Pci-pal Regulatory News (PCIP)

9 Aug 2005 07:00

County Contact Centres PLC09 August 2005 County Contact Centres PLC CHAIRMAN'S STATEMENT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 JUNE 2005 2005 2004 £ £ Turnover 2,619,343 1,735,475 ---------- ---------Loss on ordinary activities before taxation (114,757) (177,681) ========== ========= At December 2004 we reported a small profit for the first six months of thisyear as well as the opening of a call centre in Romania. However this openingcoincided with a serious fall off in traffic, which started just beforeChristmas with a general business malaise in almost every sector that appearedlikely to last for some time. This gave us a difficult decision whether to holdon and hope that traffic picked up or close the facility quickly. We decidedthat the prudent approach would be closure and the use of another Romanian callcentre on an outsourced basis. This we managed to achieve with minimaldisruption to the UK business, but with regrettable closure costs. Annual turnover has increased by £884,000, year on year, and the businessreturned to profitability during the final quarter after the cessation of theRomanian operation. However this was not sufficient to recover the Romanian lossof £152,000. The Group's bank remains supportive and has agreed to increase our facilitiesshould we have reason to need them in the future. Our CallScripter software has had an encouraging year culminating in anintegration deal with Interactive Intelligence Inc, a NASDAQ quoted US telephoneswitch manufacturer ("ININ"). This allows us to move forward into a strongerposition in the market and we delivered our first joint project to a Swiss Mediacompany, on the 16th March 2005. Since then we have made four presentations topotential clients who would not have considered our proposition on a stand-alone basis. Having reviewed the options available to us, and concluded that the existingspace, infrastructure and location were ideal for our foreseeable businessrequirements, we have concluded negotiations to remain at The Havens, Ipswichfor a further five years. Two senior managers have been appointed directors of the Ansaback subsidiarybusiness. Sharon Ball becomes the Director of Call Centre Operations and ToniVincent becomes Sales Director. Their areas of responsibility will be formaintaining the growth trend and managing the efficient running of the bureaubusiness. We have invited Philip Dayer to join the board as a non-executive director on 1October 2005. Philip is a qualified chartered accountant with a wealth ofexperience having worked for over 30 years in the corporate advisory divisionsof a number of investment banks. He retired from Hoare Govett Limited in 2004and will add relevant experience to the board. Peter M BrownChairman8 August 2005 BUSINESS REVIEW FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 JUNE 2005 Overall the Directors are pleased with the core performance of both arms of thebusiness. Sales have increased by 51% on the previous year and our propositions,both in terms of call centre services and software, have been well received inthe market. Ansaback The current scale and diversity of the Ansaback client base now provides adegree of stability. Seasonality and weather conditions may affect some callcentre's traffic patterns but although order lines are busy in the run up toChristmas and then dip in January, another sector such as boiler call out workincreases through the early months of the year and it is only major publicinterest events such as Wimbledon or European Football which may have asignificant impact on the pattern of traffic built up over the past three years. Annual call centre traffic has grown by 47% in the year, although this couldhave been significantly greater if we had not suffered a dip in the thirdquarter telephony traffic, when activity across all sectors was suppressed. No single area of commerce dominates our client base although Ansaback remainsparticularly active in the Direct Response TV arena where our in-houseCallScripter software provides commercial advantages. This looks likely to be anarea that will continue improving with the service being further developed toensure that we remain first choice for our clients. Our success as "the Call Centre's Call Centre", where other call centresoverflow to Ansaback either when they are closed or when they have staffingproblems, has seen annual sales double, which has been a key factor in ourturnover rise. This impacts our staffing rotas by providing extra workload atthe weekends and evenings. We continuously monitor and review key performanceindicators to ensure that the correct call centre staffing levels are availablearound the clock. We anticipate further growth in this overflow business duringthe next 12 months. CallScripter's rapid functionality enables us to add value to specific sectors,such as immediate online credit card validation. This reduces lost opportunitiesfor our clients in trying to process invalid cards and then failing to reach thecaller to get a valid credit card and this ability to dynamically link withother third party agencies looks likely to grow. CallScripter CallScripter had a much better year, with sales up 69% on the previous year, andit looks likely that this will continue into the current year. This division sells our award winning software to other call centres and webelieve that this product, written in the latest code, compares favourably withother telephony solutions in the market place because of its simplifiedfunctionality. Following our attendance in September 2004 at the Call Centre Expo, theprincipal showcase for suppliers to the international call centre trade, wegained a number of new business opportunities and we have re-booked for the nextshow in September 2005. In March 2005 we concluded a commercial contract with ININ. This deal offersCallScripter to over 1,000 existing clients and all new prospective clients, andunder the terms of the deal, Interactive Intelligence's award winning CustomerInteraction Center (R) (CIC) contact centre software is now available with aconnector to the CallScripter (R) software tool, which interactively scriptsconversations for agents. "This worldwide initiative is the company's first OEM deal driven from outsidethe U.S., reflecting our growing strength throughout Europe, the Middle East andAfrica," said Dr. Donald E. Brown, President and Chief Executive Officer forInteractive Intelligence. "The deal fits well with our ethos of ensuringcustomer choice. Rigorous testing and development of the connector mean thatresellers can confidently offer faster implementation and integration withCallScripter, ensuring minimum disruption for the customer." MediaLine, a tele-services operation based in Switzerland that supplies bothoutbound and inbound multi-lingual call centre services, has become the firstcustomer to take advantage of the OEM deal. When it placed an order for a25-seat installation of Interactive Intelligence's Customer Interaction Center(R) (CIC) software, installed in 2005, CallScripter was included in thefunctions it selected delivering scripts to agents in four different Europeanlanguages. While the current year's figures were adversely affected by the closure of theRomanian office giving a somewhat disappointing final result, the Directorsremain confident that the outlook for our call centre services and softwareremains very positive. William A Catchpole8 August 2005 CONSOLIDATED PROFIT AND LOSS ACCOUNT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 JUNE 2005 2005 2004 £ £ (restated) Turnover 2,619,343 1,735,475 Cost of sales (1,635,366) (1,037,720) ----------- -----------Gross profit 983,977 697,755 Administrative expenses (1,098,070) (867,650) ----------- -----------Operating loss (114,093) (169,895) Other interest receivable and similar income 12,090 3,124Interest payable and similar charges (12,754) (10,910) ----------- -----------Loss on ordinary activities before taxation (114,757) (177,681) Tax on loss on ordinary activities - - ----------- -----------Loss on ordinary activities after taxationdeducted from reserves (114,757) (177,681) =========== ============ Basic loss per share (0.4) p (0.6) 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 lossdisclosed above. The accompanying accounting policies and notes form an integral part of thesefinancial statements. CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEET AS AT 30 JUNE 2005 2005 2004 £ £Fixed assetsTangible assets 23,756 49,147 ----------- ----------- 23,756 49,147 Current assetsDebtors 482,955 455,526Cash at bank and in hand 120,341 265,227 ----------- ----------- 603,296 720,753 Creditors: amounts falling due within one (427,685) (405,776)year ----------- -----------Net current assets 175,611 314,977 Total assets less current liabilities 199,367 364,124 Creditors: amounts falling due after more (111,667) (161,667)than one year ----------- ----------- 87,700 202,457 =========== =========== Capital and reservesShare capital 297,908 297,908Share premium account 6,045,563 6,045,563Merger reserve 18,396 18,396Profit and loss account (6,274,167) (6,159,410) ----------- -----------Shareholders' funds 87,700 202,457 =========== =========== CONSOLIDATED CASH FLOW STATEMENT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 JUNE 2005 2005 2004 £ £Net cash outflow from operating activities (35,646) (176,173)Returns on investments and servicing of financeInterest received 12,090 3,124Interest paid (12,754) (10,910) ----------- -----------Net cash outflow from returns oninvestments and servicing of finance (664) (7,786) ----------- -----------Taxation - 51,499 Capital expenditure and financial investmentPurchase of fixed assets (63,166) (9,256)Proceeds from sale of tangible fixed assets 4,590 - ----------- -----------Net cash outflow from capital expenditureand financial investment (58,576) (9,256) ----------- -----------FinancingReceipt of bank loan - 150,000Repayment of borrowings (50,000) (35,000) ----------- -----------Net cash (outflow)/inflow from financing (50,000) 115,000 ----------- -----------Decrease in cash (144,886) (26,716) =========== =========== NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 JUNE 2005 1. BASIC LOSS PER SHARE The calculation of the basic loss per share is based on the loss of £114,757(2004: £177,681) attributable to ordinary shareholders divided by the weightedaverage number of shares in issue during the year of 29,790,743 (2004:29,790,743). No diluted loss per share is shown because all options areanti-dilutive. 2. RECONCILIATION OF MOVEMENTS IN SHAREHOLDERS' FUNDS Group 2005 2004 £ £ Shareholders' funds at 1 July 202,457 380,138Loss for the financial year (114,757) (177,681) ----------- -----------Shareholders' funds at 30 June 87,700 202,457 ----------- ----------- 3. RECONCILIATION OF NET CASH FLOW TO MOVEMENT IN NET (DEBT)/FUNDS 2005 2004 £ £ Decrease in cash in the year (144,886) (26,716)Cash outflow/(inflow) from financing 50,000 (115,000) ----------- -----------Change in net funds resulting from cash (94,886) (141,716)flows ----------- -----------Net funds at 1st July 2004 53,560 195,276Movement in net funds in the year (94,886) (141,716) ----------- -----------Net (debt)/funds at 30th June 2005 (41,326) 53,560 =========== =========== 4. ANALYSIS OF CHANGES IN NET (DEBT)/FUNDS At 1 At 30 July 2004 Movement June 2005 £ £ £ Cash at bank and in hand 265,227 (144,886) 120,341Debt (211,667) 50,000 (161,667) --------- --------- --------- 53,560 (94,886) (41,326) ========= ========= =========5. INFORMATION The financial information above for the years ended 30 June 2004 and 2005 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 2005 will be posted toshareholders on or around 12 August 2005. 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