BLACKBIRD PLC — Earnings Release 2015

Mar 8, 2016

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RNS Number : 3198R

Forbidden Technologies PLC

08 March 2016

8 March 2016

Forbidden Technologies plc

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

Preliminary Results

Stabilisation, Reorganisation and Regeneration

Forbidden Technologies plc (AIM: FBT), the AIM-quoted owner and developer of Forscene (the market-leading cloud video platform), Captevate (the consumer video editor), and eva (the video social network), announces its preliminary results for the year ended 31 December 2015. 

Financial Highlights

·      Gross sales of £708,717 (2014: £689,222)

·      Operating loss of £2,662,606 (2014: £3,644,168)

·      Year-on-year costs reduced by £1,496,467

·      Debt free with cash and cash equivalents of £1,675,695 (2014: £4,358,900)

Operational Highlights

·      Significant structural reorganisation with clear focus on commerciality

·      Strengthened executive team

o  Aziz Musa appointed CEO

o  Jason Cowan appointed Business Development Director

o  Jonathan Lees appointed FD

o  Stephen Streater appointed Chairman

o  Jim Irving and Andrew Bentley appointed Non-Executive Directors

·      Launched eva for iOS

·      Launched Captevate beta

·      Developed new video codec

·      Commercially significant agreements signed in US

·      Deferred and future revenue from agreed deals £290,000 at 31 December 2015 (2014: £33,000)

Post Period Highlights

·      Continued growth in deferred and future revenue from agreed deals - up 24% since 31 December 2015 to £360,000 at time of reporting

·      First paid eva channel

·      Agreements with IMG Media and ABC Network affiliates

Aziz Musa, Forbidden Technologies CEO, commented:

"2015 was a year of transition for Forbidden in terms of personnel, strategy and culture. Moving forward into 2016, the business is stable, we have an incredibly strong portfolio of products and a very clear focus on increasing sales. Already this calendar year we have made encouraging progress against our stated objectives and the Board is committed to continuing in that vein for the rest of 2016 and beyond."

Enquiries:

Forbidden Technologies plc


Stephen Streater, Chairman

Aziz Musa, Chief Executive

Tel: +44 (0)20 8879 7245

Allenby Capital Limited (Nominated Adviser and Broker)

Nick Naylor

John Depasquale

Richard Short

Katrina Perez

Tel: +44 (0)20 3328 5656

Redleaf Communications (Financial PR Adviser)

Rebecca Sanders-Hewett

David Ison

Susie Hudson

Tel: +44 (0)20 7382 4730

Email: [email protected]

About Forbidden Technologies plc



Forbidden Technologies plc (AIM: FBT, www.forbidden.co.uk) floated in February 2000.

The Company develops and markets a powerful cloud video platform, which is used by broadcasters, in professional web video, in education and by consumers. The Company platform is one of the world's most advanced browser-based and mobile platforms, which underpins Forscene in professional markets, its eva video social network and its new consumer video editor, Captevate.

Websites:

www.forbidden.co.uk

www.forscene.com

www.eva.co

www.captevate.com

Social media:

www.facebook.com/FORscene

www.plus.google.com/+Forscenepro/posts

www.linkedin.com/company/forscene

www.twitter.com/forscenepro

www.youtube.com/user/ForsceneTraining

Chairman's Statement

Introduction

Forbidden Technologies plc. (AIM: FBT), is the developer of a market leading cloud video platform used for its Forscene professional editing suite, its video social network, 'eva', and its online video editor, 'Captevate'.

The Group has built cloud-based technology and products that:

·      enable news and sports broadcasters to get their web and mobile highlights to market quicker than ever before;

·      help post-production and broadcast clients to make significant reductions in their costs;

·      allow brands, influencers and celebrities to access audiences and their authentic content; and

·      empower consumers to edit and share video in a completely new way.

Our three products are based on 'The Forbidden Cloud Platform', a dedicated video editing cloud solution powered by multi-patented technology that allows customers to produce content at a speed equivalent to having dedicated hardware solutions at their disposal.

Statement of Comprehensive Income and Statement of Financial Position

In the year to 31 December 2015, the Group recorded sales of £708,717 (£689,222 in 2014), which represented an increase of 3% year on year. Operating costs during the year to 31 December 2015 were £2,686,059, including £207,539 of one-off restructuring costs, compared to £3,608,273 for the previous year. The loss before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation was £2,085,750 compared to £2,978,068 for the previous year. After accounting adjustments for depreciation, amortisation and employee share option costs the operating loss was £2,662,606 compared to £3,644,168 for the previous year. The net loss for the year of £2,556,423 compares to a loss of £3,591,863 for the previous year.

The Group is debt free and had cash and cash equivalents at 31 December 2015 of £1,675,695 (31 December 2014: £4,358,900 including £2,000,000 in short-term investments).

In the last Chairman's Statement, we indicated that the Company would reduce year on year costs in 2015 by around £1 million. The cost reduction was £1,496,467 comprising £1,129,753 of operating costs (excluding £207,539 of one-off restructuring costs), and £366,714 of capitalised costs. These anticipated cost savings were primarily the result of the closure of our US office at the end of 2014, the removal of a layer of senior management and completion of our investment in additional Forscene features.

Management changes

In 2015 we reset our growth strategy of diversifying our product range and increasing our focus on our growth areas. This required new commercial leadership. We therefore re-structured the management team and strengthened the Board.

Our long standing Chairman, Vic Steel retired, and I have moved up to become Chairman. My main focus remains on maintaining the technical leadership of our cloud platform.

To lead the Group from its development to its growth phase, we promoted Aziz Musa to the CEO role. Aziz is a commercially focused CEO and a skilled leader who has a track record of growing revenues in technology led companies.

Our experienced non-Executive Finance Director Jonathan Lees joined the Executive team as Finance Director in June 2015.

Jason Cowan, a veteran of the broadcast Industry, joined the Executive team in January 2015 as leader of the commercial team, and was promoted to the Board in June 2015.

To complete the Board, towards the end of the year, we added two new independent, commercially successful non-Executive Directors. Andrew Bentley, formerly CEO of EMI and Virgin Music Asia and President, Electrolux Home Products International AB, joined the business in November 2015. Jim Irving, formerly executive producer at the BBC for Match of The Day and Business Development Director of deltatre also joined in November 2015.

As detailed in the Chief Executive's review below, the new management has already started to deliver. Forscene sales in our target Sports market grew by 188% year on year in 2015 with a much more diversified client list. Post year end, we have announced successes in Sports and our first eva channel sale.

Cash Management

Cash management is a constant focus of the executive management team. Our use of cash is focused on increasing the balance of spend towards sales and marketing to drive growth in sales and reduce cash burn. In turn, we have continued to reduce our R&D costs, and are vigilant in ensuring additional investment is targeted where there is commercial benefit.

Prospects

Forbidden brings investors the potential for rapid growth through our scalable cloud video platform, which now spans both the professional and consumer markets. The agility and determination of the new management team brings with it a balance of skills, which is being applied to delivering this vision.

The new management team is already starting to show a return to growth for the business; and with cloud solutions penetrating many market sectors, we are seeing a willingness of major global companies to move towards commercial relationships. We look forward to the prospect of greater adoption of Forscene in international professional markets and the success of Captevate in the online consumer editing market, with the eva video social network bringing in supplementary revenue and supporting the adoption of Captevate.

Stephen Streater

Chairman

Chief Executive's Review

2015 - A Year of Stabilisation, Reorganisation and Regeneration

Stabilisation

The 2015 financial results reflect an organisation stabilising following its change of strategy in North America and growth of its product offering. By Q4, we began to see evidence of the renewed commercial focus paying off.

·      Ongoing operating and capitalised costs reduced by 33% from a peak cost base in 2014 of £4,508,355.

·      Gross margins were in excess of 84%.

·      Customer retention remained high at 81%.

·      The continued decline in News was the result of a single news client, Field 59 (formerly BIM), who has been in decline for the last 3 years. We expect the decline in News to bottom out in 2016.

·      Customer numbers increased by 40% year on year demonstrating that the relevance of Forscene is greater than ever.

·      In Sports we achieved growth of 188% from £61,292 to £176,866, and revenue per customer increased by 92%. The results reflect the execution of a deliberate commercial strategy.

·      The sales results achieved in the second half of 2015 restored growth in the business reflecting the progress made in creating a commercially led organisation. Growth in the second half of 2015 was up by 16% over the first half from £327,338 to £381,379. This second half performance was also 12% up on the same period last year.

The business is better positioned now than ever before for a period of sustained financial growth, and our mission is to turn that potential into reality.

Reorganisation

A number of changes occurred within the organisation aimed at turning our potential into reality. This started with the restructuring of the Board and management team as mentioned in the Chairman's Statement. The newly structured business is led by three revenue stream owners, with the rest of the organisation supporting all three in a matrix formation:

·      Professional / Forscene, which will represent the main source of growth in 2016 and 2017, is led by Jason Cowan. Jason has now extended his sales team, and reorganised around the imperatives of growing existing business and winning new business. This newly formed team includes a new director of Sales Americas, Richie Murray, who works on an entirely variable cost basis. Jason has also taken on operational control of the Company with R&D and support indirectly reporting to him.

·      Captevate is led by Jovana Ljiliak. We expect Captevate subscription revenue to contribute in 2016. Jovana in conjunction with Jason is also working with a number of potential white label partners to drive Captevate B2B sales.

·      eva is led by Jens Wikholm. eva represents the least predictable part of the Forbidden Technologies portfolio. Whilst the efficacy of eva has been proved in three highly successful proofs of concept, until the platform is actually monetised to significant levels the Company's focus remains on the other two products.

·      A restructured Forscene partner programme is becoming an increasingly important part of the sales mix. This includes a greater focus on a fewer number of resellers offering them both the marketing collateral and pre-sales support they require to close business on behalf of Forbidden Technologies.

·      Partnerships have become increasingly important in 2015. These are clients who choose to either resell the Forscene product under our or their own brand. In Sports our largest client now sells Forscene as the only product in its 'rapid turnaround' editorial offering, and continually explores additional revenue opportunities with Captevate and eva.

·      Augmenting all of this change the Company has also introduced the concept of white-labelled sales teams which operate on an entirely variable cost basis across all products.

The organisational changes represent part of a wider, and arguably more important, cultural change the organisation is undergoing. Our challenge culturally is to move out of the 'product first' mentality and into a 'revenue first' mentality. We are well positioned to do this now having completed the bulk of new product development in 2015 that allows for this regeneration of the business.

Regeneration

Forscene is starting to establish its place in Broadcast post-production, Sports and News. The revenue trajectory of Sports in the second half of the year in particular gives us greater confidence as we push our products to market. In Broadcast post production, we had a record peak month of 116 concurrent productions in 2015. For the first time a number of these clients used the Forscene product for the 'offline editing' element of their workflow, which we expect to be a significant source of growth for the business in the coming years. Whilst there will always be improvements to Forscene as a product our focus is now on more effectively commercialising what we have.

Around 50% of Captevate's features are now live. The product will evolve with new features and functions throughout 2016, and we anticipate releasing a professional version targeted at agencies at some point in the year. Captevate exists in the currently relatively uncompetitive market of 'online video editing'. There are comparatively few competitors in this space as is reflected in the product's initial success in ranking on Google, where captevate.com ranks in the top 10 results for hundreds of keywords. This has led to approximately 800 people a week registering for a free trial of Captevate, significantly more than was originally forecast in our growth models.

Conversely, eva competes in a highly competitive and crowded market. However, eva's core USP, its ability to allow brands access to the content created on their channels for use in paid and owned media, has been well received and is potentially lucrative. Whilst eva remains the 'risk' element of the Forbidden Technologies portfolio, it also represents the highest potential upside. With initial pitches to high profile brands and agencies, the pipeline for branded channels is both exciting and rapidly growing. eva's product development is largely complete. Whilst there are no new features planned there is an ongoing process of bug and usability fixes.

Overall management believes it has the products and tools required to build the business. Our future story is one of commercial growth rather than product growth.

2016 - Commercialisation and growth

Post Period Highlights

Post 2015 year end, there have been a number of highlights:

·      In January we announced that our reseller in News Field59 (formerly BIM) had signed two new ABC affiliated channels. These are the first new channels to be signed since the decline of the business began in 2013.

·      We also announced a new deal with IMG Media, one of the largest independent producers and distributors of sports media. In Sports, our growth profile is very encouraging. We have moved from one client and one event in 2012 to three clients and 21 events in 2015. Driving more revenue in Sports in 2015 than in 2013 and 2014 combined is an important achievement. This trend appears to be continuing into 2016.

·      We announced the first paying eva client. We Are Experience, an award-winning design and usability agency that will use the product for its international client testing. The pipeline of prospective eva clients continues to grow. In addition, at Mobile World Congress we announced the launch of eva on Android. This initial release will continue over the coming months to include more and more Android devices.

Future outlook

To support our growth ambitions, the sales organisation across the business is planned to evolve from 1.8 full time equivalents ("FTEs") in Q4 2015 to 7.0 FTEs by the end of Q1 2016. These new sales resources are being funded by a £600k reduction in R&D spend, augmented with partners and resellers whose costs operate in an entirely variable way.

Forscene represents the vast majority of growth opportunities in 2016 and 2017. With a new sales team led by Jason Cowan we expect to see good growth in Forscene over the coming periods. In Broadcast post-production the cost savings available to post houses, production companies and broadcasters continues to be significant. In News and Sports speed to market of content is critical, and can be a competitive advantage to news channels and sports distributors. Through a range of partners, intermediaries and resellers, Forscene is now driving these markets on the back of these simple messages.

As Captevate moves out of beta in late Q1 2016, we will be able to test the commercial models more effectively and look forward to this becoming a source of modest revenues in 2016 with its significance increasing in 2017 and beyond. We expect to see partnerships become an important source of revenue for Captevate too.

eva remains the least predictable part of our portfolio and the lowest cost to maintain. eva has signed its first paid client, has a number of pitches in place, and a number of proposals with clients. We will be working hard to unlock the full potential of eva.

Conclusion

2015 represented a year of stabilisation, reorganisation and regeneration. Our intention is to make 2016 the year we begin to see sales traction. To achieve this we have restructured around three key revenue streams, have shifted £600k of R&D cost into our sales apparatus and are engaging the most significant pipeline of opportunities the Group has ever had. We remain an organisation with an extraordinary portfolio of intellectual property and a sales model that could make Forbidden one of the shining lights of UK technology. The management team and the entire organisation are extremely impatient for financial success and our focus is exclusively to this end. I look forward to updating on our progress over the coming months.

Aziz Musa

CEO

Consolidated income statement and statement of comprehensive income for the year ended 31 December 2015

					2015	2014
					£	£
						Restated
CONTINUING OPERATIONS
Revenue					708,717	689,222
Cost of Sales					(108,408)	(59,017)
GROSS PROFIT					600,309	630,205
Operating costs					(2,686,059)	(3,608,273)
EARNINGS BEFORE INTEREST, TAXATION, DEPRECIATION AND AMORTISATION					(2,085,750)	(2,978,068)
Depreciation					(156,162)	(152,283)
Loss on disposal of fixed assets					(1,309)	(34,119)
Development costs impairment					-	(200,000)
Amortisation					(334,602)	(197,792)
Employee share option costs					(84,783)	(81,906)
					(576,856)	(666,100)
OPERATING LOSS					(2,662,606)	(3,644,168)
Finance income					27,124	18,655
LOSS BEFORE INCOME TAX					(2,635,482)	(3,625,513)
Income tax					79,059	33,650
LOSS FOR THE YEAR					(2,556,423)	(3,591,863)
TOTAL COMPREHENSIVE INCOME FOR THE YEAR					(2,556,423)	(3,591,863)
Earnings per share expressed in pence per share					(1.94p)	(2.72p)
Fully diluted - continuing and total operations					(1.94p)	(2.72p)

Restatement of the 2014 comparative figures in the consolidated income statement of comprehensive income

The comparative figures in the Consolidated Statement of Comprehensive Income have been restated to show an Earnings before Interest, Taxation, Depreciation and Amortisation (EBITDA) figure. The Directors believe this presentation better reflects the operating cash flow of the business before working capital movements by eliminating the non-cash effects of financial and accounting decisions.

Consolidated and Company statements of financial position at 31 December 2015

		Group			Company
		2015	2014		2015	2014
		£	£		£	£
ASSETS
NON-CURRENT ASSETS
Other intangible assets		1,518,666	1,364,539		1,518,666	1,364,539
Property, plant and equipment		74,956	189,675		74,956	186,479
Investments		-	-		641	641
		1,593,622	1,554,214		1,594,263	1,551,659
CURRENT ASSETS
Inventories		-	41,963		-	17,564
Trade and other receivables		233,845	293,878		233,211	359,357
Current tax assets		79,059	33,650		79,059	33,650
Short-term investment		-	2,000,000		-	2,000,000
Cash and bank balances		1,675,695	2,358,900		1,674,637	2,305,339
		1,988,599	4,728,391		1,986,907	4,715,910
TOTAL ASSETS		3,582,221	6,282,605		3,581,170	6,267,569
EQUITY AND LIABILITES
CAPITAL AND RESERVES
Issued share capital		1,054,518	1,054,518		1,054,518	1,054,518
Share premium		13,317,572	13,317,572		13,317,572	13,317,572
Capital contribution reserve		125,000	125,000		125,000	125,000
Retained earnings		(11,187,702)	(8,716,062)		(11,187,737)	(8,716,062)
TOTAL EQUITY		3,309,388	5,781,028		3,309,353	5,781,028
CURRENT LIABILITIES
Trade and other payables		272,833	501,577		271,817	486,541
TOTAL LIABILITIES		272,833	501,577		271,817	486,541
TOTAL EQUITY AND LIABILITIES		3,582,221	6,282,605		3,581,170	6,267,569

Consolidated statement of changes in equity for the year ended 31 December 2015

		Issued share capital		Retained earnings		Share premium		Capital contribution reserve		Total equity
		£		£		£		£		£
Balance at 1 January 2014		1,054,518		(5,206,105)		13,317,572		125,000		9,290,985
Changes in equity
Share based payment		-		81,906		-		-		81,906
Total comprehensive income for the year		-		(3,591,863)		-		-		(3,591,863)
Balance at 31 December 2014		1,054,518		(8,716,062)		13,317,572		125,000		5,781,028
Changes in equity
Share based payment		-		84,783		-		-		84,783
Total comprehensive income for the year		-		(2,556,423)		-		-		(2,556,423)
Balance at 31 December 2015		1,054,518		(11,187,702)		13,317,572		125,000		3,309,388

Consolidated and Company statements of cash flows for the year ended 31 December 2015

		Group			Company
		2015	2014		2015	2014
	Notes	£	£		£	£
Cash flows from operating activities
Cash used in operations	A	(2,212,498)	(2,657,616)		(2,158,108)	(2,717,569)
Tax received		33,650	58,834		33,650	58,834
Net cash from operating activities		(2,178,848)	(2,598,782)		(2,124,458)	(2,658,735)
Cash flows from investing activities
Payments for intangible fixed assets		(488,729)	(573,371)		(488,729)	(573,371)
Payments for property, plant and equipment		(44,639)	(326,711)		(44,639)	(320,319)
Proceeds from sale of property, plant and equipment		1,887	-		-	-
Maturity of fixed term deposits		2,000,000	-		2,000,000	-
Interest received		27,124	18,655		27,124	18,655
Net cash from investing activities		1,495,643	(881,427)		1,493,756	(875,035)
(Decrease) in cash and cash equivalents		(683,205)	(3,480,209)		(630,702)	(3,533,770)
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of year	B	2,358,900	5,839,109		2,305,339	5,839,109
Cash and cash equivalents at end of year	B	1,675,695	2,358,900		1,674,637	2,305,339

Notes to the Consolidated and Parent Company statements of cash flows for the year ended 31 December 2015

A.     Reconciliation of loss before income tax to cash (used in)/generated from operations

		Group			Company
		2015	2014		2015	2014
		£	£		£	£
Loss before income tax		(2,635,482)	(3,625,513)		(2,635,517)	(3,625,513)
Depreciation		156,162	152,283		156,162	149,087
Loss on disposal of fixed assets		1,309	34,119		-	34,119
Development costs impairment		-	200,000		-	200,000
Amortisation charges		334,602	197,792		334,602	197,792
Employee share option costs		84,783	81,906		84,783	81,906
Finance income		(27,124)	(18,655)		(27,124)	(18,655)
Earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation		(2,085,750)	(2,978,068)		(2,087,094)	(2,981,264)
Movements in working capital:
Decrease in trade and other receivables		60,033	36,759		126,146	50,615
Decrease/(Increase) in inventories		41,963	(38,689)		17,564	(14,290)
(Decrease)/increase in trade and other payables		(228,744)	322,382		(214,724)	227,370
Cash (used in) from operations		(2,212,498)	(2,657,616)		(2,158,108)	(2,717,569)

B.    Cash and cash equivalents

The amounts disclosed in the Statement of Cash Flows in respect of cash and cash equivalents are in respect of these balance sheet amounts:

		Group			Company
Year ended 31 December 2015
		31/12/15	1/1/15		31/12/15	1/1/15
Cash and cash equivalents		1,675,695	2,358,900		1,674,637	2,305,339
Year ended 31 December 2014
		31/12/14	1/1/14		31/12/14	1/1/14
		£	£		£	£
Cash and cash equivalents		2,358,900	5,839,109		2,305,339	5,839,109

This information is provided by RNS

The company news service from the London Stock Exchange

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