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Final Results

9 Jun 2020 07:00

RNS Number : 3365P
AVEVA Group PLC
09 June 2020
 

9 June 2020

 

AVEVA GROUP PLC

 

RESULTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2020

 

AVEVA delivers strong growth and makes significant progress towards its medium-term targets.

 

Summary results

 

Year ended 31 March

FY20

FY19

Change

 

Revenue1

£833.8m

£766.6m

8.8%

Recurring revenue2

£518.5m

£412.6m

25.7%

Adjusted EBIT3

£216.8m

£175.9m

23.3%

Adjusted EBIT margin

26.0%

22.9%

+310bps

Profit before tax

£92.0m

£46.7m

97.0%

Adjusted3 diluted earnings per share

108.15p

86.60p

24.9%

Diluted earnings per share

43.13p

20.90p

106.4%

Final dividend per share

29.0p

29.0p

-

 

Highlights

· Revenue grew 8.8% to £833.8m (FY19: £766.6m)

· Organic constant currency revenue4 grew 7.4%

· Recurring revenue up 25.7% to £518.5m (FY19: £412.6m) representing 62.2% of total revenue (FY19: 53.8%)

· Growth across all geographic regions with Asia Pacific showing particular strength

· Each of the Business Units grew, with strong growth in Asset Performance Management (APM) and Planning & Operations

· Successful introduction of AVEVA Flex subscription model supporting strong growth in subscription

· Cloud growth accelerating with an increase of some 200% in total contract value

· Adjusted EBIT up 23.3% to £216.8m (FY19: £175.9m) with margins up to 26.0% (FY19: 22.9%), in-line with expected progress towards medium term target of 30%

· Strong balance sheet with cash and deposits of £114.6m, no debt and strong cash collection post year end

· Final dividend maintained at 29.0 pence per share reflecting confidence in AVEVA's resilience, strong balance sheet position and ongoing cash generation, balanced with prudence regarding the global economic crisis. The Company has not furloughed any employees or made any reductions to headcount related to Covid-19. We also do not expect to utilise any government-backed financing

· Business outlook resilient with digitalisation key to driving customers' efficiency and high levels of recurring revenue for AVEVA

 

 

Chief Executive Officer, Craig Hayman said:

 

"I am very pleased with AVEVA's performance over the last year. The Group has grown as we play a leading role in the digitalisation of the industrial world, which is being driven by a need for sustainability, the industrial internet of things, Cloud, data visualisation and artificial intelligence. At the same time, we continued to drive operational improvement in the business, which is increasing recurring revenue and margins.

 

AVEVA's team has adapted impressively to the current market and operating environment. The safety of our employees is paramount and I was very pleased that we managed to deliver a successful close to our financial year with 95% of employees working remotely. We are focused on being digital in everything that we do, accelerating Cloud and driving the roll out of our subscription offering, AVEVA Flex".

 

Looking forward, AVEVA is well placed to navigate through the challenges of the current environment, with the benefit of recurring revenue from multi-year contracts. AVEVA is in a strong position and our strategy and medium-term objectives remain unchanged."

 

 

Notes

 

1 Revenue is shown on a statutory basis. In FY19 revenue was also shown on a pro forma basis.

 

2 Recurring revenue is defined as subscription revenue plus maintenance revenue.

 

3 Adjusted Earnings Before Interest and Tax (EBIT) and Adjusted Earnings Per Share (EPS) are calculated before amortisation of intangible assets (excluding other software), share-based payments, gain/loss on fair value of forward foreign exchange contracts and exceptional items. Adjusted Earnings Per Share also includes the tax effects of these adjustments.

 

4 Organic constant currency revenue excludes the reverse acquisition accounting adjustment to deferred revenue in FY19 and FY20; a currency translation benefit of £7.6 million; and adjusts for the disposals of Wonderware Italy, Germany and Scandinavia, and the acquisition of MaxGrip.

 

 

Enquiries:

 

AVEVA Group plc

Matt Springett, Head of Investor Relations

Tel: 07789 818 684

 

FTI Consulting LLP

Edward Bridges / Dwight Burden

Tel: 0203 727 1017

 

 

Webcast and conference call

 

AVEVA will host a conference call and webcast, for registered participants, at 09:30 (BST) today.

 

To register for the webcast and access the presentation materials please visit: www.aveva.com/Investors

 

Conference calls dial in details:

Telephone UK: +44 (0) 2071 928 000 / 0800 376 7922

Telephone US: +1 866 966 1396 / +1 631 510 7495

Conference call code: 4799483

 

Conference call participants will be able to ask questions during the Q&A session and are also advised to watch the webcast.

 

A replay of the webcast call will be made available later in the day.

 

 

 

Chief Executive's review

 

Summary

 

AVEVA delivered good financial results achieving revenue growth of 8.8% and adjusted EBIT growth of 23.3%, while continuing to drive a business model transition to subscription. Recurring revenue increased as a proportion of total revenue to 62.2% (FY19: 53.8%). This transition offers increased flexibility to customers, while generating long-term value for shareholders.

 

The Group's operating margin benefited from an improvement in gross margin, due to a better sales mix and increased operational efficiency, operational leverage and underlying cost savings. At the same time, investment in areas including Sales & Marketing and Research & Development was increased to help generate future growth.

 

Covid-19

 

AVEVA achieved a good close to its financial year, despite the challenges related to Covid-19. The safety of AVEVA's employees is paramount and the business has adapted well to remote working.

 

AVEVA's software drives efficiency gains for the industries it serves. As such, digitalisation is key in dealing with the challenges that these industries are facing, for example helping drive efficiency in difficult operating environments and enabling unmanned operations. The Group has been accelerating its Cloud roll-out, while increasing investment in Cloud development, to provide flexibility for customers in how they consume software.

 

Despite this, the overall level of macroeconomic disruption has had some impact on customer confidence and in certain sectors it has caused supply chain disruption, making the overall business environment more challenging. Restrictions on mobility are resulting in services being performed remotely where possible and we expect to see the ongoing and planned reduction in perpetual licences increase. This is likely to lead to subscription revenues, which have continued to grow, comprising a greater proportion of the total.

 

Against a more challenging revenue growth backdrop, AVEVA is taking actions which are expected to result in a reduction in costs of approximately £50-60 million versus the Group's pre-Covid-19 plans for FY21. At this point, AVEVA does not intend to make staff reductions in response to the economic environment, furlough any staff, or make use of government support programmes. Savings will be generated from reductions in discretionary spend, travel costs and lower costs from switching key events from physical to virtual.

 

Trading and markets

 

The industries that AVEVA serves are making increasing use of technology to reduce both capital and operating costs in the context of competitive pressures to increase efficiency, output, flexibility and improve overall sustainability. This is being enabled by ongoing technological mega trends that are driving the digitalisation of the industrial world, notably the industrial internet of things, Cloud, data visualisation and artificial intelligence.

 

This is driving growth in demand for industrial software. AVEVA is optimally placed to help its customers digitalise, due to its end-to-end product portfolio, which runs from simulation through design and construction and into operations. In addition, AVEVA has well-established market-leading positions serving the process, marine, batch and hybrid industries.

 

AVEVA achieved growth across all its geographical reporting segments and Business Units during the year.

 

End markets

 

AVEVA primarily serves process, batch, hybrid and marine industries. These industries provide staple requirements for basic consumption, such as Energy, Food, and Transport. As such, they have some level of resilience to the macroeconomic downturn.

 

AVEVA's largest end market is Oil & Gas at around 40% of revenue, with around 10% of revenue exposed to greenfield capex in the sector. The Group has become more diversified since the combination with the Schneider Electric industrial software business. Packaged Goods (such as Food & Beverage and Pharma), Power, Marine, Chemicals & Petrochemicals, and Metals & Mining each accounted for 5-10% of Group revenue. Other markets include Water & Wastewater, Infrastructure and Discrete Manufacturing.

 

Within Oil & Gas the Group's business is diversified across the capital and operational expenditure phases of the asset lifecycle, with AVEVA supplying customers in the upstream, midstream and downstream markets. AVEVA's supply chain planning software is particularly well placed to help customers adjust to the current market conditions.

 

The ongoing structural growth drivers in each of our end markets are strong.

 

In Oil & Gas, overall end market conditions were stable for most of the year, with steady capital and operating expenditure across the upstream, midstream and downstream segments. The Group won contracts with both owner-operators such as BP and Engineering Procurement and Construction (EPC) customers, such as Worley. There was however a sharp reduction in oil consumption associated with the Covid-19 crisis towards the end of the financial year. This has led to several oil companies announcing reductions in capital expenditure, particularly for upstream projects, which will have a knock-on impact on the business of some of AVEVA's EPC customers. Most of these EPC customers have signed multi-year subscription contracts in the past two years with a minimum level of spend, which will provide some insulation for AVEVA. Tough market conditions also offer opportunities to drive further efficiencies through digitalisation, particularly in operations, where AVEVA's software can offer solutions to supply chain planning challenges.

 

In Marine, AVEVA delivered a good performance, driven by product cycle upgrades and a large multi-year subscription contract win with Hyundai Heavy Industries in Asia Pacific.

 

The Group's other end markets are largely non-cyclical and are primarily driven by structural growth as industries make increasing use of technology to drive efficiency. During the year we saw customer wins in the consumer packaged goods market with Procter & Gamble and Colgate Palmolive, the semi-conductor market with Micron and the food and beverage space with the coffee division of Olam International, a leading food and agri-business.

 

AVEVA has a strategy to grow in new markets, such as the infrastructure market around cities, water and wastewater utilities, power utilities, facility and campus managers, transportation operators and data centres. There have been several new customers, particularly in smart cities, with the Unified Operations Centre and water and wastewater.

 

AVEVA recently launched its Unified Operations Centre for Datacentres in collaboration with Schneider Electric, to provide a homogenous view of engineering, operations, and performance across a heterogeneous, legacy installed base. Datacentre providers will benefit from this partnership by connecting platforms and data sets that previously existed in disparate systems. They will also be able to scale regardless of the number of sites or global location. Datacentre staff will be empowered to make faster, more informed decisions and optimise asset and operational efficiency throughout the datacentre lifecycle. As a result, datacentre providers can deliver a globally consistent experience to address the expanding digital infrastructure needs of their clients.

 

Sales channel and geographical performance

 

AVEVA delivered growth across all geographies and saw good execution from both direct and indirect sales channels, the latter of which represented approximately one third of total revenue, including sales made through Schneider Electric and leveraging its end-to-end EcoStruxure architecture. The recent combined launch of a Datacentre product, which will be taken to Schneider's top global accounts, highlights the value of this relationship.

 

Performance from the direct sales channel was strong, benefiting from investment and revised sales incentives.

 

The indirect sales channel performed well, achieving growth across all regions. AVEVA invested in and simplified its partner network, including enabling Schneider Electric to process sales leads through this channel.

 

Growth was assisted by the sale of additional AVEVA products, particularly AVEVA Asset Performance Management (APM), as channel sales moved beyond its historical focus on Monitoring & Control. Towards the end of the year, AVEVA introduced the AVEVA Select programme, which provides our partners with the opportunity to become distributors of the full AVEVA portfolio.

 

As part of the partner network simplification, AVEVA divested distributors in Italy, Germany and Scandinavia. This had an immaterial impact on the financial results.

 

EMEA: Overall revenue increased by 4.1% driven by strong growth in Russia and CIS in the Oil & Gas, power and industrial markets, supported by collaboration with Schneider Electric. The other regions in EMEA produced flat to mid-single digit growth, reflecting the economic environment and subdued North Sea oil activity. There were a number of key deals in the food and beverage, power, water and marine markets as well as expansion with existing EPC customers.

 

Americas: Overall revenue increased by 2.3% and grew in both in North America and Latin America, with Brazil performing very well due to both expansion deals and new wins. The reduction in Services revenue remained higher in the Americas than other regions as AVEVA continued to reduce the Services element of its pipeline Monitoring & Control business.

 

Asia Pacific: Overall revenue increased by 26.7% driven by good performance across the whole region. In particular, Australia and India were strong. China was on track for an outstanding year before the impact of Covid-19 hit the fourth quarter. Despite that, China still delivered double digit growth for the year.

 

Business Unit performance

 

AVEVA has four business units: Engineering, Monitoring & Control, Asset Performance Management and Planning & Operations.

 

The Group is driving recurring revenue increases in all these divisions. In FY20, over 80% of Engineering's revenue was recurring, compared to 45% to 50% for the other business units.

 

Engineering consists of design and simulation software and contributed 43% of total revenue. The Business Unit achieved approximately 25% growth in Subscription licences, helped by the benefit from multi-year contracts signed in the year. Overall revenue growth was approximately 7% on a constant currency basis, driven by growth in design software.

 

Monitoring & Control represented 31% of total revenue. The Business Unit achieved approximately 150% growth in Subscription licences following the introduction of AVEVA Flex. Overall revenue growth was approximately 3% on a constant currency basis, with solid growth in the core Wonderware business being partly offset by significantly lower services associated with the pipeline SCADA due to a focus on higher margin revenues and the disposal of distribution businesses. Growth was particularly good in consumer packaged goods and life sciences.

 

Asset Performance Management represented 14% of the Group's total revenue. The Business Unit achieved approximately 250% growth in Subscription licences. Overall revenue growth was approximately 12% on a constant currency basis, led by strong growth in AVEVA Predictive Analytics. AVEVA's APM offering is strongly differentiated. It addresses the broadest dimensions of APM using design and engineering information, real-time and historical operational data, and maintenance execution workflows, together with model-based machine learning for predictive asset analytics. Key wins in the year included Suncor.

 

Planning & Operations represented 12% of the Group's total revenue. The Business Unit achieved approximately 70% growth in Subscription licences. Overall revenue growth was 13% on a constant currency basis with particularly good growth from Planning & Scheduling and Asset Optimisation. During the year, Discrete Lean Manufacturing software was launched to support digital transformation in the discrete manufacturing market. The new offering improves operational efficiency through the digitalisation of lean work management for both manual and automated production lines. The software solution is used in Schneider Electric's manufacturing plants and has been successfully deployed in more than 70 smart factories globally. This resulted in circa 10% productivity increases due to downtime mitigation and 70% improved response times due to automated escalation of production issues.

 

Cloud

 

AVEVA's Cloud products are designed to be flexible, scalable and available everywhere and are offered in each of AVEVA's Business Units. The Group achieved growth of some 200% in Cloud orders with significant new order wins, such as Veolia Water and continued expansion from existing customers as they increased consumption, by for example rolling solutions out across their asset bases.

 

AVEVA's Cloud platform, AVEVA Connect, was operationally strong, achieving 99.95% uptime during the year.

 

Progress against our medium-term targets

 

In September 2018, AVEVA outlined medium-term targets around revenue growth, increasing recurring revenue as a proportion of overall revenue and adjusted EBIT margin progression. AVEVA made excellent progress against these targets during the year, achieving its recurring revenue target ahead of plan.

 

Medium-term revenue growth

 

The Group aims to grow medium-term revenue on a constant currency basis at least in line with the blended growth rate of the industrial software market.

 

This revenue growth target reflects AVEVA expecting to grow its underlying software business in excess of market growth rates, driven by a combination of the strength of the Group's market positions, sales execution, revenue synergies and additional value levers, including pricing and more sophisticated management of discounting.

 

As previously indicated, this above-market growth is expected to be partly offset in terms of reported revenue by the impact of a phased transition towards greater subscription revenue, together with potentially lower growth rates in services revenue.

 

Progress report: AVEVA delivered revenue growth of 7.4% on an organic constant currency basis, which was consistent with the target.

 

AVEVA made substantial investments in sales and marketing to drive future growth, including further strengthening of the marketing team and expansion of the sales force.

 

In addition to this, further governance and sales incentive changes were put in place to manage discounting and price increases.

 

The global economic disruption relating to Covid-19 is expected to impact the growth rate of the industrial software market in the short term.

 

Medium-term adjusted EBIT margin

 

The Group aims to increase adjusted EBIT margins to 30%. This margin improvement is expected to be driven by a combination of revenue growth, previously announced cost savings, cost control and a focus on high margin revenue growth through pricing and revenue mix optimisation.

 

Progress report: AVEVA's adjusted EBIT margin increased to 26.0% (FY19: 22.9% on a statutory basis, 23.8% before the impact of a reverse acquisition accounting adjustment). This improvement was driven by a positive sales mix, which benefited gross margin, revenue growth driving operating leverage and underlying cost savings. AVEVA expects to make continued progress towards the medium-term adjusted EBIT margin target of 30%, although progress during the current financial year will be impacted by the macroeconomic disruption.

 

Medium-term recurring revenue

 

AVEVA's target was to grow the proportion of recurring revenue to total revenue to over 60% in the medium term. Recurring revenue is defined as subscriptions revenue plus maintenance revenue. This will be driven by growing software as part of the revenue mix and by increasing the mix of subscription revenue as a proportion of new software revenue in a financial year.

 

The transition to greater levels of recurring revenue is expected to increase long-term free cash flow generation. Subscription offers customers benefits including greater flexibility, lower up-front costs and simplicity in pricing. These benefits are reflected in higher customer lifetime value of a subscription model, versus a perpetual licence model.

 

Progress report: AVEVA met its target early, with recurring revenue reaching 62.2% of total revenue (FY19: 53.8%). This was helped by the modification of sales incentive structures to encourage recurring revenue growth with a focus on driving subscription revenue versus perpetual licences, and the introduction of AVEVA Flex.

 

The Group has seen very strong demand for Cloud-based solutions with both an increase in the volume of significant order wins and substantial expansions from existing Cloud customers.

 

Growing recurring revenue and Cloud remains a key focus and AVEVA expects to increase both during the current financial year.

 

Outlook

 

AVEVA's business is expected to be resilient in the context of the challenging global macroeconomic environment. Many of our customers are accelerating their adoption of digital technology in the new environment with a particular focus on Cloud which supports remote working and fast start up. AVEVA's products are key to driving efficiency in our customers operations and AVEVA has high levels of recurring revenue.

 

The Group will continue to drive its business model transition to subscription, increasing recurring revenue as a proportion of overall revenue and accelerating Cloud adoption. This will offer increased flexibility to customers, while generating long-term value for shareholders.

 

As expected in AVEVA's April 2020 trading update, notwithstanding AVEVA's resilience, we are seeing some impact from the disruption caused by the global downturn and we expect this to continue, particularly in the first six months of the financial year.

 

In the context of this challenging growth environment, AVEVA is managing its cost base appropriately, while protecting the longer-term growth prospects of the Group. This includes protecting investments in strategic areas such as Cloud and Artificial Intelligence, whilst significantly reducing costs to support operating margin and cash generation. This combination of actions will support profitability in the short term, while underpinning AVEVA's ability to drive longer-term growth as the trends towards digitalisation of the industrial world continue.

 

Craig Hayman

Chief Executive Officer

9 June 2020

 

 

 

Finance Review

 

Overview

 

Revenue was £833.8 million, which was up 8.8% versus the previous year (FY19: £766.6 million on a statutory basis). Adjusted EBIT grew by 23.3% to £216.8 million (FY19: £175.9 million), primarily due to revenue growth, higher gross margin and operational leverage. For the same reasons, on a statutory basis, profit before tax increased by 97% to £92.0 million.

 

Organic constant currency revenue grew 7.4%, adjusted for a currency translation benefit of £7.6 million in FY20, and the effects of the deferred revenue haircut, disposal of Wonderware Italy, Germany and Scandinavia and the acquisition of MaxGrip.

 

Year ended 31 March

FY20

£m

FY19

£m

Change

Revenue

833.8

766.6

8.8%

Cost of sales

(190.1)

(191.3)

(0.6)%

Gross profit

643.7

575.3

11.9%

Operating expenses

(426.9)

(399.4)

6.9%

Adjusted EBIT

216.8

175.9

23.3%

Net interest

(3.0)

(0.5)

500%

Adjusted profit before tax

213.8

175.4

21.9%

Tax charge

(38.8)

(35.4)

9.6%

Adjusted profit after tax

175.0

140.0

25.0%

Profit before tax

92.0

46.7

97.0%

 

 

 

 

Adjusted diluted EPS (pence)

108.15

86.60

24.9%

Gross margin

77.2%

75.0%

+220bps

Adjusted EBIT margin

26.0%

22.9%

+310bps

Tax charge

18.1%

20.2%

(210)bps

 

 

Revenue overview

 

Revenue growth was driven by strong sales execution in the context of stable end market conditions for the majority of the year and an ongoing trend towards digitalisation.

 

Revenue by type is set out below:

 

£m

FY20

% of total

FY19

% of total

Change

Organic constant currency

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Subscription

316.8

38.0%

218.2

28.4%

45.2%

43.2%

Maintenance

201.7

24.2%

194.4

25.4%

3.8%

(0.6)%

Total recurring revenue

518.5

62.2%

412.6

53.8%

25.7%

22.8%

Perpetual licences

179.3

21.5%

211.6

27.6%

(15.3)%

(16.8)%

Services

136.0

16.3%

142.4

18.6%

(4.5)%

(5.0)%

Total

833.8

100.0%

766.6

100.0%

8.8%

7.4%

 

Business model transition

 

As previously highlighted, AVEVA is driving a business model transition with the strategy to increase levels of recurring revenue. There are two aspects to this switch: increasing subscription revenue, and the transformation of the services business.

 

Recurring revenue

 

Strong progress was made during the year on our strategy to increase the level of recurring revenue as a proportion of total revenue with the medium-term target of 60% surpassed. Overall recurring revenue grew by 25.7% to £518.5 million (FY19: £412.6 million) driven by very strong growth in subscription resulting in recurring revenue of 62.2% (FY19: 53.8%).

 

Subscriptions revenue, which includes rental contracts, token contracts and subscriptions, grew 45.2% to £316.8 million (FY19: £218.2 million). There was consistent growth in subscriptions across all regions. This reflected a change in customer buying behaviour from perpetual licences to subscription, helped by the introduction of AVEVA Flex, the increased number of multi-year contracts and a switch from maintenance contracts to subscription. Furthermore, the new sales force incentives to promote subscription over perpetual licences and services contributed significantly to the growth.

 

The introduction of the AVEVA Flex subscription offering for products in the Monitoring and Control business unit was successful with growth of over 150%, with several large enterprise accounts, particularly in North America and EMEA opting for the new subscription offering. Many of these contracts were closed through the indirect channel. AVEVA Flex is being enabled for the entire portfolio.

 

Across all three regions there were customers on maintenance contracts who successfully transitioned to higher annual value subscription contracts. This compressed our maintenance revenue growth to 3.8%, equivalent to £201.7 million (FY19: £194.4 million).

 

Perpetual licences

 

The corresponding impact from the business model transition to subscription was seen in perpetual licences, which reduced 15.3% year-on-year to £179.3 million (FY19: £211.6 million) as more customer orders moved to subscription.

 

Services

 

Services revenue reduced by 4.5% to £136.0 million (FY19: £142.4 million). Services are sold alongside the software licence to ensure efficient deployment and to generate value faster for customers. This planned reduction was driven by AVEVA's focus on increasing the proportion of higher gross margin software as part of its overall revenue mix and the implementation of the change in sales incentives at the beginning of the financial year to drive this.

 

Adjusted EBIT and cost management

 

Together with cost control, the revenue growth delivered an increase in adjusted EBIT of 23.3% versus the prior year. Adjusted EBIT margin improved to 26.0% (FY19: 22.9%).

 

Total adjusted costs were £617.0 million (FY19: £590.7 million), an increase of 4.5% over the previous year and 3.3% on a constant currency basis. This was broadly in line with AVEVA's target of inflationary cost increases due to a reduction in cost of sale and controlled operating cost increases despite incremental investment in sales, marketing and R&D.

 

On an underlying basis, AVEVA has been implementing a cost synergies programme through rationalisation of duplicated functions, the implementation of common systems, shared services for back office functions, real estate consolidation and enhanced R&D effectiveness. The Group targeted annualised cost synergies as part of the combination with Schneider Electric's industrial software business and by the end of the financial year achieved annualised savings of circa £33 million compared to the target of £25 million. These savings have been re-invested in capabilities to drive future revenue growth, such as R&D and sales.

 

An analysis of total expenses is summarised below:

 

£m

Cost of sales

R&D

Selling and distribution

Admin.

Net impairment loss from financial assets

Other income

Total

Statutory

190.7

184.6

240.1

127.7

7.6

(11.9)

738.8

Amortisation ex other software

-

(63.5)

(27.1)

-

-

-

(90.6)

Share-based payments

-

-

-

(12.0)

-

-

(12.0)

Loss on FX contracts

-

-

-

(0.4)

-

-

(0.4)

Exceptional items

(0.6)

(0.4)

(3.9)

(25.8)

-

11.9

(18.8)

Adjusted costs

190.1

120.7

209.1

89.5

7.6

-

617.0

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

FY19

191.3

114.5

196.7

81.9

6.3

-

590.7

Change

(0.6)%

5.4%

6.3%

9.3%

20.6%

-

4.5%

Constant currency

(1.6)%

3.9%

5.6%

7.1%

20.6%

-

3.3%

 

Cost of sales decreased by 0.6% to £190.1 million (FY19: £191.3 million) and the gross margin improved to 77.2% (FY19: 75.0%).

 

To improve efficiency, the Services team have focused on higher margin projects together with initiatives to increase standard, repeatable solutions, which reduce the need for configuration and customisation. We have also used more offshore service delivery teams in Mexico, Spain and India to deliver projects. As part of the services transformation programme, AVEVA has embarked on a strategy to strengthen its network of system integrators and provide them with the capability and skills to successfully implement AVEVA's products with a number of projects started in the year.

 

Research & Development costs were £120.7 million (FY19: £114.5 million) representing an increase of 5.4% due to investment in areas including Cloud and Artificial Intelligence.

 

Selling and distribution expenses were £209.1 million (FY19: £196.7 million), a 6.3% increase versus the prior year. The increase represents investments made during the year in Sales and in strengthening the marketing team and in customer events to showcase AVEVA's enlarged product portfolio.

 

Administrative expenses were £89.5 million (FY19: £81.9 million) an increase of 9.3%. This was due investment in support functions, such as Human Resources, IT and Finance as the transitional services from Schneider Electric were exited and replaced with in-house capabilities

 

Net impairment loss from financial assets represents the impairment of accounts receivable and contract assets during the year of £7.6 million (FY19: £6.3 million). This included an incremental provision amount for possible increased risk resulting from Covid-19 related macroeconomic disruption.

 

Cost management in FY21

 

In the context of this challenging growth environment, AVEVA is managing its cost base appropriately, while continuing to invest to support longer-term growth.

 

Cost of sales: Approximately 50% of AVEVA's cost of sale relates to the delivery of services. This is expected to reduce during the current financial year as Services revenue is further reduced. The largest part of the remainder of cost of sale relates to the cost of delivering support to customers as part of the support or subscription contracts. Other elements of cost of sale include royalties and payments to third parties, such as cloud hosting fees.

 

Operating costs: AVEVA is protecting investments in strategic areas within Research & Development such as Cloud and Artificial Intelligence, whilst significantly reducing costs to support operating margins and cash generation. Actions being taken include pay and recruitment freezes and a reduction in travel and event costs. The annual bonus scheme is also dependent on sales and profitability. Overall, these actions are expected to result in a reduction in costs of approximately £50-60 million versus AVEVA's pre-Covid-19 plans for FY21.

 

Normalised and exceptional items

 

The following normalised and exceptional items have been excluded in presenting the adjusted results:

 

 

Year ended 31 March

£m

2020

2019

Acquisition and integration activities

29.0

23.0

Restructuring costs

1.7

5.9

Other income

(11.9)

-

Total exceptional items

18.8

28.9

 

 

 

Amortisation (excl. other software)

90.6

88.1

Share-based payments

12.0

11.2

Loss on FX contracts

0.4

0.5

Total normalised items

103.0

99.8

 

Acquisition and integration activities principally related to contractors working on functional integration, consultancy costs paid to advisers for integration support, investment in new systems and deal-related executive retention costs.

 

Other income includes a £7.7 million gain on sale of three distribution businesses and £3.8 million received from Schneider Electric in reimbursement for capital expenditure incurred as part of the migration from activities covered by TSAs following the Combination.

 

Restructuring costs related to severance payments for employees as part of the continuing cost synergy programme started in FY19, following completion of the combination with the Schneider Electric industrial software business.

 

Amortisation mainly relates to the amortisation of the fair valued heritage AVEVA intangible assets under acquisition accounting, following the combination with the Schneider Electric industrial software business.

 

Taxation

 

The statutory tax charge was £22.2 million (FY19: £12.9 million). The effective rate of tax of 24.1% is in line with the US effective corporation tax rate of 24%. This rate was affected by the cost of increase in the rate of UK corporation tax from 17% to 19% on the calculation of deferred tax liabilities for intangible fixed assets, but this cost was offset by the benefit of tax incentives for intellectual property in the current and prior periods.

 

The adjusted tax rate was 18.1% (FY19: 20.2%), benefiting from tax incentives for intellectual property in the current and prior periods.

 

Earnings per share

 

Statutory diluted EPS was 43.13 pence (FY19: 20.90 pence). Adjusted diluted EPS grew 24.9% to 108.15 pence (FY19: 86.60 pence).

 

Dividends

 

AVEVA's Board intends to maintain a final dividend of 29.0 pence per share at a cost of £46.8 million (FY19: 29.0 pence per share at a cost of £46.8 million). Subject to approval at AVEVA's AGM on 21 July 2020, the final dividend will be payable on 11 August 2020 to shareholders on the register as at 10 July 2020.

 

Balance sheet and cash flow

 

The Group continues to maintain a strong balance sheet, with net cash and treasury deposits of £114.6 million and no debt. As at 31 March 2020 non-current assets were £1,956.0 million (31 March 2019: £1,923.0 million) reflecting goodwill and intangible assets that arose from the combination with the Schneider Electric industrial software business.

 

Trade and other receivables at 31 March 2020 were £241.1 million (31 March 2019: £238.7 million). Contract assets increased to £142.4 million from £100.5 million at 31 March 2019, largely due to the impact of the multi-year contracts closed in the period. Contract liabilities representing deferred revenue were £177.0 million (31 March 2019: £174.6 million).

 

Cash generated from operating activities before tax was £161.4 million, compared to £169.1 million in the previous year, resulting in conversion of adjusted EBIT to operating cash flow of 74.4%. This reflects the impact of multi-year contracts and particularly those contracts where customers pay in annual instalments, but revenue is recognised earlier under IFRS 15, as well as the impact of exceptional costs.

 

Integration

 

The integration of the heritage AVEVA business and the heritage Schneider Electric software business is largely complete and has been successfully delivered in line with the plans.

 

The areas still being completed are in real estate and IT. There are office consolidations to complete in Sydney, Beijing, and Tokyo together with some smaller sites. The IT transitional arrangements with Schneider Electric which are still to be fully exited, are in two main areas: the transition of heritage SES offices onto the new AVEVA IT infrastructure and the implementation of the new ERP system which will replace the legacy systems in both businesses. These areas are progressing well and are in execution phase for end-user computing, applications, data, security, connectivity, systems and hosting. However, the Covid-19 pandemic has disrupted activities with staff not being able to physically visit offices and alternative plans have been created and are now in place. As a result, agreement has been reached with Schneider Electric to extend the transitional services agreement in those areas to 1 March 2021.

 

The merger of the two businesses has delivered value to our customers and our shareholders. As such, we aim to participate in further consolidation of the industrial software industry, as and when value-creating opportunities arise.

 

James Kidd

Deputy CEO & CFO

9 June 2020

 

 

 

Review of principal risks and uncertainties  

 

Risk Management Approach 

Whilst the Board of Directors has overall responsibility for risk management, The Executive Leadership Team (ELT) actively monitor and manage risks as a core part of operational management. The ELT's approach to risk management continued to evolve and improve during FY20 and a new Executive Risk Committee (ERC) was established. The main risk responsibilities of the ERC are to monitor the management and mitigation activities of principal and key Group risks and to ensure the effectiveness of business unit and functional risk management. The ERC will meet not less than four times per year.

 

Strategic Internal Risks 

Risk

Mitigation

Talent Acquisition & Retention

AVEVA is heavily reliant on the people it employs and if we are unable to attract or retain the niche skills and experience we need to drive the business forward, creating innovation and growth, this could materially impact the success of our business.

 

The technology sector is competitive when seeking talent and the AVEVA brand must remain attractive, particularly to niche skills such as developers, technical sales, services, consultants and leadership.

 

Impacts from the Covid-19 pandemic have increased this risk. There are now further challenges involved in protecting, retaining and acquiring talent during an extended period of disruption and where continued remote working and social distancing is required.

Mitigating activities include in-house talent acquisition expertise, partnerships with universities, an employee referral programme and communicating our culture.

 

AVEVA endeavours to ensure that employees are motivated in their work and there are regular appraisals, with staff encouraged to develop their skills. Annually there is a Group-wide salary review that rewards strong performance and ensures salaries remain competitive. Commission and bonus schemes help to ensure the success of AVEVA and individual achievement is appropriately rewarded.

 

Throughout the initial period of Covid-19 disruption, leadership have continually supported and communicated with employees, enabling them and providing the tools to work from home as effectively as possible whilst staying connected with colleagues and customers. Effective processes such as interviews via video conferencing are being used to support and fulfil recruitment needs. HR and the ELT are continually reviewing the best approaches to employee and talent support.

 

Move to Subscription Model

AVEVA's strategic move towards a subscription-based licence model is designed to offer customers improved flexibility when addressing their software needs. It could however fail to create the improved recurring revenue and cashflow generation expected for AVEVA if customers do not utilise the subscription offering as anticipated.

 

 

Whilst AVEVA is ambitious to gain the benefits of more widely adopting subscription-based licensing and to provide the benefits of this model to its customers, the expansion of the offering remains within the Monitoring & Control business unit of AVEVA currently. This continues to allow AVEVA to both manage the risk and refine the model.

 

AVEVA will continue to offer traditional licensing models throughout as further mitigation.

 

A transition strategy is in place and continues to be closely monitored.

 

Cloud

AVEVA is committed to providing market leading value-adding, reliable and secure cloud services to its customers and is therefore investing in this initiative. This investment requires careful management otherwise AVEVA risks not realising anticipated returns in addition to reputational damage.

 

This risk has increased from the prior year for two main reasons:

 

1) Due to increased demand and corresponding security requirements surrounding cloud products and the criticality for AVEVA to meet these demands.

 

2) Due to global disruption caused by the Covid-19 pandemic and the increased necessity of remote working, AVEVA is accelerating its shift to digital and cloud services which, in turn, increases risk around consistent and quality provision of Cloud services to customers (including security threats).

 

 

AVEVA has recently announced the appointment of a Chief Cloud Officer responsible for driving the Cloud portfolio and go-to-market strategy. This appointment has been made principally to address the rapid shift in consumption patterns in industrial software and position AVEVA both during the period of global disruption and in a 'new normal' environment.

Digital Transformation Agenda

AVEVA's strategy to capitalise on the opportunities of digital transformation could ultimately fail or not provide the expected levels of return, leading to increased costs, reputational damage or lost market positions.

 

There is no change in this risk level for AVEVA reflecting the continuing digitalisation of industry trend and the importance of AVEVA in being strategically aligned with it.

 

Alongside careful management of the right Digital Transformation strategy, AVEVA further mitigates this risk by having in place a dedicated Sales and Consulting team, targeted marketing campaigns, continued portfolio rationalisation and use case prioritisation.

 

External Risks

Risk

Mitigation

Sustainability

Increased international focus on Sustainability - Environment, Societal, Economic - and AVEVA's response to it could deter employees/talent (existing and potential), investors, customers and other key stakeholders from AVEVA leading to:

 

-loss of existing customers and/or failure to acquire new customers,

 

-reputational impact including loss of investment, and

 

-failure to attract and/or retain knowledge and talent in the business (niche dependency skills).

The AVEVA Sustainability pledge includes many key mitigating steps which the Company is executing including:

 

-commitments to minimising carbon emissions via increasing the use of recycling opportunities, removal of single use plastic, and the use of valuable natural resources,

 

-continually improving tracking of AVEVA's emissions data,

 

-AVEVA Action for Good,

 

-donation of 1% of AVEVA profit after tax towards initiatives, and

 

-serving industries that are of environmental importance, e.g. water, and the ability to increase efficiency across a range of industries.

 

Competitors

AVEVA operates in highly competitive markets. Other technology companies could acquire, merge or move into AVEVA's market space to compete with AVEVA's offering creating a material threat, or existing competitors could respond quicker to market demands and trends resulting in reduced market share and missed growth opportunities for AVEVA.

 

The risk is increased where there is more uncertainty in the marketplace caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. It may be that competitor strategies change or that there are consolidations in the industry which could impact AVEVA.

AVEVA carefully monitors customer requirements, trends and other suppliers operating within our chosen markets. We invest in innovation and strive to offer superior products to meet these market trends.

 

Other areas of specific mitigation include leveraging our relationship with Schneider Electric, attractive proposals for additional complementary products for existing customers and flexibility to meet changing market demands and competitive forces.

 

Further, AVEVA has recently announced the appointment of a Chief Cloud Officer as previously referred to in the Cloud Initiatives principal risk.

 

Regulatory Compliance

AVEVA is required to comply with both

international and local laws in each of the

jurisdictions in which it operates. If one or

more AVEVA employees or persons acting

on AVEVA's behalf commit, or are alleged

to have committed, a violation of law, as

a result, AVEVA could face substantial

investigative, defence and/or remediation

costs, and be exposed to severe financial

penalties and reputational damage.

 

Specific regulatory risk areas this applies

to are trade compliance, data protection

and privacy (including GDPR, anti-trust,

anti-bribery and corruption (including

corporate gifts and hospitality), child

and forced labour and people trafficking,

failure to prevent facilitation of tax evasion

(CCO), anti-money laundering, failures

in Know Your Customer (KYC) and Know

Your Supplier (KYS) (including indirect

sales partners), related party transactions,

whistleblowing procedures, market abuse

regulations and corporate governance.

There is no change in the threat level for this

principal risk from the prior year.

 

Local management are supported by local

professional advisers and further oversight is

maintained from the corporate legal and finance

functions.

 

In addition, AVEVA uses compliance policies

and guidance materials, communications &

training platforms for its employees and external

partners.

 

As a further step dedicated Compliance resource is being added to enhance management and

monitoring of this principal risk - this includes

both people and systems.

 

 

AVEVA Products Implicated in Industrial Accidents or Customer Cyber-Attack

Our software products are complex and new products or enhancements may contain undetected errors, failures, performance problems or defects which may impact our strong reputation with our customers or create financial implications.

 

This is no change in the threat level for this principal risk from the prior year which continues to reflect the portfolio of products in the AVEVA range, their functionality and increasing threats in the external cyber-environment.

 

AVEVA products are extensively tested prior to commercial launch. In addition, AVEVA has a robust Security Development Lifecycle as a key component of our overall software development process and has created formal and collaborative relationships with third-party security researchers and security organisations to proactively ensure our software is as safe and secure as is reasonable.

Cyber-Attack

Threats within the global cyber-environment continue to grow. AVEVA depends on its IT systems and should we be specifically targeted by a cyber-attack or be impacted by a general global cyber-incident, this could potentially lead to suspension of some operations, regulatory breaches and fines, reputational damage, loss of customer and employee information and loss of customer confidence.

 

This principal risk is increased from the previous year due to increased cyber threats associated with remote working because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

 

AVEVA has a low tolerance to this risk and utilises multiple layers of cyber security threat defences including access control, encryption, firewalls, etc. Additionally, regular external penetration testing is conducted across critical corporate and online services.

 

Further steps have been taken to increase security measures whilst AVEVA's workforce operates remotely. These will permanently remain in place.

Dependency on Cyclical Markets

AVEVA's revenue is materially derived from

customers operating in markets which are

mainly cyclical in nature such as Oil & Gas

and Marine. As and when those markets

reach downturn stages, our customers have

less funding available for capital projects,

including the purchase of AVEVA's software

products. Significant end market downturns

could materially impact AVEVA's revenues

and profits.

 

The risk is considered to have increased since

the prior year. Global disruption caused by

the Covid-19 pandemic has led to significant

volatility in oil markets and subsequently

within AVEVA's customer base. A longer

period of volatility increases risk of revenue

impacts to AVEVA.

AVEVA products deliver Capex certainty and

Opex reduction and thus deliver meaningful

efficiency in downturn environments. An

extensive global presence also provides some

mitigation from over-reliance on key geographic

markets.

 

Over half of AVEVA's revenue is derived from

customers operating in non-cyclical markets

such as Food & Beverages and Utilities. A

new strategic approach and rationalisation

programme was launched during the year

for the Food & Beverages and Infrastructure

markets and there is continued leveraging of Schneider Electric relationships into non-cyclical markets.

 

AVEVA's strategic move towards a subscription

based licensing model also further mitigates this

risk as it can offer customers greater flexibility

over their expenditure. Three of AVEVA's

business units are more Opex than Capex

focused.

 

Global Economic Disruption and Declined GDPs

Because of the global Covid-19 pandemic, AVEVA must now operate in an environment where there is economic disruption and declined GDPs. This could have many impacts including significantly decreased demand for our products and services from our customers, unexpected disruptions in the industries that we serve or limited access to funding should it be necessary.

AVEVA has entered the period of global economic disruption in a strong cash and financial position. Further mitigations which have already been announced by executive leadership include employee pay and recruitment freezes, plus cuts to discretionary spending. Leadership continue to review AVEVA's position and are prepared to take further mitigating steps as and when considered necessary.

 

Further, as mentioned above, AVEVA products deliver Capex certainty and Opex reduction and thus deliver meaningful efficiency in downturn environments. AVEVA intends to orientate completely around supporting its valued customers and deliver this meaningful efficiency.

 

 

Operational Risks

Risk

Mitigation

Internal IT Systems (Suitability & Continuity)

AVEVA depends on its many IT systems for day-to-day operations and to meet its customers' expectations. If they fail to operate effectively and efficiently then this could result in reputational damage, negative employee engagement or poor customer experiences.

 

As in the prior year, this remains a high gross risk for AVEVA, reflecting both range of legacy IT systems in the AVEVA IT estate and the ongoing significant programmes that are in place to consolidate, improve, create competitive advantage and maintain business as usual processes. These programmes could become more complex or delayed because of continued global disruption caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.

 

AVEVA has appointed an experienced Chief Information Officer and additional people resources to lead and drive the various IT initiatives, including a new Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) implementation project designed to provide and support industry best practice processes. This includes respective governance frameworks and support from expert external advisors and integration specialists.

Extended Period of Remote Working (Operational Resilience)

Because of the global Covid-19 pandemic, there could be an extended period during which AVEVA must successfully operate remotely. This would include employees continuing to work at home and being unable to physically visit our customers.

 

If AVEVA fails to operationally adapt to an efficient and effective distance business model, which includes continuing to provide the value our customers demand and giving our people the support they need, this could impact AVEVA's results and reputation.

 

AVEVA leadership have announced their dedication to shifting to a digital business model and operating successfully in a 'new world'.

 

In addition to providing the necessary tools to enable our employees to be effective remotely, innovative ways of working are being introduced and refined. For example, the ability for our Global Services team to operate remotely and run customer integration projects has already been successfully demonstrated. Innovation will continue to allow long-term and sustainable remote and digital working models.

 

Disruptive Risks

Risk

Mitigation

Disruptive Technologies

New and unforeseen technology, software or business models which threaten AVEVA's value offering could be developed and become significantly commercially viable resulting in material impacts to AVEVA's profits and prospects.

 

This is no change in the threat level for this principal risk from the prior year reflecting the increased potential threats from disruptive forces which seek to capitalise on digitisation of industry trends.

 

AVEVA largely mitigates this threat through its own leading innovation initiatives and remaining at the forefront of technological advances. This a core strategic strength of AVEVA. In addition, AVEVA continually scans the disruptive technology environment to ensure it is well informed and placed to respond to any material threats.

 

 

 

Consolidated income statement

for the year ended 31 March 2020

 

 

Notes

2020

£m

2019

£m

Revenue

3,4

833.8

766.6

Cost of sales

 

(190.7)

(193.2)

Gross profit

 

643.1

573.4

Operating expenses

 

 

 

Research & Development costs

 

(184.6)

(178.0)

Selling and administrative expenses

5

(367.8)

(341.9)

Net impairment loss on financial assets

 

(7.6)

(6.3)

Other income

 

11.9

-

Total operating expenses

 

(548.1)

(526.2)

Profit from operations

 

95.0

47.2

Finance revenue

 

0.3

0.2

Finance expense

 

(3.3)

(0.7)

Profit before tax from continuing operations

 

92.0

46.7

Income tax expense

7

(22.2)

(12.9)

Profit for the year attributable to equity holders of the parent

 

69.8

33.8

 

Profit from operations

 

95.0

47.2

Amortisation of intangibles (excluding other software)

 

90.6

88.1

Share-based payments

 

12.0

11.2

Loss on fair value of forward foreign exchange contracts

 

0.4

0.5

Exceptional items

6

18.8

28.9

Adjusted EBIT

 

216.8

175.9

 

Earnings per share (pence)

 

 

 

- basic

9

43.35

20.97

- diluted

9

43.13

20.90

 

All activities relate to continuing activities.

 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of this Consolidated income statement.

 

 

 

Consolidated statement of comprehensive income

for the year ended 31 March 2020

 

 

Notes

2020

£m

2019

£m

Profit for the year

 

69.8

33.8

Items that may be reclassified to profit or loss in subsequent periods:

 

 

 

Exchange gain arising on translation of foreign operations

 

4.2

8.4

Total of items that may be reclassified to profit or loss in subsequent periods

 

4.2

8.4

Items that will not be reclassified to profit or loss in subsequent periods:

 

 

 

Remeasurement gain/(loss) on defined benefit plans

 

6.2

(0.5)

Deferred tax effect

7(a)

(1.2)

(0.4)

Total of items that will not be reclassified to profit or loss in subsequent periods

 

5.0

(0.9)

Total comprehensive income for the year, net of tax

 

79.0

41.3

 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of this Consolidated statement of comprehensive income.

 

 

 

Consolidated balance sheet

31 March 2020

 

 

Notes

2020

£m

2019

£m

Non-current assets

 

 

 

Goodwill

 

1,295.7

1,285.3

Other intangible assets

 

514.8

599.5

Property, plant and equipment

 

27.6

17.1

Right-of-use assets

 

79.5

-

Deferred tax assets

 

19.1

11.8

Trade and other receivables

 

4.4

2.2

Retirement benefit surplus

 

14.9

7.1

 

 

1,956.0

1,923.0

Current assets

 

 

 

Trade and other receivables

10

242.2

238.7

Contract assets

3

142.4

100.5

Treasury deposits

11

0.1

0.6

Cash and cash equivalents

11

114.5

127.2

Current tax assets

 

20.2

10.8

 

 

519.4

477.8

Total assets

 

2,475.4

2,400.8

Equity

 

 

 

Issued share capital

 

5.7

5.7

Share premium

 

574.5

574.5

Other reserves

 

1,180.3

1,178.8

Retained earnings

 

181.2

165.5

Total equity

 

1,941.7

1,924.5

Current liabilities

 

 

 

Trade and other payables

12

149.4

156.8

Contract liabilities

3

177.0

174.6

Lease liabilities

 

16.6

-

Financial liabilities

 

0.4

0.1

Provisions

 

0.1

1.9

Current tax liabilities

 

5.5

12.8

 

 

349.0

346.2

Non-current liabilities

 

 

 

Lease liabilities

 

53.3

-

Deferred tax liabilities

 

119.9

111.3

Other liabilities

 

0.7

3.1

Provisions

 

-

2.6

Retirement benefit obligations

 

10.8

13.1

 

 

184.7

130.1

Total equity and liabilities

 

2,475.4

2,400.8

 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of this Consolidated balance sheet.

 

 

 

Consolidated statement of changes in shareholders' equity

31 March 2020

 

 

 

 

 

 

Other reserves

 

 

 

 

 

Share

capital

£m

Share premium

£m

Merger reserve £m

Cumulative translation adjustments £m

Capital contribution reserve

£m

Capital redemption reserve

£m

Reverse acquisition reserve

£m

Treasury shares

£m

Total other reserves £m

Retained earnings

£m

Total

equity

£m

 

At 31 March 2018

5.7

574.5

615.6

9.9

-

101.7

452.5

(0.3)

1,179.4

195.1

1,954.7

 

Profit for the year

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

33.8

33.8

 

Other comprehensive income

-

-

-

8.4

-

-

-

-

8.4

(0.9)

7.5

 

Total comprehensive income

-

-

-

8.4

-

-

-

-

8.4

32.9

41.3

 

Share-based payments

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

11.2

11.2

 

Tax arising on share options

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

1.3

1.3

 

Investment in own shares

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

(9.3)

(9.3)

-

(9.3)

 

Capital contribution

-

-

-

-

0.1

-

-

-

0.1

-

0.1

 

Transactions with Schneider Electric

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

(8.8)

(8.8)

 

Cost of employee benefit trust shares issued to employees

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

0.2

0.2

(0.2)

-

 

Equity dividends

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

(66.0)

(66.0)

 

At 31 March 2019

5.7

574.5

615.6

18.3

0.1

101.7

452.5

(9.4)

1,178.8

165.5

1,924.5

 

Profit for the year

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

69.8

69.8

 

Other comprehensive income

-

-

-

4.2

-

-

-

-

4.2

5.0

9.2

 

Total comprehensive income

-

-

-

4.2

-

-

-

-

4.2

74.8

79.0

 

Share-based payments

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

12.0

12.0

 

Tax arising on share options

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

1.0

1.0

 

Investment in own shares

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

(3.1)

(3.1)

-

(3.1)

 

Cost of employee benefit trust shares issued to employees

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

0.4

0.4

(0.4)

-

 

Equity dividends

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

(71.7)

(71.7)

 

At 31 March 2020

5.7

574.5

615.6

22.5

0.1

101.7

452.5

(12.1)

1,180.3

181.2

1,941.7

 

              

 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of this Consolidated statement of changes in shareholders' equity.

 

 

 

Consolidated cash flow statement

for the year ended 31 March 2020

 

 

Notes

2020

£m

2019

£m

Cash flows from operating activities

 

 

 

Profit for the year

 

69.8

33.8

Income tax expense

7(a)

22.2

12.9

Net finance expense

 

3.0

0.5

Amortisation of intangible assets

 

91.7

88.8

Depreciation of property, plant and equipment and right-of-use assets

 

24.4

5.4

Loss on disposal of property, plant and equipment

 

0.7

0.1

Gain on disposal of pension scheme

 

(0.4)

-

Gain on disposal of subsidiaries

 

(7.7)

-

Share-based payments

 

12.0

11.2

Difference between pension contributions paid and amounts charged to operating profit

 

(1.2)

0.1

Research & Development expenditure tax credit

 

(2.3)

(2.0)

Changes in working capital:

 

 

 

Trade and other receivables

 

(12.2)

(18.6)

Contract assets

 

(43.8)

(32.8)

Trade and other payables

 

(5.8)

36.1

Contract liabilities

 

10.7

33.1

Changes to fair value of forward foreign exchange contracts

 

0.3

0.5

Cash generated from operating activities before tax

 

161.4

169.1

Income taxes paid

 

(39.3)

(32.4)

Net cash generated from operating activities

 

122.1

136.7

Cash flows from investing activities

 

 

 

Purchase of property, plant and equipment

 

(18.5)

(7.4)

Purchase of intangible assets

 

(0.6)

(0.2)

Payment on disposal of pension scheme

 

(2.0)

-

Acquisition subsidiaries, net of cash acquired

 

(25.1)

-

Consideration paid on completion of business combination

 

-

(19.4)

Proceeds from sale of subsidiaries, net of cash

 

5.5

-

Sale/(purchase) of treasury deposits

 

0.5

(0.4)

Interest received

 

0.3

0.2

Net cash flows used in investing activities

 

(39.9)

(27.2)

Cash flows from financing activities

 

 

 

Interest paid

 

(3.3)

(0.7)

Purchase of own shares

 

(3.1)

(9.3)

Repayment of borrowings

 

-

(10.0)

Payment of principal element of lease liability

 

(15.5)

-

Dividends paid to shareholders of the parent

 

(71.7)

(66.0)

Net cash flows used in financing activities

 

(93.6)

(86.0)

Net increase in cash and cash equivalents

 

(11.4)

23.5

Net foreign exchange difference

 

(1.3)

(1.9)

Opening cash and cash equivalents

11

127.2

105.6

Closing cash and cash equivalents

11

114.5

127.2

 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of this Consolidated cash flow statement.

 

 

 

1 Basis of preparation

 

The Consolidated financial statements of AVEVA Group plc and all its subsidiaries (the Group) have been prepared in accordance with IFRS, as adopted by the European Union, as they apply to the financial statements of the Group for the year ended 31 March 2020.

 

The preliminary announcement covers the period from 1 April 2019 to 31 March 2020 and was approved by the Board on 9 June 2020. It is presented in Pounds Sterling (£) and all values are rounded to the nearest £0.1m except when otherwise indicated.

 

The financial information contained in this preliminary announcement of audited results does not constitute the Group's statutory accounts for the years ended 31 March 2020 or 31 March 2019. The accounts for the year ended 31 March 2019 have been delivered to the Registrar of Companies. The statutory accounts for the year ended 31 March 2020 have been reported on by the Company's auditors; the report on these accounts was unqualified, did not draw attention to any matters by way of emphasis and did not contain any statement under section 498(2) or (3) of the Companies Act 2006 or equivalent preceding legislation.

 

The statutory accounts for the year ended 31 March 2020 are expected to be posted to shareholders in due course and will be delivered to the Registrar of Companies after they have been laid before the shareholders in a general meeting on 21 July 2020. Copies will be available from the registered office of the Company, High Cross, Madingley Road, Cambridge CB3 0HB and can be accessed on the AVEVA website, www.aveva.com. The registered number of AVEVA Group plc is 2937296.

 

In accordance with IFRS 3, the consolidated financial information has been prepared as a reverse acquisition of AVEVA Group by the Schneider Electric industrial software business ('the Combination'), which occurred on 1 March 2018.

 

The Group presents a non-GAAP performance measure on the face of the Consolidated income statement. The Directors believe that 'adjusted EBIT' provides a reliable and consistent presentation of the underlying performance of the Group. Adjusted EBIT is not defined by IFRS and therefore may not be directly comparable with the 'adjusted EBIT' measures of other companies.

 

The business is managed and measured on a day to day basis using adjusted results. To arrive at adjusted results, certain adjustments are made for normalised and exceptional items that are individually important and which could, if included, distort the understanding of the performance for the year and the comparability between periods.

 

Normalised items: These are recurring items which management considers to have a distorting effect on the underlying results of the Group, and are non-cash items. These items relate to amortisation of intangibles (excluding other software), share-based payment charges and fair value adjustments on financial derivatives, although other types of recurring items may arise. Recurring items are adjusted each year irrespective of materiality to ensure consistent treatment.

 

Exceptional items: These are items which are non-recurring and are identified by virtue of either their size or their nature. These items can include, but are not restricted to, the costs of significant restructuring exercises, fees associated with business combinations and costs incurred in integrating acquired companies.

 

Going concern statement

In adopting the going concern basis for preparing the financial statements, the Directors have considered the business activities and the Group's principal risks and uncertainties in the context of the current operating environment. This includes possible impacts of the global Covid-19 pandemic on the Group and reviews of liquidity and covenant forecasts.

 

The Group's business planning cycle has taken account of potential impacts of Covid-19 to create a base case going concern model, reflecting the current business disruption, deterioration in economic conditions and the resulting impact on customers and ability to operate effectively during a period of remote working.

 

The Directors have considered sensitivities in respect of potential downside scenarios over and above the Covid-19 base case going concern model and the mitigating actions available in concluding that the Group is able to continue in operation for a period of at least twelve months from the date of approving the financial statements.

 

The sensitivities are designed to model potential downside scenarios relating to Covid-19, whereby the Group experiences:

· A period of depressed economic activity across the entire going concern period, with resulting reduction in revenues as a result of reduced conversion of the revenue pipeline, lower new customer demand and impacts on pricing;

· Business disruption including the impact of stay-at-home orders on the ability to operate efficiently as well as the ability to deliver Project services work remotely;

· Delays in the working capital cycle, including the impact of customer failures, credit defaults and delays in customers making contractual payments.

 

The specific scenarios modelled are as follows:

· Scenario 1 stresses the base going concern model further with materialisation of principal risks linked to continued pandemic disruption.

· Scenarios 2-4 also use the Covid-19 adjusted business plans as a base model, upon which further materialisation of a combination of various of the principal risks identified above are considered. Each scenario assumes delays in the working capital cycle, including the impact of customer failures, credit defaults and delays in customers making contractual payments, as well as the following other assumptions.

 

Scenario 1: Given the current risk environment in relation to the global Covid-19 pandemic, this Scenario incorporates the impact of the following three principal risks as outlined above, reducing base model revenue by circa 9% across the three-year forecast period.

· Dependency on cyclical markets;

· Global economic disruption and declined GDPs; and

· Extended period of remote working.

 

Scenario 2: A "severe but plausible" scenario which model's materialisation of all the following principal risks as outlined above, being applied to the Covid-19 adjusted financial forecasts, reducing base model revenues by circa 15-20% across the three-year forecast period.

· Move to subscription model;

· Cloud product initiatives; and

· Sustainability.

 

Scenario 3: A "severe but plausible" scenario which model's materialisation of all the following principal risks as outlined above, being applied to the already Covid-19 adjusted financial forecasts, which also reduces base model revenues by circa 15-20% across the three-year forecast period.

· Move to subscription model;

· Cloud product initiatives; and

· Cyberattack.

 

Scenario 4: A further scenario was created to model circumstances required to breach AVEVA's credit facilities. This scenario assumes severe cash collection delays and does not include any mitigating actions that the Group would take. It is overall considered very unlikely.

 

Under the base case scenario, there is no expected requirement to drawdown on the RCF across the going concern period. Under the four downside scenarios, the Group would utilise the RCF, however within the current liquidity levels available.

 

Throughout all the four downside scenarios, the Group continues to have liquidity headroom on existing facilities and against the RCF financial covenants during the period under assessment. Should a more extreme downside scenario occur, additional mitigating actions could be taken such as the cancellation or deferral of dividend payments and reductions in other discretionary operating costs. The financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2020 have therefore been prepared under the going concern basis of accounting.

 

 

2 Accounting policies

 

The preliminary statement has been prepared on a consistent basis with the accounting policies set out in the last published financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2019 except where noted below. Other new standards and interpretations which came into force during the year did not have a significant impact on the Group's financial statements.

 

Whilst the revenue accounting policy has not changed, the revenue descriptions have been amended to be more consistent with industry practice:

· Support and maintenance, including annual fees has been renamed Maintenance;

· Rental and subscriptions has been renamed Subscription;

· Initial fees and perpetual licences has been renamed Perpetual licences; and

· Training and services has been renamed Services.

 

The Group has adopted IFRS 16 Leases from 1 April 2019, using the modified retrospective method. This has resulted in changes in accounting policies and adjustments to the amounts recognised in the financial statements. In accordance with this approach prior year balances have not been restated, and are presented as historically disclosed under IAS 17. Set out below are the new accounting policies of the Group.

 

The Group recognises right-of-use assets at the commencement date of the lease (i.e. the date that the underlying asset is available for use). Right-of-use assets are measured at cost, less any accumulated depreciation and impairment losses, and adjusted for any remeasurement of lease liabilities. The cost of right-of-use assets includes the amount of lease liabilities recognised, initial direct costs incurred, and lease payments made at or before the commencement date less any lease incentives received. Unless the Group is reasonably certain to obtain ownership of the leased asset at the end of the lease term, the recognised right-of-use assets are depreciated on a straight-line basis over the shorter of its estimated useful life and the lease term. Right-of-use assets are subject to impairment review.

 

At the commencement date of the lease, the Group also recognises lease liabilities. They are measured at the present value of lease payments to be made over the lease term. The lease payments include fixed payments (including in substance fixed payments) less any lease incentives receivable, variable lease payments that depend on an index or a rate, and amounts expected to be paid under residual value guarantees. The lease payments also include the exercise price of a purchase option reasonably certain to be exercised by the Group and payments of penalties for terminating a lease, if the lease term reflects the Group exercising the option to terminate. The variable lease payments that do not depend on an index or a rate are recognised as expense in the period on which the event or condition that triggers the payment occurs. The Group has adopted the practical expedient to view certain arrangements containing both lease and non-lease components as a single lease component.

 

In calculating the present value of lease payments, the Group uses the incremental borrowing rate at the lease commencement date if the interest rate implicit in the lease is not readily determinable.

 

After the commencement date, the amount of lease liabilities is increased to reflect the accretion of interest and reduced for the lease payments made. In addition, the carrying amount of lease liabilities is remeasured if there is a modification, a change in the lease term, a change in the in-substance fixed lease payments or a change in the assessment to purchase the underlying asset. The carrying amount of right-of-use assets are also remeasured to reflect this change in lease liabilities.

 

The Group applies the short-term lease recognition exemption to its short-term leases (i.e. those leases that have a lease term of 12 months or less from the commencement date and do not contain a purchase option). It also applies the lease of low-value assets recognition exemption to leases of assets that are considered of low value (i.e. below £5,000). Lease payments on short-term leases and leases of low-value assets are recognised as expense on a straight-line basis over the lease term.

 

The Group determines the lease term as the non-cancellable term of the lease, together with any periods covered by an option to extend the lease if it is reasonably certain to be exercised, or any periods covered by an option to terminate the lease, if it is reasonably certain not to be exercised.

 

The effect on the income statement for the year ended 31 March 2020 was to reduce profit after tax by £1.3 million.

 

 

3 Revenue

 

An analysis of the Group's revenue is as follows

 

Year ended 31 March 2020

 

Services transferred at a point in time

£m

Services transferred over time £m

Total

£m

Subscription

 

 

228.7

88.1

316.8

Maintenance

 

 

-

201.7

201.7

Perpetual licences

 

 

179.3

-

179.3

Services

 

 

-

136.0

136.0

 

 

 

408.0

425.8

833.8

 

Year ended 31 March 2019

 

Services transferred at a point in time

£m

Services transferred over time £m

Total

£m

Subscription

 

 

145.7

72.5

218.2

Maintenance

 

 

-

194.4

194.4

Perpetual licences

 

 

211.6

-

211.6

Services

 

 

-

142.4

142.4

 

 

 

357.3

409.3

766.6

 

Contract balances are as below:

 

2020

£m

2019

£m

2018

£m

Trade receivables (non-current)

2.0

-

-

Trade receivables (current)

181.2

174.9

146.9

Contract assets

142.4

100.5

67.6

Contract liabilities

177.0

174.6

141.7

 

Contract assets have increased year-on-year predominantly due to the recognition of a number of multi-year subscription licences, resulting in the cumulative revenue recognised for these contracts to be greater than the cumulative amounts invoiced. Contract assets is stated net of a provision of £5.4 million (2019: £0.4 million). The provision has increased year-on-year due to forward looking considerations in light of Covid-19.

 

Revenue for the year ended 31 March 2020 includes £157.1 million (2019: £127.6 million) which was included in contract liabilities at the beginning of the year.   Revenue of £3.1 million recognised in the year ended 31 March 2020 related to performance obligations satisfied in previous years (2019: £nil).

 

The transaction price allocated to the remaining performance obligations (unsatisfied or partially unsatisfied) as at 31 March is as follows:

 

 

2020

£m

2019

£m

Within one year

323.8

248.0

More than one year

178.0

164.6

 

 

4 Segment information

 

The Executive Leadership Team (ELT) monitors and appraises the business based on the performance of three geographic regions: Asia Pacific; Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA); and Americas. These three regions are the basis of the Group's primary operating segments reported in the financial statements. Performance is evaluated based on regional contribution using the same accounting policies as adopted for the Group's financial statements. There is no inter-segment revenue. Corporate costs include centralised functions such as Executive Management, Information Management, Finance and Legal. Balance sheet information is not included in the information provided to the ELT.

 

 

Year ended 31 March 2020

 

Asia Pacific

EMEA

Americas

Corporate

Total

 

£m

£m

£m

£m

£m

Revenue

 

 

 

 

 

Subscription

95.6

140.0

81.2

-

316.8

Maintenance

47.9

67.9

85.9

-

201.7

Perpetual licences

52.1

69.6

57.6

-

179.3

Services

31.9

49.6

54.5

-

136.0

Regional revenue total

227.5

327.1

279.2

-

833.8

Cost of sales

(27.3)

(34.6)

(49.9)

(78.3)

(190.1)

Selling and administrative expenses

(44.7)

(72.5)

(69.4)

(112.0)

(298.6)

Net impairment loss on financial assets

(0.8)

(2.7)

(4.1)

-

(7.6)

Regional contribution

154.7

217.3

155.8

(190.3)

337.5

Research & Development costs

 

 

 

 

(120.7)

Adjusted EBIT

 

 

 

 

216.8

Exceptional items, other normalised adjustments1 and net interest

 

 

 

 

(124.8)

Profit before tax

 

 

 

 

92.0

1 Normalised adjustments include amortisation of intangible assets (excluding other software), share-based payments and movements on fair value of forward exchange contracts.

 

 

 

Year ended 31 March 2019

 

Asia Pacific

EMEA

Americas

Corporate

Total

 

£m

£m

£m

£m

£m

Revenue

 

 

 

 

 

Subscription

49.4

107.2

61.6

-

218.2

Maintenance

45.0

71.7

77.7

-

194.4

Perpetual licences

57.3

86.6

67.7

-

211.6

Services

27.8

48.8

65.8

-

142.4

Regional revenue total

179.5

314.3

272.8

-

766.6

Cost of sales

(28.8)

(42.6)

(66.2)

(53.7)

(191.3)

Selling and administrative expenses

(36.6)

(65.9)

(60.9)

(115.2)

(278.6)

Net impairment loss on financial assets

(4.0)

(1.6)

(0.7)

-

(6.3)

Regional contribution

110.1

204.2

145.0

(168.9)

290.4

Research & Development costs

 

 

 

 

(114.5)

Adjusted EBIT

 

 

 

 

175.9

Exceptional items, other normalised adjustments1 and net interest

 

 

 

 

(129.2)

Profit before tax

 

 

 

 

46.7

1 Normalised adjustments include amortisation of intangible assets (excluding other software), share-based payments and movements on fair value of forward exchange contracts.

 

5 Selling and administrative expenses

 

An analysis of selling and administrative expenses is set out below:

 

2020

£m

2019

£m

Selling and distribution expenses

240.1

235.6

Administrative expenses

127.7

106.3

 

367.8

341.9

 

 

6 Exceptional items

 

2020

£m

2019£m

Acquisition and integration activities

29.0

23.0

Restructuring costs

1.7

5.9

Other income

(11.9)

-

 

18.8

28.9

 

Acquisition and integration costs incurred related principally to consultancy fees paid to advisers and the costs of additional temporary resources required for the integration of heritage AVEVA and the Schneider Electric industrial software business (SES). Key integration activities included work undertaken to exit the Transitional Service Agreements (TSA) provided by Schneider Electric; costs incurred in the initial design and build phases of a new harmonised global ERP system for the enlarged Group; and assistance from consultants to the Group in running programmes designed to deliver revenue and cost synergies from the Combination. Projects relating to the TSA exits and global ERP system continue into the financial year ending 31 March 2021.

 

Restructuring costs related to severance payments in a number of global office locations. The costs incurred for the year ended 31 March 2020 are a continuation of the project started in the prior year, following the Combination, which is now completed.

 

Other income includes a £7.7 million gain on sale of three wholly owned distributor businesses. Wonderware Italy was disposed of on 30 April 2019, Wonderware Scandinavia on 1 January 2020, and Schneider Electric Software Germany GmbH on 31 January 2020. Total consideration of £12.4 million was recognised, with £1.4 million of net assets disposed. Goodwill of £3.1 million was allocated to the three entities and disposed of on sale. The gain of sale was recognised net of selling costs of £0.2 million.

 

Also included in other income is £3.8 million received from Schneider Electric in reimbursement for capital expenditure incurred as part of the Company's migration from activities covered by TSAs following the Combination.

 

The total cash net outflow during the year as a result of exceptional items was £23.3 million (2019: £18.9 million).

 

Exceptional items were included in the Consolidated income statement as follows:

 

2020

£m

2019£m

Cost of sales

0.6

1.9

Research & Development costs

0.4

1.7

Selling and distribution expenses

3.9

12.6

Administrative expenses

25.8

12.7

Other income

(11.9)

-

 

18.8

28.9

 

 

7 Income tax expense

 

a) Tax on profit

The major components of income tax expense are as follows:

 

2020

£m

2019£m

Tax charged in Consolidated income statement

 

 

Current tax

 

 

UK corporation tax

11.1

5.8

Foreign tax

26.3

29.8

Adjustments in respect of prior periods

(9.6)

(0.5)

 

27.8

35.1

Deferred tax

 

 

Origination and reversal of temporary differences

(9.9)

(22.0)

Adjustments in respect of prior periods

4.3

(0.2)

 

(5.6)

(22.2)

Total income tax expense reported in Consolidated income statement

22.2

12.9

 

 

 

2020

£m

2019£m

Tax relating to items charged directly to Consolidated statement of comprehensive income

 

 

Deferred tax on actuarial remeasurements on retirement benefits

1.2

0.4

Tax charge reported in Consolidated statement of comprehensive income

1.2

0.4

 

b) Reconciliation of the total tax charge

The differences between the total tax charge shown above and the amount calculated by applying the standard rate of US corporation tax to the profit before tax are as follows:

 

2020

£m

2019£m

Tax on Group profit before tax at standard US corporation tax rate of 24% (2019: 24%)

22.1

11.2

Effects of:

 

 

- expenses not deductible for tax purposes

2.0

1.9

- Research & Development incentives

(5.8)

(4.1)

- UK rate change impact on deferred tax

8.9

-

- irrecoverable withholding tax

1.2

0.7

- movement on unprovided deferred tax balances

(1.1)

1.4

- differing tax rates

0.2

2.5

- adjustments in respect of prior years

(5.3)

(0.7)

Income tax expense reported in Consolidated income statement

22.2

12.9

 

The Group's effective tax rate for the year was: 24.1% (2019: 27.6%). The Group's effective tax rate for the year before exceptional items was 24.2% (2019: 22.9%). The Group's effective tax rate before exceptional and other normalised adjustments (see note 6) was 18.1% (2019: 20.2%).

 

 

8 Dividends paid and proposed on equity shares

 

The following dividends were declared, paid and proposed in relation to the legal entity AVEVA Group plc:

 

2020

£m

2019£m

Declared and paid during the year

 

 

Interim 2019/20 dividend paid of 15.5 pence (2018/19: 14.0 pence) per ordinary share

25.0

22.5

Final 2018/19 dividend paid of 29.0 pence (2017/18: 27.0 pence) per ordinary share

46.7

43.5

 

71.7

66.0

Proposed for approval by shareholders at the Annual General Meeting

 

 

Final proposed dividend 2019/20 of 29.0 pence (2018/19: 29.0 pence) per ordinary share

46.8

46.8

 

The proposed final dividend is subject to approval by shareholders at the Annual General Meeting on 21 July 2020 and has not been included as a liability in these financial statements. If approved at the Annual General Meeting, the final dividend will be paid on 11 August 2020 to shareholders on the register at the close of business on 10 July 2020.

 

 

9 Earnings per share

 

2020

Pence

2019Pence

Earnings per share for the year:

 

 

- basic

43.35

20.97

- diluted

43.13

20.90

Adjusted earnings per share for the year

 

 

- basic

108.70

86.91

- diluted

108.15

86.60

 

 

2020

Number

2019Number

Weighted average number of ordinary shares for basic earnings per share

161,046,059

161,081,559

Effect of dilution: employee share options

826,621

589,978

Weighted average number of ordinary shares adjusted for the effect of dilution

161,872,680

161,671,537

 

The calculations of basic and diluted earnings per share are based on the net profit attributable to equity holders of the parent for the year of £69.8 million (2019: £33.8 million). Basic earnings per share amounts are calculated by dividing the net profit attributable to equity holders of the parent by the weighted average number of AVEVA Group plc ordinary shares outstanding during the year.

 

Diluted earnings per share amounts are calculated by dividing the net profit attributable to equity holders of the parent by the weighted average number of ordinary shares outstanding during the year as described above, plus the weighted average number of ordinary shares that would be issued on the conversion of all the potentially dilutive share options into ordinary shares.

Details of the calculation of adjusted earnings per share are set out below:

 

2020

£m

2019£m

Profit after tax for the year

69.8

33.8

Intangible amortisation (excluding software)

90.6

88.1

Share-based payments

12.0

11.2

Loss on fair value of forward foreign exchange contracts

0.4

0.5

Exceptional items

18.8

28.9

Tax effect on exceptional items

(4.6)

(4.4)

Tax effect on other normalised adjustments (excluding net finance expense)

(12.0)

(18.1)

Adjusted profit after tax

175.0

140.0

 

The denominators used are the same as those detailed above for both basic and diluted earnings per share.

 

The adjustment made to profit after tax in calculating adjusted basic and diluted earnings per share has been adjusted for the tax effects of the items adjusted. The Directors believe that adjusted earnings per share is more representative of the underlying performance of the business.

 

 

10 Trade and other receivables

 

 

2020

£m

2019£m

Current

 

 

Amounts falling due within one year:

 

 

Trade receivables

181.2

174.9

Amounts owed from related parties (note 13)

28.4

35.5

Prepayments and other receivables

32.6

28.3

 

242.2

238.7

 

 

11 Cash and cash equivalents

 

 

2020

£m

2019£m

Cash at bank and in hand

112.8

126.5

Short-term deposits

1.7

0.7

Net cash and cash equivalents per cash flow

114.5

127.2

Treasury deposits

0.1

0.6

 

114.6

127.8

 

Treasury deposits represent bank deposits with an original maturity of over three months and are held with a fixed rate of interest.

 

Short-term deposits are made for varying periods of between one day and three months, depending on the immediate cash requirements of the Group, and earn interest at the respective fixed short-term deposit rates.

 

 

12 Trade and other payables

 

 

2020

£m

2019£m

Current

 

 

Trade payables

20.1

20.3

Amounts owed to related parties (note 13)

7.6

10.5

Social security, employee taxes and sales taxes

18.5

22.6

Accruals

99.1

100.5

Other payables

4.1

2.9

 

149.4

156.8

 

Trade payables are non-interest bearing and are normally settled on terms of between 30 and 60 days. Social security, employee taxes and sales taxes are non-interest bearing and are normally settled on terms of between 19 and 30 days. The Directors consider that the carrying amount of trade and other payables approximates their fair value.

 

 

13 Related party transactions

 

Transactions between the Company and its subsidiaries, which are related parties, have been eliminated on consolidation and are not disclosed in this note.

 

During the year, Group companies entered into the following transactions with Schneider Electric group companies:

 

2020

£m

2019

£m

Sales of goods and services

69.1

80.1

Purchases of goods and services

(11.2)

(19.7)

Completion accounts adjustment

-

(19.4)

Other non-trading transactions

13.4

4.3

 

Other non-trading transactions related to amounts received from Schneider Electric in reimbursement for expenditure incurred as part of the Company's migration from activities covered by TSAs following the Combination. Of these transactions, £9.6 million (2019: £4.3 million) related to operating expenses incurred, and £3.8 million (2019: £nil) to capital expenditure.

 

During the year ended 31 March 2019, the Group paid £17.4 million to Schneider Electric SE, the parent company of the Schneider Electric group. All other transactions were with subsidiary companies within the Schneider Electric group.

 

As at 31 March, Group companies held the following balances with Schneider Electric group companies:

 

2020

£m

2019

£m

Trade and other receivables

23.6

34.1

Trade and other payables

(7.6)

(10.5)

Non-trading receivables

4.8

1.4

 

All balances held were with subsidiary companies within the Schneider Electric group.

 

Terms and conditions of transactions with related parties

Outstanding balances at 31 March 2020 are unsecured, and settlement occurs in cash. There have been no guarantees provided or received for any related party receivables or payables. For the year ended 31 March 2020, the Group has not recorded any provision for impairment of receivables relating to amounts owed by related parties (2019: nil). This assessment is undertaken each financial year through examining the financial position of the related party and the market in which the related party operates.

 

 

Directors

Philip Aiken

Chairman

 

Craig Hayman

CEO

 

James Kidd

Deputy CEO & CFO

 

Christopher Humphrey

Senior Independent Non-Executive Director

 

Jennifer Allerton

Independent Non-Executive Director

 

Ron Mobed

Independent Non-Executive Director

 

Paula Dowdy

Independent Non-Executive Director

 

Peter Herweck

Non-Executive Director

 

Olivier Blum

Non-Executive Director

 

 

14. Responsibility statement pursuant to FSA's Disclosure and Transparency Rule 4(DTR 4)

 

Each Director of the Company (whose names and functions appear above) confirms that (solely for the purpose of DTR 4) to the best of his/her knowledge:

 

· the financial information in this document, prepared in accordance with the applicable UK law and applicable accounting standards, give a true and fair view of the assets, liabilities, financial position and result of the Company and of the Group taken as a whole; and

· the Chairman's statement, Chief Executive's strategic review and Finance review include a fair review of the development and performance of the business and the position of the Company and Group taken as a whole, together with a description of the principal risks and uncertainties that they face.

 

 

On behalf of the Board

 

Craig Hayman

James Kidd

CEO

Deputy CEO & CFO

 

9 June 2020

 

This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United Kingdom. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution of this information may apply. For further information, please contact rns@lseg.com or visit www.rns.com.
 
END
 
 
FR UPUMWQUPUPWR
Date   Source Headline
18th Jan 20233:20 pmRNSForm 8.3 - AVEVA Group plc
18th Jan 20232:27 pmRNSForm 8.3 - AVEVA Group plc
18th Jan 20231:59 pmRNSForm 8.3 - AVEVA GROUP PLC
18th Jan 20231:11 pmEQSForm 8.3 - The Vanguard Group, Inc.: AVEVA Group plc
18th Jan 202312:02 pmRNSForm 8.5 (EPT/NON-RI)-AVEVA Group plc Amend
18th Jan 202311:11 amRNSForm 8.5 (EPT/RI) - Aveva Group Plc
18th Jan 202311:00 amRNSSCHEME OF ARRANGEMENT BECOMES EFFECTIVE
18th Jan 20239:58 amRNSForm 8.5 (EPT/NON-RI)-AVEVA Group plc
18th Jan 20239:52 amRNSForm 8.3 - Aveva Group Plc
18th Jan 20239:52 amRNSForm 8.5 (EPT/RI)-AVEVA Group plc
18th Jan 20239:10 amRNSForm 8.5 (EPT/RI)
18th Jan 20237:30 amRNSSuspension- Aveva Group PLC
17th Jan 20233:20 pmRNSForm 8.3 - AVEVA Group plc
17th Jan 20231:23 pmRNSForm 8.3 - AVEVA GROUP PLC
17th Jan 20231:04 pmRNSForm 8.3 - Aveva Group PLC
17th Jan 202312:28 pmRNSForm 8.3 -AVEVA GROUP PLC
17th Jan 202310:38 amRNSForm 8.5 (EPT/RI) - Aveva Group Plc
17th Jan 202310:33 amRNSISSUE AND ALLOTMENT OF NEW AVEVA SHARES
17th Jan 202310:22 amRNSForm 8.3 - Aveva Group Plc
17th Jan 202310:19 amRNSForm 8.5 (EPT/NON-RI)-AVEVA Group plc
17th Jan 202310:10 amRNSForm 8.5 (EPT/RI)-AVEVA Group plc
16th Jan 20233:28 pmRNSCOURT SANCTION OF SCHEME
16th Jan 20233:20 pmRNSForm 8.3 - AVEVA Group plc
16th Jan 20231:30 pmEQSForm 8.3 - The Vanguard Group, Inc.: AVEVA Group plc
16th Jan 202311:24 amRNSForm 8.5 (EPT/RI) - Aveva Group Plc
16th Jan 202311:17 amRNSForm 8.3 - AVEVA GROUP PLC
16th Jan 202311:14 amRNSForm 8.3 - Aveva Group Plc
16th Jan 202310:12 amRNSForm 8.5 (EPT/NON-RI)-AVEVA Group plc
16th Jan 202310:05 amRNSForm 8.5 (EPT/RI)-AVEVA Group plc
16th Jan 20238:53 amRNSForm 8.5 (EPT/RI)
13th Jan 20236:12 pmRNSAveva Group
13th Jan 20233:20 pmRNSForm 8.3 - AVEVA Group plc
13th Jan 20231:33 pmEQSForm 8.3 - The Vanguard Group, Inc.: AVEVA Group plc
13th Jan 202311:20 amRNSForm 8.3 - AVEVA GROUP PLC
13th Jan 202310:26 amRNSForm 8.5 (EPT/RI) - Aveva Group Plc
13th Jan 202310:18 amRNSForm 8.5 (EPT/NON-RI)-AVEVA Group plc
13th Jan 202310:15 amRNSForm 8.5 (EPT/RI)-AVEVA Group plc
13th Jan 20239:01 amRNSForm 8.5 (EPT/RI)
13th Jan 20237:00 amRNSForm 8.3 - AVEVA GROUP PLC Amend
12th Jan 20233:20 pmRNSForm 8.3 - AVEVA Group plc
12th Jan 20233:06 pmRNSForm 8.3 - AVEVA Group plc
12th Jan 20231:24 pmEQSForm 8.3 - The Vanguard Group, Inc.: AVEVA Group plc
12th Jan 202312:05 pmRNSForm 8.3 - AVEVA GROUP PLC
12th Jan 202311:23 amRNSForm 8.5 (EPT/RI) Aveva Group Plc
12th Jan 202310:28 amBUSForm 8.3 - AVV LN Equity 11-January-23 Decrease in Traded Position Disclosure
12th Jan 202310:23 amRNSForm 8.5 (EPT/NON-RI) - AVEVA Group plc
12th Jan 202310:17 amRNSForm 8.5 (EPT/RI) - AVEVA Group plc
12th Jan 20238:35 amRNSForm 8.5 (EPT/RI)
11th Jan 20236:00 pmRNSAveva Group
11th Jan 20233:20 pmRNSForm 8.3 - AVEVA Group plc

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