Investor Relations

Analyst & Investor Teach In - 10th May 2012

NCC Group plc, (LSE: NCC, 'the Group'), the international, independent provider of Escrow and Assurance, is today hosting a teach-in for analysts and investors, at which no new material trading information will be made available.

The Group has applied to register the .SECURE generic top level domain (gTLD) as part of the ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) programme to create a new set of gTLDs. The .SECURE gTLD aims to create a universal environment for end-users to operate and navigate the Internet with complete safety and security.

The Group has established a new wholly-owned subsidiary, Artemis Internet, Inc, to develop the critical infrastructure and know-how to deliver this project as it sees considerable opportunities in developing and managing .SECURE domains.  It plans to invest progressively some GBP6m in Artemis over the next 15 months, subject to reaching key milestones.

This project, along with the creation by Artemis of the Domain Policy Working Group, a group of influential organisations made up of major financial, software and social media companies, is focussed on web security and the development of a set of innovative new security standards for websites.  All of which support the Group's vision in building a more trustworthy internet.

Trading continues to be in line with the Board's expectations.  The Group expects to report its full year results for the year to 31 May 2012 on Thursday, 5 July 2012.

To view the Analyst & Teach-In Presentation, please click here.

Interim Management Statement

NCC Group plc (LSE: NCC or “the Group”), the international, independent provider of Escrow and Assurance, is today publishing its Interim Management Statement to 16 April 2012, covering the trading period from 1 December 2011 to 31 March 2012.

In the first 10 months of the financial year, Group revenues are 25% ahead of the same period last year at £72.0m (March 2011: £57.6m) which reflects 18% organic growth.

Rob Cotton, Group Chief Executive, comments:

“We have continued to trade well, in line with our expectations and are on course to deliver strong levels of growth and profitability for the financial year to 31 May 2012. We remain well positioned for continued long term, sustained and increasingly international growth.”

Group Escrow continues to perform well with 14% revenue growth to date (March 2011: 8%), 7% being organic. Group Escrow renewals are now forecast to be £17.3m for the current financial year (March 2011: £15.5m.)

Escrow UK, the cornerstone of the NCC Group, has seen a 7% growth (March 2011: 6%) in revenue. The global verification order book continues to be solid and is at £1.8m (October 2011: £1.8m rebased) of which £1.4m is UK verifications (October 2011: £1.4m rebased).

Since its acquisition last year, Escrow Associates, based in Atlanta, has performed very well. It met the Board’s expectations which has resulted in the full earn out becoming payable.

The European and North American Escrow businesses’ rates of growth are 7% and 76% (March 2011: 10% and 14%) respectively. The organic growth of the North American business was 3% due to the effects of the acquisition of Escrow Associates as the Group consolidates under that brand, as well as the continued impact of the office relocation.

Group Escrow termination rates remain below 12% for contracts (March 2011: 12%).

The Assurance division continues to perform strongly with a 31% increase in revenue (March 2011: 97%) of which 25% was organic growth (March 2011: 15%). This market continues to benefit from the heightened awareness of global hacking as more and more high profile organisations fall foul of significant attack or data loss.

The Group’s load and performance testing unit, Site Confidence, saw a 13% growth in contract revenues and continues to achieve monitoring renewal rates of better than 90%. The renewals base is valued at £5.6m for the year ended 31 May 2012 (March 2011: £4.8m.)

The Group’s testing businesses have a combined order book of £19.1m (March 2011: £19.1m). Security based testing orders are more than 20% greater than last year as market demand continues to increase, but other testing services are awaiting the completion of the renewal of a number of annual contracts which we are confident will renew shortly.

The recruitment and retention of the highest quality testers remains one of the most important activities and is key to the Group’s continued international success. To date the Group continues to be ahead of its planned recruitment and expects this trend to continue until year end. Staff turnover across the whole Assurance division to date this year has been 2%, which again remains considerably better than the planning expectation of 10%.

The Assurance Division’s overall combined order book and renewals base currently stands at £24.7m (March 2011: £23.9m).

After full payment of the first stage of the iSEC earn out the Group net debt is £25.4m (March 2011: £26.7m) against the revolving credit facility of £35m and additional £2m overdraft facility.

The Group expects to report its year end results for the 12 months to 31 May 2012 on Thursday, 5 July 2012.

Enquiries:

NCC Group (www.nccgroup.com)
0161 209 5432
Rob Cotton, Chief Executive
Atul Patel, Group Finance Director

College Hill
Adrian Duffield/Rozi Morris
020 7457 2020

NCC Group plc Interim Results
Growing international revenues drive profits up 33%

Highlights

• Group revenue up 28% to GBP42.4m (GBP33.0m in 2010)
    o  Organic revenue up 20%
    o  International revenue now contributes 31% (21% in 2010) 
• Group adjusted operating profits from continuing operations* increased by 33% to GBP10.2m (GBP7.7m in 2010)
    o  Group Escrow operating profits up by 13% to GBP7.6m
    o  Assurance operating profits up by 87% to GBP4.6m 
• Group adjusted pre-tax profits from continuing operations** up by 32% to GBP9.8m (GBP7.4m in 2010) 
• Adjusted diluted earnings per share from continuing operations*** up by 33% to 20.2p (15.2p in 2010) 
• Interim dividend up by 23% to 5.1p (4.15p in 2010)
• Ratio of cash inflow from operating activities before interest and tax to operating profit increased to 144% (141% in 2010)
• Orders and renewals up 7% totalling GBP43.7m (GBP41.0m in November 2010) for the current financial year 
• Price increases for UK Escrow implemented in November 

* Operating profits from continuing operations before amortisation of intangible assets and exceptional items and acquisition costs.
** Profit before tax from continuing operations before amortisation of intangible assets, exceptional items and acquisition costs and unwinding of the discount on acquisitions.
*** See reconciliation below

Rob Cotton, Group Chief Executive, commented:

"A clear focus on our international growth strategy, which includes exploiting a number of growing market opportunities, has enabled us to deliver a very strong set of results with profits up 33%.  We have increased the interim dividend by 23%, to reflect both our confidence for the future as well as our recent performance.

"The cyber arms race continues to speed up, and with the technology revolution outpacing the ability of IT departments to cope with the plethora of security issues, we are well placed to maintain our growth momentum."

Enquiries: 
NCC Group (www.nccgroup.com)         
0161 209 5432
Rob Cotton, Chief Executive
Atul Patel, Group Finance Director
 
College Hill
020 7457 2020
Adrian Duffield/Rozi Morris         

To view the Interim Results for the six months ended 30 November 2011 in full please click here.

Change of Auditors

Please click here to view the letter sent on 8th December 2011 informing shareholders of the change of company auditors.

Trading Update

8th December 2011: NCC Group plc (LSE: NCC or "the Group"), the international, independent provider of Escrow and Assurance, is today publishing a trading update.

The Board now expects Group profit before tax for the current financial year to 31 May 2012 to be between GBP21.0m and GBP21.5m, well ahead of market consensus of GBP19.6m.  Revenue achieved is over 27% ahead of last year's first half performance.

The Group's Escrow businesses have continued to perform in line with the Board's expectations as outlined in the Interim Management Statement on 19 October 2011.  However, the Assurance Division has benefited from the increase in market awareness about information security issues and the need for enterprises to understand, plan and implement operational strategies to counter and handle cyber-attacks.  This has resulted in a significant growth in the revenues and margins in the Assurance Division for the year so far.  This growth was expected by the Board but not in this time scale.

It is too early in the current financial year to see what impact this change in Assurance's rate of growth in revenue and margins will have on subsequent financial years, particularly given the uncertain economic environment.

Rob Cotton, Group Chief Executive, commented: "Now that we have closed the first six months of the current financial year, it is clear that the rate of growth in the information security units within Assurance, especially iSEC and NGS, is faster than expected as companies invest to protect themselves from cyber-attack. Our US and UK-based teams offer the best in class testing solutions, supported by our creative and innovative working environments.

"In spite of the wider economic environment, the international information security market will continue to grow extremely rapidly.  We expect to be able to capitalise on what is fast becoming the most important area of investment any company can make as they try to stay ahead in the cyber arms race."

The Group expects to report its half year results for the six months to 30 November 2011 on Thursday 19 January 2012. 
 
There will be an analyst conference call at 8.30am - please contact Lucy Moseley at lucy.moseley@collegehill.com or on telephone 020 7457 2020 for details.

Warning to all shareholders

Please be aware that a company called MKL Business Services LLC from Philadelphia in the USA is ringing shareholders offering to buy their shares at an inflated price.

The shareholder is asked to sign an NDA and provide certain information such as ‘telegraphic transfer receipts’ from their bank. We believe this is a boiler room scam to obtain shareholder bank details. We would strongly advise you not to disclose this information to them.

Interim Management Statement

19th October 2011: NCC Group plc (LSE: NCC or "the Group"), the international, independent provider of Escrow and Assurance, is today publishing its Interim Management Statement, covering the period from 1 June to 19 October 2011.

NCC Group's trading performance remains in line with the Board's expectations and is on course to deliver good levels of growth and profitability for the financial year to 31 May 2012.

Whilst the Board remains concerned about the global economy, very strong progress has been made in both Divisions. International revenues continue to grow and an increasing number of the Group's customers are either multinational enterprises or have considerable non UK dependent businesses.

In the first four months of the financial year to 30 September 2011, Group revenues are 33% ahead (19% organic) of the same period last year at GBP27.5m (October 2010: GBP20.6m.)

Group Escrow continues to perform well with 12% revenue growth to date, 5% being organic. Group Escrow renewals are now forecast to be GBP17.1m for the current financial year (2011: GBP15.4m.)

Escrow UK, the cornerstone of the NCC Group, has seen a 5% growth in revenue, an improvement on H2 2010/11 which saw only 3% growth, even though traditionally the first few months of the financial year are normally the weakest. The improvement in the Group's ability to recruit and retain account management teams has meant that NCC Group has been able to improve the Escrow trading margin.

From November 2011 the Group is planning to increase Escrow UK prices to reflect the significant improvements in protection offered to clients by the increased liability insurance contained within NCC Group agreements. This takes effect for new Escrow agreements from November and for renewals from January 2012.

The European and North American Escrow businesses' rates of growth were as expected slower than H2 2010/11, reflecting the slower trading quarter. Revenue growth was 4% and 5% respectively. Since its acquisition on 29 March 2011, Escrow Associates, based in Atlanta, has performed very well, meeting the Board's expectations.

The global verification order book continues to be solid at GBP1.8m after rationalisation of older orders that may now no longer be delivered (October 2010: GBP2.1m). GBP1.4m of this order book is in the UK. Group Escrow termination rates remain below 12% for contracts.

The Assurance division continues to perform strongly with a 46% increase in revenue over the same period last year, of which 27% is organic.

iSEC, NGS and SDLC, the Group's testing businesses, have grown their combined order book to GBP18.5m (October 2010: GBP17.7m) as market demand continues to increase particularly for ethical security services. This market continues to benefit from the heightened awareness of hacker attacks as more and more high profile organisations recognise the size of threat they face.

iSEC, based in California, is now fully integrated into the Group. It is increasingly common for both the iSEC and NGS testing teams to be servicing multinational clients together.

Recruiting and retaining the highest quality testers remains important to the Group's international success and is the main constraint on fulfilling the order book. At present the Group is ahead on its planned recruitment and it expects, as the premier employer in the market, for this to continue. Staff turnover across the whole Assurance division to date this year has been 2%, which is considerably better than the expectation of 10%.

SDLC continues to win substantial testing orders. It is directly providing the opportunity for other parts of the Division to offer other premium priced services to global multinationals, which form the long term client base of SDLC. The expected margin improvements have been achieved and the performance of the business unit is ahead of internal targets.

The Group's load and performance testing unit, Site Confidence, has seen a 7% growth in contract revenues and continues to achieve monitoring renewal rates of better than 90%. Renewals are valued at GBP5.0m for the year ended 31 May 2012 (2011: GBP4.7m.)

The Assurance Division's overall order book and renewals currently stands at GBP23.5m (October 2010: GBP22.3m).

The Group net debt as at 18 October 2011 is GBP26.7m against the revolving credit facility of GBP35m and additional GBP2m overdraft facility.

The Group expects to report its Interim results for the six months to 30 November 2011 on Thursday 19 January 2012.

NCC Group remains on course to deliver another very strong year. It is well positioned for continued long term, sustained and increasingly international growth in spite of the weak economic climate in the UK and Europe.

Enquiries:
 
NCC Group (www.nccgroup.com)         
0161 209 5432
Rob Cotton, Chief Executive
Atul Patel, Group Finance Director
 
College Hill
Adrian Duffield/Rozi Morris          
020 7457 2020

Acquisition of web monitoring business for up to £1.7m

5th August 2011: NCC Group plc (LSE: NCC, “NCC Group” or “the Group”), the international, independent provider of Escrow and Assurance Services, has acquired Axzona Limited, a Scottish website monitoring company, for a consideration of up to £1.7m in cash.

The initial consideration for Axzona‘s technology is £1.2m, with two further payments of up to £0.5m in total, over the next 24 months against performance related targets.

NCC Group expects to benefit from the complementary monitoring technology developed by Axzona, which will be incorporated into Site Confidence’s range of website performance services.  

Enquiries:

NCC Group 
(www.nccgroup.com) 
0161 209 5200
Rob Cotton, Chief Executive  
Atul Patel, Finance Director 
 
College Hill 
020 7457 2020
Adrian Duffield / Rozi Morris 

Strong revenue growth drive profits up 21% and earnings up 25%

Seven year CAGR for operating profit 21% and dividend 32%

7th July 2011: NCC Group plc (LSE: NCC, "NCC Group" or "the Group"), the international, independent provider of Escrow and Assurance, has reported its preliminary results for the year to 31 May 2011.

Financial highlights 

• Group revenue up 49% to GBP71.0m (2010: GBP47.6m) 
• Group adjusted pre-tax profits* up 21% to GBP17.3m (2010: GBP14.3m) 
• Adjusted fully diluted earnings per share* up 25% to 36.7p (2010: 29.4p) 
• Total dividend up 21% to 13.0p (2010: 10.75p) - CAGR of 32% since 2004 
• Cash conversion ratio was 133% of operating profits (2010: 141%) 

Operational highlights 

• Group Escrow maintained strong revenue growth of 8%
    o Escrow UK saw solid organic revenue growth of 6%
    o Increased US presence through acquisition of complementary business in Atlanta 
• Assurance Division now multinational leading independent information security business
    o Organic growth of 17% and operating profit up 70% to GBP6.5m (2010: GBP3.8m).
    o Acquisition in US significantly enhanced position and widened global capabilities
    o Forensics and operational responses becoming major areas of opportunity 

Outlook for 2011/2012: 

• Group Escrow renewals forecast to increase by 12% to GBP17.0m (2010: GBP15.2m) 
• Group Escrow verification order book GBP2.1m (2010: GBP2.2m) 
• Assurance Testing order book and renewals up 23% to GBP22.6m (2010: GBP18.3m) 

* Operating profit is adjusted for amortisation of acquired intangibles and exceptional items. Pre-tax profit is adjusted for this item and the unwinding of the discount on the acquisitions' contingent consideration. 

Rob Cotton, Group Chief Executive, commented: 

"The Group has performed well and flourished during the year - reporting an excellent financial performance. The combination of strong reliable organic growth, carefully acquired and integrated acquisitions and notably cash generation has enabled us to deliver a CAGR of 33% for revenues and 21% of operating profits over the last seven years. 

"Both of our business units are continuing to see predictable long term expansion with strongly recurring revenues throughout. The two US acquisitions have transformed our capabilities and provide a sound platform for sustained international growth. 

"Within the Assurance division, the exponential growth of all types of activity on the internet, has created an open unregulated and unmanaged environment, ideally suited for a wide range of illegal activities including state-sponsored targeted attacks and the rise of "hacktivism". These are providing considerable opportunities for us to develop this division further into an international leader in information security." 

To view the Preliminary Results for the year ended 31st May 2011 in full please click here.

Enquiries: 
 
NCC Group (www.nccgroup.com)    
0161 209 5200
Rob Cotton, Chief Executive
Atul Patel, Finance Director 
 
College Hill
020 7457 2020
Adrian Duffield / Rozi Morris   

Interim Management Statement

19th April 2011: NCC Group plc (LSE: NCC or “the Group”), the international, independent provider of Escrow and Assurance is today publishing its Interim Management Statement, covering the period from 1 December 2010 to 31 March 2011.

NCC Group’s trading performance remains in line with the Board’s expectations and is on course to deliver the anticipated levels of growth and profitability.  Whilst the Group remains concerned about the underlying UK economy, which is currently stagnating, good solid and consistent growth has been seen in both Divisions.

In the first 10 months of the financial year, Group revenues are 53% ahead of the same period last year at £57.6m (March 2010: £37.7m.)

Group Escrow continues to perform well with 8% revenue growth in the period.  Group Escrow renewals are now forecast to be £15.5m for the year to 31 May 2011 (2010:  £14.6m.) 

Escrow UK, the cornerstone of the NCC Group, has seen 6% revenue growth (March 2010: 9%) with a continued good performance from the Verification Testing business.  The global verification order book continues to be solid and is at £2.4m (March 2010: £2.0m) of which £1.8m is UK verifications (March 2010: £1.5m.)

The Group’s European and North American Escrow businesses continue to perform well, seeing revenue growth of 10% and 14% respectively.  On 29 March 2011, the Group acquired Atlanta based Escrow Associates for a cash consideration of up to $9.5m.

Group Escrow termination rates remain below 12% for contracts.

The Assurance division continues to perform strongly with a 97% growth in revenue in the period, of which 15% was organic growth.

NGS Secure and iSEC, the Group’s ethical security testing brands, have grown their combined order book to £12.5m (March 2010: £7.2m) as market demand continues to increase for high quality international ethical security testing, forensics, auditing and managed services. 

Recruiting the highest quality testers remains important to the Group’s success and the difficulty in finding the highest quality testers has constrained the delivery of the order book.   Equally, as the premier provider in this market, the Group is always under pressure from competitors trying to attract our staff.  However, a combination of the Group’s professional capabilities, research and development opportunities, client experiences and career development in an international group are all key elements in ensuring staff retention.  Staff turnover to date this year has been 8% which is slightly up on the half year figure of 7% but 136 testers are now employed. 

The Group’s load and performance testing unit, Site Confidence, continues to achieve monitoring renewal rates of 90%, which indicates a forecast renewals value of £4.8m for the year ended 31 May 2011 (May 2010: £3.7m.)  Overall it has seen 11% growth in contract revenues in the period.

SDLC continues to win substantial testing opportunities and is providing the route for the Group to offer its other premium priced services to the global multinationals which form the long term client base of SDLC.  As reported previously, margin pressure on the business has resulted in the anticipated return not yet being achieved but in the longer term the Board is confident that margins will improve. 

The overall order book in the Assurance Division currently stands at £19.1m (March 2010: £7.2m). 

The Group net debt stands at £26.7m following the acquisition of Escrow Associates against the revolving credit facility of £35m and an additional £2m overdraft facility if required.

The Group has also today appointed Atul Patel as Group Finance Director.  He has been Interim Finance Director since 18 February 2011, for further details see the separate announcement made today.

The Group expects to report its year end results for the 12 months to 31 May 2011 on Thursday 7 July 2011.

NCC Group remains on course to deliver another strong year, in line with market expectations and is well positioned for continued long term, sustained growth.

Enquiries:

NCC Group  (www.nccgroup.com) 
Rob Cotton, Chief Executive  
Atul Patel, Group Finance Director 
0161 209 5432
 
College Hill 
Adrian Duffield/Rozi Morris 
020 7457 2020

Continued strong organic and acquisitive growth drive profits up 25%

20 January 2011:  NCC Group plc (LSE: NCC, “NCC Group” or “the Group”), the international, independent provider of Escrow and Assurance, has reported its results for the six months to 30 November 2010.

Highlights

• Group revenue from continuing operations up 49% to £33.0m (£22.2m in 2009)
• Group adjusted operating profits from continuing operations* increased by 27% to £7.7m (£6.1m in 2009)
  • Group Escrow operating profits up by 12% to £6.7m
  • Assurance operating profits* up by 83% to £2.4m
• Group adjusted pre-tax profits from continuing operations** up by 26% to £7.4m (£5.9m in 2009)
• Adjusted diluted earnings per share from continuing operations*** up by 25% to 15.2p (12.2p in 2009)
• Interim dividend up by 19% to 4.15p (3.50p in 2009)
• Ratio of cash inflow from operating activities before interest and tax to operating profit increased to 141% (133% in 2009)
• Acquisition of iSEC, the Californian based ethical security testing company, for up to $24.4m on 14 October 2010
• Strong growth in the contract and verification revenues across Group Escrow
• Assurance Division has seen strong growth as information security issues continue to become increasingly critical to all businesses
• Orders and renewals up 33% totalling £41.0m (£30.9m in November 2009) for the current financial year

*    Operating profits from continuing operations plus amortisation of intangible assets and exceptional items.

**   Profit before tax from continuing operations plus amortisation of intangible assets, exceptional items and unwinding of the discount on acquisitions.

*** See reconciliation in Financial review below.

Rob Cotton, Group Chief Executive, commented:

“The first half of the year has seen strong growth and development within both divisions, with a notable performance by the Escrow business - growing revenue by 10% and operating profitability faster than in 2009, up 12%.

“Our Assurance business is benefitting both from rapid market growth in the information security sector and the addition of a number of complementary businesses, which have materially increased our international reach and operational capabilities. 

“Information security and the cyber crime ‘arms race’ have now become the issue for the IT industry, as clearly demonstrated by recent high profile events and highlighted by the OECD in its report earlier this week.  With 135 testers, forensic and security experts and researchers worldwide, we are confident of maintaining our leading position in this very dynamic market. 

“The year is progressing strongly, and with our focus on non discretionary spend, we are well positioned to maintain our rate for growth; already this financial year we have secured orders and renewals totalling £41.0m, up 33%.”

To view the Interim Results for the six months ended 30 November 2010 in full please click here.

Enquiries:

NCC Group  (www.nccgroup.com) 
0161 209 5200
Rob Cotton, Chief Executive  
John Gittins, Finance Director 
 
College Hill 
Adrian Duffield / Rozi Morris 
020 7457 2020

Interim Management Statement

19th October 2010: NCC Group plc (LSE: NCC or “the Group”), the international, independent provider of Escrow and Assurance Testing, is today publishing its Interim Management Statement, covering the period from 1 June to 18 October 2010.

NCC Group’s trading performance is in line with delivering the Board’s anticipated levels of growth and profitability.
 
Group revenues in the first four months of the year, including acquisitions, are 33% ahead of the same period last year, despite the lack of a material pick up in the UK economy and the uncertainty caused by the government spending review.

Group Escrow

Group Escrow has seen an encouraging performance resulting in an overall revenue growth of 9%. Escrow UK, the cornerstone of the NCC Group, has seen 8% revenue growth (October 2009: 7%). 

From November the Group is planning to increase prices for new Escrow contracts and from January for contract renewals.

Group renewals are now forecast to be £15.2m for the year to 31 May 2011 compared to £14.6m in the year ended 31 May 2010.

Verification Testing revenue continues to perform well and shows good growth.  The order book continues to increase and is now £2.5m (May 2010: £2.2m.)

Group termination levels have remained unchanged at about 12%.

Assurance

The Assurance division has maintained its growth momentum with revenue up 51%, including acquisitions, during the first four months of the year.

NGS Secure, the Group’s ethical security testing business, has grown its order book by 14% to £9.0m (May 2010: £7.9m.)  The market for high quality ethical security testing continues to be buoyant.  Although this business performance remains satisfactory, recruitment of the highest quality testers is slowing the rate of growth.

The Group has continued to strengthen its management team in this division and its commitment to research.  As a result, staff recruitment and retention has improved but there still remains a shortage of high quality, accredited testers in the market.  The Group continues to provide the most competitive packages and to aid recruitment an office has just been opened in Cheltenham in order to capitalise on the strong local market there.

The acquisition of iSEC Partners on 14 October 2010 is a notable strategic development.  It is the Group’s long term aim to become a leading provider in the international security testing and assurance market as this sector continues to grow and consolidate rapidly.  The order book that comes with the business is currently at £2.0m from a wealth of blue chip clients.
 
The integration of SDLC continues.  To date the business has been very successful at winning new contracts and the growth of revenue is on course.  However, margins have been held back as a result of both the competitive nature of this market and the price of resources.  Given the structure of the deal this will have an impact on the ultimate price paid for the business. However, as the integration process continues, the Group will, in the second half of the financial year, focus on leveraging more from its strategic sizable accounts, which are expected to take additional higher margin assurance services.  

The Group’s load and performance testing unit, Site Confidence, continues to achieve monitoring renewal rates of over 90% (May 2010: 89%), which indicates a renewals value of £4.6m for the year ended 31 May 2011 (May 2010: £4.1m.)

Over the last five years NCC Group has been steadily de-emphasising the Advisory business and focussing on the two growing Escrow and Assurance Divisions with their strong recurring revenues and forward visibility. Following the three recent acquisitions in the Assurance division, the Advisory business has now become subscale and insufficiently profitable.  Therefore, the Board has decided to withdraw from this area, although relevant information security services will be retained and operated from other appropriate parts of the Division.

In the last financial year the Advisory business area contributed profits in the order of £0.2 million on revenues of £6m.  The Group expects to retain £2m of these revenues on which we will break even during this financial year.  The costs involved will be one-off exceptional charges of around £950,000, of which approximately half is cash.   

Although the summer is always the slowest period of the financial year and despite the economic uncertainty in the market, the Assurance order books are robust and growing, and total £17.7m (May 2010: £14.0m.) 

Balance sheet

The Group net debt stands at £22.2m following the acquisition of iSEC Partners against its recently revised revolving credit facility of £35m and an additional £2m overdraft facility if required. Interest charged on this enlarged facility has increased from 1.6% to 2.0% over LIBOR.

Outlook

Overall, NCC Group is on course to show good revenue growth and profitability for the full year remains in line with the Board’s expectations. 

The Group expects to report its interim figures for the six months to 30 November 2010 on Thursday 20 January 2011.

Please click here to download the pdf of the Interim Management Statement.

Enquiries:

NCC Group 
(www.nccgroup.com) 
0161 209 5432
Rob Cotton, Chief Executive  
John Gittins, Finance Director 
 
College Hill 
Adrian Duffield/Rozi Morris 020 7457 2020

Acquisition of leading US security testing business for £14.4m

14th October 2010: NCC Group plc (LSE: NCC, “NCC Group” or “the Group”), the international, independent provider of Escrow and Assurance Services, has acquired US-based iSEC Partners Inc. (iSEC Partners), a security testing services provider, for a maximum consideration of £14.4m ($22.8m) in cash.

Highlights

• iSEC Partners is a leading US security testing services provider with numerous Silicon Valley blue chip organisations and international financial institutions as clients

• Provides a range of manual, automated and managed security testing services to secure applications, networks, websites and databases against IT security threats

• Substantially increases NCC Group’s presence across US and will enable the Group to provide customers with one stop testing services across US and Europe

• Consideration £14.4m - initially £8.1m, two further payments up to £6.3m over next 26 months against performance related targets

• Immediately earnings enhancing

• Year to 30 July 2010, iSEC Partners audited EBIT $2.4m on revenue of $7.8m.  The order book at July stood at $3.2m - much of future revenues derived from recurring contracts with blue chip corporations

• Financed from existing debt facilities and internally generated cash flow

• The Group has increased its revolving credit facility to £35m from £25m

Rob Cotton, NCC Group Chief Executive, said:

"The acquisition of the highly respected iSEC Partners is a key strategic development for NCC Group. It substantially increases our presence and profile in the US, considerably widens our capabilities and industry IP and brings a number of leading blue chip technology customers.

“Furthermore, the acquisition will enable us to provide our UK customers with US security testing services whilst iSEC Partners’ customers will now have access to our European capabilities.

“We are delighted that the very experienced and successful management team is staying with the Group.  We are confident that they will continue to enhance further their reputation as well as excellent financial track record of growth, supported by our resources and the Group’s wider international client base.”

ENDS

Enquiries:

NCC Group 0161 209 5200
Rob Cotton, Chief Executive
John Gittins, Finance Director

College Hill 020 7457 2020
Adrian Duffield

There will be an analyst conference call at 3.00pm – please contact Lucy Moseley at lucy.moseley@collegehill.com or on telephone 020 7457 2020 for details.

Result of AGM - Proxy Results

All resolutions proposed at NCC Group plc’s Annual General Meeting held on Tuesday 21 September 2010 were duly passed on a show of hands.

The results of the proxy votes received in advance of the meeting were as shown here.

 

NCC Group Press Releases