Empresaria Group Regulatory News (EMR)

5 March 2015

Empresaria Group plc

("Empresaria" or the "Group")

Results for the year ended 31 December 2014

Empresaria, the international specialist staffing group, has continued to deliver on its strategy with a strong growth in profit over the prior year and earnings per share up 44% on 2013.

· Permanent revenue increased 7% offset by a 4% reduction in temporary staffing revenues

· Net fee income (gross profit) diversified by geography (Continental Europe 34%, UK 35%, Rest of the World 31%)

· Conversion ratio increased to 14.7% (2013: 14.2%)

· Proposed final dividend increased by 100% to 0.70p (2013: 0.35p)

· 36% reduction in net debt to £9.8m (2013: £15.2m)

· Strong performance in Germany post restructuring

· Continued growth in Offshore Recruitment Services in India

· Investments in Dubai in March and UK in December 2014

· New offices opened in Chile, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Mexico and UK

* adjusted to exclude amortisation of intangible assets, exceptional items and gain or loss on disposal of business

Chief Executive Joost Kreulen said:

"2014 has been a strong year for the Group with robust profit growth and a number of strategic milestones achieved. Following our brand led strategy, we have continued to invest in our existing businesses, opening several new offices worldwide, and have seen particularly positive results in Germany, India, Japan, Thailand and Australia.

The two investments made in the year, BW&P in Dubai and Ball and Hoolahan in the UK, were in line with our continuing strategy of maintaining a diversified balance of brands by geography and sector with Ball and Hoolahan strengthening our existing presence in the Creative and Digital arena and BW&P providing entry into a new geography. We expect both investments to contribute profitable growth for the Group in 2015.

We believe that market conditions are favourable and we look forward to growing our business further and creating value for our shareholders."

 - Ends -

Enquiries:

Notes for editors:

§ Empresaria Group plc is an international specialist staffing group operating in 18 countries across the globe including UK, Germany, Japan, Indonesia, China, India, Chile, Thailand, Singapore, Finland, UAE and Australia.

§ The Group offers both temporary and permanent staffing solutions in several sectors including Financial, IT Digital & Design, Technical & Industrial and Retail.

§ Empresaria applies a multi brand, management equity philosophy and business model, with Group company management teams holding significant equity in their own business.

§ The Group is listed on AIM under ticker EMR. For more information: http://www.empresaria.com/

Chairman's statement

Performance overview

The Group delivered a strong growth in profit and earnings per share in 2014, despite the negative impact of foreign exchange.

In 2014, the Group generated revenue of £187.9m (2013: £194.4m). However, net fee income grew 5% to £44.6m (2013: £42.6m). There were three primary factors that influenced the small decline in revenue during the year: Firstly were adverse currency movements, in particular from Indonesia, Japan and the Euro-zone. On a constant currency basis revenue was up 2% and net fee income increased 11% on prior year. The second impact was lower volumes within the Technical & Industrial sector, due to the completion of a large airport project in the UK and a reduction in lower pay work in line with our strategy of focusing on professional and specialist job levels. Finally, the impact of the prior year disposal and branch closures outweighed revenues generated from the businesses acquired during the year.

Market conditions have generally been good during the year, particularly in the UK. However we are mindful that our markets continue to be influenced by uncertainty, illustrated by the recent drop in oil price and the impact of the Greek elections on the Euro currency.

We are pleased to report the gross margin increased to 23.8% (2013: 21.9%), helped by an increase in permanent sales of 7% and an increase in the temporary margin to 16.3% (2013: 15.3%), although temporary sales reduced by 4%. Permanent sales now account for 38% of net fee income (2013: 36%), helped by the new office openings in recent years being in markets that are primarily focused on permanent sales.

Operating profit grew by 16% to £6.4m (2013: £5.5m), with costs being tightly managed to help the conversion ratio improve to 14.7% (2013: 14.2%). Interest costs were down on the prior year due to the reduction in debt levels, resulting in profit before tax increasing 20% to £5.9m. On an adjusted basis, excluding amortisation, exceptional items and profit or loss on disposal of businesses, operating profit was £6.6m up 10% on prior year and profit before tax was £6.1m, up 13%.

Diluted earnings per share grew strongly by 44% to 7.5p in line with our vision to deliver sustainable growth in earnings per share. On an adjusted basis it grew by 29% to 8.0p, increasing for the third year in a row.

We have made good progress in reducing our debt. During the year the Group generated £6.7m of cash from operations which enabled a reduction in net debt from £15.2m to £9.8m during the period. This was achieved despite our continued investment in the business through opening new offices and purchasing stakes in two businesses in Dubai and the UK, the latter only being finalised in December 2014. The benefit of these investments will be seen over the next few years. We are committed to developing our brands for long-term profit growth through organic and external investment.

* The adjusted operating profit and adjusted profit before tax figures exclude exceptional items, profit or loss on disposal of businesses and intangible amortisation.

** The like-for-like currency movement is calculated by translating the 2013 results at the 2014 exchange rates.

Operational performance

UK

In the UK revenue declined by 7% due to a reduction in the Technical & Industrial sector which was predominantly driven by the completion of a large project coupled with the deliberate move away from low value work. This was partially offset by growth from Financial services and Domestic services, with the banking and insurance markets seeing a marked rise in confidence in the year. Net fee income grew by 1% to £15.9m (2013: £15.8m), but adjusting for the prior year branch closures and disposal of the payroll services business the underlying growth was 6%. An improvement in the conversion ratio resulted in adjusted operating profit growth of 4% to £2.2m (2013: £2.1m). We opened new offices in Manchester during the year in Technical & Industrial and Domestic services, so we now have three sectors operating in this market.

Continental Europe

The strongest profit growth in the year came from Continental Europe, with adjusted operating profit increasing to £3.2m, up 79% on prior year (2013: £1.8m). Revenue was marginally down in the year at £76.8m (2013: £76.9m) with net fee income up 8% to £15.0m (2013: £13.9m). Currency movements impacted on these results, with revenue up 5% and net fee income up 14% on a constant currency basis. Germany was the main driver for profit growth, which was particularly pleasing following the branch restructuring and cost reductions in previous years. All claims for retrospective pay and social security have been agreed with the completion of the 2010 audit, and no further claims are able to be made. We therefore released £0.1m of provision that was no longer required, concluding this matter. Whilst the changes to the business were difficult, the result is a much improved structure and solid foundation from which to grow the business. We are excited with the team we have in place and see opportunities to grow our presence in the market. In Finland, the business returned to profit in the year, although market conditions remain difficult due to the severe economic situation. In line with our strategy, in the beginning of 2015 we disposed of and closed down the underperforming small businesses in Czech Republic and Slovakia respectively.

Rest of the World

In the Rest of the World region we saw revenue decline by 3% to £45.4m (2013: £46.8m). However, net fee income grew 6% to £13.7m (2013: £12.9m). Again we suffered from negative currency impacts, with revenue up 10% and net fee income up 9% in constant currency, excluding the positive impact from the investment in Dubai. There were particularly good performances in Japan, India, Thailand and Australia. Due to the costs associated with the investments in new offices in Mexico City, Santiago, Kuala Lumpur and Hong Kong, adjusted operating profit reduced to £1.2m (2013: £2.1m), although £0.3m of this variance was due to adverse currency movements. We have started to restructure our training business in Indonesia and our executive search business in China, where less favourable economic conditions have had a short-term negative impact on profit. The standalone search business in Malaysia was sold to management in January 2015 following a small loss in the year. However, the opening of a new office in Kuala Lumpur by Monroe Consulting means we remain present in this market.

Investments

As well as the organic investment in opening new offices we also brought two new high quality companies into the Group.

In March we purchased 51% of BW&P FZ LLC, a professional search firm operating from Dubai and servicing clients throughout the GCC states, which creates an exciting new growth market for the Group. The company specialises in construction and engineering but also covers a wider range of professional sectors. The region is benefitting from significant infrastructure spend, with key projects such as the Expo 2020 in Dubai leading to over US$6.5bn of investment, as well as the 2022 football world cup in Qatar. The business is not directly reliant on the oil price and the experienced management team has a proven track record in the region. The business has been operating for three years and has demonstrated strong growth during that time. We believe it will become one of the key recruiters in the region.

In December we purchased 75% of Ball and Hoolahan Limited, a specialist UK based recruiter serving the marketing industry. Ball and Hoolahan has been operating for 25 years and has a strong reputation in the market. It focuses on servicing the corporate marketplace working with a range of leading brands in the UK and Europe. Ball and Hoolahan is a complementary addition to our Become brand, which specialises in the creative, media and digital sectors, strengthening our offering in the Creative sector (part of IT, digital & design). We see exciting opportunities to expand the Ball and Hoolahan business across the Become offices, currently London, Manchester, Sydney, Melbourne and Hong Kong, as well as increasing their temporary and interim recruitment offering.

People

A key part of our business model is management equity, aligning key management and shareholder interests. This approach enables Empresaria to attract and retain the best people and I am pleased that during the year the number of management shareholders with an equity stake in their business increased by 7 to 44. We expect to increase this further during 2015.

The success of the Group is down to the hard work and commitment of our staff and the Board would like to thank every individual for their contribution to the business.

Governance

The Group adopts high standards of corporate governance which we believe is a core requirement for a successful business operating across different regions with separate brands. There is a strong culture of financial control in the Group, with clear policies covering corporate conduct and governance. The Board develops the Group's corporate governance arrangements with reference to the UK Corporate Governance Code.

Dividend

The Board has reviewed the dividend in the light of the strengthening balance sheet and reduction in total debt. For the year ending 31 December 2014 the Board has proposed a final dividend of 0.70p per share (2013: 0.35p per share) which, if approved by shareholders at the Annual General Meeting, will be paid on 12 June 2015 to shareholders on the register on 22 May 2015.

Our strategy

Our priority is to deliver a sustainable growth in earnings per share which we will achieve by developing leading specialist brands. We remain committed to being diversified by region and sector.

Outlook

The Group has delivered a strong growth in profit and earnings per share, and has continued to deliver against the clear growth strategy. The Board is focused on driving further growth to build the business and enhance shareholder value. We see exciting opportunities for growth across our network, particularly from the investments made in 2014, and look forward to the year ahead with confidence.

Anthony MartinChairman

4 March 2015

Finance review

Finance income and costs

Finance income was £0.1m (2013: £0.1m), all being bank interest income. Finance costs were £0.6m (2013: £0.7m), which all related to interest payable on invoice discounting, bank loans and overdrafts.

Exceptional items

In Germany there was the release of £0.1m of the provision for claims for retrospective pay and social security following an agreed position on this matter with the authorities.

Loss on business disposals

In 2014 we entered into sale agreements to dispose of GiT in Czech Republic and Metis in Malaysia. The completion of these transactions took place during the first two months of 2015. We have recognised a £0.1m provision for the expected loss on disposal of these businesses. The underlying disposals were at nil gain or loss with the provision relating to the recycling of the cumulative currency reserve required on a disposal.

Taxation

The total tax charge in the year is £2.1m (2013: £2.1m) representing an effective tax rate of 35% (2013: 43%). There is an ongoing tax audit in Germany covering the years 2007 to 2011 which we expect to conclude during 2015. The profits earned by the Group are subject to different tax rates in the countries in which the Group operates with the majority of profits being taxed at higher rates than in the UK.

Dividend

During the year, the Group paid a dividend of £0.2m in respect of the year ended 31 December 2013, amounting to 0.35p per share. For the year ended 31 December 2014, the Board is proposing a dividend of 0.70p per share, which if approved by shareholders at the Annual General Meeting, will be paid on 12 June 2015 to shareholders on the register on 22 May 2015.

Treasury

The Group's treasury function is centrally managed. The treasury policy is that speculative transactions are not permitted and where possible debt should match the location and currency of the related assets. The following matters are reserved for Board approval:

- Changes to the Group's capital structure;

- Approval of Group financing arrangements or significant changes to existing arrangements;

- Approval of treasury policies and any activity involving forward contracts, derivatives, hedging activity and significant foreign currency exposures; and

- Approving the appointment of any of the Group's principal bankers.

Treasury is managed to deal with the following risk areas.

Liquidity & Funding risk

The Group maintains a range of appropriate facilities to manage its working capital and medium-term financing requirements. At the year-end the Group had banking facilities totalling £32.5m (2013: £30.2m) with the increase coming from overdraft facilities.

The amount of facility undrawn of £10.2m (2013: £7.1m) excludes the headroom on the invoice financing facility. The invoice financing facility is available to the UK companies only. The term loan of £0.8m (2013: £1.4m) expires in 2016.

The Group has agreed in principle new facilities with HSBC which are in the process of obtaining credit approval. The UK revolving credit facility, which has been used for German working capital financing, will be replaced by a 3 year term loan of €5m and increased overdrafts of €8m provided directly to the business in Germany. In the UK the Sterling and euro overdrafts will be consolidated into a new £5m facility which applies across the whole year.

Group net debt decreased to £9.8m at 31 December 2014 (2013: £15.2m), as detailed below:

The Group had to meet certain bank covenant tests on a quarterly basis. These tests were all met during the year. The figures at year end were:

Interest rate risk

The Group's bank facilities are subject to floating interest rates. This is expected to match the interest costs with the economic cycle (eg when interest rates are higher there is typically better economic growth and so for a cyclical industry such as recruitment, profits should be greater when the economy is performing positively). The majority of facilities are now in place to fund specific working capital requirements for temporary recruitment businesses. During a downturn there is typically an unwinding of working capital as trade receivables are collected, so reducing the financing requirement and subsequent interest cost.

Within the UK Group the majority of bank accounts are included in a cash pooling arrangement. An interest optimisation model allows currency balances (including overdrafts) to be included within the cash pooling arrangement. With interest income not generally paid on current accounts, the Group aims to minimise the external interest cost by repatriating surplus funds from around the Group to minimise the use of the overdraft facilities.

Finance costs were £0.6m (2013: £0.7m), which all related to interest payable on invoice discounting, bank loans and overdrafts. The effective interest rate for the year was 3.4% (2013: 3.4%).

Foreign exchange risk

There was a foreign exchange loss of £11,000 (2013: gain of £457,000).

The Group remains open to translation risk from reporting overseas results in Sterling. We do not actively hedge this exposure, with the diversity of operations across different countries providing an element of natural hedge. During the year we witnessed significant movements in exchange rates, as detailed below:

Credit risk

The main credit risks arise through the use of different banks across the Group and on the Group's trade receivables. The credit ratings of the banks used within the Group are monitored with a target that no more than 10% of Group cash is held in banks with a rating below BBB (Fitch rating) or equivalent. This target was fully met throughout the year.

Debtor days are reviewed monthly with high balances followed up with local management. Average debtor days for the Group in 2014 were 52 (2013: 50), with a year-end balance of 51 (2013: 54 days). The debtor days in UAE are higher than the Group average, in line with typical business practice in this region. This is an area of particular focus to improve in 2015.

Cashflow

Net debt decreased by £5.4m in the year to £9.8m (2013: £15.2m). The main areas of expenditure were on business investments and purchasing shares in existing subsidiaries, which was a net £1.6m. Dividend payments were £0.4m, of which £0.2m was to Group shareholders. There was a net funding of working capital of £0.5m in the year, against an unwinding of £1.8m in the prior year. The net tax and interest payment was £1.5m, down £0.9m on 2013, mostly due to the phasing of tax payments in Germany.

Investments and disposals

During the year, the Group made the following investments and purchases of shares in subsidiaries held by minority shareholders:

- In March 2014 51% of the shares in BW&P FZ LLC, A Dubai based recruiter specialising in the Technical & Industrial sector, for an initial cash payment of £0.3m. Two further payments are contingent on the performance of the company during the two years ended 31 December 2015. We do not expect to make any payments under this arrangement and no contingent consideration has been recognised.

- In July 2014 we increased our effective shareholding in Intelligence HR, our executive search company in Shanghai for initial cash consideration of £0.3m, with a further £0.1m deferred until 2015.

- In December 2014 75% of the shares in Ball and Hoolahan Limited, a UK marketing recruiter in the IT, digital and design sector, for an initial cash payment of £1.0m. Cash of £0.1m was acquired as part of the transaction. A further payment is contingent on the results for the twelve months ended 31 March 2015, with £0.4m recognised in the accounts at year-end.

The Group received £0.1m in deferred consideration from the disposal made in 2011 of the supply chain business in the UK and the disposal in 2013 of the Bar 2 payroll business. There was also the final payment of deferred consideration for MediradiX following the purchase of management equity in July 2013.

Post balance sheet events

In January and February 2015 the Group completed the disposals of 55% of Metis Consulting and 100% of GiT Consult Czech SPA respectively.

Going concern

The Board has undertaken a recent and thorough review of the Group's budget, forecasts and associated risks and sensitivities. The Group has an existing revolving credit facility in place until March 2016. Credit approval is in the process of being approved by the bank to replace this with a new term loan and overdraft in Germany and increased overdraft facilities in the UK. The Group has been fully compliant with its bank covenants during the year and based on forecasts this is expected for the remainder of the term of the revolving credit facility. Given these developments and the business forecasts, the Group is expected to be able to continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future, being a period of at least twelve months from the date of approval of the accounts. As a result, the going concern basis continues to be appropriate in preparing the financial statements.

Consolidated income statement

Consolidated statement of comprehensive income

Consolidated balance sheet

Consolidated statement of changes in equity

Equity comprises the following:

· "Share capital" represents the nominal value of equity shares.

· "Share premium account" represents the excess over nominal value of the fair value of consideration received for equity shares, net of expenses of the share issue.

· "Merger reserve" relates to premiums arising on shares issued subject to the provisions of section 612 "Merger relief" of the Companies Act 2006.

· "Retranslation reserve" represents the exchange differences arising from the translation of the financial statements of foreign subsidiaries.

· "Equity reserve" represents movement in equity due to acquisition of non-controlling interests under IFRS 3 Business combinations.

· "Other reserves" mainly represents exchange differences on intercompany long-term receivables which are treated as a net investment in foreign operations and the share based payment reserve of £0.4m.

· "Retained earnings" represents accumulated profits less distributions and income/expense recognised in equity from incorporation.

· "Non-controlling interest" represents Equity in a subsidiary not attributable, directly or indirectly, to a parent.

Consolidated cash flow statement

1 Basis of preparation and general information

The financial information has been abridged from the audited financial information for the year ended 31 December 2014.

The financial information set out abovedoes not constitute the Company's statutory accounts for the years ended 31 December 2014 or 2013, but is derived from those accounts. Statutory accounts for 2013 have beendelivered to the Registrar of Companies and those for 2014 will be delivered following the Company's Annual General Meeting. The Auditors have reported on those accounts; their reportswere unqualified, did notdraw attention to any matters by way of emphasis without qualifying their reports and did not contain statements under s498(2) or (3) Companies Act 2006 or equivalent preceding legislation.

Accounting policies have been consistently applied throughout 2013 and 2014.

Whilst the financial information included in this preliminary announcement has been prepared in accordance with the recognition and measurement criteria of International Financial Reporting Standards ('IFRS'), this announcement does not itself contain sufficient financial information to comply with IFRS. The Group will be publishing full financial statements that comply with IFRS in April 2015.

2 Segment analysis

Information reported to the Group's Chief Executive who is considered to be Chief operating decision maker of the Group for the purpose of resource allocation and assessment of segment performance is based on geographic region. The Group's business is segmented into three regions, UK, Continental Europe and Rest of the World.

The Group has one principal activity, the provision of staffing and recruitment services. Each unit is managed separately with local management responsible for determining local strategy.

The analysis of the Group's business by geographical origin is set out below:

* Adjusted operating profit represents operating profit before exceptional items, gain or loss on business disposal and intangible amortisation.

3 Exceptional items

Exceptional items are those which, in management's judgement, need to be disclosed separately by virtue of their size or incidence in order for the reader to obtain a proper understanding of the financial information.

In Germany the residual provision for potential social security liability amounts to £0.5m (2013: £0.7m). During the year £0.1m was released and £0.1m was paid.

4 Business investments and disposal

Business disposal

In 2014 we entered into sale agreements to dispose of GiT in Czech Republic and Metis in Malaysia. The completion of these transactions took place during the first two months of 2015. We have recognised a £0.1m provision for the expected loss on disposal of these businesses. The underlying disposals were at nil gain or loss with the provision relating to the recycling of the cumulative currency reserve required on a disposal.

Business investments

On 10 March 2014 the Group purchased 51% of the shares in BW&P FZ LLC, a Dubai based company specialising in permanent sales in the Technical & Industrial sector. Initial consideration is £300,000 with two further payments that are contingent on the performance of the company in the two years ended 31 December 2015.

On 12 December 2014 the Group purchased 75% of the shares in Ball and Hoolahan Limited, a UK based company specialising in permanent sales in the Marketing sector. Initial consideration is £984,000 with one further payment that is contingent on the performance of the company in the year ended 31 March 2015.

The amounts recognised in respect of the identifiable assets acquired and liabilities assumed are as set out in the table below:

The above table represents fair value on date of investment.

The amounts recognised in respect of Goodwill and purchases consideration are as set out in the table below:

Acquisition related costs for both the investments amounts to £45,000.

If the investments had been completed on 1 January 2014 the Group would have generated additional revenues of £2.4m for the period to 31 December 2014 and profit attributed to equity holders of the parent for the period would have been additional £0.2m during the period.

The investments have contributed £1.5m to Group revenue and £nil to profit attributed to equity holders of the parent for the period ended 31 December 2014.

5 Finance income and cost

6 Taxation

7 Reconciliation of Adjusted profit before tax to Profit before tax

8 Earnings per share

The calculation of the basic earnings per share is based on the earnings attributable to ordinary shareholders divided by the average number of shares in issue during the year. A reconciliation of the earnings and weighted average number of shares used in the calculations are set out below.

The calculation of the basic and diluted earnings per share is based on the following data:

The dilution on the number of shares is from share options granted to the executive directors.

9 Goodwill

Goodwill has been tested for impairment by comparing the carrying amount of each cash-generating unit (CGU) at lowest level of cashflow, including goodwill, with the recoverable amount of that income-generating unit.

The recoverable amount of each cash-generating unit is determined based on the higher of value in use calculations and its fair value less costs to sell. The value in use calculations are based on cash flow projections derived from the Group budget for the year ended 31 December 2015 and growth forecasts extrapolated into perpetuity. The growth forecast uses growth rates based on the average three year GDP growth forecast for the relevant country, which ranged from 1.1% to 8.5%. Any growth rate in excess of 3.0% was capped for the purpose of this calculation. A discount rate of 12.5% (2013: 12.5%) has been applied in discounting the projected cash flows, being the estimated industry weighted average cost of capital.

As part of the impairment review, management has considered the sensitivity of the recoverable amount for each unit to changes in the growth rate and discount rate. This sensitivity analysis showed that the long-term growth rate could reduce to nil and the discount rates increased in line with estimated country discount rates, ranging from 12.5% to 21.0%, without giving rise to an impairment of goodwill. None of these changes in the key assumptions are reasonably expected to occur.

The carrying amount of goodwill has been allocated as follows:

10 Borrowings

The bank loans include a revolving credit facility and a term loan which both expire in March 2016. The bank loans are secured by a first fixed charge over all book and other debts given by the Company and certain of its subsidiaries. Interest rates vary over the term of the loan. In 2014, interest was payable at 2.0% over UK base rate on the term loan and 2.0% over EURIBOR on the revolving credit facility.

The interest rate on the UK bank overdrafts was fixed during the year at rates up to 1.0% above applicable currency base rates. The value of the UK bank overdrafts at 31 December 2014 was £2.0m (2013: £1.8m). Other overseas overdrafts had interest rates of between 1.2% and 5.8% during the year.

During the year, management have performed a review of the accounting associated with invoice factoring arrangements of the Group following earlier changes in credit insurer from the provider of the debt factoring services to an external third party. In the prior year financial statements, the liability owed to the debt provider was offset against the corresponding receivables. Given the change of the credit protection provider in 2012, the debt provider has recourse to the Group for any irrecoverable debt and therefore, it has been concluded that the liability and the corresponding receivable should be presented gross. As a result, the comparative balance sheet has been presented to reflect the full invoice factoring liability within current borrowings. The impact of this is a £9.4m increase in trade receivables and current borrowings compared to the numbers in the previously filed 2013 annual financial statements. There has been no impact on net assets or income statement measures.

11 Dividends

The proposed dividend is subject to approval by shareholders at the Annual General Meeting and has not been included as a liability in these financial statements.

12 Post balance sheet event

In 2014 we entered into sale agreements to dispose of GiT in Czech Republic and Metis in Malaysia. The completion of these transactions took place during the first two months of 2015. We have recognised a £0.1m provision for the expected loss on disposal of these businesses. The underlying disposals were at nil gain or loss with the provision relating to the recycling of the cumulative currency reserve required on a disposal.