NWT Newmark Security Plc

This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of Regulation 11 of the Market Abuse (amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019/310.

25 January 2024

Newmark Security plc

("Newmark", the "Company" or the "Group")

Interim Results for the six months ended 31 October 2023

Increasing sales pipeline has both divisions on track to deliver full year revenue growth

Newmark Security plc (AIM: NWT), a leading provider of electronic and physical security systems, is pleased to announce its unaudited interim results for the six months ended 31 October 2023 ("H1 FY24").

Financial highlights:

·      Revenue down 2% to £10.4 million (H1 FY23: £10.6 million)

·      Gross profit of £3.9 million (H1 FY23: £4.1 million)

·      Underlying revenue up 11% after stripping out the impact of the anticipated loss of UKG in FY23. Underlying gross profit in H1 FY24 increased by £0.2 million

·      EBITDA of £0.8 million (H1 FY23: £1.1 million)

·      Loss after tax of £0.1 million (H1 FY23 profit: £0.5 million)

·      Loss per share of 0.54 pence (H1 FY23: earnings per share of 4.89 pence)

·      Investment in research and development of £0.2 million (H1 FY23: £0.3 million)

·      Net assets of £8.0 million (31 October 2022: £8.2 million)

Key business highlights:

Grosvenor Technology

·      Human Capital Management ("HCM") annual subscription-based recurring revenues increased by 77 % year-on-year ("YOY") to £2.3 million and positively contributed to profit margins

·      Underling YOY revenue growth for HCM North America was 8%, whilst the Rest of the World ("ROW") saw growth of 42%

·      Won three new HCM clients in North America and expanded Florida facility to cater for increase in direct fulfilment

·      Access Control's new Janus C4 Security Management System achieved YOY revenue growth of 16%

Safetell

·      Sales of entrance control products grew 100%

·      Fulfilled a large order of protection screens for one of the UK's 'big four' supermarket chains

·      Rolled out five new ballistic protection systems for a new money exchange client, with 22 more planned

·      Multiple new contracts for auto door maintenance covering universities, a major convenience retailer and a train station operator

Maurice Dwek, Chairman of Newmark, commented:

"It has been another successful period for Newmark with both divisions continuing to execute their strategies and build a better platform for growth. This was evident by HCM's annual subscription-based recurring revenues increasing by 77% YOY and sales of entrance control products growing 100% at Safetell.

"What is also evident is the quality of our product and services, which is reflected in the number of blue-chip clients we continue to win across public and private sectors. Our sales pipeline is expanding and we are on track for stronger second half, with both divisions set to deliver full year revenue growth.

"Whilst we are watchful of the macroeconomic outlook and pending elections, the people and data security market continues to grow and we are confident that the Group is in a stronger position to capitalise on the opportunities this will bring. We look forward to updating the market on our further progress at the full year."

For further information:

About Newmark Security plc

Newmark is a leading provider of electronic, software and physical security systems and installations that helps organisations protect human capital and provide safe spaces seamlessly and securely.

From our locations in the UK and US, we operate through subsidiary businesses positioned in specialist, high-growth markets.

We foster an open and inclusive work environment amongst our c.100 employees, serving hundreds of blue-chip customers.

Our product portfolio consists of Human Capital Management and Access Control Systems providing both hardware and software and physical security installations to various sectors.

Newmark Security plc is admitted to trading on AIM (AIM: NWT).

For more information, please visit https://newmarksecurity.com/ and sign up for RNS email alerts at https://newmarksecurity.com/investor-relations/rns-alerts/

Safe. Seamless. Secure

CHAIRMAN'S STATEMENT

I am pleased to announce the Group's unaudited interim results for the six months ended 31 October 2023 ("H1 FY24" or the "Period").

Operational highlights:

Group performance

Group revenue decreased by 2% YOY to £10.4 million (H1 FY23: £10.6 million), primarily due to the People and Data Management division losing its partner UKG in FY23. This impact was partly offset by strong growth in the Physical Security Solutions division.

As referenced in our FY23 results, our partnership with UKG in our HCM business came to an end which had been anticipated for some time, as further recapped below. Excluding the impact of UKG from prior year comparatives (H1 FY23 revenue of £1.3 million and gross margin of £0.5 million), the Group delivered underlying revenue growth in H1 FY24 of £1.0 million (11%) and a £0.2 million underlying increase in gross profit.  There was minimal trading from UKG in H2 FY23.

Gross profit percentage decreased slightly to 37.2% (H1 FY23: 38.9%) due to small declines in both the People and Data Management and Physical Security Solutions divisions. These have been caused by a combination of higher labour and amortisation costs as well as product mix timing.

Administrative expenses increased by 5% to £3.8 million (H1 FY23: £3.6 million) driven by additional headcount and inflationary cost rises. Profit from operations was £0.1 million (H1 FY23: £0.5 million). Finance costs during the period were £0.18 million (H1 FY23: £0.15 million). This increase resulted from additional invoice financing borrowings to support higher working capital requirements and higher interest rates.

For H1 FY24, the Group made a loss per share of 0.54 pence (H1 FY23: earnings per share of 4.89 pence).

People and Data Management division - Grosvenor Technology ("Grosvenor")

Revenue information

Human Capital Management

The HCM division recorded revenue of £6.0 million (H1 FY22 £6.4 million) during the Period. As highlighted above, this slight reduction was expected due to the ending of the UKG contract, which was due to reduce over time following the merger in 2020 between Ultimate Software, our original HCM partner and Kronos, a competitor in time clock products. As previously disclosed, the timing for this was uncertain but it was a testament to the quality of services provided by our team that this only happened in Q3 of the last financial year.

Notwithstanding this, Grosvenor has seen an excellent performance across its HCM business lines. Removing UKG's contribution of £1.3 million to last year's revenue, underlying YOY revenue growth for North America was 8%, while the ROW saw growth of 42% to £2.1 million.

In terms of strategy, the business has continued the rollout of GT Connect and the transition to a 'hardware-enabled software and services' business, with a focus on selling its customers a wrapped subscription to build stronger recurring revenues. Annual subscription-based recurring revenues increased by 77% YOY to £2.3 million and positively contributed to profit margin.

The business has continued to expand its network of HCM partners across its geographies with the switch to GT Connect. Where partners have previously been using competitor clock products, GT has been displacing the competition through its entry-level devices wrapped with recurring revenue services, which underscores the strength of our proposition and strategy. The other benefit for customers is the superior cybersecurity of the single GT Connect ecosystem, with it achieving ISO 9001 certification.

In North America, the business has recently won three new HCM clients with extensive reach which will help drive revenues in the second half of the year. As with any new HCM client, it will take time before they reach their full potential. The business has been aligning itself to grow revenues from direct fulfilment and has added additional capacity to its Florida facility to enable this.  Grosvenor has been trading in the United States for over a decade and has built a reputation for excellent products and customer service. It is pleasing to see the progress being made in this very large market which has huge potential for us.

The ROW has continued the positive trend from last year, demonstrating significant growth (up 42%) primarily due to an increase in the share of client expenditure. The business also works with several multi-national retailers and has been successfully migrating them to the new GT platform and negotiating new contracts.

Access Control

After a strong start to the year, some contract negotiations have slowed due to higher interest rate conditions and customers deciding to prolong their decisions. This led to revenue decreasing by 21% to £1.6 million (H1 FY23: £2.0 million).

Despite this slowdown in decision making, Janus C4, our new Security Management System (SMS), has seen continued YOY revenue growth of 16%, to £1.2 million. The increase in sales is from net client installations as well as upgrades from our legacy Sateon and Janus ranges, which has happened for multiple university customers. 

Public sector customers have been quicker to make procurement decisions than the private sector, which is reflected in the new contracts signed with hospitals and blue light services. At the same time, the team has continued to focus on building its sales pipeline and is anticipating a stronger second half. Looking ahead, the business is on track to complete the development of its next generation access control product in the next financial year.

Physical Security Solutions division - Safetell

Revenue information

Safetell's revenue increased by 24% to £2.7 million compared to the corresponding prior period. This increase has been driven by strong growth in both Products and Service and also reflects the strategy to further diversify Safetell's product offering by bringing auto door and entrance control into the product portfolio to counter the impact of fewer physical bank branches and post offices.

Gross margins have decreased from 41.9% in H1 FY23 to 37.7% in H1 FY24. This is primarily due to product mix timing with higher margins forecast for the second half of the year (FY24) compared to the prior year which had lower margins in H2. Safetell's management has also continued to optimise the operations team and develop a structure that delivers contracts more efficiently, which will support margins going forward.

Further reviewing Safetell's performance, sales orders of entrance control products grew 100% in the period, supported by new contracts with a blue-chip banking group and a distribution centre, the latter of which is part of a growing pipeline of sales opportunities in this area of logistics.  This has been helped by our strategy of sourcing alternative product manufacturers in China that offer a high-quality product at a substantially lower price than our traditional European providers.

A large Protection Screens order for one of the UK's 'big four' supermarket chains was fulfilled in the period and the business is in the final stages of contract negotiations with another constituent of this group. Safetell also rolled out five new ballistic protection systems for a new money exchange client, with a further 22 planned for next year. Safetell continues to provide secure screen, counters and doors to multiple police forces in the UK and successfully installed a secure wall around an operations room for a major UK utility company during the period.

The business's auto door maintenance strategy continues to gain traction with new customers including two universities, a major convenience retailer and a rolling pilot contract with a train station operator, covering over 250 stations.

Balance sheet and financing

Inventory decreased during the period by £0.4 million to £3.7 million at 31 October 2023 due to a reduction of certain components being held as the global supply chain challenges experienced in the last two financial years start to ease.

Cash at 31 October 2023 was £0.01 million, down £0.6 million during the period since 30 April 2023. The Group had an unused £0.4 million UK overdraft facility at the balance sheet date.

Total borrowings decreased by £0.3 million in the period to £5.6 million at the balance sheet date due to CBILS loan and lease repayments.  The UK invoice financing facility remains at £2.3 million and the US invoice financing facility remains at $2 million.

Current trading

The Group returned to profit after tax in Q2 FY24 after a strong trading performance and it expects this trend to continue into the second half of the financial year. The Group's existing financing facilities are sufficient to execute its current plans and both divisions are anticipating stronger sales in the second half, supported by a good spread of public and private sector contracts. As such, we expect both divisions to achieve FY24 revenue growth despite the loss of the UKG contract in FY23.

CONSOLIDATED INCOME STATEMENT

For the six months ended 31 October 2023

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF COMPREHENSIVE INCOME

For the six months ended 31 October 2023

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL POSITION

At 31 October 2023

CONSOLIDATED CASH FLOW STATEMENTS

For the six months ended 31 October 2023