REG - Helios Towers PLC - Q1 2023 Results

Helios TowersAnnouncement

18/05/2023 07:00

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RNS Number : 8003Z  Helios Towers PLC  18 May 2023

HELIOS TOWERS plc

 

Unaudited trading update for the three months ended 31 March 2023

 

Record year-on-year organic tenancy additions

 

+27% year-on-year Adjusted EBITDA growth

 

2023 guidance reiterated

 

London, 18 May 2023: Helios Towers plc ("Helios Towers", "the Group" or "the
Company"), the independent telecommunications infrastructure company, today
announces results for the three months to 31 March 2023 ("Q1 2023").

 

                                        Q1 2023  Q1 2022  Change  Q1 2023  Q4 2022  Change
 Sites                                  13,684   10,511   +30%    13,684   13,553   +1%
 Tenancies                              25,120   20,233   +24%    25,120   24,492   +3%
 Tenancy ratio                          1.84x    1.92x    -0.08x  1.84x    1.81x    +0.03x
 Revenue (US$m)                         170.8    127.5    +34%    170.8    151.9    +12%
 Adjusted EBITDA (US$m)1                84.7     66.7     +27%    84.7     76.0     +11%
 Adjusted EBITDA margin1                50%      52%      -2ppt   50%      50%      -
 Operating profit (US$m)                33.0     14.4     +129%   33.0     17.4     +90%
 Portfolio free cash flow (US$m)1       57.7     49.4     +17%    57.7     56.3     +2%
 Cash generated from operations (US$m)  36.2     52.7     -31%    36.2     31.5     +15%
 Net debt (US$m)(1)                     1,734.2  1,012.7  +71%    1,734.2  1,678.0  +3%
 Net leverage(1,2)                      5.1x     3.7x     +1.4x   5.1x     5.1x     -

(1)   Alternative Performance Measures are described in our defined terms
and conventions.

(2)   Calculated as per the Senior Notes definition of net debt divided by
annualised Adjusted EBITDA.

 

Tom Greenwood, Chief Executive Officer, said:

 

"Following two years of transformational expansion, concluding with the Oman
acquisition closing in December 2022, we have started our next chapter with
strong performance that demonstrates the quality of our enlarged platform. Our
leading positions in high-growth markets has supported one of our best ever
quarters of organic tenancy additions, which combined with our robust business
model, that features CPI and power price protections, has supported
double-digit organic Adjusted EBITDA growth year-on-year.

 

Looking forward, we have maintained our guidance for the full-year, that
reflects strong growth, disciplined capital allocation and a clear pathway to
deleveraging. We remain laser focused on operational execution and continuing
to drive sustainable value for all our stakeholders - our customers, partners,
people, environment, communities and investors."

 

Financial highlights

 

·     Revenue increased 34% year-on-year to US$170.8m (Q1 2022: US$127.5m),
driven by strong organic revenue growth and acquisitions in Malawi and Oman.

o  Excluding acquisitions, revenue increased 17% year-on-year driven by
strong organic tenancy additions and CPI and power price escalations.

o  Revenue increased by 12% quarter-on-quarter (Q4 2022: US$151.9m).

 

·     Adjusted EBITDA increased by 27% year-on-year to US$84.7m (Q1 2022:
US$66.7m), driven by tenancy growth, with Adjusted EBITDA margin decreasing to
50% year-on-year (Q1 2022: 52%), reflecting the impact of higher power prices
that resulted in power-linked revenues and related operating expenses
increasing comparably.

o  Excluding acquisitions, Adjusted EBITDA increased 11% year-on-year.

o  Adjusted EBITDA increased by 11% quarter-on-quarter (Q4 2022: US$76.0m),
with Adjusted EBITDA margin remaining flat (Q4 2022: 50%).

 

·     Operating profit increased by 129% year-on-year to US$33.0m (Q1 2022:
US$14.4m), largely driven by Adjusted EBITDA growth.

o  Q1 2023 operating profit increased by 90% quarter-on-quarter to US$33.0m
(Q4 2022: US$17.4m).

 

·     Portfolio free cash flow increased by 17% year-on-year to US$57.7m
(Q1 2022: US$49.4m), driven by Adjusted EBITDA growth and lower tax payments,
partially offset by higher lease payments and non-discretionary capital
expenditure that reflects the Company's higher site count.

o  Portfolio free cash flow increased by 2% quarter-on-quarter to US$57.7m
(Q4 2022: US$56.3m).

 

·     Cash generated from operations decreased by 31% year-on-year to
US$36.2m (Q1 2022: US$52.7m), driven by higher working capital outflows
partially offset by Adjusted EBITDA growth.

o  Cash generated from operations increased by 15% quarter-on-quarter to
US$36.2m (Q4 2022: $31.5m) driven by Adjusted EBITDA growth and partially
offset by working capital outflows.

 

·     Net leverage of 5.1x increased by +1.4x year-on-year (Q1 2022: 3.7x)
and remained flat quarter-on-quarter (Q4 2022: 5.1x), with the year-on-year
increase driven by the acquisition in Oman.

o  The Group continues to target being in or around the high-end of its
3.5-4.5x target range by Q4 2023.

 

·     Business underpinned by long-term contracted revenues of US$4.8bn (Q1
2022: US$4.2bn), of which 99% is from multinational MNOs, with an average
remaining life of 7.3 years (Q1 2022: 7.4 years).

 

Operational highlights

 

·     Sites increased by 3,173 (30%) year-on-year to 13,684 sites (Q1 2022:
10,511 sites), reflecting 654 organic site additions and the acquisition of
2,519 sites in Oman.

o  Sites increased by 131 quarter-on-quarter (Q4 2022: 13,553).

 

·     Tenancies increased by 4,887 year-on-year to 25,120 tenants (Q1
2022: 20,233 tenants), reflecting 1,870 organic tenancy additions and 3,017
acquired tenancies in Oman.

o  Tenancies increased by 628 quarter-on-quarter (Q4 2022: 24,492),
reflecting one of the strongest ever quarters of organic tenancy additions for
the Group.

 

·     Tenancy ratio decreased by 0.08x year-on-year to 1.84x (Q1 2022:
1.92x), reflecting the dilutive impact of the acquired assets in Oman (Oman Q1
2023: 1.2x).

o  Tenancy ratio expanded 0.03x quarter-on-quarter (Q4 2022: 1.81x).

 

Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG)

 

·     Helios Towers is committed to sustainable business and its purpose of
driving the growth of mobile communications in Africa and the Middle East, and
maximising impact in its key focus areas of digital inclusion, local, diverse
and talented teams, climate action and responsible governance.

 

·     The Group published its Annual Report and Financial Statements on 27
March, adopting integrated reporting for the first time to better reflect its
approach to sustainable business. A complementary Reporting Supplement was
also published, which includes additional ESG information and disclosures
against reporting frameworks, such as the Global Reporting Initiative.

 

2023 Outlook and guidance

 

·     The Group's 2023 guidance remains unchanged from its prior
communication and reflects the following expectations for the full year:

 

o  Tenancy additions of 1,600 - 2,100, of which 40% are anticipated to be new
sites.

o  Adjusted EBITDA of US$350m - US$365m, reflecting year-on-year growth of 24
- 29%.

o  Portfolio free cash flow of US$230m - US$245m, reflecting year-on-year
growth of 14 - 22%.

o  Capital expenditure of US$170m - US$210m.

§ Of which, US$40m is anticipated to be non-discretionary capital
expenditure.

 

 

For further information go to:

www.heliostowers.com (http://www.heliostowers.com)

 

Investor Relations

Chris Baker-Sams - Head of Strategic Finance and Investor Relations

+44 (0)752 310 1475

 

Media relations

Edward Bridges / Stephanie Ellis

FTI Consulting LLP

+44 (0)20 3727 1000

 

 

Helios Towers' management will host a conference call for analysts and
institutional investors at 09.30 BST on Thursday, 18 May 2023. For the best
user experience, please access the conference via the webcast. You can
pre-register and access the event using the link below:

 

Registration Link - Helios Towers Q1 2023 Results Conference Call
(https://www.investis-live.com/heliostowers/642aa93963f9f81300679b41/vdkj)

Event Name: Q12023

Password: HELIOS

 

If you intend to participate in Q&A during the call or are unable to use
the webcast, please dial in using the details below:

 

 Europe & International      +44 203 936 2999
 South Africa (local)        087 550 8441
 USA (local)                 +1 646 664 1960
 Passcode:                   170045

 

 

About Helios Towers

 

·     Helios Towers is a leading independent telecommunications
infrastructure company, having established one of the most extensive tower
portfolios across Africa and the Middle East. It builds, owns and operates
telecom passive infrastructure, providing services to mobile network
operators.

 

·     Helios Towers owns and operates over 13,600 telecommunication tower
sites in Tanzania, Democratic Republic of Congo, Congo Brazzaville, Ghana,
South Africa, Senegal, Malawi, Madagascar and Oman.

 

·     Helios Towers pioneered the model in Africa of buying towers that
were held by single operators and providing services utilising the tower
infrastructure to the seller and other operators. This allows wireless
operators to outsource non-core tower-related activities, enabling them to
focus their capital and managerial resources on providing higher quality
services more cost-effectively.

 

Alternative Performance Measures

The Group has presented a number of Alternative Performance Measures ("APMs"),
which are used in addition to IFRS statutory performance measures. The Group
believes that these APMs, which are not considered to be a substitute for or
superior to IFRS measures, provide stakeholders with additional helpful
information on the performance of the business. These APMs are consistent with
how the business performance is planned and reported within the internal
management reporting to the Board. Loss before tax, gross profit, non-current
and current loans and long-term and short-term lease liabilities are the
equivalent statutory measures (see 'Certain defined terms and conventions').
For more information on the Group's Alternative Performance Measures, see the
Group's Annual Report for the year ended 31 December 2022, published on the
Group's website. Reconciliations of APMs to the equivalent statutory measure
are included in the Group's Half-Year and Annual financial reports.

 

 

 

Financial and operating metrics

 

Key metrics

For the three months ended 31 March 2023:

 

                                           Group           Middle East & North Africa(3)         East & West Africa(4)            Central & Southern Africa(5)
                                           2023    2022    2023               2022               2023       2022       2023                          2022

US$m
US$m
US$m
US$m
US$m
US$m
US$m
US$m
 Sites at period end                       13,684  10,511  2,519              -                  6,322      6,052      4,843                         4,459
 Tenancies at period end                   25,120  20,233  3,072              -                  12,363     11,550     9,685                         8,683
 Tenancy ratio at period end               1.84x   1.92x   1.22x              -                  1.96x      1.91x      2.00x                         1.95x

 Revenue for the period                    170.8   127.5   13.3               -                  76.7       56.4       80.8                          71.1
 Adjusted gross margin(1)                  61%     65%     77%                -                  66%        68%        55%                           63%
 Adjusted EBITDA for the period            84.7    66.7    8.8                -                  46.8       35.9       36.6                          38.8
 Adjusted EBITDA Margin(2) for the period  50%     52%     66%                -                  61%        64%        44%                           54%

(1)   Adjusted gross margin means gross profit, adding back site
depreciation, divided by revenue.

(2)   Group Adjusted EBITDA for the period includes corporate costs of
US$7.5 million (2021: US$8.0 million).

(3)   Middle East & North Africa segment reflects the Company's
operations in Oman.

(4)   East & West Africa segment reflects the Company's operations in
Tanzania, Senegal and Malawi.

(5)   Central & Southern Africa segment reflects the Company's
operations in DRC, Congo Brazzaville, South Africa, Ghana and Madagascar.

 

 

Total tenancies as at 31 March

 

                                               Middle East & North Africa          East & West Africa
                               Group           Oman                                Tanzania      Senegal             Malawi
                               2023    2022    2023              2022              2023   2022   2023   2022   2023        2022

US$m
US$m
US$m
US$m
US$m
US$m
US$m
US$m
US$m
US$m
 Standard colocation tenants   9,984   8,670   543               -                 4,708  4,441  89     70     474         375
 Amendment colocation tenants  1,452   1,052   10                -                 739    612    3      -      28          -
 Total colocation tenants      11,436  9,722   553               -                 5,447  5,053  92     70     502         375
 Total sites                   13,684  10,511  2,519             -                 4,195  4,068  1,361  1,261  766         723
 Total tenancies               25,120  20,233  3,072             -                 9,642  9,121  1,453  1,331  1,268       1,098
 Tenancy ratio                 1.84x   1.92x   1.22x             -                 2.30x  2.24x  1.07x  1.06x  1.66x       1.52x

 

                               Central & Southern Africa
                               DRC           Congo Brazzaville     Ghana         South Africa         Madagascar
                               2023   2022   2023       2022       2023   2022   2023   2022   2023           2022

US$m
US$m
US$m
US$m
US$m
US$m
US$m
US$m
US$m
US$m
 Standard colocation tenants   2,792  2,554  189        167        855    751    242    215    92             97
 Amendment colocation tenants  253    125    33         23         354    282    24     6      8              4
 Total colocation tenants      3,045  2,679  222        190        1,209  1,033  266    221    100            101
 Total sites                   2,326  2,105  513        471        1,116  1,060  373    335    515            488
 Total tenancies               5,371  4,784  735        661        2,325  2,093  639    556    615            589
 Tenancy ratio                 2.31x  2.27x  1.43x      1.40x      2.08x  1.97x  1.71x  1.66x  1.19x          1.21x

 

Revenue

Group revenue increased 34% year-on-year to $170.8m (Q1 2022: $127.5m), driven
by organic growth and acquisitions in Malawi and Oman in March and December
2022, respectively. Excluding acquisitions revenue increased by 17%,
reflecting organic tenancy growth and customer lease rate escalations for both
CPI and power price movements. For the quarter ended 31 March 2023, 98% of
revenues were from multinational MNOs and 64% were denominated in USD, CFA
Franc (which is pegged to the Euro) or Omani Rial (which is pegged to the US
Dollar).

 

Contracted revenue

The following table provides our total undiscounted contracted revenue by
country as of 31 March 2023 for each of the periods from 2023 to 2027, with
local currency amounts converted at the applicable average rate for US Dollars
for the period ended 31 March 2023 held constant. Our contracted revenue
calculation for each year presented assumes: (i) no escalation in fee rates,
(ii) no increases in sites or tenancies other than our committed tenancies,
(iii) our customers do not utilise any cancellation allowances set forth in
their MSAs, (iv) our customers do not terminate MSAs early for any reason and
(v) no automatic renewal.

 

                                                    Year ended 31 December
                                 9 months to        2024    2025    2026    2027

                                 31 December 2023
                                 US$m               US$m    US$m    US$m    US$m
 Middle East & North Africa      39.8               44.8    44.8    44.8    44.8
 East & West Africa              216.0              267.7   256.0   206.7   191.4
 Central & Southern Africa       237.5              315.0   277.8   247.4   214.1
                                 493.3              627.5   578.6   498.9   450.3

 

The following table provides our total undiscounted contracted revenue as of
31 March 2023 over the life of the contracts with local currency amounts
converted at the applicable average rate for US Dollars for the period ended
31 March 2023 held constant. Our calculation uses the same assumptions as
above. The average remaining life of customer contracts is 7.3 years (Q1 2022:
7.4 years).

 

 (US$m)              Total Committed Revenues  Percentage of Total Committed Revenues
 Multinational MNOs  4,778.4                   99.1%
 Others              44.5                      0.9%
                     4,822.9                   100.0%

 

Adjusted EBITDA

Adjusted EBITDA was US$84.7m in the 3 month period ended 31 March 2023
compared to US$66.7m in the 3 month period ended 31 March 2022. The increase
in Adjusted EBITDA is driven by organic tenancy growth and acquisitions in
Malawi and Oman.

 

From a segment perspective, the year-on-year growth in the Group's Adjusted
EBITDA was driven by its East & West Africa segment, growing by US$10.9m
year-on-year, in addition to the Middle East & North Africa segment
expanding US$8.8m through the acquisition in Oman. The Central & Southern
Africa segment declined by US$2.2m year-on-year, largely driven by the impact
of foreign currency movements in Ghana.

 

Adjusted EBITDA margin was 52% in the 3 month period ended 31 March 2023
compared to 50% in the 3 month period ended 31 March 2022. The decrease
reflects the impact of higher power prices that resulted in both power-linked
revenues and related operating expenses increasing comparably, thereby
diluting Adjusted EBITDA margin.

 

Portfolio free cash flow

Portfolio free cash flow increased by 17% year-on-year to US$57.7m (Q1 2022:
US$49.4m), driven by an increase in Adjusted EBITDA and lower tax payments,
partially offset by higher lease payments and non-discretionary capital
expenditure that reflects the Company's higher site count.

 

                                                    3 months ended 31 March
                                                    2023          2022

                                                    US$m          US$m
 Adjusted EBITDA                                    84.7          66.7
 Less: Maintenance and corporate capital additions  (10.2)        (3.9)
 Less: Payments of lease liabilities1               (14.6)        (10.5)
 Less: Tax paid                                     (2.2)         (2.9)
 Portfolio free cash flow                           57.7          49.4
 Cash conversion %(2)                               68%           74%

(1)   Includes interest and principal repayments of lease liabilities.

(2)   Cash conversion % is calculated as portfolio free cash flow divided by
Adjusted EBITDA.

 

Capital expenditure

The following table shows capital expenditure additions by category during the
three months ended 31 March:

              2023                2022
              US$m  % of          US$m  % of

                    Total Capex         Total Capex
 Acquisition  3.4   7.1%          40.1  54.9%
 Growth       27.9  58.4%         25.9  35.5%
 Upgrade      6.3   13.2%         3.1   4.3%
 Maintenance  9.7   20.3%         3.6   4.9%
 Corporate    0.5   1.0%          0.3   0.4%
              47.8  100.0%        73.0  100.0%

 

 

 

Certain defined terms and conventions

We have prepared the trading update using a number of conventions, which you
should consider when reading information contained herein as follows:

All references to 'we', 'us', 'our', 'HT Group', 'Helios Towers' our 'Group'
and the 'Group' are references to Helios Towers plc and its subsidiaries taken
as a whole.

 

'Adjusted EBITDA' is defined by management as loss before tax for the year,
adjusted for finance costs, other gains and losses, interest receivable, loss
on disposal of property, plant and equipment, amortisation of intangible
assets, depreciation and impairments ofproperty, plant and equipment,
depreciation of right-of-use assets, deal costs for aborted acquisitions, deal
costs not capitalised, share-based payments and long-term incentive plan
charges, and other adjusting items. Adjusting items are material items that
are considered one-off by management by virtue of their size and/or incidence.

'Adjusted EBITDA margin' means Adjusted EBITDA divided by revenue.

'Adjusted gross margin' means Adjusted Gross Profit divided by revenue.

'Adjusted gross profit' means gross profit adding back site and warehouse
depreciation.

'Airtel' means Airtel Africa.

'amendment revenue' means revenue from amendments to existing site contracts
when tenants add or modify equipment, taking up additional vertical space,
wind load capacity and/or power consumption under an existing site contract.

'anchor tenant' means the primary customer occupying each site.

'Annualised Adjusted EBITDA' means Adjusted EBITDA for the last three months
of the respective period, multiplied by four, adjusted to reflect the
annualised contribution from acquisitions that have closed in the last three
months of the respective period.

'Annualised portfolio free cash flow' means portfolio free cash flow for the
respective period, adjusted to annualise for the impact of acquisitions closed
during the period.

'average remaining life' means the average of the periods through the
expiration of the term under certain agreements.

'APMs' Alternative Performance Measures are measures of financial performance,
financial position or cash flows that are not defined or specified under IFRS
but used by the Directors internally to assess the performance of the Group.

'build-to-suit/BTS' means sites constructed by our Group on order by a MNO.

'Central & Southern Africa' segment reflects the Companys' operations in
DRC, Congo Brazzaville, Madagascar, Ghana and South Africa.

'colocation' means the sharing of site space by multiple customers or
technologies on the same site, equal to the sum of standard colocation tenants
and amendment colocation tenants.

'colocation tenant' means each additional tenant on a site in addition to the
primary anchor tenant and is classified as either a standard or amendment
colocation tenant.

'Congo Brazzaville' otherwise also known as the Republic of Congo.

'contracted revenue' means total undiscounted revenue as at that date with
local currency amounts converted at the applicable average rate for US Dollars
held constant.

'CPI' means Consumer Price Index.

'Downtime per tower per week' refers to the average amount of time our sites
are not powered across each week.

'Deloitte' means Deloitte LLP.

'DRC' means Democratic Republic of Congo.

'EBT' means Employee Benefit Trust.

'East & West Africa' segment reflects the Companys' operations in
Tanzania, Senegal and Malawi.

'ESG' means Environmental, Social and Governance.

'FRC' means the Financial Reporting Council.

'FRS 102' means the Financial Reporting Standard Applicable in the UK and
Republic of Ireland.

'Free Cash Flow' means Adjusted free cash flow less net change in working
capital, cash paid for adjusting and EBITDA adjusting items, cash paid in
relation to non-recurring taxes and proceeds on disposal of assets.

'Ghana' means the Republic of Ghana. 'GHG' means greenhouse gases.

'gross debt' means non-current loans and current loans and long-term and
short-term lease liabilities.

'gross leverage' means gross debt divided by annualised Adjusted EBITDA.

'gross margin' means gross profit, adding site and warehouse depreciation,
divided by revenue.

'growth capex' or 'growth capital expenditure' relates to (i) construction of
build-to-suit sites (ii) installation of colocation tenants and (ii) and
investments in power management solutions.

'Group' means Helios Towers, Ltd ('HTL') and its subsidiaries prior to 17
October 2019, and Helios Towers plc and its subsidiaries on or after 17
October 2019.

'GSMA' is the industry organisation that represents the interests of mobile
network operators worldwide.

'Hard currency Adjusted EBITDA' refers to Adjusted EBITDA that is denominated
in US Dollars, US$ pegged, US Dollar linked or Euro pegged.

'IFRS' means International Financial Reporting Standards as adopted by the
European Union.

'independent tower company' means a tower company that is not affiliated with
a telecommunications operator.

'Madgascar' means Republic of Madagascar.

'Malawi' means Republic of Malawi.

'maintenance capital expenditure' means capital expenditures for periodic
refurbishments and replacement of parts and equipment to keep existing sites
in   service.

'Middle East & North Africa' segment reflects the Companys' operations in
Oman.

'MLA' means master lease agreement.

'MNO' means mobile network operator.

'net debt' means gross debt less adjusted cash and cash equivalents.

'net leverage' means net debt divided by last quarter annualised Adjusted
EBITDA.

'Oman' means Sultanate of Oman.

'our markets' or 'markets in which we operate' refers to Tanzania, DRC, Congo
Brazzaville, Ghana, South Africa, Senegal, Madagascar, Malawi and Oman.

'Portfolio free cash flow' defined as Adjusted EBITDA less maintenance and
corporate capital additions, payments of lease liabilities (including interest
and principal repayments of lease liabilities) and tax paid.

'Power uptime' reflects the average percentage our sites are powered across
each month, and is a key component of our service offering to customers.
Figures presented reflects towers that are under service level agreements with
customers.

'ROIC' means return on invested capital and is defined as annualised portfolio
free cash flow divided by invested capital.

'Senegal' means the Republic of Senegal.

'South Africa' means the Republic of South Africa.

'standard colocation' means tower space under a standard tenancy site contract
rate and configuration with defined limits in terms of the vertical space
occupied, the wind load and power consumption.

'standard colocation tenant' means a customer occupying tower space under a
standard tenancy lease rate and configuration with defined limits in terms of
the vertical space occupied, the wind load and power consumption.

'Tanzania' means the United Republic of Tanzania.

'telecommunications operator' means a company licensed by the government to
provide voice and data communications services.

'tenancy' means a space leased for installation of a base transmission site
and associated antennae.

'tenancy ratio' means the total number of tenancies divided by the total
number of our sites as of a given date and represents the average number of
tenants per site within a portfolio.

'tenant' means an MNO that leases vertical space on the tower and portions of
the land underneath on which it installs its equipment.

'total tenancies' means total anchor, standard and amendment colocation
tenants as of a given date.

'tower sites' means ground-based towers and rooftop towers and installations
constructed and owned by us on property (including a rooftop) that is
generally owned or leased by us.

 

 

 

 

Disclaimer:

This release does not constitute an offering of securities or otherwise
constitute an invitation or inducement to any person to underwrite, subscribe
for or otherwise acquire or dispose of securities in Helios Towers plc (the
'Company') or any other member of the Helios Towers group (the 'Group'), nor
should it be construed as legal, tax, financial, investment or accounting
advice. This document contains forward-looking statements which are subject to
known and unknown risks and uncertainties because they relate to future
events, many of which are beyond the Group's control. These forward-looking
statements include, without limitation, statements in relation to the
Company's financial outlook and future performance. No assurance can be given
that future results will be achieved; actual events or results may differ
materially as a result of risks and uncertainties facing the Group.

 

You are cautioned not to rely on these forward -looking statements, which
speak only as of the date of this announcement. The Company undertakes no
obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement to reflect any
change in its expectations or any change in events, conditions or
circumstances. Nothing in this document is or should be relied upon as a
warranty, promise or representation, express or implied, as to the future
performance of the Company or the Group or their businesses.

 

This release also contains non-GAAP financial information which the Directors
believe is valuable in understanding the performance of the Group. However,
non-GAAP information is not uniformly defined by all companies and therefore
it may not be comparable with similarly titled measures disclosed by other
companies, including those in the Group's industry. Although these measures
are important in the assessment and management of the Group's business, they
should not be viewed in isolation or as replacements for, but rather as
complementary to, the comparable GAAP measures.

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