GO plc - Full-Year Results

On the expenditure side, excluding unusual items, the Group registered a reduction of 3.5% in cost of sales, administrative expenses and other operating costs to €102.4 million. This reflects the Group’s focus on managing costs which resulted in costs savings especially in the areas of HR and sales. This led to a normalised EBITDA of €48.4 million representing a 5.7% drop from the previous year’s comparable figure. The EBITDA margin declined marginally to just below 40%.

Overall, the Group registered a pre-tax profit of €15.6 million representing a 42.6% decline from the previous year’s figure which was boosted by the property exchange. After accounting for a tax charge of €3.9 million (2012: €9.2 million), the net profits for 2013 also dropped by 32.9% to €11.75 million which translates into an earnings per share of €0.116 (2012: €0.173).

From a cash perspective, the Group maintained its strong cash generation as normalised cash flow from operations were practically unchanged at almost €40 million. This was also sufficient to cover the Group’s cash outflows in connection with its investment programme (mainly in its technology) and financing activities (mainly repayment of debt and payment of dividend).

The Statement of Financial Position shows a 1.3% drop in total assets to €234.98 million which includes the property portfolio of €55 million. During a meeting with the financial community, the CFO Edmond Brincat explained that the Group will be in a position to start disposing of some of its properties in 2016 (details in this regard will be published later on this year or in 2015). Total liabilities also declined by 3.7% to €131.48 million largely reflecting the aforementioned €4.6 million reduction in total debt to €72.26 million. Meanwhile, total equity increased by 1.9% to €103.5 million largely reflecting the profit registered during the year under review which also offset the impact of the dividend in respect of the previous financial year.