Touchstar Plc Regulatory News (TST)

Belgravium Technologies plc

Interim Results for the Six Months ended 30 June 2014

The Board of Belgravium Technologies plc ((AIM:BVM) 'Belgravium' or 'the Group'), suppliers of mobile data computing solutions and managed services to a variety of industrial sectors, is pleased to announce Interim results for the six months ended 30 June 2014.

Key Financials:

30 June 2014 30 June 2013

· Turnover £4,568,000 £4,082,000

· Profit before tax £214,000 £43,000

· Earnings per share 0.22p 0.04p

· EBITDA £422,000 £172,000

· Cash & cash equivalents £1,409,000 £239,000

Commenting on the interim results, John Kembery, Chairman of Belgravium, said:

"The results for the first half of 2014 have shown a significant increase in sales and profits compared to the equivalent period last year. In addition the Belgravium Group is making good progress in its strategic objective to reshape the business as a complete solution provider. As in previous years, trading for the year as a whole is expected to be second half weighted. The Directors are encouraged by the level of activity and enquiries and are confident that a good proportion can be converted to sales in the second half."

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Information on Belgravium Technologies plc can be seen at: www.belgravium-technologies.com

CHAIRMAN'S INTERIM STATEMENT - 2014

As in previous years, 2014 started quietly but a significant pick up in trading in the second quarter enabled the Belgravium Group to finish the half year with profits and earnings per share significantly better than the first half of 2013.

Results

Group sales increased to £4,568,000 compared to £4,082,000 in the first half of 2013. Operating profit was £215,000 compared to £38,000 in the prior year, which included £99,000 of exceptional costs, largely associated with the acquisition of Feedback Data which was completed on 31 May 2013.

Finance costs were £1,000 and, after an income tax credit of £9,000, the Group produced basic earnings per ordinary share of 0.22 pence per share compared to 0.04 pence in the first half of 2013.

Balance Sheet

At the end of June 2013, cash and cash equivalents were £239,000 and, by the end of June 2014, strong cash flow and the benefit of some advanced payments saw cash and cash equivalents at £1,409,000. Trade receivables fell significantly from £3,612,000 in 2013 to £2,325,000 in 2014.

Strategy

The Group designs, installs and maintains software applications and solutions for the airline, rail, retail and logistics industries. In recent years we have progressively moved the emphasis of our sales and development effort into providing complete operational solutions as it has become more challenging to persuade customers that they need specialised hardware. Our software now provides for a much wider range of functions, whilst working with hardware that may be not of our design. Over the years we have developed software that covers many of the functions needed in a modern system but it has been our practice to complement this with other companies' products where we do not have aspecialised capability as, for example, in commercial vehicle tracking and telematics. Simply stated, we must continue to seek to provide complete data capture solutions because this strategy produces long term working relationships with customers and increases repeat revenues. We shall continue to work with companies which have parts of the solution that we need and when possible we shall buy into those companies.

During the period we received an unsolicited approach from one such partner, a telematics company, Trakm8 Holdings plc, to acquire all of the issued share capital of Belgravium. Whilst there would have been some commercial benefits to a combination of the two businesses, the Board did not consider that the proposed indicative offer value adequately reflected the value of Belgravium and therefore that it would not receive the support of shareholders. Discussions were therefore terminated.

Development

The Group has continued with product evolution and development as a key part of the business strategy. The developments underway will allow all our software applications to run on multiple operating systems which now include Android and Apple iOS, where previously the only choice was Windows.

In June this year we launched our latest SkyPos application software for the mobile retail on-board sales for airlines to run on these multiple platforms and, in particular, Apple iOS, being the first of its kind in the airline industry.

In the same way that our software must run on other operating systems, this also applies to the hardware we supply. There is a market movement to support Android as well as Windows on mobile devices and our in-house development to provide this is making good progress. In addition, all Belgravium developed products have been upgraded to the latest specification processors for optimum power and to assist in reducing the overall production costs.

Operations

Good progress has been made in the mobile retail market. As well as new product developments, we have secured a number of notable contracts, in particular two for the rail industry, one with First Great Western in the UK and the other with Leo Express in the Czech Republic. Our skills and experience in on-board retail sales for airlines has allowed us to gain traction into the rail industry and is now an important area of focus for us going forward.

Following an intensive period of effort we have now signed a distributor in the Japanese marketspecialising in the supply of systems into hazardous areas for both manufacturing and logistics. Although sales to Japan have been relatively small at this stage they do represent pilots for projects that should provide a platform for an increase in overall sales into this region.

A number of pilot systems have been delivered into the transport sector and are progressing well. Two are to oil distribution customers and are for around 1,000 vehicles. More recently, we secured a pilot system for the supply of Proof of Delivery software to operate on Android based mobile phones. The pilot will run through to November and, if successful, the system will be deployed in over 2,000 vehicles.

Feedback Data, acquired in May 2013, continues to perform well, consolidating its position as a leading supplier of access control and workforce data capture solutions for customers with sophisticated needs. With Group support, Feedback Data has delivered a new range of fixed and mobile data capture devices that include a rugged waterproof attendance terminal for food production and manufacturing plants and a low cost biometric terminal for the facilities management and cleaning sectors.

In addition, Feedback has secured and renewed a number of key maintenance and service contracts in the defence, food manufacturing and retail sectors. It has continued to invest in its Fastlane cloud based device management platform and its new access control and visitor management software suites. This has resulted in the award of a number of high profile contracts including a security and access control solution for Harrods and a new HQ wide access control system for a global supplier of a variety of high technology products.

Outlook

The results for the first half of 2014 have shown a significant increase in sales and profits compared to the equivalent period last year. In addition the Belgravium Group is making good progress in its strategic objective to reshape the business as a complete solution provider. As in previous years, trading for the year as a whole is expected to be second half weighted. The Directors are encouraged by the level of activity and enquiries and are confident that a good proportion can be converted to sales in the second half.