AGM Statement
March 10 2005 - 5:38AM
PR Newswire (US)
AGM Statement Immediate Release: Thursday 10 March 2005 Matrix
Communications Group plc (`Matrix' or the `Group') AGM, Acquisition
& Trading Update At the Annual General Meeting of the Group
held today all resolutions were duly passed. Chairman's Statement:
Throughout the year your Board has been successful in proving its
ability to source and complete value-enhancing acquisitions that
have led to the creation of a truly unique communications Group
focussing on leading-edge technology solutions. We continue to make
good progress and, following a strong first quarter, have seen
continued growth in the second quarter. Following the successful
completion of our initial acquisition strategy we have now defined
three clear trading divisions specialising in the provision of
leading-edge technologies. This has been achieved by subdividing
our core businesses into Integration and Partner Sales and
establishing a newly formed division focusing on Mobile Operator
Sales called Fujin Technology. All three will be separately branded
divisions of the Matrix Communications Group. Looking forward, I
expect to see the Group produce organic growth across all its
divisions as we begin to reap the rewards of the newly established
Group divisional structure and of the cross-selling opportunities
it creates. Additionally, I expect to see our Mobile division begin
to gain a significant level of penetration into the mobile
telecommunications sector which offers very significant commercial
opportunities for our suite of leading-edge technologies. Having
already secured a number of high-profile and industry leading
contracts, I have every confidence that Fujin Technology can build
on its successes and industry relationships to deliver the
potential that we believe it has. Acquisition As announced this
morning we have successfully completed the acquisition of the
entire issued share capital of the trading subsidiaries of Harrier
Group plc which are Harrier Zeuros Ltd, Harrier Zeuros Storage
Systems Ltd and Ikan Ltd, for a total cash consideration of �4.5m.
The cost of the acquisition is offset by cash balances of
approximately �1.2m within the acquired companies. All three
subsidiaries will become a part of our Integration division. The
remainder of this year will be taken with consolidating their
offices, administration and operational activities and the
Directors expect that this will show substantial rewards in FY2006.
The Harrier businesses generated total revenues of �9.0m and
operating profits of �309,000 in the year ended 2003 and revenues
of �6.1m and operating profits of �172,000 in the first six months
of 2004. Following the acquisition of the Harrier companies, Matrix
now has annualised recurring revenues in excess of �20m. Harrier
provides a range of information protection, assurance and
continuation security services that enable organisations to
maximise the value of their existing IT investment. Matrix
Communications Group Structure Integration Division - MXC Peter
Drinkwater will spearhead the development of the Fujin Technology
division and will therefore relinquish his role as Managing
Director of the Integration division. David Grant, who will now
remain on the Group Board, will become MD of the Integration
division. Last quarter saw David successfully complete Bedrock
Networks earn-out 6 months ahead of plan. Our first quarter has
also seen Decorum Networks successfully complete their earn-out
consideration 3 months ahead of plan. Of the Group's current �80m
revenue run rate the Integration division now contributes
annualised revenues of circa �30m and today we are able to announce
a further three significant customer wins: The Sheffield College
This �400,000 contract was awarded through the NHS PASA framework
and selects MXC to supply and support a campus wide LAN for the
college's new `state of the art' Hillsborough campus. The
implementation, which is scheduled to complete in May, will provide
the college with a highly resilient, high speed network, which has
the capacity to scale with the anticipated growth in voice, data,
video and wireless application usage. The contract has been awarded
on a five-year framework and includes ongoing support and
maintenance. Pembroke and Derwen NHS Trust - Withybush Hospital
Also won through the NHS PASA framework this �330,000 contract
demonstrates the ongoing ability of the Integration Division to
effectively implement the Group's cross-selling model. Under the
contract MXC will deliver a high speed, scalable and resilient 10Gb
core network, secured by firewalls and intrusion detection
services. The solution provides for existing and anticipated growth
in the information flow of medical records and imaging such as
x-rays throughout the Withybush Hospital. MXC is deploying Foundry
Networks' Fastiron SuperX range in conjunction with a high level of
security supplied through Netscreen products. The solution is being
maintained by MXC support services team through the 24/7/365
Network Operation Centre under a five-year support contract. The
Reed Elsevier Group The Reed Elsevier Group has named MXC as the
preferred partner in the UK and Europe for the deployment of
Tipping Point. The announcement was made following MXC's
implementation of Tipping Point's Intrusion Prevention solution,
providing Reed Elsevier with a high-performance, accurate and
reliable defence system, protecting against both internal and
external threats. Francis Beecheno Director of Global IT Alliances
at the Reed Elsevier Group said "MXC have been identified as a
preferred partner for network security requirements because of
their extensive pre and post sales knowledge and experience.
Coupled with their strong partnerships with the vendors, MXC is
able to deliver a valuable level of security expertise. " Partner
Sales Division With the recent acquisition of Equip Technology,
this division now contributes circa �40m to the Group's �80m
annualised revenues. Our expectation is that it will become
recognised as the de facto channel to market for leading-edge
technologies and indeed this is borne out by a number of new
product manufacturers that have entered the fold. These include:
Trapeze Networks - a leading wireless local-area networking company
that enables secure access to business applications and services
for mobile workforces. Proofpoint - specialists in security
technology to protect enterprise messaging solutions against the
growing threat of malicious attacks through viruses, spam and
spyware. SurfControl - Equip Technology has been appointed UK
distributor for SurfControl the world leader in enterprise web and
email filtering. Mobile Division - Fujin Technology One of the
great areas of success for the Group in the last 24 months has been
within the mobile operator sector and the Group now has significant
customer relationships with three of the UK's major mobile service
providers. It has shown technology leadership in many areas but in
particular within the field of mobile Internet content filtering.
In recognition of the business opportunities that exist for the
Group in this area we have created a new, third division with a new
brand identity that we will build to exploit the national and
international potential in this field. With budgeted revenue in
excess of �10m for the next 12 months and a number of significant
contracts, this division is well set for future growth in an area
of great opportunity for our business. This division will be headed
by Peter Drinkwater, who was responsible for the global contract
announced in December 2004. Alan Watkins CHAIRMAN Ian Smith, CEO,
commented: "It gives me great pleasure to report on what has been a
defining year for the Group as a whole. Throughout the period we
have been successful in completing a number of strategic
acquisitions as well as organically growing our core businesses and
widening our Partner Sales network of vendor relationships. As such
we have fully established ourselves as Europe's only full services
leading-edge technology specialists. The Group now boasts an
end-to-end leading-edge technology integrator, the industry's
leading-edge technology de facto channel to market Partner Sales
division and most excitingly a newly formed Mobile Operator
Technology division. The decision to create and brand this latest
edition to the Group has been led by the phenomenal success that we
have had in supplying leading-edge technology solutions to the
mobile telecommunications industry. As a result of this success we
have not only secured some significant contracts both here in the
UK and on a Global basis, but also established ourselves as a
trusted and preferred supplier to the industry as a whole in which
we have matured a number of commercial relationships. It is my
belief that addressing the mobile communications market presents a
significant growth opportunity for the Group and I look forward to
reporting on Fujin's progress in due course. I would like to take
this opportunity to thank everyone in the Group who have all
contributed to a great year." -Ends- Further Information: Ian
Smith, CEO Matrix Communications Group plc: 0870 737 5000 Andrew
Tan Hansard Communications: 020 7245 1100 END DATASOURCE: MATRIX
COMMUNICATIONS GROUP PLC
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