REG - Celebrus Tech - Trading Update and Accounting Policy Review

Celebrus TechnologiesAnnouncement

22/04/2025 07:00

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RNS Number : 5594F  Celebrus Technologies PLC  22 April 2025

22 April 2025

 

 

Celebrus Technologies plc

 

Trading update and accounting policy review

 

Celebrus Technologies plc (AIM: CLBS, the "Group", "Celebrus"), the AIM-listed
data solutions provider, provides the following trading update(1) for the year
to 31 March 2025 ("FY2025").

As previously reported, there was some slowing down of customer decision
making in the second half of our financial year reflecting the increasingly
uncertain global geopolitical situation.

As a result, full year revenues for FY2026 are expected to be behind
expectations(2), at approximately $38.6 million (FY24: $40.9 million) whilst
adjusted profit before tax(3) will be ahead at approximately $8.7 million
(FY24: $7.6 million). The adjusted profit before tax has been achieved by
continued growth in higher margin software revenues as well as tight
management of the cost base.

The year-end cash balance was in the region of $31 million, and the Group
remains debt-free. The cash balance was boosted by the sale in March 2025 of
the company's freehold property in Sunbury-on-Thames for net proceeds at book
value of $3.9 million.

 

Accounting policy review

Given the changes in the business over the last three years and the focus on
Celebrus software revenues, the Board has carried out a review of the Group's
existing contracts, terms and conditions and the support of the Celebrus
software. Commercially, under the majority of the current contracts the risk
passes to the customer on acceptance and/or deployment of the license. In the
new contract under review it is likely the risk will be considered to pass to
the customer evenly over the life of the contract. This will result in a
change in the Group's accounting policies, specifically concerning the
definition of Annual Recurring Revenue ("ARR") and the profile of its software
license revenue recognition.

Annual Recurring Revenue

ARR is a key alternative performance measure and is generally used to provide
assurance regarding the forward visibility of revenues and earnings. It has
previously been provided as a single metric in relation to all of the Group's
recurring activities.  As such that metric has incorporated elements of
recurring revenue not related to the Group's core Celebrus product offering.
With a view to making this metric more meaningful and reflective of the
Board's key strategic focus on growing Celebrus license and associated support
revenues, the definition of ARR has been changed to include solely recurring
revenues derived from Celebrus software licenses and managed services. ARR now
excludes third-party software license income, which is an element of some of
our legacy on-premises deployments.

Consistent with this change, the full year results will include a reframing of
the Group's revenue breakdown to provide a fuller analysis of software license
revenue, managed services revenue, and professional services revenue. This is
to distinguish between those which are substantially Celebrus software and
non-Celebrus software-related.

Revenue Recognition

The historic approach taken under IFRS 15 given the existing contracts, terms
and conditions and support of the Celebrus software commonly resulted in the
recognition of software license revenue annually in a single lump sum for each
year of a term contract, initially upon acceptance and/or deployment of the
license and then on each subsequent acceptance and/or deployment for
multi-year contracts which include multiple instillations usually on the
anniversary of the contract. As a reminder, our standard contractual offer is
a three-year commitment.

In light of the changes to contracts, terms and conditions as well as the
support of the Celebrus software with the majority of Celebrus software
proposals now including Celebrus Cloud hosting and services, the Board
believes that a different recognition of revenue under IFRS 15 will result. In
particular, it believes that a more standardized approach of monthly
recognition, pro-rating such income across the relevant months of the license
term, will result when compared to the approach previously applied to the
existing contracts.

Managed services and support are currently recognized on a month-by-month
basis and this approach will not change.

 

Impact and outlook

Looking ahead to FY2026, our focus remains on growing revenues associated with
our proprietary products including Celebrus licenses, cloud services and
support revenues.

Having been restated using the methodology outlined above, annual recurring
revenue ("ARR") ended the year up 13.9% at $18.8 million (31 March 2024
restated: $16.5 million).

The Board believes that the redefinition of ARR gives investors a more
meaningful view of the most valuable and significant part of the Group, and
its growth trajectory, and that monthly software license revenue recognition
will remove a seasonal pattern from the Group's results, in which first half
revenues are much lower than second half revenues

In addition to the changes outlined above, and in particular the move to
monthly software license recognition, FY2026 will also be impacted by the
restructuring of a longstanding agreement with a large, partner-led,
on-premises customer. As a result of this restructuring, the Group will move
away from reselling non-Celebrus software to support the client environment
(the Celebrus product forms only a small proportion of annual revenue for this
client). The Board believes that the change is likely to result in lower
non-Celebrus revenue in FY2026 and is in line with the increased focus on
higher quality Celebrus software revenue.

The combined impact of these various factors on Group revenues for FY2026 and
beyond is still to be determined. More details will be provided with the
Group's full year results, due to be published on 8 July 2025.

The Board is pleased to be able to make the changes outlined above; it
believes that the enhanced clarity of disclosure will assist investor
understanding and the greater focus on the core Celebrus products and
services. The changes will also allow the business to be focused solely on
what we believe drives true shareholder value. The Board has continued
confidence in the technical strength of the Celebrus product, and the
associated go-to-market strategy.

( )

( 1) The trading performance reported in this statement is based on unaudited
management accounts

(2) For the purpose of this announcement, the Group believes market consensus
for FY2025 to be revenue of $43.4 million, and adjusted profit before tax of
$8.5 million.

(3) Adjusted profit before tax is calculated before amortization of
intangibles, foreign exchange gains/losses, share based payment charges and
one-off reorganization costs.

 

Bill Bruno, Chief Executive Officer commented:

 

"We continue to make the business easier to understand while ensuring that our
team is focused on the right revenue components to drive shareholder value.
Our launch of Celebrus Cloud a couple of years ago has become a focal point
for all Celebrus software deployments and is proving to be a mutually
beneficial option for both us and our customers. Adjusting our approach away
from on-premises support has presented us with an opportunity to further
simplify the business to more tightly focus on the strategic and operational
needs of our core offering. We look forward to providing further information
with our results in early July."

 

 

Inside Information: This announcement contains inside information for the
purposes of article 7 of the Market Abuse Regulation (EU) 596/2014 as it forms
part of domestic law by virtue of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018.
Upon the publication of this announcement via Regulatory Information Service,
this inside information is now considered to be in the public domain.

 

 Enquiries

 Celebrus Technologies plc                         +44 (0) 1932 893333

 Bill Bruno, Chief Executive Officer               investors@celebrus.com (mailto:investors@celebrus.com)

 Ash Mehta, Chief Financial Officer

 Cavendish (Nominated Adviser & Joint Broker)      +44 (0) 20 7220 0500

 Julian Blunt / Edward Whiley, Corporate Finance

 Tim Redfern, Corporate Broking

 Canaccord Genuity (Joint Broker)                  +44 (0) 20 7523 8000

 Simon Bridges / Andrew Potts

 

About Celebrus Technologies plc

 

For over 25 years, Celebrus has set the gold standard globally for improving
marketing effectiveness and preventing fraud across all industries. We are
laser-focused on improving the relationships between brands and consumers via
better data. This means innovating better ways to manage digital identity and
know your consumers, even when they're not logged in. Celebrus provides
frictionless data capture across all digital channels and devices, ensures
compliance by design, and ultimately makes digital data instantly usable
wherever required. We thrive on solving complex digital data challenges to
help businesses succeed.

Celebrus Technologies Plc is a global business operating in over 30 countries
today. We are quoted on the AIM Market of The London Stock Exchange (CLBS).

 

For more information, please see www.celebrus.com (http://www.celebrus.com) .

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