TIDMFFA
RNS Number : 9641P
FFastFill PLC
02 April 2009
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2 April 2009
FFastFill plc
("FFastFill" or the "Group")
Year end update
Board and Management Changes
The Board of FFastFill plc (LSE: FFA), the leading provider of Software as a
Service (SaaS) to the global derivatives community, provides the following
update in respect of trading for the year ended 31 March 2009 and
announces several Board and management changes.
Trading update
At the time of its interim results announcement in November last year, FFastFill
referred to the exceptional conditions currently affecting the Financial
Services industry. These turbulent conditions continued into the second half of
FFastFill's financial year, resulting in some contract signings being delayed
beyond the year end and leading to an impact on second half revenues. However,
the overall performance in the second half represented a significant improvement
over the first half and as a result, we expect to report a small profit for the
full year.
Despite the turmoil, FFastFill has performed strongly relative to its markets
and particularly in its core SaaS business. As a result of a number of new
contract wins during the period, FFastFill's twelve month forward order book
stands at approximately GBP13m at the year end (FY 07/08: GBP10.3m) but most
importantly its SaaS twelve month forward order book has grown to approximately
GBP10m (FY 07/08: GBP7.1m). Cash balances at the year end were GBP2.2m (FY
07/08: GBP2.4m) in spite of the Company's significant investments in Asia
Pacific expansion, software functionality and core infrastructure.
Over the past few years, FFastFill has become the leading proponent of SaaS in
the Futures Industry. The Company can now offer a full Straight Through
Processing (STP) capability and has established its credentials in the provision
of multi asset class trading. As FFastFill reaches the end of this development
phase, the advances that have been made in software and operational processes
over the past few years are resulting in new productivity gains which have
facilitated several cost reduction opportunities. As a result of this FFastFill
has been able to effect various cost saving measures through some staff
reductions and building and data centre consolidation. These savings are
expected to total approximately GBP1.5m per annum when fully delivered and the
majority of this will be felt in the current financial year. These cost
reductions will offset some cost increases necessary to support our Asia/Pacific
expansion as well as improve underlying profitability. There will be a one-time
charge of approximately GBP0.6m to facilitate these reductions.
Board and Management changes
As mentioned above, FFastFill is now entering a new phase in its development.
The Board is therefore pleased to announce the appointment of Hamish Purdey,
currently FFastFill's Chief Operating Officer, as Chief Executive Officer with
immediate effect. Hamish has worked at FFastFill for the past eight years in
various roles in the UK, US and Asia and will now assume full responsibility for
the day to day running of the Group. Keith Todd will continue as Executive
Chairman, focusing on the next strategic steps in the development of the Group.
Hamish will also join the Board with immediate effect.
The Group also announces that Nigel Hartnell will be reducing the time he spends
with FFastFill as a result of which he will be taking a non-executive role on
the Board. In addition, Dr John Elmore will be retiring from his role as Chief
Technology Officer with immediate effect. The Directors of FFastFill would like
to express their sincere thanks to them both for the enormous contribution they
have made to the Group over the years.
Keith Todd, Executive Chairman, commented, "As we move into the next phase of
our growth plan, it is an appropriate time to hand over the CEO role. Hamish's
extensive knowledge of the company, industry, technology and our customers,
together with his energetic focus on customer service make him ideally suited to
lead FFastFill as CEO during its next phase of development."
"We believe that the actions we have taken to control costs significantly
de-risk the business and believe that the breadth of our offerings and
customers, together with our service quality, place the company in an excellent
position to benefit from the changes occurring across the financial markets."
FFastFill will report year end results for the twelve months ended 31 March 2009
on 28 May 2009.
For further information please contact:
+------------------------------------+------------------------------------+
| FFastFill plc | +44 (0)20 7665 8930 |
+------------------------------------+------------------------------------+
| Keith Todd, Executive Chairman | |
+------------------------------------+------------------------------------+
| Hamish Purdey, Chief Executive | |
| Officer | |
+------------------------------------+------------------------------------+
| | |
+------------------------------------+------------------------------------+
| Financial Dynamics | +44 (0)20 7831 3113 |
+------------------------------------+------------------------------------+
| James Melville-Ross | |
+------------------------------------+------------------------------------+
| Emma Appleton | |
+------------------------------------+------------------------------------+
| | |
+------------------------------------+------------------------------------+
| KBC Peel Hunt | +44 (0)20 7418 8900 |
+------------------------------------+------------------------------------+
| Oliver Scott | |
+------------------------------------+------------------------------------+
| Richard Kauffer | |
+------------------------------------+------------------------------------+
- Ends -
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
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