LWRF.L Regulatory News (LWRF)

23 January 2017

LightwaveRF plc

(AIM: LWRF)

Preliminary Results for the Year Ended 30 September 2016

LightwaveRF plc ("LightwaveRF" or the "Company"), the proprietary IOT and connected devices specialist enabling the remote control and monitoring of light, heat, power and security through just one App, is pleased to present its final results for the year ended 30 September 2016.

WHAT WE DO

LightwaveRF plc ("LightwaveRF" or the "Company") pioneered smart home automation with the development of the first internet enabled devices in 2008. Today, the Company offers a market leading proprietary Internet of Things ("IoT") platform together with applications and connected devices, which provide fully integrated remote control and monitoring of light, heat, power and security. We are dedicated to making everyone's lives easier and more fulfilled through world leading smart home technology.

FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS

· Revenue for the year of £1.44 million (2015: £2.10 million);

· Gross profit £0.47 million (2015: £0.67 million);

· Gross margin 32.5% (2015: 31.9%);

· Loss before and after taxation at £0.84 million (2015: £0.23 million, restated);

· Investment in research and development £0.62 million (2015 £0.54 million);

· Fundraisings during the financial year £0.21 million (2015: £1.55 million);

· £1.1 million working capital facility in place through Santander;

· Post year end fundraising, completed December 2016, of £2.2 million strengthening the balance sheet net assets to £2.03 million.

· Order book as at 20 January 2017 exceeds £1.2 million at current exchange rates;

HIGHLIGHTS

Marketing

· Increased awareness and brand recognition as measured by substantially increased levels of press coverage, social media activity and LightwaveRF website traffic;

· First to achieve widespread market recognition for high quality voice-controlled smart home capability; and currently averaging a 4.5 stars rating (out of a maximum of 5 stars) for our Amazon Alexa integration.

Sales and Distribution

· Expansion and further reorganisation of UK distribution capability resulting in the appointment of two additional distributors;

· Global installations 40,000 (2015: 35,000);

· Connected devices on LightwaveRF cloud-based platform 300,000 (2015: 200,000);

· Temperature and energy data points 60 million (2015: 56 million) per month.

Technology

· Significant enhancement made to cloud capabilities and cloud-based IoT platform; successfully integrated with Amazon Alexa, Google Nest and IFTTT;

· Product range now 90 devices .

For further information:

Chairman's statement

I am pleased to present my statement and to report on the progress being achieved at your company.OverviewThere have been a number of highlights during the financial year and subsequently. These culminated in the successful and oversubscribed fundraising completed in December 2016. New and existing investors have followed the developments made, realise the market opportunity and have offered their backing for the company to move to the next level.We completed the first investment round with Committed Capital, the Mayfair based venture capital investor just before the 2015 financial year end. We then concentrated on improving market awareness, distribution led sales and ensuring the LightwaveRF technology continues to develop. While pursuing these objectives we recognise and seek to manage the inevitable tension between achieving short-term visible progress and the objective to build shareholder value over the medium and longer-term.Our key strategic initiative to enable our IoT platform to operate with other cloud-based platforms is being delivered. We are now in the position of having our own proprietary platform, applications and devices as well as being able to integrate seamlessly with Amazon Alexa, Google Nest and IFTTT (If This Then That). The LightwaveRF integration with Amazon Alexa, with a market leading average of 4.5 star reviews (out of a possible maximum 5 stars) has in particular raised our profile.We are continuing to invest in the data collection and data service provision within our IoT platform and are now providing real time temperature and energy usage information to our end user customers.We have continued to further develop our distribution and have also begun to develop a direct to market offering through technically supported projects.FinancialsRevenue for the 2016 financial year is at £1.44 million, down on last year (2015: £2.10 million) held back as distribution was further re-organised and developed. Gross margins firmed to 32.5% (2015: 31.9%) as we continued to build on our experience and optimise our operational effectiveness. Administrative expenses were up to £1.49 million (2015: £1.07 million) reflecting planned spend on marketing and expensed research costs. The Group capitalised development expenditure of £0.51 million (2015: £0.40 million) in accordance with IAS38. The loss before and after tax was £0.84 million (2015: £0.23 million restated). The increased loss arises as a result of two thirds increased administration costs and one third reduced gross profit directly related to the revenue shortfall.Our balance sheet has now been considerably strengthened through our post financial year end fundraising, giving a strong and stable foundation upon which to develop our business. The pro-forma group statement of equity after this fundraising is as follows:

I remarked last year about the importance of the board determining priorities and ensuring choices are made to ensure management time and resources are appropriately focussed. This is very much the dynamic of a technology business such as LightwaveRF plc. We recognise the enthusiasm, capability and commitment of the executive team and the relatively small support and development staff which delivers on these. As well there is in place a close knit group of key suppliers who continue to share the vision and have enabled so much to be achieved. Our thanks are due to them all.OutlookFor a small company LightwaveRF plc continues to make significant progress to being able to build real value for shareholders. We look forward to further exploit our position in a very large market, both in terms of our own proprietary IoT platform, applications, devices and through linking with current and future cloud-based smart home platforms. So as the technology continues to develop, market awareness increase and distributor relationships build the opportunities open up still further.  

Barry Gamble

Chairman

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Chief Executive Officer's statement

LightwaveRF plc offers a proprietary IoT platform, applications and connected devices which together provide fully integrated remote control and monitoring of light, heat, power and security. Through just one app, LightwaveRF can integrate and coordinate our own comprehensive range of devices and further enhance the smart home experience for our users by linking to other IoT platforms.

Business Model

The current business model allows us to generate revenues from the sale of a comprehensive and continually expanding range of smart home devices. We currently have 90 distinct devices in the marketplace, and will launch more. We plan to continue our outsourced product manufacturing, cloud-based platform hosting, and concentrate our internal resources on marketing, sales, hardware and software product design and development. We see opportunities to pursue embedding LightwaveRF technology into partner products. We also see an opportunity to introduce incremental new revenue streams from data services.

The Group sells primarily via a complementary group of distribution partners. The Group also maintains direct relationships with end users, who are connected to the LightwaveRF cloud-based platform, which in addition to data services provision also offers technical support and information about related products and services. The Group also operates a direct to market strategy focussed on bespoke commercial solutions and installed consumer propositions.

2016 Results

The revenues for the year were £1.44 million (2015: £2.10 million), held back by the further reorganisation of our distribution channels. Gross profit decreased to £0.47 million (2015: £0.67 million) directly related to the revenue shortfall. Gross margin increased to 32.5% (2015: 31.9%) despite provisions being made for slow moving stock. Administration expenses increased to £1.49 million (2015: 1.07 million) as the company invested further in marketing, sales, research and development. Amortisation of intangible assets during the year also increased to £0.1 million (2015: zero). The Group capitalised £0.51 million (2015: £0.4 million) of development costs during the year. Pre-tax and post-tax losses were £0.84 million (2015: £0.23 million, restated). At at 20 January 2017 the current order book exceeded £1.2 million at current exchange rates.

Cash absorbed from operations of £0.63 million (2015: £0.09 million) was mainly due to the loss incurred in the year. The cash invested in capitalised research and development costs comprise three elements: the platform integration for a leading device manufacturer for which work was originally announced in 2015, next generation lighting and power control devices, and cloud-based platform developments.

The Balance Sheet at the year end reflect the loss with only a small fundraising of £0.21 million during the year. The business used the funds from the 2015 fundraising and the recovered overdue debt to fund the investment in research and development and increased sales and marketing. Loans and borrowings £0.99 million (2015: £1 million) although unchanged would have been reduced if not for the weakening of UK sterling. Total shareholders' equity showed net liabilities of £0.17 million (2015: net assets of £0.43 million). The Group also has £1.1 million of working capital facilities in place through Santander. After the post year end fundraising the pro forma shareholders' equity were net assets of £2.03 million.

Key Performance Indicators

The Group monitors revenue, gross margin, operating cash and also uses the following key indicators to measure the performance of the business in terms of progress against key strategic objectives and associated targets;

Patents

The Group has filed some patent applications and is progressing with this protection.

Marketing

Our marketing is currently focused around consumer ready messages using "One home. One App. Control lighting, heating, power and more from your smartphone. From anywhere". We operate a consumer focused web site and undertake various digital marketing activities to generate attention and build market awareness. We use PR and media relations programmes to seek coverage in both specialist and generalist media. We have seen increased awareness and brand recognition as measured by substantially increased levels of press coverage, social media activity and LightwaveRF website traffic. After the UK launch of Amazon Echo and Alexa in autumn 2016 LightwaveRF worked closely with Amazon to achieve voice control of the full product range. This was achieved and launched to the user base by mid November. The response by our customers to the LightwaveRF Alexa skill has been extremely positive and achieved 4.5 stars rating (out of a maximum of 5 stars), significantly higher than any of our competitors. Since the Alexa launch LightwaveRF user registration has been running at double the rate of the previous year.

Sales and Distribution

The Group's UK sales and distribution strategy focuses on specific go to market approaches. Following some further reorganisation we have added two new distributors. We now have ERA Home Security, part of Tyman plc, Megaman, ICON Heating and for the new home build sector Deta Electrical in place as distributors accessing distinct market segments. Consumer markets are served via certain high street stores such as Maplin and online retailers such as Smart Shop and Response Electronics.

New house build and contract markets are served via electrical and plumbing wholesale and multi occupancy domestic and light commercial building management projects via specialist resellers or direct sales. The Group is working with industry majors to develop effective go to market approaches and whilst we are yet to realise a return from these activities we believe they are essential to future revenues. We are also targeting utility, insurance and telecoms companies, seeking both sell-to and sell-through opportunities.

Development Strategy

Our development strategy has four elements: Platforms, Applications, Devices and Data.

1.Platforms

The Group categorises software development, such as firmware, cloud-based server software, data collection and data management as a set of platform assets supporting the operation of a full range of hardware devices and end user applications. We have developed and provided to market a set of APIs which allow us to interoperate with our business partners.

2. Applications

We launched a new iOS app providing an enhanced user experience and functionality, and continue to provide an Android based app. We are unique in the market in our ability to control light, power and heating in one app. We continue to invest in our data management capabilities and now offer web based graphs, charts and other tools to allow users to see temperature, energy and other usage.

3. Devices

Our strategy here is to create a broad range of aesthetically well designed devices that are easily retrofittable and intuitive to operate, either manually or remotely. We give the user complete control of their home or workspace using one app. An increasing proportion of our devices now support bi-directional communication which we plan in time to be across our entire device range.

Lighting

The lighting control range is now well established and continues to evolve. We improved this range further in the year with the launch of our Smart Dimmer to serve the rapidly expanding LED lighting market.

Power

The range is more comprehensive than competitor offerings with a wide range of relays to complement our power sockets. Developments and additions to the range will continue in the year ahead.

Heating

The heating range has continued to mature during the year with significant firmware updates to improve functionality and battery life. The addition of "call for heat", allowing a TRV to operate the boiler as required has now been added.

Security

We still plan to launch a range of LightwaveRF security products.

4.  Data

We recognise there is significant value to be derived from the data arising from our technologies and devices. We now have over 300,000 devices connected that generate 60 million temperature and energy data points per month. We are actively pursuing opportunities to monetise this data through offerings in both B2C and B2B settings.

Principal Risks and Uncertainties

The Group is exposed to a variety of risks in the conduct of its normal business operations. Whilst it is not possible to either completely record or to quantify every material risk to which the Group might be exposed, those risks that the directors believe are most significant to the Group's business and could have a material impact on future performance, causing it to differ materially from expected or historic achieved results, are as follows:

Customer concentration and relationships

By increasing the number of distributors, the company seeks to mitigate this risk. The increase in direct project sales will start to reduce further reliance on any one distributor.

Technological risk

The directors recognise that the technology in the IoT field is evolving rapidly which could pose competitive and other risks to the Group. The directors continue to evaluate competitors and changes in the industry to mitigate this risk where possible. The directors also recognise that the Group faces cyber threat-based risks. We actively monitor and assess these risks and we undertake a continuous investment program to seek to prevent adverse events and to mitigate any unforeseen events.

On behalf of the board

Mike Lord

Chief Executive Officer

Consolidated statement of comprehensive income for the year ended 30 September 2016

Group statement of financial position as at 30 September 2016

Group statement of cash flows for the year ended 30 September 2016

The principal accounting policies adopted in the preparation of the Financial Statements are set out below. The policies have been consistently applied to all the years presented, unless otherwise stated.

These Financial Statements have been prepared in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards, International Accounting Standards and Interpretations (collectively IFRSs) issued by the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB), as adopted by the European Union ("adopted IFRSs"). The Financial Statements have also been prepared in accordance with those parts of the Companies Act 2006 applicable to companies preparing Financial Statements in accordance with IFRS.

The consolidated financial statements have been prepared on a historical cost basis.

The financial information set out above does not constitute the Company's statutory accounts for the years ended 30 September 2016, but is derived from those accounts. Statutory accounts for 2015 have been delivered to the Registrar of Companies and those for 2016 will be delivered shortly.

2. LOSS PER SHARE

The basic loss per share is calculated by dividing the loss for the financial year attributable to shareholders by the weighted average number of shares in issue. The remaining securities in issue are not dilutive as at 30 September 2016.

At 30 September 2016, there were 1,010,000 (2015: 1,010,000) of potentially issuable shares which are anti-dilutive; such shares may become dilutive in future periods.

3. ANNUAL REPORT

The Annual Report will be available from the Company's website www.lightwaveRF.com and will be posted to shareholders shortly.