RNS Number:0843J
Systems Union Group PLC
24 March 2003
Systems Union Group plc
Results for the year ended 31 December 2002
Systems Union Group plc, the global software vendor, today announces its audited
Full Year Results (for the year ended 31 December 2002).
Highlights
* Adjusted earnings per share grew by 87 per cent to 7.1p (2001: 3.8p)
* Basic earnings per share rose by 90 per cent to 3.8p (2001: 2.0p)
* EBITDA grew by 68 per cent to #8.7 million (2001: #5.1 million)
* Profit before tax increased by 97 per cent to #4.3 million (2001: #2.2
million)
* Fifth consecutive half-yearly increase in profitability
* EBITDA per employee increased by 71 per cent to #11,300 (2001: #6,600)
* Revenue declined by 5 per cent to #74.6 million, but still outperformed
the marketplace
* Cash and investments of #25 million and no debt
* The Company will pay dividends from future profits
Paul Coleman, chief executive officer of Systems Union Group plc, said:
"In a very difficult trading environment, Systems Union has significantly
increased its EBITDA, PBT and EPS. We have a very clear, achievable agenda and
are committed to growth, organically and through strategic acquisition. Change
will continue at Systems Union and we intend taking our opportunities,
proactively and with purpose. We look forward, with refreshed vigour and
enthusiasm, to the challenges ahead."
For further information, please contact:
Paul Coleman Systems Union Group plc 01252 556000
Robert Gibb Systems Union Group plc 01252 556219/ 07767 216021
Trevor Bass Fleet Financial 020 7067 0743
CHAIRMAN'S STATEMENT
I am very pleased to report continued progress in the performance of the Group,
despite difficult global trading conditions. We significantly increased our
profits during 2002, and ended the year with cash balances of #18.9 million. All
areas of the business showed an improved profit, despite slightly lower
revenues, through greater efficiency and a continued focus on new technology.
SunSystems 5 and Pegasus Opera II have been extremely well received since they
were launched in 2001 and continued progress is anticipated for these products
during 2003. This success reflects our on-going investment in research &
development.
RESULTS
Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation of intangibles
(EBITDA) grew by 68 per cent to #8.7 million (2001: #5.1 million) representing
strong profits growth from the Group's two primary businesses of SunSystems and
Pegasus. This result was particularly pleasing in view of the small decline in
turnover because of the demanding market conditions to #74.6 million (2001:
#78.4 million) and is evidence of further improved productivity.
Net profit after tax was #3.9 million compared to #2.0 million in the previous
year, an increase of 95 per cent. Adjusted earnings per share increased by 87
per cent to 7.1p.
The balance sheet is strong and debt free. The cash position improved by #3.6
million and net current assets rose by #7.9 million.
Whilst the Board is unable to recommend a dividend for 2002, due to the lack of
distributable reserves in the Company, I am pleased to report that following
High Court approval of our capital reduction proposals, the deficit on the
Company's distributable reserves has been eliminated, allowing the Company to
pay dividends from future profits.
THE BOARD
I am delighted to welcome to the Board Tony Sweet who was appointed chief
financial officer on 1 December 2002. Tony joins after extensive experience in
private practice including work on mergers & acquisitions and is a valuable
addition to our executive management team.
OUTLOOK
We are focused on growing the Group and to further improve profitability. We
remain positive in our expectations for the outcome of 2003.
Bob Morton
Chairman
CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER'S REVIEW
2002 was undoubtedly a difficult year for the IT industry and the global economy
in general. For Systems Union, this was reflected in overall revenue being 5 per
cent less than the previous year. Nevertheless, we believe that our revenue
performance is better than much of the global IT sector.
With this backdrop, I am delighted to be able to announce significantly improved
results for the Group. Highlights for the year included:
* Adjusted earnings per share grew by 87 per cent to 7.1p (2001: 3.8p)
* Basic earnings per share rose by 90 per cent to 3.8p (2001: 2.0p)
* EBITDA grew by 68 per cent to #8.7 million (2001: #5.1 million)
* Profit before tax increased by 97 per cent to #4.3 million (2001: #2.2
million)
* Fifth consecutive half-yearly increase in profitability
* EBITDA per employee increased by 71 per cent to #11,300 (2001: #6,600)
* Cash and investments of #25 million and no debt
* The Company will pay dividends from future profits
These achievements reflect the considerable efforts and resolve of the
management team and staff members. This has ensured that the Group's financial
well-being has been strengthened. At the same time as maintaining our
significant investment in research & development (R&D), we have continued to
improve profitability in an environment where many companies have reported steep
falls in earnings.
GROWTH STRATEGY
Far more important than the past is what are we going to do for the future.
Systems Union Group plc now has a proven track record of improving financial
performance; it is apparent, however, that 2003 will undoubtedly present fresh
challenges. Despite this, we are encouraged by the start to the current year.
The Group is now financially strong, the cost base is lower and the business
opportunity has improved. We believe that we are now in a position to capitalise
on this financial strength to derive significant synergistic benefits from
acquisitions and to achieve further growth. Accordingly, we are more optimistic
than we were this time last year.
Even though we have reported improved profitability for 2002, our revenues
declined slightly. It is therefore a key essential that the Group focuses on
growth in 2003 and our plans are to return to and improve on income levels of
2001.
We will continue to focus on improving margin on sales above the 12 per cent
achieved in 2002. Prudent cost management remains a priority. We shall, however,
continue our investment in marketing to drive top-line growth, and in R&D to
develop our new generation of products. This includes SunSystems and Pegasus R&D
facilities working on shared core architecture.
Systems Union and its operating businesses, SunSystems, Pegasus and
REDtechnology, are very much in proactive mode and we believe that the overall
strategy will bring considerable shareholder value for the future.
The single-ledger, real-time, multi-currency, multi-lingual, multi-GAAP, open
platform architecture, low risk and low total-cost-of-ownership approach will
continue to give enormous strength for SunSystems and its extensive worldwide
customer base.
In the medium-term it is our intention to increase our volume of business
considerably on a profitable basis as we pursue our goal to become the leading
mid-tier global financial and business management solutions provider. To achieve
this strategy we will pursue the following actions:
* Increase our global footprint. The existing network is considerable with
directly owned offices and channel partners across 76 countries, including
new offices in Shanghai and Dubai. We will consider opening additional
offices and recruit new channel partners.
* Extend our worldwide vertical markets, initially focusing on hotels,
insurance, aid agencies and oil & gas.
* Expand our global network of vertical software partners (VSPs) with
SunSystems embedded as the financial engine in third party applications.
* Maintain the pre-eminence of our core financial products as the key
ingredients of our global solutions offerings.
* Deliver additional complementary products to satisfy the needs of our
customers' directors around the boardroom table. In 2002, we delivered
SunSystems Analytics (world-class reporting and information delivery
solutions), SunSystems PSA (extended project accounting), SunSystems i2i
Purchase Requisitioning (web-enabled), SunSystems Collect (cash management)
and SunSystems Payroll.
* Establish the office in Shanghai with R&D and sales capabilities. R&D will
be based on two pivots to cover our global requirements. This new office in
China will enable the Group to defray and reduce some of its cost, whilst
also providing improved localised products for the Asia-Pacific region. This
is particularly exciting, not only in terms of R&D, but also with the market
opportunities opening up through China's recent membership of the World
Trade Organization (WTO), the Beijing Olympics 2008 and Expo 2010. Shanghai
is the commercial capital of China and the third largest city in the world
(with 17 million people). With over 2,000 SunSystems sites in China already,
we are well placed to take advantage of this major market opportunity.
* Roll out Pegasus software globally under the SunSystems branding,
including local language versions.
* Retain platform independence in our R&D strategy. We have already embarked
upon a new technology framework based on Java II Enterprise Edition (J2EE).
* Enhance our communication systems globally, to allow our two SunSystems R&
D centres, Farnborough and Shanghai, to provide support and services for the
rest of the Group, our customers and the distribution network.
* Pursue acquisition opportunities for customer base, for product and
services (bringing them into our R&D framework), and for advanced
technology.
* Support our channel partners by providing enriched product offerings to
enable greater growth.
FINANCIAL REVIEW
2002 2001
#000 #000
Turnover by type
Licence 26,690 31,581
Maintenance 31,716 27,487
Professional services 16,225 19,317
Total 74,631 78,385
Turnover by location
- EMEA 37,428 37,417
- The Americas 12,993 16,173
- Asia-Pacific 16,072 16,482
SunSystems 66,493 70,072
Pegasus Software 7,254 7,481
REDtechnology.com 884 832
Total 74,631 78,385
EBITDA before R&D 19,211 17,201
R&D (10,544) (12,052)
EBITDA 8,667 5,149
Profit on disposal of properties - 1,586
Depreciation (983) (1,385)
Amortisation (3,924) (3,590)
Operating profit 3,760 1,760
Net interest receivable 556 429
Profit on ordinary activities before tax 4,316 2,189
Taxation on ordinary activities (383) (146)
Profit for the financial year 3,933 2,043
Earnings per share
- basic 3.8p 2.0p
- diluted 3.7p 1.9p
Adjusted earnings per share (see note 3)
- basic 7.2p 3.9p
- diluted 7.1p 3.8p
The #3.5 million (68 per cent) improvement in EBITDA reflects the success of
management's focus on operational efficiency even though total revenues
declined. In short, cost reductions significantly outweighed a decrease in
income.
Group turnover of #74.6 million was 4.8 per cent lower than 2001. Licence
revenues declined by #4.9 million and professional services by #3.1 million,
reductions of 16 per cent. Recurring maintenance revenue, however, improved by
#4.2 million, an increase of 15 per cent. This improvement reflects the increase
to maintenance charges introduced in January 2002. As a result, recurring
maintenance income represented 42.5 per cent of revenue, compared to 35.1 per
cent previously. Whilst we were not immune from the downward pressures on global
software licence and professional service income, we believe that we
outperformed much of the IT sector.
Total costs reduced by 10 per cent to #66.0 million. These improvements in
efficiency and a focus on cost control and profitability per head resulted in
the EBITDA margin on sales increasing to 12 per cent for the year from 7 per
cent in 2001. We expect this performance measure to show further improvement in
2003.
The Group's low tax rate reflects the benefit of corporate tax losses brought
forward. We implemented FRS 19 with effect from the beginning of 2002 and the
accounts include a prior year adjustment to restate the opening position on the
new basis under that standard.
Cash balances at 31 December 2002 were #18.9 million. Cash flow from operating
activities improved by 48 per cent to #5.1 million, which reflects our focus on
cash collections. Days' sales outstanding (DSOs) for the Group are approximately
60 days. Our strong cash position allowed us to renegotiate an outstanding
commitment at a substantial early settlement discount. In addition, #1.3 million
was paid in January 2002 to acquire the global exclusivity rights for SunSystems
Vision, our analytics tool, together with existing maintenance contracts.
The Group remains debt-free with net current assets of #24.9 million, an
improvement of #7.9 million over last year. In addition, the Group continues to
hold an investment in nine million of its own shares, which are carried at #6.3
million.
In October 2002, the High Court approved the capital reduction proposals that
had been passed by shareholders at the Extraordinary General Meeting on 23
September 2002. The deficit on the Company's profit & loss account has been
eradicated thereby enabling the payment of dividends from future profits.
OPERATIONAL REVIEW
* SunSystems
The company competes with, and regularly beats, large enterprise resource
planning (ERP) vendors, a reflection that many customers prefer best-of-breed
solutions to all-embracing systems. This preference for collaborative business,
domain-focused expertise and web-enabled architecture matches SunSystems'
product strategy and the ERPII model defined by leading industry analyst,
Gartner Group.
Central to the company's ambition is our goal to become the leading mid-market
ERPII vendor in our chosen markets. We will continue to deliver world-class
products to our customers and their associated companies. Enhanced 'solution
selling' training, both internally and for channel partners, has focused the
team on identifying and satisfying customer needs.
During the year, several significant successes demonstrated the merits of our
strategy. Willis Group, a leading global insurance broker, signed a #6 million
deal in April greatly extending its existing SunSystems usage. A partnership
with Micros Systems Inc, world-leader in front-office systems for hotels, was
announced in August and covers the development and distribution of
MICROS-Fidelio Financials powered by SunSystems.
A partnership with Brazilian-based ITG (Informacao Tecnologia e Gerencia s/c)
strengthened the company's market leadership position for insurance industry
solutions in major parts of Latin America and Asia-Pacific. Other customers
include AGF (Allianz), Axis Specialty, Canada Life, CitiStreet, MAPFRE, MetLife
and Mutual Risk Management (MRM).
In other sectors, new SunSystems users include Octopus Cards, operator of an
electronic payment system in Hong Kong; 21ViaNet China, the largest professional
internet data centre in China; Air BP, a significant global business unit of the
BP Group; Standard Chartered, the world's leading emerging markets bank; and
Pfizer Inc, one of the world's largest pharmaceutical companies which will use
SunSystems at 60 locations worldwide.
A series of launches during the year of complementary products, modules and
alliances underscores the continuing enhancement by the company of its solutions
offerings. For example, SunSystems Academy produces and administers
computer-based training (CBT) programmes that provide flexible, cost effective
means for users to update and maintain their skills. In October 2002, the
organisation of scheduled classroom-based training courses was contracted to
Numerica Group plc, a long-term user of SunSystems.
Within EMEA, sales revenues are split evenly between direct sales from the
in-house account team and indirect sales through channel partners. In
Asia-Pacific, the greater proportion is through indirect sales, whereas in The
Americas, direct sales predominate.
The opening of a new office in Dubai is a major step forward. The second largest
emirate has doubled its overseas trade since 1989, and its tourist and hotel
market is expected to show considerable growth in the near-term. This makes the
area ideal for SunSystems' hospitality experience.
Research & Development
We have continued to make investment in R&D a priority to continue the flow of
state-of-the-art products. The 175 strong team at Farnborough has consistently
met deadlines with a range of new offerings and enhancements.
The multi-lingual capability of our products is a major reason why customers
choose our software, with SunSystems 4 now available in 30 languages. In 2002,
Brazilian-Portuguese and Italian were launched for SunSystems 5, together with
the double-byte languages of Japanese and simplified Chinese. In keeping with
our open platform policy, SunSystems 5 became available on Oracle NT. In August,
the release of SunSystems 5.1.4 added various significant enhancements,
including order fulfilment, bank interface, new Report Server functionality and
improved user interfaces.
SunSystems i2i Purchase Requisitioning was released during the year. This fully
web-enabled, J2EE product uses either the Internet or intranets for speed of
operation and deployment, and the same basic product set can be used with either
SunSystems 4 or SunSystems 5.
The continuing investment in SunSystems 4 has yielded enhanced user interfaces
as well as withholding tax and payment preview additions, which are important in
certain GAAP systems. The product is extremely stable and continues to be an
important part of the SunSystems range.
Over 50 people are planned to be employed by the end of 2003 at the Shanghai R&D
centre which, together with a dozen employees for sales, marketing and
operations, will make the location the second largest SunSystems office after
Farnborough. The centre will focus on developing products using the latest
technology such as XML, Java, J2EE and Enterprise Java Beans (EJB) to ensure
that we maintain our leading position.
In addition, a major programme of development, known as 'Evolution', is now
underway. This framework is central to the future product strategy of the
company, and will mean that SunSystems retains its place as a leading-edge
software solution. The programme will use the latest technology and techniques
and provide maximum agility to meet the company's development needs.
Support & services
During the year, the company extensively enhanced its help-desk support,
particularly in EMEA and The Americas with English-language calls being handled
at Farnborough. This has given improved and consistent levels of service with
customer feedback revealing a high degree of satisfaction.
Plans have been formulated to deliver more extensive global support coverage for
contracted customers, including other languages and other geographic areas, with
automated routing of phone calls from customers. As a first step, a global
customer database is being rolled out to unite sales & marketing activities,
help-desk support and customer administration.
SunSystems PSA, the project accounting offering, is now fully used by our
professional services team in the UK to record time and billing of the
consultants who install and configure SunSystems at customer premises. This
product, which will continue to be rolled-out across the World, has
significantly improved billing and cash collection, thereby reducing DSOs.
* Pegasus Software
Pegasus made excellent progress during the year with Opera II sales up 85 per
cent on the previous year and now firmly established as the flagship product for
the company. During the year, significant improvements were incorporated within
the product enabling it to maintain the market leadership position previously
held by Opera I. Reseller channel activities substantially increased with over
2,000 Opera II sites installed during the last two years. Additional channel
partners were recruited in the UK, and notably the first channel partner
appointed in New Zealand has already made some significant sales.
The product offering during the year was substantially improved by the
introduction of Opera XRL reporting module. Pegasus Payroll continued to be an
important part of the business with over 16,000 sites in the UK. Pegasus was the
first company to achieve Inland Revenue recognition for the Internet Service
PAYE end of year submission of P14 and P35 forms.
During the year, Pegasus launched Capital Community, which has resulted in over
2,500 downloads from the Internet to obtain free software. The Capital product
is aimed at smaller businesses and increasing exposure is part of our
longer-term strategy to grow our customer base.
Significant improvements have been made with the introduction of new technology
and procedures, which greatly improve efficiency and the quality of services in
our support services centre. Resellers have been invited to participate in a new
service level agreement (SLA) scheme. This enables the company to focus its
support activities more accurately, improve the quality of support to its
resellers, and has greatly reduced support call volumes. This initiative has
been reinforced by the investment in a web-enabled call logging system and those
resellers that are part of the SLA scheme are able to post requests for support
directly through a secure and private extranet connection. This initiative is
being extended to other parts of the Pegasus services department.
The company has also re-focused its R&D and quality control resources into two
separate business units: new product development and maintenance of existing
products. A direct result of this has positively impacted on the ability of the
company to respond to technical support queries from its resellers and customers
and to improve greatly its ability to service its reseller network. The
combination of the improved product performance and initiatives introduced
within the support and development environment enabled the company to enhance
its service commitments and overall profitability.
Pegasus is now a much-transformed business and an important member of the
Systems Union group of companies.
* REDtechnology.com
A strong recurring revenue stream underpinned an improved performance in 2002
from REDtechnology, previously know as Systems Union eBusiness Solutions. The
business combines technical expertise with creativity in a variety of Internet,
intranet and extranet projects for its customers.
REDtechnology also works with Systems Union sister companies. Developments
include the creation of TradeIT, an integrated web-trading system for Pegasus
Opera users, and extensive upgrades of SunSystems' own websites.
REDtechnology is a profitable dot.com business.
STAFF
The single greatest strength of the Group is the continuing unity of thought and
commitment of all our people. Every office has long-serving, loyal and dedicated
personnel. They are each a vital member of the Systems Union HomeTeam.
Staff members have a vested interest in the prosperity of the Group through
membership of a share option scheme, which covers 75 per cent of staff, and
performance-related incentives that reward achievement. If we continue to
deliver our agenda I would hope to see staff benefit from an uplift in the share
price and therefore the value of their options.
I should like to take this opportunity to thank all members of the HomeTeam for
their hard work and contribution.
THE FUTURE
In a very difficult trading environment, the Group has significantly increased
its EBITDA, PBT and EPS. We have a very clear, achievable agenda and are
committed to growth, organically and through strategic acquisition. Change will
continue at Systems Union and we intend taking our opportunities, proactively
and with purpose. We look forward, with refreshed vigour and enthusiasm, to the
challenges ahead.
Paul Coleman
Chief Executive Officer
CONSOLIDATED PROFIT & LOSS ACCOUNT
for the year ended 31 December 2002
2002 2001
Note #000 #000
Turnover 1,2 74,631 78,385
Cost of operations (55,420) (61,184)
Research & development (10,544) (12,052)
EBITDA 8,667 5,149
Profit on disposal of properties - 1,586
Depreciation (983) (1,385)
Amortisation of intangibles (3,924) (3,590)
Operating profit 3,760 1,760
Net interest receivable 556 429
Profit on ordinary activities before taxation 4,316 2,189
Taxation on profit on ordinary activities (383) (146)
Profit for the financial year 3,933 2,043
Earnings per share
3
- basic 3.8p 2.0p
- diluted 3.7p 1.9p
Adjusted earnings per share 3
- basic 7.2p 3.9p
- diluted 7.1p 3.8p
All results relate to continuing operations.
There is no difference between the retained profit for the year stated above and
its historical cost equivalent.
CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEET
as at 31 December 2002
restated
2002 2001
#000 #000
Fixed assets
Intangible assets 62,842 65,653
Tangible assets 4,105 4,469
Investments 6,300 6,300
73,247 76,422
Current assets
Debtors 18,840 19,448
Cash at bank and in hand 18,874 15,293
37,714 34,741
Creditors: amounts falling due within one year (12,820) (17,745)
Net current assets 24,894 16,996
Total assets less current liabilities 98,141 93,418
Creditors: amounts falling due after more than one year - (826)
Provisions for liabilities and charges (1,310) (2,204)
Deferred income (15,907) (13,178)
Net assets 80,924 77,210
Capital and reserves
Called up share capital 5,196 5,172
Share premium account 9,478 35,963
Merger reserve 50,582 54,118
Warrant reserve 1,340 1,476
Profit and loss account 14,328 (19,519)
Equity shareholders' funds 80,924 77,210
CONSOLIDATED CASH FLOW STATEMENT
for the year ended 31 December 2002
2002 2001
#000 #000
Operating profit 3,760 1,760
Amortisation 3,924 3,590
Depreciation 983 1,385
(Profit)/loss on sale of fixed assets (21) 34
(Profit) on sale of properties - (1,586)
8,646 5,183
Movement in working capital (3,573) (1,748)
Cash inflow from operating activities 5,073 3,435
Returns on investments and servicing of finance 556 429
Taxation (78) 27
Purchase of tangible fixed assets (799) (1,172)
Purchase of investments - (80)
Purchase of licences (1,250) (150)
Proceeds from disposal of properties held for sale - 8,888
Cash inflow before management of liquid resources and
financing 3,502 11,377
Management of liquid resources - 4,000
Financing 79 (5,219)
Increase in cash in the year 3,581 10,158
Cash flow from change in debt - 5,300
Cash inflow from decrease in liquid resources - (4,000)
Movement in net funds 3,581 11,458
Net funds at 1 January 2002 15,293 3,835
Net funds at 31 December 2002 18,874 15,293
Notes
The financial information contained in this document does not constitute
statutory accounts within the meaning of section 240 of the Companies Act 1985.
Statutory accounts for the year to 31 December 2001 have been filed with the
Registrar of Companies. The auditors have reported on those accounts; their
report is unqualified and did not contain a statement under section 237 of the
Companies Act 1985. The audited statutory accounts for the year ended 31
December 2002 will be delivered to the Registrar of Companies in due course.
1. ACCOUNTING POLICIES
a. Turnover
Turnover represents the amounts (excluding value added tax) derived from
the provision of goods and services to third party customers. Revenue
from licence fees is recognised on the later of delivery or contract
provided no significant future obligation exists. Income from
maintenance services is recognised on a straight-line basis over the
period to which the maintenance agreement relates. Revenue not
recognised in the profit & loss account under this policy is classified
as deferred income in the balance sheet. Revenue from professional
services is recognised as the work is performed.
b. Deferred taxation
Financial Reporting Standard No 19: Deferred Tax (FRS 19) became effective for
accounting periods ending on or after 23 January 2002. Under the new standard,
the Group is required to recognise deferred tax as a liability or asset if
transactions or events giving rise to an obligation to pay more tax in the
future, or a right to pay less tax in the future, have occurred by the balance
sheet date. Previously the Group provided for deferred tax only to the extent
that it is probable that an actual liability will crystallise. Deferred tax,
which is now required to be provided for under FRS 19, has been treated as a
prior year adjustment and reflected through reserves. Comparative financial
information has been restated as necessary. The impact of adopting FRS 19 was a
charge of #65,000 for the year ended 31 December 2002. There was no impact on
the profit & loss account for the year ended 31 December 2001. Shareholders'
funds at 31 December 2001 have been increased by #867,000.
2 SEGMENTAL ANALYSIS
2002 2001
a) The geographical analysis of turnover is given
below:
#000 #000
Europe, Middle East & Africa 45,566 45,730
The Americas 12,993 16,173
Asia-Pacific 16,072 16,482
74,631 78,385
b) An analysis by revenue type is given below: 2002 2001
#000 #000
Licence revenue 26,690 31,581
Maintenance revenue 31,716 27,487
Professional services 16,225 19,317
74,631 78,385
3 EARNINGS PER SHARE
The calculation of the basic earnings per share is based on the profit for the
financial year divided by the weighted average number of shares in issue during
the year.
2002 2001
a) Adjusted earnings is calculated as follows:
#000 #000
Profit for the financial year 3,933 2,043
Amortisation of goodwill 3,536 3,590
(Profit) on sale of properties - (1,586)
Adjusted earnings for the financial year 7,469 4,047
2002 2001
b) Number of shares (in thousands):
Weighted average number of shares - used to calculate basic
earnings per share 103,760 103,310
Effect of dilutive share options 1,993 2,399
Number of shares used to calculate diluted earnings per share 105,753 105,709
End
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