TIDMNASA
RNS Number : 8702V
Nasstar PLC
17 July 2009
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version 9
Nasstar Plc
Board Changes and Trading Update
Board Changes
Nasstar plc (AIM: NASA) ("Nasstar" or "the Company") announces that Kevin Bird,
Director and Ric Francis, non-executive Director, have stepped down from the
Board with immediate effect. Thomas Greenall will be responsible for the
Company's direct sales.
Trading Update
The Board announces that substantial professional costs have been incurred
concerning a potential transaction with a third party, discussions in relation
to which have now terminated.
The Board is pleased to report a strong increase in subscriber numbers. During
the current financial period the number of Hosted Desktop subscribers being
invoiced is likely to double (as at the end of June 2009 they had increased by
72 per cent to 943 from 508 subscribers in September 2008) which will result in
a substantial proportionate increase in the income generated from the sale of
Hosted Desktop in comparison to the last financial year. The number of Hosted
Desktop subscribers under long term contracts has also increased during the
period, with approximately 600 additional subscribers due to be added to the
Hosted Desktop platform in accordance with agreed roll-out project plans; these
additional subscribers will mainly benefit future financial periods. In respect
of the Company's Hosted Exchange email service, the number of subscribers has
increased by 13 per cent. from 7,726 in September 2008 to 8,772 at the end of
June 2009.
Despite this encouraging performance, trading in the year to date is behind
forecasts and as a result of this, the costs associated with the board changes
described above and the professional costs on the abovementioned abortive
transaction, the Board expects that the results for the current year are likely
to be materially below market expectations.
Outlook
In respect of the partner programme, there has been significant interest
recently from some larger potential partners interested in licensing Nasstar
Hosted Desktop for distribution through their own channel partners. The
Directors consider that distribution of Nasstar Hosted Desktop in this way would
give the Company the opportunity to gain a much greater volume of subscribers in
future periods. The Company hopes in due course to provide a further update on
this proposed distribution strategy.
As reported in the Interim Results statement, the Board considers there is a
growing awareness of the advantages of hosted desktop and that the growth
prospects for the market and for Nasstar within that market remain encouraging.
A recent report on the hosted desktop market by Gartner released in March 2009
suggests the worldwide demand for hosted 'virtual' desktops will increase
100-fold by 2013 with an increase to 49 million hosted desktops worldwide. It is
in this market that Nasstar is confident of its growth prospects.
In respect of the Company's cash position, a number of steps have now been
implemented which will ensure that the Company is both EBTIDA positive and in a
cash generative position during the next financial year.
In the meantime, as stated in the Interim Results, the Directors will continue
to support the Company's cash position and remain confident about the growth and
financial prospects for the future.
Contact information
+----------------------------------------+-------------------------------------+
| Nasstar plc | |
+----------------------------------------+-------------------------------------+
| Charles Black, Chief Executive Officer | 020 7148 5000 |
+----------------------------------------+-------------------------------------+
| | |
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| HB Corporate Limited (Nominated | |
| Adviser) | |
+----------------------------------------+-------------------------------------+
| Edward Hutton | 020 7510 8600 |
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About Nasstar plc
Nasstar (http://www.nasstar.com) provides computing over the internet, enabling
subscribers to do all of their computing in the internet cloud, with access to
their desktop, files, applications and email over the internet rather than
on-premise. Cloud computing is a highly scalable service that provides benefits
including anywhere access to computing and provides an alternative to
traditional locally installed on-premise computing.
Nasstar was founded in 1998 by Charles Black. Nasstar plc was admitted to
trading on the London Stock Exchange Alternative Investment Market in December
2005 (AIM: NASA).
- ENDS -
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
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