AI Terminal
Aptitude Software Group PLC
Earnings Release • Mar 21, 2024
5267_10-k_2024-03-21_acf0ffe3-afea-4913-89f6-db9a822981ab.html
Earnings Release
Open in ViewerOpens in native device viewer
National Storage Mechanism | Additional information 
RNS Number : 6935H
Aptitude Software Group PLC
21 March 2024
21 March 2024
APTITUDE SOFTWARE GROUP plc
('Aptitude' or 'the Group')
Audited Results for the Year Ended
31 December 2023
Aptitude (LSE: APTD), a market-leading provider of finance transformation software solutions, specialising in autonomous finance, reports its Audited Results for the year ended 31 December 2023.
Financial Highlights
| Year ended 31 December | 2023 | 2022 | % Change |
| Annual Recurring Revenue 1, 2 ('ARR') at year end | £51.1m | £50.2m 2 | 2% |
| Revenue | |||
| Total Revenue | £74.7m | £74.4m | - |
| - Recurring Revenue3 | £53.4m | £50.5m | 6% |
| - Non-Recurring Revenue | £21.3m | £23.9m | (11%) |
| Profit and EPS | |||
| Adjusted Operating Profit4 | £9.7m | £7.5m | 29% |
| Statutory Operating Profit | £5.3m | £3.7m | 43% |
| Adjusted Operating Margin4 | 13% | 10% | 3% |
| Basic Earnings per Share | 7.2p | 4.5p | 60% |
| Cash and Balance Sheet | |||
| Cash and cash equivalents at year end | £34.1m | £29.2m | 17% |
| Net funds5 | £22.7m | £15.9m | 43% |
| Final Ordinary Dividend per Share | 3.6p | 3.6p | - |
| Full Year Ordinary Dividend per Share | 5.4p | 5.4p | - |
| · | Adjusted Operating Profit grew by 29% to £9.7m (2022: £7.5m). |
| · | Year on year constant currency growth in ARR of 2% with headline growth rates moderated by continuing churn in Subscription, Billing and Revenue Management. |
| · | Despite a reduction in non-recurring revenue of £2.6m (11%), total revenue remained steady at £74.7m, an increase of £0.3m from the prior year as a result of the increase in higher quality, recurring revenue. |
| · | Recurring Revenue, the strategic priority of the Group, grew 6% to £53.4 million (2022: £50.5 million), representing 71% of total revenue (2022: 68%). |
| · | Continued balance sheet strength, with cash of £34.1m (2022: £29.2m) and Net Funds 5 of £22.7m (2022: £15.9m). Cash conversion remains a key strength and is improving with the increase in recurring revenue and an improving operating margin. |
| · | As announced separately today, the Board has approved a share buyback programme of up to £20m over three years as part of a programme of enhanced returns. The Group's robust balance sheet provides the opportunity to take advantage of the prevailing market conditions to repurchase shares at advantageous levels, while maintaining the necessary investment to support the organic growth of the business. |
| · | Maintained full year dividend of 5.4p per share. |
Strategic Progress:
| · | Appointment of new executive team, with both CEO and CFO roles filled by internal candidates, who have tenure with the organisation and strong operational and market experience. | |
| · | Executive team appointed to ensure Aptitude can complete the shift from a business set up to sell regulatory compliance software to an organisation delivering an intelligent finance data management and accounting platform. | |
| · | This shift is required to execute against the significant global opportunity for the Fynapse platform supported by our strategic partnerships who recognise how Aptitude is uniquely positioned to help them capitalise on the AI autonomous finance opportunity. | |
| · | The acceleration of our partner strategy is already delivering results, with increased partner pipeline and marketing activity. | |
| · | Upon appointment, the CEO completed an organisational review, which has concluded the need for organisational realignment to support the opportunity with Fynapse and partners. | |
| · | The following is being implemented to support this: | |
| o | Strategic refocus and linked objectives aligning the entire organisation to execute on the Fynapse opportunity, mitigating client churn and scaling through partners. | |
| o | Alignment of product and technology with the recent appointment of a Chief Product and Technology Officer. | |
| o | Implementation of a global and Fynapse partner led go-to-market team. | |
| o | Robust churn mitigation solutions being implemented across the Group. | |
| o | Refocus of the partner programme to build stronger and deeper relationships with a smaller number of critical partners to drive velocity of deals. | |
| o | Performance management reframed around objectives and key results ('OKRs') supporting the Group's refreshed Fynapse and partner led strategy. |
The Fynapse Opportunity
| · | Fynapse provides clients with a differentiated offering enabling CFOs to move from closing the books, to supporting their full Autonomous Finance vision and subsequent elevation to strategic advisor of the business. |
| · | Fynapse provides organisations with the ability to support this transformation rapidly (months vs. years) and cost effectively when compared to other vendors in the market. |
| · | Fynapse provides Aptitude with an expanded go-to-market opportunity via the ability to continue to serve the Tier 1 market as well as Tier 2 and 3 and additional sector types. |
| · | Fynapse also significantly expands the opportunity with partners as it delivers immediate value to their clients, which opens up multiple channel types, and therefore will drive an increased velocity of deals for the Group. |
| · | Importantly, Fynapse provides a cutting-edge technology foundation that is designed for AI and designed to hold vast quantities of information to support the insights of the CFO. |
| · | Underpinning our confidence in long-term growth is the traction Fynapse continues to gain in the market, represented by pipeline progression and the acceleration and commitment by key partners to jointly go-to-market on their vision for AI Autonomous Finance. As an example, Aptitude and Microsoft continue to build on the existing relationship. Alongside its recently launched Copilot for Finance, Fynapse has been identified as a key component to Microsoft's AI and Autonomous Finance ERP strategy, enabling a single view of business and finance data with high processing speeds, supporting Copilot for Finance. This is expected to support the momentum of our strategy. |
Business Highlights in 2023:
| · | New business success for our market leading Autonomous Finance platform, Fynapse to a first new logo client for a multi-year subscription agreement, complementing the existing Telco charter client. |
| · | Multi-year renewal for Subscription Management offering, eSuite providing complementary revenue stream and cross sale potential. |
| · | Continued new customer momentum with other Compliance and Finance Transformation offerings including a multi-year agreement to provide the Aptitude Insurance Calculation Engine to a UK government agency. |
| · | A material new multi-year agreement with an existing global Financial Services client to take Aptitude Assure, the Group's recurring managed services solution. |
Outlook:
| · | Fynapse increases Aptitude's go-to-market opportunity, but selling a broader platform offering like Fynapse needs alternative skills and business expertise. The organisational realignment is expected to be completed across 2024 to ensure the business is fully ready to capitalise on the market opportunity with Fynapse, supported by a more focused partner community. |
| · | We have seen macroeconomic conditions continue to impact churn and investment decisions, resulting in lengthening sales cycles. However, with Fynapse we expect to see this change over time. By expanding our go-to-market approach to include tier 1, 2 and 3 organisations and enhancing our partner channels, this will lead to shorter sales cycles and a stronger flow of business going forward. |
| · | These trends will moderate headline revenue this year and profitability is now expected to be in line with 2023 performance, before returning to more normalised growth in 2025 and beyond. |
| · | Underpinning our confidence in long-term growth is the traction Fynapse continues to gain in the market, represented by pipeline progression and the acceleration, and commitment by key partners, to jointly go-to-market, on their vision for AI Autonomous Finance. |
| · | The growth in higher quality, recurring revenues through Fynapse with its cloud native capabilities is also expected over the medium term to generate a progressive margin benefit for the Group. |
| · | As announced separately today, the Group will be conducting a buyback programme of £20.0 million over a three-year period. The Group's target of incremental profitable growth is expected to drive higher returns for investors in line with the expected growth of Fynapse. The Board view the buyback programme as providing an enhanced capital return to shareholders. |
| · | The expected growth through the combination of the opportunity with Fynapse, its partners, and existing clients, coupled with carefully controlled investment is expected to generate improved returns for shareholders over the coming years. |
Commenting on the results, Alex Curran, Chief Executive Officer, said: -
'2023 represented a year of transition for Aptitude, with the formation of a new leadership team, a refocused strategy, and the realignment of the organisation to truly deliver on the Fynapse opportunity and address churn mitigation.
The refocus will continue, and I expect will complete across 2024, but it will set the business up for success. It will enable Aptitude to move from directly selling regulatory and compliance software to a partner led platform organisation underpinned by Fynapse. This will enable growth through multiple partner channels which in turn drives a greater number of deals with shorter sales cycles.
The AI Autonomous Finance market is significant in size and supported by our strategic partnerships, including Microsoft who recently launched Autonomous ERP and Copilot for Finance, where Fynapse plays a key role.
This provides confidence in the outlook for the Company and the ability of the Group to return to growth in 2025 and beyond.'
Contacts
Aptitude Software Group plc
Ivan Martin, Chairman 020-3687-3200
Alex Curran, Chief Executive Officer
Mike Johns, Chief Financial Officer
Alma Strategic Communications
Caroline Forde / Hilary Buchanan 020-3405-0205
About Aptitude
Aptitude Software provides software solutions that deliver fully autonomous finance to enable its clients to drive growth, efficiency and sustainability. Fynapse is Aptitude's intelligent finance data management and accounting platform designed to increase productivity and lower costs for finance teams globally. Fynapse provides a single view of finance and business data, unparalleled performance and automation, faster and better insights, user-friendly functionality and market-leading total cost of ownership. www.aptitudesoftware.com
Prior to publication the information communicated in this announcement was deemed by the Company to constitute inside information for the purposes of article 7 of the Market Abuse Regulations (EU) No 596/2014 as amended by regulation 11 of the Market Abuse (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations No 2019/310 ('MAR'). With the publication of this announcement, this information is now considered to be in the public domain.
Throughout this announcement:
1 Annual Recurring Revenue ('ARR') is the value of Aptitude's recurring revenue at a specific point in time, normalised to a one-year period. ARR includes recurring revenues contracted but yet to commence and excludes recurring revenues which are currently being received but are known to be terminating in the future. Included in ARR are recurring revenues from the Group's solution management services.
2 Constant Currency is calculated by comparing the 2023 results with 2022 results retranslated at the rates of exchange prevailing during 2023.
3 Recurring Revenue includes revenues from the Group's solution management services.
4 Adjusted Operating Profit and Adjusted Operating Margin exclude non-underlying operating items, unless stated to the contrary. Further detail in respect of the non-underlying operating items can be found within Note 2.
5 Net Funds represents cash and cash equivalents less finance obligations, which includes capital lease obligations and a loan.
Certain non-IFRS financial measures (e.g. Adjusted Operating Profit) are included which assist management in comparing performance on a consistent basis.
Chairman's Statement
Overview
2023 marked the transition to a new management team for Aptitude, with Alex Curran, Chief Executive Officer, and Mike Johns, Chief Financial Officer, both appointed in the year. Alex and Mike were both internal candidates, who have tenure with the business and strong operational and market experience to support the business effectively. Their appointments reflect the strength of Aptitude's talent management and succession planning.
The team have acted swiftly since their appointments, realigning the Group's strategy toward the Fynapse opportunity and key strategic partnerships, refreshing the Senior Leadership Team and flattening and globalising the Group's organisational structure.
The Fynapse platform enables clients to create a truly autonomous finance function, through the provision of a centralised finance data cloud and a rich data foundation for the use of market-leading AI tooling, and it is supported by modern engines that offer accounting, subledger and calculation capabilities.
Fynapse will enable Aptitude to move from regulatory and compliance to a platform organisation.
Highlights in 2023 include:
| · | The first, post charter client sale of Fynapse to a first new logo client with a multi-year subscription agreement |
| · | Meeting key market readiness for our Microsoft partnership with integration to Dynamics 365 and enablement on the Azure cloud platform. |
| · | The go-live of the US telco charter client on Fynapse, providing the organisation with powerful insights, processing power and significant cost efficiencies. |
The new Senior Leadership Team will drive an increase in momentum which is reflected in a growing pipeline of Fynapse opportunities and strategic alignment with partners on their vision for Autonomous Finance. This pipeline is further supported by our partner community which provides confidence in the success of the platform over the coming years.
To execute on its strategy and key objectives Aptitude relies on the strength of its people, and I would like to thank our global team for their hard work and dedication during a period of significant change for the Group. The Board is committed to enabling a high-performance culture across Aptitude and supporting the further development of talent in the organisation.
Dividend and Share Buyback
The Board has proposed an unchanged final dividend of 3.60 pence per share (2022: 3.60 pence), making a total ordinary dividend of 5.40 pence per share for the year (2022: 5.40 pence). Subject to shareholder approval at the Group's Annual General Meeting on 14 May 2024, the proposed final dividend will be paid on 14 June 2024 to shareholders on the register at 24 May 2024.
As announced separately today Aptitude has commenced an on-market share buyback programme of up to £20m over three years in line with the newly adopted capital allocation policy. The buyback programme is in accordance with the Group's authority to make market purchases of its own Ordinary Shares granted to it by shareholders on 17 May 2023.
Outlook
We believe the Group is well positioned to capitalise on the Fynapse opportunity. Fynapse's speed of implementation, lower total cost of ownership and flexibility compared with larger ERP products provide a strong foundation for the acceleration of recurring revenue growth and a quicker benefit for our clients.
The strategic partnerships supporting Fynapse also provide Aptitude with the ability to sell through multiple channels, to multiple sectors, which in turn will drive a greater velocity of deals.
Additionally, the Group continues to carefully manage its other products against the macro-economic environment as increased levels of churn continue to impact the Groups portfolio of products. This combined with the reduction in implementation services revenues and lengthening of sales cycles will result in lower overall revenues in 2024. Profitability will be in line with the performance in 2023 before returning to growth in 2025 and beyond.
Ivan Martin
Chairman
20 March 2024
Chief Executive Officer's Report
Strategic Focus and Organisational Progress
2023 represented a year of realignment for Aptitude and a refocus of the Group's core strategic aims with Fynapse and strategic partners. Underlying Aptitude's historic success is the Group's strength in accounting hub and compliance solutions, which provide the organisation with the knowledge, skills, experience and credibility of delivering for the office of the CFO. This experience based on our heritage provides the base for the exciting opportunity ahead with Fynapse, the Group's intelligent finance data management and accounting platform.
The AI Autonomous Finance opportunity
In the second half of 2023 the Board and Senior Leadership Team conducted a review of the business, which concluded that a realignment and refocus of the organisation around the Fynapse and partner opportunity was required. This reflects the transition away from selling compliance and regulatory software to being a platform organisation and being able to take advantage of the significant AI Autonomous Finance market which Fynapse underpins. To support this transition, we have implemented a global approach to go-to-market designed to drive momentum.
Fynapse underpins AI Autonomous Finance which is a self-learning and self-improving finance function, powered by interoperable AI and cloud technologies. Autonomous Finance is a partner to the finance professional, advising on logical next steps and recommendations based on real data and trends in their organisation. Autonomous Finance frees finance from repetition, transforming the CFO office into a strategic and business enabler.
Investment levels have been maintained for eSuite, the Group's subscription management solution. eSuite provides a mid-term growth opportunity for the Group, including supplementing the opportunity presented by Fynapse through cross-sell activity and the ability to support complex subscription accounting.
Investment levels across the Group's compliance products have been managed to support the Group's existing client base, with a priority placed on client retention and a firm emphasis on the migration to Fynapse.
Organisational realignment to provide ability to realise the opportunity with Fynapse
To support the opportunity with Fynapse and partners, a new and refreshed Senior Leadership Team and associated flattened organisational structure has been implemented across the Group. The new leadership structure includes specific accountable individuals for Product and Technology, Growth, and Client Experience globally. This structure will enable a clear focus on growth, client acquisition and help to support improved long-term retention across the regions the Group operates in. The Group's Product and Technology functions have also been recently combined supporting an end-to-end design and engineering approach.
Following the launch of the new strategy, the Group adopted a new set of organisational objectives and key results ('OKRs'), which are regularly monitored by the Board and SLT, and provide the clarity required to support organisational progress. The Group's primary objectives over the coming years will be to deliver the Fynapse growth opportunity, work towards reducing client churn and scale the organisation through the strength of our key strategic partnerships.
Key Strategic Partners
Partnerships are the key foundation to Aptitude's scalable growth, and it is a priority for the Group to increase the proportion of Annual Recurring Revenue ('ARR') generated through a more concentrated group of partners. Included within this group is a big-4 accountancy firm, which has developed a managed service offering in partnership with Aptitude and Microsoft. The opportunity for Fynapse is further expanded by the partnership with Microsoft. This partnership is expected to be an accelerator of growth going forward and allows both Aptitude and Microsoft to present an end-to-end solution to prospects, providing a wider opportunity for Fynapse. Fynapse is the only platform selected by Microsoft which provides subledger functionality to support Dynamics 365. Aptitude has worked with Microsoft to roll out Fynapse sales training to Microsoft's sales representatives. Microsoft and Aptitude's Autonomous Finance visions are complementary, and the AI functionality available in Microsoft's platforms further enable Fynapse's capabilities and market opportunity for both organisations.
Transitioning SaaS business model with enhanced profitability
The Group continues to target an acceleration in the growth of Annual Recurring Revenue ('ARR') driving an increase in recurring revenues which currently represent 71% (2022: 68%) of overall revenue. The growth through Fynapse, both direct and through partners, will generate higher quality recurring revenues as a result of the cloud native nature of the platform. The increase in higher quality revenues is expected to generate an overall margin benefit to the Group, increased profitability, and improved cash conversion.
Software-as-a-Service ('SaaS') ARR now accounts for 46% (2022: 44%) of the Group's total ARR. Fynapse, with its cloud native capabilities is expected to enable higher margins to be achieved compared to the Group's existing SaaS deployed products. The transition to SaaS and improved quality of revenues will be a continuing process over the coming years and ultimately deliver a stronger business.
Current spend on research and development is 24% of revenue (2022: 23%). The Group expenses all research and development through the P&L as incurred, including the entire development of Fynapse.
The combination of growth in higher margin recurring revenues, the refocus of the Group's go-to-market approach through strategic partnerships with Microsoft and others, as well as a controlled and efficient overhead base will drive the increasing profitability of the Group over the coming years.
Products and Services
The Group benefits from its experience of supporting the office of the CFO. The Group has aligned the product set around the Fynapse growth opportunity and will support Aptitude's shift from selling compliance and regulatory software to a platform organisation underpinned by Fynapse.
AI Autonomous Finance and Finance Transformation
AI Autonomous Finance and finance transformation includes both the Fynapse platform and the Aptitude Accounting Hub ('AAH').
Aptitude's vision for Autonomous Finance is of a self-learning, and self-improving, finance function, where tasks are optimized and intelligent, systems are efficient and interoperable, and an enterprise-wide data platform supports real-time insights, enabling finance to be a strategic and trusted advisor to the business.
Fynapse, the Group's intelligent finance data management and accounting platform delivers on Autonomous Finance, with a cloud native, highly performant and modular solution that not only serves operational and regulatory accounting requirements, but also delivers a granular data fabric upon the extendable Fynapse data cloud. Fynapse provides the rich foundation for AI tooling, enabling Aptitude's clients to realise the efficiencies that may be achieved from emerging AI technologies and the Autonomous Finance function.
The Fynapse platform enables the expansion of the go-to-market opportunity for Aptitude moving from compliance and regulations to finance transformation and enabling organisations to create a truly autonomous finance function. It also provides organisations and strategic partners with a differentiated alternative to the ERP vendors through its market leading support of AI for finance, rapid implementation timelines, high volume processing and cutting-edge technology that supports real-time streaming.
Along with the overall Fynapse platform, the Group has initially developed the accounting rules and subledger engines which build upon the successful AAH product and its' significant pedigree to centralise, automate and manage operational, management and regulatory accounting and posting into an extendable enterprise subledger.
Fynapse has a low total cost of ownership, with rapid implementation cycles, which make the platform commercially attractive to a wide range of organisations varying in size and sector.
The Group continues strategic investment in Fynapse, with an increasing proportion of overall research and development spend directed toward the platform. The overall cost of our investment in Fynapse increased in 2023 to £6.1 million (2022: £4.9 million) all of which is expensed. The platform nature of Fynapse provides options for the Group in the mid-term, either through the development of new engines with additional functionality, or through strategic acquisitions of supporting functionality.
The Group's strategic focus is the successful execution against the Fynapse opportunity through partnerships, direct sales, and conversions from the existing client base.
The Group signed a strategic partnership with Microsoft in December 2022 to deeply integrate the Fynapse platform with Microsoft Dynamics 365 and operate on the Microsoft Azure cloud platform, which has been completed in 2023. The partnership allows both Aptitude and Microsoft to present a combined end-to-end solution to prospects, increasing competitiveness against vendors providing single stack functionality, as well as strengthening Microsoft's competitive position. The Group's vision for AI Autonomous Finance is complementary with Microsoft's investments in AI across its offerings and will further benefit the Fynapse platform and Aptitude's clients.
The Group's charter client was an existing AAH user, and a significant opportunity exists in migrating the Group's current AAH clients to Fynapse, presenting both an upsell opportunity as well as a retention tool. Fynapse will also allow a simplified cross-sell opportunity as additional engine functionality is developed on the platform.
The first new logo direct sale of Fynapse was achieved in 2023 with the sale achieved in a new market for Aptitude, demonstrating the breadth of the opportunity with the platform. The Group looks ahead to 2024 with growing pipeline momentum and an increasingly referenceable offering to prospects.
AAH is the Group's established product which centralises and automates finance, accounting and reporting processes, creating a deep level of operational intelligence for our clients. It also delivers a consolidated, yet highly granular, single view of financial data which enhances business insights to assist decision making.
Subscription Management
eSuite, Aptitude's subscription management tool, is a modular, cloud based end-to-end SaaS solution for large, international, enterprise customers. The application is targeted towards the subscription economy and provides identity management, CRM, automated billing, payment processing, and churn management capabilities, enabling businesses to acquire, monetise and optimise customers subscriptions.
While macroeconomic conditions have had a short-term effect on the predominantly media and publishing dominated eSuite client base, the Group is confident in the mid-term growth opportunity for eSuite. As a result, investment levels in eSuite have been maintained to further strengthen functionality, minimise churn and position the product well as macroeconomic conditions improve. The Group will take a targeted go-to-market approach, prioritising the key media and publishing sectors in line with eSuite's strengths.
Compliance Suite
The compliance suite includes the Aptitude Insurance Calculation Engine ("AICE"), Aptitude RevStream ("AREV"), the Aptitude Revenue Recognition Engine ("ARRE"), the Aptitude Lease Accounting Engine ("ALAE"), Aptitude Calculate ("AC") and the Aptitude Platform ("APT").
The Group has achieved significant historical success with its suite of compliance products. The products have generated a sizeable amount of Annual Recurring Revenue and demonstrated Aptitude's strength and credibility in serving the office of the CFO. Aptitude's target for the compliance suite is in maintaining client satisfaction, minimising client churn and cross-selling Fynapse. The Group will take an opportunistic go-to-market approach and establish investment at appropriate levels to underpin client satisfaction.
Assure and Implementation Services
Aptitude Assure is a solution management services offering resourced from Aptitude's innovation centre in Poland. This service extends the responsibilities of Aptitude beyond traditional software maintenance services to include those that have typically been performed by the clients' own teams. Beyond extended solution support, Assure includes release management, processing support, client enablement, and solution optimisation through the monitoring of system performance, solution health checks, and office hours for expert advisory. Clients with Assure allow the Group to support client adoption of new product features as offerings evolve and will be of particular importance to Fynapse clients as the product further evolves in future. Assure services are higher margin than traditional implementation services, recurring, and are provided at a lower cost of ownership for the Group's clients.
Aptitude also provides implementation services to its clients, with the scale of such services depending on the nature of the application, the size of the opportunity and the balance of responsibilities between Aptitude and its partners. The Group's services are provided by a significant pool of highly skilled individuals, providing deep domain, technical and functional expertise which is highly valued by our clients and provide a differentiator compared to our competitors.
The business continues to expand the enablement of its partner network to facilitate their ability to implement Aptitude's product suite reliably and efficiently. While it is expected that this enablement will lead to a greater proportion of services being provided by partners, it will also increase the velocity of software through those partnerships. The Group is committed to retaining a high-quality delivery capability in line with client demand to support its clients and partners.
Growth and Client Success
The foundation of Aptitude's strategy for growth is the Fynapse platform. Fynapse presents by far the largest addressable market for all of the Group's products, and as such the Group is restructuring and refocusing its go-to-market and product investment in delivering on this opportunity.
The Group has recently appointed a Chief Revenue Officer to drive a consistent global approach to growth, including expanding Aptitude's successful approach with partners in the US out to other regions. The Group has also adopted a focused go-to-market approach centred on a select number of regions, sectors, and partners in line with the opportunity in those areas.
Also fundamental to Aptitude's growth is the retention of our client base. Gross ARR churn for 2023 was 10% (2022: 7%), with the higher than usual rate affected by the macroeconomic environment, which impacted the Group's predominantly Technology, Media and Telecoms client base in eSuite, AREV and ARRE disproportionately. Mitigation of the gross churn rate is a critical priority in 2024, and the Group has implemented several initiatives, including the acceleration of investment in key product functionality and the enhancement of a data led client health process to assist in churn that has continued.
The Group has also appointed a Chief Client Experience Officer, with ownership of all key touchpoints for a client during their life with Aptitude. The appointment of this end-to-end and globalised role increases organisational visibility and speed in addressing client needs and concerns.
People and Locations
Aptitude has office locations across the UK, US, Poland, Singapore, Australia and Canada, and the Group's two technology centres are based in Poland and the north-west of England. The Group's presence in Poland continues to generate cost advantages for Aptitude. The Group has recently appointed a Chief Product and Technology Officer to provide end-to-end accountability for the design and build of Aptitude's products and enhance collaboration across the Product and Technology teams based across multiple regions.
Aptitude targets a high-performance culture, where individuals can achieve their potential in support of the Group's objectives. Supported by a newly refocused People and Culture team, the Group regularly assesses employees on a performance and potential basis, with an aim to invest in and develop key talent. Through this assessment, the Group is able to retain and develop key talent in support of succession planning, actively manage lower performers to a better outcome and increase efficiency.
Overall headcount decreased 10% to 472 (31 December 2022: 527). The reduction in headcount is a result of cost reduction action taken in 2023 as a result of the final elements of the eSuite integration and organisational restructuring in support of the refocused strategy. The new structure is flatter, with a reduced management layer, and more efficient. Of the total headcount, 281 (2022: 296) are based at the innovation centres and working on the design, implementation, and support of the Group's products. The Group continues to monitor headcount closely, with future roles hired in line with revenue opportunity.
Aptitude takes diversity and inclusion very seriously, especially in relation to reward. The Group intends to implement structural processes to ensure fairness in approach to promotions and compensation in 2024. Additionally, the Group is continuing the Women in Leadership initiative to help attract a diverse range of talent to its leadership roles.
Capital Allocation Policy
Aptitude aims to deliver high returns to shareholders through targeting sustainable profit growth and strong free cash flow. The Group invests in developing its business driven by the opportunity with Fynapse, while maintaining robust liquidity to manage the working capital cycle. Aptitude's capital allocation priorities are as follows
| · | Managing working capital - The first priority of the Group is to maintain sufficient cash reserves to manage the annual working capital cycle, while maintaining appropriate levels of net funds. A level of net cash not less than 1.5 x adjusted EBITDA is the Group's stated minimum. |
| · | Investment for organic growth - The Group continues to invest in the organic growth of the business including the need to continue to invest in our people and technology and through capital expenditure where required. |
| · | Maintenance of the Group's progressive dividend - The Group is committed to provide progressive dividends to shareholders, and this remains the preferred ongoing method to return cash to shareholders without impacting on the investment required to grow the business |
| · | Enhanced returns to shareholders - As the Group continues to generate excess cash after the above priorities, the Group will look to make enhanced returns to shareholders |
As announced separately today, Aptitude has commenced an on-market share buyback programme of up to £20m over three years in line with the newly adopted capital allocation policy. The buyback programme is in accordance with the Group's authority to make market purchases of its own Ordinary Shares granted to it by shareholders on 17 May 2023.
While the above framework is intended to guide decision making for the allocation of capital, the Board may choose to exercise discretion in its application should there be a business requirement.
With the focused strategy, organisational realignment activities combined with a new leadership team, I am confident that Aptitude will capitalise on the significant AI Autonomous Finance market opportunity, that is sponsored by our strategic partners.
This will result in a stronger underlying business and higher quality revenues for the Group through Fynapse.
Alex Curran
Chief Executive Officer
20 March 2024
Group Financial Performance
Revenue
Recurring Revenues
Annual Recurring Revenue ('ARR') grew by 2% on a constant currency basis in the year to £51.1 million at 31 December 2023 (31 December 2022: £50.2 million, restated for the prevailing exchange rate at 31 December 2023).
ARR is the key financial metric for the Group. Included within ARR are Aptitude's annual licence fees and maintenance for its on-premise clients, subscription fees for the Group's SaaS clients and revenues from its Solution Management Service offering ('Aptitude Assure'), this offering contributed ARR at 31 December 2023 of £5.0 million (31 December 2022: £4.3 million).
Net Retention Rate in the year was 98% (2022: 102%), measured by the total value of on-going ARR at the year-end from clients in place at the start of the year as a percentage of the opening ARR from those clients on a constant currency basis. The Group benefitted from standard inflationary clauses within the majority of its contracts, however, continuing churn, predominantly in Subscription, Billing and Revenue Management, reduced the benefit of these increases.
Recurring revenues recognised in 2023 increased by 6% to £53.4 million (2022: £50.5 million), representing growth of 6%. Recurring revenues are a strategic priority for the Group and now represent 71% of overall revenue (2022: 68%). A key part of the Group's strategy is to increase this percentage whilst maximising the growth rate of Aptitude's ARR, increasing both the overall quality of revenue and operating margin.
Non-Recurring Revenue
Non-recurring revenue, comprised of implementation services, software development and non-recurring software fees which totalled £21.3 million for the year ended 31 December 2023 (2022: £23.9 million) representing an 11% reduction. The reduction in non-recurring revenues is in line with the Group's expectation as it works more closely with its partners in this area.
Research & Development Expenditure
Total expenditure on product management, research & development increased 5% in the year ended 31 December 2023 to £17.8 million (2022: £17.0 million). Research & development costs represent 24% of revenue for the year ended 31 December 2023 (2022: 23%). The Group will carefully monitor research & development spend and ensure that investment is only made in line with the revenue opportunity.
The Board has continued to prudently determine that none of the internal research & development costs incurred during the year meet the criteria for capitalisation. Consequently, these have been expensed as incurred through the income statement.
Operating Profit and Margins
Adjusted Operating Profit for the year ended 31 December 2023 was in line with expectations at £9.7 million (2022: £7.5 million). Adjusted Operating Margin increased to 13% (2022: 10%) following the completion of the integration of the MPP Global acquisition and other cost action taken in the year. Operating profit on a statutory basis was £5.3 million (2022: £3.7 million).
In addition to the cost action outlined above, the Group's evolving revenue mix towards higher recurring revenue generated an incremental margin benefit. The continued success of Fynapse, with its cloud-native capabilities, is expected to further enhance margins.
Foreign Exchange
With 50% (2022: 42%) of the Group's revenues being generated from North American clients, the majority of which are invoiced in US Dollars, the financial results are impacted by changes in the US dollar exchange rate. Aptitude's 2022 revenue and Adjusted Operating Profit would have been reported at £74.2 million and £7.7 million respectively on a constant currency basis (compared to actual result of £74.4 million and £7.5 million). Constant currency is calculated by comparing the 2023 results with 2022 results retranslated at the rates of exchange prevailing during 2023.
Non-Underlying Items
Non-underlying items of £4.4 million (2022: £3.8 million) are principally related to the £0.8 million (2022: £0.4 million) of final integration costs incurred on the MPP Global acquisition, £0.2m of restructuring costs and intangible amortisation of £3.4 million (2022: £3.4 million).
Taxation
The total tax charge before adjusting for the impact of non-underlying and other sundry items of £1.8 million (2022: £1.5 million) represents 18.83% of the Group's profit before tax (2022: 21.08%).
Statutory Results
The Group reported a profit for the year attributable to equity shareholders of £4.1 million (2022: £2.6 million).
Earnings per Share
Adjusted Basic Earnings per Share increased by 37% to 13.6 pence (2022: 9.9 pence) and Basic Earnings per Share increased 60% to 7.2 pence (2022: 4.5 pence).
Dividend
A final ordinary dividend of 3.60 pence per share is proposed (2022: 3.60 pence), making a total ordinary dividend of 5.40 pence per share for the year (2022: 5.40 pence).
Balance Sheet
The Group continues to have a strong balance sheet with net assets at 31 December 2023 of £60.3 million (2022: £60.5 million). Cash at 31 December 2023 was £34.1 million (31 December 2022: £29.2 million) and net funds of £22.7 million (31 December 2022: £15.9 million). Trade receivables (net) at 31 December 2023 increased to £10.3 million (2022: £9.7 million) of which £5.0 million (2022: £4.1 million) were overdue for payment at the year end. Of these overdue balances £3.6 million has been collected at 18 March 2024. DSO (debtor days) increased to 53 at 31 December 2023 (2022: 44). The growth in the Group's Annual Recurring Revenue resulted in deferred income at 31 December 2023 increasing to £31.5 million (2022: £29.6 million).
Mike Johns
Chief Financial Officer
20 March 2024
Group Income Statement
for the year ended 31 December 2023
| Year ended 31 Dec 2023 | Year ended 31 Dec 2022 | ||||||||||||||||
| Note | Before non-underlying items | Non- underlying items | Total | Before non-underlying items | Non- underlying items | Total | |||||||||||
| Continuing operations | £000 | £000 | £000 | £000 | £000 | £000 | |||||||||||
| Revenue | 1 | 74,685 | - | 74,685 | 74,394 | - | 74,394 | ||||||||||
| Operating costs | 2 | (64,959) | (4,441) | (69,400) | (66,887) | (3,822) | (70,709) | ||||||||||
| Operating profit | 9,726 | (4,441) | 5,285 | 7,507 | (3,822) | 3,685 | |||||||||||
| Finance income | 282 | - | 282 | 18 | - | 18 | |||||||||||
| Finance costs | (527) | - | (527) | (498) | - | (498) | |||||||||||
| Net finance costs | (245) | - | (245) | (480) | - | (480) | |||||||||||
| Profit before income tax | 9,481 | (4,441) | 5,040 | 7,027 | (3,822) | 3,205 | |||||||||||
| Income tax expense | 3 | (1,786) | 871 | (915) | (1,481) | 871 | (610) | ||||||||||
| Profit for the period | 7,695 | (3,570) | 4,125 | 5,546 | (2,951) | 2,595 | |||||||||||
| Earnings per share | |||||||||||||||||
| Basic | 4 | 7.2p | 4.5p | ||||||||||||||
| Diluted | 4 | 7.1p | 4.5p | ||||||||||||||
group statement of comprehensive income
for the year ended 31 December 2023
| Year ended 31 Dec 2023 | Year ended 31 Dec 2022 | |
| £000 | £000 | |
| Profit for the year | 4,125 | 2,595 |
| Other comprehensive income/(expense) | ||
| Items that will or may be reclassified to profit or loss: | ||
| Cash flow hedges reclassified to income statement | (1,242) | 187 |
| Gain on effective cash flow hedges | 1,044 | 1,445 |
| Currency translation difference | (954) | 1,972 |
| Deferred tax on cash flow hedges | 50 | (335) |
| Other comprehensive (expense)/income for the year, net of tax | (1,102) | 3,269 |
| Total comprehensive income for the year | 3,023 | 5,864 |
Group Balance Sheet
for the year ended 31 December 2023
| As at | As at | |||
| 31 Dec 2023 | 31 Dec 2022 | |||
| Notes | £000 | £000 | ||
| ASSETS | ||||
| Non-current assets | ||||
| Property, plant and equipment including right-of-use assets | 6 | 4,484 | 5,103 | |
| Goodwill | 7 | 46,006 | 46,006 | |
| Intangible assets | 8 | 17,739 | 21,120 | |
| Other long-term assets | 1,016 | 1,307 | ||
| Deferred tax assets | 1,379 | 423 | ||
| 70,624 | 73,959 | |||
| Current assets | ||||
| Trade and other receivables | 9 | 12,526 | 12,297 | |
| Financial assets - derivative financial instruments | 1,141 | 1,339 | ||
| Current income tax assets | 1,037 | 1,352 | ||
| Cash and cash equivalents | 34,085 | 29,245 | ||
| 48,789 | 44,233 | |||
| Total assets | 119,413 | 118,192 | ||
| LIABILITIES | ||||
| Current liabilities | ||||
| Financial liabilities | ||||
| - borrowings | 10 | (1,250) | (1,250) | |
| Trade and other payables | 11 | (40,773) | (38,146) | |
| Capital lease obligations | 12 | (426) | (553) | |
| Current income tax liabilities | (1,588) | (119) | ||
| Provisions | 13 | (100) | (114) | |
| (44,137) | (40,182) | |||
| Net current assets | 4,652 | 4,051 | ||
| Non-current liabilities | ||||
| Financial liabilities - borrowings | 10 | (7,139) | (8,347) | |
| Capital lease obligations | 12 | (2,588) | (3,196) | |
| Provisions | 13 | (268) | (202) | |
| Deferred tax liabilities | (4,967) | (5,724) | ||
| (14,962) | (17,469) | |||
| NET ASSETS | 60,314 | 60,541 |
Group Balance Sheet
for the year ended 31 December 2023
| As at | As at | ||
| 31 Dec 2023 | 31 Dec 2022 | ||
| £000 | £000 | ||
| SHAREHOLDERS' EQUITY | |||
| Share capital | 14 | 4,204 | 4,204 |
| Share premium account | 11,959 | 11,959 | |
| Capital redemption reserve | 12,372 | 12,372 | |
| Other reserves | 34,989 | 35,199 | |
| Accumulated losses | (2,349) | (3,286) | |
| Foreign currency translation reserve | (861) | 93 | |
| TOTAL EQUITY | 60,314 | 60,541 |
Group Statement of changes in shareholders' equity
for the year ended 31 December 2023
| Attributable to owners of the Parent | |||||||
| Share capital | Share premium | Accumulated losses | Foreign currency translation reserve | Capital | |||
| redemption | Other | Total | |||||
| reserve | reserves | equity | |||||
| £000 | £000 | £000 | £000 | £000 | £000 | £000 | |
| Group | |||||||
| Balance at 1 January 2023 | 4,204 | 11,959 | (3,286) | 93 | 12,372 | 35,199 | 60,541 |
| Profit for the year | - | - | 4,125 | - | - | - | 4,125 |
| Cash flow hedges reclassified to income statement | - | - | - | - | - | (1,242) | (1,242) |
| Gain on effective cash flow hedges | - | - | - | - | - | 1,044 | 1,044 |
| Deferred tax on cash flow hedges | - | - | - | - | - | 50 | 50 |
| Exchange rate adjustments | - | - | - | (954) | - | - | (954) |
| Total comprehensive income for the year | - | - | 4,125 | (954) | - | (148) | 3,023 |
| Share options - value of employee service | - | - | 125 | - | - | - | 125 |
| Transfer on exercise of options | - | - | (151) | - | 124 | (27) | |
| Purchase of own shares | - | - | - | - | - | (186) | (186) |
| Deferred tax on share options | - | - | (66) | - | - | - | (66) |
| Dividends to equity holders of the company | - | - | (3,096) | - | - | - | (3,096) |
| Total Contributions by and distributions to owners of the company recognised directly in equity | - | - | (3,188) | - | - | (62) | (3,250) |
| Balance at 31 December 2023 | 4,204 | 11,959 | (2,349) | (861) | 12,372 | 34,989 | 60,314 |
Group Cash Flow Statement
for the year ended 31 December 2023
| Year ended | Year ended | ||
| 31 Dec 2023 | 31 Dec 2022 | ||
| Note | £000 | £000 | |
| Cash flows from operating activities | |||
| Cash generated from operations | 15 | 11,945 | 5,272 |
| Interest paid | (316) | (498) | |
| Income tax paid | (635) | (1,597) | |
| Net cash flows generated from operating activities | 10,994 | 3,177 | |
| Cash flows from investing activities | |||
| Purchase of property, plant and equipment, excluding right-of-use assets | (601) | (831) | |
| Interest received | 282 | 18 | |
| Net cash (used in) investing activities | (319) | (813) | |
| Cash flows from financing activities | |||
| Net proceeds from issuance of ordinary shares | - | 23 | |
| Dividends paid to company's shareholders | 5 | (3,096) | (3,093) |
| Purchase of own shares | (186) | - | |
| Repayments of loan | (1,250) | (313) | |
| Extension fee on loan | (40) | - | |
| Repayment of capital lease obligations | (534) | (405) | |
| Net cash generated (used in) from financing activities | (5,106) | (3,788) | |
| Net increase/(decrease) in cash and cash equivalents | 5,569 | (1,424) | |
| Cash, cash equivalents and bank overdrafts at beginning of year | 29,245 | 29,064 | |
| Exchange rate (losses)/gains on cash and cash equivalents | (729) | 1,605 | |
| Cash and cash equivalents at end of year | 34,085 | 29,245 |
Notes to the Audited preliminary results for the year ended 31 December 2023
1. Segmental analysis
Business segments
The Board has determined the operating segments based on the reports it receives from management to make strategic decisions.
The only business segment for both periods was Aptitude and therefore no segmental analysis is provided for this period.
The principal activity of the Group throughout 2022 and 2023 was the provision of business-critical software and services.
1 (a) Geographical analysis
The Group has two geographical segments for reporting purposes, the United Kingdom and the Rest of the World.
The following table provides an analysis of the Group's sales by origin and by destination.
| Sales revenue by origin | Sales revenue by destination | ||||
| Year ended 31 Dec 2023 |
Year ended 31 Dec 2022 |
Year ended 31 Dec 2023 |
Year ended 31 Dec 2022 |
||
| £000 | £000 | £000 | £000 | ||
| United Kingdom | 41,087 | 39,329 | 11,747 | 15,809 | |
| Rest of World | 33,598 | 35,065 | 62,938 | 58,585 | |
| 74,685 | 74,394 | 74,685 | 74,394 |
2. Non-underlying items
| 31 Dec 2023 | 31 Dec 2022 | |
| £000 | £000 | |
| Amortisation of intangibles | 3,381 | 3,382 |
| Acquisition and associated reorganisation costs | 1,060 | 440 |
| 4,441 | 3,822 |
3. Income tax expense
| Year ended 31 Dec 2023 |
Year ended 31 Dec 2022 |
||||
| Analysis of charge in the year | £000 | £000 | |||
| Current tax: | |||||
| - tax charge on underlying items | (2,463) | (1,051) | |||
| - adjustment to tax in respect of prior periods on underlying items | (241) | (344) | |||
| Total current tax | (2,704) | (1,395) | |||
| Deferred tax: | |||||
| - tax credit/(charge) on underlying items | 951 | (111) | |||
| - tax credit on non-underlying items | 871 | 871 | |||
| - adjustment to tax in respect of prior periods on underlying items | (33) | 25 | |||
| Total deferred tax | 1,789 | 785 | |||
| Income tax expense | (915) | (610) | |||
The net adjustment to tax in respect of prior periods on underlying items totalling £274,000 (2022: £319,000) relates to the reduction in the assumed benefit from research and development relief in the UK.
The total tax charge of £915,000 (2022: £610,000) represents 18.2% (2022: 19.0%) of the Group profit before tax of £5,040,000 (2022: £3,205,000).
After adjusting for the impact of non-underlying items, change in tax rates, share based payment charge and prior year tax charge, the tax charge for the year of £1,702,000 (2022: £1,375,000) represents 17.95% (2022: 19.57%), which is the tax rate used for calculating the adjusted earnings per share.
The difference between the total tax charge and the amount calculated by applying the effective United Kingdom corporation tax rate of 23.50% (2022: 19.00%) to the profit on ordinary activities before tax is as follows:
| Year ended 31 Dec 2023 |
Year ended 31 Dec 2022 |
|||
| £000 | £000 | |||
| Profit before tax | 5,040 | 3,205 | ||
| Tax at the United Kingdom corporation tax rate of 23.50% (2022: 19.00%) | (1,185) | (610) | ||
| Effects of: | ||||
| Adjustment to tax in respect of prior periods | (274) | (319) | ||
| Adjustment in respect of foreign tax rates | 62 | (138) | ||
| Non-underlying expenses not deductible for tax purposes | (138) | (45) | ||
| Other | 166 | (303) | ||
| Research and development tax relief | 226 | 561 | ||
| Recognition of tax losses not recognised as a deferred tax asset | 190 | 214 | ||
| Change in future tax rates | 38 | 30 | ||
| Total taxation | (915) | (610) | ||
United Kingdom corporation tax is calculated at 23.50% (2022: 19.00%) of the estimated assessable profit for the year. Taxation for other jurisdictions is calculated at the rates prevailing in the respective jurisdictions.
4. Earnings per share
To provide an indication of the underlying operating performance per share, the adjusted profit after tax figure shown below excludes non-underlying items and has a tax charge using the effective rate of 17.95% (2022: 19.57%).
| Year ended 31 Dec 2023 |
Year ended 31 Dec 2022 |
|||
| £000 | £000 | |||
| Profit before tax and non-underlying items | 9,481 | 7,027 | ||
| Tax charge at a rate of 17.95% (2022: 19.57%) | (1,702) | (1,375) | ||
| 7,779 | 5,652 | |||
| Prior years' tax charge | (274) | (320) | ||
| Non-underlying items net of tax | (3,570) | (2,951) | ||
| Recognition of tax losses not recognised as a deferred tax asset | 190 | 214 | ||
| Profit on ordinary activities after tax | 4,125 | 2,595 | ||
| 2023 Number (thousands) |
2022 Number (thousands) |
|||
| Weighted average number of shares | 57,338 | 57,288 | ||
| Effect of dilutive share options | 670 | 819 | ||
| 58,008 | 58,107 | |||
| 2023 Basic EPS pence |
2023 Diluted EPS pence |
2022 Basic EPS pence |
2022 Diluted EPS pence |
|
| Earnings per share | 7.2 | 7.1 | 4.5 | 4.5 |
| Non-underlying items net of tax | 6.2 | 6.2 | 5.2 | 5.1 |
| Prior years' tax charge | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.6 | 0.6 |
| Recognition of tax losses | (0.3) | (0.3) | (0.4) | (0.4) |
| Adjusted earnings per share | 13.6 | 13.5 | 9.9 | 9.8 |
Adjusted earnings per share are calculated using adjusted profit after tax.
5. Dividends
| 2023 pence per share | 2022 pence per share | 2023 £000 |
2022 £000 |
|
| Dividends paid: | ||||
| Interim dividend | 1.80 | 1.80 | 1,032 | 1,032 |
| Final dividend (prior year) | 3.60 | 3.60 | 2,064 | 2,061 |
| 5.40 | 5.40 | 3,096 | 3,093 | |
| Proposed but not recognised as a liability: | ||||
| Final dividend (current year) | 3.60 | 3.60 | 2,064 | 2,064 |
The proposed final dividend was approved by the Board on 20 March 2024 but was not included as a liability as at 31 December 2023, in accordance with IAS 10 'Events after the Balance Sheet date'. If approved by the shareholders at the Annual General Meeting this final dividend will be payable on 14 June 2024 to shareholders on the register at the close of business on 24 May 2024.
6. Property, plant and equipment including right-of-use assets
| 31 Dec 2023 | 31 Dec 2022 | |
| £000 | £000 | |
| Opening net book value 1 January | 5,103 | 4,261 |
| Additions | 601 | 1,660 |
| Net disposals | (117) | (8) |
| Exchange movements | (54) | 322 |
| Depreciation | (1,049) | (1,132) |
| 4,484 | 5,103 |
7. Goodwill
| 31 Dec 2023 | 31 Dec 2022 | |
| £000 | £000 | |
| Opening net book value 1 January | 46,006 | 46,006 |
| 46,006 | 46,006 |
8. Intangible assets
| 31 Dec 2023 | 31 Dec 2022 | |
| £000 | £000 | |
| Opening net book value 1 January | 21,120 | 24,502 |
| Amortisation | (3,381) | (3,382) |
| 17,739 | 21,120 |
9. Trade and other receivables
| 31 Dec 2023 | 31 Dec 2022 | |
| £000 | £000 | |
| Trade receivables | 10,678 | 10,091 |
| Less: provision for impairment of receivables | (358) | (421) |
| Trade receivables - net | 10,320 | 9,670 |
| Other receivables | 14 | - |
| Prepayments | 1,796 | 1,513 |
| Accrued income | 396 | 1,114 |
| 12,526 | 12,297 |
Within the trade receivables balance of £10,678,000 (2022: £10,091,000) there are balances totalling £5,036,000 (2022: £4,057,000) which, at 31 December 2023, were overdue for payment. Of this balance £3,612,000 (2022: £2,841,000) has been collected at 18 March 2024 (2022: 17 March 2023).
10. Financial liabilities
| 31 Dec 2023 | 31 Dec 2022 | ||
| £000 | £000 | ||
| Bank loan | 8,389 | 9,597 | |
| The borrowings are repayable as follows: | |||
| Within one year | 1,250 | 1,250 | |
| In the second year | 7,188 | 8,438 | |
| 8,438 | 9,688 | ||
| Unamortised prepaid facility arrangement fees | (49) | (91) | |
| At 31 December | 8,389 | 9,597 | |
On 15 October 2021, the Group and Company entered into a loan agreement with Bank of Ireland consisting of a £10 million term loan in addition to a revolving credit facility of £10 million. The loan is secured on all the assets of the Group. Operating covenants are limited to the Group's net debt leverage of 2.0 : 1 and interest cover of 4.0 : 1. At 31 December 2023, the Group's net debt leverage was -3.7 : 1 and interest cover was 16.5 : 1. The term loan is repayable over three years with an initial 12-month repayment holiday followed by annual capital repayments of £1,250,000. The term loan contains two one-year extension options, one of which was exercised during the year. The Group's current intention is to exercise the second extension option in the next year. At the end of the term, a bullet payment for the remaining balance of the loan is due. The loan is denominated in Pound Sterling and carries interest at SONIA plus 1.75%. The Group entered into an interest swap on 2 November 2021, effectively fixing the interest rate at 2.95% over the term of the loan.
11. Trade and other payables
| 31 Dec 2023 | 31 Dec 2022 | |
| £000 | £000 | |
| Trade payables | 482 | 826 |
| Other tax and social security payable | 1,614 | 1,370 |
| Other payables | 168 | 204 |
| Accruals | 7,034 | 6,183 |
| Deferred income | 31,475 | 29,563 |
| 40,773 | 38,146 |
| 31 Dec 2023 | 31 Dec 2022 | |
| £000 | £000 | |
| Amounts payable under capital lease agreements: | ||
| Within one year | 538 | 642 |
| Within two to five years | 1,997 | 2,284 |
| After five years | 906 | 1,387 |
| Total | 3,441 | 4,313 |
| Less: future finance charges | (427) | (564) |
| Present value of lease obligations | 3,014 | 3,749 |
| Less: Amount due for settlement within 12 months (shown under current liabilities) | (426) | (553) |
| 2,588 | 3,196 |
12. Capital lease obligations
| 31 Dec 2023 | 31 Dec 2022 | |
| £000 | £000 | |
| The present value of financial lease liabilities is split as follows: | ||
| Within one year | 426 | 553 |
| Within two to five years | 1,728 | 1,897 |
| After five years | 860 | 1,299 |
| 3,014 | 3,749 |
13. Provisions for other liabilities and charges
| Provisions | ||
| 31 Dec 2023 | 31 Dec 2022 | |
| £000 | £000 | |
| At 1 January | 316 | 379 |
| Charged/(released) to income statement | 158 | (76) |
| Utilised in period | (114) | - |
| Foreign exchange movement | 8 | 13 |
| At 31 December | 368 | 316 |
£288,000 (2022: £273,000) of the total provision at 31 December 2023 of £368,000 (2022: £316,000) relates to the cost of dilapidations in respect of its occupied leasehold premises.
14. Share capital
| Ordinary shares of 7 1/3p each | Number | £000 | |
| Issued and fully paid: | |||
| At 1 January 2023 | 57,337,611 | 4,204 | |
| At 31 December 2023 | 57,337,611 | 4,204 | |
15. Cash flows from operating activities
Reconciliation of profit before tax to net cash generated from operations:
| Year ended 31 Dec 2023 |
Year ended 31 Dec 2022 |
|
| £000 | £000 | |
| Profit before tax for the year | 5,040 | 3,205 |
| Adjustments for: | ||
| Depreciation | 1,049 | 1,132 |
| Amortisation | 3,381 | 3,382 |
| Share-based payment expense | 125 | 695 |
| Finance income | (282) | (18) |
| Finance costs | 527 | 498 |
| Changes in working capital excluding the effects of acquisition: | ||
| Decrease/(increase) in receivables | 63 | (1,485) |
| Increase/(decrease) in payables | 2,042 | (2,137) |
| Cash generated from operations | 11,945 | 5,272 |
16. Contingent liabilities
The Group had no contingent liabilities at 31 December 2023. In 2022, two clients have ceased the implementation of the Group's products and provided the Group with correspondence terminating their multi-year agreement alleging contractual breaches by Aptitude and claiming damages. The Group rejected both the purported termination of the two agreements and claim for damages and has notified the clients of the charges due to Aptitude under the minimum terms of their agreements. One was resolved in the year and the Group maintain their position on the other, therefore no provision has been recognised at 31 December 2023 (2022: £nil).
The Group does not consider a contingent liability in respect of either of the claims at 31 December 2023.
17. Statement by the directors
The preliminary results for the year ended 31 December 2023 are prepared in accordance with UK adopted International Accounting Standards (IAS) and interpretations by the IFRS Interpretations Committee applicable to companies reporting under UK adopted IFRS. They do not include all the information required for full annual statements and should be read in conjunction with the 2023 Annual Report. The accounting policies adopted in this preliminary announcement are consistent with the Annual Report for the year ended 31 December 2023.
The comparative figures for the financial year 31 December 2022 have been extracted from the Group's statutory accounts for that financial year. The 2022 financial statements, which were prepared in accordance with UK adopted international accounting standards and company law, have been reported on by the Group's auditors and delivered to the registrar of companies.
The financial information set out in this preliminary announcement does not constitute the Company's statutory accounts for the years ended 31 December 2023 or 31 December 2022. The Annual Report for 2023 will be delivered to the Registrar of Companies in due course. The auditors' report on those accounts was unqualified and neither drew attention to any matters by way of emphasis nor contained a statement under either section 498(2) of Companies Act 2006 (accounting records or returns inadequate or accounts not agreeing with records and returns), or section 498(3) of Companies Act 2006 (failure to obtain necessary information and explanations).
The Board of Aptitude Software Group plc approved the release of this audited preliminary announcement on 20 March 2024.
The Annual Report for the year ended 31 December 2023 will be posted to shareholders in due course and will be delivered to the Registrar of Companies following the Annual General Meeting of the Company. The report will also be available on the investor relations page of our web site (www.aptitudesoftware.com). Further copies will be available on request and free of charge from the Company Secretary at 8th Floor, 138 Cheapside, London, EC2V 6BJ.
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 [email protected] or visit www.rns.com.
RNS may use your IP address to confirm compliance with the terms and conditions, to analyse how you engage with the information contained in this communication, and to share such analysis on an anonymised basis with others as part of our commercial services. For further information about how RNS and the London Stock Exchange use the personal data you provide us, please see our Privacy Policy.
END
FR FFFLLVFIIFIS