Shearwater Group plc, the organisational resilience group that provides cybersecurity advisory and managed security services, is pleased to announce its final results for the year ended 31 March 2021.
Highlights:
· Group revenue in the period of £31.8m (FY20: £33.0m)
· £4.3m from the Software division (FY20: £5.5m)
· £27.4m from the Services division (FY20: £27.5m)
· Underlying EBITDA of 3.7m (FY20: £3.4m) ahead of market expectations, against the backdrop of a challenging market
· Underlying EBITDA margin of 12% (FY20: 10%)
· Underlying profit before tax for the year of £2.4m (FY20: £2.2m)
· Adjusted basic and diluted earnings per share of 10p (FY20: adjusted earnings per share 8p)
· Strong financial position with a year-end adjusted net cash1 balance of £6.0 million (31 March 2020: £1.4m net debt)
· Continued progress in delivering strategic initiatives
KPIs
· 155 new customer wins in the period (FY20: 150)
· New Software revenue of £1.3m secured from new clients and up-selling (FY20: £2.1m), with FY20 benefiting from a large one-off contract, plus non-recurring sales associated with widespread moves by customers to remote working in the prior year
· Proportion of revenue which is recurring in nature remained stable at c.40% (FY20: c.40%)
· £0.7m of revenue generated through cross-selling
· 67% of client base with long-standing relationships of more than three years
Post-period highlights and outlook:
· Trading in Q1 FY22 was strong, with positive signs of returning business confidence
· Hiring across all areas of the Group's businesses, with a budgeted plan to increase headcount in both sales and technical roles in FY22 to support the future growth of the Group
· Currently assessing a pipeline of potential acquisitions whilst maintaining the Group's disciplined approach to assessing opportunities
· Well positioned in a high growth sector, with healthy cash balances and undrawn bank facilities providing a robust liquidity position and a strong management team continuing to move the Group forward
Phil Higgins, CEO of Shearwater Group, commented:
"I am pleased to report Shearwater's FY21 results reflecting the successful development of the Group in the face of an unprecedented year. We adapted well to challenging circumstances and continued to win new clients, expanded our scope with many existing clients , made progress against our growth strategy and last, but not least, delivered good growth in underlying EBITDA. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of the Group's staff for their continued hard work and dedication.
We are now extremely well-positioned for continued growth following the significant progress made over the last two years. We are looking to the future with optimism, with the Company well-positioned in a market only set to expand further, with a strong balance sheet and a clear vision to become the provider of choice in delivering next generation technology, professional advisory and cyber security services and solutions.
