Getech Grp Regulatory News (GTC)

Getech Group plc("Getech" or the "Company" and together with its subsidiaries the "Group")

Interim report for the six months ending 30 June 2020

These are the unaudited interim results for the period ending 30 June 2020.

Getech (AIM; GTC) provides products and services that commercialise its expertise in the development, application and deployment of the earth sciences and geospatial technology. To date the Group has principally used these skills to build and sell data, knowledge, and analytical products to petroleum market customers, which they use to locate and improve the management of their assets and resources.

The Group targets orderbook and recurring revenue growth. Having maintained capital discipline, and a low level of variable costs, Getech's balance sheet is strong, and cash profitability is highly leveraged to revenue growth. Customer collaboration and continuous product and service enhancement are central to Getech's strategy and decision making.

Getech is also working to deliver diversified growth. The Group already sells data products and geoscience services to mining companies, and it has utilised its geospatial skills in the water, transportation, nuclear, pipeline and electricity infrastructure sectors. Whilst these end markets are not yet material in the context of the Group's overall financial performance, Getech has the expertise and technologies to create products, services, and assets of significant value in these new markets.

H1 2020 overview

· Projects continue to be delivered on time and to cost, orderbook continues to be honoured

· Revenue £2.1 million (H1 2019: £2.5 million), plus new forward sales of £1.4 million (H1 2019: £1.6 million)

· Orderbook replenished, totalling £2.9 million at 30 June 2020 (31 December 2019: £3.1 million)

· Monthly costs reduced by 26% from 1 May 2020, with H1 total Group costs of £2.6 million (H1 2019: £3.2 million)

· Profitability enhanced; EBITDA profit £0.1 million (H1 2019: £0.1 million loss)

· Cash of £2.8 million (30 June 2019: £3.0 million), with Globe invoicing in July increasing cash balances in H2 2020

· Broad front of new business activity, with momentum building around mining, geothermal and hydrogen opportunities

The Covid-19 pandemic has negatively impacted almost every business globally across every sector, and as economic activity and global mobility has declined, energy prices have fallen sharply. In response, Getech's oil and gas customers reduced their 2020 total capital budgets by c35%. Despite a significant, but partial, rebound in crude oil, the threat of further waves of infection presents economic uncertainty, which undermines customer confidence.

Whilst Getech moved its staff to home working early in March, the Group had already largely transferred its marketing, sales, training, services, and product support activities to remote or virtual platforms. Since implementing these changes, projects have remained on time and to cost. The Group has also successfully delivered on a number of new projects during this period and, year-to-date, has released Globe 2020; new versions of Getech's Data Assistant, Exploration Analyst and Unconventionals Analyst software products; and an interim release of its innovative MultiSat 2020 product.

Financially, Getech began 2020 with a strong orderbook (which grew by 48% across 2019). This continues to unwind to revenue, with no negative revisions. Importantly, in challenging markets, and net of revenue delivered in H1 2020, the orderbook has been largely replenished - totalling £2.9 million at 30 June 2020 (31 December 2019: £3.1 million). The orderbook remains an important downside protection for the Group, with approximately £1.5 million of it expected to convert to revenue in H2 2020.

Driving this performance was an encouraging licence renewal rate and new customer wins for Globe and other software products. In services, agreements were extended, and new contracts secured in developing areas of activity. Getech also continues to deliver data sales, although in this area customer budgets have been pared back to essential needs. Whilst some other licence renewal discussions have, perhaps unsurprisingly, been more protracted, Getech is focused on concluding these by year-end.

To manage such risk, and the uncertainty of the duration of the Covid-19 business environment, Getech took prudent steps in April to protect its capital. Since May, monthly costs have been lowered by c26%. Inclusive of two months of cost savings, the Group total cost base[†] in H1 2020 equalled c£2.6 million (H1 2019: £3.2 million) and for the six-months to 30 June 2020, Getech reports a £0.1 million EBITDA profit (H1 2019: £0.1 million loss).

Getech's balance sheet remains strong, with cash totalling £2.8 million at 30 June 2020 (H1 2019: £3.0 million). In addition, the Globe development cycle resulted in a significant value of invoices being raised in July, which has unwound to cash post the period end. The Group's Leeds headquarters also remains a further significant asset.

New business and diversification activities

The need for action to stem rising global temperatures is driving structural change in primary energy markets. With the world reliant on hydrocarbons, the scale of the Energy Transition required to decarbonise global energy supply is huge and almost all commentators believe that current levels of investment fall significantly short of what is required.

These changes are reshaping the needs of Getech's existing energy and natural resource customers and opening opportunities to service a new and expanded client base. Specifically, the Group is encountering new low/zero carbon customers, operating across an increasingly decentralised energy system, where Getech's skills and technologies can add value. Getech has identified partner companies who can help accelerate Getech's penetration into new markets and five strategic Memorandums of Understanding are currently in negotiation.

In navigating this new business landscape, Getech's strategy is to grow and diversify its commercial activities in ways that maximise the value of its core products and services, build on the Group's customer relationships, and expand Getech's work in ways that de-risk and accelerate the Energy Transition.

A low carbon world will be one with hugely increased demand for battery raw materials and other metals. Ramping up production to meet that demand is a significant challenge for the metals and mining industries. Getech's data and services remain valuable tools in these markets, and we are working to increase the penetration of our products.

Getech's oil and gas clients will remain important to the global energy mix for several decades, and core to Getech's offering as it develops new areas of activity. There is also a heightened responsibility for these companies to focus on the efficiency, safety and sustainability of their activities. Getech already designs and maintains geospatial systems that assist in the monitoring of hydrocarbon production operations - utilising real time data for asset and people tracking and to manage emissions and emergency response systems. The Group has also built scalable data management platforms for pipeline and electricity infrastructure projects, which customers use to ensure system integrity and to maintain regulatory compliance. Getech's services and software/platform solutions are deployed in some of the world's most operationally challenging and environmentally sensitive locations, and the business benefits - increased efficiency, safety, environmental protection and sustainability - are tangible, quantifiable and valuable.

The Group also continually evaluates technological and value chain opportunities in low/zero carbon markets. Year-to-date, this has generated service contracts that include renewables projects for local government, and earth observation projects that utilise Getech's satellite remote sensing, data and analytical skills. Although the materiality of these activities in the context of the wider Group remains low, they are a platform on which Getech is building.

Getech is also combining its earth science data, skills and knowledge with its geospatial expertise to address new areas of energy problem solving. Areas of opportunity where Getech is committing resource include geothermal energy and the hydrogen economy. In geothermal, Getech is constructing an offering that uses its geophysical data and heat-flow tools to de-risk access to clean energy. In hydrogen, Getech is exploring ways to build cost efficient optionality into emergent value chains. The Group sees potential to develop projects and services, as well as the ability to enhance returns through a role in asset and/or value chain development.

These diversification initiatives are focused on opportunities that have the potential to materially grow Getech. To date, activity has been delivered through organic product investment, service enhancement and innovation. The Group is also working to accelerate this journey through acquisitions that target Energy Transition related opportunities where Getech sees the potential to deliver a stepwise series of growth-focused transactions. Year to date, Getech has screened c.100 acquisition opportunities, seven of which have been taken to detailed due diligence. Diligence and negotiations continue on two of these opportunities.

Outlook

As Getech navigates the Covid-19 business environment, the Group is focused on striking a balance between mitigating risk and capturing opportunity. To this end, Getech has been careful to maintain the capacity to deliver both its orderbook and a full programme of new business activities. This focuses on strengthening Getech's core business, whilst also using the Group's skills, technologies and network to pivot its offering into new parts of the energy value chain.

As well as charting the Group's future path, it remains key to maintain and progress its core sales pipeline. The scale and structure of this pipeline reflects the current business environment, but Getech continues to maintain a broad, healthy foundation of customer conversations. Such conversations typically build in momentum during H2, and in a normal year, Getech's revenue cycle is H2 weighted with a 40:60 balance reflecting the spending bias of the Group's customers.

This revenue pattern has become established across the upstream service sector, and for all parties Covid-19 adds a complex overlay to predicting the Group's customers' year-end spend. Day-to-day Getech is focused on remaining close to these customers, delivering on their most pressing needs. With important licence negotiations underway in H2 2020, as well as a number of tender submissions due to be announced before year-end, Getech is to date encouraged that its engagement continues to be rewarded with product licence and service contract success.

Operational Review

Getech's Earth Science staff are experts in geology, potential fields geophysics, seismic geophysics, geochemistry, structural geology, plate tectonics, geodynamics, palaeoclimate modelling and remote sensing. The Group's Geospatial staff are experts in designing, implementing and managing geographical information systems (GIS) technology that is used to spatially integrate and analyse business data in order to derive unique insights.

In line with UK Government guidance, all Getech staff moved to home working in early March. Since then, projects have continued to operate on schedule and on budget whilst being delivered remotely - this is testament to the efforts of Getech's staff, their technical skills and the high quality delivery processes and IT systems that have been implemented across the Group over the last 2 years.

The Gravity and Magnetic Solutions team is widely recognised as a market leader in the provision of potential fields data and expertise. Despite data sales being lower than originally forecast in H1 2020 due to the uncertain exploration sector, the team delivered a steady baseline of bespoke gravity and magnetic services contracts. In addition, the team continued key projects to research, update and enhance our strategically important data products in order to bring new products to market for 2021 - including Getech's unique MultiSat data product, a significant sized project that remains on schedule and within budget.

In H1 2020, the Group released a new version of its flagship Globe product, developed by the Geoscience Knowledge Products team. Despite the potential operational interruption of the global Covid-19 pandemic, the "Globe 2020" release was delivered to customers on time and within budget. This latest release again delivered enhancements drawing on the Group's geoscience, geospatial and software expertise to deliver new information, analytic tools and usability improvements for Globe customers, including an initial release of Globe for ArcGIS Pro. The Group's work to re-position Globe for the current exploration market was further rewarded in H1 2020 by securing a new super-major customer and strong renewal rates for existing customers.

A key focus for the GIS Software team since 2016 has been to migrate the Group's software products to ArcGIS Pro, Esri's latest desktop GIS application and ArcMap replacement. Building on initial software versions supporting ArcGIS Pro released in 2019, H1 2020 saw the release of the new ArcGIS Pro versions of Exploration Analyst and Data Assistant - again demonstrating the Group's ability to 'weather the storm' of the global Covid-19 pandemic operationally. Over H1 2020 software renewal rates remained high despite significant uncertainty in the E&P sector, and the Group was able to add several new customers.

The GIS Services team is recognised as expert in the use of the Esri ArcGIS platform within the petroleum, pipeline, energy and natural resources sectors. Through H1 2020 the team was highly utilised, continuing to deliver on our strategic long-term GIS support contracts while gaining new customer projects in the local government and earth observation sectors. In addition, the team successfully delivered a wide variety of global GIS training events via the use of the Group's long-established remote training delivery platform.

The market for Geoscience Services remains challenging and, in response, the Group continue to lower costs and re-position its service offerings through H1 2020. In parallel, Geetch's Government Advisory Services continued - working in partnership with the Sierra Leone Petroleum Directorate on the country's Fourth Licensing Round.

Getech's new group-wide Innovation team, established in 2019, continued with its the remit to research and develop cross-discipline opportunities for new markets, capabilities, partnerships, products and services. In H1 2020 the team focussed on energy transition and geospatial opportunities and has contributed enormously to the Group's digital marketing efforts, which were stepped up significantly in H1 2020 due to the travel-limiting effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Financial Review

In response to the Covid-19 pandemic Getech took steps to protect its capital position whilst also preserving the Group's ability to both deliver on its orderbook and to progress a broad front of new business initiatives. Having secured sales that both delivered H1 2020 profitability and refilled the Group's orderbook, this provides a degree of downside protection to Getech's 2020 financial performance and maintains the Group's strong balance sheet.

H1 2020 revenue totalled £2.1 million (H1 2019: £2.5 million). The 15% drop in revenue for the period can be attributed to Covid-19 restrictions, and the knock-on impact on oil prices and the curtailment of customers' exploration budgets.

Against this backcloth, positives can be taken from the renewal of several key contracts and subscriptions in H1 2020, as well as the winning of a number of new customers. This has helped to maintain a healthy order book (30 June 2020: £2.9 million, 30 June 2019: £3.0 million), a significant portion of which will be released to revenue in H2 2020. Annualised recurring revenue at the end of H1 2020 amounted to £2.2 million (30 June 2019: £2.3 million).

Getech took significant cost saving measures in April that reduced monthly cash out flow by approximately 26%. As a result, Getech's H1 2020 cost base has reduced by 18% to £2.6 million compared to £3.2 million in H1 2019, the most significant portion of these savings being realised in May and June. Cost savings have been achieved through overhead cost management, a loan capital repayment holiday, limited use of the UK Government Job Retention Scheme and salary reductions that range from 20% for Getech's Board to c8% for most other staff. The Group will continue to monitor costs and retains significant flexibility to react to any deterioration (or improvement) in the broader business environment.

More detail is given in the table below:

Cost base is measured as: cost of sales, administrative costs, development costs capitalised and payment of lease liabilities, less depreciation and amortisation, and adjusted for movement foreign exchange and non-cash provisions.

With both revenues and direct costs lower, the net impact was that Getech maintained its Gross Profit at £1.3 million (H1 2019: £1.3 million).

Getech also made savings to administrative costs (H1 2020 and H1 2019: £1.8 million), however some of this was offset by higher depreciation and amortisation charges versus H1 2019 (H1 2020: £0.6m, H1 2019: £0.4m - included in administrative costs). As a result of these savings, H1 2020 EBITDA[‡] has increased to £0.1 million compared to £0.1 million EBITDA loss in H1 2019.

Getech's post-tax loss was £447,000 (H1 2019: £361,000 loss).

Cash generated from operating activities, before working capital adjustments was £0.1 million (H1 2019: £0.1 million out flow).

In H1 2019, Getech benefitted from a large cash inflow from working capital movements. This related to a significant sale towards the end of 2018, the cash related to the sale was received in H1 2019.

Investment in the Globe platform and Software products totalled £553,000 (H1 2019: £569,000). Work has now commenced on the next annual phase of Globe development.

LiquidityDue to the seasonality of revenues, which are typically weighted towards H2, and the timing of Globe invoicing (Globe's investment phase runs from August to July, and as a result, Globe invoicing follows the same timing for a significant portion of its customers), Getech's cash cycle typically follows a pattern of stronger cash generation in H2 when compared to H1. This also results in strong cash generation in July/August, a pattern that repeated in 2020.

Capital discipline, and immediate cost reduction measures in April 2020, have limited the outflow of cash H1. Adjusting for working capital movements, during H1 there was a Group cash out flow of £0.6 million (H1 2019: £0.8 million out flow).

At 30 June 2020, the Group cash balance was £2.8 million (30 June 2019: £3.0 million). The Globe development cycle resulted in a significant value of invoices being raised in July, which has unwound to cash post the period end. Getech's debt at 30 June 2020 totalled £0.8 million, and has maturity date of 2023. For prudence, Getech secured a capital repayment holiday on its loan for 12 months from April 2020.

Getech's Board is appreciative of the value that payment of a dividend can bring to shareholders. It is also focused on ensuring that the Group can operate with the confidence to deliver a dividend policy that is both sustainable and progressive, whilst also maintaining its programme of organic and acquisitional investment.

Having considered the continued volatility of the oil and gas investment environment , as well as the current pressures and uncertainties surrounding the global economy, Getech's Board decided that it was not appropriate to pay a dividend at this time.

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Consolidated Statement of Comprehensive Income

For the six months ended 30 June 2020

Consolidated Statement of Financial Position

As at 30 June 2020

Company registration number: 02891368

Consolidated Statement of Cash Flows

For the six months ended 30 June 2020

Consolidated Statement of Changes in Equity

For the six months ended 30 June 2020

For the six months ended 30 June 2019

For the 12 months ended 31 December 2019

Notes to the Interim Report

For the six months ended 30 June 2020

1. Corporate Information

Getech Group plc (the 'Company' and ultimate Parent of the Group) is a public limited company domiciled and incorporated in England and Wales. The Company's registered office and principal place of business is Kitson House, Elmete Hall, Elmete Lane, Leeds, LS8 2LJ.

The principal activity of the Group is to provide geoscience and geospatial products and services that companies and governments use to de-risk their exploration programmes and improve their management of natural resources.

2. Basis of Preparation

The interim results are for the six months ended 30 June 2020. They have been prepared using the recognition and measurement principals of IFRS. As permitted, this interim report has been prepared in accordance with the AIM rules and not in accordance with IAS 34 'Interim Financial Reporting'.

This interim report does not constitute full statutory financial statements within the meaning of section 434(5) of the Companies Act 2006 and the financial statements are unaudited. The unaudited interim financial statements were approved for issue by the board on 6 October 2020.

The financial statements are prepared on a going concern basis under the historical cost convention with the exception of certain items measured at fair value and are presented to the nearest thousand pounds (£'000) except as otherwise stated. They have been prepared in accordance with the accounting policies adopted in the last annual financial statements for the period ended 31 December 2019. A copy of the audited financial statements for that period has been delivered to the Registrar of Companies. The Auditors' opinion on those financial statements was unqualified, did not draw attention to any matters by way of an emphasis of matter paragraph, and it contained no statement under section 498(2) or section 498(3) of the Companies Act 2006.

In making the going concern assessment, the Board of Directors has considered the Group budgets and detailed cash flow forecasts beyond December 2021. The board has considered the sensitivity of these forecasts with regards to different assumptions about future income and costs, and various scenarios have been run on the potential impact of Covid-19. These cash flow projections, when considered in conjunction with Getech's existing cash balances, and the cost saving measures implemented, demonstrate that the Group has sufficient working capital for the foreseeable future. Consequently, the Directors are fully satisfied that Getech is a going concern.

3. Dividends

4. Earnings Per Share

Basic Earnings Per Share is calculated by dividing the profit attributable to equity holders of the Group by the weighted average number of the Ordinary Shares in issue in the period.

Diluted earnings per share is calculated by dividing the profit attributable to equity holders of the Group by the weighted average number of the Ordinary Shares which would be in issue if all the options granted, other than those which are anti-dilutive, were exercised. The addition to the weighted number of the Ordinary Shares used in the calculation of diluted earnings per share for the six months ended 30 June 2020 would have been 570,218 (six months ended 30 June 2019: 685,112; year ended 31 December 2019: 978,623).

Notes to Editors:

The Getech Group provides the expertise, support and knowledge that companies and governments need to better discover, develop and manage natural resources. Our data-rich products, GIS solutions and government advisory services help our customers to achieve their business goals of cost control, operational excellence, regulatory compliance and environmental responsibility.

For more information, please visit our website at www.getech.com