Journeo Regulatory News (JNEO)

Embargoed 7.00hrs 8 February 2010

21st Century Technology plc

("the Company" or "the Group")

Potential disposal - update

Option for sale and partial lease back of the Company's head office site

21st Century Technology plc, the vehicle installation service provider supplying public transport CCTV and other monitoring systems, today announces that the agreement with Drake Investments Limited ("Drake") under which Drake had the option to purchase the Group's freehold head office premises in Mitcham, Surrey for £2.7m cash consideration lapsed on 5 February 2010. The Board intends to explore other opportunities to dispose of the site.

Commenting on today's announcement, Peter Ward, Chairman said:

"While it is disappointing that the developers have been unable to progress their planning application, the disposal of our under-utilised head office site at Mitcham is not vital to our immediate growth plans. We will have repaid the final installment on our bank loan by the end of this month out of cash flow generated from operations and the recent sale of Datatool. Consequently, with no bank debt and cash in the bank underpinning the business, we are comfortably placed to take advantage of any up turn in the commercial property market through the disposal of the site at a later date."

Ends

Notes to editors

Launched in 1993, the company began as Toad plc and was focused on the distribution of in-car entertainment systems and vehicle security products. Under the stewardship of Chairman Peter Ward, former Chairman and CEO of Rolls Royce Motors and Cunard Line, who joined the board at the end of 2001, the company's strategy has been to reposition itself away from its legacy businesses into markets with better growth potential while leveraging its core strengths - nationwide field force of vehicle electrical engineers, call centre and distribution facilities. 

In line with this strategy, in 2005 the company took a controlling stake in 21st Century Crime Prevention Services Limited which recently merged with fellow subsidiary, Toad (UK) Limited, to form 21st Century Technology Solutions Limited.

The holding company was renamed "TG21 plc" in 2005 and, to reflect the repositioning of the group, changed this name to "21st Century Technology plc" in June 2009.

21st Century is the preferred supplier of on-board CCTV systems for Arriva UK Bus and the Go-Ahead Group and has pioneered the use of WiFi with on-board CCTV systems. Transport for London commissioned the company to undertake a trial of 'LiveView' - a system which transmits live CCTV pictures from on board the bus to a public transport and police control centre. 21st Century was also the first company to successfully launch Automatic Video Downloads and a bus CCTV monitoring system (HeartbeatTM) which allow the CCTV manager to remotely download CCTV footage from the bus to his computer and check that all the CCTV systems fitted to his buses are fully operational, without leaving his desk. The company's overhead camera passenger counting device, known as PAS - Passenger Analysis System, links to the ticket machine and enables bus operators to analyse specific bus route ticket sales and passenger numbers.

21st Century's EcoManager product has made a significant contribution to sales since its launch in July 2008. The EcoManager black-box system is aimed at reducing fuel and maintenance costs, reducing emissions and improving safety for bus operators by monitoring individual driving styles against fuel consumption. Following a successful trial, in April 2009 Arriva UK committed to install the device on all their new buses and to retrofit a large proportion of their existing fleet. In November 2009 Arriva North West and Merseytravel won the industry recognised Alexander Dennis Award for Innovation following their installation of the EcoManager system which yielded fuel savings of up to 12% and associated CO2 emission reductions.