Annual Financial Report for the year ended 31 October 2020 and Notice of Annual General Meeting
Acceleration of growth combined with material strengthening of equity capital.
Dev Clever (LSE: DEV), a leading developer of mobile and immersive experiences, is pleased to announce its audited full year results for the year ended 31 October 2020 (FY 2020).
Financial Highlights:
· Total revenue up 161% to £1.25 million (2019: £0.5 million), reflecting the establishment of sales channels for the Group’s core Educate platforms Launchyourcareer.com and VICTAR VR and an uplift within Agency Services supported by the acquisition of Phenix Digital.
· The value of confirmed orders and customer commitments received during FY 2020 totalled £2.4 million (2019: £0.5 million) and was in line with management expectations.
· The overall EBITDA loss was £0.9 million (2019: £1.0 million).
· The loss before tax was £1.06 million compared to £1.07 million in the prior period. The loss reflects the Group’s on-going investment in the productisation of its software platforms, the strengthening of its executive and senior management teams, and the establishing of a dedicated marketing function. The Group is focused on effectively capturing the significant revenue opportunities that are available to it, primarily in the UK, US, Canada and India.
· Cash position of £1.03 million (2019: £0.50 million) at period end, with very significant equity growth capital raised post year-end.
· Loss per share for the period of 0.22 pence (2019: 0.29 pence); Adjusted2 loss per share 0.19 pence (2019: 0.23 pence).
Operational Highlights:
· Signing of an exclusive three-year global distribution agreement with Lenovo, providing a direct route to the global EdTech market for Dev Clever’s core careers education platforms, Launchyourcareer.com and VICTAR VR.
· Localising and launching Launchyourcareer.com and VICTAR VR for the US and Canadian markets.
· Undertaking a successful pilot of a virtual open week with schools, colleges and employers across the West Midlands in the UK, demonstrating the ability of Launchyourcareer.com to co-ordinate multiple broadcasts across many user groups concurrently.
· Partnering with Veative Labs Pte. Ltd (“Veative”), a leading provider of online and immersive learning to the education sector, to enable the integration, cross-marketing and selling of products and services to provide a compelling careers development and learning programme, in and out of the classroom, on a global basis.
· Completing the acquisition of Phenix Digital Limited, a multi-service digital agency within the education sector, enhancing the Company’s sales and marketing capability and strengthening the Agency Services offering.
· Entering into a three-year commercial partnership with Low6 LTD, a leading provider of mobile pool betting applications, to enable Low6’s mobile quiz-based pool betting application, PubWars, to be integrated with the Engage platform and PubPal, the Company’s mobile and contactless ordering and payment service.
· Entering into a three-year commercial agreement with Heineken for the deployment of the Engage consumer loyalty platform, to run digital campaigns across its Star Pubs estate.
Post Period End Highlights:
· Overall growth profile and business momentum continues to accelerate.
· Significant additional growth capital raised: £12 million gross (circa £11.3 million net) raised since the period end and a further £6 million gross is expected to be completed imminently.
· Signed and presently implementing a material license agreement (currently subject to a non-disclosure agreement) that utilises our core EdTech services capabilities.
· Near term product launch in India through a highly innovative five-year exclusive partnership agreement with Veative Labs and the National Independent Schools Alliance (“NISA”), being India’s largest governing body for budget private educational institutions. The partnership enables both a business-to-business subscription model for NISA affiliated schools and a direct-to-consumer subscription for pupils.
· Formed and activated a Business Advisory and Intelligence Group, chaired by Lord McNichol of West Kilbride.
Footnotes
(1) Adjusted EDITDA and adjusted loss per share are stated after adjusting for the impact share-based payments and the one-off costs associated with the initial placing.
Chris Jeffries, Chief Executive Officer of Dev Clever, said:
“Our organisation and business activities were, like many other businesses around the world, impacted by the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. In that context, the financial performance was especially pleasing. The year itself was significant in terms of our swift organisational response to the pandemic alongside the growth and momentum that the Company subsequently delivered, particularly towards the latter part of the financial year. The partnership with Veative has significantly increased our combined product depth and market reach. Our fully integrated Educate proposition is expected to go live in multiple major marketplaces shortly and this in turn will further benefit our extremely positive business momentum since the start of the current financial year.
“We welcome Asimilar Group Plc and Sitius Limited as new cornerstone investors and are pleased to have raised a very substantial amount of growth capital in a short period of time. This capital flexibility enables us to accelerate multiple growth initiatives in a disciplined manner. Our focus is to build a market leading and profitable position within the burgeoning global EdTech market space to the long-term benefit of all our stakeholders. We look forward with excitement to the future.”
Publication of Annual Report and Notification of AGM
The Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 October 2020 has today been sent to shareholders together with the Notice of and Form of Proxy for its Annual General Meeting, which will be held at 10:30 a.m. on Thursday, 22 April 2021 at its offices in Unit 1, Ninian Park, Ninian Way, Wilnecote, Tamworth, Staffordshire, B77 5ES.
In compliance with LR 9.6.1, the Company has submitted to the Financial Conduct Authority each of the following documents:
· 2020 Annual Report and Accounts
· AGM Notice
These documents will shortly be available for inspection via the National Storage Mechanism.
The Annual Report and the AGM Notice will also be available to download from the Company’s website: www.devcleverholdingsplc.com and hard copies can also be requested from the registered office, Ventura House, Ventura Park Road, Tamworth, Staffordshire, B78 3HL.
Investor Update
As previously announced, there will be a virtual capital markets event for analysts and investors at 09:30 am on 06 April 2021 to discuss the Company’s growth strategy and future prospects. Details, including joining instructions, will be made available at 7 a.m. on the day of the event.
