasting client relationships including several up to 20 years in duration. This acquisition provides a platform for a significant boost for APC Locator's business.

Also in January 2018, as part of the realignment, the Board made the decision to sell the Group's 15% stake in Open Energy Market Limited ("OEM"), a company specialising in energy procurement, having concluded that this activity was not core to the Group's business and with a new equity partner coming into OEM on terms that would have created a significant risk of APC not being able to achieve a successful exit from this investment. The proceeds of sale amounted to £307,000.

The design-in distribution business is now organised around technology portfolios, each with specialist business teams with specific technical expertise, combined with in-depth industry and product knowledge, supported by a shared service framework of marketing, sales, logistics and administration. Our product and application focus is centered around the following businesses:

High Reliability Electronics (trading as APC Hi-Rel) - the technical sale of high-reliability, high temperature and high voltage electronic components, semiconductors and power solutions, selling primarily into the aerospace and defence industries;

Component services and sourcing solutions (trading as APC Locator) - offers a range of services relating to the location of obsolete, end of life and hard to find components, including obsolescence management, component requalification and anti-counterfeit testing. APC's historical experience in this area has been augmented by the acquisition of First Byte Micro Limited, which provides a new platform for expansion of this activity;

Radio Frequency and Microwave (trading as APC RF & Microwave) - distributes high performance connectors, passive and active devices and related electronic components, selling primarily into the defence, telecoms, wireless and broadband markets;

Embedded Processing, Computing, Wireless and Internet of Things (IoT) (trading as APC Smartwave) - sells embedded computer boards and memory, sensors and related components to IT, industrial manufacturing, defence and healthcare sectors;

Time and Frequency Synchronisation (trading as APC Time) - provides time and frequency synchronisation systems to financial institutions, government bodies, broadcasters, telecoms organisations and rail companies; and

Lighting Technologies (trading as APC Lighting) - a bespoke provider of high-end architecturally specified LED lighting and industrial optoelectronic devices to facility management companies.

In addition, EEVS Performance Management provides energy verification services in connection with energy performance contracts by facilities management companies or energy-saving measures funded by public sector organisations.

Summary of Financial Performance

Revenue for the period was £8.6m (H1 2017: £8.3m), representing an increase of 3.6% over the corresponding period in 2017. Revenue was 14% higher than the immediately preceding 6 months. The 2018 result includes revenue of £0.25m from two months trading of FBM.

Overall gross profit margin for the period was 34.2% (H1 2017: 34.4%), broadly similar to the result in the corresponding period last year and also the last full year. This consistent performance is underpinned by a strong margin for the lower fixed cost, design-in distribution business.

Operating profit before exceptional and non-recurring expenses, share based payments, interest and tax was £0.55m (H1 2017: £0.38m), representing a 45% increase. This was assisted by a reduction of 3.5% in overheads compared with the corresponding period last year, as the current period saw the full effect of the headcount reductions, consolidation of offices and improved cost control that were established in 2016/7.

Exceptional and non-recurring expenses reduced substantially in the period, from £154k in H1 2017 to just £5k in this period. This reflects the business moving forward from a period of considerable change to one of increasing stability and consistency.

After exceptional and non-recurring expenses, share based payments, interest and tax, the Company produced a £0.4m profit for the period, compared to £0.1m in H1 2017 and resulting in a basic and diluted EPS of 0.3p (H1 2017: 0.1p). This marks a further improvement in the Group's profitability as the new strategy starts to take effect.

Balance Sheet and Cash Flow

Working capital (excluding net debt) moved from a defict of £0.5m at 31 August 2017 to a surplus of £0.6m at 28 February 2018.

Net debt at the end of the period was £4.0m, including £0.3m of cash, £3.1m drawn on the ABN invoice finance facility, £0.5m from the Pay4 trade payment facility and £0.7m of unsecured loan notes from shareholders. This compares with net debt of £3.1m at 31 August 2017.

These trends stem predominantly from the increased emphasis on investing in reducing trade payables days, thereby creating stronger supplier relationships. The higher invoice discounting debt reflects the increased trading of the business with the inclusion of FBM and therefore the larger overall availability on the facility. The Group continues to enjoy considerable support from ABN and its invoice discounting facility of up to £6m remains in place with no fixed termination date.

Cash outflow for the period resulted in an overall decrease in net cash of £0.1m, influenced by the working capital movements outlined above, together with the cost of the FBM acquisition (£0.5m) and the proceeds from the sale of the investment in OEM (£0.3m).

No new shares have been issued in the financial year to date.

Outlook

The Board has formulated a clear strategy for moving forward with profitable cash-generative growth. This strategy has three tactical strands:

Increase revenue through our established and growth technologies. This growth will largely be driven by market or compliance requirements and will be achieved through reorganised and incentivised sales teams, hunting sales proactively. In this context orders worth £16m were taken in the 2017 financial year (compared with billings of £15.6m) and £9.0m in H1 2018 (compared with £8.6m billed); both of these provide a positive book-to-bill ratio, implying a continuing growth profile;

Growth by signing new proven technology partners. Three new signings took place at the end of FY 2017 and there is a robust pipeline of other target technologies; and

Sales growth through bolt-on acquisitions. The targets are established companies, with turnover of £1m or more, that can provide additional revenue consistent with APC's strategic profile, together with a bank of existing customers. The acquisition of First Byte Micro Limited is the first example of this strategy in action.

The Board believes that the actions of the past two years have brought the Group to a position of stability, with a clear view of the way ahead through a well-defined strategy, and we therefore face the future with confidence.

Once again we would like to thank the Group's employees for their dedication and hard work, and our customers, suppliers and shareholders for their continued support.

The Board of Directors

17 April 2018

There were no other items of comprehensive income. Accordingly no consolidated statement of comprehensive income has been prepared.

CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF CHANGES IN EQUITY

NOTES TO THE INTERIM REPORT

1. General information

APC Technology Group PLC is a public limited company ("the Company") incorporated in the United Kingdom under the Companies Act 2006 (registration number 01635609).

The Company is domiciled in the United Kingdom and its registered address is 6 Stirling Park, Laker Road, Rochester, Kent, ME1 3QR. The Company's Ordinary Shares are traded on the Alternative Investment Market ("AIM") of the London Stock Exchange. The principal activity of the Company and its subsidiary undertakings (together "the Group") is the design, specification, and distribution of specialist electronic components and systems.

2. Basis of preparation

This unaudited consolidated interim financial information has been prepared in accordance with IFRS as adopted by the European Union. The principal accounting policies used in preparing the interim results are those it expects to apply in its financial statements for the year ended 31 August 2018 and are unchanged from those disclosed in the Company's Annual Report for the year ended 31 August 2017.

The financial information does not contain all of the information that is required to be disclosed in a full set of IFRS financial statements. The financial information for the six months ended 28 February 2018 and 28 February 2017 is unreviewed and unaudited and does not constitute the Company's statutory financial statements for those periods. The comparative financial information for the full year ended 31 August 2017 has, however, been derived from the audited statutory financial statements for that period. A copy of those statutory financial statements has been delivered to the Registrar of Companies. The auditor's report on those accounts was unqualified, did not include references to any matters to which the auditor drew attention by way of emphasis without qualifying its report and did not contain a statement under section 498(2)-(3) of the Companies Act 2006.

The financial information in the Interim Report is presented in Sterling and all values are rounded to the nearest thousand pounds (£000) except where otherwise indicated.

3. Segmental information

Operating Segments

IFRS 8 "Operating Segments", requires consideration of the chief operating decision maker ('CODM') within the Company. In line with the Company's internal reporting framework and management structure, the key strategic and operating decisions are made by the CEO, who reviews internal monthly management reports, budget and forecast information as part of this process. Accordingly, the CEO is deemed to be the CODM.

The Company operates within a single reportable segment, being the the provision of design-in distribution services for specialist electronic components, products and systems.

4. Exceptional and non-recurring expenses

5. Earnings per share

The calculation of basic earnings per share is based on the profit after taxation attributable to equity holders of the parent company for the period and the weighted average number of shares in issue during the period.

Diluted earnings per share is calculated by adjusting the weighted average number of shares outstanding by the dilutive effect of Ordinary Shares that the Company may potentially issue relating to its share option scheme.

The result for the year and the weighted average number of shares used in the calculations are set out below:

6. Sale of investment in associated company

On 24 January 2018 the Group sold its investment in Open Energy Market Limited ("OEM"), a company incorporated in England and Wales, whose principal activity consists of energy procurement. The Group owned 15% of the issued share capital of OEM and the proceeds of sale amounted to £307,000.

7. Acquisition of subsidiary company

On 10 January 2018 the Group completed the acquisition of First Byte Micro Limited ("FBM") a franchised and independent distributor of electronic components. The consideration payable is £1.2 million, of which £0.7m represents cash at completion in FBM. Of the remaining £0.5m, £0.27m will be paid on completion from existing APC cash and debt facilities, with the residual £0.23m being paid in January 2019.

8. Copies of Interim report

The interim report is available to view and download from the Company's website at www.apcplc.com. If shareholders would like a hard copy of the interim report, they should contact the Company Secretary,

APC Technology Group PLC, 6 Stirling Park, Laker Road, Rochester, Kent ME1 3QR.