Half-year Report
24/11/2020 07:00
RNS Number : 2493G
Intercede Group PLC
24 November 2020
24 November 2020
INTERCEDE GROUP plc
('Intercede', the 'Company' or the 'Group')
Interim Results for the Six Months Ended 30 September 2020
Intercede, the leading specialist in digital identity, credential management and secure mobility, today announces its interim results for the six months ended 30 September 2020.
Financial Highlights
· Revenues increased by 9% to £4.8m (2019: £4.4m) reflecting orders received from both new and existing customers with growth across all areas of revenue: software licenses, professional services and support & maintenance.
· Operating expenses increased by 3% to £4.4m (2019: £4.3m). When one-offs are excluded, underlying operating costs are consistent and reflect ongoing tight control of overheads with investment in the product roadmap continuing as planned.
· Increasing revenues and tightly controlled overheads have resulted in a substantial increase in operating profit to £295,000 (2019: £25,000).
· A profit for the period of £0.4m (2019: £0.2m) resulted in a basic profit per share of 0.9p and a fully diluted profit per share of 0.8p (2019: basic profit per share of 0.4p and a fully diluted profit per share of 0.3p).
· Cash balances of £8.1m at 30 September 2020 compared to £4.8m held at 31 March 2020; the increase is primarily driven by £3.3m of cash generated from operations (2019: £1.8m).
Operating Highlights
· Sales pipeline remains strong and ahead of prior year, notwithstanding the impact of COVID-19. Proactive sales effort to maintain contact with Partners and Customers including virtual Customer Advisory Board (CAB) events during October and November for Customers in the RoW and US respectively.
· New multi-million dollar contract win announced on 30 July 2020 with the US Department of State via a new partner, Guidehouse.
· Seamless switch to remote working following the introduction of COVID-19 restrictions with highest eNPS (employee Net Promoter Score) to date recorded in the annual employee engagement survey. Maintained business as usual without anyone being furloughed or made redundant and without reductions in working hours or pay cuts.
· MyID v11.6 released to plan, introducing a new operator client (using REST APIs for improved user experience and enhanced performance) and additional functionality including Windows Hello for Business integration.
· Release of the new MyID authentication service, bringing strong mobile authentication to the MyID platform and increasing the value the product brings to customers.
Chuck Pol, Chairman, said:
"I have been hugely impressed by the resilience of the Group, its customers and partners in the face of significant macroeconomic uncertainty following the COVID-19 pandemic. Intercede has delivered continued growth during a period of worldwide social and economic turbulence; revenues are 9% higher and operating profits and cashflows have substantially increased to deliver significantly higher gross cash balances thereby demonstrating the relevance and resilience of Intercede and its MyID Platform.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank our colleagues for their hard work during what has undoubtedly been a challenging six months. I continue to be impressed by how our teams have adapted to remote working and am sure that our customers and partners appreciate Intercede's continued high levels of service and commitment to writing the best code in the markets we serve."
ENQUIRIES
Intercede Group plc Tel. +44 (0)1455 558 111
Klaas van der Leest, Chief Executive
Andrew Walker, Finance Director
finnCap Tel. +44 (0)20 7220 0500
Stuart Andrews, Corporate Finance
Simon Hicks, Corporate Finance
About Intercede
Intercede is a cybersecurity company specialising in digital identity, credential management and secure mobility.
Headquartered in the UK, with offices in the US, we believe in a connected world in which people and technology are free to exchange information securely, and complex insecure passwords become a thing of the past.
Our vision is to make the highest levels of cybersecurity available to all organisations, solving complex issues by simplifying the management of digital credentials, securely and at scale.
We have been delivering trusted solutions to high profile customers for over 20 years. Our team of experts has deployed millions of identities to governments, most of the largest aerospace and defence corporations, and major financial services and healthcare organisations, as well as leading telecommunications, cloud services and information technology firms, providing industry-leading employee and customer credential management systems.
For more information visit: www.intercede.com
The information communicated in this announcement contains inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of the Market Abuse Regulation (EU) No. 596/2014.
INTERCEDE GROUP plc
('Intercede', 'the Company' or 'the Group')
Interim Results for the Six Months Ended 30 September 2020
Interim Management Review
Introduction
Despite the challenges caused by COVID-19 in the six months ending 30 September 2020 (H1), Intercede is trending towards consistent growth and is on a sound financial footing with a strong cash position and an exciting product roadmap. The Group's refocus towards to sustainable revenue growth and profitability is well under way as evidenced by this fifth successive half of significant progress across the business.
At the time of writing the Annual Report for the year ended 31 March 2020 (FY20), COVID-19 had already spread rapidly across the world and there was concern that reduced physical customer interaction and country lockdowns could have a negative impact on the Group's FY21 performance. While this has been the case for business in Europe and the wider RoW region, there has been significant growth in the US where Intercede's MyID platform is seen as a market leader amongst US Federal government departments. Intercede is proud that the MyID platform is extremely relevant in the current climate as its derived credential and mobile technology help our customers to work remotely in a secure fashion.
Strategy
Notwithstanding the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, material progress has been achieved on all elements that form part of Intercede's 5C strategy, centred around Colleagues, Customers, Channels, Code and Cash.
1. Colleagues
The Intercede culture remains as strong as ever. Following the introduction of COVID-19 restrictions, the team moved seamlessly to a remote working model and, as these results demonstrate, delivered solid growth across the business despite the challenges of lockdown to businesses everywhere. Over the period staff numbers are unchanged; business as usual has been maintained without anyone being furloughed or made redundant and without any reductions in working hours or pay cuts. Intercede continues to recognise the achievements of its staff with pay rises and performance-related rewards.
During the period, Intercede conducted the annual employee engagement survey and this year saw the highest ever positive eNPS score (employee Net Promoter Score), demonstrating the commitment and strength of employee engagement. Strong progress was reported on all elements of the survey which is a great testament to the success of the Employee Working Group.
2. Customers
As outlined below in the Financial Results section, a number of follow on orders have been received from existing customers and Intercede was excited to announce a significant new sale to the US Department of State (DoS). The ten-year, multi-million dollar contract will see Intercede's MyID software issuing and managing the lifecycle of hundreds of thousands of DoS employee digital identities. This forms part of the agency's next-generation Identity Management System (IDMS) solution compliant with Homeland Security Presidential Directive 12 (HSPD-12)/US Federal Government Standard FIPS 201.
To combat decreasing physical customer interaction during the pandemic, Intercede has continued to push ahead with three important customer focused initiatives: Customer Advisory Board (CAB), Customer Satisfaction Survey and the Customer Portal. Virtual CABs were held during October and November for Customers in the RoW and US respectively, who took the opportunity to get a view of upcoming updates to the MyID software platform but more importantly contribute to workshops on future MyID roadmap developments and innovations. Meanwhile the annual Customer Satisfaction Survey is currently underway and the Customer Portal is live and gathering feedback.
3. Channels
Our partner network has continued to expand with new agreements established with partners covering the UK, North America, Africa, Middle East and Europe.
We currently have MyID deployments active on four Continents and each of them has inevitably been impacted by the pandemic. Europe and the Middle East has been particularly hard hit simply by the severity of individual country lockdowns. It has been very difficult for our partners to progress demonstrations and close out sales leads. Opportunities with Government departments and public utilities have been particularly affected as their priorities have been very much focused on public health challenges rather than the commissioning and deployment of new digital ID solutions.
The establishment and further development of partner relationships is critical for the Group's future growth prospects. MyID is a Credential Management System (CMS) that forms part of a wider identity ecosystem and Intercede utilises its global network of reseller and technology partners to provide the global footprint to locally deliver the cyber security solutions our customers need. A number of new wins in the period highlight the strength of Intercede's offering when working proactively with partners, following on from the recent launch of our Connect Partner Programme.
4. Code
The challenge for Intercede continues to be scalability, which is being tackled on a number of fronts primarily by looking at new market segments, such as FIDO (Faster IDentity Online), and by reducing the cost and complexity of PKI (Public Key Infrastructure) with new products such as MyID Professional. There is clearly interest in the market for low cost PKI with out-of-the-box integration and it is pleasing to note the first sale of MyID Professional, a subscription based offering, during the period. The introduction of MyID Professional opens up engagement with potential business leads previously not addressed and who may, on further investigation, find their needs are better met with MyID Enterprise thereby creating nett new sales entries.
Innovation is in Intercede's DNA and MyID v11 continues to evolve under the guiding principles of a) modernising the platform; b) introducing functionality to expand the addressable market; and c) continuing to be a customer-driven product. During the period MyID v11.6 was released to plan and has been well received by customers thanks to the introduction of a new operator client (using REST APIs for improved user experience and enhanced performance) and additional functionality including Windows Hello for Business integration (WHFB) as well as the new MyID authentication service. Intercede is working closely with Microsoft to develop an even tighter integration with WHFB as demanded by the most security conscious clients and prospects.
The new MyID authentication service enables organisations to quickly step up to the highest levels of security without having to invest in smart cards or tokens. When combined with the new MyID Authenticator mobile app, employees can easily authenticate to applications and cloud resources using a mobile device in place of a smart card or token. This provides a simple experience for the end user; supporting PIN, fingerprint and facial recognition while providing the organisation with a high security PKI-based authentication.
5. Cash
The Group remains in a healthy financial position, with gross cash balances of £8.1m as at 30 September 2020 compared to £4.8m held at 31 March 2020 This increase is primarily driven by £3.3m of cash generated from operations (2019: £1.8m) which reflects strong cash management during a period when the Group has continued to proactively control its operating cost base while maintaining investment in the product roadmap.
Financial Results
Revenue in the period totalled £4,762,000, a 9% increase compared to the corresponding period last year with growth across all areas of revenue ie software licenses, professional services and support & maintenance. At the geographical level this growth is predominantly in the US market which possibly reflects different public health approaches to the pandemic but also demonstrates the resilience of Intercede's MyID brand in its core US Federal market. The US Government has a higher degree of regulation with respect to securing digital identities and Intercede prides itself on being first to produce accredited software, as it was when FIPS 201 was originally introduced.
It is also pleasing to note the longer-term trend of Intercede's revenue. Revenue for the six months ended 30 September 2016 was £2,828,000 and the growth from this starting point represents compound average growth of 14% over the four corresponding periods to 30 September 2020 (2017: £3,651,000, 2018: £4,174,000, 2019: £4,364,000, 2020: £4,762,000).
Revenue highlights for the period include:
− A new MyID PIV deployment sale to provide an innovative Identity Management System (IDMS) solution compliant with US Federal Government Standard FIPS 201 for the US Department of State (DoS) and its customers. An initial progress order in excess of $1m was received in August and a follow-on order totalling $2.8m was announced on 17 November 2020.
− A follow-on MyID Enterprise license order from one of the largest US wireless network operators.
− A new MyID Enterprise license sale to a geology research institution based in Germany.
− The first sale of MyID Professional to a branch of the US State Government to provide a pilot solution.
− A new MyID Enterprise deployment sale to an existing US Airforce base customer. There is potential to package and market a MyID solution to other similar sized US Air Force base customers.
All of these wins are expected to generate incremental revenue over the next 12 months from a combination of support & maintenance plus professional services, development and/or follow-on license sales.
Compared to the corresponding period last year, operating expenses have increased by 3% to £4,446,000 (2019: £4,329,000). When one-offs are excluded, underlying costs are very consistent and reflect continued tight control over all areas of expenditure. Staff costs continue to represent the main area of expense representing 87% of total operating costs (2019: 87%). Intercede had 83 employees and contractors as at 30 September 2020 (30 September 2019: 82). The average number of employees and contractors during the period was 83 (2019: 82).
A £438,000 taxation credit for the period (2019: £447,000 taxation credit) primarily reflects the 2020 Research & Development ("R&D") claim which results from the Group's strategic investment activities. The Group is a beneficiary of the UK Government's efforts to encourage innovation by allowing 130% of qualifying R&D expenditure to be offset against taxable profits and 14.5% of the lower of R&D losses or taxable losses to be paid as tax credits.
The increase in revenue combined with a consistent level of operating expenses has resulted in an increase in operating profit to £295,000 (2019: £25,000). A profit for the period of £441,000 (2019: £184,000) resulted in a basic profit per share of 0.9p and a fully diluted profit per share of 0.8p (2019: basic profit per share of 0.4p and a fully diluted profit per share of 0.3p).
Cash balances as at 30 September 2020 totalled £8,067,000 which compares with £4,758,000 as at 31 March 2020 and £5,156,000 as at 30 September 2019. The increase in cash balances is primarily driven by £3,312,000 of cash generated from operations (2019: £1,841,000). It is worth noting that the 2020 R&D tax claim totalling £447,000 was received prior to the period end and forms part of the cash balances as at 30 September 2020 (2019: R&D claim totalling £460,000 was received shortly after the period end and does not form part of the cash balances as at 30 September 2019). Cash used in investing activities totalled £21,000 compared to £383,000 of cash generated in the prior period which included proceeds from the disposal of a UK office totalling £422,000. The much improved cash balances put the Group in a strong position to deal with convertible loan notes totalling £5,005,000 that are set to mature on 29 December 2021; whether the loan note holders elect to convert (at a conversion price of 68.8125 pence per ordinary share) or would prefer repayment of the outstanding balances.
Outlook
Whilst the broader impact of a second wave of COVID-19 on the remainder of the current financial year remains as yet uncertain, Intercede's fundamentals remain very much intact and year-on-year growth is still anticipated in FY21. As full or part-time remote working may increasingly become the norm, secure remote access to systems, applications and data will be essential and Intercede's derived credential and mobile technology is already well ahead of many others in the market. As in previous years, revenue is expected to be weighted towards the second half of the year.
Whilst the nature of Intercede's business and customer profile is such that the precise timing of orders is difficult to predict, the current sales pipeline and levels of bid activity continue to support management's revenue and profitability targets.
By order of the Board
Klaas van der Leest Andrew Walker
Chief Executive Officer Finance Director
24 November 2020 24 November 2020
| Consolidated Statement of Comprehensive Income | |||
| 6 months ended 30 September 2020 | 6 months ended 30 September 2019 | Year ended 31 March 2020 | |
| £'000 | £'000 | £'000 | |
| Continuing operations | |||
| Revenue | 4,762 | 4,364 | 10,355 |
| Cost of sales | (21) | (10) | (12) |
| __________ | __________ | __________ | |
| Gross profit | 4,741 | 4,354 | 10,343 |
| Operating expenses | (4,446) | (4,329) | (9,191) |
| __________ | __________ | __________ | |
| Operating profit | 295 | 25 | 1,152 |
| Finance income | 3 | 9 | 19 |
| Finance costs | (295) | (297) | (597) |
| __________ | __________ | __________ | |
| Profit/(loss) before tax | 3 | (263) | 574 |
| Taxation | 438 | 447 | 432 |
| __________ | __________ | __________ | |
| Profit for the period | 441 | 184 | 1,006 |
| __________ | __________ | __________ | |
| Total comprehensive income attributable to owners of the parent company | 441 | 184 | 1,006 |
| __________ | __________ | __________ | |
| Profit per share (pence) | |||
| - basic | 0.9p | 0.4p | 2.0p |
| - diluted | 0.8p | 0.3p | 1.9p |
| __________ | __________ | __________ | |
| Consolidated Balance Sheet | |||
| As at 30 September 2020 | As at 30 September 2019 | As at 31 March 2020 | |
| £'000 | £'000 | £'000 | |
| Non-current assets | |||
| Property, plant and equipment | 109 | 151 | 119 |
| Right of use assets | 851 | 1,021 | 980 |
| ___________ | ___________ | __________ | |
| 960 | 1,172 | 1,099 | |
| ___________ | ___________ | __________ | |
| Current assets | |||
| Trade and other receivables | 1,315 | 3,188 | 5,100 |
| Cash and cash equivalents | 8,067 | 5,156 | 4,758 |
| ___________ | ___________ | __________ | |
| 9,382 | 8,344 | 9,858 | |
| ___________ | ___________ | __________ | |
| Total assets | 10,342 | 9,516 | 10,957 |
| ___________ | ___________ | __________ | |
| Equity | |||
| Share capital | 505 | 505 | 505 |
| Share premium | 673 | 673 | 673 |
| Equity reserve | 66 | 66 | 66 |
| Merger reserve | 1,508 | 1,508 | 1,508 |
| Accumulated deficit | (3,597) | (5,076) | (4,133) |
| ___________ | ___________ | __________ | |
| Total equity | (845) | (2,324) | (1,381) |
| ___________ | ___________ | __________ | |
| Non-current liabilities | |||
| Convertible loan notes | 4,879 | 4,790 | 4,832 |
| Lease liabilities | 1,001 | 1,301 | 1,207 |
| Deferred revenue | 370 | 311 | 195 |
| ___________ | ___________ | __________ | |
| 6,250 | 6,402 | 6,234 | |
| ___________ | ___________ | __________ | |
| Current liabilities | |||
| Lease liabilities | 328 | 284 | 316 |
| Trade and other payables | 1,663 | 1,955 | 1,632 |
| Deferred revenue | 2,946 | 3,199 | 4,156 |
| ___________ | ___________ | __________ | |
| 4,937 | 5,438 | 6,104 | |
| ___________ | ___________ | __________ | |
| Total liabilities | 11,187 | 11,840 | 12,338 |
| ___________ | ___________ | __________ | |
| Total equity and liabilities | 10,342 | 9,516 | 10,957 |
| ___________ | ___________ | __________ |
| Consolidated Statement of Changes in Equity | ||||||
| Share capital | Share premium | Equity reserve | Merger reserve | Accumulated deficit | Total equity | |
| £'000 | £'000 | £'000 | £'000 | £'000 | £'000 | |
| At 1 April 2020 | 505 | 673 | 66 | 1,508 | (4,133) | (1,381) |
| Purchase of own shares | - | - | - | - | (14) | (14) |
| Proceeds from recycling of own shares | - | - | - | - | 26 | 26 |
| Employee share option plan charge | - | - | - | - | 45 | 45 |
| Employee share incentive plan charge | - | - | - | - | 38 | 38 |
| Profit for the period and total comprehensive income | - | - | - | - | 441 | 441 |
| ________ | ________ | ________ | ________ | ______________ _______ | _______ | |
| At 30 September 2020 | 505 | 673 | 66 | 1,508 | (3,597) | (845) |
| At 1 April 2019 | 505 | 673 | 66 | 1,508 | (5,420) | (2,668) |
| Proceeds from recycling of own shares | - | - | - | - | 17 | 17 |
| Employee share option plan charge | - | - | - | - | 54 | 54 |
| Employee share incentive plan charge | - | - | - | - | 89 | 89 |
| Profit for the period and total comprehensive income | - | - | - | - | 184 | 184 |
| ________ | ________ | ________ | ________ | ___________ __________ | _______ | |
| At 30 September 2019 | 505 | 673 | 66 | 1,508 | (5,076) | (2,324) |
| At 1 April 2019 | 505 | 673 | 66 | 1,508 | (5,420) | (2,668) |
| Proceeds from recycling of own shares | - | - | - | - | 38 | 38 |
| Employee share option plan charge | - | - | - | - | 99 | 99 |
| Employee share incentive plan charge | - | - | - | - | 144 | 144 |
| Profit for the period and total comprehensive income | - | - | - | - | 1,006 | 1,006 |
| ________ | ________ | ________ | ________ | __________ | _______ | |
| At 31 March 2020 | 505 | 673 | 66 | 1,508 | (4,133) | (1,381) |
| Consolidated Cash Flow Statement | |||
| 6 months ended 30 September 2020 | 6 months ended 30 September 2019 | Year ended 31 March 2020 | |
| £'000 | £'000 | £'000 | |
| Cash flows from operating activities | |||
| Profit for the period | 441 | 184 | 1,006 |
| Taxation | (438) | (447) | (432) |
| Finance income | (3) | (9) | (19) |
| Finance costs | 295 | 297 | 597 |
| Depreciation of property, plant & equipment | 31 | 43 | 81 |
| Depreciation of right of use assets | 129 | 114 | 235 |
| Profit on disposal of assets held for sale | - | (50) | (50) |
| Employee share option plan charge | 45 | 54 | 99 |
| Employee share incentive plan charge | 38 | 89 | 144 |
| Employee unit incentive plan charge | 25 | 14 | 36 |
| Employee unit incentive plan payment | - | - | (4) |
| Decrease/(increase) in trade and other receivables | 3,810 | 2,009 | (356) |
| Increase/(decrease) in trade and other payables | 5 | 41 | (299) |
| (Decrease)/increase in deferred revenue | (1,035) | (542) | 299 |
| (Decrease)/increase in lease liabilities | (31) | 44 | 23 |
| ____________ | ____________ | __________ | |
| Cash generated from operations | 3,312 | 1,841 | 1,360 |
| Finance income | 6 | 7 | 17 |
| Finance costs on convertible loan notes | (199) | (199) | (400) |
| Finance costs on leases | (48) | (54) | (112) |
| Tax received/(paid) | 438 | (13) | 432 |
| ____________ | ____________ | __________ | |
| Net cash generated from operating activities | 3,509 | 1,582 | 1,297 |
| ____________ | ____________ | __________ | |
| Investing activities | |||
| Proceeds on disposal of property, plant and equipment | - | 422 | 422 |
| Purchases of property, plant and equipment | (21) | (39) | (46) |
| ____________ | ____________ | __________ | |
| Cash (used in)/generated from investing activities | (21) | 383 | 376 |
| ____________ | ____________ | __________ | |
| Financing activities | |||
| Purchase of own shares | (14) | - | - |
| Proceeds from recycling of own shares | 26 | 17 | 38 |
| Principal elements of lease payments | (163) | (116) | (236) |
| ____________ | ____________ | __________ | |
| Cash used in financing activities | (151) | (99) | (198) |
| ____________ | ____________ | __________ | |
| Net increase in cash and cash equivalents | 3,337 | 1,866 | 1,475 |
| Cash and cash equivalents at the beginning of the period | 4,758 | 3,228 | 3,228 |
| Exchange (loss)/gains on cash and cash equivalents | (28) | 62 | 55 |
| ____________ | ____________ | __________ | |
| Cash and cash equivalents at the end of the period | 8,067 | 5,156 | 4,758 |
| ____________ | ____________ | __________ |
| 6 months ended 30 September 2020 | 6 months ended 30 September 2019 | Year ended 31 March 2020 | |
| £'000 | £'000 | £'000 | |
| UK | 66 | 39 | 131 |
| Rest of Europe | 509 | 578 | 1,126 |
| North America | 3,867 | 3,041 | 7,958 |
| Rest of World | 320 | 706 | 1,140 |
| ___________ | ___________ | __________ | |
| 4,762 | 4,364 | 10,355 | |
| ___________ | ____________ | __________ |
| 6 months ended 30 September 2020 | 6 months ended 30 September 2019 | Year ended 31 March 2020 | |
| £'000 | £'000 | £'000 | |
| Profit for the period | 441 | 184 | 1,006 |
| ___________ | ___________ | __________ | |
| Number | Number | Number | |
| Weighted average number of shares - basic | 50,482,281 | 50,482,281 | 50,482,281 |
| - diluted | 53,183,844 | 53,279,049 | 53,232,738 |
| ___________ | ___________ | __________ | |
| Pence | Pence | Pence | |
| Earnings per share - basic | 0.9p | 0.4p | 2.0p |
| - diluted | 0.8p | 0.3p | 1.9p |
| ___________ | ___________ | __________ |
| 6 months ended 30 September 2020 | 6 months ended 30 September 2019 | Year ended 31 March 2020 | |
| Number | Number | Number | |
| Issued ordinary shares at start of period | 50,523,926 | 50,523,926 | 50,523,926 |
| Effect of treasury shares | (41,645) | (41,645) | (41,645) |
| Effect of issue of ordinary share capital | - | - | - |
| ___________ | ___________ | __________ | |
| Weighted average number of shares - basic | 50,482,281 | 50,482,281 | 50,482,281 |
| ___________ | ___________ | __________ | |
| Add back effect of treasury shares | 41,645 | 41,645 | 41,645 |
| Effect of share options in issue | 2,659,918 | 2,755,123 | 2,708,812 |
| Effect of convertible loan notes in issue | - | - | - |
| ___________ | ___________ | __________ | |
| Weighted average number of shares - diluted | 53,183,844 | 53,279,049 | 53,232,738 |
| ___________ | ___________ | __________ | |
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