29 Jan 2018 07:00
29th January 2018
Nasstar plc
("Nasstar", "Company" or "Group")
Trading Statement
Nasstar (stock code: NASA), the provider of hosted managed and cloud computing services, is pleased to provide the following trading update for the year ended 31 December 2017.
Trading for the year closed out positively with our careful strategic focus delivering Adjusted EBITDA* slightly ahead of management expectations. Due to positive cash generation in the year, the Company delivered a significantly improved net cash position of approximately £1.0m which compared to net debt of £2.8m in 2016.
Group Adjusted EBITDA margins have moved ahead to c.23% (2016: 20.3%), up year on year and on track to deliver against our "Nasstar 10-19" target to raise margins from 20% to 25% of revenue by the end of 2019.
Organic business development has progressed well in 2017. Our industry leading capability in "public/private" cloud hybrid solutions was in evidence in November's contract win which secured a three year contract to deliver a fully managed public/private Hybrid cloud solution to a global workforce of 1,000 users. In addition, two further notable contract wins closed out towards the end of the year in recruitment, one of our key vertical markets.
The strategic plans for 2017 were very much focused on maximising the opportunity that was presented by the previous three years' acquisition activity. This focus saw the launch of the "Nasstar 10-19" programme designed to deliver an increased strategic focus to create one fully integrated business.
An objective of "Nasstar 10-19" is to develop a consistent first class approach to customer service and therefore investment continued in the account management team. This investment is vital to ensure customers are proactively managed and revenue opportunities within the wider client base maximised. In addition, investment continued on internal systems with the project to roll out Cherwell, our single IT Service Management tool, which is gaining momentum, with full adoption expected in H1 2018.
As part of the "Nasstar 10-19" programme, plans were initiated to close three of the Group's seven UK data centres. One of these three was successfully closed in 2017 with the final two now due for closure during 2018.
IFRS 15 "Revenue from Contracts with Customers" is effective for annual reporting periods beginning on or after 1 January 2018. Assessment of the impact of adoption has been a key focus in H2 2017 and full disclosure of the impact and transition approach will be provided in due course.
We are also assessing IFRS 16 "Leases" which is effective for annual reporting periods beginning on or after 1 January 2019. It is likely that we will adopt IFRS 16 early to enable clearer comparative numbers to be presented in the next financial year and beyond.
*Comprising earnings adjusted for interest, taxation, depreciation, amortisation, exceptional items and share based payments.
This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of Regulation (EU) 596/2014.
For further information, please contact:-
Nasstar plc +44 (0) 1952 225 000
Nigel Redwood, Chief Executive Officer
Niki Redwood, Finance Director
finnCap Limited (Nominated Adviser & Broker) +44 (0) 20 7220 0500
Julian Blunt, James Thompson (Corporate Finance)
Stephen Norcross (Corporate broking)
IFC Advisory (Financial PR) +44 (0) 20 3934 6630
Tim Metcalfe
Graham Herring
About Nasstar plc
Nasstar (www.nasstar.com) and its wholly owned operating businesses provide hosted managed and cloud computing services, integrating private and public clouds supplying a robust, secure and stable hosted Information Technology service to business customers. The Group provides a true end to end service for clients providing them with enhanced IT performance and greater cost control over their IT function. The Group owns its primary data centre, is head quartered in Telford with regional offices in Northampton, London and Bournemouth whilst 24 x 7 support is delivered from its Auckland office in New Zealand. Nasstar is an accredited Microsoft Gold Partner, is the 2016 Citrix Networking Partner of the Year and is certified to ISO 27001.
Nasstar specialises in building bespoke cloud hosted services to manage a client's entire application set, tailor made to suit specific industries, designing public, private and hybrid cloud solutions to meet the objectives of the client. The solution is a highly scalable service that provides benefits including "Anywhere Access" to computing; a standardised corporate solution that can be accessed globally in multiple languages; generating cost savings when compared to the traditional IT ownership model whilst replacing capital expenditure with a simple usage based payment model.
Nasstar (AIM:NASA) was founded in 1998, admitted to AIM in December 2005, acquired e-know.net Limited in a reverse takeover in January 2014, Kamanchi Limited in July 2014, VESK in October 2015 and Modrus Limited in September 2016.
Ends