Pci-pal Regulatory News (PCIP)

9 Aug 2006 07:30

County Contact Centres PLC09 August 2006 COUNTY CONTACT CENTRES PLC PRELIMINARY RESULTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 JUNE 2006 CHAIRMAN'S STATEMENT Highlights • Turnover increased by 11% to £2,921,879 • Profit of £171,417 compared with a previous year loss of £114,757 • Increase in cash of £179,551 compared with a previous year decrease of £144,886 • Closing cash balance of £299,892 • New record billable minutes in May 2006 • EasyScripter available from June 2006 Statement The year has seen significant progress with continued growth in sales, our firstfull year's profit and a positive cash flow on the back of an improvingoperational base. The Board decided that it was now appropriate to reinstate the share pricelisting in the Financial Times, which appears as "CCC" under the AIM Companies -Industrials Category. The Market There is a growing recognition by corporate clients of UK based call centres andwe are well positioned to take advantage of that trend. NatWest have recently publicly stated that they only have UK call centres ascustomers continued to berate the poor quality provided by some off shoreservices providers, and more recently there has been the case of a Powergendecision to repatriate certain elements of their work resulting in 1,000 jobsreturning to the UK. We will continue to promote our strategy of providing a bespoke service todiscerning clients needing a bureau facility that is able to respond quickly tochanging circumstances. Our CallScripter software has broadened its channels to market and has raisedits profile by being consistently at the forefront of demonstrations and trials.The lead-time on buying decisions remains fickle, with larger companies wantingto run trial projects to determine a realistic return on investment beforemaking their investment in the product. EasyScripter, the Interactive Intelligence branded offering of CallScripter, wasreleased on worldwide general availability in June 2006. We anticipate apromising year ahead for the division. People In October Philip Dayer joined the board as a non-executive Director. Philip isa qualified Chartered Accountant with a wealth of experience in the citypreviously working as an advisory director for Barclays De Zoete Wedd Limitedand more latterly for Hoare Govett. Currently Chairman of Baltic Oil TerminalsPLC and a non-executive Director of Dana Petroleum PLC and Arden Partners PLC hewill add valuable experience to the board. As we now have two non-executive directors, the Board has strengthened theRemuneration Committee on which we both now sit. This committee is responsiblefor approving all reviews and changes to executive directors' remunerationpackages, options or other benefits. During the year Valerie Riley was appointed Client Services Director of theAnsaback subsidiary business, a post that is increasingly active in managing theclient's objectives, while on 1st July 2006 Kevin Ellis and Kenneth Tracy wereappointed as Directors of the CallScripter subsidiary business. This emphasisesthe positive management practice of promoting from within. The group has passed a significant profitability milestone and with this in mindI plan to step down as Chairman after the AGM, handing the reins to Philip Dayerbut at my colleague's invitation will continue to serve as a non-executiveDirector through this exciting period. Prospects Our two lines of business are in markets that are real and growing. Both aresubject to continuous technical development and share an infrastructure thatprovides efficiencies and synergies. With our profitability and ongoingsustainable cash balance we are alert to opportunities to enhance shareholdervalue in each of these areas through organic growth, acquisition andpartnerships. The group will, as before, be holding its AGM at the Ipswich offices and I lookforward to seeing you then. Peter M Brown Chairman 8 August 2006 BUSINESS REVIEW Ansaback Steady progress has seen turnover rise and costs diligently controlled. With key account wins, billable minutes have risen and 15 other call centres nowuse Ansaback for overflow, weekend, business continuity and disaster recoveryplans. We have confidentiality agreements with these clients and, with ourintegrity to act on their behalf, they can rest easy at night secure in theknowledge that their calls are being handled professionally and effectively. The ability of modern telephone technology to switch calls seamlessly within thenetwork provides both our and other call centres' clients with the option ofhaving more than one call centre working for them. This process of maximisingthe returns and responsiveness to media advertising remains a strong drivingforce, as a client advertising on a television shopping channel will be lookingfor an answering response rate as near to 100% as possible. This high level canonly be achieved by using modern systems, as well as multiple call centres,hence the reason why other call centres use Ansaback to augment their capacityand cope with the spikes created by advertising. This "call centres' call centre" business is likely to grow as other callcentres seek to maximise profits by cutting operational expense on shifts whichare simply not cost effective or by overflowing during spikes rather than havingto run inefficient staffing rotas. We provide detailed data to the clients regarding call duration and calloutcome, and whilst some clients are anxious not to have long calls, whichobviously cost them money, our prime concern is the quality of the call and theaccuracy of the data collected. We use our in-house developed CallScriptersoftware package, which enables our agents to handle the vast array of callspresented. Scripts have a client graphic or picture on the front screenproviding an auto-cognitive focus helping to put the agent into the client'sbusiness activity mindset. Ansaback is monitored and controlled on the actualand predicted billable minutes and this Key Performance Indicator is reviewed ona daily basis to ensure the correct levels of staff and efficiencies within thecall centre. We also scrutinise our Grade of Service and Percentage of CallsAnswered to maintain our contracted Service Level Agreements of answering 80% ofcalls presented within 20 seconds. During the year we won some significant fixed seat contract work for two clientsand for these contracts temporary staff were trained on a bespoke script, whichran both in Ipswich and in the client's offices. This may become a more regularitem although, due to seasonality, may be limited to a short time frame. We were able to manage this additional business within the Ipswich officealthough we required the use of 10 seats of one of our call centre partners inanother office. This work was outside of the normal bureau environment and didnot affect the standard call centre operation. This helped boost the grossprofit to 26% above the 2005 level. Looking at risks, over and above the normal client churn, that may adverselyaffect our billable minutes in the year ahead, by supplying our services toother call centres we provide them with the flexibility to build their ownbusiness on the back of ours, allowing them to take on extra shifts as thesebecome commercially viable for them. However this is currently a usefuladditional business stream, which utilises available assets, and a similar issuecan arise with larger clients who can also decide to set up their own in-houseoperation if they perceive they can operate effectively their own facility. CallScripter This division sells our award winning software to other call centres, and whilstas its name suggests it provides a scripting tool 'par excellence' it is a farmore comprehensive Customer Interaction Management package; the trade vernacularfor the service that the software encompasses. In September 2005 we attended our 5th Call Centre Expo, the principal showcasefor suppliers to the call centre trade, which attracts both a domestic andinternational audience looking for the latest offerings. The time lapse from aninitial meeting to placing an order is not easy to gauge, and has been anythingfrom weeks to some which are still ongoing several years later, whilst a recentorder concluded a contract that had been simmering for some 2 years. As previously reported, in March 2005 we concluded a commercial contract withInteractive Intelligence Inc (ININ), a NASDAQ quoted US telephone switchmanufacturer. This deal offers CallScripter, under the brand of EasyScripter,access to over 1,000 existing ININ clients as well as all new prospectiveclients, and under the terms of the deal, ININ's Customer Interaction Center (R)(CIC) contact centre software is now available with a connector to theEasyScripter scripting software tool. We were invited as guests to the ININ EMEA conference held in Prague andpresented the latest EasyScripter version to the delegates who came from as fara field as South Africa and Sweden. This was a very successful event andallowed the presentation to an audience that would have been difficult toaddress without the partnership. Whilst a prototype version of EasyScripter has been available for some time, itwas only in June 2006 that General Availability (GA) of the EasyScripter modulewas announced. This delay is due to detailed work undertaken to ensure that thesystem was simple to install with little or no disruption to the call centres.To coincide with this launch we have created an EasyScripter website(www.easyscripter.com) allowing prospective clients to view the module features. The effect of ININ giving General Availability in June has meant that littlebenefit has been gained this financial year, although one EasyScripter contractwas issued in June and we anticipate reporting a much stronger performance inthe coming six months. We continue to place emphasis on sales via our channel partners and a secondcontract has recently been won in Australia. The main website(www.callscripter.com) has now been overhauled, has a comprehensive introductionin five European languages and includes a large selection of example scripts invideo format available for download to prospective clients. CallScripter is often part of a bigger package presented to a client, which mayinclude a new telephony switch, call recording, monitoring software, telephonyscripting and headset. At the time of writing several exciting prestigiousprojects, which we are a component part of, are close to being finalised. While the risks to the division revolve around the ability of our resellers andinternal sales team to achieve penetration and turnover within the new markets,the outlook for our call centre software remains very positive. Looking ahead The prospects for further rapid development of our existing businesses areevident and we have strengthened the Ansaback sales team to capitalise on thisposition. We continue to develop the software and our next software release,CallScripter V4, will contain a variety of new and innovative features to keepit at the forefront of the scripting market. The outlook is positive and, havingset realistic targets, we expect to perform well in the coming year. William A Catchpole 8 August 2006 CONSOLIDATED PROFIT AND LOSS ACCOUNT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 JUNE 2006 2006 2005 £ £ Turnover 2,921,879 2,619,343Cost of sales (1,682,012) (1,635,366) ----- -----Gross profit 1,239,867 983,977 Administrative expenses (1,066,953) (1,098,070) ----- -----Operating profit/(loss) 172,914 (114,093) Other interest receivable and similar income 8,951 12,090Interest payable and similar charges (10,448) (12,754) ----- -----Profit/(loss) on ordinary activities beforetaxation 171,417 (114,757) Tax on profit/(loss) on ordinary activities - - ----- -----Profit/(loss) on ordinary activities aftertaxation deducted from reserves 171,417 (114,757) ======== ========= Basic profit/(loss) per share 0.6 p (0.4) p All of the activities of the group are classed as continuing. There were no recognised gains or losses for the year other than the profit/(loss) disclosed above. The accompanying accounting policies and notes form an integral part of thesefinancial statements. CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEET AS AT 30 JUNE 2006 2006 2005 £ £Fixed assetsTangible assets 40,317 23,756 ------- ------- 40,317 23,756Current assetsDebtors 490,444 482,955Cash at bank and in hand 299,892 120,341 ------- ------- 790,336 603,296 Creditors: amounts falling due within one year (492,958) (427,685) ------- -------Net current assets 297,378 175,611 Total assets less current liabilities 337,695 199,367 Creditors: amounts falling due after more than oneyear (78,578) (111,667) ------- ------- 259,117 87,700 ======= =======Capital and reservesShare capital 297,908 297,908Share premium account 6,045,563 6,045,563Merger reserve 18,396 18,396Profit and loss account (6,102,750) (6,274,167) ------- -------Shareholders' funds 259,117 87,700 ======= ======= CONSOLIDATED CASH FLOW STATEMENT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 JUNE 2006 2006 2005 £ £Net cash inflow/(outflow)from operating activities 249,915 (35,646) Returns on investments and servicing of financeInterest received 8,951 12,090Interest paid (9,831) (12,754)Interest element of finance leases (617) - ------- -------Net cash outflow from returns oninvestments and servicing of finance (1,497) (664) ------- ------- Taxation - - Capital expenditure and financial investmentPurchase of fixed assets (21,681) (63,166)Proceeds from sale of tangible fixed assets 5,350 4,590 ------- -------Net cash outflow from capital expenditureand financial investment (16,331) (58,576) ------- ------- FinancingRepayment of borrowings (50,000) (50,000)Capital element of finance leases (2,536) - ------- -------Net cash (outflow) from financing (52,536) (50,000) ------- ------- Increase/(decrease) in cash 179,551 (144,886) ======= ======== NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 JUNE 2006 1. BASIC PROFIT/(LOSS) PER SHARE The calculation of the basic profit/(loss) per share is based on the profit of£171,417 (2005: loss of £114,757) attributable to ordinary shareholders dividedby the weighted average number of shares in issue during the year of 29,790,743(2005: 29,790,743). No diluted loss per share is shown because all options areanti-dilutive. 2. RECONCILIATION OF MOVEMENTS IN SHAREHOLDERS' FUNDS Group 2006 2005 £ £Shareholders' funds at 1 July 2005 87,700 202,457Profit/(loss) for the financial year 171,417 (114,757) ------- -------Shareholders' funds at 30 June 2006 259,117 87,700 ------- ------- 3. NET CASH INFLOW FROM OPERATING ACTIVITIES 2006 2005 £ £Operating profit/(loss) 172,914 (114,093)Depreciation 33,527 86,116Profit on disposal of fixed assets (5,350) (2,149)Increase in debtors (7,489) (27,429)Increase in creditors 56,313 21,909 ------- -------Net cash inflow/(outflow) from operating 249,915 (35,646)activities ======= ======= 4. RECONCILIATION OF NET CASH FLOW TO MOVEMENT IN NET FUNDS/(DEBT) 2006 2005 £ £ Increase/(decrease) in cash in the year 179,551 (144,886)Cash outflow from financing 50,000 50,000Cash outflow from finance leases 2,536 - ------- --------Change in net funds resulting from cash 232,087 (94,886)flowsNew finance leases (28,407) - ------- --------Movement in net debt in the period 203,680 (94,886) ------- --------Net (debt)/funds at 1 July 2005 (41,326) 53,560Movement in net funds in the year 203,680 (94,886) ------- --------Net funds/(debt) at 30 June 2006 162,354 (41,326) ======= ======== 5. ANALYSIS OF CHANGES IN NET (DEBT)/FUNDS At 1 Other At 30 July 2005 Movement Changes June 2006£ £ £ £ £ Cash at bank and in hand 120,341 179,551 - 299,892Debt (161,667) 50,000 - (111,667)Finance leases - 2,536 (28,407) (25,871) ------- -------- -------- --------- (41,326) 232,087 (28,407) 162,354 ======= ======== ======== ========= 6. INFORMATION The financial information above for the years ended 30 June 2005 and 2006 inrespect of which the accounting policies are consistent, does not constitute thestatutory financial statements for those years. It is anticipated that theannual report and accounts for the year ended 30 June 2006 will be posted toshareholders on or around 11 August 2006. Copies will be available from thecompany's registered office, Melford Court, The Havens, Ransomes Europark,Ipswich, Suffolk IP3 9SJ. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange