Board review

The Board is pleased to report unaudited interim financial results for the half year ended 28 February 2019.  

The period has seen further increases in turnover and profit compared with the equivalent period in 2018. These encouraging results stem from the decision we took in 2017 to concentrate on our core business, the technical sales of specialist electronic components, products and systems. These results are a vindication of our simple strategy of: selling more of our existing technologies; signing-up new technologies; and completing strategic bolt-on acquisitions

The period also saw a significant further reduction in our debt, with all of the high interest bearing convertible loans paid off by the end of November 2018 and with cash balances increasing.

Acquisitions update

In November 2018, the Group completed its third acquisition in twelve months: Wavelength Electronics Limited ("Wavelength") was acquired for a total consideration of £494,000. Details of this acquisition are set out in note 6 of the interim financial statements. In the year to 31 December 2018 Wavelength had a gross profit of £472,000.

Wavelength has more than 25 years' experience as a representative of electronic component manufacturers. Operating in similar market sectors to the core APC and Aspen components businesses, Wavelength represents a group of well-known manufacturers of components and systems for applications including high reliability, power control and conversion, RF and microwave interconnect, man-machine interfaces and sensing. These manufacturers include industry-leading brands such as Q-Tech, Corning Dubilier, State of the Art, Astrodyne, Presidio and Vanguard. These additional product lines will enhance the Group's ability to sell into the UK's high reliability industries, including Space.

The Board is pleased with the integration and performance of all three acquisitions done so far. They are all trading at a run rate higher than acquired levels and in all cases have added to the Group's product and service offering. These businesses have also brought with them additional sales and technical expertise. The Group is also on track to deliver the targeted synergies in these transactions with the associated profit margin enhancement.

Operations update

Wavelength's representation business complements the Group's design-in distribution business, which is now concentrated on five focused technology portfolios, each managed by specialist business teams with specific technical expertise combined with in-depth industry and product knowledge, supported by a shared service framework of marketing, sales, logistics and administration.

High Reliability Electronics (trading as APC Hi-Rel) - the technical sale of high-reliability, high temperature and high voltage electronic components, semiconductors and power solutions, selling primarily into the aerospace and defence industries. Over the period this team has added to its product lines and is very focussed on the growing UK space market. This market access has been enhanced by the acquisition of Wavelength, which brings with it further expertise in this area;

Component services and sourcing solutions (trading as APC Locator) - offers a range of services relating to the location of obsolete, end of life and hard to find components, including obsolescence management, component requalification and anti-counterfeit testing. This is a growing market with the world shortage in components. This business also enables the Group to form strategic partnerships with its larger blue chip customers. APC's historical experience in this area was strengthened in January 2018 by the acquisition of First Byte Micro Limited, resulting in an expansion of this activity;

Radio Frequency and Microwave (trading as APC RF & Microwave) - distributes high performance connectors, passive and active devices and related electronic components, selling primarily into the defence, telecoms, wireless and broadband markets. This business was boosted by the acquisition of Aspen Electronics Limited ("Aspen") in July 2018. This enlarged team is now one of the largest independent groups servicing RF & Microwave in the UK. The team has had great success in the period with products sold into counter IED systems;

Time and Frequency Synchronisation (trading as APC Time) - provides time and frequency synchronisation systems to financial institutions, government bodies, broadcasters, telecoms organisations and rail companies. This continues to be a growing business for the Group. We have added to the lines we represent, to be able to offer a one stop shop for time synchronisation and network assurance. We have broadened our client and industry base. For example we are now providing solutions to the UK's largest broadcasters. Time synchronisation and network assurance impacts many industries and we are well placed to take advantage of this market growth as it happens;

Property Technology: This business combines the expertise of our Lighting Technologies business (trading as APC Lighting) and our connectivity, sensing and Internet of Things business (trading as APC Smartwave) to form a bespoke provider of high-end technology solutions to facility management companies. We have achieved further growth in our core Lighting customer base, but in addition we have added to the products that we are selling with an increase in solutons for smart building systems. EEVS Performance Management sits alongside these two, to provide energy verification services in connection with energy performance contracts by facilities management companies or energy-saving measures funded by public sector organisations.

Summary of financial performance

Revenue for the period was £10.7m (H1 2018: £8.6m), representing an increase of 24% over the corresponding period in 2018. The increase included the effect of a full six months' trading of Aspen (acquired in July 2018) and three months trading of Wavelength.

Gross profit increased by 20% from £2.9m to £3.5m based on the higher turnover. Overall gross profit margin for the period was 32.4% (H1 2018: 34.2%), reflecting the current mix of products in the enlarged Group. The recent restructuring has achieved a lower overhead base that mitigates this effect.

Operating profit before exceptional and non-recurring expenses, share based payments, interest and tax was £844k (H1 2018: £557k), representing a 51% increase. Operating profit margin increased by 21.5% from 6.5% in H1 2018 to 7.9% in the current period. This is a key indicator of the successful strategy of folding incremental gross profit into a controlled cost base. Overheads on continuing operations were £2.61m (H1 2018: £2.39m); tight cost control limited the increase to 9.3% despite the acquisitions of Aspen and Wavelength.

Adjusted profit (before exceptional and non-recurring costs), as calculated in note 5 to the interim financial statements, was £657k (H1 2018: £384k), an increase of 71%, as a result of which earnings per share calculated on this basis improved 31% from 0.3p to 0.4p.

Exceptional and non-recurring expenses increased from £5k in H1 2018 to £158k in the period due to the Group's acquisitive strategy. These costs are predominantly the result of restructuring to achieve synergies in later periods.

After exceptional and non-recurring expenses, share based payments, interest and tax, the Group is reporting a £510k post-tax profit for the period, an increase of 28% compared to £398k in H1 2018, resulting in a basic and diluted EPS of 0.3p (H1 2018: 0.3p).

Balance sheet and cash flow

Working capital (excluding net debt) moved from a surplus of £0.73m at 31 August 2018 to a surplus of £0.75m at 28 February 2019, despite the acquisitions referred to above.

Net debt at the end of the period was £2.7m, including £0.8m of cash, £2.9m drawn on the ABN invoice finance facility and £0.6m from the Pay4 trade payment facility. This compares with net debt of £4.0m at 28 February 2018 and £3.1m at 31 August 2018, including the loan notes, which were fully paid off during the period.

The repayment of the loan notes means that the bulk of the Group's borrowing is concentrated with the ABN invoice discounting facility of up to £6m. The facility continues with no fixed termination date and provides further capacity for growth, both organic and acquisitive.

Cash flow for the period resulted in an overall increase in net cash of £0.5m from February 2018 and £0.1m from 31 August 2018. This was driven by a strong surplus of £0.5m from operations, which facilitated a net decrease of £0.4m in borrowings compared with 31 August 2018..

The Board's strategy has been to invest cash from operations, together with surplus funds from the equity raise, into reducing net debt, whilst maintaining strong supplier relationships.

No new shares were issued during the half-year, but approximately 2.7m shares have been issued since the period-end, partly in lieu of directors' and professional fees and partly through the exercise of share options.

Board changes

Following the successful completion of the Group's turnaround, Michael Thompson decided to leave the business in March 2019 to pursue other challenges. The Board would like to thank him for his efforts and service and he has our every best wish for the future. The Board are not looking to replace Michael, as the Group has a strong financial control function supported by other Group services.

Outlook

The Group continues to reap the benefits of its clear strategy for moving forward with profitable cash-generative growth. This strategy has three tactical strands:

Increase revenue through our established and growth technologies. This growth is largely being driven by market or compliance requirements and is being achieved through reorganised and incentivised sales teams, strengthened by staff from our new acquisitions.

Growth by signing new proven technology partners. Further signings took place during the period and we are continuing to target other complementary technologies.

Sales growth through bolt-on acquisitions. The targets are established companies, with gross profit of £0.5m or more, that can provide additional revenue consistent with APC's strategic profile, together with a bank of existing customers. The acquisition of Wavelength is the latest example of this strategy.

The Group continues to trade in line with management expectations and the Board remains confident in its three faceted growth strategy.

Once again we would like to thank the Group's employees for their dedication and hard work, and our customers, suppliers and shareholders for their continued support.

The Board of Directors

21 May 2019