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RNS Number : 5744Q GB Group PLC 19 October 2023
Embargoed until 7.00 a.m. Thursday, 19 October 2023
GB GROUP PLC
("GBG", "Group" or the "Company")
Half-year trading update
Today, GBG, (AIM: GBG) the experts in digital location, identity verification
and fraud software, provides an update on its performance for the six months
to 30 September 2023.
Summary
The Board is pleased with the first half performance, with excellent progress
to drive simplification that will increase the effectiveness of our business.
This ongoing group-wide focus has resulted in cost efficiencies which underpin
the Board's confidence that GBG will deliver its FY24 profit expectations.
1H24 1H23
(Approximate
figures)
Revenue £132.4m £133.8m
Adjusted operating profit excluding FX gain £23.4m £21.9m
Adjusted operating margin excluding FX gain 17.7% 16.4%
Net gain on foreign exchange £0.3m £6.2m
Adjusted operating profit £23.7m £28.1m
First-half revenue was approximately £132.4 million (1H23: £133.8 million),
which represents constant currency growth of 1.8%. Excluding the impact of the
year-on-year decline in cryptocurrency customer revenues, first-half growth
was 3.3%.
Location delivered high single-digit constant currency revenue growth through
new customer and partner wins alongside upsell activity, despite continued
weakness in e-commerce volumes, while Fraud achieved low double-digit revenue
growth driven by important contract renewals and new business wins.
In line with our expectations, Identity revenues declined by approximately 3%
on a constant currency basis. Excluding the year-on-year decline in
cryptocurrency customer revenue, Identity was broadly flat, with strong growth
in APAC offsetting a tough prior-year comparator in the Americas. It is also
encouraging that, as expected, monthly transaction volumes in Identity have
stabilised and we still expect some year-on-year revenue growth in the latter
part of the year.
Profitability
Gross margin was approximately 69.2% (1H23: 71.1%) reflecting the revenue mix
in the period. As previously indicated, GBG has continued to focus on
group-wide efficiencies while maintaining disciplined investment to capitalise
on the long-term opportunity in our markets. We have made excellent progress;
1H24 operating expenses were approximately £6 million lower than the prior
year despite inflationary pressure.
Overall, we expect first-half adjusted operating profit of approximately
£23.7 million.
The ongoing focus on simplicity and efficiency underpins the Board's
confidence that GBG will deliver its FY24 profit expectations.
Balance sheet
GBG's financial position remains strong; our year-to-date cash conversion has
improved to approximately 100% (1H23: 57.5%) due to a reduction in one-off
items. Net debt as at 30 September 2023 was approximately £104.8 million (31
March 2023: £105.9 million) after the £10.1 million payment of the FY23
final dividend.
GBG intends to release its half-year results on Tuesday, 28 November 2023.
For further information, please contact:
GBG
Chris Clark, CEO & David Ward, CFO +44 (0) 1244 657333
Richard Foster, Investor Relations +44 (0) 7816 124164
Numis (Nominated Adviser and Corporate Broker) +44 (0) 0207 260 1000
Simon Willis & Joshua Hughes
Barclays (Corporate Broker) +44 (0) 207 623 2323
Rob Mayhew & Stuart Jempson
Teneo (Financial PR) +44 (0) 20 7353 4200
James Macey White & Matt Low GBG@teneo.com
Website www.gbgplc.com/investors
About GBG
GBG is the leading expert in global digital identity. We combine our powerful
technology, the most accurate data coverage and our talented team to deliver
award-winning location intelligence, identity verification and fraud
prevention solutions.
With over 30 years' experience, we bring together a team of over 1,250
dedicated experts with local industry insight from around the world to make it
easy for businesses to identify and verify customers and locations, protecting
everyone, everywhere from fraud.
To find out more about how we help our customers establish trust with their
customers visit www.gbgplc.com (http://www.gbgplc.com) and follow us on
LinkedIn and Twitter @gbgplc.
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