2016 Annual Report
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DIGITAL GLOBE SERVICES, LTD. Annual Report As at and for the year ended 30June 2016 The DGS Group is a global provider of customer acquisition and online advertising solutions to large, consumer-facing organisations and B2B service providers Digital Globe Services, Ltd. (the "Company", the “Group" and together with its subsidiaries "DGS") Final Results for the year ended 30 June 2016 Digital Globe Services, Ltd. (AIM: DGS), a leading provider of digital marketing solutions for large, consumer-facing organisations, is pleased to report its Final Results for the year ended 30 June 2016. Financial Highlights (US dollars) • Record revenue as a result of continued growth in core business and new verticals o Revenue increased 19% to $47.8M (FY15: $40.3M) o Revenue from verticals outside of the Company’s core telecoms and media clients increased to $19.2M (FY15: $15.3M) • Gross margin compression in second half due primarily to increased marketing investment in core business and new verticals, resulting in gross margin for the year of 27.6% (FY15: 32.7%) o Gross profit of $13.2M (FY15: $13.2M) • Adjusted EBITDA* margin of 5.3% (FY15: 7.3%), reflecting investments in core business, technology enhancements and acquisition of on-shore call centre o Adjusted EBITDA* of $2.5M (FY15: $3.0M) o Underlying adjusted EBITDA of $3.3M before reallocation of $0.8M of revenue reversal • Net loss of $4.9M driven primarily by non-cash goodwill impairment of $1.4M, write-down of $3.3M of aging accounts receivables and $0.8M of revenue reversal** • Basic (loss) per share of ($0.18) (FY15: earning per share $0.09) • Balance sheet remains strong: o Cash on hand at 30 June 2016 of $1.3M (30 June 2015: $2.2M) o Additional cash availability of $3.5M from $5.0M short-term working capital revolver o No long term debt • The board does not recommend the payment of a final dividend resulting in a total dividend for the period of $0.7M at $0.026 per share (FY15: $0.041) paid on 7 April 2016, resulting in a trailing dividend yield of approximately 4%*** Strategic and Operational Highlights • Significant investment in people and technology to expand into new verticals and geographies: o Further investment in dgSMART and dgsAPI expected to drive margin improvement in FY17 o Acquisition of a US-based contact centre to drive profitable growth in expanding satellite vertical • Launched 7degrees in H2, a social media advertising services agency, further diversifying Group revenues into this rapidly growing market segment and providing strategic growth avenue for FY17 and beyond • Core customers continued their focus on subscriber acquisition and commercial services growth resulting in 21% YoY revenue increase • Bolstered executive team with addition of new CRO Outlook • Investments made in FY16 will drive margin expansion and profitable growth for the year ahead • FY17 trading expected to show continued revenue growth and a significant increase in profitability • Anticipated further consolidation within the competitive environment expected to bring improved margins over time Continued focus on three pillars of growth: expansion within the existing client base, extension into new geographical markets, and entrance into new industry verticals Overview of DGS Founded in 2008 with offices in London, Bermuda, Netherlands, USA and Ireland, DGS is a specialist provider of outsourced online customer, lead, and inquiry acquisition and digital media solutions for large, consumer-facing corporations. DGS delivers customers to its clients through optimised paid search, search engine optimization, mobile, integrated websites, e-mail, social media and contact centre support. DGS is seeking to establish itself as the leading international provider of outsourced online customer, lead and inquiry acquisition, services, through its focus on having the premier technology platform in the industry. By using its optimising technology platform, dgSMART, and its experience of website management and digital media customer acquisition, efficient contact centre operations and other process expertise, DGS is able to acquire customers and achieve conversion rates that deliver profitable, high quality customers and valuable leads and inquiries to its clients. DGS employs over 700 staff in Europe, North America and Asia. The Company currently has over 100 direct and indirect client relationships globally, many of which are with companies in the US Fortune 500. Reconciliation of Net Profit/(Loss) to Adjusted EBITDA Adjusted EBITDA Reconciliation in US$ 2016 2015 2014 Net Profit/(Loss) (4,944,537) 257,493 3,859,843 Plus/(Less) Interest expense - net 209,885 70,862 5,258 Income Tax (Credit)/Expense (153,190) 405,077 (103,151) Depreciation and amortisation 1,787,557 1,463,013 851,981 Bank charges 42,702 96,534 101,026 Foreign exchange gain or loss 15,837 9,123 (58,595) Change in fair value of warrant (24,496) (301,555) 344,890 Restructuring costs 336,492 194,117 274,088 Write-back of contingent consideration - - (724,440) Non-cash Employee Stock Option Plan charges 522,794 756,092 781,470 Legal costs associated with acquisition - - 57,300 One-time staff expense (training, relocation, medical) 32,552 - 41,293 Goodwill impairment 1,425,587 - - Bad debt write off 3,275,960 - - Adjusted EBITDA 2,527,143 2,950,756 5,430,963 *EBITDA is earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation. “Adjusted EBITDA” additionally excludes bank facility and other charges, foreign exchange gains or losses, non-recurring restructuring costs and non-cash Employee Stock Option Plan Charges, warrants, legal costs associated with the EDU acquisition, non-recurring severance and other employee costs and write-back of contingent consideration. A reconciliation is provided above. ** Assessed carrying value of intangibles and goodwill on the balance sheet for all entities and determined to impair $1.4M of DGS EDU goodwill. Board took the decision to write off or provision $3.3M of aging accounts receivables and reversal of $0.8M of revenue due to change in revenue recognition policy on merchant processing. ***Trailing dividend yield based on today’s trading value: 4.3% = $0.026/(£0.47*$1.3/£1.0) Chairman and Chief Executive Review This has been a year of record sales for the Group combined with operational improvements. The Group has finished fiscal year 2016 as a larger business, with an expanded service and technology offering and in a better position to grow profitably than ever before. Throughout fiscal year 2016, the Group successfully grew top line revenue while also investing in the Group’s growth and product and service offering. Key developments in the period include new business opportunities and revenue growth in the commercial cable space, a growing service offering outside of the Group’s traditional domestic cable space; further expansion of the technology platform enabling deeper penetration into the value chain for cable service delivery; and the launch of a new service offering, 7degrees, which expands the Group’s reach into the fast growing social media advertising space. As a result, the Group delivered year over year revenue growth of 19%. Gross margins experienced compressions in the second half of the year, due in part to our entry into new industry verticals such as energy and utilities where we won new customers, as well as our strategic investments in growing the core business, investing in our technology and geographic expansion. Gross profit remained level at $13.2Mand adjusted EBITDA declined by $0.5M to $2.5m. Net income was a loss of $4.9M due to $3.3M of aging accounts receivables written to bad debt and provision and $0.8M in revenue reversal due to change in revenue recognition policy for merchant activity (total revenue and AR treatment of $4.1M). Gross margins and EBITDA are expected to recover to historic levels as new business matures and as the Group yields returns on the monetization of its technologies through third parties and new verticals. The investments in significant core market share growth were reflected in our revenue growth but also margin compression as a result of higher direct labour costs associated with the acquisition of an on-shore call centre required for new vertical expansion, higher affiliate expenses required to service our expanding industry footprint and higher advertising expenses associated with higher overall volume share. As explained in the year-end trading update, management expects margins to return to historic levels as the Company uses its proprietary dgSmart technology to optimise performance of the expanded core business. In the first half of FY16, we successfully maintained the strong margins we delivered coming out of the last fiscal year, while over the course of the second half we expanded our core business, strengthened our technology and launched expansion efforts into new verticals. We believe the Company is now in a better position in terms of technology and service offering, expanded core market share and customer relationships, and new revenue opportunities to drive sustainable, profitable revenue growth creating value for our shareholders and stakeholders in FY17 and beyond. Our core business and new verticals drove the strongest revenue performance the Company has ever delivered. The fiscal year returned to top-line growth rates of 19%; something that we and our shareholders expect. The future market opportunity remains robust. We continue to be recognised as a leader by our peers and partners in the rapidly growing global digital media advertising industry. The Company continues to see digital advertising budgets grow within its core clients as a result of their renewed focus on profitable revenue growth following multiple mergers within the cable space, and as we increase our market share, we remain focused on providing high quality consumer relationships for our customers. Additionally, we believe our 7degrees business has strategic and technology advantages over industry incumbents and expect this to create sizable future growth opportunity within the online advertising services space.