30 November 2023

NCC Group plc

AGM Trading Statement

NCC Group plc, a people-powered, tech enabled global cyber security and software escrow business, will hold its Annual General Meeting today at 9.00am at the Company's Head Office, XYZ Building, 2 Hardman Boulevard, Spinningfields, Manchester, M3 3AQ. 

Ahead of this, the Board is publishing an update on current trading.

The Group is trading in line with management expectations in the first half and management expectations for the full year remain unchanged.

Within our Cyber business, Managed Services revenue has continued to grow strongly whilst revenue in Technical Assurance has remained stable since the reductions seen in H2 FY23. As planned, utilisation has improved in the first half which has contributed to an improvement in the gross margin percentage.

Escode - our software resilience (Escrow) business has delivered another two consecutive quarters of underlying year on year revenue growth driven by increased verification revenues and contract pricing increases.

Delivery of £5m Group cost efficiencies for FY24 highlighted in September are being realised ahead of schedule and net debt (exc. IFRS 16) has remained in line with management expectations at the half year.

Progress continues with our Next Chapter strategy. Notably, since September, we announced the appointment of Carolyn Hieken, as Chief Commercial Officer, based in the US. Carolyn brings over 20 years of technology and cyber security sales leadership experience and completes the formation of our Executive Committee. In addition, as part of our focus on strategic alliances, a new partnership has been established with TransUnion to provide cyber protection to insurance customers at scale globally. Our Manila office is now operational with an official opening in January 2024.

The Group will now report its half-year results for the six months to 30 November 2023 on 25 January 2024 rather than 1 February 2024, which was previously announced.

Mike Maddison, CEO, commented:

"I'm delighted to have completed the formation of the new Executive leadership - a team which has deep experience operating within the cyber security industry. We are continuing to make good progress on all aspects of our Next Chapter strategy, and our trading and outlook are in line with the expectations outlined in September 2023."

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About NCC Group plc:

NCC Group is a people-powered, tech-enabled global cyber security and software escrow business.

Driven by a collective purpose to create a more secure digital future, c.2,200 colleagues across Europe, North America and Asia Pacific harness their collective insight, intelligence, and innovation to deliver cyber resilience for over 14,000 clients across the public and private sector globally.

With decades of experience and a rich heritage, NCC Group is committed to developing sustainable solutions that continue to meet clients' current and future cyber security challenges.