TIDMBONH
RNS Number : 9579Y
Bonhill Group PLC
15 September 2020
15 September 2020
Bonhill Group plc
("Bonhill", the "Company" or the "Group")
Interim Results for the Six Months Ended 30 June 2020
Bonhill Group plc (AIM: BONH), a leading B2B media business
specialising in three key areas: Business Information, Events and
Data & Insight, announces its unaudited interim results for the
six months ended 30 June 2020.
Financial Highlights
- Revenue down by 28% to GBP7.8m (H1 19: GBP10.7m)
- Gross margin improved significantly to 77.8% (H1 19: 62.9%)
- Unadjusted EBITDA loss of GBP3.1m (H1 19: loss of GBP1.3m)
- Operating loss of GBP11.1m including GBP6.6m impairment of intangible assets (H1 19: GBP2.2m)
- Equity fundraising of GBP2.5m to secure financial stability
- $1.1m financial support from the US Paycheck Protection Programme ("PPP")
- Cash balance at 30 June 2020 was GBP3.4m (30 June 19: GBP5.7m); GBP1.9m at 31 August 2020
Operational Highlights
- Significant increase YoY in digital audiences - with greater
numbers of attendees to the Group's virtual events and higher
audience numbers to the Group's online titles
- Successful transition to Virtual Events with 27 completed and 27 planned pre-year end
- Successful roll-out of multi-day virtual events, such as the
Women in IT 3-day virtual summit and 2-day Women in Asset
Management summit
- Greater emphasis on product development delivering customer
value through use of the Group's expert and unique analysis and
data, leading to new recurring revenue streams
- New operational structure to deliver continued shift from
transactional revenue streams to repeat subscription-led online
revenue sources
- Moved off all Group legacy technology platforms onto new
standard Bonhill platform and technology stack, reducing
time-to-market and costs
- Successful move to global remote working which will continue into 2021
Commenting on the results, Simon Stilwell, Chief Executive of
Bonhill, said:
"COVID-19 created an extremely challenging period that we have
been able to navigate through utilising the dynamism and expertise
of our global teams to successfully work together and reposition
the business to deliver long-term profitability despite having 39%
of historic Group revenue at risk. We took swift and decisive
action to restructure all of our business units to ensure that we
are well-positioned for the future. We now have a more agile
business with solid foundations for growth from our continued
investment in the technology platform."
Commenting on the outlook, he added:
"The Group continues to trade ahead of the expectations released
on 9 April 2020. This is driven by strong monthly revenues and the
positive impact of the various cost-saving initiatives undertaken.
Consequently, the Group will enter the final quarter of the year in
a position of greater strength, underpinned by a new management
structure, with a focus on product and subscription revenues and
final implementation of all of our first-phase technology
investment."
For further enquiries please contact:
Bonhill Group plc +44 (0)20 7250 7035
Simon Stilwell, Chief Executive
Sarah Thompson, Chief Financial Officer
Shore Capital (Nominated Adviser and Joint
Broker) +44 (0)20 7408 4080
Tom Griffiths
David Coaten
Canaccord Genuity Limited (Joint Broker)
Bobbie Hilliam
Adam James
Georgina McCooke +44 (0)20 7523 8000
Houston (PR Adviser)
Alexander Clelland +44 (0)20 3701 7660
About Bonhill Group plc
Bonhill Group plc is a leading, AIM-quoted, B2B media company
providing Business Information, Events and Data & Insight
propositions to Financial Services, Diversity and Technology
business communities in 25 countries. Bonhill operates fifteen
information websites, publishes three regular print titles, hosts
120 events per annum, offers a portfolio of data & analytics
propositions and provides a range of content marketing
solutions.
The business creates content, sales and marketing opportunities,
networking events and transactional opportunities for its audiences
of entrepreneurs, business owners and managers, CTOs &
technology leaders, asset & wealth managers, and professional
women, in addition to its sponsors, advertising clients and
customers. Flagship brands include: InvestmentNews, Portfolio
Adviser, Fund Selector Asia, What Investment, SmallBusiness.co.uk,
GrowthBusiness.co.uk, Information Age, Women in... events series,
and DiversityQ.
For more information visit www.bonhillplc.com
Chairman's Statement
Bonhill had a very challenging first half of 2020. H1 revenue
was down by 28% to GBP7.8m with an operating loss of GBP4.4m before
impairment (2019: GBP2.2m loss).
During the first quarter we started to see the work of previous
years beginning to pay off and momentum was building, but then the
world went into lockdown and we had to adapt. Across the Group, we
saw event revenue reduce by 85% Q1 to Q2, but encouragingly,
Business Information increased by 7% Q1 to Q2. The Board was
pleased to see how well the team rose to the challenge, using the
investment we had made in technology to change how we deliver to
our customers quickly and productively. The wider team took
decisive action to conserve cash by making radical changes in
staffing and using innovative approaches to keep our customers
engaged.
The Company has refined the Group's model and has refocused its
efforts within its sectors, so that in addition to Financial
Services, Technology was developed into a more solutions-focused
business and re-branded as Business Solutions and Diversity has
broadened to a wider Governance channel. These changes reflect the
continuing drive to develop long-term recurring revenues, increased
subscription revenues and greater customer needs-based product
sales.
As a Group, we had a high dependency on the events business (39%
of 2019's total revenues) which were unfortunately all either
postponed or cancelled between April and June 2020. The team was
able to respond quickly to these challenges, evidenced by the fact
that approximately 45% of the proposed remaining live events for
the year were replaced with a robust high-quality virtual platform
that has seen great success in terms of revenues and contribution
as well as being well received by attendees and sponsors.
In the first half, and subsequently, we have seen some changes
to the composition of the Board. Fraser Gray was replaced in late
June 2020 by Jon Kempster as a Non-Executive Director and Chair of
the Audit Committee and, as separately announced today, Sarah
Thompson has been appointed as Chief Financial Officer with
immediate effect, having previously been Director of Finance since
David Brown stood down as Group Finance Director in July 2020. I
would like to take this opportunity to thank both Fraser and David
for their contributions and wish them well in their future
endeavours, and to welcome Jon and Sarah to the Board.
Our staff have excelled themselves through their commitment,
flexibility and determination to succeed during such a challenging
period. The investment in technology enabled all our global teams
to work remotely. I would finally like to thank our shareholders
for their support in the fundraising and our broad customer base
for their continued support and engagement.
Neil Sachdev
Non-Executive Chairman
Chief Executive's Review
Introduction
The first half was an extremely challenging period for the
Group, but one which we have weathered, overcoming many obstacles.
Despite the global pandemic, we have managed to complete the first
half in a robust position with a refined business model, improved
propositions for customers, a tighter team spirit and a stronger
group identity. The biggest direct impact of COVID-19 on the Group
was the loss of revenue from live events due to cancellations and
postponements, showing a 58% reduction in revenue H1 20 vs H1 19.
Despite this, overall Group revenue in the first half was only down
28% against the comparable period last year. Additionally, we have
seen gross margin increase by 15% compared to the first half of
last year as the Company transitions towards a more digital product
offering.
Much of 2019 was spent setting up the framework for our agile
technology stack, our product strategy and a move to recurring
subscription revenue streams, whilst successfully developing a
larger global Events business. COVID-19 required a wholesale change
in our Events proposition, and I am pleased that although we have
had to cancel all of our global live awards events, we have
converted our offering to virtual in the vast majority of cases and
have seen excellent support from attendees and sponsors. The net
result is that the Group's Events revenue which was GBP9.6m
(representing 39% of total revenue) in the year ended 31 December
2019 is expected to be GBP7.5m in the year ending 31 December 2020
(FY 2020) with only a 10% reduction in margin.
Our work on developing new foundations has helped us counter
this reduction in revenue as we have also worked hard to develop
new product pipelines, have delivered a range of new products in
our various titles and seen good growth in SmallBusiness.co.uk,
part of our re-branded Business Solutions division, and in our
Content Marketing business, Last Word Create, that was only
launched in January 2020. These activities reflect the ongoing need
to provide solutions for clients and are testament to the strength
of our brands and relationships with clients, which have enabled us
to be innovative. Now, more than ever, we are seeing clients
seeking to understand better their communities and to find more
effective ways to communicate with them.
New divisional structure
The pandemic forced us to look at every part of the business and
assess our market positioning, brand strength and future
opportunities. This led us to make wholesale changes to the Group's
model and operating structure.
Strategically, we continue to build long-term sustainable
revenues, targeting high growth sectors and fast-growing
international markets. We remain focused on Financial Services with
our strong presence in the UK, US and Asia.
InvestmentNews is run by Christine Shaw and, in July 2020,
Patrick Ponsford took over responsibility for running Last Word
Media in the UK, Europe and Asia leaving me to concentrate on being
Chief Executive of the Group.
Our Technology business, led by Jon Seymour, which principally
comprised Information Age, has been combined with Small Business
and Growth Business, and rebranded as Business Solutions.
The newly formed Governance business (formerly Diversity), also
led by Jon Seymour, is based on our leading Gender Diversity
franchise the 'Women in...' series and the website DiversityQ. We
have broadened our activities to include all aspects of governance,
particularly Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG).
The leaders of these businesses are joined on my executive
committee by Sarah Thompson, newly appointed Chief Financial
Officer, Suzanne Tomlinson, Head of HR, and Simon Collin, Chief
Technology Officer/Chief Product Officer.
This newly constructed team has been tasked with a number of key
items:
- Change the business mix to replace lost event revenue with a
growing level of subscription or recurring revenues;
- Increase the business areas' operating margin to achieve a
blended Group operating margin (before depreciation and
amortisation) of 15% by the end of 2023;
- Create a more stable employee base and recruit high quality
individuals while retaining and developing existing staff; and
- Create engaging content that keeps us at the heart of our communities.
COVID-19 Response
At the outset of the pandemic, we undertook a series of actions
to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 on our operations. As part of
this process, we participated in governments' plans to support
business and closely examined our cost base above and beyond
existing plans to increase operational efficiency.
As part of this process, during H1 20, we reduced overall
headcount across the Group with 26 redundancies and furloughed 16
employees from April to August at a total salary saving of
approximately GBP0.3m. The Company received GBP0.1m from the UK
Government under the Job Retention Scheme.
Other cost-saving measures included reduced print costs for
three months providing a saving of GBP0.3m, both from production
and postage, and an overall reduction in other supplier agreements.
In total, these measures saved approximately GBP0.7m in the
period.
We also participated in the PPP and, as a result, headcount in
the US has remained stable at 46 people. The PPP loan is expected
to be fully forgiven and converted to a grant in Q4 2020 once the
application process is opened by the lending bank. As previously
announced, while the Company sought further financial support under
the UK Coronavirus Business Interruption Loans Scheme, it was
unsuccessful with the application.
These measures have been complemented by the execution of
existing plans to increase operational efficiency as part of the
ongoing integration process. The Transitional Service Agreement
terminated in mid-August 2020 and its costs which were running at
GBP30,000 a month, and services have been replaced with internal
headcount. Overall headcount across the Group in the period reduced
by 17 and by another 11 as of today. Total Group headcount at the
end of August 2020 was 148 (August 2019: 164).
The combination of the response to COVID-19 and ongoing
integration efficiencies have contributed to reinforcing the
financial strength of the Group during this challenging time.
The current operating environment
Financial Services
Our Financial Services division comprises two businesses, namely
InvestmentNews and Last Word Media.
InvestmentNews
During the period, InvestmentNews focused primarily on driving
recurring revenue through subscriptions and building a broader
customer base through key vertical market segments. It has launched
three new products since June 2020: ESG Clarity US, a website
focused on ESG investing; a Fin Tech virtual event; and RPA
Convergence, a website focused on retirement planners.
In the six months ended 30 June 2020, revenues were down 44%
year-on-year, principally driven by the lack of any event activity
between April and June due to COVID-19. Most were originally
rescheduled to the second half, but in July 2020 the decision was
taken to move all to virtual events due to restrictions now in
place at US venues.
During the period, revenue increased by 11% Q1 to Q2 and there
has been encouraging growth in digital activity as a result of the
investment in its website. Currently, digital revenues for the year
are expected to be in excess of the original pre-COVID-19 budget.
InvestmentNews is currently booked 82% to its revised post-COVID
revenue budget for FY2020 with a qualified pipeline in excess of
that.
Of total revenues generated by InvestmentNews in the six months
ended 30 June 2020, Business Information accounted for 86%, Events
1% and Data & Insight 12%.
The decision to stop production of InvestmentNews' weekly print
magazine and replace it with a digital version was taken in March
2020. Overall, there has been GBP0.3m of savings from reduced print
production and postage. Due to customer demand, a print version was
restarted in July.
In August 2020, the Company formally exited the two-year
Transitional Services Agreement that was put in place with the
vendors on acquisition. While this exit will see direct costs
reduce by $0.2m in H2 2020, the services have been absorbed by the
wider Group, including finance, ad ops, technology and associated
operations.
With a completed technology investment, new enhanced core
website, developing portal strategy and continued strong engagement
with a broadening client base, InvestmentNews is well placed to
enter 2021 primed for growth.
Last Word Media
Last Word Media (LWM) saw revenues impacted due to its historic
focus on large live events. Total revenues in the period were down
44% (on a like-for-like basis) reflecting the lack of live event
activity between March and June. The direct impact of COVID-19 has
seen all of LWM's planned Q2 events move into the second half of
this year in both live and virtual formats.
Prior to the onset of lockdown, we took the decision to
restructure the European business to better align our product
offering to the broad European audience. This reduced headcount by
12, which, combined with the removal of the print version of Expert
Investor has created annualised cost savings of GBP0.7m.
Another round of restructuring was taken post period-end to
reflect the current outlook for live events and the end of furlough
and this has resulted in a further seven redundancies creating
annualised savings of GBP0.3m.
The split of revenue by proposition generated by LWM in the
period was Business Information 55%, Events 39% and Data &
Insight 6%.
Despite the challenges, LWM is currently booked 86% to its
post-COVID revenue budget for FY2020. We have worked hard to
develop innovative formats with virtual events and new business
areas. Three notable successes have been the sustainability title
ESG Clarity, the Content Marketing business LastWord Create and the
Last Word research business.
Governance
Governance (formally known as Diversity) supports organisations
with their policies, processes, systems and behaviours to ensure
that they align with legislation. There has been an increased level
of activity and confirmed activity in the Events business, which
now has a proven revised product set for H2 2020. The media team
continues to perform well.
We have restructured the division in order to better align the
teams and improve efficiency. This has resulted in a reduction in
headcount of five people due to the drop in live awards-based
events in H2 2020.
This division is 99% booked to budget for FY 2020 with a modest
risk of having to repurpose some revenues into 2021 which were
booked pre-COVID-19. Event venue liabilities have been further
reduced, from a peak of GBP0.4m to a current level of GBP0.2m. It
is planned that most of this will be utilised in H2 2020 or in
2021.
The Women in IT London virtual summit was the success story of
the period in terms of engagement and in proving the new digital
platform. Although it had modest revenues, it proved our new
template and was a tremendous showcase for our virtual platform
going forward. 11 virtual events are planned for H2 2020.
Business Solutions
Our Business Solutions division consists of SmallBusiness.co.uk,
GrowthBusiness.co.uk, www.information-age.com and
www.whatinvestment.co.uk.
The impact of new leadership introduced in 2019 is demonstrated
by the enormous growth in interest in SmallBusiness.co.uk and
GrowthBusiness.co.uk during the early days of the pandemic. The
audience increased fivefold in the first weeks of lockdown as
people sought information on all aspects of the various government
initiatives.
Media will be ahead of budget again in Q3 2020 (and is GBP50,000
ahead of its underlying FY20 budget), due mainly to diversification
of revenue streams in the last 18 months. Whilst year-on-year
display revenues are down, lead-generation and content-based
partnerships are ahead. Website traffic across the Group is
returning at pre-COVID-19 levels.
What Investment magazine continues to perform well and is 34%
above budget in the year to date (and 44% year-on-year).
Information Age had a strong Q2 2020 with revenue up fourfold
from Q1 2020. This is a result of pre-COVID-19 changes feeding
through and the broadening of revenue streams to include lead
generation products, webinars and premium gated content.
Across Governance and Business Solutions, the combined revenue
split by proposition in the period was Business Information 45%,
Events 55% and Data & Insight 0%.
Technology Investment
Our investment in technology continues as we look to protect and
grow revenues as well as to enhance operational efficiency. We have
made significant upgrades to key websites and have implemented key
changes to our technology to simplify and centralise operations
with additional control processes. This includes a shift from using
external agencies to FTE resources.
Dividend
Last year saw Bonhill pay its maiden interim dividend for the
six months ended 30 June 2019. In light of the prevailing operating
environment, and the Company's financial situation, the decision
was taken not to recommend the payment of a final dividend with the
Company's results for the year ended 31 December 2019 and we will
not be proposing the payment of an interim dividend for the six
months ended 30 June 2020. It is very much the Board's intention
that the Company should return to paying a dividend when it is
appropriate to do so.
Outlook
The Group continues to trade ahead of the expectations released
on 9 April 2020. This is driven by a better-than-expected
performance of virtual events and the positive impact of the
various cost-saving initiatives undertaken. Consequently, the Group
will enter the final quarter of the year in a position of greater
strength, underpinned by a new management structure, with a focus
on product and subscription revenues and final implementation of
all of its first-phase technology investment.
Simon Stilwell
Chief Executive
Financial Review
Income statement
Overall unaudited Group revenue for the first half ("H1 20") was
GBP7.8m (2019: GBP10.7m), showing a reduction of 28%. Gross margin,
however, has significantly increased year-on-year to 78% (2019:
63%). Operating loss (pre-impairment) in the six months to 30 June
2020 was GBP4.4m (2019: loss of GBP2.2m), which reflects the impact
of COVID-19 and that the Group has had to rely solely on digital
and media revenue for three months of the first half as all live
events were cancelled or postponed.
InvestmentNews' revenue for H1 20 was GBP3.8m (2019: GBP6.8m)
showing a reduction year-on-year of 44%. Whilst being heavily
impacted by COVID-19, this segment of the business has seen good
growth quarter-on-quarter in the half and there was encouraging
growth in digital activity as a result of the investment in
InvestmentNews' website. Currently, InvestmentNews' digital
revenues for the year are likely to be in excess of the original
pre- COVID-19 budget.
Last Word Media's revenue in H1 20 of GBP2.7m was also down 44%
when compared with H1 2019 (on a like-for-like basis), as it has
suffered similar impacts to InvestmentNews in relation to live
events.
The Bonhill UK segment covers three areas, being the newly
formed Governance and Business Solutions channels, as well as the
central and corporate costs of the Group. Bonhill UK's revenue has
seen similar declines year-on-year to the other parts of the Group,
with revenue in H1 20 down by 41% at GBP1.2m (2019: GBP2.1m).
Despite the H1 impact, this segment of the business has seen a
really encouraging level of new business from a range of clients
and there has been an increased level of activity and confirmed
orders across the events team.
30-Jun-20 30-Jun-19 30-Jun-19
*
6 months 6 months 6 months
GBP'000 GBP'000 GBP'000
-------------------------- ---------- ---------- ----------
Revenue 7,760 10,743 13,777
Cost of sales (1,725) (3,981) (4,867)
Net operating expenses (17,032) (9,001) (10,833)
Operating profit/(loss) (10,996) (2,238) (1,923)
Finance costs (146) (204) (207)
-------------------------- ---------- ---------- ----------
Loss before tax (11,142) (2,442) (2,130)
Tax 1,232 60 (26)
-------------------------- ---------- ---------- ----------
Loss (9,910) (2,382) (2,156)
----------
Statutory loss per share (15.13p) (5.85p)
-------------------------- ---------- ----------
*Proforma numbers include pre-acquisition results for Last Word
Media as if it had been owned for the six months
Operating loss in the period was GBP11.1m, which includes an
impairment of intangible assets, specifically goodwill, of GBP6.6m.
The impact of COVID-19 in 2020 has had a significant effect on the
profitability of the Group and the Board has taken the view that
current forecasts for the business will not support the asset
values of the Group and therefore we have made an impairment.
Additionally, when comparing against H1 19, Last Word Media only
contributed to two and a half months of trading post-acquisition in
April 2019. H1 20 reflects the full six months of trading for all
Group entities.
A further breakdown of net operating expenses is shown
below.
30-Jun-20 30-Jun-19
6 months 6 months
GBP'000 GBP'000
--------------------------------- ---------- ----------
Staff costs 6,965 5,155
IT costs 496 117
Legal and professional costs 1,005 1,572
Office costs 187 281
Travel and expenses 105 362
Other operating expenses 460 528
Share based payments (79) 70
Depreciation 73 63
Amortisation 1,228 853
Impairment of intangible assets 6,593 -
--------------------------------- ---------- ----------
Net operating expenses 17,032 9,001
--------------------------------- ---------- ----------
Cash flow
30-Jun-20 30-Jun-19
6 months 6 months
GBP'000 GBP'000
--------------------------------------------------- ---------- ----------
Operating cash flows before working capital (3,182) 387
Working capital movement 3,079 97
Interest paid (146) (180)
Tax paid - (38)
Foreign exchange gains or losses 42 94
Purchases of property, plant and equipment
and intangible assets (171) (64)
---------------------------------------------------- ---------- ----------
Free cash outflow (377) 296
Acquisition of Last Word Media - (5,840)
Acquisition costs - (815)
Integration costs - (732)
Re-organisation costs - (100)
Proceeds from issue of ordinary shares 2,259 9,484
Net repayment of borrowings and lease liabilities (326) (949)
----------------------------------------------------
Net cash inflow 1,555 1,344
---------------------------------------------------- ---------- ----------
During the six months to 30 June 2020, the net cash inflow of
the Group was GBP1.6m (2019: GBP1.3m).
GBP2.3m of share placing net proceeds were received in the first
half of 2020 (2019: GBP9.5m) to help mitigate the impacts of
COVID-19 on the business, in particular the reduction in live
events revenue.
The Group has seen a positive working capital movement of
GBP3.0m (2019: GBP0.1m). This is partly due to a targeted focus on
debtor collections, but also increased levels of deferred revenue
as events were postponed from H1 into H2. Additionally, under the
UK Government's schemes, GBP0.9m of payable PAYE has been deferred
to the second half of the year, and GBP0.4m of payable VAT has been
deferred until March 2021.
During the COVID-19 lockdown, the Company furloughed 16 people
in the UK and, therefore received GBP0.1m from the UK Government
support scheme. InvestmentNews also benefited from a PPP loan of
$1.2m (GBP0.9m), which is expected to be fully forgiven and
converted to a grant in Q4 2020 once the application process is
opened by the lending bank.
Financial position
30-Jun-20 30-Jun-19
-----------------------
GBP'000 GBP'000
----------------------- ---------- ----------
Intangibles 21,413 30,706
Tangible fixed assets 268 183
Lease asset 1,107 1,479
Lease liability (1,190) (1,549)
Working capital (351) 1,667
Deferred and current
tax 1,221 (2,455)
Cash 3,446 5,711
Debt (2,888) (3,647)
----------------------- ---------- ----------
Net assets 23,024 32,095
----------------------- ---------- ----------
As at 30 June 2020, the Group had a cash balance of GBP3.4m
(2019: GBP5.7m) and net assets of GBP28.4m (2019: GBP32.1m). At 31
August 2020, the Group's cash balance was GBP1.9m.
The debt balance of GBP2.9m (2019: GBP3.6m) mostly relates to a
vendor loan that part-financed the acquisition of InvestmentNews in
August 2018. This will continue to be repaid in equal monthly
instalments until 31 August 2021.
At 30 June 2020, due to reduced actual and forecast revenues
resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, an indicator of impairment
was identified in respect of goodwill. As a result, a review for
impairment was performed and an impairment of GBP6.6m, was
recognised on a value in use basis. In estimating value in use, a
discount rate of 16% (31 December 2019, 14%) was used. The movement
in the intangible asset value as a result of the impairment gives
the Group a net deferred tax asset position of GBP1.2m.
Principal risks and COVID-19
The COVID-19 pandemic and measures taken to contain it have had
an unprecedented impact on the UK and US economy. The business took
immediate action to mitigate the impact of the pandemic on the
Group, its employees, customers and other stakeholders. Key
measures included:
- All live events were cancelled across all countries in which Bonhill operates.
- All employees have been working from home since the lockdown
was announced in March 2020. The transition to remote working has
had no significant impact on the operational performance of the
business and productivity and engagement has increased as a
result.
- Deferral of VAT payments of GBP0.4m and PAYE payments of
GBP0.9m. The PAYE payments will be made in H2 20 and the VAT in H1
21.
- Furloughing 16 employees, predominantly in roles relating to
live events, from 6 April under the Coronavirus Job Retention
Scheme.
Due to the uncertainty surrounding COVID-19, business risk is
expected to continue into the second half of 2020. In order to
further mitigate the impact of this, and to allow the Company to
return to its previous performance levels, the decision has been
made to convert all future event for 2020 to virtual.
Additionally, we have increased our credit checks for both new
and existing customers. This will allow us to maintain up-to-date
information on our customer base and protect our working capital
should a credit rating deteriorate.
Other than COVID-19 related risks, the directors do not consider
that the principal risks and uncertainties described in the
Company's annual report for the year ended 31 December 2019 have
changed. A detailed explanation of the risks summarised above, and
how the Group seeks to mitigate the risks, can be found on pages 30
to 33 of the Company's annual report which is available at
www.bonhillplc.com.
Sarah Thompson
Chief Financial Officer
Condensed consolidated statement of comprehensive income
For the 6 month period ended 30 June 2020
6 month period ended Year ended
30 June 31 December
2019
Statutory
2020 2019 results
GBP'000 GBP'000 GBP'000
(unaudited) (unaudited) (audited)
Revenue 7,760 10,743 24,429
Cost of sales (1,725) (3,981) (8,156)
Gross Profit 6,036 6,762 16,273
77.8% 62.9% 66.6%
Net operating expenses (9,217) (8,015) (17,598)
Depreciation (73) (63) (104)
Amortisation (1,228) (853) (2,077)
Impairment of intangible
assets (6,593) - -
Share based payments 79 (70) (149)
Operating Loss (10,995) (2,238) (3,654)
Finance costs (146) (204) (491)
Loss before tax (11,141) (2,442) (4,145)
Tax 1,232 60 -
Loss after tax (9,909) (2,382) (4,145)
Other comprehensive income:
Exchange differences on translating
foreign operations 954 6 (455)
Total comprehensive income/(loss)
for the year (8,955) (2,376) (4,600)
--------- -------- --------
Basic loss per share attributable
to the owners of the parent (15.13p) (5.85p) (9.28p)
Consolidated statement of financial position
At 30 June 2020
30 June 30 June 31 December
2020 2019 2019
(Unaudited) (Unaudited) (Audited)
GBP'000 GBP'000 GBP'000
NON-CURRENT ASSETS
Goodwill 11,525 20,016 17,109
Other intangible assets 9,887 10,690 10,392
Property, plant and equipment 268 183 343
Deferred tax asset 1,238 326 459
Right-of-use asset 1,107 1,479 1,493
-------------- -------------- ------------
24,025 32,694 29,796
-------------- -------------- ------------
CURRENT ASSETS
Trade and other receivables 7,173 7,641 8,070
Cash and cash equivalents 3,446 5,711 1,891
-------------- -------------- ------------
10,620 13,352 9,961
-------------- -------------- ------------
TOTAL ASSETS 34,645 46,046 39,757
-------------- -------------- ------------
NON-CURRENT LIABILITIES
Lease liability (321) (947) (712)
Deferred tax liability - (2,738) (464)
Borrowings (278) (1,891) (1,046)
(599) (5,576) (2,222)
-------------- -------------- ------------
CURRENT LIABILITIES
Lease liability (869) (602) (23)
Trade and other payables (7,525) (5,974) (5,265)
Income tax liability (17) (43) (1,568)
Borrowings (2,610) (1,756) (888)
(11,021) (8,375) (7,744)
-------------- -------------- ------------
TOTAL LIABILITIES (11,621) (13,951) (9,966)
-------------- -------------- ------------
NET ASSETS 23,024 32,095 29,791
-------------- -------------- ------------
EQUITY
Share capital 986 486 486
Share premium account 1,759 - -
Share option reserve 147 138 217
Merger reserve 1,976 - 1,976
Other reserves 104 104 104
Retained earnings 17,519 31,327 27,429
Foreign exchange reserve 533 40 (421)
-------------- -------------- ------------
TOTAL EQUITY ATTRIBUTABLE
TO OWNERS OF THE PARENT 23,024 32,095 29,791
-------------- -------------- ------------
Consolidated statement of changes in equity
For the 6 month period ended 30 June 2020
Share Foreign
Share Share option Merger Other Retained exchange
capital premium reserve Reserve reserves earnings reserve Total
GBP'000 GBP'000 GBP'000 GBP'000 GBP'000 GBP'000 GBP'000 GBP'000
Balance as at 1 January
2019 343 26,715 68 4,086 (8,343) 34 22,903
Loss for the period (2,382) (2,382)
Other comprehensive
income 6 6
Issue of share capital 143 11,857 12,000
Share issue costs (524) (524)
Capital reduction (38,048) (3,982) 42,030 -
Share option charge 70 70
Balance as at 30 June
2019 486 - 138 - 104 31,305 40 32,073
Loss for the period (1,764) (1,764)
Other comprehensive
income (461) (461)
Issue of share capital (1,976) 1,976 -
Capital reduction 1,976 (1,976) -
Share option charge 79 79
Dividend paid (136) (136)
Balance as at 31 December
2019 486 - 217 1,976 104 27,429 (421) 29,790
Loss for the period (9,909) (9,909)
Other comprehensive
income 954 954
Issue of share capital 500 1,759 2,259
Share option charge (70) (70)
Balance as at 30 June
2020 986 1,759 147 1,976 104 17,519 533 23,024
--------- --------- --------- --------- ---------- ---------- ---------- --------
Consolidated statement of cash flows
For the 6 month period ended 30 June 2020
6 month period 6 month period
ended 30 June ended 30 June
2020 2019
(unaudited) (unaudited)
GBP'000 GBP'000
CASH USED IN OPERATIONS (103) 484
Interest paid (146) (180)
Taxation paid - (38)
NET CASH GENERATED FROM OPERATING
ACTIVITIES (249) 266
--------------- ---------------
INVESTING ACTIVITIES
Purchases of property, plant and
equipment (28) (51)
Purchases of intangible assets (143) (13)
Net cash consideration for acquisition - (5,840)
Acquisition costs - (815)
Integration costs - (732)
Re-organisation costs - (100)
NET CASH USED IN INVESTING ACTIVITIES (171) (7,551)
--------------- ---------------
FINANCING ACTIVITIES
Repayment of borrowings (816) (949)
Repayment of lease liabilities (449) -
PPP Loan 939 -
Proceeds from issue of ordinary
shares 2,259 9,484
NET CASH (USED IN)/GENERATED FROM
FINANCING ACTIVITIES 1,933 8,535
--------------- ---------------
NET INCREASE IN CASH AND CASH
EQUIVALENTS 1,555 1,344
CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS AT THE
BEGINNING OF THE PERIOD 1,891 4,367
--------------- ---------------
Non-cash foreign exchange movement 42 94
CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS AT THE OF THE PERIOD 3,446 5,711
--------------- ---------------
Notes to the cashflow statement
6 month period 6 month period
ended 30 June ended 30 June
2020 2019
GBP'000 GBP'000
Loss after tax (11,141) (2,382)
Adjustments for:
Tax - (60)
Finance costs 146 204
Amortisation and impairment 7,821 853
Depreciation of property, plant
and equipment 73 63
Share-based payment charge (79) 70
Other exceptional
costs - 1,639
Operating cash flows before movements
in working capital (3,181) 387
Movement in receivables 978 666
Movement in payables 2,100 (569)
CASH FLOWS USED IN OPERATIONS (103) 484
--------------- ---------------
Notes to the accounts
1. General information
The financial information set out above does not constitute the
Company's statutory accounts for the 6-month period ended 30 June
2020 or the 6-month period ended 30 June 2019. Statutory accounts
for the year ended 31 December 2019 have been reported on by the
Independent Auditor. The Independent Auditor's Report on the Annual
Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2019
were unqualified, did not draw attention to any matters by way of
emphasis, and did not contain a statement under 498(2) or 498(3) of
the Companies Act 2006. Statutory accounts for the year ended 31
December 2019 have been filed with the Registrar of Companies.
2. Accounting policies
Basis of preparation
The financial information presented in this announcement has
been prepared in accordance with the recognition and measurement
requirements of EU Endorsed International Financial Reporting
Standards and IFRIC interpretations ("IFRS") and the Companies Act
2006 applicable to companies reporting under IFRS. The financial
statements have been prepared under the historical cost
convention.
The principal accounting policies adopted in the preparation of
the financial information in this announcement are unchanged from
those used in the Company's financial statements for the year ended
31 December 2019 and are consistent with those that the Company is
expected to adopt in the preparation of its financial statements
for the year ending 31 December 2020.
Going concern
The directors are satisfied that the Group has sufficient
resources to continue in operation for the foreseeable future, a
period of not less than 12 months from the date of this report.
Accordingly, they continue to adopt the going concern basis in
preparing the condensed financial statements.
3. Revenue and segmental analysis
For executive management purposes, the business has three
reportable segments being the Bonhill UK business, which comprises
Governance and Business Solutions, the InvestmentNews business and
the Last Word Media business. Further analysis of revenue has been
performed by core proposition and country.
6 month period 6 month period
ended 30 June ended 30 June
2020 2019
GBP'000 GBP'000
Analysis of revenue by core propositions
Business information 5,345 6,100
Live Events 1,779 4,258
Data and Insight 636 385
Total 7,760 10,743
--------------- ---------------
6 month period 6 month period
ended 30 ended 30
June 2020 June 2019
Analysis by country GBP'000 GBP'000
United Kingdom 3,380 2,604
United States 3,825 7,098
Europe 108 606
Asia 447 435
Total 7,760 10,743
--------------- ---------------
Bonhill
6 months ended UK InvestmentNews Last Word Media Total
30 June 2020 Unaudited Unaudited Unaudited Unaudited
GBP'000 GBP'000 GBP'000 GBP'000
Reportable segmental
income statement
Revenue 1,211 3,827 2,722 7,760
Gross profit 816 3,171 2,049 6,036
Operating loss (2,052) (1,442) (908) (4,403)
Loss before tax (1,653) (1,977) (918) (4,549)
6 months ended 30 Bonhill
June 2019 UK InvestmentNews Last Word Media Total
Unaudited Unaudited Unaudited Unaudited
GBP'000 GBP'000 GBP'000 GBP'000
Reportable segmental
income statement
Revenue 2,067 6,804 1,872 10,743
Gross profit 959 4,484 1,319 6,762
Operating profit
/(loss) (2,386) 292 (144) (2,238)
Profit/(loss) before
tax (2,387) 124 (119) (2,382)
4. Earnings per share
Basic earnings per share is calculated by dividing the loss
attributable to owners of the parent by the weighted average number
of ordinary shares in issue during the period.
6 month period 6 month period
ended 30 ended 30 June
Based on statutory earnings June 2020 2019
GBP'000 GBP'000
Loss attributable to owners of the
parent (9,909) (2,382)
Weighted average number of ordinary
shares in issue 65,513,564 40,693,032
Basic loss per share (pence per share) (15.13p) (5.85p)
5. Share capital
Issued and fully paid ordinary share of 1p each
Number GBP'000
As at 31 December 2018 34,299,978 343
Shares issued during the 6 month period 14,285,714 143
As at 30 June 2019 and 31 December
2019 48,585,692 486
Shares issued during the 6 month period 50,000,000 500
As at 30 June 2020 98,585,692 986
--------------------------- --------------------------------
Share capital as at 30 June 2020 amounted to GBP1.0 million.
During the period, the Group issued 50 million shares at nominal
value of 1p per share at a consideration of GBP0.5m.
6. Lease
The Group recognises a right-of-use asset and lease liability
under IFRS 16.
Right-of-use asset GBP'000
Carrying value as at 30
June 2019 1,479
Additions to right-of-use
assets 418
Amortisation charged (385)
Foreign exchange impact of revaluation (19)
--------
Carrying value as at 30
June 2019 1,493
--------
Additions to right-of-use
assets -
Amortisation charged (425)
Foreign exchange impact of revaluation 39
--------
Carrying value as at 30
June 2019 1,107
--------
Lease liability GBP'000
Carrying value as at 30
June 2019 1,549
Additions to lease liability 418
Interest charged 35
Repayments made (370)
Foreign exchange impact of revaluation (32)
--------
Carrying value as at 31 December
2019 1,600
--------
Additions to lease liability -
Interest charged 28
Repayments made (463)
Foreign exchange impact of revaluation 25
--------
Carrying value as at 30
June 2020 1,190
--------
7. Availability
Further copies of this announcement are available on the
Company's website, www.bonhillplc.com.
This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the
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END
IR SFMFWLESSEFU
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