Full year results for the year ended 31 March 2024

June 11, 2024, LONDON: GB Group plc (AIM: GBG) 

GB GROUP PLC

(“GBG”, the “Group” or the “Company”)

Results for the year ended 31 March 2024

FY25 outlook reiterated; positive momentum continues

GB Group plc, (AIM: GBG), the experts in global identity and location software, today announces its audited results for the financial year ended 31 March 2024.

¹Defined within note 19 to the results. ²Exceptional costs of £59.6m include a £54.7million non-cash goodwill impairment charge as reported at the half-year results (FY23: Exceptional costs of £127.2 million included a £122.2m non-cash goodwill impairment charge) as explained further within the financial review and note 13 to the results. ³ Defined within note 10 to the results.

Dev Dhiman, CEO, commented:

"This is my first set of results since taking the role of Chief Executive and I am pleased to report a more positive trading momentum. My first few months have focused on our teams, customers and business partners across GBG. This has reinforced my confidence in our competitive differentiation and our market opportunity. I believe we have opportunities to build on our momentum and capitalise on the strong and attractive structural growth drivers in the market.

The time I have spent with our key stakeholders has informed our focus areas around simplicity; being globally aligned; driving a performance culture and differentiation through innovation. I am looking forward to working with everyone across GBG to deliver on these priorities. In doing so, we will ensure that GBG continues to help our 20,000+ customers grow, by giving them the intelligence to make the best decisions, when it matters most.

GBG plays an important role in protecting consumers and businesses from fraud while enabling our customers to reach and build trust with their customers. And we will continue to play this critical and increasingly relevant role over the long term for the benefit of all of our stakeholders.”

Financial summary

• Final results are in line with the trading update released on 23 April 2024
• On a reported basis, revenue decreased by 0.5%. On a constant currency basis, growth was 2.7%
• Growth accelerated to 5.0% in the final quarter of the year, driven by improved trends in Identity Americas and EMEA
• Strong focus on simplification and cost-effectiveness throughout the Group which delivered £10 million of annualised savings with a £8.8 million in-year benefit
• Adjusted operating profit of £61.4 million, up 8.0% excluding net gains from foreign exchange
• On a reported basis, operating loss of £41.4m, caused by the £54.7 million exceptional non-cash goodwill impairment charge that was recognised in the first half
• Strong cash conversion of 90.6% (FY23: 67.3%) led to a reduction in net debt to £80.9 million (31 March 2023: £105.9 million)
• The Board is recommending a final dividend per ordinary share of 4.20p, up 5% (FY23: 4.00p)

FY25 outlook reiterated

• The new financial year has begun in-line with our expectations, with improved momentum in Identity and Location continuing from the final quarter of FY24
• For the year as a whole, we expect mid-single-digit revenue growth on a constant currency basis, which will drive high single-digit growth in adjusted operating profit given the operational efficiency gains achieved in FY24

Clear on our focus areas

• Simplicity: A series of initiatives are underway to make it easier for customers and partners to engage and operate with GBG covering a brand refresh, sales and organisational structure
• Being globally aligned: An important area of strategic progress since January has been our drive towards greater alignment through the implementation of a global operating model
• Driving a performance culture: We are working towards delivering a high-performance culture where everyone is hungry to win, determined to outperform our competition, and to celebrate our success
• Differentiation through innovation: Continued to drive innovation that enhances our leadership in the identity fraud and location intelligence markets including solutions such as GBG Trust, while our investments in AI are delivering increased performance across our portfolio

Notable customer successes

• Location: Supporting e-commerce expansion for high-street brands, while capturing growing demand from our large and diverse customer and partner base including HelloFresh, Aldi, Santander and Reltio
• Identity: AIG, Floa, Tide and Sumup are among a diverse group of customers utilising the breadth of our solutions, while in US Gaming we have had success with ESPNBET and Bally’s
• Fraud: Our fraud monitoring solutions were chosen by large financial institutions in Southeast Asia, and demand in Europe for our fraud investigation capabilities included UK Companies House

Results presentation

Management will host an in-person presentation this morning at 0930hrs GMT for sell-side analysts and institutional investors. If you would like to attend in person, please contact: GBG@teneo.com

To register to view the event live online, please use the following link:

https://www.investis-live.com/gb-group/663caee77e7bb30d0033f88b/tseer

This will be available on-demand via our investor website along with the materials shortly after the event: https://www.gbgplc.com/en/investors/resources/reports-and-presentations/