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Preliminary results announcement for the year ended 30 April 1998

08 July 1998

F.I.GROUP (FI) is a UK based supplier of business technology services to major organisations in the finance, retail and services sectors. FI supports these through long-term innovative relationships built upon the use of the latest technologies, and provides a broad range of information technology and business process services.

Key Features

Turnover £161.6m (1997: £98.8m), up 64%
Profit before taxation £10.7m (1997: £6.6m), up 62%
Basic earnings per share 23.5p (1997:14.8p), up 59%
Final proposed dividend of 5.2p (1997: 3.4p) making a total for the year of 7.8p
(1997: 5.1p), up 53%
Record order bank at 30 April 1998 amounted to £178m, (1997: £109.8m), up 62% - some 50% of this being deliverable in 1998/99
Five large contracts signed of 4-5 years duration - Lloyds TSB Group (£26.5m), Legal & General (£34.0m), The Co-operative Bank (£38.4m), Tesco (£18m) and Thames Water (£12m
Revenue advanced in each industry sector: finance up 72% (42% of Group turnover (1997: 38%)), retail up 61% (26% of Group turnover (1997: 25%)) and services up 39% (32% of Group turnover (1997: 37%))
F.I.RECRUITMENT increased its turnover from contractor placement by 65% to ?38m, approximately half of which was earned by supplying contractors to other parts of the Group
F.I.TRAINING increased its turnover 88%, with the MAXIM service for business process implementation providing over 50% of turnover

FI will be proposing a bonus issue of five new ordinary shares for every one existing ordinary share at its AGM in September
In December the Group acquired New Delhi based software house IIS Infotech Limited for a total sum of £25.8m. These financial results include the financial performance of IIS for four months

Since the year end, Bank of Scotland and F.I.GROUP have created a joint venture, First Banking Systems Limited, with share ownership split 51:49 respectively. The Bank has guaranteed a five year contract with First Banking Systems valued at £150m

Commenting on the results Sir Peter Thompson, Chairman of F.I.GROUP said:
"I am delighted to report another splendid year with revenues and profits both growing by more than 60%. The new year has started well and the Board is confident that further growth can be delivered during the year ahead."

Hilary Cropper, Deputy Chairman and Chief Executive of F.I.GROUP said:
"A number of the strategic milestones that the Board set three years ago have been achieved - notably the extension of existing partnerships with major customers; the first step of an international strategy with the acquisition of IIS Infotech, a leading player in the Indian export software market; and, in June this year, the formation of an innovative joint venture with Bank of Scotland. This fruitful and exciting year has certainly added value for stakeholders as well as laying the foundations for further growth."