RNS Number:8118U
Vocalis Group PLC
28 November 2000
Vocalis Group plc
Unaudited Interim results for the six months
to 30 September 2000
Vocalis Group plc ("Vocalis"), the international speech technology group,
announces today its unaudited interim results for the six months to 30
September 2000.
Key points:
* Launch of new Call Centre products
* New commercial opportunities for SpeechWare, including hardware solution
* Continued success with ISP relationships for SpeechMail on an international
basis
* Sales increased by 52% to #2.0m (1999: #1.3m)
* Loss before tax was #2.5m (1999: loss of #1.9m)
* Loss per share was 5.6 pence (1999: loss of 4.84 pence)
* Cash balances at the end of the period were #6.5m
Roy Cotterill, Chairman, commented:
"This is an exciting time to be in speech recognition. Underlying our
business strategy is the firm belief that voice is, and will increasingly be,
the most natural way to interact with many internet and telephone-based
services and that the global market for speech recognition will experience
rapid growth."
For further information:
Charles Halle JP Burgun/Caroline Evans-Jones
Vocalis Group plc ICIS
Tel: +44 1223 846177 Tel: +44 207 628 1114
enquiries@Vocalis.com info@icisnet.com
Progress in the period
In the half-year to 30 September 2000, sales were #2,008,000, a 52% increase
compared to the same period last year (1999: #1,318,000). The operating loss
was #2,576,000 (1999: loss #2,137,000) and the loss before tax was #2,478,000
(1999: loss #1,963,000). The loss per share was 5.6 pence (1999: loss 4.84
pence). Cash balances at the end of the period were #6,471,000. On 25 August
2000, the Company raised approximately #5.0 million (net), by way of a cash
placing in order to help fund the Group's continued development.
In the first half of the financial year we completed the repositioning of the
business to address two key markets - Speech Telephony and Internet Services.
The Company is making significant progress in both areas, and is positioned
to take advantage of the growth of these markets to achieve our long-term
targets.
Speech Telephony Products
Our core speech recognition technology, SpeechWare, is now established in the
UK marketplace. In the summer we launched our branded hardware solution,
VRooM, and we continue to develop SpeechWare to meet increasing market demand
for high-density speech recognition. Our latest developments include two
high-density versions of VRooM. These will provide hardware solutions that
are less than one-tenth the physical size of equivalent solutions, thereby
giving us a competitive advantage in this market. At the lower-density end of
the market, SpeechWare has been integrated into a range of next-generation
telephony interface cards to offer advanced technology for smaller
installations.
Since the period end, we have announced the integration of our speech
recognition technology with Dialogic's CT MediaTM 2.0, a software tool for
developing standards-based telecommunications solutions. This gives us access
to a wider market by allowing third party developers to use SpeechWare's
sophisticated speech recognition quickly and easily.
The speaker verification research project, run in conjunction with
Nationwide, has been successfully completed. As a result of the trial we are
now investigating commercial applications with a number of potential
corporate customers.
A key part of our strategy over the past six months has been to develop a
portfolio of SpeechWare products that specifically address the call centre
market. Call centres are relevant to many industry sectors, and we have
targeted this growing area because we believe Vocalis is uniquely placed to
provide innovative solutions tailored to specific requirements.
Drawing on our major strengths - SpeechWare's proven accuracy and our
understanding of both natural language and natural dialogue interaction - we
have developed the Intelligent Query engine (IQe), for which we have a patent
pending. IQe shortens time to market by simplifying those operations that
application developers have found most difficult and time consuming in the
development of call centre solutions. IQe also provides a suite of
applications for the call centre, which reduce the time an agent spends with
callers, offering the potential for huge productivity increases and cost
savings.
The first application using IQe, the Postcoder, was launched in September
2000 and has already generated widespread interest. IQe Postcoder can be
integrated into virtually any customer support application that needs to
establish a caller's location. In developing IQe Postcoder we have formed
partnerships with a number of leading address management solution vendors,
including QAS, Hopewiser and AFD.
Internet Services
In the UK we have continued our expansion in the growing Internet Services
market. We have extended our existing ISP base and launched our 'email by
phone 'service, SpeechMail, into the corporate sector, adding a number of new
features - such as automatic login, and short message service (SMS)
notification of email arrival - specifically designed for business users.
This, again, increases the number of potential SpeechMail users.
In the United States, where the Internet Services were launched in May, we
have secured several important agreements that increase our channels to
market. These include partnerships with a number of high profile ISPs,
including Worldshare.net, Quik Internet and Clear Connections, and the
American Alliance of Service Providers. We have also formed an alliance with
Novell Inc, the leading provider of net services software, which has resulted
in a pilot scheme of SpeechMail for corporate users of Novell GroupWise(R).
Through our trade investment in Complex-IT, a South African IT services
provider, we have launched the SpeechMail service in South Africa. The
country's leading ISP, World Online, is offering SpeechMail to its customers
through several of its brands. As a result of these activities, SpeechMail
now has hundreds of thousands of registered users.
Looking to the Future
In the Speech Telephony Products sector we will continue to focus on call
centre solutions, developing natural dialogues that the caller finds
comfortable to use. In addition to further Iarge applications, we will
shortly be launching Vocal Items, an important new SpeechWare tool that will
allow developers to create 'mixed initiative dialogues' - dialogues which
identify relevant information and ask for anything the caller has forgotten
to say, much like a human operator. These and other developments are
generating a high level of interest in all versions of SpeechWare.
In the Internet Services sector we will continue to develop 'mobile Internet'
solutions, our goal being the creation of a universal infrastructure for
voice access to the Internet. We will extend SpeechMail to provide full
unified messaging and personal assistant capabilities. With SpeecHTML we will
concentrate on the development of voice portals, a technology that allows the
caller to access a range of services by dialling a single telephone number
and selecting a service by voice. We will also pursue the opportunities with
SpeecHTML for basic interactive voice responses (IVR) and information
services.
Overall, we will be selling our core products and expertise through further
partnerships, thereby providing routes to market through which we can expand
rapidly.
Prospects
This is an exciting time to be in speech recognition. Underlying our business
strategy is the firm belief that voice is, and will increasingly be, the most
natural way to interact with many internet and telephone-based services and
that the global market for speech recognition will experience rapid growth.
The contingencies associated with an emerging market - speed of market
acceptance for new technologies, the need for the leaders in the field to
push the market, and the timing of market takeoff - still remain. However,
with the present corporate structure - our leading edge technology, high
calibre staff and market presence - we are positioned to maximise the
opportunities in this market. We therefore continue to view the future with
confidence.
Roy Cotterill
Chairman
28 November 2000
CONSOLIDATED PROFIT AND LOSS ACCOUNT
for the six months to 30 September 2000
Unaudited Unaudited Audited
6 months to 6 months to 12 months to
30.09.00 30.09.99 31.03.00
Notes #000 #000 #000
Turnover 2,008 1,318 2,694
Cost of Sales (560) (651) (913)
Gross Profit 1,448 667 1,781
Other operating (4,024) (2,804) (6,632)
expenses (net)
Operating Loss (2,576) (2,137) (4,851)
Bank interest 106 187 377
receivable
Interest payable
Finance leases (4) (10) (18)
Other loans (4) (3) (15)
Loss on ordinary activities (2,478) (1,963) (4,507)
before taxation
Tax on loss on ordinary - - 40
activities
Loss on ordinary activities (2,478) (1,963) (4,467)
after taxation
Loss per share - 2 (5.60) (4.84) (10.57)
pence
The accompanying notes form an integral part of this consolidated financial
information.
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF TOTAL RECOGNISED GAINS AND LOSSES
for the six months to 30 September 2000
Unaudited Unaudited Audited
6 months to 6 months to 12 months to
30.09.00 30.09.99 31.03.00
#000 #000 #000
Loss for the period (2,478) (1,963) (4,467)
Loss on foreign currency (66) (1) (7)
translation
Total recognised losses for (2,544) (1,964) (4,474)
the period
The accompanying notes form an integral part of this consolidated financial
information.
CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEET
as at 30 September 2000
Unaudited Unaudited Audited
as at as at as at
30.09.00 30.09.99 31.03.00
#000 #000 #000
Fixed assets
Intangible assets 45 66 76
Tangible assets 1,769 1,531 2,051
Investments 200 - -
2,014 1,597 2,127
Current assets
Stock 1,154 388 803
Debtors
- due within one year 1,062 718 1,688
- due after one year 200 - -
Short term cash deposits 6,250 8,000 4,500
Cash at bank and in hand 221 1,140 278
8,887 10,246 7,269
Creditors: amounts falling due (1,466) (2,443) (2,351)
within one year
Net current assets 7,421 7,803 4,918
Total assets less current 9,435 9,400 7,045
liabilities
Creditors: amounts falling due (61) (188) (111)
after more than one year
Net assets 9,374 9,212 6,934
Capital and reserves
Called up share capital 2,315 2,193 2,199
Share premium account 17,324 12,432 12,452
Other reserves 1,070 1,070 1,070
Profit and loss account (11,335) (6,483) (8,787)
Shareholders' funds - equity 9,374 9,212 6,934
interests
The accompanying notes form an integral part of this consolidated financial
information
CONSOLIDATED CASH FLOW STATEMENT
for the six months to 30 September 2000
Unaudited Unaudited Audited
6 months to 6 months to 12 months to
30.09.00 30.09.99 31.03.00
#000 #000 #000
Operating loss (2,576) (2,137) (4,851)
Depreciation charge 338 223 506
Increase in stock (225) (45) (426)
Decrease/(increase) in 241 442 (630)
debtors
(Decrease)/increase in (876) (154) 134
creditors
Exchange difference (70) - (7)
Long term Incentive Plan - - 207
charge
Net cash outflow from (3,168) (1,671) (5,067)
operating activities
Returns on investments and
servicing of finance
- interest received 91 118 377
- interest paid - (4) (15)
- interest element of (8) (10) (18)
finance leases
Capital expenditure and
financial investment
- purchase of tangible (152) (726) (1,857)
fixed assets
- purchase of intangible - - (34)
fixed assets
Cash outflow before
management of
liquid resources and (3,237) (2,293) (6,614)
financing
Management of liquid
resources
Increase in short term (1,750) (5,900) (2,400)
deposit
Financing
Issue of ordinary shares 4,988 8,762 8,788
(net of fees)
Repayment of secured loan - (2) (5)
Capital element of finance (58) (31) (95)
lease repayments
Net cash inflow from 4,930 8,729 8,688
financing
(Decrease)/increase in cash (57) 536 (326)
in the period
The accompanying notes form an integral part of this consolidated financial
information.
NOTES TO THE INTERIM RESULTS
1. Basis of preparation
The foregoing financial information does not constitute statutory accounts
within the meaning of section 240 of the Companies Act 1985.
The financial information for the six months ended 30 September 2000 is
unaudited and has been prepared in accordance with the accounting policies
set out in the Annual Report for the year ended 31 March 2000. The financial
information for the six months ended 30 September 1999 is also unaudited.
The financial information for the full preceding year is based on the
statutory accounts for the financial year ended 31 March 2000. Those
accounts, upon which the auditors issued an unqualified opinion, have been
delivered to the Registrar of Companies.
2. Loss per share
Loss per share is based on the loss for the period after tax divided by the
weighted average number of equity shares ranking for dividend in the period.
The weighted average number of shares was 44,285,546 (1999:40,553,628).
3. Circulation to shareholders
A copy of this report will be circulated to shareholders and copies will be
available on application to the company's registered office up to 30 June
2001.
These accounts were approved by the Board of Directors on 22 November 2000
and were signed on its behalf by:
K L HILL P K WRIGHT
Director Director
About Vocalis
Vocalis Group plc, as a leading speech technology Group, builds a range of
voice activated telephony products for customers around the world. Vocalis
was formed in 1993 and has been trading on the London Stock Exchange since
July 1996.
The Vocalis technologies areas include: -
SpeechWare, Vocalis' proprietary third generation advanced speech recognition
technology, which is available to purchase under license. This is fully
supported with toolkits and is available in most of the languages across the
globe.
The Website is http://www.vocalisspeechware.com
SPEECHtel is a platform with voice activated service applications for call
centres and telephone operators around the world. These include both operator
services and value added services, such as directory assistance, unified
messaging and voice dialling. The Intelligent Query Engine offers a platform
for applications designed to increase efficiency in the call centre
environment the first example being UK postcode identification.
The Website is http://www.speechtel.com
Vocalis' Internet Product range allows access to information on the Internet
by simply picking up the telephone and hearing the information. SpeecHTML
allows telephone access to web-based information, which is driven using
spoken commands for such services as voice portals, interactive response
applications and information services. SpeechMail enables people to call and
access their e-mail messages; they can hear them, reply and delete them using
simple spoken commands.
The Websites are http://www.speechtml.com and http://www.speechmail.co.uk
The Vocalis Website is at http://www.vocalis.com.
Vision OP China (LSE:VOC)
Historical Stock Chart
From Jun 2024 to Jul 2024
Vision OP China (LSE:VOC)
Historical Stock Chart
From Jul 2023 to Jul 2024
