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DeepMatter Group Plc

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FY2020 Annual Report · DeepMatter Group Plc
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ANNUAL REPORT 2020

DISCOVER AND 
DEVELOP, RELIABLY

REGISTERED OFFICE 

St Brandon’s House

29 Great George Street 

Bristol BS1 5QT

COMPANY NUMBER

05845469 (England and Wales)

 
 
 
 
 
DeepMatter Group Plc Annual Report 2020
DeepMatter Group Plc Annual Report 2020

CONTENTS

OVERVIEW
1   Our Offering and Strategy
2   Our Opportunity
4   Customer Case Studies
6   Academic Case Studies

STRATEGIC REPORT

8   Chair’s Statement
10   Chief Executive’s Review
13   Chief Financial Officer’s Review
14   Our Principal Risks and Uncertainties
15   Stakeholder Engagement

GOVERNANCE

16   Corporate Governance
22   The Board
24   Directors’ Report
25   Directors’ Remuneration Report
27   Audit & Risk Committee Report
30  

 Independent Auditor’s Report to the members of Deepmatter 
Group PLC

FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

35   Consolidated statement of comprehensive income
36   Consolidated statement of financial position
37   Consolidated statement of changes in equity
38   Consolidated statement of cash flows
39   Notes to the consolidated financial statements
61   Company statements
64   Notes to the company financial statements
67  
68  Notice of Annual General Meeting

 Company information (list of Directors, Officers and Advisors)

WE WANT TO ENABLE 
SCIENTISTS TO USE 
DATA TO DISCOVER AND 
DEVELOP MEDICINES 
THAT TRANSFORM 
PATIENTS LIVES, RELIABLY 
AND COST EFFECTIVELY

Designed and printed by Perivan

OVERVIEW

 1

HIGHLIGHTS 

£1.3m

REVENUE
(2019: £1.2m)

£2.4m

£2.6m

50+

LOSS FOR THE YEAR

(2019: £3.0m)

CASH
(2019: £2.6m)

INDUSTRY 
ENGAGEMENTS

+10.3%

-19.1%

OUR OFFERING AND STRATEGY

DeepMatter is building and commercialising 
the most powerful data platforms, to enable 
scientists to easily perform and optimise 
chemical reactions, by increasingly integrating 
chemistry with technology. Ultimately this will 
allow the greater use of artificial intelligence 
and reaching a point where chemicals can be 
autonomously synthesised through robotics. 

Sitting at the heart of this strategy is a unique perspective and 
approach to collecting data. DeepMatter has developed data 
rich platform technologies used by today’s expert users, early 
adopters, and futurists. This includes bringing together cloud-
based software, with routinely used laboratory hardware and 
unique sensor feeds throughout the time-course of a chemical 
reaction, to collect novel data, in a clean and structured 
manner, such that machine learning analysis can be applied with 
confidence to enable actionable knowledge – thereby increasing 
productivity, discovery and compliance gains.

Being cloud-based, our platforms are designed to enable 
chemists to work together effectively; sharing the details of their 
experiments from anywhere and in real-time, so that work is not 
needlessly duplicated, time and money wasted, and ultimately so 
new discoveries may be made faster. 

Visit: www.deepmatter.io and follow @deepmattergroup 

 2

DeepMatter Group Plc Annual Report 2020
DeepMatter Group Plc Annual Report 2020

OUR 
OPPORTUNITY

THE PROBLEM WE ADDRESS

50%

OF SCIENTIFIC LITERATURE IS 
NOT REPRODUCIBLE

which translates into wasteful spending of nearly

$28bn

WASTEFUL SPENDING 
ANNUALLY 

in the US alone

35%

ESTIMATED PRODUCTIVITY 
GAIN ACHIEVABLE 

for companies by digitising  
their chemistry testing

PRODUCTIVITY GAINS 
ASSOCIATED WITH 
DigitalGlassware®

50% 

INCREASE IN 
AVERAGE YIELD

80% 

REDUCTION  
IN ERRORS

$100,000s

SAVEABLE IN FTE COSTS

THE LAB OF THE 
FUTURE IS HERE

Digital innovation can 

deliver great value and 

revolutionise chemistry by 

turning data into shareable 

and usable knowledge, 

providing a unique 

perspective using:

Cloud 
Sharing

Machine 
Learning

Artificial 
Intelligence

Our solution, DigitalGlassware®, is at the forefront of this change

OVERVIEW

 3

SIGNIFICANT MARKET OPPORTUNITY

Pharmaceutical research is a hugely expensive business so any inefficiency comes with a significant cost 

$811 bn  $179 bn  $2.42 bn 

SALES PER ANNUM 

GLOBAL R&D SPEND

for top 100 Pharma companies

NEW DRUG 
DEVELOPMENT

Over 1 year the cost has more than 
doubled from $1.19bn 

DigitalGlassware® codifies your chemistry. 
Then it captures & structures time course 
sensor data improving insights for better 
productivity and discovery.

Data is captured directly from the flask and 
stored in the cloud & displayed in real time 

DigitalGlassware® is cloud-based allowing real-time data 
dissemination across company sites across the globe.

DigitalGlassware® saves time, reduces errors and gives 
access to never before seen data insights using AI/ML 
leading to:

FASTER, BETTER & CHEAPER 
MOLECULES

 4

DeepMatter Group Plc Annual Report 2020
DeepMatter Group Plc Annual Report 2020

CUSTOMER 
CASE STUDIES

DEEPMATTER IS NOW 
WORKING WITH KEY OPINION 
LEADERS ACROSS THE 
PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRY 
AND ACADEMIA.

50+
5

INDUSTRY  
ENGAGEMENTS

ACADEMIC  
ENGAGEMENTS

This includes 5 of the top 10 Global 
Pharmaceutical Companies. On the right is a 
selected example of recent engagements, to 
see the full list see our RNS announcements 
at www.deepmatter.io

ICSYNTH

 ICSYNTH customer numbers have more than 
doubled through the course of 2020

 We have achieved 100% customer renewals, 
adding to the Group’s underlying revenue base

 The new customers include some of the 
world’s leading multi-national pharmaceutical, 
agrisciences, biotech and contract research 
organisations (CROs)

 Retrosynthesis is a growing area of the Life 
Sciences Research & Development space, 
providing an increasing opportunity for ICSYNTH

 
 
 
 
OVERVIEW

 5

ASTRAZENECA

CANCER RESEARCH UK

Focused on improving productivity of compound 
synthesis using digital technologies enabled with 
machine learning and artificial intelligence 

“To get potential new medicines to patients 
faster, we need to reduce the cycle time for lead 
identification and optimisation and look forward to 
working with DeepMatter to assess the potential of 
DigitalGlassware™ to help with this”

Michael Kossenjans  
Associate Director, Discovery Sciences, R&D

To enhance the reproducibility of its chemistry and 
accelerate drug discovery 

“DeepMatter’s technology is some of the most 
innovative we have seen to date and we look 
forward to working with them to test its capabilities”

Justin Bower 
Joint Head of the Drug Discovery Unit  
and Head of Chemistry

Post balance sheet events include a data licensing agreement with Merck and a multi-year 
contract with Thieme Chemistry for the supply of technical data services and access to the 
Group’s proprietary algorithms

 6

DeepMatter Group Plc Annual Report 2020
DeepMatter Group Plc Annual Report 2020

ACADEMIC 
CASE STUDIES

Our Academic Strategy gives us exposure 
to experts and key opinion leaders within 
the big digitisation units in the UK’s 
prestigious Universities focusing primarily on 
DigitalGlassware®. 

On the right are some examples of recent 
engagements.

THE UNIVERSITY OF 
NOTTINGHAM

 Data capture and analysis within undergraduate 
chemistry teaching in their fully Digital 
Teaching Laboratory.

A second project will be looking at the development 
of machine learning models of sustainable chemistry 
for researchers in the pharmaceutical sector and 
related chemical-based industries.

“DigitalGlassware® is a great fit with this project 
as its machine learning and AI enabled approach 
to data delivers greater value and will help to 
revolutionise chemistry in both productivity gains 
and the discovery of new insights.”

Professor Jonathan Hirst
Professor of Computational Chemistry & Royal 
Academy of Engineering Chair in Emerging 
Technologies, Faculty of Science

OVERVIEW

 7

IMPERIAL COLLEGE LONDON

UNIVERSITY OF LEEDS

The EPSRC CDT in Next Generation Synthesis & 
Reaction Technology assembles a multi-disciplinary 
team of internationally-leading researchers at 
Imperial College London with academic and 
manufacturing expertise, augmented by recent 
investments in state-of-the-art infrastructure, 
equipment and facilities.

These research projects involve academics 
across several departments at Imperial, and also 
collaborations with industry partners.

This EPSRC CDT is closely affiliated with Centre for 
Rapid Online Analysis (ROAR), which offers state-
of-the-art facilities to enable data-centric research 
in synthesis.

DeepMatter is proud to be an External Industry and 
Research Partner of the EPSRC CDT.

The project with their Institute of Process 
Research and Development (iPRD) is a step in 
the development of a robotic laboratory, where 
chemicals will be synthesized with the assistance of 
artificial intelligence systems.

“Faster capture, manipulation and analysis of data 
will be key tools in this endeavour and we are 
delighted to be working with the DeepMatter team 
to bring these benefits to the iPRD.” 

Dr. Richard Bourne
Associate Professor

OVERVIEW 8

DeepMatter Group Plc Annual Report 2020
DeepMatter Group Plc Annual Report 2020

CHAIR’S STATEMENT

I was delighted to be appointed Chair of the Board of this exciting 
business in November 2020.  With an innovative offering, much needed 
by its industry, a growing roster of blue-chip customers and a passion for 
great chemistry, I believe DeepMatter has a significant opportunity ahead. 

This has, of course, been a challenging year for all. However, I 
am pleased to report that the Group made significant progress 
towards its vision to digitise chemistry. Having successfully 
completed the foundation development of the proprietary 
DigitalGlassware® platform and integration of the InfoChem 
offerings following its acquisition in 2019, the focus in 2020 was 
on the commercialisation of the Group’s technologies. This focus 
delivered growth in user numbers, the development of strategic 
partnerships and the first steps towards the monetising of the 
Group’s data collections.

INCREASINGLY SUPPORTIVE MARKET 
ENVIRONMENT

While COVID-19 significantly disrupted the pharma industry, it 
has also, as with many industries, shone a light on the need for 
accelerated digitalisation. Typically, in scientific, evidence-based 
industries, the collection, structuring and sharing of data has taken 
place in siloed environments, leaving scientists un-empowered 
to capitalise on the wealth of knowledge created in economically 
important fields such as drug discovery and development. Digital 
transformation in recent years had started to lower data sharing 
barriers on a modest level, however the shift to remote working 
and increased social distancing as a response to the COVID-19 

pandemic has accelerated the rate in which technology is being 
incorporated into the day-to-day workings of a laboratory. 
The possibilities to digitally impart knowledge and hands-on 
experiences in the laboratory to another person, without the 
requirement of physical proximity, is more attainable now that the 
industry has been forced to adapt and experience it first-hand. 

Throughout the year we have seen an increased awareness of 
the benefits technology can lend to drug discovery and this trend 
will only gain further traction in the coming years, providing a 
growing opportunity for DeepMatter’s product offerings and 
technology platform.

A PASSION FOR GREAT SCIENCE

The passion of the team at DeepMatter is the driving force for this 
business. Their commitment and genuine passion for improving 
productivity and discovery of chemical reactions that contribute 
towards the development of new medicines makes them a great 
team to be a part of and resonates strongly with our customers. 
The team swiftly adapted to working remotely in March 2020, 
continuing to support our customers, develop our offerings, 
secure new customers and forge new partnerships. On behalf of 
the Board I would like to thank every single team member for their 
efforts during the year. 

STRATEGIC REPORT

 9

EXPANSION OF THE BOARD’S EXPERTISE

POSITIVE OUTLOOK

As well as my appointment in November 2020, the Board’s 
expertise was further expanded during the year with the 
appointment of Fraser Benson, as Chief Financial Officer and post-
period end, the appointment of Mirko Walter as Non-Executive 
Director. Both Fraser and Mirko bring a wealth of knowledge in 
their specific fields, with Fraser having accounting experience 
and exposure to fast-growing software businesses, whilst 
Mirko’s experience in sales and the scientific sector resonates 
with DeepMatter’s long-term strategic goal to commercialise 
the digitisation of chemistry. Through this strengthening of the 
Board’s expertise, DeepMatter comprises an excellent mix of 
leadership skills and experience to take the business to the next 
phase of growth. 

The Group has a steady base of recurring revenues, a healthy 
financial position and a clear strategy for growth. The long-term 
opportunity for DeepMatter is extremely positive, with market 
conditions indicating the integration of science with technology is 
accelerating, with the potential to revolutionise the industry. The 
Group has made progress in the year in developing its user base, 
particularly within Contract Research Organisations and academic 
segments, and continues to see healthy growth in its pipeline. The 
Board therefore looks to the future with confidence.

Karen Bach
Non-Executive Chair

28th May 2021

 10 DeepMatter Group Plc Annual Report 2020

CHIEF EXECUTIVE’S 
REVIEW

I am pleased to report the Group has made considerable strategic and 
operational progress in the year against a challenging market backdrop.

Through a year of major disruption for all 
industries, but notably for those engaged in 
laboratory sciences, we maintained our close 
relationships across our industry and academic 
customers, grew our user base and partnerships, 
paving the way for accelerated future growth. 
Group revenue increased 10% to £1.3m 
(FY19: £1.2m), and the careful management of 
our cost base resulted in a narrowing of losses 
by 19% to £2.4m (FY19: £3.0m). We closed the 
year with healthy cash balances of £2.6m.

£1.3m
10%

GROUP 
REVENUE

REVENUE 
INCREASE

STRATEGY: UNLOCKING THE POWER OF DATA IN 
THE LAB 

Our core objective is to integrate chemistry with technology to 
improve productivity and drug discovery for scientists in any 
industry where chemicals are manufactured. Following the impact 
of the Covid-19 pandemic, never has this been more relevant 
than now. The digital laboratory is leading to a fundamental 
change in how data is stored, retrieved, analysed and shared in 
the laboratory environment. It involves integration, innovation, 
automation and business intelligence and our cloud-based 
platform, DigitalGlassware®, is at the forefront of this change 
where we have seen 50% increases in average yield and 80% 
reduction in errors when using the platform (see Strategy 
infographic page 2).

EXPANDED PLATFORM FOR GROWTH

At DeepMatter, we build and sell products that make it easier 
for scientists to collect scientific data then structure and clean 
this data allowing them to use it to gain valuable insights. The 
Group has a range of software, Internet of Lab Things and 
data products designed to help scientists to easily perform 
and optimise chemical reactions, to improve productivity and 
discovery. These products are sold on a recurring revenue model, 

globally, to Pharma, Biotech, Contract Research Organisations, 
Agri-Sciences and Scientific Publishers. DeepMatter also owns 
chemical structure and reaction databases plus data generated 
by the DigitalGlassware® platform which it also sells to these 
organisations. Since 2018 DigitalGlassware® has collected 4.3 
billion sensor readings, capturing over 6.3 years of chemistry with 
over 700 individual chemistry runs.

Owing to what we have experienced in 2020, the market 
opportunity for integrating chemistry with technology has grown 
immensely and the direction of travel for lab automation and the 
digitisation of chemistry remains clear. As labs across the world 
move away from outdated and inefficient processes, there is an 
increasing recognition of the speed, efficiency, and lower costs 
offered by the increased integration of innovative technology with 
the life sciences, providing a supportive market environment for 
DeepMatter. 

During the year we have focused on acquiring more users, 
expanding our sales and marketing capabilities, initiating both 
technology and distribution partnerships and monetising our data. 
With each trial of DigitalGlassware® we learn more regarding its 
benefits and best methods of implementation and will continue to 
refine these in the year ahead.

DeepMatter Group Plc Annual Report 2020 11

GROWING OUR USERS

The Group grew revenue by securing more expert users of its 
retrosynthesis software ICSYNTH, whilst engaging with new 
customers for our DigitalGlassware® software (see case study 
infographic page 6). By the end of the year, 50% of the world’s 
Top 10 pharmaceutical organisations were trialling or using 
DeepMatter products. The Group’s user numbers grew by 18% 
year-on-year.”

Contracts secured in the year included a three-year contract 
with Thieme Chemistry, which is part of the Thieme Group, an 
award-winning international medical and science publisher, and 
a deployment of DigitalGlassware® with Cancer Research UK 
Beatson Institute Drug Discovery Unit. 

As the pharma industry continues to seek the means to reduce 
risk and increase flexibility in their cost-base, we see a growing 
opportunity in the Contract Research Organisations (CRO’s) 
segment, to whom pharma outsource their research services. Data 
sharing between these entities across the globe is paramount 
and the ability of our cloud-based DigitalGlassware® platform to 
allow chemists to share data in real-time, anywhere in the world 
means it is ideally suited to meet these data sharing needs. We 
have expanded our presence in this segment in the year and will 
continue to do so.

EXPANDING OUR SALES AND MARKETING 
CAPABILITIES 

As pharmaceutical companies begin to embed digitisation across 
their R&D functions we have recently appointed a dedicated 
Sales Lead for the Group, alongside our Group Marketing function 
and are actively pursuing initiatives to increase our sales and 
marketing footprints in the US, Europe and other geographies, 
such as India and China as well as other sectors such as CRO’s 
and Agrisciences. 

During 2020 we rebranded DeepMatter and brought InfoChem 
under the DeepMatter brand umbrella whilst focusing on 
increasing our social engagement and increasing our web traffic by 
117%. With a strengthened sales and marketing function, we now 
have the resources to reach the top 100 global pharmaceutical 
companies and beyond. 

We continued to build relationships with Key Opinion Leaders in 
the academic sector, that will ultimately create both marketing 
and IP value in the medium term targeting the big digitisation 
units in the UK with a focus on DigitalGlassware®. 

STRATEGIC REPORT 12

INITIATING TECHNOLOGY AND DISTRIBUTION 
PARTNERSHIPS 

prediction. Ultimately, we are looking at monetising our 
aggregated data and believe it will lead to novel IP.

To ensure the quality of the data within our platform, we continue 
to expand the range of third-party integrations available in 
DigitalGlassware®, including hardware sensors, LC-MS and 
Electronic Lab Notebooks and in 2020 we were delighted to 
announce plans to interface our DigitalGlassware® platform 
with the Waters Corporation UNIFI™ Scientific Information 
System, enhancing the quality and accessibility of data for 
chemists worldwide.

As well as technology partnerships the success of our efforts to 
expand our customer base and the userbase of DigitalGlassware® 
through our network of partners can also be seen in the post-
period signing of a co-distribution and marketing agreement with 
Elemental Machines, expanding our footprint in the US.

THE VALUE OF DIGITALGLASSWARE®

DigitalGlassware® provides value in several ways: making 
chemistry more reproducible, cutting the costs of that chemistry, 
increasing the ability to share data and increasing the ability to 
interrogate data through AI and machine learning, thereby aiding 
faster drug discovery.

During 2020 we conducted some chemistry with o2h Discovery at 
their integrated drug discovery platform operating from a state-of-
the-art research centre in India, to show DigitalGlassware’s value, 
specifically around improving the reproducibility of a reaction.

We took an industrially relevant reaction to show how the 
integrated DigitalGlassware® platform defined the method in a 
standardised, shareable format, then captured and analysed the 
data allowing the reaction to be modified and optimised.

The two chief findings of this study were that the average 
reaction yield was significantly increased, and the variability 
greatly decreased, when using DigitalGlassware®, compared with 
traditional methods. Directly comparing the reaction runs using 
the two methods, the average yield was 50% greater when using 
DigitalGlassware®, with the average errors reduced by 80%.

We are excited by this incredibly strong validation of the platform 
and believe this data will be a powerful marketing tool for us in 2021.

In January 2021 we announced a data licensing agreement 
with the Life Science business of Merck to provide proprietary 
chemical structure and reaction data content to Merck’s selected 
application, a further example of the monetising of our data.

SUPPORTIVE MARKET ENVIRONMENT

Covid-19 measures have prompted an increase in interest levels 
in the ability to digitally collect and remotely share scientific data. 
Automated chemistry has moved up the priority list for many 
companies. Automated chemistry and digital data collection 
and sharing, have the potential to transform our industry, not 
only increasing productivity, but serving to ensure knowledge 
and experience can be imparted to the next generation, under 
whatever circumstances the ‘next normal’ looks like.

This Digital transformation was in train prior to the Covid-19 
pandemic, nevertheless the ability to use digital technologies to 
discover new (therapeutic) molecules and rapidly share data cross-
border is likely now considered prophetic.

We have also seen growing interest in the area of sustainable 
chemistry, with organisations increasing their investment in 
this area in order to identify means to reduce the impact on the 
environment from chemical processes. This is a growing area of 
opportunity for our platforms, to enable faster investigation and 
closer collaboration across teams in this research. 

CURRENT TRADING & OUTLOOK

While revenue growth in the year under review was dampened by 
the immediate impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic on our industry, 
we achieved notable strategic successes and have entered 2021 in 
a strong position. We will continue to build on the momentum of 
the second half of 2020 in the current year, particularly targeting 
the CRO and academic sectors who are proving to be the most 
successful early adopters of our platform.

We have a growing base of committed recurring revenues and 
an increased pipeline of opportunities. Our increased sales 
and marketing capability is delivering results, and we have a 
strengthened financial basis on which to grow. We therefore look 
forward to the ongoing execution of our growth strategy

INCREASED DATA COLLECTION AND 
INTERROGATION AND MONETISATION

Our Data Science team are now investigating the data captured 
from the o2h trial and are using Machine Learning algorithms 
to gain new insights in areas such as optimisation and yield 

Mark Warne
Chief Executive Officer

28th May 2021

DeepMatter Group Plc Annual Report 2020DeepMatter Group Plc Annual Report 2020 13

CHIEF FINANCIAL 
OFFICER’S REVIEW 

The Group has produced a solid set of financial results, delivering 
revenue growth and managing the cost base while continuing 
to invest in our products and laying the foundations for future 
growth. At the same time, we have continued to integrate the 
InfoChem business, ensuring cross Group experience is shared 
and that functional teams work to share knowledge and form a 
flexible pool of resource.

REVENUE

Revenue for the year of £1.3m (2019: £1.2m) represents year-
on-year growth of 10%. Growth is driven by DigitalGlassware® 
from sales and paid trials. InfoChem revenue held up well, posting 
revenue growth despite the COVID pandemic. The number of new 
ICSYNTH paid evaluations in the second half of the year indicates 
the pathway to future revenue growth.

OPERATING PERFORMANCE

As a group, product R&D and building sales and marketing 
capability have been two key areas of focus in 2020.

 R&D costs of £1.6m in 2020 (2019: £1.8m) in addition to 
which, £0.3m of ICSYNTH development was capitalised in the 
year. This reflects the continued functionality enhancements 
being added to DigitalGlassware® and the step change 
delivered to the ICSYNTH product.

 General and Administration expenses rose slightly to £2.0m 
(2019: £1.9m) as sales and marketing saw investment as 
the group looked to build capability for the next stage of 
commercialisation of DigitalGlassware®. 

 The group has been reactive to the COVID 19 pandemic, 
making use of government employment schemes in both the 
UK and Germany for a time and managing costs throughout 
the year. 

CAPITALISED SOFTWARE

RESULT

The Group incurred a total loss after tax for the year ended 
31 December 2020 of £2.41 million compared to a loss of 
£2.98 million in the previous year. 

CASH

The Group’s overall cash position remained stable year-on-year. 
This is the combination of the £2.2m gross fund raise in July 2020 
offsetting the continued investment in product development and 
operating costs. 

NET ASSETS

The Group continues to benefit from a solid financial position with 
net assets at 31 December 2020 of £8.90 million compared to 
£9.08 million at 31 December 2019.

FINANCING ACTIVITIES

The company raised gross proceeds of £2.2m after placing shares 
at a price 1.5p in July 2020. The successful placing showed that 
a mix of new and existing investors were willing to back the next 
phase of the group’s development, funding the move from R&D 
stage towards commercialisation.

The Consolidated Financial Statements have been prepared for 
the year to 31 December 2020. 

Key Group performance indicators are set out below:

31 Dec  
2020

31 Dec  
2019

Net assets (£ million)

Net asset value per share (pence)

Total loss after tax (£ million)

8.90

0.96

(2.41)

Basic loss per share from continuing operations (pence)

(0.30)

Cash and short-term deposits with banks (£ million)

2.61

9.08

1.23

(2.98)

(0.43)

2.61

Non-financial KPIs are considered on page 24 of the directors 
report.

In addition to further development of the DigitalGlassware® 
platform, a significant enhancement was made to the ICSYNTH 
product. The development work on ICSYNTH has been capitalised. 
A total of £0.3m was capitalised which will be amortised over 
two years.

Fraser Benson
Chief Financial Officer

28th May 2021

STRATEGIC REPORT 
 
 
 14

OUR PRINCIPAL RISKS  
AND UNCERTAINTIES

The analysis of key performance indicators (“KPls”) is included in the 
CFO Report section of the Strategic report. The Directors believe 
that performance should also be measured by achievement against 
technical and business development milestones. 

The Group’s risk management objectives and exposure to various 
risks are detailed in note 22 to the Group financial statements. 
The key operating risks of the Group and the measures taken to 
manage these are summarised below. 

TECHNOLOGY & DEVELOPMENT RISK 

There is a risk that the technology development of 
DigitalGlassware® is delayed or specific programme targets cannot 
be met. The Group manages the development of its technology 
through separate development programmes. Each programme has a 
specific set of milestones (either internal or external), together with 
measurable goals and a timeline. Performance against each of these 
is monitored regularly, depending on the programme requirements. 
This enables the Group to identify issues at an early stage and take 
appropriate mitigating actions. 

COMMERCIAL SUCCESS AND MARKET 
ACCEPTANCE OF TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENT 

 There can be no assurance that any current or future technology 
programmes of Deepmatter Limited and InfoChem will be 
successfully developed into commercially viable products or 
services. The Group’s success will depend on the market’s 
acceptance of its products or services and there can be no 
guarantee that this will be forthcoming or that alternative 
competitor technologies are adopted by the market instead. 

ATTRACTION AND RETENTION OF KEY 
EMPLOYEES 

The Group depends on its Directors and other key employees 
and whilst it has entered into contractual arrangements with 
these individuals with the aim of securing the services of each 
of them, retention of these services cannot be guaranteed. The 
Group has attempted to reduce this risk by offering competitive 
remuneration packages and investment in training, development 
and succession planning. 

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

 A part of the Group’s future development and growth depends 
on its intellectual property. If intellectual property is inadequately 
protected, the Group’s future success could become adversely 
affected. The Group may not be able to protect and preserve its 
intellectual property or to exclude competitors with competing 
technology products. The Group continues to invest in the 
protection and expansion of its intellectual property portfolio. 
In addition, the Group uses internal procedures and controls to 
identify and capture new intellectual property and to prevent 
unauthorised disclosure to third parties. 

FINANCIAL RISKS

The Group’s activities expose it to a number of financial risks 
including foreign exchange risk, credit risk, interest rate risk 
and liquidity risk. At present the Group does not use financial 
derivatives in the normal course of business. The Group’s and 
the Company’s financial instruments comprise cash and cash 
equivalents, trade and other receivables, lease liabilities, equity 
investments and trade and other payables. The main purpose of 
these financial instruments is the funding of the Group’s activities. 

FOREIGN EXCHANGE RISK

The Group’s exchange risk is limited to cash balances held within 
InfoChem and transactions denominated in foreign currencies. 
The Group seeks to reduce exposure to foreign exchange risk by 
maintaining the principal cash balances of the Group in Sterling. 
Exposure to foreign exchange is monitored and kept under review. 

CREDIT RISK 

The Group’s principal financial assets are cash and cash 
equivalents and trade and other receivables. The Group’s credit 
risk is primarily attributable to its cash and cash equivalents 
and timely receipts from customers. The Group performs credit 
checks on potential new customers to mitigate this risk and the 
Group seeks to reduce the credit risk associated with cash by only 
holding cash with institutions that have good credit ratings. 

INTEREST RATE RISK 

The Group has no external financing facility, therefore its interest 
rate risk is limited to the level of interest received on its cash 
surpluses. Interest rate risk on cash, cash equivalents and short-
term deposits is partially mitigated by using an element of fixed-
rate accounts and short-term deposits.

LIQUIDITY RISK 

The Group seeks to manage liquidity by ensuring sufficient funds 
are available to meet foreseeable needs and to invest cash assets 
safely and profitably. The Group had cash, cash equivalents and 
short-term deposit balances of £2.61 million as at 31 December 
2020 (2019: £2.61 million). 

In order to minimise risk to the Group’s capital, funds are invested 
across a number of financial institutions with sound credit ratings. 
Cash forecasts are updated regularly to ensure that there is 
sufficient cash available for foreseeable requirements. 

Based on the current cash balance at the 31 December 2020, 
the Directors have a reasonable expectation that the Group has 
adequate resources to continue as a going concern. The directors 
may look to raise capital over the next 12 months to further 
supplement current liquidity or to accelerate the pace of progress 
along its product development roadmap.

DeepMatter Group Plc Annual Report 2020DeepMatter Group Plc Annual Report 2020STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT 
(S172) & ESG

 15

From the perspective of the Board, and as a result of the 
governance structure for the Group, the matters that it is 
responsible for considering under Section 172 of the Companies 
Act 2006 (“s172”) have been considered to an appropriate extent 
by the senior management in relation to the Company. 

Such consideration is included in the statements set out 
below, noting the directors’ duty under s172 to act in good 
faith to promote the success of the Group for the benefit of its 
shareholders but having regard amongst other matters to the 
following: 

• 

the likely consequences of any decision in the long term; 

• 

the interests of the Group’s employees; 

 the need to foster the Group’s business relationships with 
customers and others; 

 the impact of the Group’s operations on the community and 
the environment; 

• 

• 

• 

(ii) Employees 

Good two-way communication with staff is a key requirement 
for high levels of engagement, fostering a culture of innovation 
and helping deliver the Group’s operations. We engage with staff 
by ensuring regular all staff meetings take place, we have started 
management 1-2-1’s, giving individuals time with members of 
management.  The Group has a flat management structure and 
clear reporting lines, with attendance of key staff at certain Board 
meetings. We also conduct periodic engagement surveys.  

(iii) Shareholders 

The Group wishes to engage with investors and potential 
investors to keep them informed of the Group’s results and 
progress and ensure a congruence of objectives between the 
shareholders and the Board. The company ensures sufficient 
maintenance of the Group’s website is completed and responds 
to any shareholder enquiries. Periodic investor information and 
news releases are circulated, and the publishing and posting of 
the Annual and half-year reports are on time. The Board works to 
ensure there is engagement with shareholders at the AGM.

 the desirability of the Group maintaining a reputation for high 
standards of business conduct; and 

(iv) Communities 

• 

 the need to act fairly as between members of the Group. 

The key stakeholders have been identified as customers, 
employees, shareholders, and our communities.

(i) Customers 

Throughout the last three years, DeepMatter partnered with a 
total of seven organisations across three continents as part of its 
DigitalGlassware® Pioneer Programme (the “Pioneers”). The seven 
Pioneers include multinational life science companies, research 
institutions and leading academic institutions. The purpose of the 
Pioneer Programme was to solicit feedback to guide the testing 
and enhancement of our technology for use in commercial and 
academic settings. This Pioneer Programme has provided us with 
valuable insights, expert feedback and given us confidence that 
the product is fit for deployment on a wider scale. During 2019 
one of the Pioneers converted to a revenue generating contract 
in the year, strongly advocating the value of the feedback.  In 
2020 new collaborative trials were added with both academic and 
commercial organisations again with the aim of providing user 
feedback and conversions to paying customers.

On an ongoing basis, DeepMatter and Infochem, through their 
Product Management functions, continue to solicit feedback 
from all their customers and the wider scientific community, with 
features and capabilities identified by its customers contributing 
to the Group’s technical and commercial roadmap as deemed 
appropriate based on resourcing capabilities.

The Group seeks to minimise the impact of our operations on the 
environment through the pursuit of good business practices and is 
committed to: 

• 

• 

• 

• 

 continually making improvements by designing and 
implementing environment management systems in its offices 
to reduce, reuse and recycle general waste.

 prioritise sourcing sustainable office space; including the use 
of renewable energy, appropriate choices in our fit outs, and 
re-using office furniture where possible; 

 working collaboratively with contractors and local suppliers to 
reduce emissions and sourcing locally across our offices and 
address any issues; such as use of plastic packaging and where 
possible implement the best sustainable solution.

 continuing to highlight that one of the major benefits of our 
DigitalGlassware® product is its ability to reduce customers 
power needs, through data collection resulting in early 
highlighting of failed reactions and clearer identification of 
completed reactions.

The Strategic Report has been approved on behalf of the board.

Mark Warne
28th May 2021

STRATEGIC REPORT 16

CORPORATE  
GOVERNANCE 

The following paragraphs set out the Group’s compliance with the 10 principles of the QCA Code 
for the year ended 31 December 2020:-

1. ESTABLISH A STRATEGY AND BUSINESS 
MODEL WHICH PROMOTE LONG-TERM VALUE 
FOR SHAREHOLDERS

The Group’s business model is the digitisation of chemistry. As 
part of this process, DeepMatter has successfully developed and 
operates DigitalGlassware®, a big data analysis platform focused 
on enabling reproducibility in chemistry. DigitalGlassware® 
comprises an easy-to-use software interface and sensor array 
to collect, store and process data generated from chemical 
experiments. The InfoChem products complement and strengthens 
the DigitalGlassware® platform, bringing strong cheminformatic 
capabilities to the Group.

The key challenges and risks faced by the Group are set out on in 
the Strategic Report within the Group’s Annual Report and include 
early-stage operations, technology and development, commercial 
success and market acceptance, intellectual property and the 
attraction and retention of key employees.

The Board believes that it has the right team and strategy in 
place that is appropriate to the current size and complexity of the 
Group, in order to deliver the strategic aims of the Group over the 
medium to long term.

The Board has reviewed the impact of Brexit on the Group and 
its operations under various scenarios. In summary, the Group’s 
operations and key subcontractors are based in the UK and 
Germany and most of its sales are priced in GBP and Euros to 
customers globally. Apart from the effect of any macro-economic 
impact, the Board does not currently believe that there is a 
significant impact of Brexit on the Group’s operations or financial 
performance. The Board will keep this matter under review.

DeepMatter is a well-managed business with a robust growth 
strategy and growing market opportunity. While the COVID-19 
pandemic has had some impact on the sales cycle, it is evident the 
opportunity for the Group’s technology is significant and long-term. 
Our priority during the pandemic has been to ensure the well-being 
of our teams, and we have moved to remote working across our 
sites. The Board is confident sufficient measures have been put in 
place to ensure the progression of the Group through this time and 
maintains a vigilant focus on costs and the end market.

2. SEEK TO UNDERSTAND AND MEET 
SHAREHOLDER NEEDS AND EXPECTATIONS

The Board attaches great importance to providing shareholders 
with clear and transparent information on the Group’s activities, 
strategy and financial position.

Responsibility for investor relations rests with the Chair and Chief 
Executive, supported by the Board.

The Board has made efforts to ensure effective engagement with 
both institutional and private shareholders and believes that it has 
been successful in doing so. The Board encourages shareholders 
to attend the Company’s AGM as a forum to present to and meet 
with investors and ensures that timely and useful information is 
included on the Group’s website to keep shareholders abreast 
of corporate developments. In 2020, the Company joined the 
Investor Meets Company platform, and holds bi-annual meetings 
that gives investors direct opportunity to ask the management any 
questions that they feel are important. The Company will continue 
to engage with the Investor Meets Company platform through 
2021 and beyond.

The Group is committed to communicating openly with its 
shareholders to ensure that its strategy and performance are 
clearly understood. We communicate with shareholders through 
the interim results statement and the Annual Report and Accounts, 
trading updates, shareholder circulars, announcements as required 
by regulation and the annual general meeting (AGM). A range of 
corporate information (including all DeepMatter announcements) is 
also available to all stakeholders on our website www.deepmatter.io.

The Chair and Board has ultimate responsibility for reviewing and 
approving the Company’s Annual Report and Accounts and has 
considered and endorsed the arrangements for their preparation, 
under the guidance of its Audit Committee. The Directors confirm 
that the Company’s Annual Report and Accounts, taken as a 
whole, are fair, balanced and understandable and provides the 
information necessary for shareholders and investors to assess the 
Group’s position and performance, business model and strategy.

The Group maintains a dedicated email address, investor_relations@
deepmatter.io, which investors can use to contact the Group, 
and which is prominently displayed on the Group’s website 
together with the Group’s address. The size of the Group does not 
warrant a dedicated investor relations department, however, all 
communications received are reviewed and responded to promptly.

DeepMatter Group Plc Annual Report 2020DeepMatter Group Plc Annual Report 2020 17

3. TAKE INTO ACCOUNT WIDER STAKEHOLDER AND SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITIES AND THEIR 
IMPLICATIONS FOR LONG TERM SUCCESS

Long term success relies upon good relations with a range of different stakeholder groups, both internal (staff) and external (suppliers, 
customers, regulators and others). The Board aims to understand the needs and expectations of each of the stakeholder groups and 
engages with them in the manner set out below:

 Stakeholder

Reason for engagement

How we engage

Staff

Good two-way communication with staff is a 

Regular staff meetings.

key requirement for high levels of engagement, 

fostering a culture of innovation and helping 

deliver the Group's operations.

Flat management structure and clear reporting lines.

Attendance of key staff at certain Board meetings.

Periodic engagement surveys.

Customers and  

Our success and competitive advantage are 

Seek feedback on services and software systems.

users

dependent on fulfilling customer and user 

Obtain fulfilment metrics to measure performance and encourage 

requirements, particularly in relation to quality 

of service, simplicity and speed of use.

requests for service enhancements.

Suppliers

Rely on suppliers for a variety of goods 

Provide feedback on the quality of goods and services supplied.

and services that are incorporated into 

our suite of products at InfoChem and our 

DigitalGlassware® platform

We operate systems to ensure that supplier invoices are processed and 

paid properly.

Advisers

The Group's key advisers and suppliers, 

The Group’s key advisers attend Board meetings where considered 

including the NOMAD, legal advisers and 

appropriate.

registrar, assist the Group in its operations.

Input regarding important transactions and public information is run past 

key advisers prior to release.

DeepMatter has regular contact with its advisers and makes them aware 

of any relevant developments at the Group as deemed appropriate.

Regulators

The Group recognises the need for regulation 

All appropriate DeepMatter releases and disclosures are filed with and 

and rules for AIM quoted companies in order 

notified to the relevant authorities as required.

to maintain markets in which investors can 

trust and ensure that the Company acts in 

accordance with best practice.

Any enquiries from regulators are responded to in a complete and timely 

fashion.

Shareholders

The Group wishes to engage with investors 

Maintenance of the Group’s website and responding to any shareholder 

and potential investors in order to keep them 

enquiries.

informed of the Group's results and progress 

and ensure a congruence of objectives 

between the shareholders and the Board.

Periodic investor information and news releases.

Publishing and posting of the Annual and half-year reports and circulars.

Engagement with shareholders at the AGM.

4. EMBED EFFECTIVE RISK MANAGEMENT, 
CONSIDERING BOTH OPPORTUNITIES AND 
THREATS, THROUGHOUT THE ORGANISATION

Risk management at DeepMatter is an integral part of decision 
making and is embedded in normal business operations. It exists to 
help protect and safeguard volunteers, employees, clients, Company 
assets and reputation and to help achieve business objectives. 
The Group’s Board of Directors is responsible for ensuring that the 
Group maintains an appropriate system of internal control. The 
system of control is designed to manage rather than eliminate the 
risk of failure to achieve business objectives.

The Board has prepared a risk register for the Group that identifies 
key risks in the areas of operational strategy, financial, regulatory, 
environmental, research and development and the wider macro-
economic considerations. All directors are provided with a copy 
of this register, which is reviewed periodically and updated as 
and when necessary. The Board considers the risk register when 
assessing the current status of the Group and its operations as 
well as the intended strategic aims and progress of the Group. 
Given the stage of development the Group is currently at, an 
internal audit function is not deemed required. This will be 
monitored as the company evolves.

GOVERNANCE 18

In accordance with the AIM Rules, the Group has adopted a Share 
Dealing Code in relation to the securities of DeepMatter Group 
Plc. As such all Board members, PDMRs, and their families are 
required to gain clearance prior to any dealings in DeepMatter’s 
shares. The Group’s staff have been briefed in relation to their 
responsibilities in this area.

The monitoring and escalation of risks is a company-wide 
responsibility:

Board of Directors

Determines risk tolerance and ensures the Group maintains 
appropriate risk management and internal control systems. 
Oversees the implementation and operation of the risk 
management procedures and internal control infrastructure.

Audit Committee

Monitors and reviews risk management and internal control 
systems, ensuring adherence to financial reporting standards. 
During the year, the Company’s Audit Committee, which 
comprises of Laurence Ede (Chair) and Karen Bach, has continued 
to focus on the audit of the financial statements and the 
effectiveness of the controls throughout the Group.

Remuneration Committee

The Remuneration Committee’s primary responsibilities are 
to review the performance of the executive directors of the 
Company and to determine the broad policy and framework for 
their remuneration and the terms and conditions of their service 
and that of senior management (including the remuneration of and 
grant of options to such persons under any share scheme adopted 
by the Company). The remuneration committee comprises Karen 
Bach (Chair) and Laurence Ede.

Management Team

Implements and manages the risk procedures, policies and 
controls. Supports the development and maintenance of effective 
compliance and risk management systems.

Employees

Understands, accepts and executes the risk management 
procedures. Expected to be alert to risks associated with the 
activities they perform and report inefficiencies, unnecessary 
or ineffective controls. Encouraged to report, anonymously or 
otherwise, any security risks or threats they perceive in the 
operations of the business. On receipt of any such information, 
the Board shall assess and take remedial action as appropriate in 
the circumstance.

5. MAINTAIN THE BOARD AS A WELL-
FUNCTIONING, BALANCED TEAM LED BY 
THE CHAIR

The members of the Board have a collective responsibility and 
legal obligation to promote the interests of the Group and are 
collectively responsible for defining corporate governance 
arrangements. Ultimate responsibility for the quality of, and 
approach to, corporate governance lies with the Chair of 
the Board.

For the year ending 31 December 2020, the Board consisted of 
five directors of whom two are executive and three are non-
executive. Two non-executive directors are independent directors.

On 25 June 2020, James Ede-Golightly stepped down from the 
Board as Non-executive Chair.

On 19 October 2020, Lauren Lees resigned from the board as 
Executive Finance Director.

On 1 November, Karen Bach joined the Board as Non-executive 
Chair, and Fraser Benson joined the Board as Chief Financial 
Officer.

The Board may appoint additional directors as its business 
expands. Under the Articles of Association, all Directors must offer 
themselves for re-election at least once every three years. One 
third of the Directors retire by rotation at every Annual General 
Meeting and are eligible for re appointment.

The Board is supported by two committees: audit and 
remuneration. The Board does not consider that it is of a size 
at present to require a separate nominations committee, and all 
members of the Board would be involved in the appointment of 
any new Directors.

All Directors are required to attend Board and relevant Board 
Committee meetings and, where possible, the AGM each year 
and to be available at other times as required for face-to-face 
and telephone meetings with the executive team and investors 
as reasonable.

The Board considers Karen Bach and Laurence Ede to be 
independent Non-Executive Directors and reviews their 
independence on a regular basis. The Board have not identified 
any points that potentially impacts his independence.

DeepMatter Group Plc Annual Report 2020DeepMatter Group Plc Annual Report 2020 19

The Board has a schedule of regular business, financial and 
operational matters, and each Board committee ensures that all 
areas for which the Board has responsibility are addressed and 
reviewed during the course of the year. The Chief Executive is 
responsible for ensuring that, to inform decision-making, the 
Directors receive accurate, sufficient and timely information. 
Board and committee papers are compiled and circulated to 
Directors prior to meetings. Minutes of each meeting are provided 
to the Board and every Director is aware of the right to have any 
concerns minuted and to seek independent advice at the Group’s 
expense where appropriate.

6. ENSURE THAT BETWEEN THEM THE 
DIRECTORS HAVE THE NECESSARY UP-TO-DATE 
EXPERIENCE, SKILLS AND CAPABILITIES

All members of the Board bring significant and varied sector 
experience, and many have board and public markets experience. 
The Board’s members have chemical, technological, financial, 
regulatory, and venture stage operational experience and 
two members, Fraser Benson and Karen Bach, are chartered 
accountants. The Board believes that its blend of relevant 
experience, skills and personal qualities and capabilities are 
sufficient to enable it to successfully execute its current strategy. 
Directors attend seminars and other regulatory and trade events 
as considered appropriate to ensure that their knowledge 
remains current.

All Directors have access to the advice and services of the 
Company Secretary and in the course of their duties, if necessary, 
are able to take independent professional advice at the Company’s 
expense. Committees have access to such resources as are 
required to fulfil their duties.

The Board comprises the following directors who are all 
considered suitable for their roles given their backgrounds and 
experience as set out in the Company’s Annual Report and 
Accounts.

Karen Bach, Independent Non-Executive Chair

Term of office: Appointed Non-Executive Chair, Chair of 
Remuneration Committee and member of the Audit Committee in 
November 2020.

Current external appointments: Amino Technologies Plc, Red 
Embedded Consulting Limited, Datapharm Limited, Escape Hunt 
Plc, Purnoma Ltd

Time commitment: 4 days per month.

Mark Warne, Chief Executive

Term of office: Appointed as a Non-Executive Director in 
September 2015, subsequently took on the role of Executive 
Chairman in April 2017 and appointed Chief Executive in July 2018.

Current external appointments: Ixico Plc, Open Orphan Plc  
(to 31 Dec 2020)

Time commitment: Full time.

Fraser Benson, Chief Financial Officer

Term of office: Fraser Benson was appointed as Chief Financial 
Officer in November 2020.

Current external appointments: None

Time commitment: Full time.

Laurence Ede, Independent Non-Executive Director

Term of office: Laurence Ede was appointed as a Non-Executive 
Director in April 2017. He is Chair of the Audit Committee and is 
also a member of the Remuneration Committee.

Current external appointments: Rosa Biotech Limited, Ubiquigent 
Limited, Manor Road Lettings Limited

Time commitment: 1 to 2 days per month

Bettina Goerner, Non-Executive Director  
(resigned 9th March 2021)

Term of office: Bettina Goerner was appointed as a Non-Executive 
Director in March 2019. She was chair of the Remuneration 
Committee and was also a member of the Audit Committee.

Current external appointments: Nevis GmbH

Time commitment: 1 to 2 days per month

Mirko Walter, Non-Executive Director (appointed 9th 
March 2021)

Term of office: Mirko Walter was appointed as a Non-Executive 
Director in March 2021. 

Current external appointments: none

Time commitment: 1 to 2 days per month

GOVERNANCE 20

Directors who served on the Board during the year ending 
31 December 2020 and stepped down include:

James Ede-Golightly, Non-Executive Chairman 
(resigned 25 June 2020)

Term of Office: Appointed as Non-executive Chairman on  
21 July 2014.

Lauren Lees, Executive Finance Director  
(resigned 19 October 2020)

Term of Office: Appointed as Finance Director on 28 June 2019.

7. EVALUATE BOARD PERFORMANCE BASED ON 
CLEAR AND RELEVANT OBJECTIVES, SEEKING 
CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT

Whilst the Group does not currently have an externally facilitated 
appraisal process for Directors, the Chair engages with all 
Directors to ensure that their individual contribution is relevant 
and effective and that they are committed members of the Board.

Furthermore, at the end of each Board meeting the Chair and 
Non-Executive Directors meet to identify areas to provide 
constructive feedback to the Executive Directors as part of 
continuous improvement. This process of evaluation will be 
kept under review and the Board will consider whether formal 
evaluations are appropriate in the future.

8. PROMOTE A CORPORATE CULTURE THAT IS 
BASED ON ETHICAL VALUES AND BEHAVIOURS

Our long-term growth is underpinned by our core values, which 
are considered to be:

1. 

 We place our customer users first and ensure that we 
understand the current and future needs of those who use 
our products and services, and always strive to exceed their 
expectations.

2. 

 We are committed to innovation in what we do and how we 
do it, by being creative, pragmatic and different.

3. 

4. 

 We focus on creating an environment where people want 
to work and give their best and feel empowered to make a 
difference.

 We expect all our directors and employees to respect each 
other, to act honourably, to follow the law and to conduct 
business with the highest professional and ethical standards.

We aim for the culture of the Group to be characterised by these 
values. The Board believes that a culture that is based on these 
values provides competitive advantage and is consistent with 
fulfilment of the Group’s mission and execution of its strategy.

Our staff handbook and standard operating procedures outline 
the fundamentals of our values to all staff (including business 
integrity, anti-bribery, gifts, intellectual property, etc). The Group 
is committed to providing equal opportunities in employment 
and the creation of a work environment where everyone is 
treated with dignity and respect. The Group has developed 
and implemented policies and processes to ensure that all job 
applicants and employees receive equal treatment regardless of 
gender, race, age, disability, sexual orientation, religion or belief, 
nationality or ethnic origin.

An open culture of discussion is fostered and, given the size of 
the Group, it is not considered necessary to monitor stakeholder 
satisfaction through the use of satisfaction or engagement surveys 
at this stage, other than for staff engagement surveys which 
are undertaken periodically. A staff performance appraisal and 
CPD process was implemented in 2019 which encompasses the 
Group’s core values and business model goals, embedding them 
across the Company laying the foundation for the planned growth 
and commercialisation of our Digital Glassware ™ platform.

9. MAINTAIN GOVERNANCE STRUCTURES AND 
PROCESSES THAT ARE FIT FOR PURPOSE AND 
SUPPORT GOOD DECISION-MAKING BY THE 
BOARD

The Board provides strategic leadership for the Group and 
operates within the scope of our chosen corporate governance 
framework. Its purpose is to ensure the delivery of long-term 
shareholder value, which involves setting the culture, values and 
practices that operate throughout the business, and defining the 
strategic goals that the Group implements in its business plans. 
The Board defines a series of matters reserved for its decision and 
has approved terms of reference for its Audit and Remuneration 
Committees to which certain responsibilities are delegated. The 
chair of each committee reports to the Board on the activities of 
that committee.

The Audit Committee monitors the integrity of financial 
statements, oversees risk management and control and reviews 
external auditor independence.

The Remuneration Committee sets and reviews the compensation of 
the Board and reviews proposals regarding employee remuneration.

DeepMatter Group Plc Annual Report 2020DeepMatter Group Plc Annual Report 2020 21

• 

 Approving resolutions to be put to general meetings of 
shareholders and the associated documents or circulars; and

•  Approving changes to the board structure.

The Board has approved the adoption of the QCA Code as its 
governance framework against which this statement has been 
prepared and will monitor the suitability of this Code on an annual 
basis and revise its governance framework as appropriate as the 
Group evolves.

10. COMMUNICATE HOW THE COMPANY 
IS GOVERNED AND IS PERFORMING 
BY MAINTAINING A DIALOGUE WITH 
SHAREHOLDERS AND OTHER RELEVANT 
STAKEHOLDERS

In addition to the investor relations activities described above 
under the principles item number 2, the Group encourages 
two-way communication with both its institutional and private 
investors and respond quickly to all queries received. The Chair and 
Chief Executive talk regularly with the Group’s major shareholders 
and ensure their views are communicated fully to the Board.

The Independent Non-Executive Chair has overall responsibility for 
corporate governance and in promoting high standards throughout 
the Group. She leads and chairs the Board, ensuring that 
committees are properly structured and operate with appropriate 
terms of reference, leads in the development of strategy and 
setting objectives, and oversees communication between the 
Group and its shareholders.

The Chief Executive reviews operational matters and the 
performance of the business and is responsible for significant 
management decisions. The Chief Executive provides coherent 
leadership and management of the Group, leads the development 
of objectives, strategies and performance standards as agreed 
by the Board, monitors, reviews and manages key risks and 
strategies with the Board, ensures that the assets of the Group 
are maintained and safeguarded, leads on investor relations 
activities to ensure communications and the Group’s standing with 
shareholders and financial institutions is maintained, and ensures 
that the Board is aware of the views and opinions of stakeholders 
where relevant.

The Chief Executive is responsible for implementing and delivering 
the strategy and operational decisions agreed by the Board, 
making operational and financial decisions required in the day-to-
day operation of the Group, providing executive leadership and 
championing the Group’s values.

The Non-Executive Directors contribute independent thinking and 
judgement through the application of their external experience and 
knowledge, scrutinise the performance of management, provide 
constructive challenge to the Non-Executive Chair and ensure that 
the Group is operating within the governance and risk framework 
approved by the Board.

The Chief Executive is responsible for providing clear and timely 
information to the Board and its committees and supports the 
Board on matters of corporate governance and risk.

The matters reserved for the full Board include:

•  Setting long-term objectives and commercial strategy;

•  Approving annual operating and capital expenditure budgets;

•  Changing the share capital or corporate structure of the Group;

•  Approving half year and full year results and reports;

•  Approving dividend policy and the declaration of dividends;

• 

 Approving major investments, disposals, capital projects or 
contracts;

GOVERNANCE 22 DeepMatter Group Plc Annual Report 2020
DeepMatter Group Plc Annual Report 2020

BOARD OF 
DIRECTORS

MARK WARNE
CHIEF EXECUTIVE

Mark Warne was appointed as Chief 
Executive Officer of the Company on 
the 2 July 2018. Mark, who joined 
DeepMatter as a Non-Executive Director 
in September 2015 also served as its 
Executive Chairman between April 2017 
and July 2018. Mark is widely recognised 
in the UK and International life sciences 
sector, having spent almost 10 years at IP 
Group Plc, a leading intellectual property 
commercialisation company, where he 
led the Healthcare team. He managed 
a portfolio of £330m of net assets in 
2016/2017 and represented IP Group 
on the boards of both listed and private 
companies. In 2018, concurrent with the 
integration of Touchstone Innovations 
into IP Group, Mark became a Partner in 
the Life Sciences division. He joined IP 
Group from pre-clinical drug discovery 
CRO, Exelgen, where he was Managing 
Director. Mark spent eight years at 
Exelgen (formerly Tripos Discovery 
Research) where he also held positions 
in licensing and strategic affairs, project 
management and research. He has a PhD 
in Computational Chemistry, an MSc in 
Colloid Science and a BSc in Chemistry, 
all from the University of Bristol. Mark is 
a Chartered Chemist and member of the 
Royal Society of Chemistry. He serves as 
a Non-Executive Director on the boards 
of Open Orphan Plc and Ixico Plc.

FRASER BENSON
CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER

KAREN BACH
NON-EXECUTIVE CHAIR

Karen brings significant public and private 

Fraser Benson was appointed as Chief 

technology expertise, particularly focused 

Financial Officer of the Company in 

on helping young technology businesses 

November 2020. Fraser has 17 years of 

deliver on their growth potential, with 

accounting experience and significant 

an understanding of the life sciences 

exposure to fast-growing software 

through her Non-Executive Directorship 

businesses having worked at Tradeweb 

at Datapharm Ltd. This is coupled with 

Markets Inc., a NASDAQ listed electronic 

a strong financial background, having 

fixed income and derivatives trading 

held the CFO role at growing technology 

platform, for eight years, latterly as 

Finance Director, Europe and Asia, 

businesses; IXEurope Plc, ACS Plc and 

Kewill Plc; and with blue chip multi-

supporting the Group’s international 

nationals including EDS France, MCI 

growth. Previous experience includes 

WorldCom, General Motors and Ernst & 

working with a range of organisations 

Young. Karen is currently Chair of Amino 

from FTSE 100 companies through to 

Technologies Plc and Consult Red Ltd 

Venture Capital backed businesses across 

and Non-Executive Director of Escape 

multiple sectors.

Hunt Plc. As well as advising businesses, 

Karen is a member of the 30% Club, 

which supports boards to appoint more 

female directors and increase the pipeline 

of upcoming female talent at board and 

senior management levels.

GOVERNANCE

 23

LAURENCE EDE
NON-EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

BETTINA GOERNER
NON-EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

MIRKO WALTER
NON-EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Laurence Ede was the Managing Director 

Bettina Goerner is Managing Director, 

Mirko Walter is Vice President Sales at 

and co-owner of Tocris Bioscience, a 

Databases, at Springer Nature, based 

Springer Nature, a research, educational 

company producing chemical compounds 

in Heidelberg, Germany. She oversees 

and professional publisher. Mirko 

for pharmaceutical research, when it was 

product development, portfolio 

oversees a global sales team of account 

sold to Techne Corporation for £75M 

management and commercialisation for 

managers and new business specialists 

in 2011. Mr. Ede had previously led the 

the databases and corporate product 

with a focus on workflow and data 

Management Buyout of Tocris for £14M 

lines. This spans a portfolio of products 

solutions. His team’s focus centres on 

five years earlier and grew its value by 

relevant to academic institutions and 

business model and product innovation 

focusing on developing the business to 

corporations with R&D activity in areas 

to optimize R&D workflows together 

be an increasingly significant provider of 

like drug discovery and material sciences. 

with clients in areas like drug discovery 

products within the life science arena. 

Springer Nature was created as a result of 

and material sciences. Before joining 

Mr. Ede is currently a Non-Executive 

the merger of Nature Publishing Group, 

Springer Nature, Mirko held various 

Director of Ubiquigent Ltd, a drug 

Palgrave Macmillan, Macmillan Education 

business development positions including 

discovery services company and Rosa 

and Springer Science+Business Media in 

at McKesson, a S&P 500 company and 

Biotech Ltd, a biosensor development 

May 2015. Bettina graduated in Molecular 

global leader in healthcare supply chain 

business.  He has a BSc in Chemistry from 

Biology (MSc) from the International Max 

management solutions.

Reading University and an MBA from the 

Planck Research School after a research 

University of Bath.  

stay at the Harvard Institute of Medicine. 

She first ventured into the corporate 

world with assignments at McKinsey & 

Company and INSEAD Business School, 

before joining Springer Nature in 2008. 

She was responsible for Springer Nature’s 

open access activities from 2009 to 

2013 before moving to her current 

position. Bettina resigned as a Director of 

DeepMatter on 9 March 2021

 24

DIRECTORS’ 
REPORT

The Directors present their report and the audited 
consolidated financial statements for DeepMatter Group Plc 
(“the Company”) and its subsidiaries (“the Group”) for the 
year to 31 December 2020. The Company has four wholly 
owned subsidiaries, three of which are active trading entities, 
InfoChem GmbH (“InfoChem”), DeepMatter Limited (“DML”) and 
OpenIOLabs Limited (“OpenIOLabs”). DeepMatter Tech Limited 
(“DTL”) is a dormant subsidiary.

RESULTS AND DIVIDENDS

The audited consolidated financial statements have been prepared 
for the year to 31 December 2020. The loss before tax for the 
year was £2.66 million (2019: £3.36 million). The Directors do 
not recommend a dividend in respect of the year to 31 December 
2020 and no dividends were paid during the year under review or 
the prior year.

PRINCIPAL ACTIVITIES

The Group’s ongoing business activity, undertaken by DML and 
InfoChem, is that of the digitisation of the chemical space coupled 
with innovative chemical discovery. The Group continues to make 
exciting progress in deploying its DigitalGlassware® technology 
platform, comprising an easy-to-use software interface and a 
unique, low footprint sensor array, which allows an individual to 
access reproducible chemistry via internet protocols. An additional 
summary of the Group’s activities is included in the Our Offering 
and Strategy section on page 1.

Our objectives for 2020, as outlined in our 2019 report 
and accounts were based around further development of 
DigitalGlassware® through: 

• 

• 

 Organic growth or the User Base, Data Repository and 
Revenues 

 Strategic Partnerships with influencers, sector adjacent 
hardware and data providers 

•  Commercial validation of the aggregate data proposition 

•  Signing more revenue-generating contracts with large pharma 

• 

 Enhancing the Platform’s capabilities in Research and Process 
Chemistry and Teaching

We are pleased to report good progress against all these 
non-financial measures, which is evidenced throughout the report.

BUSINESS REVIEW

A review of Group performance and future prospects is given in 
the CFO’s statement on page 13 and the CEO’s Statement on 
page 10.

SHARE CAPITAL

The share capital of the Company increased in the year through 
the issue of 143,063,335 ordinary shares to raise funds and 
42,800,000 ordinary shares issued in respect of the InfoChem 
acquisition in 2019.

SUBSTANTIAL SHAREHOLDINGS

No single person directly or indirectly, individually or collectively, 
exercises control over the Company. The Directors are aware 
of the following persons, who had an interest in 3% or more 
of the issued ordinary share capital of the Company as at 
31 December 2020:

Name

No. of ordinary 
shares

% holding

IP Group and controlled undertakings

260,159,497

35.32%

Richard Griffiths and controlled 
undertakings

Hargreaves Landsdown Stockbrokers

Springer Nature

Prof Lee Cronin

Robert Quested

GU Holdings

Interactive Investor

Jarvis Investment Management

69,250,000

68,912,915

68,400,000

57,173,019

42,285,369

39,373,994

32,971,370

29,733,125

7.51%

7.47%

7.42%

6.20%

4.58%

4.27%

3.57%

3.22%

At this date no other person had notified any interest in the 
ordinary shares of the Company in respect of holdings exceeding 
the 3% threshold. Richard Griffiths and controlled undertakings 
notified that on 5th May 2021 their shareholding had reduced 
to 4.88%.

DIRECTORS AND THEIR INTERESTS

The Directors who have held office during the year and in the 
subsequent period to the signing of these financial statements 
were as follows:

•  Mark Warne

•  Lauren Lees (resigned 19 October 2020)

•  Laurence Ede 

•  James Ede-Golightly (resigned 25 June 2020)

•  Bettina Goerner (resigned 9 March 2021)

•  Karen Bach (appointed 1 November 2020)

•  Fraser Benson (appointed 1 November 2020)

•  Mirko Walter (appointed 9 March 2021)

DeepMatter Group Plc Annual Report 2020DeepMatter Group Plc Annual Report 2020 25

DIRECTORS’ REMUNERATION 
REPORT

The remuneration of the Directors from all Group companies for 
the year under review is shown below:

Share Price Trigger
(£)

Number of plan shares in respect of which the 
Options may be exercised

None

0.04

0.06

0.08

0.10

0.12

0.14

0.16

0.18

0.20

1,666,667

1,111,112

277,778

277,778

277,778

277,778

277,778

277,778

277,778

277,775

The share option charge recognised in respect of the options 
granted to Fraser Benson was £2,000 (2019: £nil) for the year 
ending 31 December 2020.

On 11 March 2019, the Board granted an award of options to 
Mark Warne over 25,000,000 ordinary shares at an exercise price 
of 2.5 pence. Provided Mark remains an employee, his options 
vest over 36 months starting from the 11 March 2019 but subject 
to specific share price triggers being reached. All unexercised 
options lapse after 10 years from the date of grant. 

The share option charge recognised in respect of the options 
granted to Mark Warne was £145,000 (2019: £274,000) for the 
year ending 31 December 2020.

DIRECTORS’ INTERESTS AND INDEMNITY 
ARRANGEMENTS 

Directors’ interests in the shares of the Company, including family 
interests, are disclosed in the section below. No Director had, 
during or at the end of the year, a material interest in any contract 
which was significant in relation to the Group’s business except in 
respect of service agreements and share options and as disclosed 
above and on pages 57-59.

As permitted by the Articles of Association, in accordance with 
the provisions of the Companies Act 2006 the Company has 
maintained insurance throughout the year for its Directors and 
officers against the consequences of actions brought against them 
in relation to their duties for the Company. The Company has 
granted no indemnities to any of its Directors against liability in 
respect of proceedings brought by third parties.

DIRECTORS’ REMUNERATION 

Name of Director

Mark Warne 

Laurence Ede

James Ede-
Golightly

Bettina Goerner

Lauren Lees

Karen Bach

Fraser Benson

Michael 
Bretherton 

David Cleevely 

Lee Cronin 

Salaries
and fees
£’000

175

28

13

–

74

10

22

–

–

–

Pension
Contributions
£’000

7

–

–

–

3

–

–

–

–

–

Total 
December
2020
£’000

182

28

13

–

77

10

22

–

–

–

Total 
December
2019
£’000

158

24

20

–

44

–

–

6

4

4

322

10

332

260

All Directors have service contracts with one month’s notice 
with the exception of the Chief Executive Officer whose 
service contract is for six months’ notice and Chief Financial 
Officer whose service contract is for three months’ notice. The 
Directors are all required to put themselves up for re-election 
periodically in accordance with the Articles of Association and all 
service contracts and letters of appointment are subject to early 
termination provisions.

Remuneration for Executive Directors is recommended by the 
Remuneration Committee and agreed by the Board as a whole. 
During the year, two Executive Directors benefitted from pension 
payment contributions of £10,205 (2019: £9,200). At the present 
time, none of the Executive Directors receive any other benefits 
and nor do they receive a bonus from the discretionary bonus 
scheme.

Remuneration for Non-Executive Directors is set by the Board as 
a whole. Non-Executives do not receive any pension payments 
or other benefits and nor do they participate in bonus or share 
option schemes.

DIRECTORS’ SHARE OPTIONS

On 18 December 2020, the Board granted an initial award of 
options to Fraser Benson over 5,000,000 ordinary shares at an 
exercise price of 2.5 pence. Provided Fraser remains an employee, 
his options vest over 36 months starting from the 1 March 2021 
but subject to specific share price triggers being reached as set 
out in the table below. All unexercised options lapse after 10 years 
from the date of grant. 

GOVERNANCE 26

DIRECTORS REMUNERATION REPORT 
CONTINUED

DIRECTOR DEALINGS IN SHARES OF THE 
COMPANY

The Company has adopted a model code for Directors’ dealings 
in securities of the Company which is appropriate for a company 
quoted on AIM. The Directors comply with Rule 21 of the AIM 
Rules relating to Directors’ dealings and also take all reasonable 
steps to ensure compliance by the Group’s “applicable employees” 
as defined in the AIM Rules.

DIRECTORS’ INTERESTS IN SHARES OF THE 
COMPANY

The beneficial interests of the Directors in the issued share capital 
of the Company at 31 December 2020 are given below:

Ordinary shares of £0.0001 each

31 December 2020

31 December 2019

Number

Percent

Number

Mark Warne

3,874,808

0.42% 1,541,475

Laurence Ede

1,601,586

0.18% 1,201,586

Karen Bach 

500,000

0.05%

–

Percent

0.21%

0.16%

–

James Ede-
Golightly

1,659,544

0.18% 2,680,249

0.36%

On behalf of the Board

Mark Warne 
Chief Executive Officer 
28th May 2021

Company Number: 05845469

DeepMatter Group Plc Annual Report 2020DeepMatter Group Plc Annual Report 2020 27

AUDIT AND RISK 
COMMITTEE REPORT 

THE BOARD 

The Board currently comprises a Non-Executive Chair, a Chief Executive Officer, a Chief Financial Officer and two Non-Executive 
Directors. 

For the year ending 31 December 2020, the Board consisted of five directors of whom two are executive and three are non-executive. 
Two non-executive directors are independent directors.

All Directors are required to attend Board and relevant Board Committee meetings and, where possible, the AGM each year and to be 
available at other times as required for face-to-face and telephone meetings with the executive team and investors as reasonable. Each 
Director is required to keep their skill set up to date by attendance at webinars, CPD training and attending relevant corporate update 
sessions where appropriate. 

Meetings held in the 12 months to 31 December 2020 and the attendance of the Directors at these meetings is summarised below:

Position

Executive Directors

Mark Warne

Fraser Benson (appointed 1 November 2020)

Lauren Lees (resigned 19 October 2020)

Independent Non-Executive Directors / Committee Members

Karen Bach (appointed 1 November 2020)

Laurence Ede

Bettina Goerner 

James Ede-Golightly (resigned 25 June 2020)

AUDIT COMMITTEE

Independence

Board
(9)

Audit
(2)

Remuneration
(2)

Total

Attendance

No

No

No

Yes

Yes

No

No

9/9

1/1

7/7

1/1

9/9

9/9

5/5

–

–

–

1/1

2/2

2/2

1/1

–

–

–

1/1

2/2

2/2

1/1

9/9

1/1

7/7

3/3

13/13

13/13

7/7

100%

100%

100%

100%

100%

100%

100%

The Audit Committee’s primary responsibilities are to monitor the integrity of the financial affairs and statements of the Company, to 
ensure that the financial performance of the Company and any subsidiary of the Company is properly measured and reported on, to 
review reports from the Company’s auditors relating to the accounting and internal controls and to make recommendations relating to 
the appointment of the external auditors.

The Audit Committee comprises Laurence Ede, who acts as Chair, and Karen Bach. The Chair of the Audit Committee is provided with 
a comprehensive guide for review of the company’s Financial Reporting Cycle by the CFO, which includes advice on nurturing a culture 
of improvement, timing, planning, reporting on skillset and experience and the use of auditors and follows guidance suitable for Audit 
committees of AIM quoted companies issued by the FRC and ICAEW(2019). 

REMUNERATION COMMITTEE

The Remuneration Committee’s primary responsibilities are to review the performance of the Executive Directors of the Company and 
to determine the broad policy and framework for their remuneration and the terms and conditions of their service and that of senior 
management (including the remuneration of and grant of options to such persons under any share scheme adopted by the Company). The 
Remuneration Committee comprises Karen Bach, who acts as Chair, and Laurence Ede. The remuneration of Non-Executive Directors is 
set by the Board as a whole.

GOVERNANCE 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 28

AUDIT AND RISK COMMITTEE REPORT 
CONTINUED

INTERNAL CONTROL

The Board is responsible for maintaining a sound system of 
internal control. The Board’s measures are designed to manage, 
but not eliminate, risk and such a system provides reasonable but 
not absolute assurance against material misstatement or loss. 

Some key features of the internal control system are:

(i) 

 Management accounts information, budgets, forecasts and 
business risk issues are regularly reviewed by the Board which 
meets at least four times per year;

(ii)   The Group has operational, accounting and employment 

policies in place;

(iii)   The Board actively evaluates the risks inherent in the business 
and ensures that appropriate controls and procedures are in 
place to manage these risks; and

(iv)   There is a clearly defined organisational structure and well-
established operational and financial reporting and control 
systems.

Going concern

As in previous years the Group has continued to utilise its cash 
resources to fund losses whilst the DigitalGlassware® platform is 
commercialised and the sales pipeline is being established.

The Group continues to actively seek new business opportunities 
and progress discussions with our existing partners. At the year 
end, the timing and value of new revenue contracts remains 
uncertain. However, discussions are progressing and are expected 
to result in additional new revenues for the Group. 

The cash balance at the 31 December 2020 was £2.6m. Based 
on its current expenditure, the Directors have a reasonable 
expectation that the Group has adequate resources to be a going 
concern.

The Directors consider that it is appropriate to adopt the going 
concern basis in preparing the consolidated financial statements. 
Accordingly, the financial statements do not include any 
adjustments which would be required if the going concern basis 
of preparation was deemed to be inappropriate. However, if the 
Group is unable to deliver upon its proposed revenue projections, 
or alternatively proposed cost reductions, there is limited 
headroom in the current forecasts and as such there is considered 
a material uncertainty which may cast significant doubt about the 
Group’s ability to continue as a going concern.

Post balance sheet event

Bettina Goerner indicated her intention to stand down as a 
Non-Executive director in line with her resignation from Springer 
Nature, whom she had represented on the board since the 

acquisition of Infochem in 2019. This also comes at the end of the 
two year period post acquisition where Springer Nature have the 
right to board level representation.

Mirko Water agreed to join the board as Non-Executive 
director, replacing Bettina Goerner. Mirko is also an employee of 
Springer Nature.

Risk management

The Group’s risk management objectives and exposure are 
detailed in the Strategic Report on pages 17 and 18 and in 
note 22 of the financial statements.

Employment policy

When applicable, the Directors are committed to continuing 
involvement and communication with employees on matters 
affecting both the employees and the Group.

The Group supports employment of disabled people wherever 
possible through recruitment, by retention of those who become 
disabled and generally through training, career development and 
promotion.

Creditor payment policy

The Group seeks to abide by the payment terms agreed with 
suppliers whenever it is satisfied that the supplier has provided 
the goods or services in accordance with the agreed terms and 
conditions. The Group does not have a standard code of conduct 
that deals specifically with the payment of suppliers.

At the end of the year outstanding invoices for the Group and 
Company represented 11 days purchases (2019: 24 days). 

Annual General Meeting

The next Annual General Meeting will take place at 13:00 on the 
24 June at the Group’s registered office; St Brandon’s House, 
29 Great George Street, Bristol, BS1 5QT. Given the COVID-19 
pandemic and rules on gatherings, we would ask that shareholders 
do not attend in person but vote by proxy.

Voting rights 

On a show of hands at a general meeting of the Company every 
holder of shares present in person and entitled to vote, and every 
proxy duly appointed by a member entitled to vote, has one vote 
and on a poll every member present in person or by proxy and 
entitled to vote has one vote for every share held. 

Further details regarding the Annual General Meeting can be 
found in the Notice of Annual General Meeting at the back of 
this document. None of the shares carry any special rights with 
regard to control of the Company. Electronic and paper proxy 
appointments and voting instructions must be received by the 

DeepMatter Group Plc Annual Report 2020DeepMatter Group Plc Annual Report 2020AUDIT AND RISK COMMITTEE REPORT 
CONTINUED

 29

Company’s transfer agent not later than 48 hours (not counting 
non-working days) before the meeting.

Statement of Directors’ responsibilities

The Directors are responsible for preparing the Annual Report and 
the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and 
regulations.

Company law requires the Directors to prepare financial 
statements for each financial year. Under that law, the Directors 
have prepared the Group and parent company financial 
statements in accordance with international accounting standards 
in conformity with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006.

Under company law, the Directors must not approve the financial 
statements unless they are satisfied that they give a true and fair 
view of the state of the affairs of the Company and of the Group 
and of the profit or loss of the Group for that period.

In preparing these financial statements, the Directors are 
required to:

Independent Auditors

The independent auditors, Nexia Smith & Williamson, have 
indicated their willingness to continue in office and a resolution 
that they be reappointed will be proposed at the AGM. 

Disclosure of information to auditors

So far as each Director is aware, there is no relevant audit 
information of which the Company and the Group’s auditor was 
unaware. Each Director has taken all the steps that the director 
ought to have taken as a Director in order to make himself or 
herself aware of any relevant audit information and to establish 
that the Company and the Group’s auditor was aware of that 
information.

This information is given and should be interpreted in accordance 
with the provisions of S418 of the Companies Act 2006. 

Approved by order of the Board

• 

• 

• 

• 

 Select suitable accounting policies and then apply them 
consistently;

 Make judgements and accounting estimates that are 
reasonable and prudent;

Laurence Ede 
28th May 2021

 State whether applicable international accounting standards 
in conformity with the requirements of the Companies Act 
2006 have been followed, subject to any material departures 
disclosed and explained in the financial statements; and

 Prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis 
unless it is inappropriate to presume that the Group will 
continue in business.

The Directors are responsible for keeping adequate accounting 
records that are sufficient to show and explain the Company’s 
transactions and disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time 
the financial position of the Company and the Group and enable 
the Directors to ensure that any financial statements comply 
with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006. They are also 
responsible, as a matter of general law, for safeguarding the assets 
of the Company and the Group and hence for taking reasonable 
steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other 
irregularities. The Directors are also responsible for ensuring that 
they meet their responsibilities under the AIM rules.

The Directors are responsible for the maintenance and integrity 
of the company’s website (www.deepmatter.io), and legislation in 
the UK governing the preparation and dissemination of financial 
statements, may differ from legislation in other jurisdictions. 

GOVERNANCE 30

INDEPENDENT AUDITOR’S REPORT 

TO THE MEMBERS OF DEEPMATTER GROUP PLC

OPINION

We have audited the financial statements of Deepmatter 
Group plc (the ‘parent company’) and its subsidiaries (the 
‘group’) for the year ended 31 December 2020 which comprise 
the Consolidated Statement of Comprehensive Income, the 
Consolidated and Parent Company Statements of Financial 
Position, the Consolidated and Parent Company Statements of 
Cash Flows, the Consolidated and Parent Company Statements 
of Changes in Equity and the notes to the financial statements, 
including significant accounting policies. The financial reporting 
framework that has been applied in their preparation is applicable 
law and international accounting standards in conformity with the 
requirements of the Companies Act 2006.

In our opinion, the financial statements:

• 

• 

• 

 give a true and fair view of the state of the group’s and of the 
parent company’s affairs as at 31 December 2020 and of the 
group’s loss for the year then ended; 

 have been properly prepared in accordance with international 
accounting standards in conformity with the requirements of 
the Companies Act 2006; and

 have been prepared in accordance with the requirements of 
the Companies Act 2006.

BASIS FOR OPINION

We conducted our audit in accordance with International 
Standards on Auditing (UK) (ISAs (UK)) and applicable law. Our 
responsibilities under those standards are further described in the 
Auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements 
section of our report. We are independent of the group and 
parent company in accordance with the ethical requirements 
that are relevant to our audit of the financial statements in the 
UK, including the FRC’s Ethical Standard as applied to listed 
entities, and we have fulfilled our other ethical responsibilities 
in accordance with these requirements. We believe that the 
audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to 
provide a basis for our opinion. 

MATERIAL UNCERTAINTY RELATED TO GOING 
CONCERN

We draw attention to note 4 to the financial statements 
concerning the group and parent company’s ability to continue as 
a going concern. 

The group reported a loss of £2.4 million for the year. Further 
funding arrangements may be required to allow it to continue to 
meet its liabilities as they fall due for the next 12 months if the 
forecast revenues and proposed future cost reductions are not 
achieved. Uncertainties exist over the quantum and timing of 

future revenue streams and the level and timing of future cost 
reductions.

This condition, as further explained in note 4 to the group 
financial statements, indicates the existence of a material 
uncertainty which may cast significant doubt upon the parent 
company and group’s ability to continue as a going concern. Our 
opinion is not modified in respect of this matter.

Our responsibilities and the responsibilities of the directors with 
respect to going concern are described in the relevant sections of 
this report.

Notwithstanding the above, in auditing the financial statements 
we have concluded that the directors’ use of the going concern 
basis of accounting in the preparation of the financial statements 
is appropriate.

The main procedures performed on the going concern assessment 
made by management were as follows:

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

 Challenging and assessing the appropriateness of significant 
assumptions used in the detailed budgets and forecasts 
prepared by management for the period ended 31 May 2022;

 Comparing the forecast results to those actually achieved in 
the 2021 financial period so far;

 Reviewing bank statements to monitor the cash position of 
the group post year end;

 Considering the sensitivity of the assumptions and re-
assessing headroom after sensitivity; and 

 Reviewing the disclosures made by the directors in the 
financial statements in respect of the application of the going 
concern basis.

Emphasis of matter – valuation of goodwill, 
intangible assets and parent company’s investments 
in subsidiaries and intercompany receivables

We draw attention to the disclosures made in note 15 to the 
group financial statements concerning the valuation of goodwill 
and intangible assets and the disclosures made in notes C2 and 
C4 to the parent company financial statements concerning the 
valuation of investments in subsidiaries and of the intercompany 
receivables respectively.

In the group financial statements, the valuation of £4.8 million of 
goodwill and £1.7 million of intangible assets are dependent upon 
the future cash flows generated by the subsidiary companies, 
which are themselves dependent on the value and timing of 
product sales, obtaining regulatory approval and products being 
taken to market, including their successful commercialisation.

DeepMatter Group Plc Annual Report 2020DeepMatter Group Plc Annual Report 2020INDEPENDENT AUDITOR’S REPORT 
CONTINUED

 31

Similarly, the carrying value of investments in subsidiary 
companies of £7.6 million and intercompany receivables of 
£6.5 million are also dependent on these future cash flows.

The ultimate outcome of these matters cannot presently be 
determined, and the financial statements do not reflect any 
provision that may be required if the cash flows generated by the 
subsidiary companies is not as forecast.

Our opinion is not modified in respect of these matters.

KEY AUDIT MATTERS

We identified the key audit matters described below as those that 
were of most significance in the audit of the financial statements 
of the current period. Key audit matters include the most 
significant assessed risks of material misstatement, including those 
risks that had the greatest effect on our overall audit strategy, the 
allocation of resources in the audit and the direction of the efforts 
of the audit team. 

In addressing these matters, we have performed the procedures 
below which were designed to address the matters in the context 
of the financial statements as a whole and, in forming our opinion 
thereon. Consequently, we do not provide a separate opinion on 
these individual matters. 

GOODWILL AND INTANGIBLE ASSET 
IMPAIRMENT – GROUP ONLY

Key audit matter description

As explained further in note 15, the group recognises goodwill 
and other intangible assets in respect of its prior year acquisitions. 
Management are required to undertake impairment reviews on an 
annual basis, in line with accounting standards.

This presents an area of audit risk, given the uncertainty over the 
value and timing of future cash flows and the amortisation period 
assigned. For this reason, we have considered this an area of key 
audit focus. 

RESPONSE TO KEY AUDIT MATTER

We discussed the cash flow forecasts prepared by management in 
their impairment calculation for each CGU. The main procedures 
performed on the calculations, the intangible assets workings and 
areas where we challenged management were as follows:

• 

• 

 testing the quality of management forecasting by comparing 
cash flow forecasts for prior periods to actual outcomes;

 in conjunction with our internal valuation specialists, we 
assessed the appropriateness of the assumptions that had the 
most material impact; the main focus was on forecast costs 
and the discount factor used as the assumptions made by 

management regarding revenue were deemed more uncertain, 
as referred to above in the Emphasis of Matter paragraph; 
market conditions were also considered by comparing the 
market capitalisation to the assets of the business;

• 

• 

• 

 reviewing the amortisation charged during the year for 
intangible assets, to ensure it has been calculated in 
accordance with the group’s amortisation policy and 
consideration of whether the amortisation period is 
appropriate in light of future plans of the Group;

 reviewing the value of the intangible assets against the 
impairment reviews undertaken by management and 
determining whether there is any indication that the assets 
might be impaired; and

 considering the appropriateness of the disclosures made in 
the financial statements in respect of these assets and the 
impairment reviews undertaken.

PARENT COMPANY INVESTMENT IN 
SUBSIDIARIES AND INTERCOMPANY 
RECEIVABLES – PARENT COMPANY ONLY
Key audit matter description
As explained further in notes C2 and C4 to the parent company 
financial statements, the valuation of the investment balance 
related to subsidiary companies and intercompany receivables 
are linked to the assessment of goodwill and the intangible 
assets on consolidation. This presents an area of audit risk, given 
the uncertainty and value of future sales used to determine the 
cash flow projections upon which conclusion was reached that 
the values are deemed recoverable. For this reason, we have 
considered this an area of key audit focus.

RESPONSE TO KEY AUDIT MATTER

We discussed the cash flow forecasts and budgets prepared by 
management in their impairment calculation. The main procedures 
performed on the calculation and areas where we challenged 
management were as follows:

• 

• 

 testing the quality of management forecasting by comparing 
cash flow forecasts for prior periods to actual outcomes;

 testing the appropriateness of the assumptions that had the 
most material impact; the main focus was on forecast costs 
and the discount factor used as the assumptions made by 
management regarding revenue were deemed more uncertain, 
as referred to above in the Emphasis of Matter paragraph; in 
challenging these assumptions, actual results, external market 
conditions and progression of the business against milestones 
set were taken into account; reference to market conditions 
was considered by comparing the market capitalisation to the 
assets of the business;

GOVERNANCE 32

INDEPENDENT AUDITOR’S REPORT 
CONTINUED

• 

• 

• 

 reviewed management’s assessment of the value of the 
investments against the impairment indicators of IAS 36 
and determining whether there is any indication that the 
investments might be impaired;

 reviewing the expected credit loss assessment made of the 
inter-company receivables under IFRS 9; and

 considering the appropriateness of the disclosures made in 
the financial statements in respect of these investments and 
intercompany receivable balances.

OUR APPLICATION OF MATERIALITY

The materiality for the group financial statements as a whole 
(“group FS materiality”) was set at £445,000. This has been 
determined with reference to the benchmark of the group’s 
net assets, which we consider to be one of the principal 
considerations for members of the company in assessing the 
group’s performance. FS materiality represents 5% of the group’s 
net assets as presented on the face of the Consolidated Statement 
of Financial Position.

GOING CONCERN – PARENT AND GROUP

Details of the work undertaken and conclusions reached in 
respect of this matter are included in the ‘Material uncertainty 
related to going concern’ section above.

REVENUE RECOGNITION – GROUP ONLY
Key audit matter description
The group’s revenues are required to be recognised in accordance 
with the requirements of IFRS 15. Due to the nature of revenue 
recognition of the group in respect of the various performance 
obligations within contracts, and the estimates and judgement 
involved in determining the amount of revenue to recognise each 
year, we have considered this an area of key audit focus.

RESPONSE TO KEY AUDIT MATTER

The main procedures performed on the revenue recognised and 
areas where we challenged management were as follows:

•  

 A sample of contracts with customers were obtained and 
reviewed against the steps referenced by IFRS 15. Assessment 
of management’s accounting treatment were performed on 
each contract sampled in respect of:-

–  contracts identified;

–  performance obligations identified;

– 

– 

 determination and allocation of transaction price for each 
of those; and

 determination of revenue recognition method for 
satisfying those performance obligations.

Management were challenged on judgements made.

The revenue recognised in the year was assessed against the 
criteria specified in the standard that demonstrates control has 
passed to the customer:

– 

– 

 Performing tests of detail on revenue to ensure the correct 
amount is recognised in the correct period; and

 considering the appropriateness and completeness of the 
disclosures made in the group financial statements in relation 
to this matter.

The materiality for the parent company financial statements 
as a whole (“parent FS materiality”) was set at £289,250. This 
has been determined with reference to the benchmark of the 
parent company’s net assets, which we consider to be one of the 
principal considerations for members of the company in assessing 
the parent company’s performance. Materiality represents 2% of 
net assets as presented on the face of the Company Statement 
of Financial Position. This materiality level was capped at 
performance materiality of the group.

Performance materiality for the group financial statements was 
set at £289,250, being 65% of group FS materiality, for purposes 
of assessing the risks of material misstatement and determining 
the nature, timing and extent of further audit procedures. We 
have set it at this amount to reduce to an appropriately low level 
the probability that the aggregate of uncorrected and undetected 
misstatements exceeds FS materiality. We judged this level to 
be appropriate based on our understanding of the group and 
its financial statements, as updated by our risk assessment 
procedures and our expectation regarding current period 
misstatements including considering experience from previous 
audits. It was set at 65% to reflect the fact that few misstatements 
were expected in the current period but acknowledged that 
there is an element of judgement and estimation required in the 
preparation of the financial statements.

Performance materiality for the parent company financial 
statements was set at £188,000, being 65% of parent FS 
materiality. We judged this level to be appropriate based on our 
understanding of the company and its financial statements, as 
updated by our risk assessment procedures and our expectation 
regarding current period misstatements including considering 
experience from previous audits. It was set at 65% to reflect the 
fact that few misstatements were expected in the current period 
but acknowledged that there is an element of judgement and 
estimation required in the preparation of the parent company 
financial statements.

DeepMatter Group Plc Annual Report 2020DeepMatter Group Plc Annual Report 2020 
 
 
 
INDEPENDENT AUDITOR’S REPORT 
INDEPENDENT AUDITOR’S REPORT 
CONTINUED
CONTINUED

 33

AN OVERVIEW OF THE SCOPE OF THE AUDIT

Of the group’s five reporting components, we subjected two to 
audits for group reporting purposes and two to specific audit 
procedures where the extent of our audit work was based on 
our assessment of the risk of material misstatement and of the 
materiality of that component. 

The remaining component was a dormant company. 

The components within the scope of our work covered 100% of 
group revenue, 100% of group profit before tax, and 100% of 
group net assets. 

OTHER INFORMATION

The other information comprises the information included in 
the Annual Report other than the financial statements and our 
auditor’s report thereon. The directors are responsible for the 
other information contained within the Annual Report. Our 
opinion on the financial statements does not cover the other 
information and, except to the extent otherwise explicitly stated 
in our report, we do not express any form of assurance conclusion 
thereon. Our responsibility is to read the other information and, 
in doing so, consider whether the other information is materially 
inconsistent with the financial statements or our knowledge 
obtained in the course of the audit or otherwise appears to be 
materially misstated. If we identify such material inconsistencies 
or apparent material misstatements, we are required to determine 
whether this gives rise to a material misstatement in the financial 
statements themselves. If, based on the work we have performed, 
we conclude that there is a material misstatement of this other 
information, we are required to report that fact. 

We have nothing to report in this regard. 

OPINIONS ON OTHER MATTERS PRESCRIBED BY 
THE COMPANIES ACT 2006

In our opinion, based on the work undertaken in the course of the 
audit:

• 

• 

 the information given in the strategic report and the directors’ 
report for the financial year for which the financial statements 
are prepared is consistent with the financial statements; and

 the strategic report and the directors’ report have been 
prepared in accordance with applicable legal requirements.

We have nothing to report in respect of the following matters in 
relation to which the Companies Act 2006 requires us to report to 
you if, in our opinion:

• 

• 

• 

• 

 adequate accounting records have not been kept by the 
parent company, or returns adequate for our audit have not 
been received from branches not visited by us; or

 the parent company financial statements are not in agreement 
with the accounting records and returns; or

 certain disclosures of directors’ remuneration specified by law 
are not made; or

 we have not received all the information and explanations we 
require for our audit.

RESPONSIBILITIES OF DIRECTORS

As explained more fully in the directors’ responsibilities 
statement set out on page 29 the directors are responsible for 
the preparation of the financial statements and for being satisfied 
that they give a true and fair view, and for such internal control 
as the directors determine is necessary to enable the preparation 
of financial statements that are free from material misstatement, 
whether due to fraud or error.

In preparing the financial statements, the directors are responsible 
for assessing the group’s and the parent company’s ability to 
continue as a going concern, disclosing, as applicable, matters 
related to going concern and using the going concern basis of 
accounting unless the directors either intend to liquidate the 
group or the parent company or to cease operations, or have no 
realistic alternative but to do so. 

AUDITOR’S RESPONSIBILITIES FOR THE AUDIT 
OF THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

Our objectives are to obtain reasonable assurance about whether 
the financial statements as a whole are free from material 
misstatement, whether due to fraud or error, and to issue an 
auditor’s report that includes our opinion. Reasonable assurance 
is a high level of assurance, but is not a guarantee that an audit 
conducted in accordance with ISAs (UK) will always detect a 
material misstatement when it exists. Misstatements can arise 
from fraud or error and are considered material if, individually or in 
the aggregate, they could reasonably be expected to influence the 
economic decisions of users taken on the basis of these financial 
statements. 

MATTERS ON WHICH WE ARE REQUIRED TO 
REPORT BY EXCEPTION

In the light of the knowledge and understanding of the group and 
the parent company and their environment obtained in the course 
of the audit, we have not identified material misstatements in the 
strategic report or the directors’ report.

Irregularities, including fraud, are instances of non-compliance 
with laws and regulations. We design procedures in line with our 
responsibilities, outlined above, to detect material misstatements 
in respect of irregularities, including fraud. The extent to which 
our procedures are capable of detecting irregularities, including 
fraud, is detailed below. 

GOVERNANCE 34

INDEPENDENT AUDITOR’S REPORT 
CONTINUED

We obtained a general understanding of the group’s legal and 
regulatory framework through enquiry of management in respect 
of their understanding of the relevant laws and regulations. We 
also drew on our existing understanding of the group’s industry 
and regulation. 

• 

• 

We understand that the group complies with requirements of the 
framework through:

• 

• 

• 

 Outsourcing payroll and tax compliance to external experts for 
certain components.

 Subscribing to relevant updates from external experts to 
ensure internal procedures and controls are up to date and 
making changes as necessary.

 The Directors’ close involvement in the day-to-day running of 
the business, meaning that any litigation or claims would come 
to their attention directly.

In the context of the audit, we considered those laws and 
regulations which determine the form and content of the financial 
statements, which are central to the group’s ability to conduct 
its business and where failure to comply could result in material 
penalties. We have identified the following laws and regulations 
as being of significance in the context of the group:

• 

 The Companies Act 2006 and IFRS in respect of the 
preparation and presentation of the financial statements; and

•  AIM rules and the Market Abuse Regulations.

The senior statutory auditor led a discussion with senior members 
of the engagement team regarding the susceptibility of the 
group’s financial statements to material misstatement, including 
how fraud might occur. The key areas identified as part of the 
discussion were:

• 

• 

 Manipulation of the financial statements through the use of 
manual journal entries; and

 Key areas of judgement and estimation required in relation to 
the capitalisation of development costs, the amortisation of 
intangible assets, revenue recognition and the key inputs for 
impairment reviews.

These areas were communicated to the other members of the 
engagement team who were not present at the discussion.

The procedures we carried out to gain evidence in the above areas 
included;

• 

 Testing of a sample of journal entries, selected through 
applying specific risk assessments based on the processes and 
controls surrounding journal entries;

 Testing of a sample of revenue transactions to underlying 
documentation;

 Challenging management regarding the assumptions used in 
the estimates identified above, with consultation with internal 
specialists, as appropriate (see also the Key Audit Matters 
above).

A further description of our responsibilities is available on 
the Financial Reporting Council’s website at: www.frc.org.
uk/auditorsresponsibilities. This description forms part of our 
auditor’s report.

USE OF OUR REPORT 

This report is made solely to the parent company’s members, as a 
body, in accordance with Chapter 3 of Part 16 of the Companies 
Act 2006. Our audit work has been undertaken so that we might 
state to the parent company’s members those matters we are 
required to state to them in an auditor’s report and for no other 
purpose. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we do not accept 
or assume responsibility to anyone other than the parent company 
and the parent company’s members as a body, for our audit work, 
for this report, or for the opinions we have formed.

Kelly Jones
Senior Statutory Auditor, for and on behalf of 
Nexia Smith & Williamson 

Statutory Auditor
Chartered Accountants

Portwall Place 
Portwall Lane
Bristol 
BS1 6NA 

28th May 2021

DeepMatter Group Plc Annual Report 2020DeepMatter Group Plc Annual Report 2020 
 
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF 
COMPREHENSIVE INCOME 
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2020

Continuing operations

Revenue from contracts with customers

Cost of providing services

Gross profit

Research and development costs

Share based payments

Administrative costs

Other income

Operating loss

Finance income – net

Loss before tax

Taxation

Loss from continuing operations

Discontinued operations

Profit from discontinued operations

Profit on disposal of discontinued operations

Net result from discontinued operations

Loss for the year 

Other comprehensive income 

Amounts which may be reclassified to profit or loss 

Currency translation differences on foreign operation

Total comprehensive loss for the year attributable to:

The Company's equity shareholders

Loss per share attributable to the equity holders of the Company:

 35

Year to 
31 December
2020
£’000

Year to 
31 December
2019
£’000

Notes

7

11

23

11

9

10

25

25

1,319

(433)

886

(1,596)

(167)

(1,980)

187

(2,670)

13

(2,657)

244

(2,413)

–

–

–

1,196

(667)

529

(1,787)

(278)

(1,850)

–

(3,386)

23

(3,363)

346

(3,017)

22

14

36

(2,413)

(2,981)

53

7

(2,360)

(2,974)

Basic and diluted loss per share from continuing operations (pence) 

 20

(0.30)

(0.43)

The notes on pages 39 to 60 form an integral part of these consolidated financial statements.

FINANCIALSTATEMENTS 
 
 36

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF  
FINANCIAL POSITION 
AS AT 31 DECEMBER 2020

Assets

Non-current assets

Intangible assets and goodwill

Investments

Plant and equipment

Right-of-use assets

Current assets

Trade and other receivables

Income tax asset

Cash and cash equivalents

Liabilities

Current liabilities

Trade and other payables

Lease liabilities

Net current assets

Non-current liabilities

Lease liabilities

Deferred tax

Total non-current liabilities

Total net assets

Shareholders equity

Called up share capital

Share premium

Merger reserve

Shares to be issued reserve

Foreign currency translation reserve

Retained deficit 

Total equity attributable to shareholders of the Company

At 31 December
2020
£’000

At 31 December
2019
£’000

Notes

15

13

14

16

10

17

18

14

14

10

19

21

21

21

21

21

6,517

3

25

61

6,606

454

214

2,606

3,274

(598)

(64)

(662)

2,612

–

(318)

(318)

6,633

3

41

182

6,859

432

172

2,607

3,211

(464)

(123)

(587)

2,624

(61)

(341)

(402)

8,900

9,081

92

10,200

5,971

204

60

(7,627)

8,900

74

7,136

5,971

1,274

7

(5,381)

9,081

The financial statements were approved by the Board of Directors on 28th May 2021 and were signed on its behalf by:

Fraser Benson 
Chief Financial Officer

Company Number: 05845469

DeepMatter Group Plc Annual Report 2020DeepMatter Group Plc Annual Report 2020 
 
 
 
 
 37

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF  
CHANGES IN EQUITY 
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2020

Balance at 31 December 2018

Loss for the year to 31 December 2019

Currency translation differences

Total comprehensive loss for the year to 
31 December 2019

Transactions with owners:

Issue of shares for cash

Shares to be issued and issuable on 
acquisition of subsidiary

Share based payment charge

Balance at 31 December 2019

Loss for the year to 31 December 2020

Currency translation differences

Total comprehensive loss for the year to 
31 December 2020

Transactions with owners:

Issue of shares for cash

Deferred consideration shares issued

Share based payment charge

Balance at 31 December 2020

Share 
capital
£’000

55

Share 
premium
£’000

3,287

Merger 
reserve
£’000

5,334

–

–

–

16

3

–

74

–

–

–

14

4

–

92

–

–

–

3,849

–

–

7,136

–

–

–

1,998

1,066

–

10,200

–

–

–

–

637

–

5,971

–

–

–

–

–

–

5,971

Retained 
deficit
£’000

(2,678)

(2,981)

–

(2,981)

–

–

278

(5,381)

(2,413)

–

(2,413)

–

–

167

(7,627)

Shares to 
be issued 
reserve 
£’000

204

–

–

–

–

1,070

–

1,274

–

–

–

–

(1,070)

–

204

Foreign 
currency 
translation
 reserve
£’000

–

–

7

7

–

–

–

7

–

53

53

–

–

–

60

Total 
equity
£’000

6,202

(2,981)

7

(2,974)

3,865

1,710

278

9,081

(2,413)

53

(2,360)

2,012

–

167

8,900

FINANCIALSTATEMENTS 38

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF  
CASH FLOWS 
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2020

Cash flows from operating activities

Operating loss from continuing operations

Operating profit from discontinued operations

Depreciation and amortisation charges

Share based payments charge

Operating cash outflows before movement in working capital

Decrease in inventories

(Increase) in trade and other receivables

Increase /(decrease) in trade and other payables

Cash used in operations

Interest received

Net cash used in operating activities

Cash flows from investing activities

Purchases of property, plant and equipment

Capitalisation of intangible assets

Cash and bank in subsidiary at acquisition net of cash payment

Net cash (used in) / generated by investing activities

Cash flows from financing activities

Proceeds from the issue of share capital 

Transaction costs arising from issue of share capital

Payment of lease liabilities

Taxation received

Net cash generated by financing activities

Net increase in cash and cash equivalents

Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of year

Effects of exchange rate changes on cash and cash equivalents 

Cash and cash equivalents at end of year

Year to 
31 December
2020
£’000

Year to 
31 December
2019
£’000

Notes

(2,670)

(3,386)

25

11

23

 9

13

15

14

10

–

580

167

(1,923)

–

(22)

134

(1,811)

17

(1,794)

(6)

(277)

–

(283)

2,151

(138)

(129)

172

2,056

(21)

2,607

20

2,606

29

558

278

(2,521)

74

(51)

(247)

(2,745)

28

(2,717)

(12)

–

265

253

4,005

(140)

(107)

289

4,047

1,583

1,086

(62)

2,607

DeepMatter Group Plc Annual Report 2020DeepMatter Group Plc Annual Report 2020 
 
 
 
 39

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED  
FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2020

1. CORPORATE INFORMATION

DeepMatter Group Plc (“the Company”) is a public limited 
company incorporated, registered and domiciled in England 
and Wales and its shares are publicly traded on AIM, a market 
operated by the London Stock Exchange. The Group financial 
statements consolidate those of the Company and its subsidiaries 
(together referred to as the “Group” and individually as “Group 
entities”) for the year ended 31 December 2020. The Company 
has four wholly owned subsidiaries, three of which are active 
trading entities, InfoChem GmbH (“InfoChem”), DeepMatter 
Limited (“DML”) and OpenIOLabs Limited (“OpenIOLabs”). 
DeepMatter Tech Limited (“DTL”) is a dormant subsidiary.

The address of the registered office is given on the inside front 
cover of this report. The nature of the Group’s activities is set out 
in the About Us section, Strategic Report and Directors’ Report.

2. BASIS OF PREPARATION

These consolidated and Company financial statements have been 
prepared in accordance with international accounting standards 
in conformity with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006. 
The consolidated financial statements have been prepared under 
the historical cost convention and all values have been rounded 
to the nearest thousand, except where otherwise indicated. The 
functional currency of the Group is Sterling.

The preparation of financial statements in accordance with 
international accounting standards requires the use of certain 
critical accounting estimates. It also requires management to 
exercise its judgement in the process of applying the Group’s 
accounting policies. The areas involving a higher degree of 
judgement or complexity, or areas where assumptions and 
estimates are significant to the Group financial statements are 
disclosed in note 6.

The accounting policies adopted are consistent with those 
followed in the preparation of the Group’s annual financial 
statements for the year ended 31 December 2019, except for the 
adoption of new standards and interpretations noted below. 

NEW AND AMENDED STANDARDS ADOPTED BY 
THE GROUP

Amendments have been made to IAS 1 Presentation of Financial 
Statements and IAS 8 Accounting Policies, Changes in Accounting 
Estimates and Errors in relation to the definition of material. 
The amendments clarify the definition of what is material to the 
financial statements and how to apply the definition.

NEW STANDARDS AND INTERPRETATIONS NOT 
YET ADOPTED 

Certain new accounting standards and interpretations have 
been published that are not mandatory for 31 December 2020 
reporting periods and have not been early adopted by the group. 
These standards are not expected to have a material impact 
on the entity in the current or future reporting periods and on 
foreseeable future transactions. 

3. BASIS OF CONSOLIDATION

The Consolidated Financial Statements incorporate the results 
of the Company and its subsidiaries. Control is achieved where 
the Company is exposed or has rights to variable returns from its 
involvement with the investee and has the ability to affect those 
returns through its power over the investee. Subsidiaries are fully 
consolidated from the date on which control is transferred to 
the Group.

Income and expenses of subsidiaries acquired or disposed of 
during the year are included in the Consolidated Statement of 
Comprehensive Income from the effective date of acquisition 
and up to the effective date of disposal, as appropriate. When 
necessary, adjustments are made to the financial statements of 
subsidiaries to bring their accounting policies into line with those 
used by the Company. All intra-group transactions and balances 
arising from intra-group transactions are eliminated in preparing 
the consolidated financial statements. 

4. GOING CONCERN

Information on the business environment and the factors 
underpinning the Group’s future prospects and product portfolio 
are included in the CEO’s Statement, Strategic Report and the 
Directors’ Report. The cash balance at the 31 December 2020 was 
£2.6m and the group have performed prudent scenario analysis 
on revenue and cost performance. These demonstrate that the 
Group can meet its liabilities as they fall due without further 
funding.

After making appropriate enquiries, the Directors consider that 
it is appropriate to adopt the going concern basis in preparing 
the consolidated financial statements. Accordingly, the financial 
statements do not include any adjustments which would be 
required if the going concern basis of preparation was deemed to 
be inappropriate.  However, if the Group is unable to deliver upon 
its proposed revenue projections, or alternatively proposed cost 
reductions, there is limited headroom in the current forecasts and 
as such there is considered a material uncertainty which may cast 
significant doubt about the Group’s ability to continue as a going 
concern.

FINANCIALSTATEMENTS 40

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 
CONTINUED

5. SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT 
ACCOUNTING POLICIES

SEGMENTAL REPORTING

Operating segments are reported in a manner consistent with the 
internal reporting provided to the chief operating decision maker.

REVENUE FROM CONTRACTS WITH CUSTOMERS

Foreign currency translation

The core principle of IFRS 15 is that an entity should recognise 
revenue to depict the transfer of promised goods or services to 
customers in an amount that reflects the consideration to which 
the entity expects to be entitled to exchange for those goods 
or services.

Revenue is recognised at the fair value of the consideration 
received or receivable for the sale of services in the ordinary 
course of business and is shown net of Value Added Tax. The 
Group primarily earns revenues from the sales of software licenses 
and software consulting services.

A proportion of the contracts consist of multiple performance 
obligations and are bundled contracts. The performance 
obligations in bundled contracts were identified and an estimate 
was made of the fair value of the transaction price. Details of 
the estimates made, and obligations identified is included within 
critical estimates and judgements in note 6.

The following revenue recognition policies are used for InfoChem;

• 

• 

• 

• 

 Software licenses are recognised immediately where the 
performance obligation is satisfied upon the delivery of the 
license to the customer.

 Hosted software licenses are recognised in line with the 
satisfaction of the performance obligation over the license 
term under the output method and revenue not yet earned is 
accounted for within deferred income. 

 Post contract support and maintenance contracts are deferred 
over the contractual term. Revenue is recognised using the 
output method based on the passage of the contractual term.

 Consulting projects are recognised on completion of the 
relevant performance obligations. Applying the output 
method, revenue is recognised as the performance obligation 
is met. 

Deepmatter Limited’s sales of DigitalGlassware® consist of a 
bundled monthly software license and hardware fee. Revenue is 
invoiced and recognised monthly using the output method over 
the contractual term. 

Amounts included in deferred income are expected to 
be recognised within one year and are included within 
current liabilities.

As required by IAS 21, the results and financial position of all 
Group entities that have a functional currency different from the 
presentation currency are translated in the presentation currency 
as follows; 

• 

• 

• 

  Assets and liabilities for each statement of financial position 
presented are translated at the closing rate at the date of the 
statement of financial position;

  Income and expenses for each income statement are 
translated at average exchange rates; and 

  All resulting exchange differences are recognised as a separate 
component of equity in the foreign currency translation 
reserve. 

Leases
A right of use asset and a lease liability has been recognized for all 
leases except leases of low value assets and those with a duration 
of 12 months or less. These are further explained in note 14. The 
right-of-use asset has been measured at cost, which is made up of 
the initial measurement of the lease liability, any initial direct costs 
incurred by the Group, an estimate of any costs to dismantle and 
remove the asset at the end of the lease, and any lease payments 
made in advance of the lease commencement date. 

The Group will depreciate the right-of-use assets on a straight-line 
basis from the lease commencement date to the earlier of the end 
of the useful life of the right-of-use asset or the end of the lease 
term. Where impairment indicators exist, the right of use asset will 
be assessed for impairment. 

The lease liabilities are measured at the present value of the lease 
payments due to the lessor over the lease term, discounted using 
the interest rate implicit in the lease if that rate is readily available 
or the Group’s incremental borrowing rate. 

After initial measurement, any payments made will reduce the 
liability and the interest accrued will increase it. Any reassessment 
or modification will lead to a remeasurement of the liability. In 
such case, the corresponding adjustment will be reflected in the 
right-of-use asset, or profit and loss if the right-of-use asset is 
already reduced to zero.

Additional leases were acquired upon acquisition of InfoChem in 
March 2019 and were recognised under IFRS 16.

DeepMatter Group Plc Annual Report 2020DeepMatter Group Plc Annual Report 2020NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 
CONTINUED

 41

Taxes

Research and development

Current income tax
Current income tax assets and liabilities for the current period are 
measured at the amount expected to be recovered from or paid 
to the taxation authorities. The tax rates and tax laws used to 
compute the amount are those that are enacted or substantively 
enacted, at the reporting date in the countries where the Group 
operates and generates taxable income.

Deferred Tax
Deferred income tax is provided in full, using the liability method, 
on temporary differences arising between the tax bases of assets 
and liabilities and their carrying amounts in the consolidated 
financial statements. However, deferred tax liabilities are not 
recognised if they arise from the initial recognition of goodwill. 
Deferred income tax is also not accounted for if it arises from 
initial recognition of an asset or liability in a transaction other than 
a business combination that, at the time of the transaction, affects 
neither accounting nor taxable profit or loss. Deferred income tax 
is determined using tax rates (and laws) that have been enacted or 
substantively enacted by the end of the reporting period and are 
expected to apply when the related deferred income tax asset is 
realised or the deferred income tax liability is settled.

Deferred tax assets are recognised only if it is probable that 
future taxable amounts will be available to utilise those temporary 
differences and losses.

Deferred tax assets and liabilities are offset where there is a 
legally enforceable right to offset current tax assets and liabilities 
and where the deferred tax balances relate to the same taxation 
authority.

Current and deferred tax is recognised in profit or loss, except 
to the extent that it relates to items recognised in other 
comprehensive income or directly in equity. In this case, the tax 
is also recognised in other comprehensive income or directly in 
equity, respectively.

Sales tax
Revenues, expenses and assets and liabilities are recognised net of 
the amount of sales tax, except:

• 

 Where the sales tax incurred on a purchase of assets or goods 
or services is not recoverable from the taxation authority, 
in which case the sales tax is recognised as part of the cost 
of acquisition of the asset or as part of the expense item as 
applicable;

• 

 Receivables and payables that are stated with the amount of 
sales tax included.

The net amount of sales tax recoverable from, or payable to, the 
taxation authority is included as part of receivables or payables in 
the statement of financial position.

Research costs are charged against income as they are incurred. 
Certain development costs are capitalised as intangible assets, 
when it is probable that future economic benefits will flow to the 
Group. Such intangible assets are amortised on a straight-line 
basis from the point at which the assets are ready for use over the 
period of the expected benefit, and are reviewed for impairment 
at each balance sheet date.

The criteria for recognising development expenditure as an asset are:

• 

• 

 Completion of the intangible asset is technically feasible so 
that it will be available for use or sale;

 The Group intends to complete the intangible asset and use or 
sell it;

• 

 The Group has the ability to use or sell the intangible asset;

• 

 The intangible asset will generate probable future economic 
benefits. Among many other things, this requires that there 
is a market for the output from the intangible asset or for the 
intangible asset itself, or, if it is to be used internally, the asset 
will be used in generating such benefits;

• 

 That the Group has available to it adequate technical, financial 
and other resources to complete the development and to use 
or sell the intangible asset; and

• 

 That the Group can reliably measure the expenditure 
attributable to the intangible asset during its development.

Development costs relating to ICSYNTH have been capitalised 
in the year ending 31 December 2020 as a result of the above 
criteria being met. Amortisation is calculated to write down the 
value of the intangible development on a straight-line basis over 
the useful life of the functionality:

• 

 Software Development Intangible   

2 years

No development costs for DigitalGlassware® have been capitalised 
as intangible assets to date. 

Intangible assets

Intangible assets which arise on consolidation are stated at their 
fair value, net of amortisation and any provision for impairment. 
Amortisation is calculated to write off the value of all intangible 
assets to estimated residual value on a straight-line basis over 
their expected useful lives as follows:

• 

• 

• 

• 

 Patent costs and licensing rights  20 years

 Customer relationships 

 Technology platform 

 Technology database 

10 years

1-2 years

5 years

Amortisation is included within administrative expenses.

FINANCIALSTATEMENTS 
 
 
 42

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 
CONTINUED

Plant and equipment

Business combinations

Plant and equipment are stated at cost, net of depreciation and 
any provision for any impairment. Depreciation is calculated to 
write off the cost of all plant and equipment to estimated residual 
value on a straight-line basis over their expected useful lives as 
follows:

• 

 Plant and machinery 

• 

 Fixtures and fittings 

4 years

4-5 years

• 

 Computer and IT equipment 

3 years

• 

 Right-of-use assets 

Over the term of the lease

The gain or loss arising on the disposal of an asset is determined 
as the difference between the sales proceeds and the carrying 
amount of the asset and is recognised in the Consolidated 
Statement of Comprehensive Income.

Impairment of assets

The Group assesses at each reporting date whether there is an 
indication that an asset may be impaired. If any such indication 
exists, the Group makes an estimate of the asset’s recoverable 
amount. An asset’s recoverable amount is the higher of an asset’s 
or cash-generating unit’s fair value less costs to sell and its value 
in use and is determined for an individual asset, unless the asset 
does not generate cash inflows that are largely independent of 
those from other assets or groups of assets. Where the carrying 
amount of an asset exceeds its recoverable amount, the asset 
is considered impaired and is written down to its recoverable 
amount. In assessing value in use, the estimated future cash flows 
are discounted to their present value using a pre-tax discount 
rate that reflects current market assessments of the time value of 
money and the risks specific to the asset. An impairment loss is 
recognised as an expense immediately.

An assessment is made at each reporting date as to whether there 
is any indication that previously recognised impairment losses may 
no longer exist or may have decreased. If such an indication exists, 
the recoverable amount is estimated. A previously recognised 
impairment loss is reversed only if there has been a change in 
the estimates used to determine the asset’s recoverable amount 
since the last impairment loss was recognised. If that is the case 
the carrying amount of the asset is increased to its recoverable 
amount. That increased amount cannot exceed the carrying 
amount that would have been determined, net of depreciation, 
had no impairment loss been recognised for the asset in prior 
years. Such reversal is recognised in the consolidated statement 
of comprehensive income. After such a reversal the depreciation 
charge is adjusted in future years to allocate the asset’s revised 
carrying amount, less any residual value, on a systematic basis 
over its remaining useful life.

The acquisition method of accounting is used to account for all 
business combinations, regardless of whether equity instruments 
or other assets are acquired. The consideration transferred for the 
acquisition of a subsidiary comprises the:

• 

• 

• 

• 

 fair values of the assets transferred;

 liabilities incurred to the former owners of the acquired 
business;

 equity interests issued by the Group;

 fair value of any asset or liability resulting from a contingent 
consideration arrangement; and

• 

 fair value of any pre-existing equity interest in the subsidiary. 

Identifiable assets acquired and liabilities and contingent liabilities 
assumed in a business combination are, with limited exceptions, 
measured initially at their fair values at the acquisition date. 
Acquisition-related costs are expensed as incurred. 

The excess of the consideration transferred, amount of any non-
controlling interest in the acquired entity and acquisition-date fair 
value of any previous equity interest in the acquired entity over 
the fair value of the net identifiable assets acquired is recorded 
as goodwill. If those amounts are less than the fair value of the 
net identifiable assets of the business acquired, the difference is 
recognised directly in profit or loss as a bargain purchase. 

Contingent consideration is classified either as equity or a 
financial liability. Amounts classified as a financial liability are 
subsequently remeasured to fair value, with changes in fair value 
recognised in profit or loss. 

Goodwill

Goodwill arising on consolidation of subsidiaries represents the 
excess of fair value of the cost of acquisition over the Group’s 
interest in the fair value of the identifiable assets and liabilities 
at the date of acquisition. Goodwill is tested for impairment 
annually and whenever there is an indication that the asset may 
be impaired. Any impairment is charged to the consolidated 
statement of comprehensive income.

Investments

Investments in subsidiaries are stated at cost less any 
impairment in value. Any impairment is charged to the Company 
income statement.

Other Investment assets are accounted for as fair value through 
other comprehensive income. Gains or losses arising from changes 
in fair value are recognised directly in equity until the investment 
is disposed of or determined to be impaired, at which time the 
cumulative gain or loss previously recognised directly in equity, is 
included in the profit or loss for the period.

DeepMatter Group Plc Annual Report 2020DeepMatter Group Plc Annual Report 2020 
 
 
NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 
CONTINUED

 43

Financial assets and liabilities

Government Grants (Furlough & Kurzarbeit)

IFRS 9 states the requirements for the classification and 
measurement of financial assets and financial liabilities, the 
impairment of financial assets, and general hedge accounting. 

Financial assets and financial liabilities are recognised in the 
Consolidated Statement of Financial Position when the Group 
becomes party to the contractual provisions of the instrument. 
Financial assets are de-recognised when the contractual rights 
to the cash flows from the financial asset expire or when the 
contractual rights to those assets are transferred. Financial 
liabilities are de-recognised when the obligation specified in the 
contract is discharged, cancelled or expired.

Subsequent to initial recognition, assets are measured at either 
amortised cost, fair value through other comprehensive income or 
fair value through profit or loss.

Cash and cash equivalents

Cash and cash equivalents comprise cash at hand, bank balances 
and short-term deposits of less than three months. The Group’s 
funds are held for the purpose of funding the future growth of the 
business. Deposits are placed with banks and financial institutions 
with a sound credit rating, and such investments are regularly 
reviewed by the Board.

Share-based payments

Employees (including senior executives) of the Group receive 
remuneration in the form of share-based payment share 
option transactions, whereby employees rendered services as 
consideration for equity instruments (equity-settled transactions).

All goods and services received in exchange for the grant of 
any share-based payment are measured at their fair values. 
Where employees are rewarded using share-based payments, 
the fair values of employees’ services are determined indirectly 
by reference to the fair value of the instrument granted to 
the employee. 

Share options are valued at the date of grant using the Monte 
Carlo model or by applying Binomial probability modelling and are 
charged to operating profit over the overall vesting period of the 
award with a corresponding credit to retained earnings.

Where an equity-settled award is cancelled, it is treated as if 
it vested on the date of cancellation, and any expense not yet 
recognised for the award is recognised immediately. 

Upon exercise of share options, the proceeds received net of 
attributable transaction costs are credited to share capital, and 
where appropriate, share premium.

The use of the UK Government Coronavirus Job Retention 
Scheme (Furlough) and German Government Kurzarbeit (short 
work scheme) leads to income being received from government 
bodies. The payments are accounted for on an accruals basis and 
the payments are not netted against the employee costs in the 
financial statements. The company did not use any other forms of 
government Coronavirus assistance.

6. CRITICAL ACCOUNTING 
ESTIMATES AND JUDGEMENTS

The Group makes estimates and assumptions concerning the 
future. The resulting accounting estimates will, by definition, 
seldom equal the actual results. The estimates and assumptions 
that have a significant risk of causing a material adjustment to the 
carrying amounts of assets and liabilities within the next financial 
year are addressed below.

CRITICAL ACCOUNTING ESTIMATES

Impairment of tangible and intangible assets

The Group tests whether goodwill has suffered any impairment 
on an annual basis. For the 2020 and 2019 reporting periods, 
the recoverable amount of the cash-generating units (CGUs) was 
determined based on value-in-use calculations which require the 
use of assumptions. 

As a result of the acquisition of InfoChem, goodwill is monitored 
by the Directors at the level of the two operating segments of 
DeepMatter and InfoChem. 

DeepMatter

It is Management’s assessment that the CGU of DeepMatter 
includes both the Group’s investment in Deepmatter Limited 
and in OpenIOLabs as the technology platform acquired 
upon acquisition of OpenIOLabs in 2017 is used within the 
DeepMatter CGU. 

The value-in-use calculations in respect of DeepMatter use cash 
flow projections based on financial budgets approved by the 
Directors covering a five-year period. Cash flows beyond the five 
year periods are extrapolated using a multiplier of 10. The pre-tax 
discount rate applied was 12.0%. 

FINANCIALSTATEMENTS 44

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 
CONTINUED

Based on the CGU calculation for DeepMatter, the directors have 
considered whether there are any indicators of impairment to 
the goodwill figure of £4,123,000 which arose on the acquisition 
of DML in 2015 and the carrying amount of the intangible of 
£614,000 (2019: £650,000) related to the intangible technology 
license agreement held by OpenIOLabs and which arose on the 
acquisition of that company in 2017. The Directors concluded that 
no impairment charge is required at 31 December 2020.

The directors acknowledge, however, that whilst the CGU of 
DeepMatter is still at an early stage of development, there is 
considerable uncertainty regarding the valuation of the above 
goodwill of £4,123,000 and the further £614,000 (2019: 
£650,000) attributed to the intangible technology licence 
agreement being used by DeepMatter, based on any estimate of 
the net present value of DeepMatter’s future cash flows.

InfoChem

The CGU of InfoChem encompasses the trade of InfoChem which 
was acquired on the 15 March 2019. 

The value-in-use calculations in respect of InfoChem use cash 
flow projections based on financial budgets approved by the 
Directors covering a five-year period. Cash flows beyond the 
five- year period are extrapolated using a multiplier of 10. The 
pre- tax discount rate applied was 12%. 

Based on the CGU calculation for InfoChem, the directors have 
considered whether there are any indicators of impairment to the 
goodwill figure of £720,000 which arose on the acquisition of 
InfoChem and the carrying amount of the intangibles of £974,000 
(2019:£1,046,000) related to the intangible technology assets 
and customer relationship asset which arose upon acquisition. 
The Directors concluded that no impairment charge is required 
at 31 December 2020. The directors acknowledge, however, that 
there is considerable uncertainty regarding the valuation of the 
above goodwill of £720,000 and the further £974,000 attributed 
to the intangible assets, based on any estimate of the net present 
value of InfoChem’s future cash flows.

Revenues - InfoChem

A proportion of the contracts with customers include bundled 
performance obligations. In allocating the transaction price to the 
relevant performance obligations, the following estimates were 
made:

• 

 Post Contract Support (PCS) includes bug fixing and minor 
compatibility updates. The transaction price allocated to 
PCS was estimated to be 15% of the contract value. This is 
consistent with the transaction price in contracts where PCS is 
sold as a single performance obligation. 

to service warranty obligations was estimated to be 15% of 
the contract value. This is consistent with the transaction price 
in contracts where a service warranty obligation is sold as a 
single performance obligation.

INTER-COMPANY BALANCES

To support working capital requirements, loans are provided to 
Group subsidiary companies. The Directors consider these inter-
company balances to be recovered through the on-going trade 
of the subsidiaries which is based on the forecast underlying 
cashflows of these companies for which uncertainty remains over 
whether these will be achieved. 

Inter-company loans are considered repayable on demand and no 
interest is payable on these loans.

JUDGEMENTS 

Going Concern

The Directors have modelled a number of different revenue 
outcomes for the year ahead. In line with this, cost run rates have 
been modelled and discretionary costs have been quantified and 
different cost scenarios established. Based on the year end cash 
balance of £2.6m, and the scenarios considered, the Directors 
have a reasonable expectation that the Group will have sufficient 
funding to meet its commitments and are of the opinion it is a 
going concern. However, if the Group is unable to deliver upon 
its proposed revenue projections, or alternatively proposed cost 
reductions, there is limited headroom in the current forecasts and 
as such there is considered a material uncertainty which may cast 
significant doubt about the Group’s ability to continue as a going 
concern.

Revenues

In adopting IFRS 15 ‘Contracts with Customers’, judgements 
were made by the Directors as to the timing of the satisfaction 
of performance obligations and the amounts allocated to 
performance obligations.

The following judgements were made in respect of the timing of 
the satisfaction of performance obligations:

• 

• 

• 

 Software licenses which are delivered by a license key are 
determined to satisfy the performance obligation at the point 
of delivery and revenue is recognised immediately;

 Hosted Software licenses are determined to satisfy the 
performance obligation over the contractual license term;

 Post contract support and maintenance is delivered 
throughout the license term and is determined to satisfy the 
performance obligation over the contractual license term; and

• 

 Service warranty obligations reflect service level agreements 
(SLAs) agreed with customers. The transaction price allocated 

• 

 Consulting work is recognised on completion of the relevant 
performance obligation as agreed with the customer.

DeepMatter Group Plc Annual Report 2020DeepMatter Group Plc Annual Report 2020NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 
CONTINUED

 45

Short term evaluation trials of software products by customers 
are recognised as one performance obligation as it is determined 
that the customer is required to experience all aspects of the 
evaluation to fully assess the software. 

The Directors have determined that minor warranty obligations are 
not a separate performance obligation and are a quality guarantee. 
The term of the guarantee is one year and is effective throughout 
the license term which is 12 months. As a result, no warranty 
provision under IAS 37 has been calculated as the license term end 
dates are concurrent with the 31 December 2020.

There are no customer contracts in the Group which are 
determined to contain a significant financing component. 

Estimate of useful life of acquired intangible assets

Upon acquisition of InfoChem on the 15 March 2019, intangible 
assets were identified and restated to their fair values. The 
Directors made a judgement in respect of the expected useful 
lives of the intangible assets acquired and an appropriate 
amortisation charge is made. The useful economic life of the 
intangibles was estimated as follows:

• 

 Customer relationships    

10 years

• 

 Technology platform  

1 -2 years

• 

 Technology database  

5 years

The Directors acknowledge, however, the actual useful life may be 
shorter or longer than the estimates made, depending on technical 
innovations and competitor actions.

Capitalisation of internally developed software

Distinguishing the research and development phases of a software 
product and determining whether the requirements for the 
capitalisation of development costs are met requires judgement. 
The Directors will assess whether a project meets the recognition 
criteria as set out in IAS 38 based on an individual project. 
Where the criteria are not met, the research and development 
expenditure will be expensed in the Consolidated Statement of 
Comprehensive Income. Where the recognition criteria are met, 
the items will be capitalised as an intangible asset. The Directors 
judgment was that development of ICSYNTH met the criteria. The 
Group is now able to accurately track the cost of development 
which was not possible previously. Amortisation for ICSYNTH 
started from July and the intangible will be amortised over 2 years.

The Directors judgment was that development of 
DigitalGlassware® did not currently meet the criteria for 
capitalisation. While feedback and engagements with academic 
and corporate customers continue to be positive, the directors 
consider the confirmation of a market will be more clearly 
demonstrable later in 2021 when some further development 
milestones have been achieved.

Leasing

In determining the lease term under IFRS 16, the Directors 
consider all facts and circumstances that create an economic 
incentive to exercise an extension option, or not exercise 
a termination option. Extension options (or periods after 
termination options) are only included in the lease term if the 
lease is reasonably certain to be extended (or not terminated). 

The lessee’s incremental borrowing rate applied to the lease 
liabilities was 3.5% (2019 3.5%)

7. SEGMENTAL REPORTING

The Chief Operating Decision Maker has been identified as the 
Chief Executive Officer (“CEO”) of the company. The Group has 
two operating segments and the CEO reviews the Group’s internal 
reporting which recognises these two segments in order to assess 
performance and allocate resources. The Group has determined its 
reportable segments which are also its operating segments based 
on these reports. The Group currently has two operating and 
reportable segments being DeepMatter and InfoChem; 

• 

• 

 DeepMatter – this segment owns, develops and is in the 
early stage of commercially exploiting intellectual property, 
software, hardware and data analysis capabilities (including 
machine learning) combined as a visionary, disruptive platform 
called DigitalGlassware®, enabling step changes in productivity 
and discovery for scientists in the pharma and life science 
sectors. 

 InfoChem – this segment develops and commercialises 
cheminformatics software to handle, store and retrieve 
chemical structures and reactions for application in pharma, 
life sciences and scientific publications. The segment has 
industry established market leading tools for the production 
of synthesis planning and reaction prediction solutions and 
the automatic extraction of scientific information from text 
and images. 

Information regarding the operation of the reportable segments is 
included below. The CEO assesses the performance of the operating 
segments based on revenue and a measure of earnings before 
interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) before any 
allocation of Group overheads, charges for share based payment and 
costs associated with acquisitions. This segment EBITDA is used to 
measure performance as the CEO believes such information is most 
relevant in evaluating the results of the segment. 

The Group’s EBITDA for the year has been calculated after 
deducting the Group overheads from the EBITDA of the two 
segments as reported internally. Group overheads include the cost 
of the Board, listing costs, all the costs of running the premises 
in Glasgow and Munich, Group marketing, finance and legal and 
professional fees. 

FINANCIALSTATEMENTS 
 
 46

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 
CONTINUED

The segment information is prepared using accounting policies consistent with those of the Group as a whole. 

The non-current assets are reviewed by the chief operating decision-maker in reviewing the carrying value of goodwill and intangibles 
for indicators of impairment. Segment non-current assets are measured in the same way as in the financial statements and the assets are 
allocated based on the operations of the segment and the physical location of the asset.

The current assets and non-current and current liabilities of the Group are not reviewed by the chief operating decision-maker on a 
segment basis and therefore none of the Group’s current assets and current and non-current liabilities are segmental assets and liabilities 
and are all unlocated for segmental disclosure purposes. For that reason, the Group has not disclosed details of these segmental assets 
and liabilities. 

In the year to 31 December 2020, the Group had 2 customers that exceeded 10% of total revenue, being 18% and 13% 
(2019: 3 customers that exceeded 10% of total revenue, being 21% and two each at 17%).

All segments are continuing operations. 

REVENUE FROM CONTRACTS WITH CUSTOMERS BY GEOGRAPHIC LOCATION

Year ended 31 December 2020

Year ended 31 December 2019

Germany

Switzerland

United Kingdom

North America

Rest of the world

Revenue for the period

External
£’000

 692 

 171 

 162 

 174 

 120 

 1,319 

Internal
£’000

– 

 – 

 – 

 – 

 – 

 – 

Total
£’000

 692 

 171 

 162 

 174 

 120 

 576 

 347 

 157 

 103 

 13 

 1,319 

 1,196 

External
£’000

Internal
£’000

 – 

 – 

 – 

 – 

 – 

 – 

The revenues reported above are both by destination and origin.

REVENUE FROM CONTRACTS WITH CUSTOMERS BY OPERATING SEGMENT

DeepMatter

InfoChem

Revenue from contracts with customers

LOSS BY OPERATING SEGMENT

Year ended 31 December 2020

Year ended 31 December 2019

External
£’000

 83 

 1,236 

 1,319 

Internal
£’000

 – 

 – 

 – 

Total
£’000

 83 

 1,236 

 1,319 

External
£’000

 40 

 1,156 

 1,196 

Internal
£’000

 – 

 – 

 – 

Year ended 31 December 2020

Year ended 31 December 2019

Total
£’000

 576 

 347 

 157 

 103 

 13 

 1,196 

Total
£’000

 40 

 1,156 

 1,196 

EBITDA 
before share 
based payments 
and acquisition 
costs
£’000

Depreciation, 
amortisation, 
acquisition 
costs & share 
based payments 
£’000

EBITDA 
before share 
based payments
and acquisition
costs
£’000

Depreciation, 
amortisation,
 acquisition 
costs & share 
based payments 
£’000

Operating 
Profit/(loss)
£’000

DeepMatter

InfoChem

Group overheads

Acquisition costs

Other income

Share based payments

Loss before tax and interest

Group interest and tax

Discontinued operations after tax

Profit on disposal of discontinued operation

Loss for the period

(993)

213 

(1,299)

 – 

 – 

(2,079)

(101)

(511)

 – 

–

(167)

(779)

(1,094)

(298)

(1,299)

–

187 

(167)

(2,670)

257 

–

–

(2,413)

(1,295)

(108)

(1,104)

(2,507)

(78)

(481)

0 

(42)

(278)

(879)

Operating 
Profit/(loss)
£’000

(1,373)

(589)

(1,104)

(42)

 – 

(278)

(3,386)

369 

22 

14 

(2,981)

DeepMatter Group Plc Annual Report 2020DeepMatter Group Plc Annual Report 2020 
NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 
CONTINUED

NON-CURRENT ASSETS BY SEGMENT

DeepMatter

 UK

 Germany

InfoChem

 UK

 Germany

Total non-current segment assets

Unallocated:

Financial assets at fair value through other comprehensive income

Total non-current assets as per the statement of financial position

8. EMPLOYEE BENEFIT EXPENSE

Salaries and fees

Social security costs

Pension costs

Share based payments (note 23)

The average monthly number of employees of the Group was:

Directors

Technical, scientific and administrative staff

DIRECTORS’ EMOLUMENTS

The following disclosures are in respect of the emoluments paid to the Directors of the Company

Salaries and fees 

Pension contributions

Share based payments 

Directors remuneration

Social security costs

Key Management personnel remuneration

9. FINANCE INCOME AND EXPENSE

Finance income

Bank interest receivable

Finance expense

Interest charge for lease liabilities

Net finance income

 47

Year ended 
31 December 
2020
£’000

Year ended 
31 December 
2019
£’000

 5,585 

 4,965 

–

 – 

 1,018 

 6,603 

 3 

 6,606 

2020
£’000

2,136

365

50

167

2,718

2020
No.

5

36

41

2020
£’000

322

10

147

479

39

518

2020
£’000

17

 – 

 – 

 1,891 

 6,856 

 3 

 6,859 

2019
£’000

2,069

303

48

278

2,698

2019
No.

5

33

38

2019
£’000

251

9

278

538

29

567

2019
£’000

28

(4)

13

(5)

23

FINANCIALSTATEMENTS 
 
 
 
 48

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 
CONTINUED

10. TAXATION

Current Tax

UK Corporation tax credit on continuing operations

UK tax credit on discontinued operations (note 25)

Total UK corporation tax credit

Deferred income tax

Deferred tax credit

Total deferred tax credit

Total tax credit

2020
£’000

214

–

214

30

30

244

2019
£’000

172

(7)

165

174

174

339

The tax credit in the consolidated statement of comprehensive income for the year is detailed below. Current tax credit is lower than the 
standard rate of corporation tax in the UK of 19% (2019: 19%). The differences are reconciled below:

Loss before tax on continuing operations

Profit before tax on discontinued operations

Loss before tax on total operations

Loss multiplied by the average standard rate of corporation tax in the UK of 19% (2019: 19%)

Effects of:

Expenses not deductible for tax

R&D tax credits received in respect of prior periods *

Utilisation of tax losses

Prior year adjustment

Difference in overseas tax rates

Deferred tax not recognised on losses carried forward

Total tax credit

Tax credit on continuing operations

Tax charge on discontinued operations

Total tax credit 

2020
£’000

(2,657)

–

(2,657)

(505)

39

(214)

2

–

(42)

477

(244)

(244)

–

(244)

2019
£’000

(3,363)

43

(3,320)

(631)

67

(172)

(7)

7

(76)

473

(339)

(346)

7

(339)

*The tax credit accounted for in 2020 was received in January 2021 and is shown as an income tax asset at the 31 December 2020 year 
end

DEFERRED TAX

Deferred Tax Assets

The balance comprises temporary timing difference attributable to:

Fair value adjustment to revenues

Deferred tax assets 

Deferred Tax Liabilities

The balance comprises temporary timing difference attributable to:

Intangible assets

Deferred tax liabilities

Net deferred tax liabilities

2020
£’000

–

–

2020
£’000

(318)

(318)

2019
£’000

4

4

2019
£’000

(345)

(345)

(318)

(341)

DeepMatter Group Plc Annual Report 2020DeepMatter Group Plc Annual Report 2020 
 
 
NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 
CONTINUED

 49

Deferred Tax Losses

The losses available for carry forward at 31 December 2020 comprise those of the Company and its four subsidiaries, DeepMatter, 
DeepMatter Technology, InfoChem, and OpenIOLabs and amount to £12,435,000 at 31 December 2020 (2019: £10,290,000). No 
deferred tax asset has been recognised in respect of the losses as recoverability is uncertain.

Tax losses carried forward

Share based payment charge

Deferred tax assets (unrecognised)

2020
£’000

2,439

85

2,524

2019
£’000

1,960

53

2,013

Change in Corporation Tax rate
The Finance Bill 2021 includes legislation to increase the main rate of corporation tax from 19% to 25% from 1 April 2023. These 
changes are not included above as the Finance Bill 2021 was not substantively enacted by the year end. Accordingly, unrecognised 
deferred tax assets and liabilities have been calculated at the tax rate of 19% (2019: 17%).

11. OPERATING COSTS

Operations

Employee benefit expense (see note 8)

Depreciation of property, plant and equipment (See note 13)

Depreciation of right-of-use assets (see note 14)

Amortisation of intangible assets (See note 15)

Operating lease costs

Loss on disposal of property, plant and equipment (See note 13)

Research and development costs

Foreign exchange gains and losses

Other income (see below)

2020
£’000

2,718

23

121

436

–

–

1,596

1

187

The company made use of Government schemes to help reduce costs in the early stage of the COVID 19 pandemic. In the UK the 
Government Furlough scheme contributed towards the salaries of employees not working by £77,000. In Germany the Kurtzarbeit 
scheme allowed employees to work less hours flexibly and the company was reimbursed for the time not working by £110,000.

12. AUDITORS’ REMUNERATION 

During the year the Company obtained the following services from the Company’s auditor.

Continuing operations

Fees payable to the Company’s auditor:

- The audit of the Company and consolidated accounts

- The audit of the Company’s subsidiaries 

- The provision of non-audit services 

2020
£’000

28

28

–

2019
£’000

2,698

26

107

419

31

6

1,787

1

–

2019
£’000

25

25

2

FINANCIALSTATEMENTS 
 50

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 
CONTINUED

13. PLANT AND EQUIPMENT

Cost

At 31 December 2018

On acquisition

Additions

Disposal

Foreign currency translation

At 31 December 2019

Additions

Foreign currency translation

At 31 December 2020

Depreciation

At 31 December 2018

On acquisition

Charge for the year

Disposal

Foreign currency translation

At 31 December 2019

Charge for the year

Foreign currency translation

At 31 December 2020

Net Book Value

At 31 December 2018

At 31 December 2019

At 31 December 2020

14. LEASES

Plant & 
machinery
£’000

Fixtures & 
fittings
£’000

Computer 
equipment
£’000

10

194

–

(78)

1

127

–

8

135

5

180

7

(73)

1

120

7

8

135

5

7

0

2

49

–

(3)

–

48

6

–

54

–

32

5

(3)

–

34

4

–

38

2

14

16

42

68

12

(57)

1

66

–

4

70

20

67

14

(56)

1

46

12

3

61

22

20

9

This note provides information where the Group is a lessee.

14(A) AMOUNTS RECOGNISED IN THE CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL POSITION

The consolidated statement of financial position shows the following amounts relating to leases:

Right-of-use assets

Buildings

Hardware

Vehicles

Total

Lease liabilities

Current

Non-Current

Total

2020
£’000

34

20

7

61

64

–

64

Total
£’000

54

311

12

(138)

2

241

6

12

259

25

279

26

(132)

2

200

23

11

234

29

41

25

2019
£’000

126

41

15

182

123

61

184

DeepMatter Group Plc Annual Report 2020DeepMatter Group Plc Annual Report 2020 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 
CONTINUED

 51

14(B) AMOUNTS RECOGNISED IN THE CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF COMPREHENSIVE INCOME

The Consolidated Statement of Comprehensive Income shows the following amounts relating to leases:

Depreciation charge for right-of-use assets

Buildings

Hardware

Vehicles

Total

Interest expenses (included in finance cost)

The total cash outflow for leases in 2020 was £129,000 (2019: £107,000)

2020
£’000

91

22

8

121

4

2019
£’000

81

19

7

107

5

14(C) THE GROUP’S LEASING ACTIVITIES AND HOW THESE ARE ACCOUNTED FOR

The Group leases the following assets;

• 

• 

• 

 UK office – The Group leases an office in the UK for the operations of DML. The lease commenced on the 1 October 2019 and has a 
fixed term of 24 months. 

 German office – An office is leased in Munich for the operations of InfoChem. The lease commenced on the 15 March 2019 and had 
a fixed term of 16 months, ending in July 2020. The office is now used on a rolling short term agreement. 

 Servers – Hardware servers are leased to support operational activity. The lease term commenced on the 1 November 2017 ran for 
an initial 36 months, renewing for an additional 12 months in November 2020. The term auto renews for a period of 12 months if 
notice of termination is not served. 

• 

 Vehicles – Vehicles are leased over 3-year contractual terms. Vehicles leases were acquired on the acquisition of InfoChem. 

The lease agreements above do not impose any covenants and leased assets may not be used as security for borrowing purposes.

IFRS 16 was adopted in 2019, prior to this, the Group only had operating lease contracts with terms of less than or equal to 12 months. 
Under IFRS 16 leases are recognised as a right-of-use asset and a corresponding liability at the date at which the leased asset is available 
for use by the Group.

Assets and liabilities arising from a lease are initially measured on a present value basis. Lease liabilities include the net present value of 
the following lease payments:

• 

 Fixed payments, less any lease incentive receivable; and

• 

 Payments of penalties for terminating the lease, if the lease term reflects the Group exercising that option.

The lease payments are discounted using the interest rate implicit in the lease. If that rate cannot be readily determined, which is 
generally the case for leases in the Group, the Group’s weighted average incremental borrowing rate of 3.5% is used, being the rate 
that the Group would have to pay to borrow the funds necessary to obtain an asset of similar value to the right-of-use asset in a similar 
economic environment with similar terms, security and conditions.

The Group is exposed to potential future increases in variable lease payments in respect of the offices based on rent reviews which are 
not included in the lease liability until they take effect. When adjustments to lease payments take effect, the lease liability is reassessed 
and adjusted against the right-of-use asset.

Lease payments are allocated between principal and finance cost. The finance cost is charged to profit or loss over the lease period so as 
to produce a constant periodic rate of interest on the remaining balance of the liability for each period.

Right-of-use assets are measured at cost comprising the amount of the initial measurement of the lease liability.

Right-of-use assets are generally depreciated over the shorter of the asset’s useful life and the lease term on a straight-line basis.

FINANCIALSTATEMENTS 52

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 
CONTINUED

Payments associated with short-term leases of equipment and all leases of low-value assets are recognised on a straight-line basis as an 
expense in the Consolidated Statement of Comprehensive Income. Short-term leases are leases with a lease term of 12 months or less. 
Low-value assets comprise IT equipment and small items of hardware equipment.

15. INTANGIBLE ASSETS 

Patents & 
Licences
£’000

Customer 
Relationships
£’000

Technology 
Assets
£’000

Goodwill
£’000

Total
£’000

Cost

At 31 December 2018

Acquisition of subsidiary

Foreign currency translation

At 31 December 2019

Capitalisation of Development

Foreign currency translation

At 31 December 2020

Amortisation 

At 31 December 2018

Amortisation for year

Foreign currency translation

At 31 December 2019

Amortisation for year

Foreign currency translation

At 31 December 2020

Net Book Value

At 31 December 2018

At 31 December 2019

At 31 December 2020

845

–

–

845

–

–

845

54

44

–

98

44

–

142

791

747

703

–

378

(1)

377

–

22

399

–

31

(1)

30

37

2

69

–

347

330

–

1,029

(4)

1,025

277

44

1,346

–

344

(18)

326

355

21

702

–

699

644

4,123

720

(3)

4,840

–

–

4,840

–

–

–

–

–

4,123

4,840

4,840

4,968

2,127

(8)

7,087

277

66

7,430

54

419

(19)

454

436

23

913

4,914

6,633

6,517

In 2019, InfoChem was acquired for a consideration of £2.031m and intangible assets were recognised upon determining the fair value 
of the net assets. Technology assets totalling £1,029,000 were recognised at the date of acquisition reflecting core cheminformatics 
technologies and customer relationships were valued at £378,000. The details of the intangible assets acquired, and their estimated 
useful economic lives are as follows:

• 

 £261,000 reflecting technology which extracts chemical meta-data from papers and patents with multi-lingual support. The 
technology asset is being amortised over a 2-year economic useful life. 

• 

 £175,000 assigned in respect of the ICSYNTH technology platform which has been amortised over a 1-year economic useful life. 

• 

 £593,000 assigned to license rights for a chemical reaction database which is being amortised over a 5-year economic useful life.

• 

 £378,000 has been assigned to customer relationships due to recurring software license sales is being amortised over a 10-year 
economic useful life.

In 2020 two releases of ICSYNTH development have been capitalised totalling £277,000. This will be amortised over a 2-year 
economic life. 

The only other licence assets held at 31 December 2020 are that of a technology licence agreement with the University of Glasgow, 
which is being amortised over a 20 year useful economic life, together with licences relating to a one-point-of-control technology asset 
platform developed by OpenIOLabs, which are also being amortised over a 20 year useful economic life.

DeepMatter Group Plc Annual Report 2020DeepMatter Group Plc Annual Report 2020 
NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 
CONTINUED

 53

CASH GENERATING UNITS (CGUs)

The Group tests goodwill and intangible assets allocated to cash generating units annually by comparing the recoverable amount of the 
unit with the carrying amount of the unit. The recoverable amount is determined based on estimated value in use calculated using a 
discounted cash flow model which is dependent on the timing and amount of forecast sales and when relevant regulatory approvals are 
achieved. 

For the year ending 31 December 2020, the Group has identified two cash generating units within the Group. The CGU of DeepMatter 
encompasses the trade of DML and the remaining technology assets of OpenIOLabs. The CGU of InfoChem encompasses the trade of 
InfoChem. 

DeepMatter CGU

Where practical, forecasts are prepared over the expected life cycle of the Group’s proposed products based on management’s current 
project plans for the next five years. The forecasts are not based on past experience owing to the early stage development of the project. 
The recoverable amount is most sensitive to the discount rate used in the discounted cash flow model (a pre-tax discount rate of 12% has 
been used) as well as the expected future cash flows and the multiple of year five cash flows used in determining the estimated terminal 
value at that date (a multiple of 10 has been used). The Group have considered sensitivities in regard to the assumptions used and have 
reviewed both the discount factor and multiple of earnings. A variation in the discount rate of 22.3% would be required to indicate an 
impairment on the carrying value of goodwill and intangible asset of £4,826,000.

The Directors acknowledge that whilst both DML and OpenIOLabs are still at an early stage of development, there is material uncertainty 
regarding the valuation of this goodwill based on any estimate of the net present value of the subsidiary entities’ future cash flows. This 
material uncertainty arises because of the unpredictability of the timing and amount of any revenue cash flow receipts or the full cost 
base cash outflows required to generate such revenues. 

InfoChem CGU

Forecasts are prepared covering the next five years and are prepared based on management’s current project plans for the next five years. 
The recoverable amount is most sensitive to the discount rate used in the discounted cash flow model (a pre-tax discount rate of 12% has 
been used) as well as the expected future cash flows and the multiple of year five cash flows used in determining the estimated terminal 
value at that date (a multiple of 10 has been used). The Group have considered sensitivities in regard to the assumptions used and have 
reviewed both the discount factor and multiple of earnings. A variation in the discount rate of 20.7% or a drop of 7.4 in the terminal exit 
multiplier would be required to indicate an impairment on the carrying value of goodwill and intangible asset of £1,691,000.

The Directors acknowledge that whilst InfoChem is an established company with recurring revenue streams, there is material uncertainty 
regarding the valuation of this goodwill and intangible assets based on any estimate of the net present value of the subsidiary entity’s 
future cashflows. This material uncertainty arises due to the unpredictability of the timing of revenues and uncertainty regarding the 
commercialisation of the technologies acquired. 

The Directors will continue to review the progress of the subsidiary entities in following the Group roadmap to the digitisation of 
chemistry and the pursuit of opportunities to commercialise its platform technology. In the event that any impairment to goodwill is in 
fact required in the future, this would result in a non-cash impairment charge through the consolidated statement of comprehensive 
income and with a corresponding reduction to intangible assets and goodwill in the statement of financial position.

16. TRADE AND OTHER RECEIVABLES

Current:

Trade receivables

Other receivables

Prepayments

Total Trade and Other receivables

2020
£’000

387

38

29

454

2019
£’000

289

111

32

432

FINANCIALSTATEMENTS 
 
 
 54

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 
CONTINUED

AGEING OF TRADE RECEIVABLES

31 December 2020

Gross carrying amount of trade receivables

Impairment provision

Net carrying value of trade receivables

Current

 302 

 – 

 302 

More than 
30 days
 past due

More than 
60 days 
past due

More than 
120 days 
past due

 77 

–

 77 

 12 

 (10) 

2

16

(10)

 6 

Total

 407 

(20)

 387 

The Directors consider that the carrying amount of trade and other receivables approximates to their fair values. There was a provision 
of £20,000 (2019: £4,000) for impairment in respect of trade receivables at the 31 December 2020. The credit quality of those trade 
receivables not past due and not impaired is considered good.

17. CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS

Cash at bank and in hand

Denominated in UK Sterling

Denominated in Euros

Cash at bank and in hand

18. TRADE AND OTHER PAYABLES

Current:

Trade payables

Social security and other taxes

Accrued expenses and other creditors

Deferred Income

Total Trade and Other payables

2020
£’000

2,606

2,374

232

2,606

2020
£’000

37

81

253

227

598

2019
£’000

2,607

2,415

192

2,607

2019
£’000

24

57

288

95

464

Trade and other payables principally comprise amounts outstanding for trade purchases and ongoing costs. They are non-interest bearing 
and are normally settled on 30-45 day terms.

The Directors consider that the carrying amounts of trade and other payables approximates to their fair values.

19. CALLED-UP SHARE CAPITAL

Allotted, issued and fully paid ordinary shares of £0.0001:

At 31 December 2019

Issue of placing shares on 17th July 2020

Issue of deferred revenue shares on 15th September 2020

Issue of subscription shares on 27th October 2020

At 31 December 2020

No. of Shares 

736,533,946

142,563,335

42,800,000

500,000

922,397,281

£’000

74

14

4

0

92

The deferred consideration shares issued to Springer Nature on the 15th September 2020 and admitted to trading on 21st September 
2020, relate to the acquisition of Infochem GmbH on 15th March 2019.

No share options were exercised in the year ending 31 December 2020 (2019 Nil).

DeepMatter Group Plc Annual Report 2020DeepMatter Group Plc Annual Report 2020 
 
NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 
CONTINUED

 55

20. LOSS PER SHARE

Basic loss per share is based on the loss after tax for the year and the weighted average number of ordinary shares of £0.0001 each in 
issue during the year. Diluted loss per share is calculated by adjusting the average number of ordinary shares in issue during the period to 
assume conversion of all dilutive potential ordinary shares. The Company had a total of 31,814,821 potentially issuable dilutive ordinary 
shares in existence at the 31 December 2020 period end, (2019: 74,015,278), comprised of 9,814,821 share options and 22,000,000 
deferred consideration shares issued in relation to the acquisition of OpenIOLabs. The 31,814,821 potentially issuable dilutive shares 
have not been included in the calculations below due to their potential issuance having an effect to reduce loss per share attributable to 
equity holders.

Loss per share

Loss attributable to equity holders of the Group (£’000)

Weighted average number of dilutive shares in issue

Basic and diluted loss per share (pence)

21. RESERVES

2020

2019

(2,413)

(2,981)

814,397,444

699,838,689

(0.30)

(0.43)

Details of the movements in reserves are given in the Statement of Changes in Equity. A description of each reserve is set out below.

SHARE PREMIUM

The share premium account is used to record the aggregate amount or value of premiums paid when the Company’s shares are issued at a 
premium.

During the year, the reserve increased by £2.0m following a placing of shares with a nominal value of £0.01m. The increase to the share 
premium account was offset by £0.1m of costs incurred in raising the proceeds of £2.1m.

The reserve also increased by £1.1m as a result of the issue of 42.8m shares as deferred consideration relating to the acquisition of 
InfoChem in 2019. 

MERGER RESERVE

The merger reserve arose on the acquisition of Deepmatter Limited under section 612 of the Companies Act 2006 as shares with a 
nominal value of £0.002m were issued for a total of £4.9m as consideration. 

The reserve was further increased in November 2017 upon the acquisition of OpenIOLabs as shares with a nominal value of £0.002m 
were issued for a total of £0.46m as consideration.

In 2019, the reserve increased further upon the acquisition of InfoChem as shares with a nominal value of £0.003m were issued for a 
total consideration of £0.64m.

SHARES TO BE ISSUED RESERVE

The shares to be issued reserve arose on the acquisition of OpenIOLabs and has been used to record the fair value at the acquisition date 
of the 22 million potentially issuable deferred consideration shares in connection with that acquisition.

The reserve increased further in 2019 to record the fair value of the 42.8 million potentially issuable deferred consideration shares in 
connection with the acquisition of InfoChem. These shares were issued in September 2020 again reducing the reserve.

RETAINED DEFICIT RESERVE

The reserve relates to the cumulative results made by the Group in the current and prior periods.

In the current period the reserve decreased by the Group’s loss for the year and increased by the share based payment charge for 
the year.

FINANCIALSTATEMENTS 
 56

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 
CONTINUED

FOREIGN CURRENCY TRANSLATION RESERVE

The foreign currency translation reserve arose on the acquisition of InfoChem. The results and financial position of InfoChem are 
translated into the Group’s presentation currency as follows; 

• 

 Assets and liabilities are translated at the closing rate at the date of the statement of financial position; and

• 

 Income and expenses are translated at average exchange rates.

All resulting exchange differences are recognised in the foreign currency translation reserve. 

22. FINANCIAL RISK MANAGEMENT

OBJECTIVES, POLICIES AND PROCESSES

The Board has overall responsibility for the determination of the Group’s risk management objectives and policies, as laid out in the 
Strategic Report. The following information lays out the exposure the Group has to financial instruments.

CAPITAL RISK MANAGEMENT

The Group’s capital is comprised of issued ordinary shares of £0.0001 per share and reserves. The Group manages its capital to ensure 
that entities in the Group will be able to continue as going concerns while maximising the return to shareholders. This is achieved through 
careful investment of surplus cash balances and tight budgetary control.

SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES

Details of significant accounting policies and methods adopted, including criteria for recognition, the basis of measurement and the basis 
on which income and expenses are recognised, in respect of each class of financial asset and financial liability are disclosed in note 5 to 
the financial statements.

Categories of financial instrument 

At 31 December 2019

Investments

Trade and other receivables

Cash and cash equivalents

Trade and other payables

Current lease liabilities

Non-current lease liabilities

Net Total

At 31 December 2020

Investments

Trade and other receivables

Cash and cash equivalents

Trade and other payables

Current lease liabilities

Non-current lease liabilities

Net Total

Financial 
assets at 
amortised cost
£’000

Financial 
liabilities at 
amortised cost
£’000

Financial assets 
at fair value 
through OCI
£’000

–

432

2,607 

– 

–

–

3,039

–

454

2,606

– 

–

–

3,060

–

–

–

(464)

(123)

(61)

(648) 

–

–

–

(598)

(64)

–

(662) 

3

–

–

–

–

–

3 

3

–

–

–

–

–

3 

Total
£’000

 3 

432

2,607 

(464)

(123)

(61)

2,394

 3 

454

2,606 

(598)

(64)

–

2,401

All financial liabilities for both the Group and the Company are payable on standard business terms. The amounts reflected above 
represent the Group’s maximum exposure to credit risk for such loans and receivables. There were no out of term financial assets 
or liabilities. 

DeepMatter Group Plc Annual Report 2020DeepMatter Group Plc Annual Report 2020 
NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 
CONTINUED

 57

Liquidity risk

Liquidity risk is the risk that the Group will not be able to meet its obligations as they fall due through having insufficient resources. The 
Group has a cash balance of £2.61m at 31 December 2020 and the Directors are confident that through management and monitoring of 
working capital levels, it will be able to meet its liabilities as they fall due.

Credit risk

Credit risk is managed on a Group basis. Credit risk arises from cash and cash equivalents, deposits with banks and financial institutions, 
as well as credit exposures to customers. For banks and financial institutions only independently rated parties with sound credit ratings 
are used. For credit exposures to customers the Group assesses the likelihood of payment from various factors including external credit 
ratings, financial records and other relevant factors.

Interest Rate Sensitivity

The interest rate sensitivity of the consolidated loss for the year and equity to a reasonably possible change in interest rates of 1% with 
effect from the beginning of the year is illustrated below. These changes are considered to be reasonably possible based on observation 
of current market conditions. The calculations are based on the Group’s cash and cash equivalents held at the balance sheet date. All 
other variables are held constant. Note that the impact of a fall in rates is limited to the amount of interest earnt during the year.

Interest Rate Sensitivity

Loss for year

Equity

23. SHARE-BASED PAYMENTS

Year to 31 December 2020

Year to 31 December 2019

+1%
£’000

26

26

-1%
£’000

(17)

(17)

+1%
£’000

18

18

-1%
£’000

(18)

(18)

The company operates a share option scheme for the benefit of employees and share options are granted to certain eligible employees. 
The exercise price of the options is equal to the market price of the shares on the date of grant. All options are equity settled and usually 
vest over a period of up to 3 years. If the options remain unexercised after a period of 10 years from the date of grant, the options expire. 
The options are accounted for as equity settled share based payment transactions. Options are forfeited if the employee leaves the 
Group before the options vest.

The table below shows the current active options holders and the date and number of options issued.

Option Holder

Mark Warne

Fraser Benson

Alan Dunn

Steve Coles

Date of issue

Number of 
Options

11th March 2019

25,000,000

18th December 2020

30th September 2020

12th January 2017

5,000,000

5,000,000

1,666,667

On 11 March 2019, options were granted to Mark Warne over 25,000,000 ordinary shares at an exercise price of 2.5 pence, reflecting 
the 2.5 pence issue price of the placing of shares issued between the 12 and 13 March 2019 to raise gross cash proceeds of £4 million. 
Provided Mark remains an employee, his options vest over 36 months starting from the 30th September 2021 but subject to specific 
share price triggers being reached.

FINANCIALSTATEMENTS 58

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 
CONTINUED

Share Price Trigger (£)

None

0.04

0.06

0.08

0.10

0.12

0.14

0.16

0.18

0.20

Number of plan shares in respect
 of which the options may 
be exercised

3,750,000

3,750,000

3,750,000

3,750,000

3,750,000

1,250,000

1,250,000

1,250,000

1,250,000

1,250,000

On 30th September 2020, options were granted to Alan Dunn, COO, over 5,000,000 ordinary shares at an exercise price of 2.5 pence, 
in line with the scheme approved in 2019 for Mark Warne. Provided Alan remains an employee, his options vest over 36 months starting 
from 30th September 2020 but subject to specific share price triggers being reached.

Share Price Trigger (£)

None

0.04

0.06

0.08

0.10

0.12

0.14

0.16

0.18

0.20

Number of plan shares in respect
 of which the options may 
be exercised

1,666,667

1,111,112

277,778

277,778

277,778

277,778

277,778

277,778

277,778

277,775

On 18th December 2020, options were granted to Fraser Benson, CFO, over 5,000,000 ordinary shares at an exercise price of 2.5 pence, 
in line with the scheme approved in 2019 for Mark Warne. Provided Fraser remains an employee, his options vest over 36 months 
starting from 1st March 2021 but subject to specific share price triggers being reached.

Share Price Trigger (£)

None

0.04

0.06

0.08

0.10

0.12

0.14

0.16

0.18

0.20

Number of plan shares in respect
 of which the options may 
be exercised

1,666,667

1,111,112

277,778

277,778

277,778

277,778

277,778

277,778

277,778

277,775

All unexercised options lapse after 10 years from the date of grant. No other employees have been granted share option awards in 2020. 

At the start of 2020, four other employees held options over 1,736,667 shares granted as part of the 2017 scheme. Three of these 
employees left the company and their rights were forfeited by the end of the year. One employee, who has options over 1,666,667 
(which were fully vested at the end of October 2019), was still an employee at the end of the year. These were granted at an exercise 
price of 2.13 pence.

DeepMatter Group Plc Annual Report 2020DeepMatter Group Plc Annual Report 2020NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 
CONTINUED

 59

At 31 December 2020, there were 36,666,667 (2019: 26,736,667) share options in issue at a weighted average exercise price (“WAEP”) 
of 2.48 pence as illustrated in the following table of movements in share options during the year:

Outstanding at 1 January 

Granted during the year

Exercised during the year

Forfeited

Lapsed

Outstanding at 31 December 

2020

2019

Number

WAEP pence

Number

WAEP pence

26,736,667

10,000,000

–

(70,000)

–

2.48

2.50

–

2.13

–

1,816,667

25,000,000

–

(80,000)

–

36,666,667

2.48

26,736,667

2.13

2.50

–

2.13

–

2.48

Of the 36,666,667 share options outstanding, 9,814,821 were exercisable as at 31 December 2020 (2019: 9,215,278).

The fair value at grant date has been determined using a binomial tree or Monte Carlo approach that takes into account the exercise 
price, the term of the option, the share price at grant date, the expected price volatility of the underlying share and the risk-free interest 
rate for the term of the option. The model inputs for options granted are as follows;

Expected share price volatility

Risk free interest rate

Dividend yield

Weighted average exercise price (pence)

Weighted average share price at date of grant (pence)

Granted on 
18th December 
2020

Granted on 
30th September 
2020

Granted on 
11 March 
2019

Granted on 
1 December 
2017

71%

0.4%

0.0%

2.5

1.8

71%

0.3%

0.0%

2.5

1.6

62%

1.4%

0.0%

2.5

3.7

68%

2.0%

0.0%

2.13

2.13

The expected life of the options is not necessarily indicative of exercise patterns that may occur. The expected volatility reflects the 
assumption that the historical volatility is indicative of future trends, which may also not necessarily be the actual outcome.

The fair value of equity-settled share options granted are recognised as an expense in the statement of comprehensive income over the 
assumed period to exercise of the award, with a corresponding credit to retained earnings. The expense so recognised in the year ended 
31 December 2020 amounted to £167,000 (2019: £278,000).

24. RELATED PARTIES AND DIRECTORS’ TRANSACTIONS

GROUP

Bettina Goerner served on the Board of the Company as a Non-Executive Director throughout 2020. Bettina Goerner continues to serve 
as a Managing Director of Springer Nature and no amounts were paid to Springer Nature in respect of Bettina Goerner’s services in the 
year ending 31 December 2020. 

The Group recognised sales of £166,000 (2019: £246,000) in respect of the ‘Services Agreement’ between InfoChem and Springer Group 
companies. There was £nil outstanding at the end of the year (2019: £17,000).

The Group paid £nil (2019: £108,000) in respect of the receipt of administrative services as agreed in the ‘Transition Services Agreement’ 
between InfoChem and Springer Nature AG & Co KGaA and Springer-Verlag GmbH. There were no amounts outstanding at the end of 
the year (2019: £nil).

The Group has paid companies that are part of IP Group, a significant shareholder, £50,000 in respect of the provision of recruitment / 
administrative services (2019: £20,620). There were no amounts outstanding at the end of the year (2019: £nil).

The Group paid £600 in respect of the receipt of staff entertainment to Escape Hunt PLC (2019: nil). Karen Bach is a Non-Executive 
Director of Escape Hunt PLC. There was no balance outstanding at the end of the year (2019: £nil).

FINANCIALSTATEMENTS 
 
 60

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 
CONTINUED

KEY EMPLOYEES

At the year-end, the Directors did not consider any employees to be key management to the Group other than the Chair, Executive 
Directors and Non-Executive Directors who served during the period. Details of the remuneration paid to key management is disclosed in 
note 8.

25. DIVESTMENT OF SCANNING ION CONDUCTANCE MICROSCOPE 
(“SICM”) TRADE 

On 15 January 2019, the SICM trade of OpenIOlabs was sold to Scientific Digital Imaging Plc by way of an asset purchase agreement 
for a cash consideration of £49,220 and which after allowing for the net assets sold and the costs of disposal, generated a profit of 
approximately £14,000 on disposal. OpenIOLabs was acquired in November 2017 to complement the strategic digitisation of chemistry 
operations of the Group by securing its one point of control technology platform developed to bridge the language and compatibility gap 
between various hardware and software systems. The SICM trade has never been part of the continuing operations of the Group.

The results of the discontinued SICM operations, which have been separately disclosed after tax in the Group’s consolidated statement of 
comprehensive income, were as follows:

Revenue

Expenses

Other income

Profit before tax

Attributable tax charge

Net profit attributable to discontinued operations

26. POST BALANCE SHEET EVENT

The directors are unaware of any events after the reporting period.

27. ULTIMATE CONTROLLING PARTY

In the opinion of the Directors, there is no ultimate controlling party.

2020
£’000

2019
£’000

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

(7)

36

29

(7)

22

DeepMatter Group Plc Annual Report 2020DeepMatter Group Plc Annual Report 2020 
COMPANY STATEMENT OF  
FINANCIAL POSITION 
AS AT 31 DECEMBER 2020

Assets

Non-current assets

Investments

Current assets

Trade and other receivables

Cash and cash equivalents

Liabilities

Current liabilities

Trade and other payables

Net current assets

Net assets

Shareholders equity

Called up share capital

Share premium

Merger reserve

Shares to be issued reserve

Retained earnings

Total equity attributable to shareholders of the Company

 61

At 31 December 
2020
£’000

At 31 December 
2019
£’000

Notes

C2

C4

 C5

19

21

21

21

7,626

7,626

6,531

2,266

8,797

(89)

8,708

16,334

92

10,200

5,971

204

(133)

16,334

7,605

7,605

4,975

2,318

7,293

(89)

7,204

14,809

74

7,136

5,971

1,274

354

14,809

The Company has taken advantage of Section 408 of the Companies Act 2006 and has not included its own statement of comprehensive 
income in these financial statements. The parent Company’s loss for the year to 31 December 2020 was £654,000 (2019: £797,000).

The financial statements were approved by the Board of Directors on 28th May 2021 and were signed on its behalf by:

Fraser Benson 
Director

Company Number: 05845469

FINANCIALSTATEMENTS 
 
 
 
 
 
 62

COMPANY STATEMENT OF  
CHANGES IN EQUITY 
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2020

Balance at 31 December 2018

Total comprehensive loss for the year to 
31 December 2019

Transactions with owners:

Share based payment charge

Issue of shares for cash

Shares issued and issuable on acquisition of subsidiary

Balance at 31 December 2019

Total comprehensive loss for the year to 
31 December 2020

Transactions with owners:

Share based payment charge

Issue of shares for cash

Deferred consideration issued 

Balance at 31 December 2020

Share 
capital
£’000

55

–

–

16

3

 74

–

–

14

4

92 

Share 
premium
£’000

3,287

–

–

3,849

–

7,136

–

–

1,998

1,066

10,200

Merger 
reserve
£’000

5,334

–

–

–

637

5,971

–

–

–

–

5,971

Retained 
earnings
£’000

873

Shares to 
be issued 
reserve 
£’000

204

(797)

278

–

–

354

(654)

167

–

–

(133)

–

–

–

1,070

1,274

–

–

–

(1,070)

204

Total 
equity
£’000

9,753

(797)

278

3,865

1,710

14,809

(654)

167

2,012

–

16,334

DeepMatter Group Plc Annual Report 2020DeepMatter Group Plc Annual Report 2020COMPANY STATEMENT OF  
CASH FLOWS 
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2020

Loss before tax

Share based payment charge

Finance Income

Net impairment losses on financial assets

Operating cash outflows before movements in working capital

Increase in trade and other receivables

Decrease in trade and other payables

Cash used in operations

Interest received

Net cash used in operating activities

Payment for acquisition of subsidiary

Investment in subsidiary undertaking

Cash used in investing activities

Proceeds from the issue of share capital 

Transaction costs arising from issue of share capital

Cash from financing activities

(Decrease) / Increase in cash and cash equivalents

Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of year

Cash and cash equivalents at end of year

 63

2020
£’000

(654)

147

(6)

–

(513)

(1,556)

(1)

(2,070)

6

(2,064)

–

–

–

2,150

(138)

2,012

(52)

2,318

2,266

2019
£’000

(797)

278

(22)

197

(344)

(1,884)

(43)

(2,271)

22

(2,249)

(321)

(4)

(325)

4,005

(140)

3,865

1,291

1,027

2,318

FINANCIALSTATEMENTS 64

NOTES TO THE COMPANY  
FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2020

C1. BASIS OF PREPARATION

The Company separate financial statements have been prepared in accordance with international accounting standards in conformity 
with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006. The financial statements have been prepared under the historical cost convention and 
all values have been rounded to the nearest thousand, except where otherwise indicated. The Company’s functional currency is Sterling.

The principal accounting policies adopted are the same as for those set out in the Group financial statements.

C2. INVESTMENTS

Cost

At 31 December 2018

Additions

Acquisition of subsidiary

At 31 December 2019

Additions

At 31 December 2020

Impairment

At 31 December 2018

Impairment

At 31 December 2019

Impairment

At 31 December 2020

Net Book Value

At 31 December 2018

At 31 December 2019

At 31 December 2020

Shares in 
subsidiary 
undertakings
£’000

Other 
Investments
£’000

Notes

5,566

5

2,031

7,602

21

7,623

–

–

–

–

–

5,566

7,602

7,623

3

–

–

3

–

3

–

–

–

–

–

3

3

3

Total
£’000

5,569

5

2,031

7,605

21

7,626

–

–

–

–

–

5,569

7,605

7,626

The directors have considered whether there are any indicators of impairment to the Shares in Subsidiary Undertakings investment figure 
of £7,623,000 and concluded that no impairment charge is required.

The directors acknowledge, however, that there is considerable uncertainty regarding the valuation of this investment balance based on 
any estimate of the net present value of the future cash flows of the two Cash Generating Units of DeepMatter and InfoChem. See note 
15 to the Group financial statements for further details.

As at 31 December 2020, details of the Company’s subsidiaries are as follows:

Name of Company

Deepmatter Limited (incorporated in 
Scotland)

OpenIOLabs Limited (incorporated in 
England & Wales)

InfoChem GmbH (incorporated in 
Munich, Germany)

Deepmatter Tech Limited 
(incorporated in England & Wales)

Holding

Ordinary

Ordinary

Ordinary

Ordinary

% of shares held

Nature of business

Registered Office Address

100

100

100

100

Digitisation of chemical space and 
chemical discovery

38 Queen Street, Glasgow, Scotland, 
G1 3DX

Open source one point of control 
systems

St Brandon’s House, 29 Great George 
Street, Bristol, BS1 5QT

Digitisation of chemical space and 
chemical discovery

Aschauer Str. 30, 81549 München, 
Germany

Dormant subsidiary

St Brandon’s House, 29 Great George 
Street, Bristol, BS1 5QT

DeepMatter Group Plc Annual Report 2020DeepMatter Group Plc Annual Report 2020 
 
 
 
NOTES TO THE COMPANY FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 
CONTINUED

 65

C3. INFORMATION REGARDING PARENT COMPANY EMPLOYEES

The only employees of the parent company are 5 (2019: 6) of the 7 Directors who served during the year. Details of the Directors’ 
emoluments paid to those Directors is as follows:

Salaries and fees 

Pension contributions

Share Based Payments

Directors remuneration

Social security costs

Key Management remuneration

C4. TRADE AND OTHER RECEIVABLES

Current:

Intercompany receivables

Other receivables

Prepayments

2020
£’000

253

8

147

408

30

438

2020
£’000

6,505

13

13

6,531

2019
£’000

208

8

278

494

23

517

2019
£’000

4,969

–

6

4,975

The Directors acknowledge that there is uncertainty over recoverability of the intercompany receivables balance, as it relies upon the 
underlying future trading performance of the subsidiaries, which cannot be forecast with a high degree of accuracy. 

C5. TRADE AND OTHER PAYABLES

Current:

Trade payables

Social security and other taxes

Accrued expenses

Other payables

2020
£’000

2019
£’000

25

16

47

1

89

15

7

54

13

89

The Directors consider that the carrying amounts of trade and other payables approximates to their fair values. 

C6. SHARE CAPITAL

The movement in share capital for the Company is detailed in note 19 to the Group financial statements.

C7. OTHER RESERVES

The movement on all other company reserves is detailed in the statement of changes in equity.

C8. RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS

For the period ending 31 December 2020, the intercompany receivable increased by £1.5m to £6.5m (2019: £5.0m) . This increase is 
reflective of the investment made in progressing the DigitalGlassware® platform. 

£152,000 (2019: £219,000) was recognised by the Company in respect of recharges to Group entities. £68,000 was outstanding from 
Group entities at the end of the year (2019: £53,000).

Further details of the related party transactions and balances are included in note 24 to the Group financial statements.

FINANCIALSTATEMENTS 
 
 
 66

NOTES TO THE COMPANY FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 
CONTINUED

C9. FINANCIAL RISK AND CAPITAL MANAGEMENT

Financial risk and capital management is managed at a Group level, which is considered appropriate given the similar nature of both the 
Group and Company statements of financial position. Please refer to note 22 to the Group financial statements.

CATEGORIES OF FINANCIAL INSTRUMENT

At 31 December 2019

Investments

Trade and other receivables

Cash and cash equivalents

Trade and other payables

Net Total

At 31 December 2020

Investments

Trade and other receivables

Cash and cash equivalents

Trade and other payables

Net Total

Financial 
assets at 
amortised cost
£’000

Financial 
liabilities at 
amortised cost
£’000

Financial assets 
at fair value 
through OCI
£’000

–

4,975

 2,318 

–

7,293

–

6,531

 2,266 

–

8,797

–

–

 – 

 (89) 

(89) 

–

–

 – 

 (89) 

(89) 

3

–

–

–

 3 

3

–

–

–

 3 

Total
£’000

 3 

 4,975 

 2,318 

 (89) 

 7,207 

 3 

 6,531 

 2,266 

 (89) 

 8,711 

All financial liabilities for the Company are payable within one year. 

IMPAIRMENT OF FINANCIAL ASSETS

The Company applies IFRS 9 to measuring expected credit losses relating to intercompany loans advanced to Group Companies. 

The loss allowance recognised in the year was £nil (2019: £197,000) 

Impairment losses on receivables are presented as net impairment losses within operating profit. Subsequent recoveries of amounts 
previously written off are credited against the same line item. 

DeepMatter Group Plc Annual Report 2020DeepMatter Group Plc Annual Report 2020 
DIRECTORS, OFFICERS AND ADVISORS

 67

Non-Executive Chair 

Chief Executive Officer

Chief Financial Officer 

Non-Executive Director

Non-Executive Director 

DIRECTORS

Karen Bach 

Mark Warne  

Fraser Benson  

Laurence Ede  

Mirko Walter  

SECRETARY

Fraser Benson 

REGISTERED OFFICE

St Brandon’s House

29 Great George Street 

Bristol BS1 5QT

BROKER AND NOMINATED ADVISOR

Canaccord Genuity Limited

88 Wood Street

London EC2V 7QR

AUDITOR

Nexia Smith & Williamson

Portwall Place

Portwall Lane

Bristol BS1 6NA

REGISTRAR AND TRANSFER AGENT

Neville Registrars

Neville House

Steelpark Road

Halesowen B62 8HD

COMPANY NUMBER

05845469 (England and Wales)

FINANCIALSTATEMENTS 68

NOTICE OF ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the Annual General Meeting (“Meeting”) of DeepMatter Group Plc (the “company”) will be held at 
St Brandon’s House, 29 Great George Street, Bristol, BS1 5QT at 13.00 pm on Wednesday 30th June.

Currently, a quorum of two shareholders is required to attend in person, to be satisfied by the Chairman of the Meeting (the “Chairman”) 
and another Director or the Company Secretary, although should the Government relax this requirement, or other measures be necessary, 
alternative arrangements will be considered.

We are keen to welcome shareholders in person to our 2021 Annual General Meeting this year, particularly given the constraints we 
faced in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. We are therefore proposing to hold the Annual General Meeting at St Brandon’s House, 
29 Great George Street, Bristol, BS1 5QT and to welcome the maximum number of shareholders we are able within safety constraints 
and in accordance with government guidelines in place at the time.

However, given the constantly evolving nature of the situation, we want to ensure that we are able to adapt these arrangements 
efficiently to respond to changes in circumstances. On this basis, should the situation change such that we consider that it is no longer 
possible for shareholders to attend the meeting, we will notify all shareholders who have indicated their intention to attend via email 
and also put a message on the investor section of the website. We will notify shareholders of the change by positing a message on the 
investor section of the website.  Should we have to change the arrangements in this way, it is likely that we will not be in a position to 
accommodate shareholders beyond the minimum required to hold a quorate meeting which will be achieved through the attendance of 
employee shareholders. 

Attendance at the meeting
Shareholders intending to attend the Annual General Meeting, should this be possible, are asked to register their intention as soon as 
practicable by emailing AGM@deepmatter.io.

Proxies
Given the uncertainty around whether shareholders will be able to attend the Annual General Meeting, because of tighter restrictions due 
to a change in the situation with the COVID-19 pandemic, we encourage all shareholders to complete their proxy forms, with all votes to 
be routinely dealt with by way of a poll. Shareholders may ask questions in advance of the meeting by emailing AGM@deepmatter.io, with 
responses to be set out on the Company’s investor website at www.deepmattergroup.io following the publication of the results of the 
AGM. Questions must be received no later than 13.00 pm on Monday 28th June 2021.

ORDINARY BUSINESS
1.  Report and accounts
To receive and consider the Directors’ Report, the audited consolidated Financial Statements and Independent Auditors’ Report for the 
year ended 31 December 2020.

2.  Re-appointment of a director
To consider and, if thought fit, to approve the re-appointment of Karen Bach as a director of the Company, who retires pursuant to the 
Article 134 of the Articles of Association of the Company (the “Articles”) and who is recommended by the board of directors of the 
Company (the “Board”) for re-appointment.

3.  Re-appointment of a director
To consider and, if thought fit, to approve the re-appointment of Mirko Walter as a director of the Company, who retires pursuant to the 
Article 129 of the Articles and who is recommended by the Board of directors of the Company for re-appointment.

4.  Re-appointment of a director
To consider and, if thought fit, to approve the re-appointment of Fraser Benson as a director of the Company, who retires pursuant to the 
Article 129 of the Articles and who is recommended by the Board of directors of the Company for re-appointment.

5.  Re-appointment of auditors
To consider and, if thought fit, to approve the re-appointment of Nexia Smith & Williamson as independent auditors of the Company and 
to authorise the Board to determine their remuneration.

DeepMatter Group Plc Annual Report 2020DeepMatter Group Plc Annual Report 2020NOTICE OF ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING 
CONTINUED

 69

SPECIAL BUSINESS

As special business to consider and, if thought fit, pass the following resolutions, of which resolutions 6 will be proposed as an ordinary 
resolution and resolution 7 will be proposed as special resolution:

6.  Directors’ authority to allot shares

6.1. 

 That the Directors be generally and unconditionally authorised pursuant to section 551 of the Companies Act 2006 (the 
“2006 Act”) to exercise all the powers of the Company to allot and make offers to allot Relevant Securities (as defined below):

6.1.1.  comprising equity securities (as defined by section 560 of the 2006 Act) up to an aggregate nominal amount of 

£61,493.15 (such amount to be reduced by the nominal amount of any Relevant Securities allotted under paragraph 
6.1.2 below) in connection with an offer by way of a rights issue:

(i) 

(ii) 

to holders of ordinary shares in proportion (as nearly as may be practicable) to their respective holdings; and

 to holders of other equity securities as required by the rights of those securities or as the Directors otherwise 
consider necessary, but subject to such exclusions or other arrangements as the Board may deem necessary or 
expedient in relation to treasury shares, fractional entitlements, record dates, legal or practical problems in or 
under the laws of any territory or the requirements of any regulatory body or stock exchange; and

6.1.2.  in any other case, up to an aggregate nominal amount of £23,981.28 such amount to be reduced by the nominal 

amount of any equity securities allotted under paragraph 6.1.1 above in excess of £37,511.87, provided that (unless 
previously revoked, varied or renewed) this authority shall expire 15 months from the date of passing this resolution, or, 
if earlier, the conclusion of the next Annual General Meeting of the Company held after the passing of this resolution 
save that the Company may before such expiry make an offer or enter into an agreement which would or might require 
Relevant Securities to be allotted after such expiry and the Directors may allot Relevant Securities in pursuance of such 
offer or agreement as if the authority conferred hereby had not expired.

6.2. 

 This resolution revokes and replaces all unexercised authorities previously granted to the Directors to allot Relevant 
Securities but without prejudice to any allotment of shares or grant of rights already made, offered or agreed to be made 
pursuant to such authorities.

6.3.  For the purposes of this resolution, a “Relevant Security” is:

6.3.1. a share in the Company other than a share allotted pursuant to:

(i) 

(ii) 

(iii) 

an employee share scheme (as defined by section 1166 of the 2006 Act);

 a right to subscribe for a share or shares in the Company where the grant of the right itself constituted a 
Relevant Security under paragraph 6.3.2 below; or

 a right to convert securities into a share or shares in the Company where the grant of the right itself constituted 
a Relevant Security under paragraph 6.3.2 below.

6.3.2.  any right to subscribe for or to convert any security into a share or shares in the Company other than a right to 

subscribe for or convert any security into a share or shares allotted pursuant to an employee share scheme (as defined 
by section 1166 of the 2006 Act).

6.4.  References to the allotment of “Relevant Securities” in this resolution shall be construed accordingly.

FINANCIALSTATEMENTS 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 70

NOTICE OF ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING 
CONTINUED

7.  Disapplication of statutory pre-emption rights

7.1. 

 That subject to the passing of resolution 6 above, the Directors of the Company be authorised and empowered pursuant to 
section 570 of the 2006 Act to allot equity securities (as defined by section 560 of the 2006 Act) for cash, either pursuant 
to the authority conferred by resolution 6 or by way of a sale of treasury shares, as if section 561(1) of the 2006 Act did not 
apply to any such allotment, provided that such power is limited to:

7.1.1. the allotment of equity securities in connection with an offer by way of a rights issue:

(i) 

(ii) 

to holders of ordinary shares in proportion (as nearly as may be practicable) to their respective holdings; and

 to holders of other equity securities as required by the rights of those securities or as the Directors otherwise 
consider necessary, but subject to such exclusions or other arrangements as the Board may deem necessary or 
expedient in relation to treasury shares, fractional entitlements, record dates, legal or practical problems in or 
under the laws of any territory or the requirements of any regulatory body or stock exchange; and

7.1.2.  the allotment of equity securities (otherwise than pursuant to paragraph 6.1.1 above) up to a maximum aggregate 

nominal amount of £18,447.95.

7.2. 

 This authority shall expire 15 months from the date of passing this resolution, or, if earlier, the conclusion of the next Annual 
General Meeting of the Company held after the passing of this resolution, provided that the Company may, before the expiry 
of this power, make an offer or agreement which would or might require equity securities to be allotted after the expiry of 
this power and the Directors may allot equity securities in pursuance of such an offer or agreement as if the power had not 
expired.

7.3. 

 This resolution revokes and replaces all unexercised authorities previously granted to the Directors to allot equity securities 
but without prejudice to any allotment of equity securities already made, offered or agreed to be made pursuant to such 
authorities.

On behalf of the Board

Fraser Benson
7 June 2021

DeepMatter Group Plc
St Brandon’s House
29 Great George Street
Bristol
BS1 5QT 

DeepMatter Group Plc Annual Report 2020DeepMatter Group Plc Annual Report 2020 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
NOTICE OF ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING 
CONTINUED

 71

EXPLANATORY NOTES
Entitlement to attend and vote
1. 

The Company specifies that only those members registered on the Company’s register of members at:

• 

• 

13.00 p.m. on 28 June 2021; or, 

 if this Meeting is adjourned, at 13.00 p.m. on the day two working days prior to the adjourned meeting (not counting  
non-working days),

shall be entitled to vote at the Annual General Meeting (the “Meeting”).

Appointment of proxies
2. 

 If you are a member of the Company at the time set out in note 1 above, you are entitled to appoint one or more proxies to 
exercise all or any of your rights to attend, speak and vote at the Meeting and you should have received a proxy form with this 
notice of meeting. You can only appoint a proxy using the procedures set out in these notes and the notes to the proxy form. 

3. 

4. 

 A proxy must attend the Meeting to represent you. Details of how to appoint the Chairman of the Meeting (the “Chairman”) or 
another member of the Company who will be in attendance at the Meeting as your proxy using the proxy form are set out in the 
notes to the proxy form. If you wish your proxy to speak on your behalf at the Meeting you will need to appoint another member of 
the Company that will be in attendance at the Meeting (not the Chairman) and give your instructions directly to them.

 A vote withheld will not be counted in the calculation of votes for or against the resolution. If no voting indication is given, your 
proxy may vote or abstain from voting at his or her discretion. Your proxy may vote (or abstain from voting) as he or she thinks fit in 
relation to any other matter which is put before the Meeting.

Appointment of proxy using hard copy proxy form
5. 

The notes to the proxy form explain how to direct your proxy to vote on each resolution or withhold their vote.

To appoint a proxy using the proxy form, the form must be:

• 

• 

completed (although no voting indication need be given if you wish your proxy to exercise their discretion) and signed;

 sent or delivered to Neville Registrars, Neville House, Steelpark Road, Halesowen, B62 8HD; and received by Neville 
Registrars no later than 13.00 p.m. on 28 June 2021.

 In the case of a member which is a company, the proxy form must be executed under its common seal or signed on its behalf by a 
duly authorised officer of the company or an attorney for the company.

 Any power of attorney or any other authority under which the proxy form is signed (or a copy of such power or authority certified 
notarially or in some other way approved by the board of directors of the Company) must be included with the proxy form.

Appointment of proxy by joint members
6. 

 In the case of joint holders, where more than one of the joint holders purports to appoint a proxy, only the appointment submitted 
by the most senior holder will be accepted. Seniority is determined by the order in which the names of the joint holders appear in 
the Company’s register of members in respect of the joint holding (the first-named being the most senior).

Appointment of proxy through CREST
7. 

 CREST members who wish to appoint a proxy or proxies through the CREST electronic proxy appointment service may do so for 
the meeting and any adjournment(s) of the meeting by using the procedures described in the CREST Manual. CREST personal 
members or other CREST sponsored members, and those CREST members who have appointed a voting service provider(s), should 
refer to their CREST sponsor or voting service provider(s), who will be able to take the appropriate action on their behalf. 

FINANCIALSTATEMENTS 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 72

NOTICE OF ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING 
CONTINUED

 In order for a proxy appointment or instruction made by means of CREST to be valid, the appropriate CREST message (a “CREST 
Proxy Instruction”) must be properly authenticated in accordance with Euroclear UK & Ireland Limited’s (“Euroclear”) specifications 
and must contain the information required for such instructions, as described in the CREST Manual. The message must, in order 
to be valid, be transmitted so as to be received by Neville Registrars (ID 7RA11) no later than 48 hours before the time fixed for 
the AGM (not counting non-working days). For this purpose, the time of receipt will be taken to be the time (as determined by the 
timestamp applied to the message by the CREST Applications Host) from which Neville Registrars Is able to retrieve the message 
by enquiry to CREST in the manner prescribed by CREST. After this time, any change of instructions to proxies appointed through 
CREST should be communicated to the appointee through other means.

Changing proxy instructions
8. 

 To change your proxy instructions simply submit a new proxy appointment using the methods set out above. Note that the cut-off 
time for receipt of proxy appointments (see above) also apply in relation to amended instructions; any amended proxy appointment 
received after the relevant cut-off time will be disregarded.

 Where you have appointed a proxy using the hard-copy proxy form and would like to change the instructions using another  
hard-copy proxy form but have not retained a copy of the blank proxy form, please contact Neville Registrars, Neville House, 
Steelpark Road, Halesowen, B62 8HD.

 If you submit more than one valid proxy appointment, the appointment received last before the latest time for the receipt of proxies 
will take precedence.

Termination of proxy appointments
9. 

 In order to revoke a proxy instruction you will need to inform the Company by sending a signed hard copy notice clearly stating 
your intention to revoke your proxy appointment as above. In the case of a member which is a company, the revocation notice 
must be executed under its common seal or signed on its behalf by an officer of the company or an attorney for the company. Any 
power of attorney or any other authority under which the revocation notice is signed (or a copy of such power or authority certified 
notarially or in some other way approved by the board of directors of the Company) must be included with the revocation notice.

 The revocation notice must be received by Neville Registrars no later than 13.00 pm on 28 June 2021. If you attempt to revoke 
your proxy appointment but the revocation is received after the time specified then, subject to the paragraph directly below, your 
proxy appointment will remain valid.

Issued shares and total voting rights
10. 

 As at 6 p.m. on 1 June 2021, the Company’s issued ordinary share capital comprised 922,397,281 ordinary shares of £0.0001 each.  
Each ordinary share carries the right to one vote at a general meeting of the Company.

Quorum
11. 

 The quorum for the Meeting is not less than two shareholders present either in person or by proxy. The majority required for the 
passing of each of the ordinary resolutions is a simple majority of the total number of votes cast on each such ordinary resolution. 
The majority required for the passing of each of the special resolutions is three-quarters of the total number of votes cast on each 
such special resolution.

12. 

 At the Meeting the votes may be taken on the resolutions by a show of hands or on a poll.  On a show of hands every shareholder 
whether present in person or by proxy has one vote. On a poll every shareholder who is present, in person or by proxy, shall have 
one vote for every ordinary share held. A shareholder entitled to more than one vote need not use all of their votes or cast all of 
their votes in the same way.

13. 

 To allow effective constitution of the meeting, if it is apparent to the Chairman that no shareholders will be present in person or by 
proxy, other than by proxy in the Chairman’s favour, then the Chairman may appoint a substitute to act as proxy in his stead for any 
shareholder, provided that such substitute proxy shall vote on the same basis as the Chairman.

DeepMatter Group Plc Annual Report 2020DeepMatter Group Plc Annual Report 2020 
 
 
 
NOTICE OF ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING 
CONTINUED

 73

Documents on display
14. 

 The following documents will be available for inspection at the registered office of the Company during normal business hours on 
any weekday (weekends excepted) from the date of this notice until and for 15 minutes prior to and during the Meeting:

• 

• 

copies of the service contracts of executive directors of the Company;

copies of letters of appointment of the non-executive directors of the Company.

FINANCIALSTATEMENTS 
 
 74

NOTES

DeepMatter Group Plc Annual Report 2020DeepMatter Group Plc Annual Report 2020DeepMatter Group Plc Annual Report 2020
DeepMatter Group Plc Annual Report 2020

CONTENTS

OVERVIEW
1   Our Offering and Strategy
2   Our Opportunity
4   Customer Case Studies
6   Academic Case Studies

STRATEGIC REPORT

8   Chair’s Statement
10   Chief Executive’s Review
13   Chief Financial Officer’s Review
14   Our Principal Risks and Uncertainties
15   Stakeholder Engagement

GOVERNANCE

16   Corporate Governance
22   The Board
24   Directors’ Report
25   Directors’ Remuneration Report
27   Audit & Risk Committee Report
30  

 Independent Auditor’s Report to the members of Deepmatter 
Group PLC

FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

35   Consolidated statement of comprehensive income
36   Consolidated statement of financial position
37   Consolidated statement of changes in equity
38   Consolidated statement of cash flows
39   Notes to the consolidated financial statements
61   Company statements
64   Notes to the company financial statements
67  
68  Notice of Annual General Meeting

 Company information (list of Directors, Officers and Advisors)

WE WANT TO ENABLE 
SCIENTISTS TO USE 
DATA TO DISCOVER AND 
DEVELOP MEDICINES 
THAT TRANSFORM 
PATIENTS LIVES, RELIABLY 
AND COST EFFECTIVELY

Designed and printed by Perivan

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ANNUAL REPORT 2020

DISCOVER AND 
DEVELOP, RELIABLY

REGISTERED OFFICE 

St Brandon’s House

29 Great George Street 

Bristol BS1 5QT

COMPANY NUMBER

05845469 (England and Wales)