REG - Christie Group PLC - Final Results
25/04/2022 07:00
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RNS Number : 1267J Christie Group PLC 25 April 2022
25 April 2022
Christie Group plc
Preliminary results for the 12 months ended 31 December 2021
Christie Group plc ('Christie Group' or the 'Group'), the leading provider of
Professional & Financial Services (PFS) and Stock & Inventory Systems
& Services (SISS) to the hospitality, leisure, healthcare, medical,
childcare & education and retail sectors, is pleased to announce its
audited preliminary results for the 12 months ended 31 December 2021.
Key points:
· Revenue growth of 45.1% to £61.3m (2020: £42.2m)
· Operating profit of £5.2m substantially ahead of original market
expectation for the year
· Sold in excess of 1,000 businesses during the year
· SaaS business experienced strong on-line growth
· Stocktaking division held back by Covid closures
· Pension deficit reduced YOY by £11.1m (55%) to £9.0m (2020:
£20.1m)
· Earnings per share rebounded back to 13.71p per share (2020:
negative 19.32p per share)
· Final dividend reinstated at 2.0p (2020: nil) to give total in
year of 3.0p (2020: nil)
Commenting on the results, David Rugg, Chairman and Chief Executive of
Christie Group said:
"These are excellent results derived from our professional services
activities. Our stocktaking businesses are also, post pandemic, generating new
business and fair margins. Overall momentum is building as the year
progresses. We anticipate another good year weighted, as before, to the second
half."
Enquiries:
Christie Group plc
David Rugg 020 7227 0707
Chairman and Chief Executive
Daniel Prickett 020 7227 0700
Chief Operating Officer
Simon Hawkins 020 7227 0700
Group Finance Director
Shore Capital
Patrick Castle / Iain Sexton 020 7408 4090
Nominated Adviser & Broker
Notes to Editors:
Christie Group plc (CTG.L), quoted on AIM, is a leading professional business
services group with 39 offices across the UK and Europe, catering to its
specialist markets in the hospitality, leisure, healthcare, medical, childcare
& education and retail sectors.
Christie Group operates in two complementary business divisions:
Professional & Financial Services (PFS) and Stock & Inventory Systems
& Services (SISS). These divisions trade under the brand names: PFS
- Christie & Co, Pinders, Christie Finance and Christie Insurance: SISS
- Orridge, Venners and Vennersys.
Tracing its origins back to 1846, the Group has a long-established reputation
for offering valued services to client companies in agency, valuation
services, investment, consultancy, project management, multi-functional
trading systems and online ticketing services, stock audit and inventory
management. The diversity of these services provides a natural balance to the
Group's core agency business.
The information contained within this announcement is deemed by the Company to
constitute inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of the UK Market
Abuse Regulation (EU) No. 596/2014 which is part of the UK law by virtue of
the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018.
For more information, please go to www.christiegroup.com
(http://www.christiegroup.com) .
CHAIRMAN AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE'S REVIEW OF THE YEAR
Demand, buoyancy and optimism
I am delighted to report our results for the year ended 31 December 2021. We
generated an operating profit for the Group of £5.2m from revenue of £61.3m
(2020: £4.4m operating loss before restructuring costs from revenue of
£42.2m).
These results reflect a return to the level of profitability achieved by us in
2019 from underlying trading activities. Our operating profit for 2021 was
achieved from significantly reduced revenue, albeit some £19.1m higher than
in 2020.
During the year we repaid all of our £4.7m agreed tax deferral which related
to the pandemic lock downs. We also repaid a further £2.0m of our Coronavirus
Large Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CLBILS) loan during the year and a
further £0.7m has been repaid to date in 2022.
The latest IAS 19 valuation reflected in these accounts records a more than
halving in our outstanding pension fund deficits from £20.1m to £9.0m. The
outstanding balance is subject to an ongoing deficit repair plan costing
approximately £1m per annum, equivalent to an additional dividend of
approximately 4 pence per share.
Professional & Financial Services
I am pleased to report a tremendous result for our Professional &
Financial Services (PFS) division. An operating profit of £7.6m (2020: £1.9m
operating loss) was achieved from revenue of £43.8m (2020: £26.3m). This is
our highest profit from the division since 2007 and a profit conversion of
17%.
This excellent profit margin was due, in part, to the move to host events and
marketing online where physical interactions were not permitted or would have
been ill advised. As a by-product our travel, accommodation and entertaining
expenses were minimised. Our marketing included a number of informative and
popular webinars, a recent webinar hosting 1,080 participants. Where our
offices had to close, our running costs - whilst not eradicated - were
significantly reduced. We have budgeted for our costs to return to more normal
levels for 2022.
Christie & Co enjoyed an unparalleled period in the respect that there was
strong demand for businesses across each trade sector. Where the sector was
struggling due to the direct or indirect effects of the pandemic, optimistic
buyers saw buying opportunities and the prospect of recovering trade. Robust
demand ensured that prices recovered to, or exceeded, pre-pandemic levels.
We adopted a rebalanced and more incentivised remuneration structure, and this
saw many individuals achieve record bonuses, which we applaud.
Our sector specialist teams were, without exception, busy creating portfolio
mergers & acquisitions in addition to a high volume of individual
transactions. Yet again, we sold over a thousand businesses.
I was pleased that Christie & Co were ranked number one overall, based on
the number of deals, securing 12 awards in the Hotels & Leisure category
for the Estate Gazette's Radius On-Demand 2021 Rankings. This again confirms
our continued position as the leading Hospitality broker in Europe.
2021 also saw the resurgence of portfolio valuation assignments. These were
notably absent by Christie & Co throughout 2020, who's higher volumes in
2021 were driven by a combination of sale and acquisition due diligence.
Both Christie & Co and Pinders were actively providing valuations in
support of bank lending.
Our international network is concentrated on activity in the hotel sector.
This sector was particularly hard hit by business closures due to the travel
restrictions imposed by the governments concerned. Our international strategy
is to progressively lessen our dependency on this single sector whilst
maintaining our position as the pre-eminent hotel brokers in Europe.
Pinders carried out a number of condition surveys and capital expenditure
reviews for buyers. Prudent buyers realise that it is the total investment
which has to generate a satisfactory return, not merely the initial
acquisition cost.
Christie Finance, our funding operation, was occupied with completing the last
of the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) loans
subsequently followed by arranging loans under the Recovery Loan Scheme.
However, the majority of our work concerned procuring debt for borrowers on
free standing commercial terms. We have supported our borrowers with mortgage
protection and key man insurance via Christie Insurance.
In instances where a lack of insurers for property and business risks
materialise, for buyers, Christie Insurance have deployed broking skills to
gain cover thus enabling completions. Rising premiums have in turn ensured
that retained commissions increased.
Stock & Inventory Systems & Services
Our Stock & Inventory Systems & Services (SISS) division achieved
revenue of £17.5m (2020: £16.0m and 2019: £32.1m) including some £2.4m of
furlough support. The year continued to be seriously affected by the pandemic,
which resulted in a significant operating loss of £2.4m (2020: £3.2m
operating loss).
In retail stock control we experienced the continued rebalancing between work
for stores and requests for more work within their supply chains. We
anticipate that this trend will continue. More focus and collaboration with
clients who wish to partner with us has achieved excellent service delivery
for them and satisfactory profit margins for us across all territories.
In our Hospitality & Leisure stocktaking business, Venners, our
stocktakers utilisation rate dropped from full utilisation prior to Covid-19
to 50% through 2021 due to closure or disruption to the sector, with volumes
remaining reduced in the other periods even when Covid-19 was less prevalent.
Following a lock down of 20 weeks in the Spring, our hospitality stocktaking
business was recovering as anticipated when the cancelling of numerous
Christmas & New Year's Eve celebrations lead to a quieter start to the New
Year. Our own staff maintained a high degree of availability, but work was
postponed and rescheduled where our clients had insufficient onsite staff
available to host stocktaking visits.
Both Retail and Hospitality clients sought assistance with a wide range of
support as they suffered staff shortages and recruitment difficulties.
Flexible furlough was particularly helpful in 2021 as it permitted down time
(days without work) to be government funded whilst volumes rebuilt.
Our software-as-a-service (SaaS) business, Vennersys, now offers a leading,
functionally rich product. As such, the system is attracting interest from
larger users with more complex requirements. The sales cycle for larger
corporates is longer, whilst they evaluate the compatibility of system scope
with their existing business operations and future plans. We continue to add
additional sites for our portfolio operators as well as standalone single site
attractions. We continue to add further niche leisure sectors, supporting
venues with their visitors and sales. Recurring income continued to grow for
Vennersys, with online revenues almost doubling since 2020.
Looking Ahead
I thank all members of our exceptional teams who have contributed so strongly
to ensure our success in the challenging times we have faced together. I
welcome the new people who have joined us and those about to join, as we
target yet better performance in the years ahead. We are working hard to
ensure that our new joiners are fully integrated into teams to facilitate the
interactions which are essential for induction, development training and
mentoring, whilst retaining the benefit derived from the efficiencies of
flexible working. We are committed to supporting our staff from a well-being
perspective. Numerous support initiatives are being rolled out across the
Group, all with the key objective of ensuring that our staff feel part of a
caring and responsible business.
We are starting to experience more operators choosing to sell businesses in
order to repay debt. Simultaneously we are enjoying multiple offerors pursuing
each business for sale. Strong demand exists across each of our trade sectors.
The invasion in Ukraine is an abhorrent human tragedy and our hearts go out to
those impacted. Internationally, our professional practice is well established
and if allowed a peaceful existence should contribute positively to our
results. As yet, we have been unable to discern the effect on our operations
in Austria, Germany and Finland.
Our agencies' pipelines of deals in progress have grown to exceed those of the
prior year.
Our stocktaking businesses from this point forward, should not put additional
drain on our resources as their activity levels further recover.
Four of our seven trading subsidiary Managing Directors took up their
positions at the onset of Covid-19. They have each done well. I know that
their plans and actions are producing positive future developments. Our
appreciation goes also to your board who together recognise, challenge,
encourage and reward success.
We are well funded and anticipate further growth in our working capital as our
revenue continues to rebound. Our momentum is building as the year progresses.
As usual, we anticipate that our profit achievement will be primarily
generated in our second half. Overall, we anticipate another successful year
with further growth prospects beyond.
Your directors recommend a final dividend of 2.0p per share (2020: 0.0p),
increasing the total dividend to 3.0p for the year (2020: 0.0p). If approved
the dividend will be paid on 8 July 2022 to those shareholders on the register
on 10 June 2022.
David Rugg
Chairman and Chief Executive
22 April 2022
CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER'S REVIEW
We can reflect on 2021 with a combination of satisfaction, pride and
encouragement for the future. The strength of our recovery and renewed
momentum is apparent from a £10.2m year-on-year swing in operating profit,
and while across the Group we continued to face a variety of challenges and
opportunities within our various operations and sectors, the overall result
and where that has placed us heading into 2022 was achieved thanks to
significant individual and collective contributions from across the spectrum
of our teams and businesses.
I commented a year ago that we had seen enough in the second half of an
extremely challenging 2020 to be confident that all of our trading brands
could be profitable contributors to the Group in future. I am pleased to say
that this confidence has only been enhanced by the progress made during 2021.
While our Professional & Financial Services ("PFS") Division delivered an
excellent performance, we also reduced our operating losses in the Stock &
Inventory Systems & Services ("SISS") Division despite significant
disruption to the hospitality, leisure and retail sectors. We are optimistic
that a more normalised 2022 trading environment should enable further progress
in this regard as we move forwards.
Professional & Financial Services
For Christie & Co, activity levels remained buoyant for the duration of
the year, but as is often our experience of deal timing, we saw a stronger
second half than the first as many instructions taken several months earlier
reached exchange in the latter part of 2021.
We sold just under 1,100 businesses in the calendar year across the UK and
Europe, with the volume of sales up 71% on 2020. Given the strength of our
agency recovery in the second half of 2020, the scale of this increase
reflected the strength of activity across all of our sectors. The growth in
the value of businesses sold by Christie & Co was as impressive,
increasing by 58% to £1.3bn.
Our Hospitality teams were extremely active, most notably in the UK where we
sold 110 hotels in the year. Highlights included acting for Qbic Hotels Ltd in
the disposal of their interest in the Qbic London City and the sale by Bayview
Italia of the Poggio alla Salla in Tuscany, Italy to Precise Hotels and
Resorts. On the continent, we saw the re-emergence of buying appetite from
institutional buyers, owner-operators and high-net-worth individuals with
second-half improvement in investor sentiment most obvious in Central and
Eastern Europe.
More widely in Hospitality as a whole, we achieved almost 350 exchanges. Our
Pubs & Restaurants team supported Red Oak Taverns on their acquisition of
10 freehold tenanted pubs from Hall & Woodhouse, and we also acted on
behalf of YUM! in securing Starboard Hotels as the new franchise partner for
27 Pizza Hut delivery sites across the Midlands. Pub sector pricing remained
robust through a combination of lack of stock, active corporate buyers and a
gradually recovering marketplace after UK Covid-restrictions were lifted in
early H2.
In Leisure, we saw encouraging levels of transactional activity, buoyed by
holiday parks and outdoor attraction operators. Christie & Co were active
throughout the year, including the sale of Skegness Pier to Mellors Group and
the sale of Boothferry Golf Club in Yorkshire, on behalf of Aldington Golf
Centre Ltd.
Our Care team was as busy as always, completing over 50% of all individually
transacted care home deals in the UK during the year. The market saw an
evolving landscape, with European investment arriving in the UK including the
French healthcare fund, SCPI Pierval Sante, who acquired a group of Care UK
investments from Legal & General in a deal brokered by Christie & Co.
At the same time, our Care development, investment and consultancy teams were
equally busy. We successfully brokered a pre-let on a high-specification 76
room development in Bedfordshire before then undertaking an associated
forward-funded investment sale to a specialist healthcare fund, and we carried
out several market studies and needs analysis assignments.
Our Medical team continued to be at the forefront of deal activity, in both
the Dental and Pharmacy sectors. In the former, the market continued to
consolidate with corporate and mid-sized groups extremely active. We advised
on the strategic investment in Real Good Dental by TriSpan as well as the sale
of two East Yorkshire Dental Studio practices, consisting of 9 surgeries, to
Dentex.
In Pharmacy, the pandemic response stimulated strong sector confidence and
deal activity, with highlights including the sale of the 20-strong Pearns
Pharmacies group in South Wales to Knights Pharmacy Ltd, and the sale of two
South Yorkshire groups, JM McGill Limited and D&R Sharp (Chemists) Ltd.
Our Childcare & Education team had an outstanding year, recovering
particularly strongly after a challenging 2020. While activity was spread
across the year, many of our larger deals reached a successful conclusion in
the last quarter. The sale of Footsteps Day Nurseries to Family First Nursery
Group and Oakwood House in Glasgow to Busy Bees were two of several notable
transactions exchanged or completed in the latter part of 2021. Buyer demand
was arguably as strong as it has ever been in the sector, with the volume of
offers received by Christie & Co on businesses for sale up 45% on 2019
levels.
The Retail team experienced a very busy year. Demand for convenience retail
assets was extremely strong, with Christie & Co selling 60% more
convenience assets in 2021 than 2020. At the same time, the team worked
throughout 2021 supporting Co-Op on their multi-phase divestment project so
that by the end of the year six tranches of stores had been confidentially
marketed.
Pinders, our business appraisal, valuation and consultancy business, remains a
key early-stage barometer for assessing activity levels and sentiment. The
V-shaped recovery it delivered in 2020 and continued through 2021 was
testament to its own standing among lenders and their appetite to support loan
applicants that can demonstrate - through a Pinders appraisal - an ability to
repay. Pinders issued 26% more appraisal reports in the year than 2020, while
increasing its own average fee by 7% in the process. It did so while
increasing the number of lenders it works for and maintaining all its
pre-existing panel positions. Pleasingly, the business's Consultancy and
Building Services divisions also recovered well, with combined 2021 revenues
45% higher than a year earlier.
Christie & Co's own valuation team experienced an even greater recovery in
activity. They carried out 51% more valuations in 2021 than 2020, with banks
requesting periodic valuations that had otherwise stalled during the previous
two years, and saw average fees hold up well in the process.
PFS divisional KPIs 2021 2020
Total businesses sold 1,069 624
% Increase / (decrease) in average fee per business sold (8.8%) 29.3%
Total value of businesses sold (£m) 1,304 823
Total valuations carried out (units) 3,705 2,642
% increase / (decrease) in average fee per valuation 1.8% 0.8%
Value of businesses valued (£m) 7,622 3,889
% increase in number of loan offers secured (5.1%) 2.3%
Average loan size (£'000) 457 413
Our finance brokerage business, Christie Finance, delivered another
encouraging and progressive year. As the CBILS loan scheme gave way to the
less attractive Recovery Loan Scheme, our teams were able to once more focus
on commercial mortgage lending as well as sourcing refinance and working
capital facilities through its Unsecured team.
Christie Finance completed loans via 37 different lenders in 2021, a 12%
increase on its lender coverage a year earlier. This included new lenders only
accessible through specialist brokers, with 60% of our commercial mortgage
lending being sourced from challenger banks, niche lenders and funds.
Christie Finance's strength in its specialist sectors was further highlighted
by its increased success in sourcing finance for Christie & Co business
sales clients. The number of completed loans linked directly to a sale
brokered by Christie & Co increased by 40% compared to 2020. Further
cross-selling with other Group companies continues to be an area of
opportunity.
Christie Insurance continued to work alongside Christie & Co and Christie
Finance in particular, to secure cover solutions for clients in a market where
premiums continued to harden and the appetite among insurers to take on new
risk in certain sectors was limited. Ensuring appropriate business and
mortgage protection insurance is in place by the date of completion remains a
key hurdle to overcome for new business owners.
For more established business property owners, the risk of underinsuring
rebuilding costs is a growing risk in a high-premium market, and an issue
Pinders and Christie Insurance can work with clients to resolve.
Stock & Inventory Systems & Services
In our retail stocktaking business, Orridge, we continued to experience
disruption from the pandemic in both the UK and Europe. In the UK, we were
able to use the furlough scheme for the first nine months of the year to
varying degrees while at the same time continuing to achieve on-site
efficiency gains and service improvements. We further proved our ability to
adapt to both short-notice work cessation and large scale resumption, and this
allowed us to make progress in reintroducing returning clients, developing and
expanding our coverage of existing customer estates, and achieving improved
commercial terms.
On the continent, SISS experienced a challenging year. In Germany, we saw a
number of clients opting to delay counts, and lower work volumes reduced
margins where transport and PPE costs had an effect. Our Benelux operation
responded well but could not avoid a subdued performance below its normal
pre-pandemic performance. We anticipate a far stronger 2022 as we benefit from
more normalised activity levels and the return of a significant pan-European
retailer as a client, secured towards the end of 2021.
Our Pharmacy business delivered a return to pre-pandemic financial
performance, benefitting from a simplified I.T system and strengthening our
Client Relationship team. The buoyant transactional market in the sector also
saw our teams servicing a high volume of business sales valuation work. We
also made advances in initiating working relationships in the Veterinary
sector, while securing sole-supplier status with one of our larger existing
clients.
As the pandemic accelerated demand for online-only retailers, we saw growing
demand for our supply chain services and distribution stock control services.
As we welcomed 14 new clients to our Supply Chain division from across a
number of sectors, we also strengthened our operational team.
SISS divisional KPIs 2021 2020
Total stocktakes & audits carried out (number of jobs) 40,341 38,930
% increase in average income per job 3.1% 1.5%
% of visitor attraction client admissions purchased online 62.0% 58.2%
A year ago I referenced our hospitality stock audit, compliance and
consultancy business, Venners, as "traditionally profitable" after 10 months
of unprecedented disruption to the UK hospitality sector which had resulted in
the most untraditional of operating losses for the business. While those
sector-related challenges remained much publicised and did not, sadly, vanish
at the stroke of midnight on New Year's Eve 2020, I am delighted to be able to
comment on a return to profit for the second half of 2021.
The shape of that recovery in performance is illustrated by the number of jobs
Venners undertook in the year. The volume of work undertaken in this respect
was 2.5 times greater in H2 than in H1; using the same measure Q4 activity was
5.0 times greater than Q1. In a full year context, despite this growing
recovery in activity levels, Venners still only undertook 46% of the volume of
stock audits in 2021 than it carried out in 2019. There is, simply put, more
to come in terms of building back to the level of work undertaken before
Covid-19 and the SISS operating loss for 2021 reflects this significant
contributory factor.
But our brand remains powerful and the go-to choice for owners and operators
who value stock and profit control. Recognising this, the business has
continued to progress and invest. Venners launched a new website and rebrand
early in 2022 showcasing its ability to continually adapt and re-invigorate,
as it celebrated the 125th anniversary of its formation in 1896.
Our team of nearly 140 British Institute of Innkeepers accredited stock
auditors remain in place, with a true UK-wide and market leading coverage.
Venners continued to win new business in 2021, adding Tortilla, Creative
Leisure and Amaris Hospitality as clients, among others. As the business moves
through the first quarter of 2022, it is beginning to see the return of demand
for observational audits and other compliance and consultancy services, to
complement the earlier and more visible level of returning demand for stock
audits in pubs, restaurants and hotels.
Our SaaS business, Vennersys, which provides ticketing and visitor-management
solutions for UK visitor attractions, delivered another year of strong growth
despite the disruption from the pandemic which continued to impact the tourism
& leisure sector in the UK, particularly in the first half. A strong
pipeline of pending installs as we began the year meant we were able to
maintain momentum in the first quarter despite this, before visitor numbers
began to return to UK venues which itself then translated into much improved
footfall-related revenues for us as the year progressed. At the same time, we
saw the proportion of our clients' total admissions income taken online
increase to 62.0% (2020: 58.2%), further highlighting the benefits of our
Venpos Cloud system.
Indeed, our online revenues grew year on year by 86%, underpinning a slightly
more modest 65% increase in overall revenues inclusive of licences, hardware
and consultancy income. As client and installed EPOS numbers continued to grow
year-on-year, we added new clients across a range of sectors, including The
Vindolanda Trust, Dairyland Farm Park and Tweddle Animal Farm.
We continue to partner a dynamic, talented and growing team who have a passion
for delivering a first-class customer experience for visitor attractions, with
continued investment in our Venpos Cloud product which continues to evolve to
meet the requirements of more complex, larger clients.
Summary
As we ended 2021 and began 2022, our focus and commitment remain on being the
service provider of choice to our clients in our chosen sectors. We have
demonstrated a resilient and flexible ability to do this through our teams and
their impressive sector-specific knowledge and client-centric focus. We
continue to recognise the importance of technology in enabling our people to
provide excellent service delivery, as well as helping us achieve greater
levels of synergy and cross-selling.
All of our businesses continue to provide services aimed at adding value for
our clients throughout their own business's life cycle. The performance of our
PFS division in 2021 illustrates the strength of this demand starkly; when
businesses in our sectors and markets are able to trade without curtailment,
we perform well. The pleasing and welcome return to profitable trading in our
hospitality stock audit business in the second half of 2021 only serves to
emphasise this point, as do encouraging signs of improving sales activity in
our retail stocktaking operations. Our SaaS business continues to grow.
Once again therefore, we can look forward to the year ahead with enthusiasm
and an undimmed confidence in our people and the quality of service they
provide.
Dan Prickett
Chief Operating Officer
22 April 2022
CONSOLIDATED INCOME STATEMENT
For the year ended 31 December 2021
2021 2020
Note £'000 £'000
Revenue 2 61,252 42,224
Other income - government grants 3 2,592 8,182
Employee benefit expenses (44,332) (40,338)
19,512 10,068
Impairment release/(charge) 14 (120)
Other operating expenses (14,332) (14,303)
Operating profit/(loss) before restructuring costs 5,194 (4,355)
Restructuring costs 4 - (672)
Operating profit/(loss) post restructuring costs 5,194 (5,027)
Finance costs (1,329) (1,316)
Finance income 26 4
Total finance costs (1,303) (1,312)
Profit/(loss) before tax 3,891 (6,339)
Taxation (316) 1,277
Profit/(loss) after tax 3,575 (5,062)
Profit/(loss) for the period after tax attributable to:
Equity shareholders of the parent 3,575 (5,062)
Earnings per share
Basic 6 13.71 (19.32)
Diluted 6 13.34 (19.32)
All amounts derive from continuing activities.
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these preliminary results.
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF COMPREHENSIVE INCOME
For the year ended 31 December 2021
2021 2020
Total Total
£'000 £'000
Profit/(loss) after tax 3,575 (5,062)
Other comprehensive income:
Items that may be reclassified subsequently to profit or loss:
Exchange differences on translating foreign operations 100 (34)
Net other comprehensive income/(losses) to be reclassified to profit or loss 100 (34)
in subsequent years
Items that will not be reclassified subsequently to profit or loss:
Actuarial gains/(losses) on defined benefit plans 13,181 (8,052)
Effect of asset ceiling (1,788) -
11,393 (8,052)
Income tax effect on defined benefit plans (2,089) 1,770
Income tax effect of asset ceiling 447 -
(1,642) 1,770
Net other comprehensive income/(losses) not being reclassified to profit or 9,751 (6,282)
loss in subsequent years
Other comprehensive income/(losses) for the year net of tax 9,851 (6,316)
Total comprehensive income/(losses) for the year 13,426 (11,378)
Total comprehensive income/(losses) attributable to: 13,426 (11,378)
Equity shareholders of the parent
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF CHANGES IN SHAREHOLDERS' EQUITY
As at 31 December 2021
Share capital Retained earnings Total equity £'000
£'000 Other reserves Cumulative translation reserve £'000
£'000 £'000
Balance at 1 January 2020 531 5,443 620 (6,628) (34)
Loss for the year after tax - - - (5,062) (5,062)
Items that will not be reclassified subsequently to profit or loss - - - (6,282) (6,282)
Items that may be reclassified subsequently to profit or loss - - (34) - (34)
Total comprehensive losses for the year - - (34) (11,344) (11,378)
Movement in respect of employee share scheme - (27) - - (27)
Employee share option scheme
- value of services provided - 46 - - 46
Dividends paid - - - - -
Balance at 31 December 2020 531 5,462 586 (17,972) (11,393)
Profit for the year after tax - - - 3,575 3,575
Items that will not be reclassified subsequently to profit or loss - - - 9,751 9,751
Items that may be reclassified subsequently to profit or loss - - 100 - 100
Total comprehensive profit for the year - - 100 13,326 13,426
Movement in respect of employee share scheme - (278) - - (278)
Employee share option scheme
- value of services provided - 62 - - 62
Dividends paid - - - (260) (260)
Balance at 31 December 2021 531 5,246 686 (4,906) 1,557
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL POSITION
At 31 December 2021
2021 2020
£'000 £'000
Assets
Non-current assets
Intangible assets - Goodwill 1,800 1,855
Intangible assets - Other 1,043 1,038
Property, plant and equipment 1,346 1,819
Right of use assets 5,106 5,774
Deferred tax assets 3,460 5,114
Other receivables 2,555 2,263
15,310 17,863
Current assets
Inventories 15 24
Trade and other receivables 12,502 10,624
Current tax assets 946 976
Cash and cash equivalents 8,167 10,284
21,630 21,908
Total assets 36,940 39,771
Equity
Share capital 531 531
Other reserves 5,246 5,462
Cumulative translation reserve 686 586
Retained earnings (4,906) (17,972)
Total equity 1,557 (11,393)
Liabilities
Non-current liabilities
Trade and other payables 546 50
Retirement benefit obligations 8,997 20,136
Lease liabilities 7,488 7,999
Borrowings 1,000 3,000
Provisions 1,352 1,004
19,383 32,189
Current liabilities
Trade and other payables 10,863 13,316
Lease liabilities 1,170 1,296
Current tax liabilities 299 -
Borrowings 2,568 3,206
Provisions 1,100 1,157
16,000 18,975
Total liabilities 35,383 51,164
Total equity and liabilities 36,940 39,771
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF CASH FLOWS
For the year ended 31 December 2021
Note 2021 2020
£'000 £'000
Cash flow from operating activities
Cash generated from operations 7 3,197 2,503
Interest paid (982) (1,081)
Tax received/(paid) 96 (197)
Net cash generated from operating activities 2,311 1,225
Cash flow from investing activities
Purchase of property, plant and equipment (147) (899)
Proceeds from sale of property, plant and equipment 22 15
Intangible asset expenditure (388) (184)
Interest received 26 4
Net cash (used in) investing activities (487) (1,064)
Cash flow from financing activities
Proceeds from bank loan - 6,000
Repayment of bank loan (2,000) (1,000)
Repayment of other loan - (910)
Drawdown/(repayment) of invoice finance 81 (476)
Repayment of lease liabilities (1,036) (825)
Dividends paid (260) -
Net cash (used in)/generated financing activities (3,215) 2,789
Net (decrease)/increase in cash (1,391) 2,950
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of year 9,565 6,625
Exchange gains on euro bank accounts (7) (10)
Cash and cash equivalents at end of year 8,167 9,565
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these preliminary results.
NOTES TO THE PRELIMINARY ANNOUNCEMENT
1. BASIS OF PREPARATION
The financial information set out in this announcement does not comprise the
Company's statutory accounts for the years ended 31 December 2021 or 31
December 2020.
The financial information has been extracted from the statutory accounts of
the Company for the years ended 31 December 2021 and 31 December 2020. The
auditors reported on those accounts; their reports were unqualified.
The statutory accounts for the year ended 31 December 2020 have been delivered
to the Registrar of Companies, whereas those for the year ended 31 December
2021 will be delivered to the Registrar of Companies following the Company's
Annual General Meeting.
While the financial information included in this preliminary announcement has
been prepared in accordance with the recognition and measurement criteria of
International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRSs), this announcement does
not itself contain sufficient information to comply with IFRSs. The Company
expects to publish full financial statements that comply with IFRSs in June
2022.
These policies have been consistently applied to all years presented, unless
otherwise stated.
2. SEGMENT INFORMATION
The Group is organised into three main operating segments: Professional
& Financial Services (PFS), Stock & Inventory Systems & Services
(SISS) and Other.
The segment results for the year ended 31 December 2021 are as follows:
PFS SISS Other Group
£'000 £'000 £'000 £'000
Total gross segment sales 43,882 17,480 3,454 64,816
Inter-segment sales (110) - (3,454) (3,564)
Revenue 43,772 17,480 - 61,252
Operating profit/(loss) 7,565 (2,371) - 5,194
Finance costs (843) (239) (221) (1,303)
Profit/(loss) before tax 6,722 (2,610) (221) 3,891
Taxation (316)
Profit for the year after tax 3,575
The segment results for the year ended 31 December 2020 are as follows:
PFS SISS Other Group
£'000 £'000 £'000 £'000
Total gross segment sales 26,320 16,014 3,123 45,457
Inter-segment sales (110) - (3,123) (3,233)
Revenue 26,210 16,014 - 42,224
Operating loss (1,863) (3,164) - (5,027)
Finance costs (824) (227) (261) (1,312)
Loss before tax (2,687) (3,391) (261) (6,339)
Taxation 1,277
Loss for the year after tax (5,062)
Revenue is allocated below based on the entity's country of domicile.
2021 2020
£'000 £'000
Revenue
Europe 61,202 42,174
Rest of the World 50 50
61,252 42,224
3. OTHER INCOME - GOVERNMENT GRANTS
The Group has benefited from the Government support due to the Covid-19
business disruption, utilising the furlough scheme from its commencement which
has provided financial assistance towards employee salaries in 2021. During
2021, £2,592,000 (2020: £8,182,000) Government grants have been recognised
in the Consolidated Income Statement, under the category Other income -
government grants.
4. RESTRUCTURING COSTS
2021 2020
£'000 £'000
Restructuring costs - 672
- 672
During the year, the Group incurred restructuring costs of £nil (2020:
£672,000), including £nil (2020: £628,000) of employee related termination
costs.
5. DIVIDENDS
A dividend in respect of the year ended 31 December 2021 of 2.00p per share
(2020: 0.00p), amounting to a total dividend of £520,000 (2020: £nil) is to
be proposed at the Annual General Meeting on 15 June 2022.
In the year the Group paid an interim dividend of 1.00p per share (2020:
0.00p) totalling £260,000 (2020: £nil).
6. EARNINGS PER SHARE
Basic earnings per share is calculated by dividing the profit attributable to
equity holders of the Company by the weighted average number of ordinary
shares in issue during the year, which excludes the shares held in the
Employee Share Ownership Plan (ESOP) trust.
2021 2020
£'000 £'000
Profit/(loss) attributable to equity holders of the Company 3,575 (5,062)
Thousands Thousands
Weighted average number of ordinary shares in issue 26,071 26,220
Adjustment for share options 729 843
Weighted average number of ordinary shares for diluted earnings per share 26,800 27,063
Pence Pence
Basic earnings per share 13.71 (19.32)
Diluted earnings per share 13.34 (19.32)
7. NOTES TO THE CASH FLOW STATEMENT
Cash generated from operations 2021 2020
£'000 £'000
Profit/(loss) for the year after tax 3,575 (5,062)
Adjustments for:
Taxation 316 (1,277)
Finance costs 1,303 1,096
Interest received - -
Dividends received - -
Depreciation 1,599 1,818
Amortisation of intangible assets 383 390
Impairment of investments in subsidiaries - -
Profit on sale of property, plant and equipment (14) (5)
Increase in provisions 291 328
Payments to ESOT (175) -
Foreign currency translation 143 45
Share option charge 62 46
Movement in retirement benefit obligation (168) (143)
Movement in non-current other receivables (292) (362)
Movement in working capital:
Decrease in inventories 9 11
(Increase)/decrease in trade and other receivables (1,878) 4,290
(Decrease)/increase in trade and other payables (1,957) 1,328
Cash generated from operations 3,197 2,503
8. POST BALANCE SHEET EVENT
On 24 February 2022, Russian military forces entered Ukraine. We confirm that
we have since carried out an assessment of the potential impact of this
military conflict on the trading activities of each subsidiary in the Group,
including the impact of mitigation measures and uncertainties. The precise
impacts on our trading outlook for 2022 and longer term remain uncertain and
may remain so as long as the war continues, although to the extent that any
impact arises or has already arisen, we would currently anticipate that the
most likely impact will be on those operations within our Professional and
Financial Services Division where the pace and progress of transactions may be
affected by ongoing war in the region. In the event of military conflict in
Ukraine extending beyond those country borders and into central and Eastern
Europe, all of our businesses - both in the UK and Internationally - are not
immune to the direct and indirect macro-economic consequences of war in any
country or continent in which we operate.
Report and Accounts
Copies of the 2021 Annual Report and Accounts will be posted to shareholders
in May. Further copies may be obtained by contacting the Company Secretary
at the registered office. Alternatively, the 2021 Annual Report and Accounts
will be available to download from the investors section on the Company's
website www.christiegroup.com
Key dates
The Annual General Meeting of the Company is scheduled to take place at
10.00am on Wednesday 15(th) June 2022 at Whitefriars House, 6 Carmelite
Street, London, EC4Y 0BS.
Group Companies
Professional & Financial Services
Christie & Co
Christie & Co is the leading specialist firm providing business intelligence in the hospitality, leisure, healthcare, medical, childcare & education and retail sectors. A leader in its specialist markets, it employs the largest team of sector experts in the UK & Europe providing professional agency, valuation and consultancy services.
www.christie.com (http://www.christie.com)
Christie Finance
Christie Finance has 40 years' experience in financing businesses in the hospitality, leisure, healthcare, medical, childcare & education, retail and medical sectors. Christie Finance prides itself on its speed of response to client opportunities and its strong relationships with finance providers.
www.christiefinance.com (http://www.christiefinance.com)
Christie Insurance
Christie Insurance has over 40 years' experience arranging business insurance in the hospitality, leisure, healthcare, medical, childcare & education and retail sectors. It delivers and exceeds clients' expectations in terms of the cost of their insurance and the breadth of its cover.
www.christieinsurance.com (http://www.christieinsurance.com)
Pinders
Pinders is the UK's leading specialist business appraisal, valuation and
consultancy company, providing professional services to the licensed, leisure,
retail and care sectors, and also the commercial and corporate business
sectors. Its Building Consultancy Division offers a full range of project
management, building monitoring and building surveying services. Pinders staff
use business analysis and surveying skills to look at the detail of the
businesses to arrive at accurate assessments of their trading potential and
value.
www.pinders.co.uk (http://www.pinders.co.uk)
Stock & Inventory Systems & Services
Orridge
Orridge is Europe's longest established stocktaking business specialising in all fields of retail stocktaking including high street, warehousing and factory operations, pharmacy and supply chain services. It also has a specialised pharmacy division providing valuation and stocktaking services. Orridge prides itself in its ability to deliver high-quality management information to its clients effectively and conveniently.
www.orridge.eu (http://www.orridge.eu)
Venners
Venners is the leading supplier of stocktaking, inventory, consultancy &
compliance services and related stock management systems to the hospitality
sector. Consultancy & compliance services include control audits and live
event stock taking. Bespoke software and systems enable real-time management
reporting to customers using the best available technologies. Venners is the
largest and longest established stock audit company in the sector in the UK.
www.venners.com (http://www.venners.com)
Vennersys
Vennersys operates in the UK and deliveries online Cloud-based ticketing sales
and admission Systems to visitor attractions such as historic houses and
estates, museums, zoos, safari parks, aquaria and cinemas. It has over 25
years' experience delivering purpose-designed solutions for clients'
ticketing, admissions, EPoS and food and beverages sales requirements.
www.vennersys.co.uk (http://www.vennersys.co.uk)
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