Gb Group Regulatory News (GBG)

21 Jul 2005 09:47

GB Group PLC21 July 2005 For immediate release: 21 July 2005 GB GROUP PLC ("GB" or the "Group") AGM Trading Update At the Annual General Meeting due to be held today at noon in Chester, JohnWalker-Haworth (GB's Chairman) will give the following trading update statementto shareholders: "The Group has continued to make progress during the first quarter of thecurrent financial year. URU(TM)The performance of the DataAuthentication division, and its flagship business,URU(TM), which is developed and marketed jointly with BT, has been extremelypleasing. Turnover in the first quarter grew by 37% compared to the previousquarter. The number of clients registered for the URU(TM) service is currently 66, up from59 at the time of my last statement on 1 June 2005. URU(TM) continues tostrengthen its position as the clear market leader for electronic identityverification in the Online Gaming sector. It now has 20 clients in this sector,including PartyGaming Plc (which operates Partypoker.com), Cassava EnterprisesLtd (which operates 888.com) and Betfair Limited (which operates Betfair.com).We have also strengthened our position in the Mobile Telecommunications sectorwhere there are 8 URU(TM) clients including a number of the largest operators inthe market. Good progress has also been achieved in the Financial Servicesmarket and there are now a total of 28 URU(TM) clients in this sector. URU(TM) alsohas clients in the Retail and Government sectors. At present, the greatest competition for URU(TM) comes from companies continuingto employ paper-based, labour intensive manual methods of verification. However,with the standards of fraudulent documentation becoming much more sophisticated,we believe that the change to electronic systems for verification will continueto accelerate. URU(TM) is well placed to serve this growing demand. The revenuesof URU(TM) are predominantly geared to usage of the service, and we consider thatthis is the correct business model with which to build a high quality andprofitable revenue stream. Investment in URU(TM) has been increased as planned during the first quarter inthe areas of technical development, sales and marketing and customer service.The purpose of this investment is to seize the URU(TM) opportunity and build upstrong market positions as swiftly as possible. Existing BusinessThe profitability of our existing DataIntegrity and DataSolutions operations ismarginally ahead of the same period last year. The strategy of developing newproducts and services, together with a focus on generating high quality andrepeatable revenue has continued successfully. CashGroup cash balances remain strong at £6.8 million. The existing businesscontinues to be cash generative and we expect cash-flow from these operations tocontinue funding the greater part of the investment in URU(TM). Accordingly, asannounced last month and based on our current plans, we do not expect that Groupcash balances during the remainder of the year will fall below £5.5 million. ProspectsAs you will have gathered, this is an exciting time for GB and we view ourprospects with confidence." - Ends - For further information, please contact: GB Group plcRichard Law, Chief Executive 01244 657333Mona Navin-Mealey, Finance Director Weber Shandwick Square Mile 020 7067 0700Richard Hews Website www.gb.co.uk Notes to Editors About GB Group plc GB Group plc provides a range of products and services to enable organisationsto capitalise on one of their greatest assets - customer data. The Company hasexpertise across a range of sectors and is able to transform customer data intovaluable information, enabling clients to make better, more informed decisions. The development of innovative software and services, through to the provision ofthe UK's most comprehensive consumer business databases - The National Register(R) and the National Authentication Register - positions GB Group as a widelyacknowledged industry leader in its specialist markets. GB Group plc has three business areas: • The DataAuthentication division helps businesses validate personal identity information and provides anti-fraud solutions to fight crime. • The DataIntegrity division helps companies capture and maintain accurate customer contact data, an essential foundation for any profitable customer relationship. • The DataSolutions division empowers companies to consolidate and analyse customer data from various sources, enabling them to make better, more informed decisions. Established since 1989, GB's core competencies combined with industry sectorknowledge have enabled the company to deliver significant value to organisationssuch as Standard Life, Scottish Power and TD Waterhouse in helping them derivemaximum value from their customer data and sustain real advantage over theircompetition. GB Group is supported by its key relationships with major organisations withwhom it works with on major initiatives (an example being British Telecom),together with a team of highly talented and motivated staff successfullydelivering business solutions. GB Group plc is listed on the London Stock Exchange (www.gb.co.uk). About URU(TM) The URU(TM) service, the DataAuthentication division's principle offering, hasbeen developed jointly with BT. It combines GB's Authenticator(TM) search engineand decision making software, access to GB's comprehensive range of identitydata and BT's high capacity web delivery. It helps organisations to protectthemselves from the growing problem of identity theft and fraud, which isestimated to cost the UK economy over £1.3 billion per annum. URU(TM) enablescompanies subscribing to the service to make an instant decision whether toaccept the identity claimed by any given individual and confirm their age inseconds. URU(TM) works by cross checking personal information provided by an individual atthe point of acquisition against a comprehensive range of up-to-date UK andInternational population datasources to confirm that an individual is who theyclaim to be, live where they claim to live and meet certain minimum legal agerequirements. No personal data is disclosed by the reference databases and as a result URU(TM)is compliant with the Data Protection Act. URU(TM) also provides a valuable audit trail demonstrating that the necessarychecks have taken place, thereby helping companies comply with legislation,including the 2nd European Money Laundering Directive, Proceeds of Crime Act andMinimum Legal Age requirements of certain industry sectors. The addition of data from CallCredit also enables users of URU(TM) to incorporatecredit reference data. The market for identity verification checking continues to grow. Researchpublished in February 2005 showed a 45% increase in the number of individualsaccessing gaming sites compared to the previous year. In addition, it ispredicted that around 10% of potential revenue is lost by MobileTelecommunications operators as a result of fraud and furthermore, the BritishBankers Association reported in March 2005 that losses of its membersattributable to fraud had increased by 11% compared to the previous year. GB is working closely with organisations such as Gamcare, the charity promotingresponsible gambling, and RGA (Remote Gambling Association), formerly ARGO, tohelp promote better understanding by gambling companies of the requirements ofgood social responsibility processes. We are also working closely with some ofour clients to help them develop their social responsibility policies andpractices thereby ensuring they are well placed to address any issues in thisarea as they arise and to adopt "best practice" behaviour. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange