AIM: CER                                                    

Cerillion plc

("Cerillion" or "Company" or "Group")

Final results for the year ended 30 September 2023

Record financial performance

Strong platform for continued growth

 

Cerillion plc, the billing, charging and customer relationship management software solutions provider, presents its annual results for the 12 months ended 30 September 2023.

Highlights

Year ended 30 September	2023	2022	Change
Revenue	£39.2m	£32.7m	+20%
Annualised recurring revenue2	£14.8m	£12.4m	+19%
Adjusted EBITDA4	£18.1m	£13.8m	+32%
Adjusted EBITDA margin	46.2%	42.0%	+420bps
Adjusted profit before tax5	£16.8m	£11.9m	+41%
Statutory profit before tax	£16.1m	£10.9m	+48%
Adjusted basic earnings per share6	46.2p	35.2p	+31%
Statutory basic earnings per share	43.8p	31.7p	+38%
Total dividend per share	11.3p	9.1p	+24%
Net cash	£24.7m	£20.2m	+22%

 

Financial:

·   A record year across key financial performance measures

·   Revenue up 20% to a record £39.2m (2022: £32.7m), driven by major new customer implementations, significant licence revenue and strong demand from existing customers

·   Annualised recurring revenue up 19% to £14.8m (2022: £12.4m)

·   Back-order book³ at £45.4m at the financial year-end (30 September 2022: £45.4m); now at a record £52.5m following the recent ?12.4m contract win with a new European Tier-1 customer

·   New customer sales pipeline⁷ up 16% to a record £243m at 30 September 2023 (30 September 2022: £209m)

·   Strong balance sheet with net cash up 22% to £24.7m (30 September 2022: £20.2m)

·   Final dividend of 8.0p per share proposed (2022: 6.5p), bringing the total dividend for the year to 11.3p per share (2022: 9.1p), an increase of 24%  

Operational:

·    Major new implementation covering mobile services completed for Telesur in H2; second phase covering its fixed-line network is now under way

·    Record orders of £30.8m to existing customers, up by 85% year-on-year

-     reflects the benefits of recent larger customer wins and includes major new contract worth £15.1m signed in H2

·    Continued expansion of newer resource centres in Bulgaria and India, and sales team presence added in the USA

·    AI-based functionality introduced in latest product release, issued in November 2023

·    Pipeline of new business opportunities stands at a record high and includes larger potential contracts

·    Cerillion well-positioned for further growth in FY24 and beyond

 

Louis Hall, CEO of Cerillion plc, commented:

"It has been another year of strong growth and development. Revenue, pre-tax profit, and the new customer sales pipeline all reached new highs. Record orders to existing customers - some 79% of total revenue for the year - shows the importance of our existing customer base, and the recent closure of a ?12.4m deal with a Tier-1 telco is another demonstration of our widening market appeal.  

"We continued to invest in our product set, introducing AI for the first time, and also expanded our resource base, particularly at our newer centres in Ahmedabad, Indore and Sofia.

"The market backdrop remains extremely favourable. Numerous factors continue to drive telco investment in the enterprise software layer that connects their network infrastructure to their customers and allows them to enhance monetisation of their network infrastructure assets.  In a slower growth environment for telcos, the need to extract more revenue from existing assets and improve operational efficiency are just as important drivers for improving or replacing the enterprise software layer as investment in new 5G and fibre infrastructure.

"Cerillion's financial position remains very strong, supported by significant net cash, increasing levels of recurring income and strong cash generation. Together with a record back-order book and strong new customer sales pipeline, this leaves us confident about Cerillion's growth prospects in the new financial year and beyond."

For further information please contact:

Cerillion plc Louis Hall, CEO, Andrew Dickson, CFO		c/o KTZ Communications T: 020 3178 6378
Liberum (Nomad and Broker)		T: 020 3100 2000
Bidhi Bhoma, Ben Cryer, Matthew Hogg   Singer Capital Markets (Joint Broker) Rick Thompson, James Fischer		T: 020 7496 3000
KTZ Communications		T: 020 3178 6378
Katie Tzouliadis, Robert Morton

 

About Cerillion

 

Cerillion has a 24-year track record in providing mission-critical software for billing, charging and customer relationship management ("CRM"), mainly to the telecommunications sector but also to other markets, including utilities and financial services. The Company has c. 80 customer installations across c. 45 countries.

 

Headquartered in London, Cerillion also has operations in India and Bulgaria.

The business was originally part of Logica plc before its management buyout, led by CEO, Louis Hall, in 1999. The Company joined AIM in March 2016.

Notes

 

Note 1     Revenue derived from software licence, support and maintenance, Software-as-a-Service ("SaaS") and third-party sales.

Note 2     Recurring revenue includes support and maintenance, managed service and Skyline revenue.

Note 3     Back order book consists of £36.7m of sales contracted but not yet recognised at the end of the reporting period plus £8.7m of annualised support and maintenance revenue.  It is anticipated that c. 45% of the £36.7m of sales contracted but not yet recognised as at the end of the reporting period will be recognised within the next 12 months.

Note 4     Adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation ("EBITDA") is calculated by taking operating profit and adding back depreciation & amortisation and share-based payment charge.

Note 5     Adjusted profit before tax is calculated by taking reported profit before tax and adding back amortisation of acquired intangible assets and share-based payment charge.

Note 6     Adjusted earnings per share is calculated by taking profit after tax and adding back amortisation of acquired intangible assets and share-based payment charge and is divided by the weighted average number of shares in issue during the period.

Note 7     New Customer Sales Pipeline is the total, unweighted value of all qualified sales prospects.

CHAIRMAN AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER'S REPORT

 

Introduction

 

Cerillion continues to perform very strongly and financial results for the year have set new record highs on key measures. Revenue increased by 20% year-on-year to a record £39.2m (2022: £32.7m), and adjusted profit before tax rose by 41% to a new high of £16.8m (2022: £11.9m), which was meaningfully ahead of the prior consensus market forecast, as reported in our October trading update. At financial year-end, the total value of our new customer sales pipeline had increased by 16% to a record £243m (2022: £209m), which reflects the growing demand that we are seeing in the marketplace.

             

This excellent performance was achieved against slower economic growth globally.  We believe that this backdrop is likely to stimulate market interest in our product-based SaaS solutions as telcos seek to maximise investment returns on critical 5G and fibre infrastructure, as well as on existing infrastructure assets and comment further on this below. 

 

New orders for the financial year under review increased slightly to £31.6m (2022: £29.4m), and the new financial year has started strongly with a major new contract worth approximately ?12.4m signed with a new Tier-1 customer.  It is worth noting that key criteria in the selection process were the commercial, operational and financial advantages of our 'out-of-the-box' product model, and especially the ease with which our software enables new products and packages to be created and launched by our customers to their end-customers. Our highly-configurable, 'out-of-the-box' product solution enables much lower total cost of ownership and much faster time-to-market than the traditional best-of-breed or bespoke approaches. 

 

The recent Tier-1 new customer signing continues a trend towards winning larger customers.  As we have previously commented, this has multiple benefits. In addition to providing further proof points of the quality of our product offering, larger customers typically generate higher income over the long-term since they are generally more active, with broader and deeper requirements and larger budgets. Larger deals also typically have a higher software licence element and therefore tend to be margin enhancing.

 

New orders from existing accounts increased by 85% year-on-year to £30.8m (2022: £16.7m). This substantial uplift mainly reflected the presence of the larger customers that we have signed in recent years, but it was also driven by some large deals with a number of smaller customers.

 

In order to support the significant acceleration of the Company's growth rate, we have continued to increase resources in our main operations in India and Bulgaria.  We also added new sales presence in the USA, Belgium and Singapore over the year.

 

Looking to the future, demand for billing, charging, customer relationship management ("CRM") and digital customer experience solutions in the Company's core telecommunications market is driven by a very broad range of factors.  These include the need to: realise greater value from existing infrastructure assets; improve operational efficiency; adapt rapidly to changing market conditions; and maximise value from new infrastructure investments in 5G and fibre rollouts. Cerillion remains well-placed to benefit from these drivers, and to grow, both in Europe and internationally. We also expect to gain from increasing market acceptance of SaaS-based product solutions.

  

The pipeline of potential new business opportunities is very strong, and the Company is well-positioned to make further strong progress in the new financial year.

 

Financial Overview

 

Total revenue for the year to 30 September 2023 rose by 20% to £39.2m (2022: £32.7m). As is typical, existing customers (classified as those acquired before the beginning of the reporting period) accounted for a very high proportion of total revenue, generating 99% of the overall result (2022: 98%).

 

Recurring revenue, which is derived from support and maintenance, and managed service contracts, increased by 23% to £12.9m and comprised approximately 33% of total revenue (2022: £10.5m, 32%). At 30 September 2023, recurring revenue on an annualised basis was 19% higher year-on-year at £14.8m (30 September 2022: £12.4m), boosted by a 41% increase in annualised managed service contract revenue (2022: 67% increase) as more customers contracted for these services.

 

The Group's revenue streams are categorised into three segments: software revenue (including Software-as-a-Service); services revenue; and revenue from other activities.  Software revenue principally comprises software licences and related support and maintenance, and managed service sales, while services revenue is generated by software implementations and ongoing account development work.  Revenue from other activities is mainly from the reselling of third-party products.

 

?	Software (including Software-as-a-Service) revenue increased by 64% to £21.1m (2022: £12.9m).  This included initial licence recognition for recent, large new customer wins.  Software revenues accounted for 54% of total revenues (2022: 39%).
?	Services revenue decreased by 15% to £15.5m (2022: £18.3m). This reduction largely reflected a reduction in concurrent implementation work on new customer projects. Services revenue comprised 40% of total revenue (2022: 56%).
?	Third-party income increased by 62% to £2.6m (2022: £1.6m) and comprised 7% of total revenue (2022: 5%).

 

Gross margin was slightly ahead of the prior year at 78.6% (2022: 77.9%), reflecting the higher proportion of licence revenue recognised.

 

Operating expenses increased by 17.2% to £15.3m (2022: £13.0m). This included an unfavourable year-on-year foreign exchange impact of £0.6m due to retranslation of balance sheet items at year end.  Excluding this, operating expenses increased by 12%, reflecting strong focus on cost control.  Personnel costs were £8.7m (2022: £7.4m) and accounted for 57% (2022: 57%) of operating expenses.

 

Adjusted EBITDA for the year increased by 32% to £18.1m (2022: £13.8m), driven mainly by higher revenues, and supported by favourable foreign exchange rates. The Board considers adjusted EBITDA to be a key performance indicator for Cerillion as it adds back key non-cash transactions, being share-based payments, depreciation and amortisation.

 

We continued to invest in our product set, and the charge for amortisation of intangibles was £1.4m (2022: £1.9m). Expenditure on tangible fixed assets was £0.3m (2022: £0.6m). Operating profit increased by 43% to £15.3m (2022: £10.7m) due to the increase in revenue, as well as operational leverage.

 

Adjusted profit before tax rose by 41% to £16.8m (2022: £11.9m) and adjusted earnings per share increased by 31% to 46.2p (2022: 35.2p). On a statutory basis, profit before tax increased by 48% to £16.1m (2022: £10.9m) and earnings per share increased by 38% to 43.8p (2022: 31.7p).

 

Cash Flow and Banking

 

The Group continued to generate strong cash flows, and closed the financial year with net cash up by 22% against the same point last year to £24.7m (30 September 2022: £20.2m). This was after £2.9m of dividend payments (2022: £2.2m). Total debt at the year-end remained £nil (2022: £nil).

 

Dividend

 

The Board is pleased to propose a 23% increase in the final dividend to 8.0p per share (2022: 6.5p). Together with the interim dividend of 3.3p per share (2021: 2.6p), this brings the total dividend for the year to 11.3p per share (2022: 9.1p), an increase of 24%.

 

The dividend, which is subject to shareholder approval at the Company's Annual General Meeting to be held on 1 February 2024, will be payable on 8 February 2024 to those shareholders on the Company's register as at the close of business on the record date of 29 December 2023.  The ex-dividend date is 28 December 2023.

 

Operational and Market Overview

 

High points over the year included the completion of some major implementations. One was for Neos Networks, a leading UK business telecoms provider, where we replaced three independent systems, and another was for Telesur, the leading telecommunications provider in Suriname, where we migrated the telco's mobile services to our platform. Our work for Telesur continues with the digital transformation of its fixed-line services.  In June 2023, we signed a major new six-year contract with an existing telecommunications customer, worth a total of £15.1 million, which just tops our previous largest ever customer win, signed in 2022. The £15.1 million win followed a £10 million contract signing in the first half of the year with an existing customer.

 

Our latest major new contract was agreed in November 2023 and is with a Tier-1 telco, based in Europe.  Worth an initial ?12.4 million, we expect this engagement to grow significantly in value over time. It also supports our view that the trend towards signing larger deals with larger customers will continue as our product-based approach gains wider acceptance. As previously emphasised, contracts with larger customers normally involve higher recurring revenues and have much greater upsell potential, therefore they contribute significantly to the ongoing growth of the business.

 

As we grow across the globe, and global labour markets evolve, we continue to expand our operating locations, recruiting the best talent cost-effectively and supporting our expanding global customer base. We enlarged our teams at our newer locations in Sofia, Bulgaria and at Ahmedabad and Indore in India and have maintained a mix of remote and office-based working. The competition for technology professionals remained relatively strong during most of the financial year, but pressures eased significantly from the peaks reached in the prior year.  Nevertheless, we remain focused on potential inflation in people costs and continue to manage carefully the mix and location of resource.

 

Our investment in R&D exceeded last year's levels and we have continued to advance our technology, launching two major new releases of our product set, as scheduled. The most recent of these releases was Cerillion 23.2, which went live in early November 2023. A key feature of this latest release was the introduction of AI.  This will specifically support the ease and agility with which our customers can create and release new product sets within our Enterprise Product Catalogue, by enabling non-technical telco staff to use natural language to define complex product bundles. These are then constructed automatically, significantly reducing the time and complexity of this key task.

 

Significant telco investment in critical 5G and fibre infrastructure continues and will continue to flow down to the ancillary systems that connect this infrastructure to customers and revenue. Against this macro backdrop, we anticipate that the current global economic slowdown will place more pressure on telcos to find efficiencies in their digital real-estate.  We believe that this is likely to encourage further market take-up of the flexible, highly configurable, product-based SaaS solutions that Cerillion offers, rather than the more bespoke solutions, or best-of-breed platforms, available from traditional vendors. In addition to this, we anticipate that telcos will seek to improve their digital real-estate in order to save costs, by improving business efficiency and consolidating multiple customer bases onto a single platform, as well as driving revenue from existing infrastructure assets, by providing the market with more innovative products based on those assets.

 

Cerillion's ability to address the market through a range of flexible solutions remains compelling. As well as our proven ability to support end-to-end transformation projects, the Company offers the flexibility to provide individual product modules, or subsets of modules, to implement point solutions that address specific requirements. The Company's solutions are also able to support a broad range of CSPs, from traditional network operators and virtual network operators ("VNOs") to enterprise connectivity solutions providers.

 

Outlook

 

The Company is growing strongly, and its product-based SaaS approach leaves it well placed to continue to benefit from the broad range of positive market drivers, as discussed above. We are also encouraged by the increasing visibility the brand is gaining in what remains a huge marketplace. Our recent Tier-1 new customer win reflects this and Cerillion's inclusion in two Gartner Market Guides* (which evaluated suppliers based on product portfolio, geographic spread and progress in the last year), published earlier in 2023, also highlights the Company's growing reputation and the breadth and completeness of its product portfolio.

 

Looking ahead, the recent new customer win, ongoing implementation work with existing customers, and the major new deals signed with existing customers all create a strong platform for further growth.  The back-order book, now at a record £52.5m, underpins revenue visibility, and the new customer sales pipeline, also at a new high, contains large deal opportunities. This leaves Cerillion well-placed to deliver another strong performance in the new financial year and beyond.

 

Cerillion's financial position remains very strong, supported by significant net cash, increasing levels of recurring income and strong cash flows. We therefore view the future with confidence and will continue to invest across the business to support ongoing growth.

    

 

A M Howarth	L T Hall
Non-executive Chairman	Chief Executive Officer

*Gartner "Market Guide for CSP Customer Management and Experience Solutions" By Analyst(s): Juha Korhonen, Amresh Nandan, Chris Meering, Susan Welsh de Grimaldo. Published 10 April 2023, and Gartner "Market Guide for CSP Revenue Management and Monetization Solutions" By Analyst(s): Amresh Nandan, Chris Meering, Juha Korhonen. Published 9 November 2022.

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CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF COMPREHENSIVE INCOME

For the year ended 30 September 2023

			Year to 30 September 2023		Year to 30 September 2022
	Notes		£'000		£'000
Revenue	2		39,170		32,726
Cost of sales			(8,364)		(7,221)
Gross profit			30,806		25,505
Operating expenses			(15,273)		(13,031)
Impairment losses on financial assets	3		(256)		(1,770)
Adjusted EBITDA*			18,083		13,750
Depreciation and amortisation			(2,597)		(2,986)
Share-based payment charge	18		(209)		(60)
Operating profit	3		15,277		10,704
Finance income	4		956		337
Finance costs	5		(119)		(146)
Profit before taxation			16,114		10,895
Taxation	6		(3,183)		(1,551)
Profit for the year			12,931		9,344
Other comprehensive (expense) / income
Items that will or may be reclassified to profit or loss:
Exchange difference on translating foreign			(95)		70
operations
Total comprehensive income for the year			12,836		9,414
Earnings per share
Basic earnings per share - continuing and total operations	8		43.8 pence		31.7 pence
Diluted earnings per share - continuing and total operations			43.7 pence		31.6 pence

 

All transactions are attributable to the owners of the parent.

 

* Adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation ("EBITDA") is calculated by taking operating profit and adding back depreciation & amortisation and share-based payment charge.

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL POSITION

As at 30 September 2023

				2023					2022
	Notes			£'000					£'000
ASSETS
Non-current assets
Goodwill	9			2,053					2,053
Other intangible assets	9			2,374					2,653
Property, plant and equipment	10			780					980
Right-of-use assets	11			2,352					3,057
Trade and other receivables	13			5,105					2,171
Deferred tax assets	12			268					260
				12,932					11,174
Current assets
Trade and other receivables	13			15,115					11,205
Cash and cash equivalents	16			24,738					20,249
				39,853					31,454
TOTAL ASSETS				52,785					42,628
LIABILITIES
Non-current liabilities
Trade and other payables	14			(1,200)					(934)
Lease liabilities	11			(2,178)					(3,050)
Deferred tax liabilities	12			(671)					(719)
				(4,049)					(4,703)
Current liabilities
Trade and other payables	14			(10,871)					(10,217)
Lease liabilities	11			(980)					(976)
				(11,851)					(11,193)
TOTAL LIABILITIES				(15,900)					(15,896)
NET ASSETS				36,885					26,732
EQUITY ATTRIBUTABLE TO SHAREHOLDERS
Ordinary share capital	17			147					147
Share premium account				13,319					13,319
Treasury stock	17			-					-
Share option reserve				346					137
Foreign exchange reserve				(192)					(97)
Retained earnings				23,265					13,226
TOTAL EQUITY				36,885					26,732

 

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF CASH FLOWS

For the year ended 30 September 2023

						2023						2022
				Notes		£'000						£'000
Cash flows from operating activities
Profit for the year						12,931						9,344
Adjustments for:
Taxation				6		3,183						1,551
Finance income				4		(956)						(337)
Finance costs				5		119						146
Share option charge				18		209						60
Depreciation				10,11		1,171						1,085
Amortisation				9		1,426						1,901
						18,083						13,750
Increase in trade and other receivables						(6,468)						(1,182)
Increase in trade and other payables						671						1,324
Cash generated from operations						12,286						13,892
Finance costs				5		(119)						(146)
Finance income				4		580						337
Tax paid						(2,997)						(1,745)
NET CASH GENERATED FROM OPERATING ACTIVITIES						9,750						12,338
Cash flows from investing activities
Capitalisation of intangible assets				9		(1,147)						(983)
Purchase of property, plant and equipment				10		(278)						(626)
NET CASH USED IN INVESTING ACTIVITIES						(1,425)						(1,609)
Cash flows from financing activities
Purchase of treasury stock						-						(827)
Receipts from exercise of share options						-						122
Principal elements of finance leases				11		(868)						(807)
Dividends paid				7		(2,892)						(2,243)
NET CASH USED IN FINANCING ACTIVITIES						(3,760)						(3,755)
NET INCREASE IN CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS						4,565						6,974
Translation differences						(76)						101
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of year						20,249						13,174
CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS AT END OF YEAR						24,738						20,249

 

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF CHANGES IN EQUITY

For the year ended 30 September 2023

	Ordinary share capital		Share premium account		Treasury stock		Share option reserve		Foreign exchange reserve		Retained earnings		Total
	£'000		£'000		£'000		£'000		£'000		£'000		£'000
Balance at 1 October 2021	147		13,319		-		128		(167)		6,778		20,205
Profit for the year	-		-		-		-		-		9,344		9,344
Other comprehensive income:
Exchange differences on translating foreign operations	-		-		-		-		70		-		70
Total comprehensive income	-		-		-		-		70		9,344		9,414
Transactions with owners:
Share option charge	-		-		-		60		-		-		60
Purchase of treasury stock	-		-		(827)		-		-		-		(827)
Exercise of share options	-		-		827		(51)		-		(653)		123
Dividends	-		-		-		-		-		(2,243)		(2,243)
Total transactions with owners	-		-		-		9		-		(2,896)		(2,887)
Balance as at 30 September 2022	147		13,319		-		137		(97)		13,226		26,732
	Ordinary share capital		Share premium account		Treasury stock		Share option reserve		Foreign exchange reserve		Retained earnings		Total
	£'000		£'000		£'000		£'000		£'000		£'000		£'000
Balance at 1 October 2022	147		13,319		-		137		(97)		13,226		26,732
Profit for the year	-		-		-		-		-		12,931		12,931
Other comprehensive income:
Exchange differences on translating foreign operations	-		-		-		-		(95)		-		(95)
Total comprehensive income	-		-		-		-		(95)		12,931		12,836
Transactions with owners:
Share option charge	-		-		-		209		-		-		209
Dividends	-		-		-		-		-		(2,892)		(2,892)
Total transactions with owners	-		-		-		209		-		(2,892)		(2,683)
Balance as at 30 September 2023	147		13,319		-		346		(192)		23,265		36,885

 

 

NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS

 

1        Critical accounting estimates and judgements and other sources of estimation uncertainty

1 (a) Critical accounting estimates and judgements

The preparation of Financial Statements under IFRS requires the use of certain critical accounting assumptions, and requires management to exercise its judgement and to make estimates in the process of applying Cerillion's accounting policies.

 

Judgements

(i) Capitalisation of development costs

Development costs are capitalised only after the technical and commercial feasibility of the asset for sale or use have been established. This is determined by our intention to complete and/or use the intangible asset. The future economic benefits of the asset are reviewed using detailed cash flow projections. The key judgement is whether there will be a market for the products once they are available for sale.

 

(ii) Revenue recognition

The Group assesses the products and services promised in its contracts with customers and identifies a performance obligation for each promise to transfer to the customer a product or service (or bundle of products and services) that is distinct. This assessment is performed on a contract by contract basis and involves significant judgement. The determination of whether performance obligations are distinct or not affects the timing and quantum of revenue and profit recognised in each period.

 

Estimates

(i) Revenue recognition

For contracts where goods or services are transferred over time, revenue is recognised in line with the percentage completed in terms of effort to date as a percentage of total forecast effort. Total forecast effort is prepared by project managers on a monthly basis and reviewed by the project office and senior management team on a monthly basis. The forecast requires management to be able to accurately estimate the effort required to complete the project and affects the timing and quantum of revenue and profit recognised on these contracts in each period.

 

(ii) Depreciation and amortisation

Depreciation and amortisation rates are based on estimates of the useful economic lives and residual values of the assets involved. The assessment of these useful economic lives is made by projecting the economic lifecycle of the asset. The key judgement is estimating the useful economic life of the development costs capitalised, a review is conducted annually by project. Depreciation and amortisation rates are changed where economic lives are re-assessed and technically obsolete items written off where necessary.

 

Management has considered the above areas of estimation and concluded that there are no deemed material changes arising from changes in underlying assumptions.

 

1 (b) Other sources of estimation uncertainty

(i) Recoverability of trade debtors and accrued income

Management use their judgement when determining whether trade debtors and accrued income are considered recoverable or where a provision for impairment is considered necessary. The assessment of recoverability will include consideration of whether the balance is with a long-standing client, whether the customer is experiencing financial difficulties, the fact that balances are recognised under contract and that the products sold are mission-critical to the customer's business. Refer to notes 13 and 16. 

 

 

(ii) Calculation of future minimum lease payments

The calculation of lease liabilities requires the Group to determine an incremental borrowing rate ("IBR") to discount future minimum lease payments. The IBR is the rate of interest that the Group would have to pay to borrow over a similar term, and with a similar security, the funds necessary to obtain an asset of a similar value to the right-of-use asset in a similar economic environment. The IBR therefore reflects what the Group 'would have to pay', which requires estimation when no observable rates are available or when they need to be adjusted to reflect the terms and conditions of the lease.

 

2        Segment information

The Group continues to be organised into four main business segments for revenue purposes.

 

Under IFRS 8 there is a requirement to show the profit or loss for each reportable segment and the total assets and total liabilities for each reportable segment if such amounts are regularly provided to the chief operating decision-maker. There are no other material items that are separately presented to the chief operating decision-maker.

 

In respect of the profit or loss for each reportable segment the expenses are not reported by segment and cannot be allocated on a reasonable basis and, as a result, the analysis is limited to the Group revenue.

 

Assets and liabilities are used or incurred across all segments and therefore are not split between segments.

 

	2023			2022
	£'000			£'000
Revenue
Services	15,540			18,272
Software	16,653			9,854
Software-as-a-Service	4,401			3,006
Third-party	2,576			1,594
Total revenue	39,170			32,726

The following table provides a reconciliation of the revenue by segment to the revenue recognition accounting policy. Revenue recognised on performance obligations partially satisfied in previous periods was £29,993,000 (2022: £19,929,000).

 

				Accounting policies
	Year ended 30 September 2023			(i)	(ii)	(iii)	(iv)		Total
		£'000		£'000	£'000	£'000	£'000		£'000
Services		15,540
	implementation fees			7,683	-	-	-		7,683
	ongoing account development work			-	-	7,857	-		7,857
Software		16,653
	initial licence fees			6,055	-	-	-		6,055
	sale of additional licences			-	2,091	-	-		2,091
	ongoing maintenance and support fees*			8,507	-	-	-		8,507
Software-as-a-Service		4,401		4,401	-	-	-		4,401
Third-Party		2,576		-	-	-	2,576		2,576
Total		39,170		26,646	2,091	7,857	2,576		39,170

* Includes maintenance and support performed by third parties.

							Accounting policies
Year ended 30 September 2022								(i)			(ii)	(iii)		(iv)			Total
				£'000				£'000			£'000	£'000		£'000			£'000
Services				18,272
		implementation fees						6,598			-	-		-			6,598
		ongoing account development work						-			-	11,674		-			11,674
Software				9,854
		initial licence fees						765			-	-		-			765
		sale of additional licences						-			1,612	-		-			1,612
		ongoing maintenance and support fees*						7,477			-	-		-			7,477
Software-as-a-Service				3,006				3,006			-	-		-			3,006
Third-Party				1,594				-			-	-		1,594			1,594
Total				32,726				17,846			1,612	11,674		1,594			32,726

* Includes maintenance and support performed by third parties.

 

(a) Geographical information

As noted above, the internal reporting of the Group's performance does not require that the statement of financial position information is gathered on the basis of the business streams. However, the Group operates within discrete geographical markets such that capital expenditure, total assets and net assets of the Group are split between these locations as follows:

 

	UK & Europe		MEA		Americas		Asia Pacific
	£'000		£'000		£'000		£'000
Year ended/As at 30 September 2023
Revenue - by customer location	19,452		10,722		7,887		1,109
Capital expenditure	1,402		-		-		23
Non-current assets	12,438		-		-		494
Total assets	51,633		-		-		1,152
Trade receivables - by customer location	2,247		396		21		193
Accrued income - by customer location	5,875		6,896		2,770		2
Net assets	36,938		-		-		(53)

 

	UK & Europe		MEA		Americas		Asia Pacific
	£'000		£'000		£'000		£'000
Year ended/As at 30 September 2022
Revenue - by customer location	20,389		3,166		7,938		1,233
Capital expenditure	1,548		-		-		60
Non-current assets	10,496		-		-		678
Total assets	41,100		-		-		1,528
Trade receivables - by customer location	1,129		1,007		164		203
Accrued income - by customer location	7,607		1,405		813		28
Net assets	26,519		-		-		213

 

All revenue is contracted within the UK subsidiary Cerillion Technologies Limited and therefore all revenue is domiciled in the Europe segment.

 

Cerillion receives greater than 10% of revenue from individual customers in the following geographical regions:

 

			Operating		2023		2022
			segment		£'000		£'000
Customer
No. 1			MEA		7,719		506
No. 2			Americas		5,693		3,418
No. 3			Europe		5,259		4,818
No. 4			UK		2,382		3,400

 

3        Operating profit

		2023			2022
		£'000			£'000
Operating profit is stated after (crediting)/charging:
Employee benefits expenses		15,933			13,943
Depreciation		1,171			1,085
Amortisation of intangibles		1,426			1,901
Research and development costs		572			385
Impairment losses on financial assets		256			1,770
Foreign exchange losses/(gains)		251			(367)
Operating leases		280			157
Fees payable to Cerillion's principal auditors:
- Audit of Cerillion plc's annual financial statements		20			14
- Audit of subsidiaries		110			80
- Non-audit services - tax services		6			81
- Non-audit services - other services		30			4
Fees payable to associates of principal auditors:
- Audit of subsidiaries		9			9
Other costs		3,829			2,960
Total cost of sales, operating expenses and impairment losses on financial assets		23,893			22,022

 

The impairment losses on financial assets relates to the provisions made against the risk of non-recovery of receivables. The write-off during the prior year was predominantly due to an assessment over certain implementation work that may not be fully recoverable.

 

4        Finance income

	2023		2022
	£'000		£'000
Finance income:
Bank interest	580		75
Unwinding discount of contracts with significant financing component	376		262
	956		337

5        Finance costs

	2023		2022
	£'000		£'000
Finance costs:
Interest and finance charges for lease liabilities	(111)		(134)
Other interest payable	(8)		(12)
	(119)		(146)

6        Taxation

(a) Analysis of tax charge for the year

The tax charge for the Group is based on the profit for the year and represents:

	2023	2022
	£'000	£'000
Current tax expense - UK	3,074	1,525
Current tax - adjustment in respect of prior year	(9)	1
Current tax expense - overseas	198	197
Current tax expense - total	3,263	1,723
Deferred tax credit	(85)	(154)
Deferred tax - adjustment in respect of prior year	5	(18)
Deferred tax credit - total	(80)	(172)
Total tax charge	3,183	1,551
(b) Factors affecting total tax for the year
The tax assessed for the year is lower (2022: lower) than the standard rate of corporation tax in the United Kingdom 22.0% (2022: 19.0%). The differences are explained as follows:

 

Profit on ordinary activities before tax	16,114	10,895
Profit on ordinary activities multiplied by standard rate of corporation tax in the United Kingdom of 22.0% (2022: 19.0%)	3,542	2,070
Effect of:
Expenses not deductible for tax purposes	287	258
Difference in tax rates	5	15
Other temporary differences	51	(52)
Foreign tax - other	13	(8)
Prior year tax adjustment	(9)	1
Prior year tax adjustment - deferred tax	5	(18)
Other permanent differences - relating to share options	-	(135)
Enhanced relief for research and development	(711)	(580)
Total tax charge	3,183	1,551

 

There are currently no recognised or unrecognised deferred tax assets or liabilities within the Parent Company financial statements. In the Spring Budget 2021, the Government announced that from 1 April 2023 the main rate of UK corporation tax rate will increase from 19% to 25%. This new rate was substantively enacted on 24 May 2021 and therefore its impact was reflected in the measurement of deferred taxes in the prior year financial statements. In the current year ended 30 September 2023, the impact of the increase to 25% from 1 April 2023 resulted in the standard tax rate of 22.0%.

 

7        Dividends

(a)   Dividends paid during the reporting period

The Board paid the final dividend in respect of 2022 of 6.5p per share, on 7 February 2023, and declared and paid an interim 2023 dividend of 3.3p (2022: 2.6p) per share on 23 June 2023. Total dividends paid during the reporting period were £2,892,000 (2022: £2,243,000).

 

(b)   Dividends not recognised at the end of the reporting period

Since the year end the Directors have proposed the payment of a dividend in respect of the full financial year of 8.0p per fully paid Ordinary Share (2022: 6.5p). The aggregate amount of the proposed dividend expected to be paid out of retained earnings at 30 September 2023, but not recognised as a liability at the year end is £2,361,000 (2022: £1,918,000). Since the year end the Directors of Cerillion Technologies Limited have approved a £5.0 million dividend to Cerillion plc.

 

8        Earnings per share

Basic earnings per share is calculated by dividing the profit attributable to equity holders of the Company by the weighted average number of Ordinary Shares in issue during the year.

		2023		2022
Profit attributable to equity holders of the Company (£'000)		12,931		9,344
Weighted average number of Ordinary Shares in issue (number)		29,513,486		29,513,486
Less weighted average number of shares held in Treasury		(12)		(10,627)
Weighted average number of Ordinary Shares in issue (number)		29,513,474		29,502,859
Effect of share options in issue		107,894		56,858
Weighted average shares for diluted earnings per share		29,621,368		29,559,717
Basic earnings per share (pence per share)		43.8		31.7
Diluted earnings per share (pence per share)		43.7		31.6

 

9        Intangible assets

Group		Goodwill		Purchased customer contracts		Intellectual property rights		Software development costs		External software licences		Total
		£'000		£'000		£'000		£'000		£'000		£'000
Cost
At 1 October 2021		2,053		4,383		2,567		5,254		252		14,509
Additions		-		-		-		965		18		983
At 30 September 2022		2,053		4,383		2,567		6,219		270		15,492
Additions		-		-		-		1,146		1		1,147
At 30 September 2023		2,053		4,383		2,567		7,365		271		16,639
Amortisation
At 1 October 2021		-		3,444		2,017		3,203		221		8,885
Provided in the year		-		626		367		885		23		1,901
At 30 September 2022		-		4,070		2,384		4,088		244		10,786
Provided in the year		-		313		183		915		15		1,426
At 30 September 2023		-		4,383		2,567		5,003		259		12,212
Net book amount at 30 September 2023		2,053		-		-		2,362		12		4,427
Net book amount at 30 September 2022		2,053		313		183		2,131		26		4,706

Amortisation has been included in operating expenses in the consolidated statement of comprehensive income.

 

The carrying value of goodwill included within the Cerillion plc consolidated statement of financial position is £2,053,000 (2022: £2,053,000), which is allocated to the cash-generating unit ("CGU") of Cerillion Technologies Limited Group. The CGU's recoverable amount has been determined based on its fair value less costs to sell. As Cerillion plc was established to purchase the CTL Group the fair value less costs to sell has been calculated based on the market capitalisation of Cerillion plc less the estimated costs to sell the CTL Group.

 

Using an average market share price of Cerillion plc for the year ended 30 September 2023, less an estimate of costs to sell, there is significant headroom above the carrying value of the cash-generating unit and therefore no impairment exists. The calculations show that a reasonably possible change, as assessed by the Directors, would not cause the carrying amount of the CGU to exceed its recoverable amount.

 

10      Property plant and equipment

Group		Leasehold  improvements			Computer  equipment		Fixtures  and fittings		Total
		£'000			£'000		£'000		£'000
Cost
At 1 October 2021		731			1,605		294		2,630
Additions		-			623		3		626
Disposals		-			(59)		-		(59)
Exchange difference		28			24		10		62
At 30 September 2022		759			2,193		307		3,259
Additions		-			244		34		278
Exchange difference		(31)			(31)		(12)		(74)
At 30 September 2023		728			2,406		329		3,463
Accumulated Depreciation
At 1 October 2021		376			1,208		287		1,871
Provided in the year		72			335		5		412
Disposals		-			(59)		-		(59)
Exchange difference		23			22		10		55
At 30 September 2022		471			1,506		302		2,279
Provided in the year		71			385		10		466
Exchange difference		(26)			(24)		(12)		(62)
At 30 September 2023		516			1,867		300		2,683
Net book amount at 30 September 2023		212			539		29		780
Net book amount at 30 September 2022		288			687		5		980

 

All depreciation charges are included within operating expenses and no impairment has been charged.

 

There were no property, plant and equipment assets owned by the Parent Company.

11       Leases

Group

This note provides information for leases where the Group is a lessee. The Group leases offices in London and India, along with some IT equipment.

 

(i) Amounts recognised in the consolidated and company statements of financial position

The consolidated and company statements of financial position show the following amounts relating to leases:

		Group				Company
Right-of-use assets		30 September 2023 £'000		30 September 2022 £'000		30 September 2023 £'000		30 September 2022 £'000
Properties		2,343		3,044		2,150		2,656
IT Equipment		9		13		-		-
		2,352		3,057		2,150		2,656

 

		Group				Company
Lease liabilities		30 September 2023 £'000		30 September 2022 £'000		30 September 2023 £'000		30 September 2022 £'000
Current		980		976		731		731
Non-current		2,178		3,050		2,171		2,803
		3,158		4,026		2,902		3,534

 

Additions to the right-of-use assets during the 2023 financial year were £nil (2022: £131,000). There were lease disposals during the year with net book value totalling £nil (2022: £106,000).

 

(ii) Amounts recognised in the consolidated statement of comprehensive income

The consolidated statement of comprehensive income shows the following amounts relating to leases:

 

Depreciation charge of right-of-use assets		30 September 2023 £'000	30 September 2022 £'000
Properties		701	672
IT Equipment		4	1
		705	673

 

Interest expense (included in finance cost)		111	134
Expense relating to short-term leases (included in operating expenses)		261	157
Expenses relating to low value assets that are not shown above as short-term leases (included in operating expenses)		19	-

 

The total cash outflow for leases in 2023 was £979,000 (2022: £941,000).

 

The property within the Company had a depreciation charge for the year of £506,000 (2022: £506,000).

 

12      Deferred tax

Deferred tax asset

 

 

Group	Accelerated capital allowances	Other temporary differences	Total
	£'000	£'000	£'000
1 October 2021	21	188	209
Foreign exchange movement on opening deferred tax asset	3	19	22
Credited to statement of comprehensive income	2	27	29
30 September 2022	26	234	260

 

Group	Accelerated capital allowances	Other temporary differences	Total
	£'000	£'000	£'000
1 October 2022	26	234	260
Foreign exchange movement on opening deferred tax asset	(4)	(20)	(24)
Credited to statement of comprehensive income	4	28	32
30 September 2023	26	242	268

 

Deferred tax liabilities

 

Group

Part of the deferred tax liability arose in respect of the fair value uplift of intangible assets, with £1,320,000 arising on the acquisition of Cerillion Technologies Limited in March 2016 and £71,000 relating to the acquisition of "Net Solutions Services" by Cerillion Technologies Limited in 2015, which has been written down to £nil as at 30 September 2023 (2022: £95,000). The deferred tax liabilities also include £671,000 (2022: £624,000), which is driven by expected future amortisation on R&D intangibles in Cerillion Technologies Limited where full relief has been taken in the year the assets were capitalised. This amortisation will be treated as non-deductible for corporation tax purposes and therefore a deferred tax liability arises.

 

	2023			2022
	£'000			£'000
At 1 October	719			862
Debited to statement of comprehensive income in respect of net ACAs & other temporary differences	47			46
Credited to statement of comprehensive income in respect of acquisitions	(95)			(189)
As at 30 September	671			719

 

There are no deferred tax assets or deferred tax liabilities recognised within the Parent Company as at 30 September 2023 (2022: £nil).

 

13      Trade and other receivables and other contract balances

Contract balances

The following table provides information about receivables, contract assets and contract liabilities from contracts with customers.

	Group
	2023	2022
	£'000	£'000
Trade receivables	2,857	2,503
Contract assets	15,543	9,853
Contract liabilities	5,039	4,613

 

Contract assets, which are included in 'Accrued income' within trade and other receivables and are composed of the current and non-current balances. Contract liabilities, which are included in 'Deferred income' within trade and other payables.

 

Payment terms and conditions in customer contracts may vary. In some cases, customers pay in advance of the delivery of solutions or services; in other cases, payment is due as services are performed or in arrears following the delivery of the solutions or services. Differences in timing between revenue recognition and invoicing result in trade receivables, contract assets or contract liabilities in the statement of financial position.

 

Contract assets refer to accrued income and arise when revenue is recognised, but invoicing is contingent on performance of other performance obligations or on completion of contractual milestones. Contract assets are transferred to receivables when the rights become unconditional, typically upon invoicing of the related performance obligations in the contract or upon achieving the requisite project milestone.

 

Contract liabilities refer to deferred income and result from customer payments in advance of the satisfaction of the associated performance obligations and relate primarily to prepaid support or other recurring services. Deferred income is released as revenue is recognised.

 

Significant changes in the contract assets and contract liabilities balances during the period are driven by the timing of income recognition and when associated invoices are raised. Specifically, revenue recognised in the year in relation to deferred income brought forward from prior years of £4,195,000 (2022: £4,105,000).

 

When certain costs to acquire a contract meet defined criteria, those costs are deferred as contract assets. The total amount of deferred contract assets (commission fees recognised in prepaid assets) are £132,000 (2022: £226,000). The total amount of accrued costs to acquire a contract are £352,000 (2022: £305,000).

 

The total amount of revenue allocated to unsatisfied performance obligations is £36,732,000 (2022: £37,420,000). It is estimated that 45% will be recognised over the next 12 months, the remainder over the following years thereafter.

 

There are no contract balances within the Parent Company (2022: £nil).

 

Current receivables	Group		Company
	2023	2022	2023	2022
	£'000	£'000	£'000	£'000
Trade receivables	2,857	2,503	-	-
Accrued income	10,507	7,759	-	-
Amounts owed by Group undertakings	-	-	2,320	2,058
Other receivables	536	311	-	-
Prepayments	1,215	632	10	8
	15,115	11,205	2,330	2,066
Non-current receivables	Group		Company
	2023	2022	2023	2022
	£'000	£'000	£'000	£'000
Accrued income	5,036	2,094	-	-
Other receivables	69	77	-	-
	5,105	2,171	-	-

 

The amounts owed by Group undertakings are unsecured, interest free and repayable on demand.

 

Credit quality of receivables

A detailed review of the credit quality of each client is completed before an engagement commences. The credit risk relating to trade receivables is analysed as follows:

		2023			2022
		£'000			£'000
Group
Trade receivables		3,219			2,744
Specific provision		(304)			(193)
ECL reserve		(377)			(232)
		2,538			2,319

The ECL Provision above includes an amount relating to accrued income of £319,000 (2022: £184,000).

 

The Parent Company had no trade receivables in either period. The other classes of assets within trade and other receivables do not contain impaired assets. The net carrying value is judged to be a reasonable approximation of fair value.

 

Movements in the provision for the impairment of trade receivables and accrued income were as follows:

	Specific Provision	ECL provision
	£'000	£'000
Balance at the beginning of the year	193	232
Charged for the year	111	377
Utilised for the year	-	(232)
Balance at the end of the year	304	377

 

The following is an ageing analysis of those trade receivables that were not past due and those that were past due but not impaired. These relate to a number of independent customers for whom there is no recent history of default.

		2023			2022
		£'000			£'000
Group
Not past due		1,432			1,714
Up to 3 months		1,318			735
3 to 6 months		57			6
Older than 6 months		50			48
		2,857			2,503

Of the trade debt older than 6 months as at 30 September 2023, being £50,000 (2022: £48,000), cash of £nil (2022: £8,000) has been received since the year end.

 

The following is an ageing analysis of those trade receivables that were individually considered to be impaired:

 

	2023		2022
	£'000		£'000
Group
Not past due	28		33
Up to 3 months	28		14
3 to 6 months	1		150
Older than 6 months	305		45
	362		242