Equals Group
PLC
('Equals' or the 'Group')
Final
Results
"Fast growing, expanding
internationally, increased profitability, dividend
paying"
Equals (AIM:EQLS), the
fast-growing payments group focused on the SME marketplace,
announces its final results for the year ended 31 December 2023
(the 'year' or 'FY-2023') and an update on trading for the period
from 1 January 2024 to 12 April 2024.
FY-2023: Financial Summary
|
FY-2023
|
|
FY-2022
|
|
Change1
|
|
£
millions
|
|
£
millions
|
|
|
Underlying transaction values
|
|
|
|
|
|
- FX
|
5,866
|
|
5,470
|
|
+
7%
|
- Banking
|
2,178
|
|
1,741
|
|
+
25%
|
- Solutions Platform
|
4,368
|
|
2,005
|
|
+
118%
|
- Total
|
12,412
|
|
9,216
|
|
+
35%
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Revenue
|
95.7
|
|
69.7
|
|
+
37%
|
% of revenue from
B2B2
|
82%
|
|
76%
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Adjusted EBITDA 3
|
20.6
|
|
12.1
|
|
+
70%
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
EBITDA
|
17.1
|
|
11.0
|
|
+
56%
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Profit after taxation
|
7.7
|
|
3.6
|
|
+
118%
|
EPS:
|
|
|
|
|
|
Basic
|
4.22p
|
|
1.80p
|
|
+
134%
|
Diluted
|
4.00p
|
|
1.73p
|
|
+
131%
|
Adjusted4 Basic
|
7.16p
|
|
3.15p
|
|
+
127%
|
Adjusted4 Diluted
|
6.79p
|
|
3.03p
|
|
+
124%
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Memo:
|
|
|
|
|
|
Capitalised staff
costs
|
5.7
|
|
4.2
|
|
|
Separately reported items
(below Adjusted EBITDA)
|
2.1
|
|
0.2
|
|
|
Cash per share (at balance
sheet date)
|
10.2p
|
|
8.3p
|
|
|
FY-2023 Financial Highlights
· 35%
increase in transaction flow to £12.4 billion (FY-2022: £9.2
billion)
· 37%
increase in revenue to £95.7 million (FY-2022: £69.7
million)
· 70%
increase in Adjusted EBITDA3 to £20.6 million (FY-2022: £12.1
million)
· Completion of three strategically enhancing acquisitions in
the year at a cash cost of £6.0 million
· Payment in December of £0.9 million maiden interim dividend
(0.5 pence per share)
· Robust Balance sheet with £18.7 million cash at bank at 31
December 2023
· Final dividend proposed of 1.0 pence per share bringing the
total dividends paid and proposed of 1.5 pence (FY-2022:
Nil)
H1
FY-2024 Trading update
· Revenue in H1-2024 up to 12 April 2024 reached £31.9 million,
up from £24.5 million in the same period in 2023, an increase of
30%
· The
revenue from Solutions in the same period was £13.2 million, up 74%
on the same period in 2023 of £7.6 million
· Revenues per working day up to 12 April 2024 were £443k, an
increase of 27% over £350k per day in Q1-2023 and 5% higher than
£422k per day achieved in Q4-2023
· Cash
balances of £21.6 million as at 12 April 2024
Commenting on the Final Results, Ian Strafford-Taylor, CEO of
Equals Group PLC, said: "We
continued to grow strongly in 2023, achieving record levels of
revenue, Adjusted EBITDA, and operational cash generation. This
allowed us to continue to invest in the business and declare a
maiden dividend. We also expanded internationally, broadened our
product offering and hired greater talent to take the Group
forward. I am immensely proud of the workforce that allowed
us to reach these levels of performance, and I want to thank them
all for their efforts in achieving these results."
FY-2023 Annual Report
An electronic copy of the Annual
Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2023
will be posted on the Group's website (www.equalsplc.com) along with a copy of the FY-2023
Results presentation at midday today. Printed versions of the
FY-2023 Annual Report and Financial Statements will be posted to
shareholders this month along with a Notice of Annual General
Meeting.
Notes
1 Based on underlying, not
rounded, figures.
2 Transactions with business
customers are reported as 'B2B' and transactions with retail
customers are reported as 'B2C'.
3 Adjusted EBITDA is defined
as: earnings before; depreciation, amortisation, impairment
charges, share option charges, foreign exchange differences and
separately reported items. Separately reported items are of a
material nature, non-recurring items.
4 The measure of profit for
this ratio has been adjusted to form Adjusted EPS. The add-back
adjustments consist of share option charges, amortisation of
acquired intangibles, exceptional items, acquisition costs and tax
impacts on these items thereon.
The financial statements were approved for release at 07:00
hours on 16 April 2024 to the London Stock Exchange via RNS after
being approved by the Board after stock market hours on 15 April
2024.
For more information, please contact:
Equals Group PLC
|
|
Ian Strafford-Taylor,
CEO
Richard Cooper, CFO
|
Tel: +44
(0) 20 7778 9308
www.equalsplc.com
|
Canaccord Genuity (Nominated
Advisor / Broker)
|
|
Max Hartley / Harry
Rees
|
Tel: +44
(0) 20 7523 8150
|
Buchanan (Financial
Communications)
|
|
Henry Harrison-
Topham / Steph Whitmore / Toto Berger
equals@buchanan.uk.com
|
Tel: +44
(0) 20 7466 5000
www.buchanan.uk.com
|
Notes to
Editors:
Equals Group is a
technology-led international payments group augmented by highly
personalised service for the payment needs of SME's whether these
be FX, card payments or via Faster Payments. Founded in 2007, the
Group listed on AIM in 2014. For more information, please
visit www.equalsplc.com.
Chief Executive Officer's Report
The vision for the Group continues
to be the simplification of global money movement for business
customers. Equals achieves this through its B2B platforms,
Equals Money being targeted at SME customers and Equals Solutions
which targets larger corporate opportunities. The Group's growth
potential is particularly strong given that the core building
blocks of its platforms, namely own-name multi-currency IBANs and
bank-grade connectivity and clearance, are highly complex and time
consuming to replicate. This 'first mover' advantage was achieved
by the investments made in previous years and will be continuously
enhanced by the developments planned in the Group's technical
roadmap combined with further investments into direct connectivity
to payment networks.
Against this vision, the Board's
objective for FY-2023 was to leverage the investments made into
product, engineering, and connectivity to deliver a unified
platform offering to its B2B customers that could deliver further
growth to the Group as a whole.
Equals achieved these objectives
with the roll-out of the Equals Money platform to the SME customer
base and Equals Solutions platform to larger corporates. In
addition, during FY-2023 the Group added the capability for
customers to consume our services via API integrations which
considerably increased our 'Total Addressable Market' ('TAM').
Accordingly, Equals can now distribute its services directly to
customers via its brands, integrate via API, or white-label its
platform so Equals customers can sell directly to their own
customers ('B2B2X').
The advances the Group made in its
offering, combined with improved Sales and Marketing capabilities,
meant the Group significantly surpassed our expectations in the
year, delivering the following strong headline financial
performance:
· Transactions executed on the Group's platforms increased by
35% to £12.4 billion (FY-2022: £9.2 billion)
· Revenue increased by 37% to £95.7 million (FY-2022: £69.7
million)
· Adjusted EBITDA increased by 70% to £20.6 million (FY-2022:
£12.1 million)
A detailed financial analysis is
presented in the Report of the Chief Financial Officer which
follows this statement.
Summary of FY-2023 performance
The financial results demonstrate
the success of our strategy of investment into creating a robust,
scalable platform comprising international and domestic payments,
card payments and current-account services underpinned by
exceptional technology and direct connections to multiple payment
networks.
In addition to investments in
creating the platform, the Group has continued its strategy of
focusing on distribution to the B2B customer segment and augmented
our capabilities in Sales and Marketing.
The combination of product
advancements and improved distribution capabilities produced strong
financial performance in 2023 and this strategy and delivery has
continued into 2024.
Growth combined with operational gearing
Processed transaction volumes grew
35% to £12.4 billion (FY-2022: £9.2 billion), with increases across
all payment channels, and reflects the scalability of the platform
that has been built, and the operational processes that support
it.
In keeping with the prior year,
revenues grew faster than transaction volumes, posting a 37%
increase to £95.7 million (FY-2022: £69.7 million), which
demonstrates the success of focusing on higher-margin business
lines.
The Group's focus on distribution
to B2B customers is reflected in the breakdown of revenues of which
82% were derived from B2B customers, up from 76% in FY-2022.
Similarly, our success in attracting larger corporate customers,
especially via the Equals Solutions platform, is reflected in 33%
of revenues being derived from this category, compared to 23% in
FY-2022.
Analysing growth trends further,
in keeping with FY-2022, the core products within Equals Money all
grew and were augmented by a very strong uptake of Equals
Solutions. This translated to International Payments (including
White Labelled FX services) growing 14% to £39.4 million (FY-2022:
£34.4 million). This compares favourably to the results of many
peers as macro-economic headwinds dampened demand, particularly
from B2C customers. Card-based revenues grew 22% to £15.2 million
(FY-2022: £12.5 million) despite the film production vertical being
affected by strikes in Hollywood. Equals Solutions revenues grew by
99% to £31.0 million (FY-2022: £15.6 million) which reflects the
strong demand for the platform and the success of our sales and
marketing efforts in this market.
The increase in transaction
volumes and revenues resulted in even stronger profit growth, with
Adjusted EBITDA up 70% to £20.6 million (FY-2022: £12.1 million)
which clearly demonstrated continued operational
gearing.
The Group's operations remain
strongly cash generative which gives Equals the flexibility to
perform opportunistic M&A activity as illustrated by the
acquisition of Oonex S.A., which was completed on 4 July 2023.
Oonex, now renamed Equals Money Europe ('EMEU'), is a payment
institution based in Brussels and regulated by the National Bank of
Belgium. The acquisition of Oonex, together with its regulatory
licences and banking relationships, allows Equals to bring its
payments, cards, and multi-currency account products to a new suite
of customers across Europe, thereby further increasing the Group's
TAM.
Growth with control
The Group remains committed to
growing revenues and profits as rapidly as possible by increasing
the volumes of transactions processed via its platform whilst
concurrently minimising risk and retaining operational control.
Accordingly, investment into finance, operations, compliance, and
risk functions remains a key focus as Equals continues to
grow.
The nature of the payments
industry means that all companies that operate within it will incur
some operational risk, especially in terms of so-called 'daylight
exposure' in the times between transactions being agreed and being
settled. The Group seeks to minimise and mitigate these risks
wherever possible. Therefore, all foreign exchange transactions
with customers are automatically matched with a liquidity provider
and funds are never released until inbound funds have been
received. Additionally, although the Group does offer forward
contracts to its customers, its deposit and mark-to-market policies
ensure that Equals runs an immaterial risk in this area.
Regulators and banks across the
globe are increasingly focused on anti-money laundering ('AML') and
compliance standards. Equals welcomes the higher levels of
supervision and auditing in this area as we view our compliance
controls and governance to be a competitive advantage. Equals
instils a Group-wide compliance culture facilitated by regular,
compulsory, training for all employees. The Group has continued its
investment in this area with increased headcount and expertise
being added across onboarding, enhanced due-diligence, transaction
monitoring, risk, compliance and regulatory teams. In addition, the
Group has invested in compliance technology by deploying improved
internal tooling combined with outsourced platforms to automate
tasks where possible. Furthermore, given our growth in transaction
volumes, in FY-2022 the Group invested into a machine-learning
transaction monitoring system, called Featurespace, which we
successfully rolled out in FY-2023.
The philosophy of 'growth with
control' is also prevalent in our product and engineering
functions. All customer-facing product developments are built with
the involvement of all areas of the business to ensure Equals
creates end-to-end applications that support internal operational
efficiency as well as superior customer user experience ('UX').
Equally, the Group listens to our customers when we design and
build new products and all applications pass through rigorous
quality assurance and live testing before wider roll-out. In
addition to customer-facing developments, our technical roadmaps
include many workstreams that improve internal efficiency and
control, not just outward facing product rollouts. Concurrently,
the Group will utilise external tooling and software where
appropriate, for instance in CRM, transaction monitoring & KYC
checks, so we can concentrate our resources on developing software
that enhances our products and competitive advantage.
The Group has also implemented
strong governance over all aspects of our Engineering and IT
processes. A monthly Security Council, with membership including
Board members and all key departments, is required to sign off all
changes including new products, product changes, new software usage
and vendor approval. The Security Council also conducts a review of
any security incidents at each meeting and authorises any changes
required. The robustness of our governance allowed the Group to
announce, on 4 December 2023, that it had been awarded ISO/IEC
27001 status, the leading international standard focused on
Information Security Management. This independent accreditation
testifies to the strength of the technology platform that has been
built as well as the processes and controls that we
operate.
The engineering, product and
design teams continued to produce significant improvements in our
products and functionality in FY-2023 at a very high cadence.
Highlights included:
- Payments Sending Service
(PSS) - this capability allows
automation of our 'payments out' rails, utilising SWIFT, and
thereby direct integrations to our major Banking
partners
- Completion of Equals Money
core functionality - Equals Money
now has the complete range of functionality required to sunset
legacy platforms and enable all our products to operate on one
unified technology stack
- Equals Money
API - full functionality of Equals
Money now available to customers over API, including a technical
team dedicated to customer onboarding and full sandbox
- FairFX
re-platformed - FairFX B2C cards
now operate as a pure "white label" of Equals money, utilising the
API suite described above
- White-Label of Equals
Money - Similar to FairFX, The
Equals Money API suite was utilised to enable the first commercial
white-label of Equals Money
- Equals Money
Europe - integration work completed
on time to bring EMEU into operational status with local IBAN
capability by the end of 2023; and
- Roqqett
integration - the GBP open-banking
capabilities of Roqqett were enhanced and made more robust before
integration into the FairFX checkout journey.
The developments above all fit
within the Group's strategy of increasing its total addressable
markets by product and functionality innovation combined with
widening the geographic markets the Group can access.
Sustained investment in people
The success of the Group is attributable to its excellent
employees who consistently demonstrate all of the core values of
Equals, namely: -
- Make it happen
- own the outcome individually
- Succeed
together - communicate and
encourage each other to deliver
- Be the
customer - constantly seek to
improve customer experience
- Go beyond
- push ourselves to excel, individually and
collectively.
The Group has a bi-annual
appraisal process, which also drives salary reviews and incentive
plans. The Group is proud to have a diverse workforce and it
strives to train and promote from within as well as seek fresh
talent from elsewhere.
Equals continues to invest in its
employees and consistently looks to implement measures to enhance
the work environment for employees. The Group utilises benchmarking
to ensure it provides a strong benefits programme and it continues
to support a hybrid working policy. The health and wellbeing of
employees is taken very seriously, and the Group has implemented
many programmes to support this.
Overall, investment in People has
resulted in the Group having a low level of staff turnover amongst
key employees. Implementation of a Company-wide share incentive
plan ('SIP') combined with a long-term incentive plan ('LTIP') for
management, continue to be strong retention tools in what continues
to be a difficult labour market in terms of attracting
talent.
Average headcount increased to 341
in FY-2023, up from 268 in FY-2022. The growth in headcount
reflects the Group putting in place the resources needed for our
next phase of growth in 2024 and beyond, given the greater TAM and
distribution channels we can now access. The additional recruitment
has been in either direct revenue production areas or in revenue
enablement areas.
Revenue production teams include
sales, marketing, sales operations and dealing. Revenue enablement
encompasses onboarding, compliance, API integration as well as
broader operations capacity.
In addition, headcount increased
by the expansion via acquisition into Europe via EMEU, completed in
July 2023, which will contribute to revenues more strongly in
2024.
We expect headcount to remain
broadly stable at current levels in 2024. Accordingly,
although revenue per head increased to £281k from £260k in the
prior year, we would expect a further increase in 2024 given the
investments we have made and the increased Target Addressable
Market.
Equals position in the payments space
Global payments is a
multi-trillion dollar market that remains a complex and constantly
evolving space. Whilst technology has seen radical changes in many
industries, payments had not evolved at the same pace until
relatively recently with legacy payment mechanisms of cash,
cheques, account-to-account transfers and more latterly cards
dominating the landscape. Furthermore, the settlement rails that
supported these payment methodologies were frequently decades old.
The problems that this created were even more acute when making
international, or cross-border, payments as settlement rails in one
country frequently did not interface with those in
another.
The 21st century has
seen more investment into payments and more disruptive technology
being applied which has changed the long-standing status quo and
introduced new participants into the space, known as 'fintech'
businesses. The advent of crypto currencies, and concurrently
blockchain, has further accelerated the rate of change such that
payments in general is now evolving at a rapid pace.
This is the backdrop to the
Group's sustained investment over several years to carve out a
specific niche for Equals, focused on the B2B customer space. The
Group has developed a unique proposition that provides its
customers with both account-to-account transfers and card payments
in one multi-currency platform built on infrastructure giving
bank-grade connectivity and security on superior customer
interfaces. Equals customers can consume this platform directly via
the secure login, on a white-label basis, or via an API technical
interface. The flexibility the Group can support and the channels
by which this can be consumed by customers is a key differentiator.
Within Equals B2B focus, the Group targets two major segments,
SMEs, via Equals Money, and larger corporates, via Equals
Solutions. Both offer a single platform comprising own-name,
multi-currency IBAN current accounts, account-to-account transfers,
and card products for both domestic and international
transactions.
Competition and differentiation
The Group's competitors fall into
two major categories, the incumbent banks and the fintech
'disruptors'. Despite the recent growth of fintech companies, the
majority of payment volumes still flow through the incumbent banks,
in some part due to customer inertia and the difficulty of
switching providers. For Equals, the key is to target the customer
base of the incumbent banks whilst concurrently making it easy for
those customers to consume the products and services of the Group.
These twin challenges have been the driving factors behind the
Group's product development and also its efforts to make onboarding
of new customers as rapid and seamless as possible for the
customer.
In contrast to the incumbent
banks, fintech competitors tend to focus on one silo of what Equals
provides as an overall platform (e.g. current accounts, cards, or
international payments) and are often B2C focused. In addition,
they typically operate 'self-serve' platforms. This is in contrast
to Equals as it provides leading technology allied with human
assistance in supporting customers to navigate the complexities of
payments via dedicated account management teams.
The Group therefore differentiates
itself by harnessing the best of these two competitor groups,
namely the trust, security and heritage of the incumbent banks
combined with the technological innovation of the fintech
community. Accordingly, Equals will continue to invest in its
platform, connectivity, and payment rails to remain one step ahead
and its success to date in doing so is reflected in the Group's
FY-2023 results.
M&A opportunities
The Group continues to assess
M&A opportunities in three main areas, which are not mutually
exclusive. Firstly, to acquire profitable businesses that can
easily be added to the platform and provide scale. Secondly, to
acquire value-added functionality complementary to our offering.
Lastly, to expand our portfolio of regulatory licences and access
to overseas markets. FY-2023 saw Equals execute deals in all three
categories and we continue to be alert for further
opportunities.
ESG
Equals wholeheartedly embraces ESG
initiatives and takes Equality, Diversity, and Inclusivity ('EDI')
extremely seriously. Our EDI strategy, which covers not only
employees but also customers, includes an internal EDI network
populated with elected representatives and regular employee
surveys. This is a key objective for all Executive Committee
members and forms part of their appraisals.
H1-2024 Trading
FY-2024 has started strongly with
revenue in H1-2024 up to 12 April 2024 reaching £31.9 million, up
from £24.5 million in the same period in FY-2023, an increase of
30%. The revenue from Solutions in the same period was £13.2
million, up 74% on the same period in 2023 of £7.6 million.
Revenues per working day up to 12 April 2024 were £443k, an
increase of 27% over £350k per day in the same period in H1-2023
and 5% higher than £422k per day achieved in Q4-2023.
Strong B2B revenue growth
continues with all product lines progressing well. Equals
Solutions, which contributed £31.0 million of revenues in FY-2023,
is expected to continue to grow strongly as the Group adds new
functionality to its payments platform during the year
and widens its TAM.
In keeping with the strategy
pursued in FY-2023, our product and development roadmap for the
rest of FY-2024 reflects our continued investment into our platform
capabilities. Key deliverables are: -
- Automated bulk payments capability, including over API
integration,
- Full straight-through-processing (STP),
- Further enhancement of Equals Money Europe
capabilities,
- In-house integration with SWIFT,
- Improve complete onboarding UX and processes to improve
speed,
- Support white-label scale up,
- Sunset remaining legacy platforms and minimise technical
debt.
The outlook for the business, as a
result of our sustained and continuing investments combined with
our excellent people, remains strong. In addition, the Group's
addressable market is now significantly greater with our expansion
into Europe and increased distribution channels. Equals has created
a payments platform comprising international and domestic payments,
card payments and current account services underpinned by
exceptional technology and direct connections to multiple payment
networks.
Ian Strafford-Taylor
Chief Executive Officer
15 April 2024
Chief Financial Officer's Report
The FY-2023 results have been
impacted by a number of significant events:
(a) The Company's
decision to restructure its reserves thus leading to an interim
dividend of 0.5 pence per share paid on 7 December 2023 and the
recommendation of a final dividend of 1 pence per share, giving a
total dividend paid and proposed of 1.5 pence for 2023.
(b) The launch of a
Strategic Review, announced on 1 November 2023, aimed at evaluating
whether greater value could be obtained through a sale of the
Company in light of the lacklustre performance of the UK equities
market as a whole.
(c) The disposal of
the travel cash business and the completion of three
acquisitions:
(i) Roqqett
Ltd (open banking platform);
(ii)
Hamer and Hamer Ltd; and
(iii)
Oonex S.A. (renamed Equals Money Europe
S.A.).
More details on these events are
reported below.
In summary, the FY-2023 results
have been positively impacted by the success of the Equals
Solutions product: Group Revenue was up 37%; Gross Profits up 55%,
Adjusted EBITDA up 70%, and Adjusted EPS up 127%.
I present my review and financial
analysis for the year ended 31 December 2023.
TABLE 1: INCOME AND EXPENSE ACCOUNT
|
FY-2023
|
|
FY-2022
|
|
|
£ millions
|
|
£
millions
|
|
Revenue (table 3, 4)
|
95.7
|
|
69.7
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Gross Profits (table 5)
|
52.3
|
|
33.7
|
|
Less: Marketing
|
(2.6)
|
|
(1.9)
|
|
Contribution
|
49.8
|
|
31.8
|
|
Staff costs
|
(20.3)
|
|
(14.4)
|
|
Property and office
cost
|
(1.2)
|
|
(0.9)
|
|
IT and telephone costs
|
(3.2)
|
|
(2.0)
|
|
Professional Fees
|
(2.2)
|
|
(1.2)
|
|
Compliance costs
|
(1.5)
|
|
(0.7)
|
|
Travel and other
expenses
|
(0.7)
|
|
(0.5)
|
|
Adjusted EBITDA
|
20.6
|
|
12.1
|
|
Less: Share
option expense
|
(1.4)
|
|
(0.9)
|
|
Less:
Acquisition costs (table 6)
|
(1.4)
|
|
(0.2)
|
|
Less:
Exceptional items
|
(0.7)
|
|
-
|
|
EBITDA
|
17.1
|
|
11.0
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
IFRS 16 Depreciation (table
7)
|
(0.7)
|
|
(0.8)
|
|
Other depreciation (table
7)
|
(0.5)
|
|
(0.4)
|
|
Amortisation of acquired
intangibles (table 8)
|
(1.7)
|
|
(1.3)
|
|
Other amortisation (table
8)
|
(5.4)
|
|
(4.4)
|
|
Contingent consideration credit /
(cost)
|
0.5
|
|
(0.3)
|
|
|
(7.8)
|
|
(7.2)
|
|
Gain on Disposal of Cash
CGU
|
0.4
|
|
-
|
|
EBIT
|
9.7
|
|
3.8
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Lease interest
|
(0.2)
|
|
(0.2)
|
|
Foreign exchange
differences
|
(0.3)
|
|
(0.1)
|
|
Contingent consideration finance
charges
|
(0.1)
|
|
(0.1)
|
|
|
(0.6)
|
|
(0.4)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
PROFIT BEFORE TAXATION
|
9.1
|
|
3.4
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Corporate and deferred
taxation
|
(1.4)
|
|
0.2
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
PROFIT FOR THE YEAR
|
7.7
|
|
3.6
|
|
When the changes are presented as
a bridge, the standout facts are the increase in revenue leading to
increased contribution (gross profits less marketing costs), offset
by higher labour costs, both through planned increases in staff
resources and responding to labour market pressures. Other cost
increases were also a mix of inflation pressures, but also
decisions taken to upskill and upscale resources for a rapidly
growing business.
TABLE 2 - ADJUSTED EBITDA BRIDGE FROM FY-2022 TO FY-2023 (in
£'000s)
FY-2022 Adjusted EBITDA
|
|
|
12,120
|
|
|
|
|
Add:
|
56% uplift in contribution
FY-2023
|
|
17,964
|
Less:
|
41% increase in staff costs,
reflecting a higher planned headcount, particularly in compliance
due to regulatory pressures.
60% increase in IT and
communications, taking into account increased web hosting charges
and development tools in line with transaction growth.
|
|
(5,898)
(1,206)
|
|
96% increase in professional and
compliance costs, much of which is attributable to increased
professional and compliance including regulatory fees in line with
geographical expansion.
24% increase in property through
geographical expansion
|
|
(1,836)
(228)
|
|
Increase in other costs including
travel and entertaining costs incurred through ambassadorial
initiatives and industry awareness events.
|
|
(279)
|
FY-2023 Adjusted EBITDA
|
|
|
20,637
|
|
|
|
|
Uplift over FY-2022
|
|
|
8,514
|
% uplift over FY-2022
|
|
|
70%
|
Revenue
All product lines and all
verticals saw significant increases in revenue in the year. The
Group has concentrated on the corporate sector and has seen strong
growth in International Payments, White-Label and Solutions
business and modest growth in consumer and small
businesses.
H1-2023 saw an increase of £13.6
million in revenue over H1-2022, and £6.7 million over H2-2022. The
growth continued in the second half, with H2-2023 adding a further
£12.4 million in revenue against the same period in H2-2022 and
£5.7 million over H1-2023. Overall revenue in FY-2023 was 37% ahead
of FY-2022.
The table below shows the revenue
by both CGU and customer types. The Europe revenue segment is the
acquisition of the European entity Equals Money Europe in H2-2023,
which represents £1.7 million of the Group's total revenue of £95.7
million for FY-2023.
TABLE 3 - REVENUE BY CUSTOMER TYPE
Revenue in £
millions
|
Consumer
and small business
("B2C")
|
Corporates
|
Large
enterprises
|
Sub-total
|
White-label
|
TOTAL
FY-2023
|
TOTAL
FY-2022
|
%
change
|
International Payments
|
3.8
|
18.9
|
-
|
22.7
|
16.7
|
39.4
|
34.4
|
14%
|
Cards
|
5.0
|
10.2
|
-
|
15.2
|
-
|
15.2
|
12.5
|
22%
|
Banking
|
8.3
|
-
|
-
|
8.3
|
-
|
8.3
|
6.1
|
36%
|
Solutions
|
-
|
-
|
31.0
|
31.0
|
-
|
31.0
|
15.7
|
97%
|
Travel cash
|
0.1
|
-
|
-
|
0.1
|
-
|
0.1
|
1.0
|
-86%
|
Europe
|
-
|
0.9
|
0.8
|
1.7
|
-
|
1.7
|
-
|
-
|
Total, FY-2023
|
17.2
|
30.0
|
31.8
|
79.0
|
16.7
|
95.7
|
69.7
|
37%
|
Total, FY-2022
|
16.6
|
22.4
|
15.7
|
54.7
|
15.0
|
69.7
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
% Change*
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
FY-2023 to
FY-2022
|
+3%
|
+34%
|
>103%
|
+45%
|
+11%
|
+37%
|
+37%
|
|
*based on underlying figures
Further analysis we disclose
below, revenue per half-year period.
TABLE 4- REVENUE BY HALF-YEAR
Revenue in £
millions
|
Solutions
|
White-Label
|
Other
International Payments
|
Cards
(Retail and Corporate)
|
Banking
|
Bureau
|
Europe
|
TOTAL
|
Revenue
per day in
|
|
£'000s
|
H1-2022
|
6.2
|
7.2
|
9.1
|
5.6
|
2.8
|
0.5
|
-
|
31.4
|
255.1
|
H2-2022
|
9.5
|
7.8
|
10.3
|
6.9
|
3.3
|
0.5
|
-
|
38.3
|
301.4
|
FY-2022
|
15.7
|
15.0
|
19.4
|
12.5
|
6.1
|
1.0
|
-
|
69.7
|
278.7
|
%
of total
|
22%
|
22%
|
28%
|
18%
|
9%
|
1%
|
-
|
100%
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
H1-2023
|
13.6
|
8.9
|
11.0
|
7.4
|
4.0
|
0.1
|
-
|
45.0
|
362.9
|
H2-2023
|
17.4
|
7.8
|
11.7
|
7.8
|
4.3
|
-
|
1.7
|
50.7
|
397.6
|
FY-2023
|
31.0
|
16.7
|
22.7
|
15.2
|
8.3
|
0.1
|
1.7
|
95.7
|
380.5
|
%
of total
|
32%
|
17%
|
24%
|
16%
|
9%
|
0%
|
2%
|
100%
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
2023 vs 2022
|
99%
|
11%
|
16%
|
22%
|
37%
|
-
86%
|
|
37%
|
36.4%
|
Gross profits
Gross profits have improved both
monetarily and in percentage terms. The aggregate gross profits
have steadily increased through tight management of pay-aways and
the changing mix of business. Gross profit percentage has increased
from 47% in H1-2022 to 49% in H2-2022, to 52% in H1-2023 and to 57%
in H2-2023. This ratio is expected to remain at this
level.
White-label GP percentages have
increased materially as the division becomes less reliant on some
underlying B2C trading.
The key components of cost of
sales have not changed, being a mix of affiliate (or introducer)
commissions, transaction costs, and sales-related staff commissions
(which include employers National Insurance Contributions) to the
trading and sales teams:
TABLE 5 - GROSS PROFIT MARGIN BY HALF-YEAR
|
Solutions
|
White-Label
|
Other
International Payments
|
Cards
(retail and corporate)
|
Banking
|
Bureau
|
Europe
|
TOTAL
|
H1-2022
|
46%
|
12%
|
59%
|
61%
|
76%
|
48%
|
-
|
47%
|
H2-2022
|
50%
|
14%
|
56%
|
65%
|
78%
|
42%
|
-
|
49%
|
FY-2022
|
48%
|
13%
|
57%
|
63%
|
77%
|
45%
|
-
|
48%
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
H1-2023
|
54%
|
19%
|
59%
|
64%
|
84%
|
31%
|
-
|
52%
|
H2-2023
|
60%
|
21%
|
60%
|
65%
|
84%
|
87%
|
56%
|
57%
|
FY-2023
|
57%
|
20%
|
60%
|
64%
|
84%
|
36%
|
56%
|
55%
|
Marketing, branding
and contribution The
Group has actively managed its marketing expenditure more closely
having carried out a thorough review and a constant assessment of
'Return on Spend'. Expenditure has been incurred on digital
marketing, marketing and hospitality events and exhibitions.
Marketing, as a percentage of Revenue has remained static at around
2.7%.
Staff
costs
Staff costs (gross of capitalisation and
exceptional items) were £25.9 million in FY-2023 against £18.6
million in FY-2022. This increase was attributable to:
· Organic headcount increases (headcount numbers have moved
from 285 as at 31 December 2022 to 367 as at 31 December 2023 and
400 at 31 March 2024). Recruitment costs were £969k in 2023 against
£557k in 2022. 2023 saw the recruitment of 90 new employees in the
UK.
· Acquisitions added a further 30 to the Group's headcount
offset by five leavers following the sale of the FX bureau in March
2023.
· Wage
pressures, where the aggregate increases were around
7.2%.
The composition of headcount is
approximately: Commercial, 20%; Operations (including compliance),
38%; Engineering, 16%; Product and Design, 5%; Europe (all
functions), 6%: Finance and HR, 8%; Other, 7%.
Professional fees and
Compliance
costs
Owing to an increasing cross-industry compliance
burden, the Group has chosen to report compliance and similar costs
separate to other professional fees. Such costs, including
onboarding systems, have risen due to a combination of greater
business activity and the Group's desire to fast-track business
applications proactive with regulation.
Professional fees have risen in
line with trends widely reported in the national press, most
notably the provision for the cost of the audit noting increased
acquisition activity and implementation of enhanced
systems.
Exceptional
items
There were two significant corporate projects
undertaken in FY-2023 which led to exceptional costs of £0.7
million being incurred: the restructuring of reserves to enable the
payment of dividends, and the decision to launch a strategic review
in order to explore ways of enhancing shareholder value. The
former, which required Court consent, was successfully concluded in
Q4-2023 leading to the payment of 0.5 pence per share dividend. The
latter is a process which is continuing at the time of this
announcement.
Capital Reduction and
Maiden Interim
Dividend
Payment
With Court approval, on 1 November 2023, the
Group carried out a Capital Reduction moving £25 million to
Distributable Reserves from the Share Premium account. Following
the reduction, the Group declared and issued a maiden interim
dividend of 0.5 pence per share to the shareholders of Equals Group
PLC and the Trust. The total number of shares eligible for the
dividend was 185,731,589 with a total cash payment of £928k paid on
7 December 2023.
Acquisition and
disposals
In FY-2023, the Group incurred costs of £1.5
million (of which £1.4 million was taken to the income statement)
in relation to the completion of the three acquisitions and one
disposal.
· Roqqett Limited, an FCA-regulated open-banking platform
provider, was acquired on 6 January 2023. It has two key licenses:
an AISP (Account Information Service Provider) and a PISP (Payment
Initiation Service Provider).
· Hamer
and Hamer Limited, acquisition completed following FCA approval on
20 April 2023 of the entire ordinary share capital historically
focused on the provision of international payments.
· Oonex S.A.,
a Belgian company, an authorised payment institution regulated by
the National Bank of Belgium, was acquired on 4 July 2023. The
acquisition enables the provision of Equals products into the
European Economic Area (EEA). Oonex was subsequently renamed Equals
Money Europe S.A. Its board now comprises Ian Strafford-Taylor
(CEO), Stephen Paul (Deputy CFO), James Simcox (Chief Product
Officer and MD of Europe) and Matthijs Boon (COO), along with two
independent directors as required under Belgian
regulations.
· The
FX bureau business, with a predominantly B2C customer base, was
sold on 14 March 2023 for an initial £250k with a further £100k
subject to certain conditions being met.
TABLE 6 - ACQUISITIONS
|
Total
|
Roqqett
|
Hamer &
Hamer*
|
Oonex S.A.
|
Acquisition date
|
|
06.01.2023
|
20.04.2023
|
04.07.2023
|
|
£'000s
|
£'000s
|
£'000s
|
£'000s
|
|
|
|
|
|
Cash paid at
acquisition
|
1,669
|
169
|
1,500
|
-
|
Cash paid at acquisition for
acquired liabilities
|
2,461
|
-
|
-
|
2,461
|
Cash paid
post-acquisition
|
335
|
215
|
-
|
120
|
Total cash paid for acquisitions
|
4,465
|
384
|
1,500
|
2,581
|
|
|
|
|
|
Shares issued at
acquisition
|
3,190
|
-
|
-
|
3,190
|
Shares issued
post-acquisition
|
500
|
500
|
-
|
-
|
Total shares issued paid for acquisitions
|
3,690
|
500
|
-
|
3,190
|
|
|
|
|
|
Total cash paid and shares issued for
acquisitions
|
8,155
|
884
|
1,500
|
5,771
|
|
|
|
|
|
Fair Value on shares
issued
|
694
|
-
|
-
|
694
|
Performance assessed consideration
thereon
|
85
|
35
|
-
|
50
|
Capitalised incidental
expenses
|
131
|
131
|
-
|
-
|
Acquired liabilities payable in
cash
|
1,524
|
-
|
-
|
1,524
|
Deferred consideration payable in
cash**
|
1,268
|
500
|
768
|
-
|
Deferred consideration payable in
shares
|
810
|
-
|
-
|
810
|
Total consideration transferred
|
12,667
|
1,550
|
2,268
|
8,849
|
|
|
|
|
|
Fair Value thereon
|
2,413
|
664
|
(30)
|
1,779
|
Deferred tax
thereon
|
978
|
-
|
369
|
609
|
Total acquired
|
16,058
|
2,214
|
2,607
|
11,237
|
|
|
|
|
|
Goodwill
|
9,930
|
-
|
1,129
|
8,801
|
Other intangible
assets:
|
|
|
|
|
Open
Banking Technology
|
2,214
|
2,214
|
-
|
-
|
Customer
Relationships
|
3,914
|
-
|
1,478
|
2,436
|
Total intangibles acquired
|
16,058
|
2,214
|
2,607
|
11,237
|
|
|
|
|
|
Acquisition costs charged to P&L
|
1,377
|
212
|
149
|
1,016
|
*earn outs are payable on the
1st, 2nd and 3rd anniversaries of
the acquisition if targets are met. The maximum earn out is £1.7
million over the three-year period.
**the final earnout for Casco
acquired on 19 November 2019 of £509k is included in deferred
consideration on the balance sheet date. This final earnout and the
£500k due for Roqqett was paid by 31 March 2024. The remaining
balance, which relates to Hamer & Hamer, has a gross value of
£1.7 million and a fair value of £0.8 million is payable over three
years from May 2024.
The transactions contributed to the
Group's results as shown below:
|
FY-2023
|
FY-2023
|
FY-2023
|
FY-2023
|
|
Roqqett
|
Hamer
& Hamer
|
Oonex
S.A.
|
Total
|
Date acquired/disposed
|
06.01.2023
|
20.04.2023
|
04.07.2023
|
|
|
£'000s
|
£'000s
|
£'000s
|
£'000s
|
Revenue
|
-
|
839
|
1,747
|
2,586
|
Gross Profits
|
-
|
736
|
975
|
1,711
|
Adjusted EBITDA
|
(495)
|
466
|
(368)
|
(397)
|
Depreciation
Tangible fixed assets are depreciated over the
anticipated useful life with a maximum of 60 months (other than
leasehold improvements which is a maximum of 120
months).
TABLE 7 - DEPRECIATION
|
FY-2023
|
|
FY-2022
|
|
£'000s
|
|
£'000s
|
IFRS 16 depreciation
|
692
|
|
822
|
Other depreciation
|
536
|
|
389
|
|
1,228
|
|
1,211
|
Guidance: Based upon the
expenditure incurred to 31 December 2023, the depreciation charges
for those assets in FY-2024 will be:
|
£'000s
|
IFRS 16 depreciation
|
662
|
Other depreciation
|
450
|
|
1,112
|
Amortisation
Intangible assets acquired on acquisition are
amortised over their estimated useful lives, with a maximum of 60
months for brands and a maximum of 108 months for customer
relationships. The charge to amortisation for the year can be
analysed as follows:
TABLE 8 - COMPONENTS OF AMORTISATION CHARGES
|
FY-2023
£'000s
|
|
FY-2022
£'000s
|
Amortisation charge arising from the
capitalisation of internally developed software in the following
years:
|
|
|
|
2018 and earlier
|
545
|
|
917
|
2019
|
1,661
|
|
1,661
|
2020
|
893
|
|
893
|
2021
|
599
|
|
576
|
2022
|
791
|
|
388
|
2023
|
506
|
|
-
|
|
4,995
|
|
4,435
|
Amortisation charge for other
intangibles
|
381
|
|
291
|
|
5,376
|
|
4,726
|
Amortisation of acquired
intangibles
|
1,672
|
|
1,282
|
Total amortisation
charge
|
7,048
|
|
6,008
|
Guidance: Based upon expenditure
to 31 December 2023, the amortisation charges for FY-2024 are
expected to be:
|
£'000s
|
Internally developed
software
|
4,857
|
Other intangible assets
|
202
|
Acquired intangibles
|
1,718
|
|
6,777
|
Operating result
The Group made a profit before taxation of £9.1 million for the
year, compared to £3.4 million for FY-2022.
Taxation, incorporating
R&D credits
The Group has recognised a net tax charge of £1.4 million (FY-2022:
net tax credit £135k). At the balance sheet date, the Group
estimates it has usable tax losses of £12.4 million.
TABLE 9 - BALANCE SHEET
This table shows a compressed
'balance sheet' for the Group.
|
|
31.12.2023
|
|
31.12.2022
|
|
|
£'000s
|
|
£'000s
|
|
|
|
|
|
Internally generated software -
cost
|
|
32,207
|
|
26,001
|
Internally generated software -
accumulated amortisation
|
|
(18,407)
|
|
(13,411)
|
|
|
13,800
|
|
12,590
|
Other non-current assets (other than
deferred tax)
|
|
32,949
|
|
18,558
|
IFRS 16 assets, less IFRS 16
liabilities
|
|
(599)
|
|
(830)
|
|
|
46,150
|
|
30,318
|
|
|
|
|
|
Liquidity (per Table 11)
|
|
17,803
|
|
14,320
|
Trade debtors and accrued
income
|
|
6,503
|
|
4,244
|
Prepayments
|
|
1,789
|
|
1,345
|
Deposits and sundry
debtors
|
|
196
|
|
189
|
Working Capital Advances to
Roqqett
|
|
-
|
|
830
|
Deferred Consideration Receivable
from the sale of FX bureau
|
|
100
|
|
-
|
Inventory of card stock
|
|
372
|
|
292
|
Accounts payable
|
|
(2,831)
|
|
(2,069)
|
Affiliate commissions
|
|
(3,135)
|
|
(2,563)
|
PAYE and pension
|
|
(1,023)
|
|
(816)
|
Staff commissions and accrued
bonuses
|
|
(2,391)
|
|
(1,690)
|
Acquired liabilities for Oonex S.A.
outstanding at 31 December
|
|
(1,519)
|
|
-
|
Other accruals and other
creditors
|
|
(3,700)
|
|
(1,937)
|
|
|
12,164
|
|
12,145
|
|
|
|
|
|
Cash earn-out balances not
paid*
|
|
-
|
|
(424)
|
Cash earn-out balances paid by
31.12.2023
|
|
-
|
|
(1,092)
|
Cash earn-out balances paid between
31.12.2023 and 15.04.2024:
|
|
|
|
|
Casco
|
|
(509)
|
|
(509)
|
Roqqett
(per Table 6)
|
|
(500)
|
|
-
|
Cash earn-out balances payable after
15 April 2024 attributable to Hamer & Hamer:
|
|
|
|
|
- Gross amount which could be payable over 3 years
- Fair value accounting adjustment
|
(1,700)
932
|
|
|
|
|
|
(768)
|
|
-
|
Net corporation and deferred
tax
|
|
849
|
|
1,639
|
Net value of forward
contracts*
|
|
358
|
|
827
|
|
|
(569)
|
|
441
|
|
|
|
|
|
NET
SHAREHOLDER FUNDS
|
|
57,744
|
|
42,904
|
|
|
|
|
|
At 31 December 2023, the Company
has distributable reserves of £23,079k. This is equivalent to £0.12
per share.
*The 2022 cash earn-out balances not paid where performance
assessed and subsequently credited back to the P&L in
2023
**The gross value of the forwards book at 31st December 2023
was £315.3 million (31st December 2022: £253.3
million)
Share capital
The number of shares in issue at 1
January 2023 was 180,712,473. This increased in the year
through the exercise of 352,758 share options and 1,051,176 shares
at nominal value were issued pursuant to the 2021 SIP. In addition,
3,938,294 shares were issued in pursuance to the acquisition of
Oonex S.A. and 573,197 shares in pursuance to the acquisition of
Roqqett. Thus, at the balance sheet date, there were 186,627,898
shares in issue. A further 1,000,000 shares were issued on 4
January 2024 pursuant to the acquisition of Oonex S.A.
The SIP held 1,719,296 shares at
31 December 2023.
Share options
At 1 January 2023, the Company had
16,141,058 options outstanding. 352,758 of these were exercised in
2023, 536,512 were cancelled and 165,760 were lapsed. On 6 November
2023, the Company announced Discretionary Share Incentive Plans for
over 2,600,000 shares and 459,448 shares under the Company SIP.
Thus, at the date of signing of these financial statements, there
were 16,390,301 options, representing 8.74% of the issued share
capital as at 15 April 2024.
At 15 April 2024, there were
16,390,301 share options yet to be exercised of which 7,222,800 had
fully vested.
Earnings per share
Earnings per share are
reported/calculated in accordance with IAS 33. For non-diluted, the
result after tax is divided by the average number of shares in
issue in the year. The average number of shares was 183,624,192
(FY-2022: 180,304,802).
The calculation of diluted EPS is
based on the result after tax divided by the number of actual
shares in issue (above) plus the number of options where the fair
value exceeds the weighted average share price in the year. The
fair value of options is measured using Black-Scholes and
Monte-Carlo. It should be noted that in accordance with Accounting
Standards, this calculation is based on fair value, not the
difference between the market price at the end of the year or the
weighted average price and the exercise price. The weighted average
price was 99 pence (FY-2022: 84 pence), the number of options
exceeding the fair value was 9,820,535 (FY-2022:
7,278,986).
The basic and diluted EPS are
shown below:
|
Basic
|
Basic
|
Diluted
|
Diluted
|
|
FY-2023
|
FY-2022
|
FY-2023
|
FY-2022
|
Earnings per share (in
pence)
|
4.22
|
1.80
|
4.00
|
1.73
|
Adjusted earnings and adjusted EPS
|
FY-2023
|
|
FY-2022
|
|
£'000s
|
|
£'000s
|
P&L Attributable to owners of
Equals Group PLC
|
7,746
|
|
3,236
|
Add back:
|
|
|
|
- Share option charges
|
1,447
|
|
970
|
- Amortisation of acquired intangibles
|
1,672
|
|
1,282
|
- Exceptional
items
|
714
|
|
-
|
- Acquisition costs
|
1,377
|
|
164
|
- Tax impacts thereon*
|
183
|
|
31
|
Adjusted earnings
|
13,139
|
|
5,683
|
*Tax impacts thereon are associated to items not added back
to the tax computations relating to Exceptional items and
Acquisition costs.
The resulting earnings per share
are shown below:
|
Basic
|
Basic
|
Diluted
|
Diluted
|
|
FY-2023
|
FY-2022
|
FY-2023
|
FY-2022
|
Adjusted earnings per share (in
pence)
|
7.16
|
3.15
|
6.79
|
3.03
|
CASH STATEMENT
Exclusive of acquisitions and
dividends, operational cash of £13.2 million (2022: £7.2 million)
was generated during the year, a cash conversion rate of 64% over
Adjusted EBITDA, compared to 60% for FY-2022.
The movement in the cash position
is shown in the table below:
TABLE 10 - CASHFLOW
|
FY-2023
£'000s
|
|
FY-2022
£'000s
|
|
|
|
|
Adjusted EBITDA
|
20,637
|
|
12,120
|
R&D tax credits received via
Roqqett acquisition
|
232
|
|
-
|
R&D tax credits received in
cash
|
-
|
|
400
|
Lease payments (principal and
interest)
|
(929)
|
|
(969)
|
Acquisition costs expensed through
the income statement
|
(1,377)
|
|
(164)
|
Exceptional items
|
(714)
|
|
-
|
Internally developed software
capitalised for R&D:
|
|
|
|
- Staff
|
(5,653)
|
|
(4,191)
|
- IT Costs
|
(553)
|
|
(408)
|
Purchase of other intangible
assets less disposals (Non-R&D)
|
(412)
|
|
(445)
|
Purchase of other non-current
assets
|
(478)
|
|
(271)
|
Movement in working
capital
|
(1,027)
|
|
1,147
|
"Operational cash inflows"
|
9,726
|
|
7,219
|
Funds from exercise of share
options
|
97
|
|
193
|
Interim dividend
payment
|
(928)
|
|
-
|
Net cash proceeds in Disposal of
CGU
|
280
|
|
-
|
Earn-outs of acquisitions made in
prior periods
|
(1,092)
|
|
(2,614)
|
Cash paid for acquisitions made in
period (table 6)
|
(4,465)
|
|
-
|
Working capital loan made ahead of
acquisition of Roqqett Limited
|
-
|
|
(830)
|
External funding repaid
(CBILS)
|
-
|
|
(2,028)
|
NET CASHFLOWS
|
3,618
|
|
1,940
|
Balance at 1st
January
|
15,044
|
|
13,104
|
Balance at 31st December
|
18,662
|
|
15,044
|
|
|
|
|
Cash per share
|
10.2
pence
|
|
8.3
pence
|
TABLE 11 - LIQUIDITY
|
FY-2023
|
|
FY-2022
|
|
£'000s
|
|
£'000s
|
Cash at bank
|
18,662
|
|
15,044
|
Balances with liquidity
providers
|
2,758
|
|
1,950
|
Pre-funded balances with card
provider
|
1,912
|
|
1,491
|
Gross liquid resources
|
23,332
|
|
18,485
|
|
|
|
|
Customer balances not subject to
safeguarding
|
(5,529)
|
|
(4,165)
|
|
(5,529)
|
|
(4,165)
|
|
|
|
|
Net position
|
17,803
|
|
14,320
|
The Group's principal banking and
liquidity providers include Barclays, NatWest, Citibank, Crown
Agents Bank, Blackrock, Valitor, Sucden and Velocity along with
funds held at the Bank of England.
Richard Cooper
Chief Financial Officer
15 April 2024
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF COMPREHENSIVE
INCOME
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER
2023
|
Note
|
FY-2023
|
|
FY-2022
|
|
|
£'000s
|
|
£'000s
|
|
|
|
|
|
Revenue from currency
transactions
|
|
85,614
|
|
63,541
|
Revenue from banking
transactions
|
|
8,350
|
|
6,141
|
Revenue from Europe
transactions
|
|
1,747
|
|
-
|
Revenue
|
|
95,711
|
|
69,682
|
Transaction and commission
costs
|
|
(43,385)
|
|
(36,027)
|
Gross Profit
|
|
52,326
|
|
33,655
|
|
|
|
|
|
Administrative expenses
|
|
(33,739)
|
|
(22,576)
|
Depreciation charge
|
|
(1,228)
|
|
(1,211)
|
Amortisation charge
|
|
(7,048)
|
|
(6,008)
|
Acquisition
expenses*1
|
|
(1,377)
|
|
(164)
|
Total operating expenses
|
|
(43,392)
|
|
(29,959)
|
|
|
|
|
|
Memo: Adjusted EBITDA*2
|
H
|
20,637
|
|
12,120
|
|
|
|
|
|
Operating profit
|
A
|
8,934
|
|
3,696
|
Gain on the sale of the Cash
CGU
|
E
|
380
|
|
-
|
Finance cost
|
|
(166)
|
|
(280)
|
Profit before tax
|
|
9,148
|
|
3,416
|
Tax (charge) / credit
|
B
|
(1,402)
|
|
135
|
Profit after tax
|
|
7,746
|
|
3,551
|
|
|
|
|
|
Attributable to:
|
|
|
|
|
Owners of Equals Group
PLC
|
|
7,746
|
|
3,237
|
Non-controlling interest
|
|
-
|
|
314
|
|
|
|
|
|
Other comprehensive income:
|
|
|
|
|
Exchange differences arising on
translation of foreign operations
|
|
6
|
|
-
|
Total comprehensive income for the year
|
|
7,752
|
|
3,551
|
|
|
|
|
|
Earnings per share
|
C
|
|
|
|
Basic
|
|
4.22p
|
|
1.80p
|
Diluted
|
|
4.00p
|
|
1.73p
|
|
|
|
|
|
Notes:
Adjusted EBITDA
is Operating profit or loss before: Depreciation,
Amortisation, Impairments, Share option charges, and Separately
reported items. All income and expenses arise from continuing
operations.
*1 Acquisition costs represents and includes costs
pursuant to acquisitions.
*2 Adjusted EBITDA is not a GAAP measure and
represents operating profit or loss before share option charges,
depreciation, amortisation and separately reported items
(exceptional items).
CONSOLIDATED AND COMPANY STATEMENTS OF FINANCIAL
POSITION
AS AT 31 DECEMBER 2023
|
2023
|
2023
|
|
2022
|
2022
|
|
Group
|
Company
|
|
Group
|
Company
|
|
£'000s
|
£'000s
|
|
£'000s
|
£'000s
|
ASSETS
|
|
|
|
|
|
Non-current assets
|
|
|
|
|
|
Property, plant and
equipment
|
1,120
|
-
|
|
1,139
|
-
|
Right of use
assets
|
2,881
|
-
|
|
3,367
|
-
|
Intangible assets (note
F)
|
22,232
|
-
|
|
16,540
|
-
|
Goodwill
|
23,397
|
-
|
|
13,468
|
-
|
Deferred tax
assets
|
956
|
814
|
|
1,831
|
1,368
|
Investments
|
-
|
77,750
|
|
-
|
62,902
|
|
50,586
|
78,564
|
|
36,345
|
64,270
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Current assets
|
|
|
|
|
|
Inventories
|
372
|
-
|
|
292
|
-
|
Trade and other
receivables
|
13,431
|
1,398
|
|
10,274
|
1,159
|
Derivative financial assets
(note G)
|
4,760
|
-
|
|
5,616
|
-
|
Cash and cash
equivalents
|
18,662
|
509
|
|
15,044
|
-
|
|
37,225
|
1,907
|
|
31,226
|
1,159
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
TOTAL ASSETS
|
87,811
|
80,471
|
|
67,571
|
65,429
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
EQUITY AND LIABILITIES
|
|
|
|
|
|
Equity attributable to equity holders
|
|
|
|
|
|
Share capital
|
1,866
|
1,866
|
|
1,807
|
1,807
|
Share premium
|
28,498
|
28,498
|
|
53,405
|
53,405
|
Share-based payment
reserve
|
5,564
|
3,483
|
|
3,231
|
2,397
|
Other reserves
|
13,556
|
8,128
|
|
8,609
|
3,187
|
Retained earnings /
(accumulated losses)
|
8,260
|
24,574
|
|
(24,148)
|
1,038
|
Company loss in the
year
|
-
|
(1,719)
|
|
-
|
(1,127)
|
|
57,744
|
64,830
|
|
42,904
|
60,707
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Non-current liabilities
|
|
|
|
|
|
Lease
liabilities
|
2,730
|
-
|
|
3,417
|
-
|
|
2,730
|
-
|
|
3,417
|
-
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Current liabilities
|
|
|
|
|
|
Trade and other
payables
|
22,079
|
15,641
|
|
15,489
|
4,722
|
Current tax
liabilities
|
106
|
-
|
|
192
|
-
|
Lease
liabilities
|
750
|
-
|
|
780
|
-
|
Derivative financial
liabilities (note G)
|
4,402
|
-
|
|
4,789
|
-
|
|
27,337
|
15,641
|
|
21,250
|
4,722
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
TOTAL EQUITY AND LIABILITIES
|
87,811
|
80,471
|
|
67,571
|
65,429
|
|
|
|
|
|
|