Picture of Craneware logo

CRW Craneware News Story

0.000.00%
gb flag iconLast trade - 00:00
TechnologyAdventurousMid CapHigh Flyer

REG - Craneware plc - Half-year Report




 



RNS Number : 7600E
Craneware plc
03 March 2020
 

Craneware plc

("Craneware", "the Group" or the "Company")

 

Interim Results

 

3 March 2020 - Craneware (AIM: CRW.L), the market leader in Value Cycle software solutions for the US healthcare market, announces its unaudited results for the six months ended 31 December 2019.

 

Financial Highlights (US dollars)

 

·      Revenue of $35.9m (H1 2019: $35.9m)

·      Adjusted EBITDA1 increased 10% to $12.7m (H1 2019: $11.6m)

·      Profit before tax increased 3% to $9.6m (H1 2019: $9.3m)

·      Adjusted basic EPS2 increased 3% to 31.1 cents per share (H1 2019: 30.2 cents per share)

·      Cash position of $45.0m (H1 2019: $38.7m)

·      Interim dividend increased 5% to 11.5p per share (H1 2019: 11p per share)

 

1.     Adjusted EBITDA refers to earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, amortisation, share based payments and acquisition and share transaction related costs.

2.     Adjusted Earnings per share (EPS) calculations allow for the tax adjusted acquisition costs and share related transactions together with amortisation on acquired intangible assets

 

Operational Highlights

 

·      Strong growth in New Sales, up over 30% compared to H1 2019, 90% of which was expansion sales to existing customers, including increasing product cross sell and sales to new hospitals joining existing healthcare network customers

·      Our new cloud based Trisus solutions accounted for c. 10% of new sales (H1 2019: 6%)

·      Increase in total value of renewals and high number of customer renewals, although renewal statistics dipped to 73% owing to the loss of one customer.

·      Strong sales activity and opportunities across all classes of hospital providers

·    Increased investment in R&D to $10.3m (H1 2019: $9.1m), to take advantage of the growing market opportunity. Capitalisation decreased to $4.0m (H1 2019: $4.4m)

 

Outlook

 

·      Strong sales pipeline for the current financial year

·      As at end of February 2020, total visible revenues of $72.2m for the current financial year and $200.8m for the three-year period to June 2022 (H1 2019 same three year period: $190.0m)  

·      Board confident in outlook for the full year and beyond, expectations remain unchanged

 

Keith Neilson, CEO of Craneware plc commented,

 

"We are pleased to report on a positive sales performance in the first half of the financial year, with new sales over 30% ahead of the first half in the prior year, reflecting the considerable amount of activity that has taken place across the business since the summer. Whilst this increase will take time to flow through into our reported financials, we are confident that momentum is now back in the business and the size of the opportunity ahead of us remains intact.

 

"Importantly, the level of Trisus sales grew in the half, with sales of all four of our current Trisus solutions and the pipeline for these products increasing. The transition of our existing product suite onto the Trisus platform is progressing and paves the way for long-term growth, as we provide our customers with the data-driven solutions they require to address the move to value-based care.

 

"The positive sales performance in the first half has continued to date, and our pipeline continues to grow, underpinned by the ongoing transition of the US healthcare market to value-based care. The Board's expectations for the full year remain unchanged and we look forward to a return to increased rates of growth in future years. We are focused on execution and with strong operating margins, healthy cash balances and a growing sales pipeline, we continue to be excited by the opportunity ahead." 

 

 

 

 

For further information, please contact:

 

 Craneware plc

Peel Hunt        

Investec Bank

Alma

 

(NOMAD & Joint Broker)

(Joint Broker)

(Financial PR)

+44 (0)131 550 3100

+44 (0)20 7418 8900

+44 (0)20 7597 5970

+44 (0)203 405 0205

Keith Neilson, CEO

Dan Webster

Patrick Robb

Caroline Forde

Craig Preston, CFO

George Sellar

Henry Reast

Hilary Buchanan

 

Andrew Clark

Sebastian Lawrence

Helena Bogle

 

 

 

About Craneware

 

Craneware (AIM: CRW.L), the leader in automated value cycle solutions, collaborates with U.S. healthcare providers to plan, execute and monitor value-based economic performance.

 

Founded in 1999, Craneware is headquartered in Edinburgh, Scotland with offices in Atlanta and Pittsburgh employing over 350 staff. Craneware's value cycle management software suite includes charge capture, strategic pricing, patient engagement, claims analytics, revenue recovery and retention, and cost and margin intelligence solutions.

 

Learn more at www.craneware.com.

 

 

 

 

Chairman's Statement

 

In this, my first report as Chairman of Craneware, I am pleased to provide investors with an update on the progress being made across the business. It is evident to me that I have joined a company with a clear vision and growth strategy, innovative product offering and supportive and extensive customer base.

 

The launch of three new solutions in the Spring last year caused a temporary hiatus in new sales, however we have seen positive signs that this disruption is behind us and there is a renewed sense of focus across the business. Importantly, the next-generation cloud-based platform on which these solutions sit, Trisus, is proving to be an effective platform which allows our customers to manage financial operations in their hospitals in this new era of value-based care. Trisus provides insights not previously available on the true cost of each individual episode of care, enabling hospital management teams to implement transparent and defensible pricing strategies and provide improved levels of care at sustainable operating margins.

New Sales are over 30% ahead of the comparable period in the prior year, reflecting the considerable amount of activity that has taken place across the business. Encouragingly, 90% of New Sales were expansion sales to existing customers, including increasing product cross sell and sales to new hospitals joining existing healthcare network customers, demonstrating the strength of the product set and depth of customer relationships.

This sales improvement has been driven by an increased number of contracts being secured from delayed H2 FY19 backlog, as well as new opportunities. Trisus sales grew to approximately 10% of New Sales (H1 2019: 6%), demonstrating the potential of these solutions to be catalysts for increased growth rates in the future.

 

In accordance with the Company's revenue recognition policy, the majority of the revenue resulting from both new sales and contract renewals will be recognised over future periods, providing the Group with long term visibility of revenue under contract.

 

Revenue was broadly the same as the first half of the prior year at $35.9m (H1 FY19: $35.8m), in line with management expectations for this stage in the year, due to the lower level of sales in the prior year impacting the level of revenue available to be recognised as we entered the current year. Adjusted EBITDA increased 10% to $12.7m (H1 FY19: $11.6m).

 

The Group maintains healthy cash reserves of $45m (H1 2019: $38.7m), after returning $5.3m to our shareholders through dividends and investing $10.3m (H1 2019: $9.1m) in R&D. Capitalised R&D in the period reduced to $4.0m from $4.4m in the prior period. Positive operating cash conversion combined with the normal seasonal pattern in collections and outflows, has seen operating cash conversion over the 12 months to 31 December 2019 of over 100% and the Board expects this trend to continue.

 

The Company has access to a further funding facility from the Bank of Scotland of up to $50m and the Board continues to investigate potential acquisition opportunities, in line with our stated strategy.

 

After the end of the period, I was delighted to welcome two further new Board members, Alistair Erskine and David Kemp, who joined the Board from 24 February 2020 and 1 March 2020 respectively as Independent Non-Executive Directors.  Alistair has held a number of senior positions within the US healthcare sector and is currently the Chief Digital Health Officer of Partners HealthCare, a US not-for-profit healthcare system that is a leader in the application of clinical information technology to care delivery. David is currently CFO of John Wood Group plc, the FTSE 250 listed global project management consulting business.  Both bring significant experience and expertise to the Board and I look forward to working with them as we work to fulfil our vision of profoundly impacting healthcare.

 

The positive sales performance in the period, supportive market environment and continued sales momentum mean the Board's expectations for the outturn of the year remain unchanged.

 

Will Whitehorn

Chairman

2 March 2020

 

 

Strategic Report

 

We are pleased with both the significant amount of operational progress that has been achieved in the period, together with the momentum building for our newly launched cloud-based product suite. The structure of the business has been refreshed, to help agility, foster closer customer relationships and importantly to continue innovation.

 

Of note in the period was the attainment of HITRUST Common Security Framework Certification for all Trisus solutions. HITRUST certification ensures our hospital providers know that our solutions provide them an integrated approach that is aligned, maintained and comprehensive to support their information risk management and compliance objectives. This certification project was significant and demonstrates our commitment to protect our customers' sensitive data, further differentiating our platform from other non-certified point solutions.

 

Healthcare providers' requirements for greater insight into cost, margin and the value being derived is as high, if not higher, than ever. The Trisus platform differentiates us from other healthcare solutions vendors, providing substantial benefits for our customers and making a meaningful impact on the value of healthcare delivered by our healthcare providers. Early adopters of the platform are deriving extensive improvements in the financial effectiveness of their hospitals and we anticipate these results will continue to drive customer demand for Craneware solutions in the future.

 

We continue to make progress in all areas of our product roadmap: the ongoing expansion and development of our cloud-based Trisus Enterprise Value Platform; the continued evolution and support of our existing market-leading product suite as we migrate to Trisus; and the development of new products to sit upon the Trisus platform. All of these solutions will increase our addressable market in the key areas of the Value Cycle and positively impact our customers' ability to deliver quality care to their communities.

 

We have a significant and growing sales pipeline, which the team is focused on converting.  We have been pleased by the strong New Sales performance in the period and have seen early indications that sales cycles are shortening, confirmed by the continued sales momentum witnessed to date. The fundamentals of the business are strong, and while we continuously look to optimise our performance, our opportunity is significant.

 

Market - the move to value-based care continues at pace

 

The US healthcare market continues to transition from a fee-for-service reimbursement model, towards value-based care, aiming to redress the current imbalance in the US between spend and clinical outcomes. The US has the highest spend per capita on healthcare but ranks only 37th in the world for clinical outcomes.

 

Healthcare providers across the US are being asked by the government and the insurance companies to justify the care they provide or risk the withholding of payment. The proportion of value-based care payments is increasing each month, as the industry transitions to this new reimbursement model and it is clear that value-based care is here for the long-term.

 

Meanwhile healthcare consumers are expecting greater transparency on costs and the ability to comparison shop for the services they require, with new legislation set to be introduced in January 2021 which will mandate pricing visibility.

 

As a result of these shifting market dynamics, US hospital management teams require a greater level of insight than ever before into their costs and the value being derived from the care they provide. They need to understand where their organisations are at financial risk, so that they can protect their margins, to ensure they are in a position to continue to deliver quality care to their communities both now and in the future. 

 

The ultimate success of value-based care will be reliant on the providers having access to granular data and insightful analytics to identify opportunities to deliver better value. This is a large, growing opportunity for Craneware given the breadth of our customer base, depth of healthcare data contained within our solutions and our specialism in helping hospitals better understand and manage revenue and cost through data-driven solutions.

 

Re-organisation of the product function to improve agility and innovation

 

As Craneware enjoys continued success and growth, and pushes towards our longer-term vision and strategy, it is important that we recognise the continued need to focus on execution of our short and medium terms plans. To achieve this, we have evolved our organisational design for our product areas to focus our efforts. 

 

The business now has four functional solution divisions for developing and enhancing product ("Business Functions"), each with defined objectives, talented teams and clear KPIs. The aim of this evolution is to promote innovation, operational excellence and customer intimacy in equal measure, while providing us with the structure to continue to scale.

 

The four Business Functions are: Platform & Innovation; Revenue Intelligence; Integrated Services Intelligence and Margin & Operational Intelligence (formerly Trisus Healthcare Intelligence), each reporting into a Product Board.

 

Product management, user interface development, user experience architecture, engineering and quality assurance resources have all been aligned to sit within each of these business functions.  Having these resources report directly into the business functions and also maintain an "Agile Guild" like structure allows us to benefit from enhanced discovery activities and deliver products to our customers quicker, but maintain the customer and company benefits of a single over-arching platform supplying a common look and feel, rapid technology choice decisions and innovation.  

 

The leaders of these cross-functional, dedicated core teams come together on our new Product Board which will allow for these self-sufficient Business Functions, with end-to-end product delivery responsibility, to work in a unified manner.

 

The common goal of the Product Board is a nimble structure enabling us to deliver state of the art solutions that delight our customers. 

 

Platform & Innovation

 

The Platform & Innovation team is responsible for delivering the Trisus platform backbone including the user experience and the regulatory data that is so important to our customers.

 

Within the Platform & Innovation business function sits our "Craneware Lab", where we have a team evaluating the data within Trisus alongside the evolving market landscape, using artificial intelligence and machine learning tools, to develop proof of concepts for future product development. Early POC's are already being utilised by the business functions in product enhancements and new product modules that will be commercialised.

 

Data Interoperability is a new team within this Business Function, responsible for all the ingestion of our data into our "data lake" and serving up that data to our customers and business functions in a secure and efficient manner for their use.

 

Revenue Intelligence

 

The Revenue Intelligence business function takes our Revenue Capture, Revenue Integrity and Net Patient Revenue products and combines them into one consolidated area. This business unit has the dual track of enhancing existing product and innovating for the future.

 

Enhancements to Chargemaster Toolkit and Trisus Claims Informatics and the early prototypes of Trisus Chargemaster are underway. New products in the Net Patient Revenue portfolio will be launched later this year.

 

The product development work and the strong sales performance for our core product, Chargemaster Toolkit, in the period demonstrate that this business function, despite the inherent challenges involved, is now achieving the balance between innovation and consolidation.

 

 

Integrated Services Intelligence

 

The Integrated Services Intelligence function is responsible for our Supply Chain and Pharmacy Products. With major enhancements to the Pharmacy ChargeLink product, Trisus Supplies and early work on the new Trisus Pharmacy continuing, this team has embraced the innovation culture and is led by an industry expert from the Pharmacy world, ensuring products are not only visionary but will meet our customers' needs of the future, returning them significant ROI in these high cost hospital areas. This effective "margin injection" can be utilised by the facility to provide better outcomes for all and is the genesis for the positive change we are seeing within Pharmacy & Supplies professionals akin to that we saw when revenue integrity professionals took charge of the revenue cycle with Automated Chargemaster tools.

 

Margin & Operational Intelligence

 

The Margin & Operational Intelligence business function encompasses our healthcare analytics platform, which integrates clinical, financial and operational patient information to determine the actual cost of patient care, at an individual diagnosis level. Our belief is that only by understanding granular detail in cost and revenue, can a hospital have a truly sustainable financial future.

 

We are delighted to have secured further multi-year sales of Trisus Healthcare Intelligence. As we continue to add customers to the roster of this business function, we can deliver increasingly sophisticated data insights utilising peer level data, and therefore our ability to impact hospital operations becomes significantly more effective with each customer.  

 

Strategy

 

Innovation to profoundly impact US healthcare operations which will drive demand and expand our addressable market

 

Our strategy is to continue to expand our product [suite] coverage of the Value Cycle, having initially built on our established market-leading position in revenue cycle solutions, to delight our customers. The Value Cycle describes a process of improving the value of healthcare and achieving substantially better healthcare outcomes by analysing a hospital's operations and optimising them throughout the full lifecycle of managing a population of covered lives.  It includes traditional revenue components such as pricing, charge capture, claims performance and compliance, but also addresses additional dimensions, such as: quality of care, patient satisfaction and engagement, clinical outcomes, operational efficiency, cost and risk management.

 

We will continue to follow a 'land and expand' customer strategy. We will maximise the benefits our products deliver to our customers, combined with the breadth of this product suite and depth of our long-term product vision to bring new customers into the Group, at increasing average contract sizes, while seeking opportunities to sell additional products to our existing customer base. In the long-term, we believe we have the opportunity to increase our average revenue per customer over 10x through much broader adoption of the Trisus platform tied directly to an ongoing and increasing ROI model for our customers. Each of our products has the ability to pay for the entire customers contract cost in the first year alone. Our customers' success will be our success.

 

A focus of the new products we are developing is to create 'green field' opportunities, where there is little or no existing competition due to novel combinations of multiple products and by delivering products that, historically due to the complexity of healthcare and lack of reliable data, could not be delivered in the healthcare space. The breadth of our offering, combined with over 20 years of data within a secure sophisticated cloud platform, provides us with a strong competitive position across our target product areas.

 

Potential to augment organic growth through acquisitions

 

The Board continues to assess acquisition opportunities to complement the Group's organic growth strategy and increase its product coverage of the Value Cycle. The Board adheres to rigorous criteria to evaluate acquisition opportunities, including quality of earnings, customer relationships, strategic fit and product offering. In addition to the Group's cash reserves, an undrawn $50 million funding facility provides the Group with available resources to carry out strategic acquisitions if, and when, these criteria are met. Areas for consideration include competitors who bring market share; businesses with complementary data sources or products; and international companies with complementary product suites of benefit to our customers, who do not have a foothold in the US.

 

Sales and Marketing

 

The strategies implemented at the end of the previous year, such as more standardised legal frameworks and Service Level Agreements for our cloud-based solutions, have improved our contracting processes as we have progressed through the first half of the year and into the second half. We continued to sign contracts with hospitals of all sizes, and across the breadth of our product suite, and the sales pipeline continues to grow.

 

New Sales increased 30% year over year, and of this figure, expansion sales to existing customers represented 90%, demonstrating our ability to continue to cross sell further solutions, driven by compelling ROIs for our customers.

 

Sales of Trisus products represented approximately 10% of our enlarged New Sales in the period, increasing from 6% in the first half of the prior year.

 

An increased number of hospitals renewed their contracts during the period, reflecting a 57% increase by dollar value on the comparable half year period, however as previously reported, we lost a relatively large customer in the period. Due to various factors, including successive management team churn at the customer, the contract was not renewed at its latest renewal point. As a result, our KPI "customer renewals by dollar value" when analysed for the six-month period was 73%, below our historic annual range of 85% - 115%. A loss of a customer in the first half of the year will always, mathematically, have a larger impact on this KPI than in the second half, and we therefore expect this figure to return to within our normal historical range over a 12 month period.

 

Financial Review

 

Following the trading update provided on 23 January 2020, we are pleased to confirm an increase in adjusted EBITDA of 10% to $12.7m (7% pre IFRS 16 impact) (H1 2019: $11.6m) with revenues remaining flat at $35.9m (H1 2019: $35.9m) in the six months period to 31 December 2019.

 

During this period, we saw over 30% increase in new sales (being contracts written with new hospital customers or existing customers purchasing additional products) providing positive indications that the disruptions caused by the launch of three new Trisus solutions in the prior year are behind us. However, our prudent approach to revenue recognition, through our Annuity SaaS business model (described below), means the vast majority of the revenue from these New Sales will only be recognised in future periods. 

 

We have continued to invest throughout the period. Prior year marketing costs that related to our initiatives and product launches in that year did not re-occur in this period, which has enabled us to make additional investment across the business, whilst still delivering the 10% increase in adjusted EBITDA.  Investment in R&D increased 13% to $10.3m (H1 2019: $9.1m). Of this investment $4.0m (H1 2019: $4.4m) relates to new product development and enhancements and as such has been capitalised, the balance $6.3m (H1 2019: $4.7m) has been expensed as incurred. 

 

Once a new product or enhancement is made generally available to the market, we begin to amortise the relevant previously capitalised cost. This amortisation has to be charged over the 'useful life' of the associated Intellectual Property. In assessing the useful life, we must continually apply careful judgement based on past experience, advances in product development and also best practice.  During the period, we have re-assessed the estimated useful life of our Intellectual Property (more specifically the Trisus enterprise suite of products), to be between 5 and 10 years (H1 2019: 5 years).  As this is a change in an accounting estimate, it has been applied on a prospective basis.  As a result of this change the total amortisation charge in the period is $1.4m (H1 2019: $1.3m).

 

In the period, the accounting standard IFRS 16 Leases came into effect and has been adopted by the Group (using the modified retrospective application approach).  Under this approach, the impact of applying the standard has been reflected as an adjustment to the opening balance of retained earnings and, as such, the prior period comparatives have not been restated. Full details are provided in the notes to the Financial Statements, however in summary, IFRS 16 requires the recognition of a right of use asset and corresponding lease liability. At transition, leases previously classified as operating leases (under IAS 17) have been measured at the present value of the remaining lease payments, discounted at an incremental borrowing rate. As a result of adopting IFRS 16, during the period, the Group charged $458,489 of depreciation and $50,210 of interest costs against profit.  Under IAS 17, a charge of $385,581 would have been made to operating expenses.

 

Adjusted earnings per share has increased 3% to 31.1 cents per share (H1 2019:  30.2 cents per share).

 

We continue to maintain healthy cash reserves, which at the period end were $45.0m (H1 2019: $38.7m). We target operating cash conversion of 100% of adjusted EBITDA to operating cash over a 12-month period, and we have exceeded this target the 12 months to 31 December 2019.  From our cash reserves, we have returned $5.3m to our shareholders through dividends and made the investments in R&D detailed above.

 

The Group's Annuity SaaS business model and associated revenue recognition policy is designed to focus on the long-term growth and stability of the Group.  The revenue element of new sales related to software licenses, where performance obligations are met over time, results in revenue being recognised over the period the license is provided to the customer (which for a new hospital sale is an average of over four years).  In addition, other revenue generated through new sales relates to consulting services and training which are also satisfied over time as the service is provided or the project is delivered.

 

We have previously identified that there are a number of benefits to this revenue recognition model including high levels of cash conversion and high levels of future years' revenue visibility. To demonstrate the high levels of visible revenue generated the Group reports it's 'Three Year Visible Revenue KPI'. This KPI demonstrates the underlying annuity revenue stream that builds as a result of sales and these revenue recognition policies.

 

At the date of this report, the Total visible revenue for the three year period 1 July 2019 to 30 June 2022 is $200.8m from $190.0m for the same three year period as at 31 December 2018.  Of this, $166.6m relates to 'Revenue under Contract', $33.7m 'Renewal Revenue' and $0.5m of 'Other Recurring Revenue'.  'Revenue under Contract', relates to revenues that are supported by ongoing underlying contracts. 'Renewal Revenue' relates to the amount of revenue which is potentially available for renewal and will be recognised in that fiscal year provided the underlying contracts are renewed.  As we sign the renewal contracts, the aggregated related revenue for the new multi-year term moves from 'renewal revenues' to 'revenue under contract'. The final element is 'Other Recurring Revenue, this relates to revenue that is not subject to long term contracts, which can be billable 'per transaction' or a set monthly amount and is usually invoiced on a monthly basis, however it is reasonable to expect it to be recurring in nature.

 

In producing this KPI, we show our 'Renewal Revenues' at 100% of dollar value.  To ensure this assumption is valid, we track and publish our 'Renewal Rate by dollar value' KPI.  This KPI measures the average value of customers renewing in the relevant year (including cross sell and upsell to those renewing customers) and we normally expect this KPI to fluctuate within an annual range of 85% to 115% whilst maintaining a long term average of over 100%.  In the current period, the unfortunate loss of a larger customer has had a disproportionate impact on this KPI at this interim point of the fiscal year.  As a result, the 'Renewal Rate by dollar value' KPI is currently 73%.  The dollar impact of this renewal rate has been fully reflected in the $200.8m but as we expect this KPI to return to its historical range over the course of the full year, we have continued to assume 100% of dollar value in regards to future 'Renewal Revenues'.   

 

These high levels of visible revenue provide additional certainty in making our investment decisions and we continue to invest for the future growth of the Group, whilst at all times ensuring the efficiency of all expenditures.  This has contributed to our adjusted EBITDA margin, which for the period is 35%. The adjustments we make to both EBITDA and EPS are those normally expected and include, in the prior period, costs related to acquisition and share activity in that period.

 

We continue to report the results (and hold the cash reserves) of the Group in US Dollars, whilst having approximately twenty five percent of our costs, mainly our UK employees and UK purchases, denominated in Sterling. The average exchange rate for the Company during the reporting period was $1.26/£1which compares to $1.30/£1 in the corresponding period last year.

 

 

Dividend

 

The Board has resolved to pay an interim dividend of 11.5p (15.1 cents) per ordinary share on 16 April 2020 to those shareholders on the register as at 20 March 2020 (FY19 Interim dividend 11.0p). The ex-dividend date is 19 March 2020.

 

The interim dividend of 11.5p per share is capable of being paid in US dollars subject to a shareholder having registered to receive their dividend in US dollars under the Company's Dividend Currency Election, or who has registered to do so by the close of business on 20 March 2020. The exact amount to be paid will be calculated by reference to the exchange rate to be announced on 20 March 2020. The interim dividend referred to above in US dollars of 15.1 cents is given as an example only using the Balance Sheet date exchange rate of $1.31/£1 and may differ from that finally announced.

 

Update to the AGM

 

Following our Annual General Meeting on 12 November 2019, we announced that all resolutions were passed with an over 71% majority, however there were three resolutions that had received a number of votes against.  As such, we committed to consult with our shareholders to more fully understand the reasons for these votes against and to carefully reflect on the feedback we received.

 

We understand the voting in relation to resolution 6 (re-appointment of Colleen Blye) and resolution 9 (re-appointment of PriceWaterhouse Coopers LLP as auditors) was specifically in relation to perceived threats to auditor independence, primarily due to the level of non-audit fees as compared to the level of the audit fees.  The votes against Ms. Blye, being, as she chairs the audit committee.  The level of non-audit fees was the result of the volume of tax compliance work relating to US State filings with each individual filing attracting a low individual fee.  Whilst the Board did not believe this in anyway impaired the auditors' independence, we have noted the views of our shareholders and in the current year have engaged a different tax advisor to assist with this compliance work. We also note that PriceWaterhouseCoopers LLP have, as part of their independence requirements, rotated and appointed a new lead audit partner for the current year's audit.

 

We understand the voting in relation to resolution 3 (re-appointment of Ron Verni) related to Mr. Verni having served on the Board for over 9 years, and whilst the Board had deemed him independent through his actions, this was not in keeping with the UK Corporate Governance Code.  As a result, the ratio of Independent Non-executives to executives on the Board was not in keeping with the Code requirements. Mr. Verni has decided to not seek re-election at the Company's next AGM and, as we announced on 24 February 2020, we have appointed two further Independent Non-executives to the Craneware Board.  Mr. Verni will work with these new directors and the Board throughout this transition period.

 

Outlook

 

We are pleased with the positive sales performance in the first half of the financial year, with new sales over 30% ahead of the first half in the prior year, reflecting the considerable amount of activity that has taken place across the business since the summer. Whilst this increase will take time to flow through into our reported financials, we are confident that momentum is now back in the business and the size of the opportunity ahead of us remains intact.

 

Importantly, the level of Trisus sales grew in the half, with sales of all four of our current Trisus solutions and the pipeline for these products increasing. The transition of our existing product suite onto the Trisus platform is progressing and paves the way for long term growth, as we provide our customers with the data-driven solutions they require to address the move to value-based care.

 

The positive sales performance in the first half has continued to date, and our pipeline continues to grow, underpinned by the ongoing transition of the US healthcare market to value-based care. The Board's expectations for the full year remain unchanged and we look forward to a return to increased rates of growth in future years. We are focused on execution and with strong operating margins, healthy cash balances and a growing sales pipeline, we continue to be excited by the opportunity ahead.

 

Keith Neilson
Chief Executive Officer
2 March 2020

Craig Preston
Chief Financial Officer
2 March 2020

 

 

Craneware plc

Interim Results FY20

Consolidated Statement of Comprehensive Income

 

 

 

H1 2020

H1 2019

FY 2019

 

Notes

$'000

$'000

$'000

 

 

 

 

 

Revenue

 

35,866

35,853

71,401

Cost of sales

 

(2,043)

(2,292)

(4,394)

Gross profit

 

33,823

33,561

67,007

Net operating expenses

 

(24,337)

(24,376)

(49,003)

Operating profit

 

9,486

9,185

18,004

 

 

 

 

 

Analysed as:

 

 

 

 

Adjusted EBITDA1

 

12,687

11,578

23,996

Share-based payments

 

(1,070)

(740)

(1,296)

Depreciation of plant and equipment

 

(285)

(308)

(603)

Depreciation of leased properties

 

(458)

-

-

Exceptional aborted acquisition costs2

 

-

-

(1,168)

Amortisation of intangible assets

 

(1,388)

(1,345)

(2,925)

 

 

 

 

 

Finance income

 

117

114

318

Profit before taxation

 

9,603

9,299

18,322

Tax charge on profit on ordinary activities

 

(1,629)

(1,590)

(3,337)

Profit for the period attributable to owners of the parent

 

7,974

7,709

14,985

Other comprehensive income

 

 

 

 

Items that may be reclassified subsequently to profit or loss

 

 

 

 

Currency Translation Reserve movement

 

(34)

22

28

Total items that may be reclassified subsequently to profit or loss

 

(34)

22

28

Total comprehensive income attributable to owners of the parent

 

7,940

7,731

15,013

 

 

 

 

 

1Adjusted EBITDA refers to earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, amortisation, exceptional items and share based payments.

2 Exceptional items relate to legal and professional fees associated with an aborted potential acquisition.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Earnings per share for the period attributable to equity holders

 

 

 - Basic ($ per share)

 - *Adjusted Basic ($ per share)3

                          

1a

1a

 

 

0.297

0.311

 

0.289

0.302

 

0.561

0.633

 

 - Diluted ($ per share)                    

 - *Adjusted Diluted ($ per share)3       

1b

1b

0.293

0.307

0.283

0.296

0.550

0.620

 

 

 

 

 

             

3 Adjusted Earnings per share calculations allow for the tax adjusted acquisition costs and share related transactions (if applicable in the year) together with amortisation on acquired intangible assets.

 

 

 

 

Craneware plc

Interim Results FY20

Consolidated Statement of Changes in Equity 

 

 

Share Capital

Share Premium

Capital Redemption Reserve

Other Reserves

Retained Earnings

Total

 

$'000

$'000

$'000

$'000

$'000

$'000

At 1 July 2018

534

19,777

9

2,084

29,242

51,646

Total comprehensive income - profit for the period

-

-

-

-

7,709

7,709

Total other comprehensive income

-

-

-

-

22

22

Transactions with owners

 

 

 

 

 

 

Share-based payments

-

-

-

740

607

1,347

Impact of share options exercised / lapsed

1

244

-

-

-

245

Dividend

-

-

-

-

(4,713)

(4,713)

At 31 December 2018

535

20,021

9

2,824

32,867

56,256

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Total comprehensive income - profit for the period

-

-

-

-

7,276

7,276

Total other comprehensive income

-

-

-

-

6

6

Transactions with owners

 

 

 

 

 

 

Share-based payments

-

-

-

871

(791)

80

Impact of share options exercised / lapsed

-

1

-

(146)

146

1

Dividend

-

-

-

-

(3,784)

(3,784)

At 30 June 2019

535

20,022

9

3,549

35,720

59,835

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Adjustment on initial application of IFRS 16

-

-

-

-

931

931

Total comprehensive income - profit for the period

-

-

-

-

7,974

7,974

Total other comprehensive income

-

-

-

-

(34)

(34)

Transactions with owners

 

 

 

 

 

 

Share-based payments

-

-

-

981

1,079

2,060

Impact of share options exercised / lapsed

1

1,030

-

-

-

1,031

Dividend

-

-

-

-

(5,311)

(5,311)

At 31 December 2019

536

21,052

9

4,530

40,359

66,486

 

 

 

Craneware plc

Interim Results FY20

Consolidated Balance Sheet as at 31 December 2019

 

 

 

H1 2020

H1 2019

FY2019

 

 Notes

$'000

$'000

$'000

ASSETS

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Non-Current Assets

 

 

 

 

Plant and equipment

 

4,392

1,351

1,274

Intangible assets

 

33,237

26,359

30,437

Trade and other receivables

2

4,495

5,253

4,946

Deferred Tax

 

4,439

4,599

3,244

 

 

46,563

37,562

39,901

 

 

 

 

 

Current Assets

 

 

 

 

Trade and other receivables

2

20,999

20,852

18,789

Cash and cash equivalents

 

44,973

38,668

47,611

 

 

65,972

59,520

66,400

 

 

 

 

 

Total Assets

 

112,535

97,082

106,301

 

 

 

 

 

EQUITY AND LIABILITIES

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Non-Current Liabilities

 

 

 

 

Lease liability > 1 year

 

2,573

-

-

 

 

2,573

-

-

 

 

 

 

 

Current Liabilities

 

 

 

 

Deferred income

 

36,568

33,094

37,849

Current tax liabilities

 

137

420

1,085

Trade and other payables

3

6,771

7,312

7,532

 

 

43,476

40,826

46,466

 

 

 

 

 

Total Liabilities

 

46,049

40,826

46,466

 

 

 

 

 

Equity

 

 

 

 

Called up share capital                      

4

536

535

535

Share premium account

 

21,052

20,021

20,022

Capital redemption reserve

 

9

9

9

Other reserves

 

4,530

2,824

3,549

Retained earnings

 

40,359

32,867

35,720

Total Equity

 

66,486

56,256

59,835

 

 

 

 

 

Total Equity and Liabilities

 

112,535

97,082

106,301

 

 

 

Craneware plc

Interim Results FY20

Consolidated Statement of Cash Flow for the six months ended 31 December 2019

 

 

 

H1 2020

H1 2019

FY 2019

 

Notes

$'000

$'000

$'000

 

 

 

 

 

Cash flows from operating activities

 

 

 

 

  Cash generated from operations                              

5

8,978

(3,527)

15,078

  Interest received

 

122

114

318

  Tax paid

 

(2,689)

(1,413)

(1,933)

  Net cash from operating activities

 

6,411

(4,826)

13,463

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cash flows from investing activities

 

 

 

 

  Purchase of plant and equipment

 

(34)

(436)

(654)

  Capitalised intangible assets

 

(4,202)

(4,435)

(9,780)

  Net cash used in investing activities

 

(4,236)

(4,871)

(10,434)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cash flows from financing activities

 

 

 

 

  Dividends paid to company shareholders

 

(5,311)

(4,713)

(8,497)

  Proceeds from issuance of shares

 

942

245

246

  Leased property payments

 

(444)

-

-

  Net cash used in financing activities

 

(4,813)

(4,468)

(8,251)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Net (decrease)/increase in cash and cash equivalents

 

(2,638)

(14,165)

(5,222)

 

 

 

 

 

Cash and cash equivalents at the start of the period

 

47,611

52,833

52,833

 

 

 

 

 

Cash and cash equivalents at the end of the period

 

44,973

38,668

47,611

 

 

Craneware plc

Interim Results FY20

Notes to the Financial Statements

 

1. Earnings per Share

 

 

 

 

 

(a)        Basic

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 period.

 

 

H1 2020

H1 2019

FY 2019

 

 

 

 

Profit attributable to equity holders of the Company ($'000)

7,974

7,709

14,985

 

 

 

 

Weighted average number of ordinary shares in issue (thousands)

26,827

26,682

26,691

 

 

 

 

Basic earnings per share ($ per share)

0.297

0.289

0.561

 

Profit attributable to equity holders of the Company ($'000)

7,974

7,709

14,985

Adjustments1 ($'000)

378

353

1,914

Adjusted Profit attributable to equity holders ($'000)

8,352

8,062

16,899

 

 

 

 

Weighted average number of ordinary shares in issue (thousands)

26,827

26,682

26,691

 

 

 

 

Adjusted Basic earnings per share ($ per share)

0.311

0.302

0.633

 

 

 

 

 

(b)        Diluted

For diluted earnings per share, the weighted average number of ordinary shares calculated above is adjusted to assume conversion of all dilutive potential ordinary shares. The Group has one category of dilutive potential ordinary shares, being those granted to Directors and employees under the share option scheme.

 

 

H1 2020

H1 2019

FY 2019

 

 

 

 

Profit attributable to equity holders of the Company ($'000)

7,974

7,709

14,985

 

 

 

 

Weighted average number of ordinary shares in issue (thousands)

26,827

26,682

26,691

 

 

 

 

Adjustments for: - share options (thousands)

408

561

555

 

 

 

 

Weighted average number of ordinary shares for diluted earnings per share (thousands)

27,235

27,243

27,246

 

 

 

 

Diluted earnings per share ($ per share)

0.293

0.283

0.550

 

 

1 Relate to aborted acquisition costs, share related activities and amortisation of acquired intangibles if applicable in the period.  These adjustments are to focus on what the Group regards as a more reliable indicator of underlying operating performance and are consistent with other similar companies.

 

 

 

 

H1 2020

H1 2019

FY 2019

 

 

 

 

Profit attributable to equity holders of the Company ($'000)

7,974

7,709

14,985

Adjustments1 ($'000)

378

353

1,914

Adjusted Profit attributable to equity holders ($'000)

8,352

8,062

16,899

 

 

 

 

Weighted average number of ordinary shares in issue (thousands)

26,827

26,682

26,691

 

 

 

 

Adjustments for: - share options (thousands)

408

561

555

 

 

 

 

Weighted average number of ordinary shares for diluted earnings per share (thousands)

27,235

27,243

27,246

 

 

 

 

Adjusted Diluted earnings per share ($ per share)

0.307

0.296

0.620

 

 

2. Trade and other receivables

 

 

H1 2020

H1 2019

FY 2019

 

$'000

$'000

$'000

 

 

 

 

Trade Receivables

16,138

16,670

15,415

Less: provision for impairment of trade receivables

(1,321)

(1,172)

(1,246)

Net trade receivables

14,817

15,498

14,169

Other Receivables

2,986

521

308

Prepayments and accrued income

845

2,487

1,924

Deferred Contract Costs

6,846

7,599

7,334

 

25,494

26,105

23,735

Less non-current receivables: Deferred Contract Costs

(4,495)

(5,253)

(4,946)

Trade and other receivables

20,999

20,852

18,789

 

 

 

 

 

------There is no material difference between the fair value of trade and other receivables and the book value stated above.  All amounts included within trade and receivables are classified a financial assets at amortised cost.

 

 

3. Trade and other payables

 

 

H1 2020

H1 2019

FY 2019

 

$'000

$'000

$'000

 

Trade Payables

1,025

841

1,708

Social Security and PAYE

509

425

527

Other Payables

1,055

215

173

Accruals

4,182

5,831

5,124

Trade and other payables

6,771

7,312

7,532

 

No derivatives have been entered into in the current reporting period.  No other assets or liabilities have been measured at fair value.  Trade and other payables are classified as financial liabilities at amortised cost.

 

 

4. Called up share capital

 

 

H1 2020

H1 2019

FY 2019

 

Number

$'000

Number

$'000

Number

$'000

Authorised

 

 

 

 

 

Equity share capital

 

 

 

 

 

Ordinary shares of 1p each

50,000,000

1,014

50,000,000

1,014

50,000,000

1,014

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Allotted called-up and fully paid

 

 

 

 

 

Equity share capital

 

 

 

 

 

Ordinary shares of 1p each

26,826,539

536

26,698,984

535

26,698,984

535

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

5. Consolidated Cash Flow generated from operating activities

 

 

Reconciliation of profit before taxation to net cash inflow from operating activities:

 

 

 

 

 

 

H1 2020

H1 2019

FY 2019

 

$'000

$'000

$'000

 

 

 

 

Profit before taxation

9,603

9,299

18,322

Finance income

(117)

(114)

(318)

Finance expense

50

-

-

Depreciation on plant and equipment

743

308

603

Amortisation on intangible assets

1,388

1,345

2,925

Share-based payments

1,070

740

1,296

 

 

 

 

Movements in working capital:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(Increase) in trade and other receivables

(1,760)

(8,327)

(5,957)

(Decrease) in trade and other payables

(1,999)

(6,778)

(1,793)

 

 

 

 

Cash generated from operations

8,978

(3,527)

15,078

                       

 

6. Basis of Preparation

 

The interim financial statements are unaudited and do not constitute statutory accounts as defined in S435 of the Companies Act 2006. These statements have been prepared applying accounting policies that were applied in the preparation of the Group's consolidated accounts for the year ended 30th June 2019 and the changes noted below in section 8. Those accounts, with an unqualified audit report, have been delivered to the Registrar of Companies.

 

7. Segmental Information

 

The Directors consider that the Group operates in predominantly one business segment, being the creation of software sold entirely to the US Healthcare Industry, and that there are therefore no additional segmental disclosures to be made in these financial statements.

 

8. Changes to Significant Accounting Policies

 

Except as described below, the accounting policies applied in these interim financial statement are the same as those applied in the Group's consolidated financial statements as at and for the year ended 30 June 2019. 

 

The changes in accounting policy set out below will also be reflected in the Group's consolidated financial statements for the year ended 30 June 2020.

 

IFRS 16 Leases

 

The Group has adopted IFRS 16 Leases from 1 July 2019 using the modified retrospective application approach.  Under the modified retrospective application approach, the impact of initially applying the standard has been reflected as an adjustment to the opening balance of retained earnings as of 1 July 2019 and the comparative period has not been restated. 

 

Under IFRS 16, leases are recognised as a right to use asset and a corresponding liability at the date which the leased asset became available to the Group.  At transition, leases classified as operating leases under IAS 17 were measured at the present value of the remaining lease payments, discounted at an incremental borrowing rate which reflects the characteristics of the underlying lease at 1 July 2019.  The weighted average rate applied was 3%.  Right of use assets are measured at the amount equal to the lease liability.

 

Each lease payment is allocated between the lease liability and finance cost, which is charged on a straight-line basis over the term of the lease.  The right to use asset is depreciated over the shorter of the asset's useful life or the lease term on a straight-line basis.  During the six months ended 31 December 2019, the Group recognised $458,489 of depreciation charges and $50,210 of interest costs from leases under IFRS 16.  Under IAS 17, a charge of $385,581 would have been debited to the income statement.

 

On transition to IFRS 16, the Group recognised additional right of use assets and additional lease liabilities, recognising the difference in retained earnings.  The Group presents lease liabilities > 1 year on the face of the balance sheet and lease liabilities < 1 year in Other Payables.  All right to use assets are leased properties and are recognised within property, plant and equipment.    The impact on transition is summarised below.

 

 

 

 

1 July 2019

 

 

 

$'000

 

 

 

 

Right of use assets presented in property, plant and equipment

 

 

3,826

Accrued lease incentives derecognised

 

 

931

Lease liabilities < 1 year

 

 

(836)

Lease liabilities > 1 year

 

 

(2,990)

Retained earnings

 

 

931

 

The group has elected to account for short term leases and leases of low value assets using the practical expedients.  The payments are recognised on a straight-line basis over the life of the lease as an expense to the income statement instead of recognising a right-of-use asset and lease liability.  Short term leases are those with a lease term of less than 12 months.

 

The following shows a reconciliation of total operating lease commitments at 30 June 2019 to the lease liabilities recognised at 1 July 2019:

 

 

 

 

$'000

 

 

 

 

Total operating lease commitments disclosed at 30 June 2019

 

 

4,067

Discounted using the lessee's incremental borrowing rate at date of application

 

 

(232)

Less low value and short term leases recognised on a straight line basis

 

 

(9)

Total lease liability recognised under IFRS 16 at 1 July 2019

 

 

3,826

 

 

The Group is not a lessor.

 

 

Critical accounting estimates and judgements

 

Development expenditure is capitalised where specific criteria set by the Group is met.  Judgement is required over technically feasibility, commercial viability and the estimated useful life of the products.  In assessing the useful life, careful judgement based on past experience, advances in product development and also best practice.  During the period, the Group has re-assessed the estimated useful economic life of Intellectual Property to be (more specifically the Trisus enterprise suite of products), to be between 5 and 10 years (2019: 5 years).  As this is a change in accounting estimate, it has been applied on a prospective basis.  The impact of the change on the period ended 31 December 2019 was a reduction in the amortisation charge of $761,865.

 

9. Availability of announcement and Half Yearly Financial Report

 

Copies of this announcement are available on the Company's website, www.craneware.com. Copies of the Interim Report will be posted to shareholders, downloadable from the Company's website and available from the registered office of the Company shortly.

 

 

 

 

 


This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United Kingdom. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution of this information may apply. For further information, please contact rns@lseg.com or visit www.rns.com.
 
END
 
 
IR EAXDAEDAEEFA

Recent news on Craneware

See all news