22 July 2024

AdvancedAdvT Limited

Period end results for eight months to 29 February 2024

AdvancedAdvT Limited (LSE: ADVT, "AdvT", the "Group"), the international software solutions provider for the business solutions, healthcare compliance, and human capital management sectors, has published its period end results for the eight months to 29 February 2024. 

Financial performance

·    Revenue from continuing operations of £21.1m

·    Recurring revenue represented 77% of total revenues

·    Adjusted EBITDA from continuing operations of £4.4m, ahead of management expectations 

·    Pre-tax profit from continuing operations of £5.2m (12 months to 30 June 2023: £1.4m)

·    Reported basic EPS: 5p (12 months to 30 June 2023: 1p)

·    Cash of £82.1m at 29 February 2024 (30 June 2023: £104.7m) in addition to 9.8% shareholding in M&C Saatchi plc

Highlights

·    Acquired core software assets for £26.8m net of sale of Synaptic Software ("Synaptic")

·    Sold non-core asset Synaptic for £3.7m* (£2.2m gain on sale)

·    Acquired Celaton Limited an intelligent process automation (IPA) platform provider for £4.8m*

·    Identified operational improvements within acquired businesses with implementation of these well progressed

·    Refreshed the go-market strategy following the significant investment in SaaS and Cloud product offerings prior to our acquisition

·    Admission to AIM completed in January 2024

Vin Murria, AdvancedAdvT's Executive Chairperson, said

"We are seeing positive momentum in multiple areas and continue to make strong progress on delivering operational performance, particularly in new wins, recurring revenue, utilisation and improved profitability. We also continue to explore numerous acquisition opportunities to expand the Group.

"Our business solutions and healthcare operations have won some notably large contracts across the Irish and UK public sector, whilst the human/resource management operations have extended and expanded a number of substantial multi-year contracts with the larger corporates.  

"Many of our customers are assessing the benefits of digital transformation and its alignment with their strategy for the coming years. We see numerous opportunities for business growth, particularly with AI, automation and SaaS offerings, to support their digital transformation.  

"The Group is experiencing good organic growth, in line with the Board's expectations."

* Sales and acquisition value are net of cash sold/acquired.

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Note to Editors

AdvancedAdvT Limited (AdvT) provides software solutions and platforms across two business transformational areas: business solutions & healthcare compliance, and human capital management.

The Group's operations are IBSS (financial management software), CHKS (AI based healthcare intelligence compliance and accreditation software), Retain (global resource planning and talent management software) and WFM (workforce management software provider).

AdvT is an agent for change. The Group enables the delivery of Artificial Intelligence ("AI"), data analytics and business intelligence, all of which are key future drivers for growth in these sectors where long term digitisation trends are set to transform the workplace for professionals. 

AdvT is developing both organically and through acquisitions, by expanding its presence across adjacent markets, geographical boundaries and digital sectors.

Chairperson's statement

Strategic overview

In the eight-month period to 29 February 2024, the Group made good progress in executing on its strategy which is centred around backing sectors characterised by long term AI, automation, digital transformation, data analytics and business intelligence trends, that are in early stages of adoption and set to transform the professional workplace for the next few decades.

Embracing a long-term perspective, the aim is to build a lasting and thriving business. This thinking shapes how investment is deployed on both M&A and within the platform businesses, in order to develop relationships with clients and partners and with a strategy centred around business and digital transformation and continuous improvement.

The management team boasts substantial experience in the software and services sector, having invested in and operated a range of high-performing businesses. The team have successfully driven operational excellence within these enterprises, leading to consistent organic growth. Management has a proven track record of targeted and accretive mergers and acquisitions in the software sector. This expertise, combined with the recent acquisition, positions AdvT well to build a robust platform for future growth, both organically and through strategic acquisitions, in the rapidly evolving digital landscape.

In the pursuit of executing our strategy, we seized an opportunity in the software and services sector, marked by the acquisition of five businesses on 31 July 2023. Leveraging a carve-out approach, we capitalised on attractive valuation multiples to secure these assets. These businesses serve as our initial platform and align with our business strategy.

Acting with pace, we executed on our focused approach by selling one of the acquired businesses, Synaptic, with the divestment completing on 26 January 2024. This strategic move enabled us to sharpen our focus on delivering our core strategy, streamlining our operational portfolio for enhanced efficiency and effectiveness.

In the seven months since the Group acquired the businesses, covered by the period under review, it has made good progress. Our initiatives have encompassed a concerted effort towards standardisation and simplification, aimed at harnessing best practices to optimise go-to-market strategies and operational activities.

Moving forward, the Group performance will be measured through a set of core financial metrics, including recurring revenue, adjusted EBITDA, and free cash flow. These indicators will serve as benchmarks in gauging our progress, ensuring alignment with our overarching strategic objectives and commitment to delivering sustainable value to our stakeholders.

In January 2024, AdvT transferred its listing from the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange and was admitted to trading on AIM.

The Group continues to hold a 9.8% stake in M&C Saatchi plc.

Current trading and outlook

Despite the significant macroeconomic uncertainty and disruption, we believe that the current environment will present numerous opportunities to develop the Group, both organically and by acquisition.

In the current financial year, which started on 1 March 2024, the Group has continued to make good progress and has secured a number of large, long-term contracts across both public sector and private sector customers.  The improvement in performance of the four units has also continued. Overall, the Group is trading in line with the Board's expectation. 

Financial highlights

The Group reported revenues from continuing operations of £21.1m in the period under review, with recurring revenue representing 77% of total revenue. Adjusted EBITDA from continuing operations was £4.4m, which was ahead of early expectations. The Group ended the period with cash of £82.1m.

The Group acquired five businesses on 31 July 2023 for a £26.8m net cash consideration including the subsequent and profitable sale of one of those businesses - Synaptic. The remaining four acquisitions have established a core software platform for developing the Group. 

The Group identified and implemented a number of operational changes within these four businesses, which is resulting in an improvement in their performance.  The Group also refreshed their go-to-market strategies following the significant investment in SaaS and Cloud product offerings made prior to the acquisition.

M&A

Since the year end, the Group has acquired Celaton for £4.8 million net of cash.  Celaton is a machine-learning AI based intelligent process automation ("IPA") platform (inSTREAM). Its functionality provides intelligent document processing ("IDP") with automatic data recognition, classification, validation and enrichment, continual process automation with machine-learning AI algorithms and analytics. 

This business is highly complementary to the Group, with IBSS clients expected to be the primary beneficiaries.  Working with Celaton within end-to-end business processing, accounts payables and sales order processing automation, IBSS clients will benefit from InSTREAM's improved efficiency, throughput, and enhanced compliance - providing mutual benefits to both the customer and supplier relationship. There will be an opportunity for both revenue and efficiency synergies across the Group.

In the two years prior to this acquisition, Celaton invested £2.3m in product development, targeted at platform AI capabilities, web user interface and multi-language support.  Its customers consist of multi-national well-known enterprises with high volume e-invoicing and document process needs including Talk Talk, Currys and Capgemini.

With the Group's substantial cash reserves (£82.0m as at 30 June 2024, before the acquisition of Celaton), and investment in M&C Saatchi plc (valued at £23.4m as at 30 June 2024).and our disciplined approach, we are well placed to execute M&A that is both synergistic and accretive over the longer term and a number of other potential acquisition opportunities have been identified.

M&A continues to be a core part of the Group's strategy and revolves around evaluating high-quality businesses, based on a set of key characteristics which align with the management team's vision and will enable businesses to consistently generate long-term value.

The Board will continue to evaluate each potential target against its acquisition criteria, seeking businesses with:

·    high recurring revenue streams and good forward visibility;

·    sticky customer retention;

·    mission critical products and services;

·    opportunities for both organic and inorganic growth;

·    strong cash generation;

·    sectors with high barriers to entry; and in

·    highly fragmented industries with opportunities for consolidation.

Operational review

Our business solutions and healthcare compliance operations, comprising IB Software and Solutions (Ireland) and Integrated Business Software and Solutions (together "IBSS") and CHKS Limited ("CHKS"), have strategically realigned to place a heightened emphasis on the customer and their evolving needs and to deliver value-driven software and digital solutions. This pivot has helped secure a number of new compliance clients while performing consistently with our projections.

Within the human capital management operations, Retain International Software and Retain International Software USA (together "Retain") and Workforce Management Software ("WFM"), the Group successfully onboarded several new customers onto its SaaS platform. Additionally, the Group also began investing in new product offerings, roadmap features and functionality.

As anticipated, the Group is observing positive digital trends across both business solutions and healthcare compliance operations. The recently launched automated clinical coding solution has been deployed to the Group's first customer, with a pipeline of further opportunities demonstrating interest. Moreover, there is an increasing demand for digital services and solutions out of the Ireland-based operation.

Similarly, human capital management operations are experiencing positive digitalisation trends. New and existing clients are embracing the cloud-based resourcing SaaS platform - enabling simplification and best practice processes, alongside the uptake of AI functionality in our resource suitability engine introduced in the latest releases.

The Group has begun investing in system enhancements to bolster its growth strategy. Under the agreement with Capita plc for the acquired businesses, the Group engaged in a transitional services arrangement (the "TSA"). The Group is currently advancing well-defined plans and executing actions to transition these services and systems onto its new platforms.

CFO's Report

For the eight months ended 29 February 2024, after owning the acquired businesses for seven months, continuing operations generated revenues of £21.1m from the four acquired businesses. Recurring revenues from continuing operations as a proportion of total revenue was 77%. 

Adjusted EBITDA from continuing operations, which is a key underlying measurement of the Group, was £4.4m. Upon acquisition, one of our key aims was to separate the solutions and services that were linked to the former owners, provided to us in the TSA. We started this process of breaking away quickly, in order to establish an independent operational platform for further M&A.

This initiative was reinforced by the introduction of new systems across critical functions, including Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Human Resources (HR), payroll, benefits administration, financial management, and professional services. By implementing these foundational frameworks, we are poised to streamline processes, enhance operational agility, and drive sustainable growth.

As we continue to standardise, optimise and integrate the acquired businesses, we expect to continue to improve margins, albeit initially offset by the activities and costs of decoupling from the Capita plc systems and services.

During the same period, we navigated the complexities associated with a reverse takeover and our admission to trading on AIM.

The table below reconciles EBITDA to operating profit including one off adjustments and the fair value gains.

Based on its cash reserves, the Group had a net finance income of £2.3m (2023: £3.4m) and profit before tax from continuing operations of £5.2m (2023: £1.4m).

The Group's 9.8% stake in M&C Saatchi plc was valued at £20.8m at 29 February 2024 (30 June 2023: £18.2m), an increase of £2.6m. As a significant shareholder, the Group continues to assess all potential value creation opportunities for the company.

The Group has recognised a deferred tax asset of £1.2m in respect of losses expected to be utilised in future periods.  The Group has a deferred tax liability of £3.8m relating to intangible assets recognised on acquisition.

Basic and diluted EPS was £0.05 (June 2023: £0.01).

The Board is not recommending a dividend. It intends to review the Group's dividend policy following significant deployment of AdvT's capital and will only commence the payment of dividends when it becomes commercially appropriate.

The Group's cash position as at 29 February 2024 was £82.1m (June 2023: £104.7m), with the reduction due to the acquisitions.  Cash at 30 June 2024 was £82.0m, before the net cash outflow of £4.8m to acquire Celaton.

Adjusted operating cashflow was £4.2m, representing 97% cash conversion of adjusted EBITDA.

Free cash flow, as presented below, from continuing activities was £4.5 million.

On 26 January 2024, the Group completed the sale of Synaptic, one of the original acquired businesses for cash consideration of £5.1m (including £1.4m cash acquired).  Discontinued revenue from Synaptic was £1.2m with a net profit of just £37,000.  Overall, a £2.2m gain was reported for the disposal.

On 1 July 2024, the Group acquired Celaton, the operator of an intelligent document processing platform inSTREAM, for cash consideration of £4.8 million net of cash acquired of £1.7m.