Half year results for the six months ended 30 September 2023

GB GROUP PLC

(“GBG”, the “Group” or the “Company”)

Half year results for the six months ended 30 September 2023

November 28, 2023, LONDON: GB Group plc (AIM: GBG), the experts in digital location, identity verification and identity fraud software, announces its unaudited results for the six months ended 30 September 2023.

Notes: ¹Defined within note 22 to the Half Year Results. ²Normalises for impact of the net gain on foreign exchange, which in 1H23 was an unusually large £6.3million gain primarily related to intercompany loans vs. a £0.3million gain in 1H24. ³ This measure is defined within note 10 to the Half Year Results. Growth percentages are calculated with reference to the actual unrounded figures in the primary financial statements and so might not tie directly to the rounded figures found in this release if recalculated.

Chris Clark, CEO, commented:

“We are pleased with the first-half performance, Location and Fraud delivered good growth and transaction volumes within Identity have stabilised. At the same time, our continued focus on structural efficiency savings has already achieved an annualised run-rate reduction in operating expenditure of £10 million, while maintaining investment in our differentiated product portfolio. While the subdued macroeconomic environment may persist, we continue to expect some year-on-year Identity revenue growth in the latter part of the current year, and I am confident that our strong discipline on cost, good momentum with customer wins and high retention leave GBG very well positioned to deliver our FY24 profit expectations.

I am particularly pleased that Dev Dhiman will become GBG’s next CEO following my retirement in January. His understanding of our business, markets and culture has delivered excellent results leading our business in APAC and he is the right person to guide GBG through the next phase of its evolution. I wish him, and all our team members, the very best for the future.”

Financial summary

• On a reported basis, first-half revenue was down 1.1%. On a constant currency basis, it was up 1.8%. Excluding the year-on-year (YoY) decline in cryptocurrency customer revenues, growth was up 3.3%
  • Good performance in Location, up 8.1% and strong performance in Fraud, up 10.5%
  • Identity performed as expected, down 2.8%. Excluding YoY decline in cryptocurrency customer revenues, growth was broadly flat. Monthly transaction volumes have stabilised, and we expect some YoY growth in the latter part of the year
• Adjusted operating profit of £23.9 million, up 7.9% excluding gains from foreign exchange. Reflects a strategic focus to pursue efficiencies throughout the group. 1H24 adjusted operating expenses were £6.1 million lower than the prior year despite inflationary pressures
• Exceptional non-cash goodwill impairment charge of £54.7m due to the use of a higher discount rate, driven by the significant increase in central bank interest rates since March 2023
• Strong year-to-date cash conversion of 102.0% (1H23: 57.5%) was more reflective of historic levels
• Net debt as at 30 September was £104.8 million (31 March 2023: £105.9 million). Current net debt is now c.£95 million and expect to use cash generation to reduce leverage to 1.30x by the year-end

Strategic highlights

• Despite the macroeconomic conditions, a pleasing first-half performance. Excellent progress regarding the simplification and efficiency pillar of our strategy underpins the FY24 profit expectations
• Continue to drive cross-sell/upsell activity while also broadening our footprint with diverse new logos such as Deutsche Telekom, Moody’s Analytics, Standard Bank, DAZN Bet and Australian Unity Wealth
• Identity and fraud convergence plays to our significant capabilities across regions and sectors; engaging our customers with differentiated identity products such as GBG Identity Score and GBG Trust, offering in-depth global identity insights to combat fraud and improve consumer onboarding
• Location is driving innovation with its global address data; deployment of a Global Store Finder tool supporting ‘click and collect’ deliveries and expansion of our Digital-first platform to 45 countries
• Continue to harness advanced AI and machine learning across our solutions to enhance verification accuracy and detect sophisticated fraud threats effectively

Outlook

• The Board is pleased with both the strategic progress achieved and GBG’s first-half financial performance against the backdrop of the continued macroeconomic conditions. Our ongoing focus on simplicity and efficiency has delivered a strong profit performance in the half and underpins our FY24 profit expectations, which will benefit from stronger margins in the second half. Second-half performance to date has been in line with our expectations and we anticipate that FY24 revenue growth will be broadly in-line with current expectations. The stabilisation we have seen in Identity supports our confidence in delivering some year-on-year Identity growth in the latter part of the year 

CEO succession announced

• On 8 November 2023, it was announced that Chris Clark had informed the Board of his decision to retire as CEO and from the Board at the end of January 2024. Following a rigorous process by the Board’s Nomination Committee, Dev Dhiman, Managing Director of our Asia Pacific business, has been appointed CEO Designate and will assume the CEO role when Chris steps down after an orderly transition and handover of the role

Today's results and presentation

Management will host a webcast this morning at 0900hrs GMT for sell-side analysts and institutional investors. This will be available on-demand via our investor website along with the materials shortly after the event.

To register to view the event directly, please use the following link:
https://www.investis-live.com/gb-group/65439ed6c43e3c0d00629812/hdtr

For further information, please contact:

About GBG

GBG is the leading expert in global digital identity. We combine our powerful technology, the most accurate data coverage and our talented team to deliver award-winning location intelligence, identity verification and fraud prevention solutions.

With over 30 years’ experience, we bring together a team of dedicated experts with local industry insight from around the world to make it easy for businesses to identify and verify customers and locations, protecting everyone, everywhere from fraud.       

To find out more about how we help our customers establish trust with their customers visit www.gbgplc.com and follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter @gbgplc.