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FY2012 Annual Report · iomart
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Annual Report and Accounts 2012

iomart group plc Annual Report 2012

Recognition

“The award of plc of the year goes 
to the Scottish plc with the strongest 
all round performance based on 
profitability, growth and productivity.”

iomart has been named both Scottish 
plc and AIM/Mid Sized Cap plc of the 
Year at the 2012 Scottish plc Awards

iomart group plc Annual Report 2012

Financial Statements for year ended 31 March 2012

Highlights

Financial

•	 Revenue	growth	of	33%	to	£33.5m	(2011:	£25.3m)

•	 Adjusted	EBITDA¹	growth	of	68%	to	£11.2m	(2011:	£6.6m)

•	 Adjusted	profit	before	tax²	growth	of	91%	to	£6.9m	

(2011:	£3.6m)	benefitting	strongly	from	operational	leverage

•	 Adjusted	basic	earnings	per	share³	from	operations	increased	
	 by	96%	to	6.99p	(2011:	3.56p)

•	 Cash	flow	from	operations	growth	of	36%	to	£9.6m	

(2011:	£7.1m)

•	 Proposed	final	dividend	increased	by	38%	to	0.90p	per	share	

(2011:	0.65p	per	share)

Operational

•	 Acquisition	and	integration	of	Switch	Media,	EQSN	and	
  Global Gold further accelerating growth 

•	 Hosting	segment	organic	revenue	growth	of	21%	

1 Throughout these financial statements adjusted EBITDA is earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation 
(EBITDA) before share based payment charges and acquisition costs. Throughout these financial statements acquisition 
costs are defined as acquisition related costs and non-recurring acquisition integration costs. 

2 Throughout these financial statements adjusted profit before tax is profit before tax, amortisation charges on acquired 
intangible assets, share based payment charges and acquisition costs.

3 Throughout these financial statements adjusted earnings per share is earnings per share before amortisation charges on 
acquired intangible assets, share based payment charges and acquisition costs.

iomart group plc Annual Report 2012

Revenue Growth 

33%	
to	£33.5M

EBITDA	Growth	

68%	
to	£11.2M

PBT	Growth	

91%	
to	£6.9M

Dividend	Growth	

38%	
to 0.9p/share

 
	
	
	
 
Social Responsibility

iomart	is	supporting	British	grassroots	football	by	offering	
free team strips to youth teams via its Host Your Kit initiative.

iomart group plc Annual Report 2012

Contents

Chairman's statement 

Chief executive officer's report 

Finance director's report 

Corporate governance 

Report of the board to the members on directors' remuneration 

Directors' report 

Directors' responsibilities statement 

Board of directors 

Independent auditor's report to the members of iomart Group plc 

Consolidated statement of comprehensive income 

Consolidated statement of financial position 

Consolidated statement of cash flows 

Consolidated statement of changes in equity 

Notes to the financial statements 

Holding company financial statements 

Notice of annual general meeting 

Officers and professional advisers 

1

3

4

6

10

15

19

21

23

24

25

26

27

28

30

63

71

77

www.iomart.com 

Flexibility	&	Scalability

“iomart	Hosting	provided	the	flexible	and	scalable	hosting	and	high	
availability that we needed to cope with peaks in demand.”
Alex Hendry, Senior Web Team Project Manager, Science Museum 

iomart group plc Annual Report 2012

By	Jknight1603

Ian Ritchie, Chairman

iomart has once again delivered a strong performance in this financial year. Our continuing 
success  is  as  a  result  of  a  great  deal  of  hard  work  and  we  continue  to  forge  a  growing 
reputation as one of the UK’s foremost cloud computing organisations. 

As with last year, we have enjoyed a substantial increase in profitability over the year, driven 
both by organic and acquisitive growth. During the year we welcomed Switch Media Limited, 
EQSN  Limited  and  Global  Gold  Holdings  Limited  into  the  Group.  All  are  performing  as 
expected and have now been fully integrated into iomart’s operations.

As ever the commitment, enthusiasm and energy of our senior management team and all of 
our employees is essential in delivering this success. I thank them all on behalf of the Board 
and the shareholders. It was extremely gratifying that our achievements over the last year were 
acknowledged  when  we  were  selected  as  the  Scottish  PLC  of  the  Year  at  the  recent  2012 
Scotland PLC Awards.

During the year the composition of the Board changed with the retirement of Fred Shedden 
as a non-executive director and the appointment of Crawford Beveridge as a non-executive 
director. May I take this opportunity to thank Fred for his many years of first class service and 
welcome Crawford to the Board.

We  have  a  commitment  to  pay  annual  dividends  as  our  profitability  and  cash  generation 
grows.  This  year  the  Board  is  proposing  to  pay  a  final  dividend  of  0.90p  per  share  on 
5  September  2012  to  shareholders  on  the  register  on  17  August  2012  representing  an 
increase of 38% over the dividend last year. We have decided that we will continue to offer 
shareholders the option to participate in a Dividend Reinvestment Plan (DRIP) as an alternative 
to receiving cash. Details of the DRIP scheme will be distributed with the annual accounts in 
due course. It is our intention to continue to pay annual dividends in future years in line with 
the underlying profitability and cash generation of the Group.

With the high level of revenue visibility we enjoy we have begun the 2013 financial year in 
a  strong  position.  I  look  forward  to  another  exciting  year  of  growth,  both  organically  and 
through acquisition and look ahead with considerable confidence.

Ian Ritchie
Chairman
28 May 2012

Chairman's Statement

3

With the high level of 
revenue visibility we 
enjoy we have begun 
the 2013 financial 
year in a strong 
position.

www.iomart.com 

4 Chief Executive Officer's Report

Angus MacSween, 
Chief Executive Officer

Our market is 
large, growing, 
highly fragmented 
and here to stay.

Introduction
This  has  been  another  important  year  in  the  development  of  iomart.  We  have  continued 
to  build  on  the  successful  business  model  we  established  when  we  invested  in  our  own 
datacentre capacity and are now enjoying the operating leverage that that gives us. During 
this year we have managed to increase the level of growth of revenue, adjusted EBITDA and 
adjusted  profit  before  tax  ahead  of  the  record  amounts  achieved  in  the  last  financial  year 
and once again this has been achieved through a combination of sustained organic growth 
and growth by acquisition.

Market
Our market is large, growing, highly fragmented and here to stay. As I have often said, the 
fundamental shift to products and services being delivered over the web is changing the way 
companies  organise  their  internet  or  ‘cloud’  infrastructure  to  ensure  resilience,  scalability, 
security and value for money. They are increasingly looking to gain the economies of scale 
and  peace  of  mind  that  trusted  vendors  like  iomart  can  give  them  by  looking  after  their 
mission critical business processes 24x7x365. As these services become ever more critical to 
customers they are now doing far more diligence on the strength of their suppliers and those 
with a strong balance sheet who have achieved the scale that iomart has are attracting more 
of the market than was the case three or four years ago.

The next buzz word coming along is ‘Big Data’ which is a description of the inevitable growth 
in  transactions  and  information  being  transmitted  around  the  Web  which  now  need  to  be 
stored,  managed  and  analysed.  This  dramatic  growth  in  data  means  that  vendors  in  this 
market will need to have the infrastructure in both storage and connectivity to cope with these 
ever-increasing demands. iomart is investing in both storage infrastructure and in significantly 
improving its network capacity to maintain a leading position that will lead to further premium 
levels of service for our customers and prospects. 

Acquisitions
We are pleased to have continued to accelerate our growth through the acquisition of three 
operations during the year. In April 2011 we acquired Switch Media Limited (“Switch Media”) 
and  in  November,  EQSN  Limited  (“EQSN)  and  Global  Gold  Holdings  Limited  (“Global 
Gold”). All three have proven to be good additions to the Group and have now been fully 
integrated  into  the  business  operationally.  We  continue  to  look  for  businesses  that  fit  our 
acquisition criteria with a view to making further acquisitions in the coming year.

Operational Review
Whilst all of our activities involve the provision of managed hosting services we are organised 
into two operating segments.

iomart group plc Annual Report 2012

 
5

Chief Executive Officer's Report

Hosting
Our Hosting segment, which now includes EQSN, continued to perform well over the year.

We  provide  a  range  of  managed  hosting  services  to  both  SMEs  and  corporate  customers  including  the  provision  of  complex 
solutions that include both private and hybrid cloud solutions.  We believe the corporate market in the UK will continue to prefer 
bespoke  ring-fenced  quality  infrastructure  rather  than  the  largely  unsupported  public  clouds    that  are  in  the  market.  All  our 
solutions  are  provided  from  our  network  of  five  datacentres  located  throughout  the  UK.  The  more  complex  managed  hosting 
solutions are provided by iomart Hosting and customers typically pay for these services on a monthly basis on contracts ranging 
between one and three years in length. We address the dedicated physical server market through our RapidSwitch brand largely 
through online marketing. We are also building a reseller network to provide a variety of cloud products covering backup, email 
and storage.

Revenues in this segment have grown by 38% to £24.4m with the majority of this growth as a result of the activities of iomart 
Hosting.  We  have  won  over  600  new  orders  in  the  year,  including  a  substantial  amount  of  additional  orders  from  existing 
customers.

Easyspace
The Easyspace segment’s activities have been significantly increased over the year due to the acquisition of Switch Media and 
Global Gold. Both have now been fully integrated into the operations of the segment.

Our activities within this segment provide a range of products to the micro and SME markets including domain names, shared, 
dedicated and virtual servers and email services.

Revenues have increased by 21% over the year to £9.1m, largely due to the contribution of the two acquired businesses.

Current trading and outlook
Since the end of the financial year trading has been encouraging and in line with expectations.

We  continue  to  be  well  placed  to  take  advantage  of  the  growing  trend  of  companies  organising  their  internet  or  ‘cloud’ 
infrastructure to ensure resilience, scalability, security and value for money. We believe we have the relevant skills and experience 
which we have built up over many years to be the partner of choice for such organisations.

I look forward with confidence to the year ahead.

Angus MacSween
Chief Executive Officer
28 May 2012

www.iomart.com 

6

Finance Director's Report

The Group is now 
in a position where 
it is generating 
substantial amounts 
of operating cash.

Richard Logan, Finance Director

Trading Results
Revenue
Revenues for the year of £33.5m (2011: £25.3m) have grown by 33% with both of our operating 
segments having contributed to this growth.

The majority of the revenue growth was delivered by our Hosting segment. Revenues in the year 
from  this  segment  of  £24.3m  (2011:  £17.7m)  grew  by  38%.  This  growth  was  helped  by  a  full 
year  contribution  from  Titan  Internet  Limited  (“Titan”)  which  we  acquired  at  the  end  of  October 
2010 and EQSN which we acquired in November 2011. The growth in Hosting segment revenues 
excluding  the  impact  of  acquisitions  was  21%.  Over  the  last  four  financial  years  the  Hosting 
segment has grown revenues, through both organic and acquisitive means, from £4.6m in the year 
to March 2009 to £24.3m this year, an increase of more than five-fold.

Our Easyspace segment also delivered a good level of revenue growth in the period with revenues 
of £9.1m (2011: £7.6m) showing a 21% increase. The majority of this growth was as a result of 
the acquisitions of Switch Media in April 2011 and Global Gold in November 2011.

We have good revenue visibility with recurring levels of around 95%. With our larger customers we 
have multi-year contracts for the provision of complex managed hosting solutions.  Many of our 
smaller  customers  pay  in  advance  for  the  provision  of  hosting  services  resulting  in  a  substantial 
sum of deferred revenue which we then recognise during the period over which we provide our 
services.

Gross Margin
Our gross profit for the year was £22.4m (2011: £15.6m) representing a gross margin of 67% 
(2011: 62%) with both operating segments contributing to this improvement. The improvement in 
our Hosting segment is a result of the high operational leverage of this business. In our Easyspace 
segment it has been as a result of a small improvement in organically generated margin and also 
as a result of the impact of acquisitions. 

Adjusted EBITDA
The adjusted EBITDA for the year of £11.2m (2011: £6.6m) has increased by 68%. Our percentage 
adjusted EBITDA margin has also significantly improved to 33% (2011: 26%). Once again both of 
our operating segments have contributed to both the absolute growth and the improvement in the 
percentage margin in adjusted EBITDA. 

The  Hosting  segment’s  adjusted  EBITDA  was  £10.1m  (2011:  £6.2m),  an  increase  of  63%.  In 
percentage  terms  the  adjusted  EBITDA  margin  has  improved  to  41%  (2011:  35%).This  greatly 
improved performance is a direct result of the additional gross margin delivered by the increase 
in  sales  revenue  from  the  Hosting  segment  offset  by  an  increase  in  administrative  expenses. 
Administrative  expenses  have  increased  as  we  have  continued  to  invest  in  additional  resources 
within the Hosting segment during the year to support the high level of revenue growth that has 
been  achieved.  The  increased  costs,  mainly  relate  to  the  introduction  of  additional  headcount, 
especially in sales and technical roles. The contribution from Titan for the full year has contributed 
to  the  improvement  in  the  adjusted  EBITDA  in  absolute  terms  and  has  helped  maintain  the 
percentage margin improvement and similarly the contribution from EQSN since November has 
added to the growth in adjusted EBITDA. 

The  Easyspace  segment’s  adjusted  EBITDA  was  £3.6m  (2011:  £2.8m)  an  increase  of  29%. 
In  percentage  terms  the  adjusted  EBITDA  margin  has  improved  to  39%  (2011:  37%).  The 
improvement in adjusted EBITDA is partly the result of improved organic margin and partly from 
the impact of the acquisitions of Switch Media and Global Gold during the year.

iomart group plc Annual Report 2012

7

Finance Director's Report

Group overheads, which are not allocated to segments, include the cost of the Board, the running costs of the headquarters in Glasgow, 
Group marketing, human resource, finance and design functions and legal and professional fees for the year. These overhead costs have 
increased slightly to £2.5m (2011: £2.3m). 

Adjusted profit before tax
Depreciation charges of £3.7m (2011: £2.7m) have increased largely as a result of charges for the equipment bought to provide services 
to the additional Hosting segment customers and also as a consequence of the acquisitions made in the year. 

The  charge  for  amortisation  of  intangibles,  excluding  amortisation  of  intangible  assets  resulting  from  acquisitions  (“amortisation  of 
acquired intangible assets”) of £0.5m (2011: £0.4m) has remained fairly static over the year.

Finance income in the period was £0.1m (2011: £0.2m) and finance costs of £0.3m (2011: £0.2m) include interest on bank loans used 
to fund acquisitions and also interest on finance leases which are used to fund the purchase of some of the capital equipment needed 
to provide services to customers.

After deducting the charges for depreciation, amortisation, amortisation of acquired intangible assets, and finance costs and crediting 
the finance income from the adjusted EBITDA, the Group’s adjusted profit before tax was £6.9m (2011: £3.6m).

Profit before tax
The measure of adjusted profit before tax is a non-statutory measure which is commonly used to analyse the performance of companies 
particularly where M&A activity forms a significant part of their activities.

A reconciliation of adjusted profit before tax to reported profit before tax is shown below:

Reconciliation of adjusted profit before tax to profit before tax 
Adjusted profit before tax 
Less: Amortisation of acquired intangible assets 
Less: Acquisition costs 
Less: Share based payments 
Profit before tax 

 2012 
£’000 
6,854 
(604) 
(304) 
(104) 
5,842 

2011
£’000
3,593
(316)
(195)
(290)
2,792

The adjusting items are: share based payment charges in the period of £0.1m (2011: £0.3m) which have decreased as a result of both 
the lapsing of share options and share options issued in previous periods having been fully charged to the statement of comprehensive 
income; costs of £0.3m (2011: £0.2m) as a result of acquisition costs; and charges for the amortisation of acquired intangible assets 
of £0.6m (2011: £0.3m) which have increased as a result of the acquisitions made in the year and the full year effect of acquisitions 
made in previous years.

After deducting the charges for share based payments, charges for the amortisation of acquired intangible assets and acquisition costs 
from the adjusted profit before tax, the reported profit before tax was £5.8m (2011: £2.8m).

Profit for the year from total operations
There is a tax credit for the year of £0.4m (2011: £0.1m) arising from a deferred tax credit of £0.7m (2011: £0.2m). This was offset by 
a corporation tax charge of £0.4m (2011: £0.1m) and resulted in a profit for the year from total operations of £6.2m (2011: £2.9m).

Earnings per share
Adjusted earnings per share is based on profit for the year attributed to ordinary shareholders before share based payment charges, 
amortisation  charges  of  acquired  intangible  assets  and  acquisition  costs,  and  the  tax  effect  of  these  items  was  6.99p  (2011:  3.56p) 
being an increase of 96%.

The  measure  of  adjusted  earnings  per  share  as  described  above  is  a  non-statutory  measure  which  is  commonly  used  to  analyse  the 
performance of companies particularly where M&A activity forms a significant part of their activities.

The calculation of both adjusted earnings per share and basic earnings per share is included at note 12.

Basic earnings per share from continuing operations was 6.22p (2011: 2.91p), an increase of 114% over the year. 

Acquisitions
In  April  2011  the  Company  acquired  Switch  Media  for  a  total  consideration  of  £1.25m,  which  was  paid  in  full  in  the  year,  and  in 
November 2011 the Company acquired EQSN for a maximum consideration of £2.48m and Global Gold for a maximum consideration 
of £1.20m. At the time of acquisition of EQSN the Company paid £2.25m towards the total purchase price and subsequent to the year-
end a further £0.23m has been paid. At the time of acquisition of Global Gold the Company paid £0.73m towards the total purchase 
price and paid a further £0.02m subsequent to the year end.

www.iomart.com 

 
8

Finance Director's Report

Cash flow and net cash
Net cash flows from operating activities
The Group continued to generate high levels of operating cash over the year. Cash flow from operations was £9.6m (2011: £7.1m) with 
the significant increase over the previous year’s level largely due to the improvement in adjusted EBITDA. After deducting a cash payment 
for corporation tax of £0.6m (2011: £nil) the net cash flow from operating activities was £9.0m (2011: £7.0m).

Cash flow from investing activities
In line with our strategy of accelerating our growth by acquisition the Group continued to spend substantial sums on investing activities, 
spending a total of £7.4m (2011: £7.1m) in the period. Of this amount, a net sum of £4.5m (2011: £3.3m) was incurred in relation to 
acquisition activities. As well as the investment in the year to acquire Switch Media, EQSN and Global Gold, the Group also paid the 
contingent consideration due on the acquisition of Titan Internet in the previous financial year.

The Group continues to invest in both its datacentre infrastructure and in the equipment required to provide managed services to both 
its existing and new customers. During the year the Group invested £2.4m (2011: £3.4m) in such activities, net of related finance lease 
drawdown.

Expenditure was also incurred on development costs of £0.5m (2011: £0.4m) and the purchase of software of £0.1m (2011: £0.2m). 

Cash flow from financing activities
The Group’s financing activities generated a net cash inflow of £0.5m (2011: £1.2m) over the year. The issue of new shares, due to the 
exercise of share options by staff, generated £0.5m (2011: £0.5m) and the Group also drew down £2.0m of bank loans to help fund 
acquisitions. The Group spent £1.2m (2011: £0.8m) repaying finance leases, £0.6m (2011: £0.4m) on dividends and £0.2m (2011: 
£0.1m) on interest.

Net cash flow
As a consequence, our overall cash generation during the year was £2.1m (2011: £1.1m) which resulted in cash and cash equivalent 
balances at the end of the year of £8.9m (2011: £6.9m). After recognising bank loans of £4.0m (2011: £2.0m) and finance lease 
obligations of £2.5m (2011: £1.8m) net cash balances at the end of the period stood at £2.5m (2011: £3.1m).

Financial position
The Group is now in a position where it is generating substantial amounts of operating cash. The generation of that cash flow together 
with  the  bank  loan  facility  for  acquisitions  and  capital  expenditure  of  £10.0m,  of  which  £4.0m  has  been  drawn  down  and  finance 
lease facilities for capital expenditure, provides the Group with the liquidity it requires to continue its growth through both organic and 
acquisitive means.

Principal risks and uncertainties
Section  417(3)  of  the  Companies  Act  2006  provides  that  the  business  review  must  contain  a  description  of  the  principal  risks  and 
uncertainties.

The board has established a formal process to identify risks and uncertainties through the production and maintenance of a risk register. 
There are a number of potential risks and uncertainties which have been identified as a result of this process which could have a material 
impact on the Group’s future performance. These are not all the risks which the board has identified but those that the Directors currently 
consider to be the most material. In addition to these risks Note 27 contains details of financial risks.

Staff
As with any service organisation iomart is dependent on the skill, experience and commitment of its employees and especially a 
relatively small number of senior staff. The performance of the Group could be adversely affected if the required staffing levels 
are not maintained. The Group seeks to recruit and retain suitably skilled and experienced staff by offering a challenging and 
rewarding work environment. This includes competitive and innovative reward packages and a strong commitment to training and 
development.

Datacentre operation
Any downtime experienced at our datacentres would immediately have an impact on our ability to provide customers with the 
level of service they demand. Should the Group be unable to provide the required level of service this could have an adverse 
effect on the Group’s performance through the loss of customers and reputation. Our ongoing investment in preventative 
maintenance and lifecycle replacement programme ensures our datacentres continue to deliver operational efficiency and 
effectiveness.

Customers
The Group provides an essential service to an extensive client base many of whom rely on the provision of that service for their 
major internet presence. Any diminution in the level of service could have serious consequences for customer acquisition and 
retention. Our high level of recurring revenue and our low level of customer attrition are evidence of our ability to provide the 
level of service required.

iomart group plc Annual Report 2012

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
9

Finance Director's Report

Key suppliers
The Group is dependent on certain key suppliers for the continued operation of its business, the most significant of which are 
those for electricity, bandwidth and servers. Where any of these key suppliers to fail in their service provision to the Group this 
could have an adverse effect on the Group’s ability to provide services to its customers. In all cases these supplies are obtained 
from reputable organisations chosen after a thorough selection process. After selection, the Group actively seeks to maintain 
good relationships with the chosen suppliers. The Group also seeks to maintain either several sources of supply or in the case of 
electricity alternative sources of power.

Search engine optimisation
A significant amount of the Group’s sales revenues are generated through consumers using internet search engines to acquire 
goods and services. Should the Group’s search engine optimisation performance deteriorate this could have an adverse effect on 
the revenue of the Group. The Group continually monitors the position of its websites with respect to these search engines. 
Through the allocation of experienced staff the Group seeks to maintain or enhance the position of its websites for detection by 
internet search engines.

Growth management
The Group is experiencing high levels of growth through both organic and acquisitive means. As a consequence we need to 
continue to evolve as an organisation to meet the demands that such growth places on our business operations. Failure to evolve 
in the necessary way could lead to deterioration in overall business performance. As part of our annual strategy and budget 
review process, which is updated as necessary throughout the year we identify the resource and organisational changes that are 
needed to support our growth. In addition a detailed integration and migration plan is produced for each acquisition that is made 
to ensure the acquired operation is successfully integrated into the Group’s operations.

Acquisitions

The Group has made several acquisitions over the last years and has a stated strategy to continue to make acquisitions. This 
produces three areas of risk:

•	 Acquisition	target	risk	–	We	may	not	be	able	to	identify	suitable	targets	for	acquisition.	Through	a	combination	of	internal	

research and external relationships we maintain an active pipeline of potential acquisition targets.  

•	 Acquisition	integration	risk	–	We	may	not	integrate	the	acquired	business	into	the	Group	in	an	effective	manner	and	as	a	

consequence could lose staff and customers of the acquired business. For each acquisition we prepare a detailed integration 
and migration plan which includes the participation of the vendor to ensure successful integration of the acquired business 
into the Group’s operations.

•	 Acquisition	performance	risk	–	The	acquired	business	may	not	perform	in	line	with	expectations.	As	a	consequence	the	

expected financial performance of the operation may not be achieved with a resulting adverse effect on profits and cashflow.  
For each acquisition diligence and integration planning is undertaken and all potential synergies identified.

Richard Logan
Finance Director
28 May 2012

www.iomart.com 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
	
 
 
	
 
 
 
 
 
 
	
 
 
 
 
10

Corporate Governance

As the company is listed on the Alternative Investment Market it is 
not required to comply with the provisions of the UK Corporate 
Governance Code (the “Code”) issued in June 2010. However, 
the Board is committed to ensuring that proper standards of 
corporate governance operate and has established governance 
procedures  and  policies  that  are  considered  appropriate  to 
the nature and size of the Group. Your Board considers that 
at  this  stage  in  the  Group’s  development  the  expense  of  full 
compliance with the Code is not appropriate.

The Board
The Code requires the Company to have an effective Board 
whose  role  is  to  develop  strategy  and  provide  leadership  to 
the Company as a whole, as well as ensuring a framework of 
controls exist which allow for the identification, assessment and 
management of risk, ultimately taking collective responsibility 
for the success of the Company.

Through  the  leadership  of  the  Chairman,  the  Board  sets 
the  Company’s  strategic  goals;  ensuring  obligations  to 
shareholders are met. Matters reserved for a decision of the 
Board include approval of Group strategy, annual budgets and 
business plans, acquisitions, disposals, business development, 
annual reports, interim statements, and any significant funding 
and capital expenditure plans.

The Board meets regularly, usually monthly, to discuss and agree 
on the various matters brought before it, including the trading 
results. The Company has a highly committed and experienced 
Board, which is supported by a senior management team, with 
the qualification and experience necessary for the running of 
the Group.

In addition, there is regular communication between Executive 
and  Non-Executive  Directors,  where  appropriate,  to  update 
the  Non-Executive  Directors  on  matters  requiring  attention 
prior to the next Board meeting. 

Role of the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
The  Code  requires  that  there  should  be  a  clear  division  of 
responsibilities  between  the  running  of  the  Board  and  the 
executive  responsible  for  the  Company’s  business,  so  as 
to  ensure  that  no  one  person  has  unrestricted  powers  of 
decision.

The Chairman is responsible for the leadership of the Board, 
ensuring  its  effectiveness  and  setting  its  agenda.  Once 
strategic  and  financial  objectives  have  been  agreed  by  the 
Board,  it  is  the  Chief  Executive  Officer’s  responsibility  to 

ensure  they  are  delivered  upon.  To  facilitate  this,  the  Chief 
Executive Officer chairs the Group’s Operations Boards which 
additionally comprises the other executive directors and, where 
appropriate  senior  members  of  the  management  team.  The 
day-to-day operation of the Group’s business is managed by 
these Boards.

The  Chairman  holds  other  directorships,  as  detailed  in  his 
biography  on  page  23.  The  Board  has  considered  the  time 
commitment  required  by  his  other  roles  and  has  concluded 
they do not detract from his chairmanship of the Company.

Composition of and Appointments to the Board
The Code requires that there should be a balance of Executive 
and  Non-Executive  Directors  and  when  appointing  new 
Directors to the Board there should be a formal, rigorous and 
transparent procedure.

The  Board  comprises  a  Non-Executive  Chairman,  Chief 
Executive  Officer,  Finance  Director,  Chief  Operating  Officer 
and 
independent  Non-Executive  Directors.  Short 
Biographies of the directors are given on page 23. 

two 

All  Non-Executive  Directors  serving  at  the  year-end  are 
considered to be independent. The Board does not consider 
the shareholdings of the Non-Executive Directors as detailed 
on page 16 to have any effect on their independence.

The  Board  is  satisfied  with  this  balance  between  Executive 
and  Non-Executive  Directors.  The  Board  considers  that  its 
composition is appropriate in view of the size and requirements 
of the Group’s business and the need to maintain a practical 
balance between Executive and Non-Executive Directors.

Each  member  of  the  Board  brings  different  experience  and 
skills  to  the  Board  and  its  various  committees.  The  Board 
composition  is  kept  under  review  as  this  mix  of  skills  and 
business experience is a major contributing factor to the proper 
functioning  of  the  Board,  helping  to  ensure  matters  are  fully 
debated and that no individual or group dominates the Board 
decision-making process.

When a new appointment to the Board is made, consideration 
is  given  to  the  particular  skills,  knowledge  and  experience 
that  a  potential  new  member  could  add  to  the  existing 
Board  composition.  A  formal  process  is  then  undertaken, 
which  may  involve  external  recruitment  agencies,  with 
appropriate consideration being given, in regards to Executive 
appointments,  to  internal  and  external  candidates.  Before 

iomart group plc Annual Report 2012

undertaking the appointment of a Non-Executive Director, the 
Chairman  establishes  that  the  prospective  Director  can  give 
the  time  and  commitment  necessary  to  fulfil  their  duties,  in 
terms of availability both to prepare for and attend meetings 
and to discuss matters at other times.

Information and Development
A further principle of the Code is that information of a sufficient 
quality is supplied to the Board in a timely manner. 

The Chairman is responsible for ensuring that all the Directors 
continually update their skills, their knowledge and familiarity 
with the Group in order to fulfil their role on the Board and 
the  Board’s  Committees.  Updates  dealing  with  changes  in 
legislation  and  regulation  relevant  to  the  Group’s  business 
are provided to the Board by the Company Secretary/Finance 
Director and through the Board Committees.

All  Directors  have  access  to  the  advice  and  services  of  the 
Company Secretary, who is responsible to the Board for ensuring 
the Board procedures are properly complied with and that the 
discussions and decisions are appropriately minuted. Directors 
may seek independent professional advice at the Company’s 
expense in furtherance of their duties as Directors.

Training  in  matters  relevant  to  their  role  on  the  Board  is 
available to all Board Directors. New Directors are provided 
with an induction in order to introduce them to the operations 
and management of the business.

Performance Evaluation
The  Code  requires  the  Board  to  undertake  a  formal  and 
rigorous evaluation of its own performance annually and that 
of its committees and individual Directors. 

The Board has not undertaken such a review in this financial 
year but now believes the Company is of a size that it should 
comply with the Code in this regard in the future. Consequently 
it intends to implement an evaluation process during the course 
of the next financial year.

Re-election
Under  the  Code,  Directors  should  offer  themselves  for  re-
election at regular intervals and under the Company’s Articles 
of Association, at every Annual General Meeting, at least one 
third of the Directors who are subject to retirement by rotation, 
are required to retire and may be proposed for re-election. In 
addition, any Director who was last appointed or re-appointed 

11

Corporate Governance

three years or more prior to the AGM is required to retire from 
office and may be proposed for re-election. Such retirement 
will  count  in  obtaining  the  number  required  to  retire  at  the 
AGM. New Directors, who were not appointed at the previous 
AGM,  automatically  retire  at  their  first  AGM  and,  if  eligible, 
can seek re-appointment.

Three  Directors  will  retire  from  office  at  the  Company’s 
forthcoming AGM and stand for re-appointment.

Board Committees
The  Board  has  established  two  committees  to  deal  with 
specific aspects of the Board’s affairs: Audit and Remuneration 
Committees. 

The  Board  has  also  established  a  Nominations  Committee 
which  is  chaired  by  Ian  Ritchie  and  includes  Crawford 
Beveridge (appointed 29 September 2011), Chris Batterham 
and the Chief Executive Officer.

www.iomart.com 

12

Corporate Governance

Attendance at Board and Committee Meetings
Attendances of Directors at Board and Committee meetings convened in the year, along with the number of meetings that they 
were invited to attend, are set out below:

Ian	Ritchie	–	Non-Executive	Chairman	
Angus	MacSween		–	Chief	Executive	Officer	
Sarah	Haran		–	Chief	Operating	Officer	
Chris	Batterham	–	Non-Executive	Director	
Fred	Shedden	–	Non-Executive	Director	
Crawford	Beveridge	–	Non-Executive	Director	
Richard	Logan	–	Finance	Director		
* During period of appointment

Board 

Remuneration 
Committee 

Audit
Committee

Held *  Attended 

Held *  Attended  Held * 

Attended

10	
10	
10	
10	
5	
5	
10	

10	
9	
10	
9	
5	
5	
10	

3	
-	
-	
3	
1	
1	
-	

3	
-	
-	
3	
1	
1	
-	

3	
-	
-	
3	
1	
2	
-	

3
-
-
3
1
2
-

The Audit Committee
The Audit Committee’s role is to assist the Board with the discharge of its responsibilities in relation to the internal and external 
audits and controls. The Audit Committee will normally meet at least three times a year. The Audit Committee is chaired by Chris 
Batterham and its other members are Ian Ritchie and Crawford Beveridge (appointed 29 September 2011). The Finance Director, 
Chief Executive Officer and other senior management attend meetings by invitation and the Committee also meets the external 
auditors without management present. Chris Batterham, as chairman of the Audit Committee, has recent and relevant financial 
experience.

During the year, the Audit Committee, operating under its terms of reference, discharged its responsibilities, including reviewing 
and monitoring:

•	 interim	and	annual	reports,	information	including	consideration	of	the	appropriateness	of	accounting	policies;
•	 material	assumptions	and	estimates	adopted	by	management;
•	 developments	in	accounting	and	reporting	requirements;
•	 external	auditors’	plans	for	the	year-end	audit	of	the	Company	and	its	subsidiaries;
•	 the	Committee’s	effectiveness;
•	 the	Risk	Register	covering	the	systems	of	internal	control	and	their	effectiveness,	reporting	and	making	new	

recommendations to the Board on the results of the review and receiving regular updates on key risk areas of 
financial control;

•	 the	performance	and	independence	of	the	external	auditors	concluding	in	a	recommendation	to	the	Board	on	

the reappointment of the auditors by shareholders at the Annual General Meeting. The auditors report annually to 
the Committee confirming their independence and stating the methods they employ to safeguard their 
independence;

•	 non-audit	fees	charges	by	the	external	auditors;	and
•	 the	formal	engagement	terms	entered	into	with	the	external	auditors.

Under its terms of reference the Audit Committee is responsible for monitoring the independence, objectivity and performance of 
external auditors, and for making a recommendation to the Board regarding the appointment of external auditors on an annual 
basis. The Group’s external auditors, Grant Thornton UK LLP, were first appointed as external auditor of the Company for the period 
ended 31 March 2005.

iomart group plc Annual Report 2012

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
	
	
	
	
	
	
 
 
 
 
	
 
 
 
 
 
 
	
	
 
13

Corporate Governance

The Remuneration Committee
The Remuneration Committee is chaired by Crawford Beveridge (appointed 29 September 2011) and its other members are Ian 
Ritchie and Chris Batterham. It is normal for the Chief Executive Officer to be invited to attend meetings except where matters under 
review by the Committee relate to him.

The  Committee  has  responsibility  for  making  recommendations  to  the  Board  on  the  remuneration  packages  of  the  Executive 
Directors which includes:

•	 making	recommendations	to	the	Board	on	the	Company’s	policy	on	Directors’	remuneration	and	overseeing	long		

term incentive plans (including share option schemes for all employees);

•	 ensuring	remuneration	is	both	appropriate	to	the	level	of	responsibility	and	adequate	to	attract	and/or	retain	
  Directors and staff of the calibre required by the Company; and
•	 ensuring	that	remuneration	is	in	line	with	current	industry	practice.

Internal Control
The Directors, who are responsible for the Group’s system of internal control, have established systems to ensure that an appropriate 
level of oversight and control is provided. The systems are reviewed for effectiveness annually by the Audit Committee and the 
Board. The Group’s systems of internal control are designed to help the Company meet its business objectives by appropriately 
managing, rather than eliminating, the risks to those objectives. The controls can only provide reasonable, not absolute, assurance 
against material misstatement or loss. Executive Directors and senior management meet to review both the risks facing the business 
and the controls established to minimise those risks and their effectiveness in operation on an on-going basis. The aim of these 
reviews is to provide reasonable assurance that material risks and problems are identified and appropriate action taken at an early 
stage.

The Board confirms that procedures to identify, evaluate and manage the significant risks faced by the Group have been in place 
throughout the year and up to the date of approval of the Annual Report.

Financial Control
The annual financial plan is reviewed and approved by the Board. Financial results with comparisons to plan and forecast results 
are reported on monthly to the Board together with a report on operational achievements, objectives and issues encountered. 
Significant variances from plan are discussed at Board meetings and actions set in place to address them.

Approval  levels  for  authorisation  of  expenditure  are  at  set  levels  and  cascaded  through  the  management  structure  with  any 
expenditure in excess of predefined levels requiring approval from the executive directors.

Relations with Shareholders
The Chief Executive Officer and Finance Director have, where appropriate, had regular dialogue with shareholders and analysts to 
discuss strategic and other issues including the Company’s financial results.

The Company engages in full and open communication with both institutional and private investors and responds promptly to all 
queries received. In conjunction with the Company’s brokers and other financial advisers all relevant news is distributed in a timely 
fashion through appropriate channels to ensure shareholders are able to access material information on the Company’s progress. 
The Company’s website has a section for investors, which contains all publicly available financial information and news on the 
Company.

Going Concern
The Directors, having made suitable enquiries and analysis of the accounts, consider that the Group has adequate resources to 
continue in business for the foreseeable future. For this reason, the Directors continue to adopt the going concern basis in preparing 
the financial statements. In making this assessment, the Directors have considered the Group budgets, the cash flow forecasts and 
associated risks and the availability of bank and leasing facilities.

www.iomart.com 

	
	
 
 
	
 
	
 
14

Corporate Governance

AIM Rule Compliance Report
iomart Group plc is quoted on AIM and as a result the Company has complied with AIM Rule 31 which requires the following:

•	 Have	in	place	sufficient	procedures,	resources	and	controls	to	enable	its	compliance	with	the	AIM	Rules;
•	 Seek	advice	from	its	Nominated	Advisor	(“Nomad”)	regarding	its	compliance	with	the	Rules	whenever	appropriate	and	

take that advice into account;

•	 Provide	the	Company’s	Nomad	with	any	information	it	reasonably	requests	in	order	for	the	Nomad	to	carry	out	its	

responsibilities under the AIM Rules for Nominated Advisors, including any proposed changes to the Board and Provision 
of draft notifications in advance;

•	 Ensure	that	each	of	the	Company’s	Directors	accepts	full	responsibility,	collectively	and	individually,	for	compliance	with	

the AIM rules; and

•	 Ensure	that	each	Director	discloses	without	delay	all	information	which	the	Company	needs	in	order	to	comply	with	
  AIM Rule 17 (Disclosure of Miscellaneous Information) insofar as that information is known to the director or could with 

reasonable diligence be ascertained by the Director.

Quality of Personnel and Employee Involvement
The Group is committed to attracting and retaining the highest level of personnel. It strives to do this through, amongst other things, 
the application of high standards in recruitment. The Group is aware of the importance of good communication in relationships 
with its staff and also follows a policy of encouraging training.

A number of employees participate in the growth of the business through the ownership of share options with some employees also 
participating in the Group bonus scheme.

Business Ethics
The Board recognises that the Company is accountable to its shareholders and, at the same time, seeks to take into account the 
interests of all its stakeholders including customers, suppliers and subcontractors, employees, as well as the local community, and 
the environment in which it operates.

The Group maintains core values of Honesty, Integrity, Hard Work, Service and Quality and actively promotes these values in all 
activities undertaken on behalf of the Group.

Customers
The Group treats all of its customers with the utmost respect and seeks to be honest and fair in all relationships with them. The 
Group provides its customers with products of high quality.

Suppliers and Subcontractors
Relationships with suppliers and subcontractors are based on mutual respect, and the Group seeks to be honest and fair in its 
relationships  with  suppliers  and  subcontractors,  and  to  honour  the  terms  and  conditions  of  its  agreements  in  place  with  such 
suppliers and subcontractors.

The Group is aware that the giving or accepting of bribes is not acceptable business conduct.

Employees
The Group recognises the importance of its employees and that the success of the Group is due to their efforts. The Group respects 
the dignity and rights of all its employees. The Group provides clean, healthy and safe working conditions. An inclusive working 
environment and a culture of openness are maintained by the regular dissemination of information. 

The Group endeavours to provide equal opportunities for all employees and facilitates the development of employees’ skill sets. A 
fair remuneration policy is adopted throughout the Group.

The Group does not tolerate any sexual, physical or mental harassment of its employees. The Group operates an equal opportunities 
policy and specifically prohibits discrimination on grounds of colour, ethnic origin, gender, ages, religion, political or other opinion, 
disability, or sexual orientation.  

Bruce Hall 
Company secretary
28 May 2012

iomart group plc Annual Report 2012

 
	
	
 
 
	
 
 
 
 
	
 
 
	
 
 
 
15

Report of the board to the members on directors' 
remuneration

The  remuneration  committee  has  given  consideration  to  the 
UK Corporate Governance Code 2010 issued by the Financial 
Reporting  Council  in  framing  its  remuneration  policy.  As  the 
company is listed on the Alternative Investment Market, it is not 
required to comply with the provisions of Section 412 of the 
Companies Act 2006. The following disclosures are voluntary 
as is the resolution to approve this report at the annual general 
meeting.

Remuneration committee
The  remuneration  committee  determines,  on  behalf  of  the 
board, the Group’s policy for executive remuneration and the 
individual  remuneration  packages  for  executive  directors.  In 
setting  the  Group’s  remuneration  policy,  the  remuneration 
committee  considers  a  number  of  factors,  including  the 
following:

•	

Pensions

to 

Pension  contributions 
individuals’  personal  pension 
arrangements are payable by the Group at the rate of twice 
the contribution made by the director subject to a maximum 
employer contribution of 10% of basic salary.

•	

	Share	options

Executive  directors  are  entitled  to participate  in  share  option 
schemes.

•	

Joint	share	ownership	plan

Executive directors are entitled to participate in the Company’s 
Joint Share Ownership Plan (JSOP).

•	

•	

salaries	and	benefits	available	to	executive	directors	
of comparable companies;

•	 Other	benefits

the	need	to	attract	and	retain	executives	of	an	
appropriate calibre; and

The  executive  directors  are  entitled  to  life  insurance  cover 
and  to  participate  in  the  Group’s  Private  Medical  Insurance 
scheme.

the	continued	commitment	of	executives	to	the	
•	
  Group’s success through appropriate incentive 

All the executive directors are engaged under service contracts 
which require a notice period of 6 or 12 months. 

Remuneration of non-executive directors
The fees paid to the non-executive directors are determined by 
the board. They are not entitled to receive any bonus or other 
benefits.

Non-executive  directors’  letters  of  appointment  are  on  a  6 
month rolling basis.

schemes.

The committee meets at least twice a year.

Remuneration of executive directors
The remuneration packages of the executive directors comprise 
the following elements:

•	

Base	salary

The  remuneration  committee  sets  base  salaries  to  reflect 
responsibilities and the skill, knowledge and experience of the 
individual.    The  executive  directors  do  not  receive  directors’ 
fees.

•	

Bonus	scheme

The  executive  directors  are  eligible  to  receive  a  bonus  on 
top of their basic salary dependent on individual and Group 
performance at the discretion of the remuneration committee.  
Performance  conditions  are  set  individually  for  each  director 
to  ensure  they  are  relevant  and  stretching.  For  the  executive 
directors, there may be an opportunity to sacrifice their potential 
bonus in exchange for a payment into a pension plan.

www.iomart.com 

	
 
 
	
 
 
	
 
 
 
 
16

Report of the board to the members on directors' remuneration

Directors’ remuneration (this information has been audited)
Details of individual directors’ emoluments for the year are as follows:

Name of director 

Angus MacSween 
Chris Batterham 
Crawford Beveridge (appointed 29 September 2011) 
Sarah Haran 
Richard Logan 
Ian Ritchie 
Fred Shedden (resigned 29 September 2011) 

Salary or fees 
£ 
206,000 
30,000 
12,500 
133,900 
154,500 
50,000 
15,000 

Year 
ended 

Year
ended
  31 March  31 March
2011
Total
£
416,673
30,000
-
260,400
241,513
50,000
30,000

2012 
Total 
£ 
458,951 
30,000 
12,500 
293,783 
271,885 
50,000 
15,000 

Pension 
Benefits  contributions 
£ 
50,000 
- 
- 
28,390 
15,450 
- 
- 

£ 
2,351 
- 
- 
593 
685 
- 
- 

Bonus 
£ 
200,600 
- 
- 
130,900 
101,250 
- 
- 

601,900 

432,750 

3,629 

93,840  1,132,119  1,028,586        

Directors’ interests in shares
The interests of the directors in the shares of the company at 31 March 2012, together with their interests at 1 April 2011 were as 
follows:

Name of director 
Angus MacSween 
Chris Batterham  
Crawford Beveridge (appointed 29 September 2011) 
Sarah Haran 
Richard Logan 
Ian Ritchie 

                    Number of ordinary shares

31 March 2012 

 At 1 April 2011 

19,336,304 
90,621 
12,000 
1,024,944 
100,500 
151,400 

19,336,304
90,621
Nil
1,124,944
100,500
151,400

In addition, Fred Shedden, who served as a Director until his resignation on 29 September 2011, held 764,588 ordinary shares at 1 
April 2011. The shareholdings for Angus MacSween, Sarah Haran and Richard Logan exclude shares held under the Company’s Joint 
Share Ownership Plan (JSOP), in which the directors are beneficial co-owners of shares. Details of such shareholdings are given below.

iomart group plc Annual Report 2012

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Report of the board to the members on directors' remuneration

17

Directors’ interests in shareholdings of Joint Share Ownership Plan (this information has been audited)
The interests of the directors in the JSOP shares are as follows:-

Name of 
director 

Market 

Current 
  Price at date Participation Participation 
Price 

of Award 

Initial 

Price 

Award Date 

Vesting  Number 
of shares 

Date 

Date 
from which 
exerciseable 

Expiry date

Angus MacSween  31/03/2010 
31/03/2010 
31/03/2010 
31/03/2010 

Sarah Haran 

Richard Logan 

31/03/2010 
31/03/2010 
31/03/2010 
31/03/2010 
31/03/2010 

31/03/2010 
31/03/2010 
31/03/2010 
31/03/2010 

49.5p 
49.5p 
49.5p 
49.5p 

49.5p 
49.5p 
49.5p 
49.5p 
49.5p 

49.5p 
49.5p 
49.5p 
49.5p 

49.5p 
78.5p 
49.5p 
49.5p 

50.5p 
78.5p 
49.5p 
49.5p 
49.5p 

49.5p 
50.5p 
49.5p 
49.5p 

52.5p  31/03/2010 
78.5p  31/03/2010 
52.5p  31/03/2011 
52.5p  31/03/2012 

356,990 
322,612 
350,000 
450,000 

31/03/2010  06/10/2018
31/03/2010  17/11/2014
31/03/2011  06/10/2018
31/03/2012  06/10/2018

  1,479,602 

53.6p  31/03/2010 
78.5p  31/03/2010 
52.5p  31/03/2010 
52.5p  31/03/2011 
52.5p  31/03/2012 

414,018 
177,867 
357,087 
350,000 
450,000 

31/03/2010  27/09/2017
31/03/2010  17/11/2014
31/03/2010  06/10/2018
31/03/2011  06/10/2018
31/03/2012  06/10/2018

  1,748,972

52.5p  31/03/2010 
53.6p  31/03/2010 
52.5p  31/03/2011 
52.5p  31/03/2012 

221,505 
500,000 
350,000 
450,000 

31/03/2010  06/10/2018
31/03/2010  27/09/2017
31/03/2011  06/10/2018
31/03/2012  06/10/2018

  1,521,505

The JSOP shares are held jointly between the director and the iomart Group plc Employee Benefit Trust. Under the terms of the JSOP rules 
the directors are eligible to receive the excess of any disposal proceeds received for the JSOP shares over the participation price. Certain 
of the JSOP shares are subject to a 3% per annum escalation until the JSOP shares are sold. The JSOP shares do not carry dividend or 
voting rights whilst they are jointly held by the director and the iomart Group plc Employee Benefit Trust.

Should the market price of a vested JSOP share exceed the participation price the director has the option to convert the value of any such 
excess into a number of wholly owned shares within the JSOP. If a director exercises this right then the wholly owned shares subsequently 
held within the JSOP by the director shall be eligible for both dividend and voting rights.

www.iomart.com 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
18

Report of the board to the members on directors' remuneration

Directors’ interests in share options (this information has been audited)
The interests of the directors at 31 March 2012 in options over the ordinary shares of the Company were as follows:

2011  Exercised  Surrendered  Lapsed 

At 
  31 March  Exercise 
price 

2012 

Date of 

Date from
which 
Grant  exerciseable 

Expiry
date

Name of  
director 

At 
1 April 

Angus MacSween  127,388 
43,010 

170,398 

72,133 
85,982 
42,913 

201,028 

Sarah Haran 

Richard Logan 

- 
- 

- 

- 
- 
- 

- 

50,000 
150,000 
28,495 

- 
(29,500) 
- 

228,495 

(29,500) 

- 
- 

- 

- 
- 
- 

- 

- 
- 
- 

- 

-  127,388 
43,010 
- 

78.5p  17/11/2004  17/11/2007  17/11/2014
46.5p  06/10/2008  31/03/2009  06/10/2018

-  170,398 

- 
- 
- 

72,133 
85,982 
42,913 

78.5p  17/11/2004  17/11/2007  17/11/2014
50.5p  27/09/2007  27/09/2010  27/09/2017
46.5p  06/10/2008  31/03/2009  06/10/2018

-  201,028 

- 
50,000 
-  120,500 
28,495 
- 

74.0p  24/08/2006  24/08/2009  24/08/2016
46.5p  06/10/2008  31/03/2009  06/10/2018
46.5p  06/10/2008  31/03/2010  06/10/2018

-  198,995 

On 29 November 2011, Richard Logan exercised 29,500 share options under the Company’s Enterprise Management Incentives Share 
Option Scheme at an exercise price of 46.5p. The market price on the date of exercise was 120.5p resulting in a gain on exercise of 
£21,830. No share options were exercised by directors in the previous year and no new share options were granted to directors during 
the year. There have been no variations to the terms and conditions or performance criteria for share options during the year.

The market price of the company’s shares at the end of the financial period was 142.0p and the range of prices during the period was 
between 84.5p and 151.0p.

By order of the board

Crawford Beveridge
Chairman, Remuneration committee
28 May 2012

iomart group plc Annual Report 2012

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Directors' Report

The  directors  present  their  annual  report  on  the  affairs  of  the 
Group, together with the financial statements and auditors’ report, 
for the year ended 31 March 2012.

Principal activity
The  principal  activity  of  the  Group  is  the  provision  of  cloud 
computing and managed hosting services through a network of 
owned data centres.  

Business review
The Chairman’s Statement, Chief Executive Officer’s and Finance 
Director’s Reports contain a review of trading.

The  Group  is  focused  on  building  a  managed  hosting  business 
using its own carrier neutral datacentre capacity to allow the full set 
of vertical components from domain names through space, power 
and  bandwidth  to  complex  application  hosting.  The  principal 
risks and uncertainties faced by the business are described in the 
Finance Director’s Report.

Key performance indicator review

Revenue 
Growth 

2012 
£33.5m 
33% increase 

2011
£25.3m
38% increase

Revenue from continuing operations grew by 33% over the year 
compared to a growth of 38% in the previous year. The Hosting 
segment grew revenues by 38% (2011: 61%) and the Easyspace 
segment by 21% (2011: 3%).

Adjusted EBITDA 
Adjusted EBITDA margin 

2012 
£11.2m 
33% 

2011
£6.6m
26%

The adjusted EBITDA margin has shown a substantial improvement 
as  a  result  of  the  Hosting  segment  both  continuing  to  win  new 
business and the inclusion of EQSN Limited which was acquired 
during  the  year.  Easyspace  has  also  contributed  to  the  adjusted 
EBITDA  margin  improvement  through  increased  revenues  and 
operational efficiencies and the inclusion of Switch Media Limited 
and  its  subsidiaries  and  Global  Gold  Holdings  Limited  and  its 
subsidiary that were acquired during the year.

Financial instruments
The  Group’s  financial  instruments  comprise  cash  and  liquid 
resources,  bank  loans  and  finance  leases  together  with  various 
items  such  as  trade  debtors  and  trade  creditors  that  arise 

19

directly from its operations.  The main purpose of these financial 
instruments is to provide finance for the Group’s operations.  In 
June  2010  the  Group  obtained  a  multi  option  revolving  credit 
facility of £10.0m which was made available in order to finance 
business  acquisitions  and  to  finance  capital  expenditure.  At  the 
beginning of the year, £2.0m of this facility had been drawn down 
in order to fund the acquisition of Titan Internet Limited. During 
the  year,  a  further  £1.0m  of  the  facility  was  down  to  fund  the 
acquisition  of  Switch  Media  Limited  and  its  subsidiaries  in  April 
2011 and another £1.0m was drawn down in order to fund the 
acquisition  of  EQSN  Limited  in  November  2011.  The  main  risk 
to the Group is interest rate risk arising from floating rate interest 
rates.  The  Group’s  borrowings  at  31  March  2012  comprise 
finance leases totalling £2.5m (2011: £1.8m) and a bank loan 
totalling £4.0m (2011: £2.0m).  The interest rates on the finance 
leases  are  fixed  for  the  term  of  the  lease  at  between  3.2%  and 
12.2%  and  the  average  interest  rate  was  6.8%  (2011:  6.9%). 
The  interest  rate  on  the  bank  loan  is  fixed  for  periods  of  either 
three or six months and at the moment is fixed for 6 months at 
3.3% per annum excluding any draw down fees and the average 
annual interest rate during the year was 3.3% (2011: 3.0%). The 
Group has exposure to movements in the exchange rate of the US 
dollar as certain domain name purchases are transacted in this 
currency. To protect cash flows against the level of exchange rate 
risk, the Group entered into forward exchange contracts to hedge 
foreign  exchange  exposures  arising  on  the  forecast  payments. 
The majority of transactions of the holding company and the UK 
subsidiaries are in UK sterling and, with the exception of forward 
foreign  exchange  contracts,  the  Group  does  not  use  derivative 
instruments.    Additional  information  on  financial  instruments  is 
included in Note 27.

Dividend
The directors have not declared an interim dividend for the year 
ended 31 March 2012 (2011: nil). The directors recommend a 
final dividend for the year ended 31 March 2012 of 0.90p per 
share (2011: 0.65p per share).  

Directors and their interests
The present membership of the board is set out on page 23. In 
accordance with the company’s Articles of Association, Crawford 
Beveridge,  Angus  MacSween  and  Richard  Logan  will  offer 
themselves  for  re-election  at  the  forthcoming  annual  general 
meeting.  

Details  of  directors’  interests  in  the  company’s  shares  are  set 
out  in  the  Report  of  the  Board  to  the  Members  on  Directors’ 
Remuneration on pages 15 to 18. 

www.iomart.com 

 
 
 
 
 
20

Directors' Report

Substantial shareholdings
At 22 May 2012 the following interests in 3% or more of the issued 
ordinary share capital, excluding shares held by the iomart Group 
plc Employee Benefit Trust, had been notified to the Company: 

Shareholder 

Shares 

Percentage held

Angus MacSween  

19,336,304  

19.32%

Legal & General 
Investment 
Management 

Henderson 
Global Investors 

Majedie Asset 
Management 

Universities 
Superannuation 
Scheme 

British Steel 
Pension Scheme 

13,175,400 

13.17%

9,909,057  

9.90%

8,085,101 

8.08%

3,769,000  

3.77%

3,768,103  

Bill Dobbie 

3,454,500 

3.77%

3.45%

River & Mercantile 
Asset Management 

3,259,877 

3.26%

Transactions in own shares 
At 31 March 2012 the iomart Group plc Employee Benefit Trust 
held 4,750,079 shares (2011: 4,977,184) which are accounted 
for as Own Shares. On 9 August 2011, 227,105 ordinary shares 
(2011: nil) were transferred from the Own Shares JSOP reserve 
following  the  exercise  of  Joint  Share  Ownership  options  by  an 
employee. 

Employee involvement
The  Group  regularly  communicates  with  all  staff  providing 
information on developments within the Group including updates 
on the Group’s strategy and details of new products and services 
provided by the Group.

Staff are eligible to receive share options or Joint Share Ownership 
Plan  shares  in  the  company  under  the  Group’s  share  incentive 
schemes and it is the board’s policy to make specific awards as 
appropriate to attract and retain the best available people.

employees  who  become  disabled,  to  promote  their  career 
development within the organisation.

Supplier payment policy and practice
The Company and its subsidiaries agree the terms of payment when 
negotiating  the  terms  and  conditions  for  their  transactions  with 
their suppliers. Payment is made in compliance with those terms, 
subject  to  the  terms  and  conditions  of  the  relevant  transaction 
having been met by the supplier. Trade creditor days of the Group 
at  31  March  2012  were  30  days  (2011:  24  days),  and  of  the 
company were 15 days (2011: 2 days). This represents the ratio, 
expressed in days, between the amounts invoiced to the company 
in the year by its suppliers and the amounts due, at the year end, 
to trade creditors falling due for payment within one year.

Political and charitable donations
The Group did not make any charitable or political donations in 
either the current or the previous year. 

Awareness of relevant audit information
So far as each of the directors, at the time the report is approved, 
is aware:

	 •	

	 •	

there	is	no	relevant	audit	information	of	which	the	
auditors are unaware, and
the	directors	have	taken	all	the	steps	they	ought	to	
have taken to make themselves aware of any relevant 
audit information and to establish that the auditors are 
aware of that information.

Website disclaimer
The  maintenance  and  integrity  of  the  iomart  Group  plc  website 
is the responsibility of the directors. The work carried out by the 
auditors  does  not  involve  consideration  of  these  matters  and, 
accordingly, the auditors accept no responsibility for any changes 
that may have occurred to the financial statements since they were 
initially presented on the website. Legislation in the United Kingdom 
governing  the  preparation  and  dissemination  of  the  financial 
statements may differ from legislation in other jurisdictions.

Auditors
Grant  Thornton  UK  LLP  have  expressed  their  willingness  to 
continue in office as auditors and a resolution to reappoint them 
will be proposed at the forthcoming annual general meeting.

By order of the board

Employment of disabled persons
Full and fair consideration is given to applications for employment 
made  by  disabled  persons  having  regard  to  their  particular 
aptitudes  and  abilities.    Appropriate  training  is  arranged  for 
disabled  persons,  including  retraining  for  alternative  work  of 

Bruce Hall 
Company secretary

28 May 2012

iomart group plc Annual Report 2012

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Directors' Responsibilities Statement

21

The directors confirm that: 

	 •	

	 •	

so	far	as	each	director	is	aware,	there	is	no	relevant	
audit information of which the Group and Parent 
Company’s auditor is unaware; and

the	directors	have	taken	all	the	steps	that	they	ought	
to have taken as directors in order to make themselves 
aware of any relevant audit information and to establish 
that the auditors are aware of that information.

The  directors  are  responsible  for  the  maintenance  and  integrity 
of  the  corporate  and  financial  information  included  on  the 
Group's website. Legislation in the United Kingdom governing the 
preparation and dissemination of financial statements may differ 
from legislation in other jurisdictions. 

The directors are responsible for preparing the Directors’ Report, 
the  Report  to  the  Members  on  Directors'  Remuneration  and  the 
Group and Parent Company 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 financial statements in accordance with International Financial 
Reporting Standards (IFRSs) as adopted by the European Union. 
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 affairs and profit or loss of the Company and 
Group for that period. In preparing these financial statements, the 
directors are required to:

	 •	

select	suitable	accounting	policies	and	then	apply	
them consistently;

	 •	 make	judgments	and	accounting	estimates	that	are	

reasonable and prudent;

	 •	

state	whether	applicable	IFRSs	have	been	followed	
for the Group financial statements and whether 
United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting 
Practice (United Kingdom Accounting Standards and 
applicable laws) have been followed for the Parent 
Company financial statements, subject to any 
material departures disclosed and explained in the 
financial statements;

	 •	 prepare	the	financial	statements	on	the	going	

concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume 
that the company will continue in business. 

The  directors  are  responsible  for  keeping  adequate  accounting 
records  that  are  sufficient  to  show  and  explain  the  Group  and 
Parent  Company’s  transactions  and  disclose  with  reasonable 
accuracy  at  any  time  the  financial  position  of  the  Group  and 
Parent Company and enable them to ensure that the Group and 
Parent Company financial statements and the Report to Members 
on Directors' Remuneration comply with the Companies Act 2006. 
They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the Group 
and Parent Company and hence for taking reasonable steps for 
the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.

www.iomart.com 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Trusted 
&	Accountable

“The decision to use iomart Hosting as our sole host 
has proved the right one. As soon as the relationship 
was formalised, the benefits were tangible.”
Phil Davies, Director IS for Misys UK & EMEA

www.iomart.com 

Board of Directors

Ian Ritchie
61,  appointed  2008;  currently  Chairman  of  Computer  Application  Services  Ltd,  Interactive 
Design  Institute  Ltd,  Blipfoto  Ltd  and  Red  Fox  Media  Ltd.  He  is  a  past  President  of  the  British 
Computer  Society  and  the  current  Vice  President  (Business)  of  the  Royal  Society  of  Edinburgh. 
Ian  was  founding  chairman  of  several  technology  companies,  including  Voxar  Ltd  (now 
part  of  Toshiba),  Orbital  Software  Group  plc  (now  part  of  Sopheon  plc),  Digital  Bridges 
Ltd  (now  part  of  Oberon  Inc)  and  Sonaptic  Ltd  (now  part  of  Wolfson  Microelectronics  plc).

Angus MacSween
55,  appointed  2000;  after  a  short  service  commission  in  the  Royal  Navy,  Angus  started  his  first 
business  selling  telephone  systems  in  1984.  Since  selling  this  first  business  he  has  established, 
grown and sold 5 profitable businesses in the telephony and internet sector. Following the sale of 
Teledata  Limited,  the  UK’s  leading  telephone  information  services  company  to  Scottish  Telecom 
plc, Angus spent two years on the executive of Scottish Telecom plc where he was responsible for 
the  development  of  the  company's  Internet  division.  In  December  1998  Angus  founded  iomart.  

Chris Batterham
57,  appointed  2005;  Chris  was  finance  director  of  Unipalm  plc,  the  first  internet  company  to 
IPO  and  stayed  with  the  company  for  5  years  following  its  takeover  by  UUnet.    He  was  CFO 
of  Searchspace  until  2005  and  is  currently  a  non  executive  director  of  SDL  plc,  office2office 
plc  and  chairman  of  Eckoh  plc.    Chris  has  also  served  on  the  boards  of  Staffware  plc, 
DBS  Management  plc,  DRS  plc,  Betfair  plc  and  The  Invesco  Techmark  Enterprise  Trust  plc.

Crawford Beveridge
66,  appointed  2011;  Crawford  Beveridge  CBE  has  over  40  years  experience  in  the  technology 
industry, including 16 years at Sun Microsystems ("Sun"), most recently as Executive Vice President 
and  Chairman,  EMEA,  APAC  and  the  Americas  until  retiring  in  January  2010.  His  business 
background also includes roles with Hewlett-Packard, Digital Equipment Corp., Analog Devices, 
non-executive  director  of  Hitachi  Global  Storage  Technologies,  a  subsidiary  of  Hitachi  Ltd  and 
Chief  Executive  of  Scottish  Enterprise.  Current  board  roles  include  Chairman  of  the  investment 
advisory board at Scottish Equity Partners and Non Executive Chairman of NASDAQ listed Autodesk.

Sarah Haran
46, appointed 2000; Sarah has spent her career implementing and managing operations centres 
for large corporations such as Microsoft Inc, Compaq Inc, Scottish Power plc and Prestel Limited. 
She joined iomart in 1998, from Scottish Telecom plc and has been responsible for developing the 
day-to-day  business  processes  and  technical  operations  to  support  the  Group’s  customer  base.

Richard Logan
54,  appointed  2006;  Richard  is  a  chartered  accountant  having  qualified  with  Arthur  Young  in 
1984. Richard then spent 7 years with Ben Line Group initially as Group treasurer and latterly as 
financial  director  of  Ben  Line’s  main  container  shipping  division.    From  1992  to  2002  Richard 
served as finance director of Kingston SCL a company which provided administration and billing 
software to the mobile communications market during which time he was involved in a management 
buy-out and subsequent trade sale of the company.  Immediately prior to joining iomart Richard 
served  as  finance  director  of  ePOINT  Group,  a  technology  company  based  in  Scotland.

23

www.iomart.com 

24

Independent auditor's report to the members of 
iomart Group plc

•	

•	

have	been	properly	prepared	in	accordance	with	IFRS	as	
adopted by the European Union; and 

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

Opinion on other matter prescribed by the 
Companies Act 2006
In our opinion the information given in the Report of the Board to 
the Members on Directors Remuneration, which we were engaged 
to  audit,  has  been  prepared  in  accordance  with  Rule  19  of  the 
AIM Rules for Companies.

Matters on which we are required to report by 
exception
We have nothing to report in respect of the following:
Under the Companies Act 2006 we are required to report to you 
if, in our opinion:

•	

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.

Other matter
We  have  reported  separately  on  the  parent  company  financial 
statements  of  iomart  Group  plc  for  the  year  ended  31  March 
2012.

Andrew Howie
Senior Statutory Auditor
for and on behalf of Grant Thornton UK LLP
Statutory Auditor, Chartered Accountants
Glasgow
28 May 2012

We have audited the Group financial statements of iomart Group 
Plc  for  the  year  ended  31  March  2012  which  comprise  the 
consolidated  statement  of  comprehensive  income,  consolidated 
statement  of  financial  position,  consolidated  statement  of  cash 
flows,  the  consolidated  statement  of  changes  in  equity  and  the 
related  notes.  The  financial  reporting  framework  that  has  been 
applied  in  their  preparation  is  applicable  law  and  International 
Financial Reporting Standards (IFRSs) as adopted by the European 
Union. 

In addition to our audit of the financial statements, the directors 
have  engaged  us  to  audit  the  information  in  the  Report  of  the 
Board to the Members on Directors' Remuneration that is described 
as having been audited.

This report is made solely to the 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 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 company and the company’s members 
as a body, for our audit work, for this report, or for the opinions 
we have formed.

Respective responsibilities of directors and auditors
As explained more fully in the Directors’ Responsibilities Statement, 
the  directors  are  responsible  for  the  preparation  of  the  Group 
financial statements and for being satisfied that they give a true 
and fair view.  Our responsibility is to audit and express an opinion 
on the Group financial statements in accordance with applicable 
law  and  International  Standards  on  Auditing  (UK  and  Ireland). 
Those standards require us to comply with the Auditing Practices 
Board’s (APB’s) Ethical Standards for Auditors.

Scope of the audit of the financial statements
A description of the scope of an audit of financial statements is 
provided  on  the  APB’s  website  at  www.frc.org.uk/apb/scope/
private.cfm.

Opinion
In our opinion the Group financial statements:
•	

give	a	true	and	fair	view	of	the	state	of	the	Group's	affairs	
as at 31 March 2012 and of its profit for the year then 
ended;

iomart group plc Annual Report 2012

 
 
 
 
 
 
25

Consolidated Statement of Comprehensive Income
Year ended 31 March 2012

Note 

2012 
£’000 

2011
£’000

Revenue 

Cost of sales 

Gross profit 

Administrative expenses 

Operating profit 

Analysed as: 

Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, amortisation, 
acquisition costs and share based payments 
Share based payments 
Acquisition costs 
Depreciation 
Amortisation	–	acquired	intangible	assets	
Amortisation	–	other	intangible	assets	

Finance income 
Finance costs 

Profit before taxation 

Taxation 

Profit for the year from total operations 

Other comprehensive income 

Currency translation differences 
Other comprehensive expense for the year 

Total comprehensive income for the year 

Attributable to equity holders of the parent 

Basic and diluted earnings per share 

Total operations 
Basic earnings per share 
Diluted earnings per share 

The following notes form part of the primary financial statements. 

4 

4 

24 
6 
4 
4	
4	

7 
7 

9 

33,476 

25,252

(11,094) 

(9,699)

22,382  

15,553 

(16,358) 

(12,780)

6,024 

2,773

11,186 
(104) 
(304) 
(3,698) 
(604)	
(452)	

70 
(252) 

6,644
(290)
(195)
(2,689)
(316)
(381)

197 
(178)

5,842 

2,792

356 

70

6,198 

2,862

(10) 
(10) 

6,188 

6,188 

-
-

2,862

2,862

12 
12 

6.22 p 
6.03 p 

2.91 p
2.85 p

www.iomart.com 

 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
26

Consolidated Statement of Financial Position
 31 March 2012

Note 

13	
13	
10 
14 
16 

18 
17 

21 

20 
19 

21 

23 

2012 
£’000 

27,544	
3,033	
993 
2,416 
15,626 

2011
£’000

23,952
1,978
619
2,016
14,788

49,612 

43,353

8,935 
4,071 

13,006 

6,864
3,100

9,964

62,618 

53,317

(1,211) 
(1,211) 

(920)
(920)

(246) 
(10,592) 
(255) 
(5,251) 
(16,344) 

(600)
(9,744)
(303)
(2,846)
(13,493)

(17,555) 

(14,413)

45,063 

38,904

1,048 
(2,351) 
1,200 
20,362 
(10) 
24,814 
45,063 

1,038
(2,464)
1,200
19,977
-
19,153
38,904

ASSETS 
Non-current assets 
Intangible	assets	–	goodwill	
Intangible	assets	–	other	
Deferred tax asset 
Lease deposit 
Property, plant and equipment 

Current assets 
Cash and cash equivalents 
Trade and other receivables 

Total assets 

LIABILITIES 
Non-current liabilities 
Non-current borrowings 

Current liabilities 
Contingent consideration due on acquisitions 
Trade and other payables 
Current income tax liabilities 
Current borrowings 

Total liabilities 

Net assets 

EQUITY 
Share capital 
Own shares 
Capital redemption reserve 
Share premium 
Foreign currency translation reserve 
Retained earnings 
Total equity 

These financial statements were approved by the board of directors on 28 May 2012.
Signed on behalf of the board of directors

Angus MacSween
Director and chief executive officer

The following notes form part of the primary financial statements. 

iomart group plc Annual Report 2012

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
  
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
  
   
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
Consolidated Statement of Cash Flows
Year ended 31 March 2012

Profit before taxation  
Finance	costs/(income)	–	net	
Depreciation 
Amortisation 
Share based payments 
Exchange movements 
Movement in lease deposits 
Movement in trade receivables 
Movement in trade payables 
Cash flow from operations 
Taxation paid 
Net cash flow from operating activities 

Cash flow from investing activities 
Purchase of property, plant and equipment 
Capitalisation of development costs 
Purchase of intangible assets - software 
Payment for acquisitions net of cash acquired 
Deferred consideration paid on prior period acquisition 
Receipt from disposal of discontinued operation 
Interest received 
Net cash used in investing activities 

Cash flow from financing activities 
Issue of shares 
Bank loans 
Repayment of finance leases 
Interest paid 
Dividends paid 
Net cash received from financing activities 

Net increase in cash and cash equivalents 

Note 

7	
4 
4 
24 

14 

13 
13 

20 

21 

8 

2012 
£’000 

5,842 
182	
3,698 
1,056 
104 
(10) 
(400) 
(405) 
(487) 
9,580 
(585) 
8,995 

(2,397) 
(474) 
(89) 
(3,873) 
(600) 
- 
31 
(7,402) 

512 
2,000 
(1,164) 
(227) 
(643) 
478 

2,071 

27

2011
£’000

2,792
(19)
2,689
697
290
-
(800)
194
1,211
7,054
(12)
7,042

(3,419)
(351)
(197)
(3,144)
(1,000)
795
237
(7,079)

473
2,000
(759)
(137)
(391)
1,186

1,149

Cash and cash equivalents at the beginning of the year 

6,864 

5,715 

Cash and cash equivalents at the end of the year 

18 

8,935 

6,864

The following notes form part of the primary financial statements. 

www.iomart.com 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
28

Consolidated Statement of Changes in Equity
 Year ended 31 March 2012

Changes in equity 

Share 
capital 
£’000 

Note 

Own 

Foreign
currency 
shares  translation 
reserve 
£’000 

JSOP 
£’000 

Capital 

Share

redemption  premium  Retained
account  earnings 
£’000 

reserve 
£’000 

£’000 

Total
£’000

Balance at 1 April 2010 

1,028   (2,464) 

-  

1,200  

19,514  

16,312  35,590 

Profit in the year 
Total comprehensive income 

Share based payments  
Deferred tax on share based payments 
Dividends	–	interim	(paid)	
Issue of new shares for option redemption 

24 

8	

Total transactions with owners 

- 
- 

- 
- 
-	
10 

10 

- 
- 

- 
- 
-	
- 

- 

Balance at 31 March 2011 

1,038   (2,464) 

Profit in the year 
Currency translation differences 
Total comprehensive income 

Dividends	–	final	(paid)	
Share based payments  
Deferred tax on share based payments 
Issue of own shares from JSOP 
Issue of new shares for option redemption 
Total transactions with owners 

8	
24 

- 
- 
- 

-	
- 
- 
- 
10 
10 

- 
- 
- 

-	
- 
- 
113 
- 
113 

- 
- 

- 
- 
-	
- 

- 

- 

- 
(10) 
(10) 

-	
- 
- 
- 
- 
- 

- 
- 

- 
- 
-	
- 

- 

- 
- 

2,862 
2,862 

2,862
2,862

- 
- 
-	
463 

290 
80 
(391)	
- 

290
80
(391)
473

463 

(21) 

452

1,200  

19,977  

19,153  38,904 

- 
- 
- 

-	
- 
- 
- 
- 
- 

- 
- 
- 

6,198 
- 
6,198 

6,198
(10)
6,188

-	
- 
- 
- 
385 
385 

(643)	
104 
(2) 
4 
- 
(537) 

(643)
104
(2)
117
395
(29)

Balance at 31 March 2012 

1,048   (2,351) 

(10) 

1,200  

20,362  

24,814  45,063 

The following notes form part of the primary financial statements. 

iomart group plc Annual Report 2012

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Community

"Colin McGregor is a great ambassador for the iomart Group. He 
works tirelessly for the Scouts, giving up his own time to encourage 
young Scouts in Scotland to gain vital life skills, learn about adventure 
and above all have fun.”

Angus MacSween CEO, iomart Group plc

Easyspace	Customer	Services	Manager	Colin	McGregor	
carried	the	Olympic	Torch	through	Newburgh,	Fife	in	June	2012.

iomart group plc Annual Report 2012

30

Notes to the Financial Statements
Year ended 31 March 2012

1. GENERAL INFORMATION
iomart  Group  plc  is  a  company  incorporated  in  the  United 
Kingdom  under  the  Companies  Act  2006.  The  address  of  the 
registered office is given on page 77 of this report. The nature of 
the  Group’s  operations  and  its  principal  activities  are  set  out  in 
the Chief Executive Officer’s report, Finance Director’s report and 
Directors’ report.

The  financial  statements  are  presented  in  UK  Pounds  Sterling 
because that is the currency of the primary economic environment 
in which the Group and its subsidiaries operate.

2. ACCOUNTING POLICIES
Basis of preparation
The  consolidated  financial  statements  have  been  prepared  in 
accordance  with  applicable  International  Financial  Reporting 
Standards  (IFRS)  as  adopted  by  the  EU  and  issued  by  the 
International Accounting Standards Board (IASB). The measurement 
bases and principal accounting policies of the Group are set out 
below. These policies have been consistently applied to all years 
presented unless otherwise stated.

Standards, amendments, and interpretations effective in 
year
There  were  no  additional 
standards,  amendments  and 
interpretations that had a material impact on the Group’s financial 
statements during the year. The following standard, amendment 
and interpretation were effective in the year but had no material 
impact on the Group’s financial statements:

•	

IAS	24	(revised	2009)	Related	Party	Disclosures.

•	

IFRIC	19	Extinguishing	Financial	Liabilities	with	Equity	
Instruments.

•	 Amendments	to	IFRIC	14	Prepayments	of	a	Minimum	

Funding Requirement.

New standards and interpretations of existing standards 
that are not yet effective and have not been adopted early 
by the Group
IFRS  9  Financial  Instruments  (effective  1  January  2015).    IFRS 
9  introduces  new  requirements  for  classifying  and  measuring 
financial  assets  and  these  new  requirements  will  impact  the 
disclosure and carrying values of financial assets. 

In  addition  the  following  new  standards  and  interpretations  of 
existing  standards  that  are  not  yet  effective  and  have  not  been 
adopted early by the Group are not expected to have any material 
impact on the Group’s consolidated financial statements:

•	

•	

•	

•	

•	

•	

IFRS	10	(May	2011)	Consolidated	Financial	Statements		
(effective 1 January 2013).

IFRS	11	(May	2011)	Joint	Arrangements	(effective	1	January	
2013).

IFRS	12	(May	2011,	updated	January	2012)	Disclosures	of	
Interests in Other Entities (effective 1 January 2013).

IFRS	13	(May	2011)	Fair	Value	Measurement	(effective	1	
January 2013).

IAS	27	(May	2011)	Separate	Financial	Statements	(effective	
1 January 2013).

IAS	28	(May	2011)	Investments	in	Associates	and	Joint	
Ventures (effective 1 January 2013).

•	 Amendments	to	IFRS	7	(October	2010)	Transfers	of	financial	

assets (effective 1 July 2011).

•	 Amendments	to	IAS	12	(December	2010,	updated	January	

2011) Deferred tax: recovery of underlying assets (effective 1 
January 2012).

•	 Amendments	to	IFRS	1	(December	2010)	Severe	

Hyperinflation and Removal of Fixed Dates for First-Time 
Adopters (effective 1 July 2011).

•	 Amendments	to	IAS	1	(June	2011)	Presentation	of	Items	of	
  Other Comprehensive Income (effective 1 July 2011).

•	 Amendments	to	IAS	19	(June	2011)	Employee	Benefits	

(effective 1 January 2011). 

Summary of Accounting Policies

Basis of consolidation 
The Group financial statements consolidate those of the company 
and all of its subsidiary undertakings drawn up to 31 March 2012.  
Subsidiaries  are  entities  over  which  the  Group  has  the  power 
to  control  the  financial  and  operating  policies  so  as  to  obtain 
benefits  from  its  activities.    The  Group  obtains  and  exercises 
control through voting rights.

Unrealised  gains  on  transactions  between  the  Group  and  its 
subsidiaries are eliminated.  Unrealised losses are also eliminated 
unless the transaction provides evidence of an impairment of the 
asset  transferred.    Amounts  reported  in  the  financial  statements 
of  subsidiaries  have  been  adjusted  where  necessary  to  ensure 
consistency with the accounting policies adopted by the Group.

iomart group plc Annual Report 2012

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Acquisitions  of  subsidiaries  are  dealt  with  by  the  acquisition 
method.  The  acquisition  method  involves  the  recognition  at  fair 
value of all identifiable assets and liabilities, including contingent 
liabilities of the subsidiary, at the acquisition date, regardless of 
whether or not they were recorded in the financial statements of 
the  subsidiary  prior  to  acquisition.    On  initial  recognition,  the 
assets and liabilities of the subsidiary are included in the statement 
of financial position at their fair values, which are also used as the 
bases for subsequent measurement in accordance with the Group 
accounting policies.

Where  the  Group’s  assessment  of  the  net  fair  value  of  a 
subsidiary’s net assets and liabilities is less than the fair value of the 
consideration including contingent consideration of the business 
combination  then  the  excess  is  treated  as  goodwill.  Where  the 
Group’s  assessment  of  the  net  fair  value  of  a  subsidiary’s  net 
assets  and  liabilities  exceeds  the  fair  value  of  the  consideration 
including  contingent  consideration  of  the  business  combination 
then the excess is recognised in the Statement of Comprehensive 
Income immediately.

Revenue 
Revenue  comprises  the  fair  value  of  the  consideration  received 
or  receivable  for  the  sale  of  services  in  the  ordinary  course  of 
the Group’s activities. Revenue is shown net of value-added tax, 
returns, rebates and discounts and after eliminating sales within 
the Group.

The Group recognises revenue when the amount of revenue can 
be reliably measured, it is probable that future economic benefits 
will flow from the transaction and specific criteria have been met 
for each of the Group’s activities as described below. The amount 
of  revenue  is  not  considered  to  be  reliably  measurable  until  all 
contingencies relating to the sale have been resolved. The Group 
bases its estimates on prior experience, taking into consideration 
the type of customer and the type of transaction.

Easyspace 
This  operating  segment  provides  domain  name  registration  and 
hosting services.  Revenue from the provision of domain names 
is  recognised  at  the  time  the  title  to  the  domain  name  passes.  
Revenue from the provision of hosting is recognised evenly over the 
period of the service and once the service has been established.  
Any  unearned  portion  of  revenue  is  included  in  payables  as 
deferred revenue.

Hosting
This operating segment provides managed hosting facilities and 
services.  Revenue from the sale of facilities and services is spread 
evenly over the period of the agreement and once the service has 
been established.  Any unearned portion of revenue is included 

Notes to the Financial Statements. Year ended 31 March 2012.

31

in payables as deferred revenue. Revenue from the provision of 
domain names is recognised at the time the title to the domain 
name passes. 

Interest
Interest is recognised on a time-proportion basis using the effective 
interest method.

is  capitalised  on 

Intangible assets
Goodwill
Goodwill  arising  on  consolidation 
the 
consolidated  statement  of  financial  position  and,  subject  to  an 
annual  impairment  test,  has  an  infinite  life.  The  carrying  value 
of  goodwill  is  cost  less  accumulated  impairment  losses  and  is 
allocated to cash generating units for the purpose of impairment 
testing. The allocation is made to those cash generating units that 
are expected to  benefit  from the  business  combination in  which 
the  goodwill  arose.  Impairment  reviews  are  carried  out  by  the 
Board at least annually. Impairments to goodwill are charged to 
the statement of comprehensive income in the period which they 
arise.

Customer relationships
Customer  relationships  are  recognised  only  on  acquisition. 
The  fair  value  is  derived  based  on  discounted  cash  flows  from 
estimated recurring revenue streams. The carrying value is stated 
at  fair  value  at  acquisition  less  accumulated  amortisation  and 
impairment  losses.  The  useful  economic  life  is  assessed  on  an 
individual basis. Amortisation is charged over the useful life of the 
relationships  in  proportion  to  the  estimated  future  cash  flows,  a 
period which does not generally exceed five years.

Research and development
Expenditure  on  research  (or  the  research  phase  of  an  internal 
project) is recognised as an expense in the period in which it is 
incurred. Development costs incurred are capitalised when all the 
following conditions are satisfied:

•	 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
there	are	adequate	technical,	financial	and	other	resources	
to complete the development and to use or sell the 
intangible asset, and
the	expenditure	attributable	to	the	intangible	asset	during	its	
development can be measured reliably.

www.iomart.com 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
32

Notes to the Financial Statements. Year ended 31 March 2012.

2.  ACCOUNTING POLICIES (CONTINUED)
Development  costs  not  meeting  the  criteria  for  capitalisation 
are  expensed  as  incurred.  The  only  development  costs  which 
are  deemed  to  meet  these  criteria  in  the  Group  are  in  relation 
to  developments  by  specific  teams  to  develop  products  in  the 
hosting  asset  management  control  system  and  internet  security. 
Development  costs  capitalised  are  amortised  on  a  straight-line 
basis  over  the  estimated  useful  life  of  the  asset.  The  estimated 
useful  life  is  deemed  to  be  three  years  from  the  month  of 
expenditure for all developments capitalised. Amortisation charges 
are  recognised  in  administrative  expenses  in  the  consolidated 
statement of comprehensive income. 

Software
Software is recognised at cost on purchase and amortised on a 
straight-line  basis  over  its  useful  economic  life,  which  does  not 
generally exceed four years.

Acquisition costs 
In accordance with IFRS 3 Business Combinations, costs incurred 
on professional fees during an acquisition are no longer included 
in  the  overall  cost  of  the  investment  in  the  acquired  business. 
Consequently, these acquisition costs are included as Administrative 
Expenses  in  the  Consolidated  Statement  of  Comprehensive 
Income.  In  addition,  the  costs  associated  with  integrating  the 
acquired  businesses  into  the  Group  are  also  included  in  this 
category. The combination of both these types of expenses is also 
shown in the Consolidated Statement of Comprehensive Income 
as acquisition costs.

Contingent consideration 
Where an acquisition involves a potential payment of contingent 
consideration  the  estimate  of  any  such  payment  is  based  on  its 
fair  value.  To  estimate  the  fair  value  an  assessment  is  made  as 
to  the  amount  of  contingent  consideration  which  is  likely  to  be 
paid having regard to the criteria on which any sum due will be 
calculated. 

Property, plant and equipment
Property, plant and equipment is stated at cost net of depreciation 
and any provision for impairment. Leasehold property is included 
in  property,  plant  and  equipment  only  where  it  is  held  under  a 
finance lease.  

Disposal of assets 
The gain or loss arising on the disposal of an asset is determined 
as the difference between the disposal proceeds and the carrying 
amount  of  the  asset  and  is  recognised  in  the  statement  of 
comprehensive income.  

iomart group plc Annual Report 2012

Depreciation
Depreciation is calculated to write down the cost of all property, 
plant  and  equipment  to  the  expected  residual  value  by  equal 
annual instalments over their estimated useful economic lives.  All 
items  of  plant  and  equipment  have  immaterial  residual  values.  
The rates generally applicable are:
Freehold property 
Leasehold improvements 
Computer equipment 
Office equipment 
Datacentre equipment 
Motor vehicle 

3.33% per annum
25% per annum
Between 20% and 50% per annum
Between 10% and 25% per annum
Between 6% and 10% per annum
25% per annum

Impairment testing of goodwill, other intangible assets and 
property, plant and equipment
For the purposes of assessing impairment, assets are grouped at 
the lowest levels for which there are separately identifiable cash 
flows (cash-generating units).  As a result, some assets are tested 
individually for impairment and some are tested at cash-generating 
unit  level.    Goodwill  is  allocated  to  those  cash-generating  units 
that are expected to benefit from synergies of the related business 
combination  and  represent  the  lowest  level  within  the  Group  at 
which management monitors goodwill.

Goodwill,  other  individual  assets  or  cash-generating  units  that 
include goodwill, and those intangible assets not yet available for 
use are tested for impairment at least annually.  All other individual 
assets or cash-generating units are tested for impairment whenever 
events  or  changes  in  circumstances  indicate  that  the  carrying 
amount may not be recoverable.

An  impairment  loss  is  recognised  for  the  amount  by  which  the 
asset’s  or  cash-generating  unit’s  carrying  amount  exceeds  its 
recoverable  amount.    The  recoverable  amount  is  the  higher  of 
fair value, reflecting market conditions less costs to sell, and value 
in  use  based  on  an  internal  discounted  cash  flow  evaluation. 
Management  estimate  expected  future  cash  flows  from  each 
cash  generating  unit  and  determines  a  suitable  interest  rate  to 
determine  the  present  value  of  the  future  cash  flows.  Discount 
factors  are  determined  for  each  cash  generating  unit  to  reflect 
the  underlying  risks  involved.  The  future  cash  flows  used  in  the 
calculation are based on the Group’s latest approved budget.

Impairment losses recognised for cash-generating units, to which 
goodwill has been allocated, are credited initially to the carrying 
amount of goodwill.  Any remaining impairment loss is charged 
pro rata to the other assets in the cash generating unit.  With the 
exception of goodwill, all assets are subsequently reassessed for 
indications that an impairment loss previously recognised may no 
longer exist.

Details of the key assumptions and judgements are shown in note 
13.

Notes to the Financial Statements. Year ended 31 March 2012.

33

Leased assets 
In accordance with IAS 17 Leases, the economic ownership of a 
leased asset is deemed to have been transferred to the Group (the 
lessee) if the Group bears substantially all the risks and rewards 
related to the ownership of the leased asset.  The related asset is 
recognised at the time of inception of the lease at the fair value 
of the leased asset or, if lower, the present value of the minimum 
lease payments plus incidental payments, if any, to be borne by 
the lessee.  A corresponding amount is recognised as a finance 
lease liability.  

The  interest  element  of  leasing  payments  represents  a  constant 
proportion of the capital balance outstanding and is charged to 
the  statement  of  comprehensive  income  over  the  period  of  the 
lease.  

All other leases are regarded as operating leases and the payments 
made under them are charged to the statement of comprehensive 
income  on  a  straight  line  basis  over  the  lease  term.    Lease 
incentives are spread over the term of the lease. Where a lease is 
for land and buildings there is a split between land and buildings 
in the consideration as to whether there is a finance lease within 
the lease.

Lease deposits 
Deposits for leasehold premises are included in the Consolidated 
Statement  of  Financial  Position  as  either  non-current  assets 
or  current  assets  depending  on  the  length  of  time  to  maturity. 
Where lease deposits are interest earning the amount of deposit 
is  not  discounted  and  where  they  not  interest  earning  they  are 
discounted.

Borrowings
Borrowings are initially stated at fair value after deduction of any 
issue costs. The carrying amount is increased by the finance costs in 
respect of the accounting period and reduced by payments made 
in  the  period.  Borrowings  are  subsequently  stated  at  amortised 
cost, any difference between the periods (net of transaction costs) 
and  the  redemption  value  is  recognised  in  the  profit  and  loss 
account  over  the  period  of  the  borrowings  using  the  effective 
interest method.  

Reinstatement costs 
At the inception of the leases and annually thereafter, the Directors 
assess  the  cost  of  restoring  leasehold  premises  to  their  original 
condition at the end of the lease and the likelihood of such costs 
actually being incurred. If the likelihood of this liability arising is 
judged as probable, the discounted cost of the liability is included 
in leasehold improvements and is depreciated over the duration 
of the lease. The discount arising on the provision is amortised in 

future years through interest. If the likelihood of this liability arising 
is judged to be possible, rather than probable, it is disclosed as a 
contingent liability. When assessing the likely duration of the lease 
and the likelihood of this liability arising, the Directors take into 
account their contractual and statutory rights to renew or extend 
the lease terms.

Income taxes
The  tax  expense  recognised  in  the  Statement  of  Comprehensive 
Income  comprises  the  sum  of  deferred  tax  and  current  tax  not 
recognised directly in equity.

Current tax is the tax currently payable based on taxable profit for 
the year. Deferred income taxes are calculated using the liability 
method  on  temporary  differences.    Deferred  tax  is  generally 
provided on the difference between the carrying amounts of assets 
and liabilities and their tax bases.  However, deferred tax is not 
provided on the initial recognition of goodwill, nor on the initial 
recognition of an asset or liability unless the related transaction is a 
business combination or affects tax or accounting profit.  Deferred 
tax on temporary differences associated with shares in subsidiaries 
is not provided if reversal of these temporary differences can be 
controlled by the Group and it is probable that reversal will not 
occur in the foreseeable future.  In addition, tax losses available 
to be carried forward as well as other income tax credits to the 
Group are assessed for recognition as deferred tax assets.

Deferred  tax  liabilities  are  provided  in  full,  with  no  discounting.  
Deferred tax assets are recognised to the extent that it is probable 
that the underlying deductible temporary differences will be able to 
be offset against future taxable income.  Current and deferred tax 
assets and liabilities are calculated at tax rates that are expected 
to apply to their respective period of realisation, provided they are 
enacted or substantively enacted at the balance sheet date.

Changes  in  deferred  tax  assets  or  liabilities  are  recognised  as 
a component of  tax  expense in  the  statement of comprehensive 
income,  except  where  they  relate  to  items  that  are  recognised 
directly  in  equity  (such  as  share  based  remuneration)  in  which 
case the related deferred tax is also recognised in equity.

Financial assets
All  financial  assets  are  recognised  when  the  Group  becomes  a 
party  to  the  contractual  provisions  of  the  instrument.    Financial 
assets other than those categorised as at fair value through profit 
or loss are recognised at fair value plus transaction costs on initial 
recognition.  Financial assets categorised as at fair value through 
profit or loss are recognised initially at fair value with transaction 
costs expensed through the profit and loss account.

www.iomart.com 

34

Notes to the Financial Statements. Year ended 31 March 2012.

2.  ACCOUNTING POLICIES (CONTINUED)
All  income  and  expenses  relating  to  financial  assets  that  are 
recognised  in  the  statement  of  comprehensive  income  are 
presented  within  ‘finance  costs’  or  ‘finance  income’  except 
for  impairment  of  trade  receivables  which  is  presented  within 
‘administrative expenses’.

Loans  and  receivables  are  non-derivative  financial  assets  with 
fixed or determinable payments that are not quoted in an active 
market.  Loans and receivables are measured subsequent to initial 
recognition at amortised cost using the effective interest method, 
less provision for impairment.  Discounting is omitted where the 
effect  of  discounting  is  immaterial.  The  Group’s  cash  and  cash 
equivalents, trade and most other receivables fall into this category 
of financial instruments.

Provision against trade and other receivables is made when there 
is  objective  evidence  that  the  Group  will  not  be  able  to  collect 
all  amounts  due  to  it  in  accordance  with  the  original  terms  of 
those receivables.  The amount of the write-down is determined 
as  the  difference  between  the  asset’s  carrying  amount  and  the 
present  value  of  estimated  future  cash  flows.  An  assessment  for 
impairment is undertaken at least at each balance sheet date.

Financial derivatives such as forward foreign exchange contracts 
are carried at fair value through the profit and loss account.

A financial asset is derecognised only where the contractual rights 
to  the  cash  flows  from  the  asset  expire  or  the  financial  asset  is 
transferred  and  that  transfer  qualifies  for  derecognition.    A 
financial asset is transferred if the contractual rights to receive the 
cash flows of the asset have been transferred or the Group retains 
the  contractual  rights  to  receive  the  cash  flows  of  the  asset  but 
assumes a contractual obligation to pay the cash flows to one or 
more recipients.  A financial asset that is transferred qualifies for 
derecognition if the Group transfers substantially all the risks and 
rewards of ownership of the asset, or if the Group neither retains 
nor transfers substantially all the risks and rewards of ownership 
but does transfer control of that asset. 

Financial liabilities
Financial liabilities are obligations to pay cash or other financial 
assets and are recognised when the Group becomes a party to 
the contractual provisions of the instrument.  Financial liabilities 
categorised  as  at  fair  value  through  profit  or  loss  are  recorded 
initially  at  fair  value,  all  transaction  costs  are  recognised 
immediately in the statement of comprehensive income.  All other 
financial liabilities are recorded initially at fair value, net of direct 
issue costs.

Financial  liabilities  categorised  as  at  fair  value  through  profit 
or  loss  are  re-measured  at  each  reporting  date  at  fair  value, 
with  changes  in  fair  value  being  recognised  in  the  statement  of 
comprehensive income.  All other financial liabilities are recorded 
at amortised cost using the effective interest method, with interest-
related  charges  recognised  as  an  expense  in  finance  costs  in 
the  statement  of  comprehensive  income.    A  financial  liability  is 
derecognised  only  when  the  obligation  is  extinguished,  that  is, 
when the obligation is discharged, cancelled or when it expires. 
Finance  charges,  including  premiums  payable  on  settlement  or 
redemption and direct issue costs, are charged to the statement 
of comprehensive income on an accruals basis using the effective 
interest  method  and  are  added  to  the  carrying  amount  of  the 
instrument to the extent that they are not settled in the period in 
which they arise.

Foreign currency transactions
Transactions  denominated  in  foreign  currencies  are  recorded  at 
the rate ruling at the date of the transaction. Any gains or losses 
arising  on  assets  and  liabilities  between  the  date  of  recording 
and  the  date  of  settlement  are  treated  as  gains  or  losses  in  the 
statement  of  comprehensive  income.  Forward  foreign  exchange 
contracts used to hedge the Group’s exposure to foreign currency 
transactions are fair valued at the balance date and the gain or 
loss is recognised in the statement of comprehensive income for 
the period.

The results and financial position of all Group entities that have 
a functional currency different from the presentation currency are 
translated into the presentation currency as follows:
•	 assets	and	liabilities	for	each	balance	sheet	presented	are	
translated at the closing rate at the date of the balance 
sheet;
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.

Cash and cash equivalents
Cash and cash equivalents comprise cash on hand and demand 
deposits, together with other short-term, highly liquid investments 
that are readily convertible into known amounts of cash and which 
are subject to an insignificant risk of changes in value.

Dividends
Dividend distributions payable to equity shareholders are included 
in  the  financial  statements  within  ‘other  short  term  financial 
liabilities’ when a final dividend is approved in a general meeting.  
Interim dividend distributions to equity shareholders approved by 
the Board are not included in the financial statements until paid.

iomart group plc Annual Report 2012

 
 
 
 
 
 
Equity
Equity comprises the following:
•	

“Share	capital”	represents	the	nominal	value	of	equity	
shares.
“Own	shares	JSOP”	represents	the	amount	of	the	company’s	
own equity shares, plus attributable transaction costs, that 
is held by the company within the iomart Group plc 
Employee Benefit Trust in respect of the Joint Share

   Ownership Plan.
•	

“Share	premium”	represents	the	excess	over	nominal	value	
of the fair value of consideration received for equity shares, 
net of expenses of the share issue.
“Capital	redemption	reserve”	represents	set	aside	reserves	in	
relation to previous redemption of own shares.
“Foreign	currency	translation	reserve”	represents	all	
exchange differences on the translation of the results and 
financial position of Group entities that have a functional 
currency different from the presentation currency.
“Retained	earnings”	represents	retained	profits.

•	

•	

•	

•	

Employee benefits
The  Group  operates  a  stakeholder  pension  scheme  and  also 
contributes to a number of personal pension schemes on behalf of 
executive directors and some senior employees.  The pension costs 
charged against operating profit are the contributions payable to 
the schemes in respect of the accounting period.

Share-based payment 
The Group operates equity-settled share-based remuneration plans 
for  its  employees.  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.  This  fair  value  is  appraised  at  the  grant  date 
and  excludes  the  impact  of  non-market  vesting  conditions  (for 
example, profitability and sales growth targets).
Where  existing  share  based  incentives  are  replaced  the  fair 
value  of  the  replacement  share  based  incentives  is  calculated 
and  compared  to  the  current  fair  value  of  the  replaced  share 
based  incentives.  Where  the  fair  value  of  the  replaced  share 
based  incentives  exceeds  that  of  the  replacement  share  based 
incentives then the share based payment charge to the statement 
of comprehensive income for the year continues to be based on 
the original share based incentives.

All  share-based  remuneration  plans  are  ultimately  recognised 
as an expense in the statement of comprehensive income with a 
corresponding credit to ‘retained earnings’.  

Notes to the Financial Statements. Year ended 31 March 2012.

35

If  vesting  periods  or  other  non-market  vesting  conditions  apply, 
the expense is allocated over the vesting period, based on the best 
available estimate of the number of share options expected to vest.   
Estimates are subsequently revised if there is any indication that 
the number of share based incentives expected to vest differs from 
previous  estimates.  The  two  main  vesting  conditions  that  apply 
to  share  options  relate  to  the  achievement  of  annual  objectives 
and  continuous  employment.  Any  cumulative  adjustment  prior 
to vesting is recognised in the current period.  No adjustment is 
made to any expense recognised in prior periods if share based 
incentives  ultimately  exercised  are  different  to  that  estimated  on 
vesting.

Upon exercise of share based incentives the proceeds received net 
of attributable transaction costs are credited to share capital, and 
where  appropriate  share  premium.  Under  the  rules  of  the  Joint 
Share Ownership Plan (JSOP), should the market price of a vested 
JSOP share exceed the participation price the employee has the 
option to convert the value of any such excess into a number of 
wholly owned shares within the JSOP.

Segmental reporting
The Group provides segmental reporting on a basis consistent with 
the  provision  of  internal  financial  information  used  for  decision 
making purposes by the Chief Operating Decision Maker. Internal 
reports  are  produced  on  a  basis  consistent  with  the  accounting 
policies adopted in the Group’s financial statements.

The  Group  calculates  geographical  information  on  the  basis  of 
the location of the customer.

Key judgements and sources of estimation uncertainty
The  key  assumptions  concerning  the  future,  and  other  key 
sources of estimation uncertainty at the balance date, that have 
a significant risk of causing a material adjustment to the carrying 
amounts of assets and liabilities within the next financial year are 
discussed below.

Impairment of goodwill
The Group is required to make a judgment as to whether there 
is any impairment of goodwill. This requires an estimation of the 
value in use of the cash-generating units to which goodwill has 
been  allocated.  The  value  in  use  calculation  requires  the  entity 
to estimate the future cash flows expected to arise from the cash-
generating unit and to select a suitable discount rate in order to 
calculate the present value. Full details of the assumptions used in 
the calculation are disclosed in note 13.

www.iomart.com 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
36

Notes to the Financial Statements. Year ended 31 March 2012.

2.  ACCOUNTING POLICIES (CONTINUED)
Valuation of intangible assets and fair value adjustments on 
acquisition
As  the  Group  continues  to  implement  its  acquisition  strategy 
there  is  a  requirement  to  fair  value  the  assets  and  liabilities  of 
any  business  acquired  during  the  year.  The  Group  is  required 
to make a judgment as to what intangible assets exist within the 
acquired business at the time of the acquisition. When reviewing 
the  existence  of  intangible  assets  consideration  has  been  given 
to potential intangible assets such as customer relationships and 
brand. The estimation of the valuation of customer relationships is 
based on the value in use calculation which requires estimates of 
the future cash flows expected to arise from the existing customer 
relationships over their useful life and to select a suitable discount 
rate  in  order  to  calculate  the  present  value.  Full  details  of  the 
assumptions used in the calculation of intangible assets and fair 
value adjustments on the acquisition that has occurred during the 
current year are disclosed in note 11.

Reinstatement provisions 
At the inception of the leases and annually thereafter, the Directors 
assess  the  cost  of  restoring  leasehold  premises  to  their  original 
condition at the end of the lease and the likelihood of such costs 
actually being incurred. If the likelihood of this liability arising is 
judged as probable, the discounted cost of the liability is included 
in leasehold improvements and is depreciated over the duration 
of the lease. If the likelihood of this liability arising is judged to 
be possible, rather than probable, it is disclosed as a contingent 
liability.  The  likelihood  of  certain  datacentre  leasehold  premises 
requiring restoration to their original office space layout has been 
assessed as only possible, rather than probable, and as a result the 
discounted cost of the liability has not been included in leasehold 
improvements and therefore has not been depreciated. 

Deferred tax
The  Group  has  substantial  tax  losses  available  to  offset  future 
taxable  profits.  In  assessing  the  amount  of  deferred  tax  to  be 
recognised as an asset the Group has estimated future profitability 
of the relevant operating unit.

3.  SEGMENTAL ANALYSIS

The  chief  operating  decision-maker  has  been  identified  as  the 
Chief Executive Officer (“CEO”) of the Company. The CEO reviews 
the Group’s internal reporting in order to assess performance and 
to  allocate  resources.  The  Group  has  determined  its  operating 
segments based on these reports.
The Group currently has two reportable segments. 

•	 Easyspace	–	this	segment	provides	a	range	of	shared	hosting	

and domain registration services to micro and SME 
companies. Switch Media Limited and Global Gold 
Holdings Limited were acquired during the year and have 
been reported as part of the Easyspace segment since 
acquisition.

•	 Hosting	–	this	segment	provides	managed	hosting	facilities	
and services, through a network of owned datacentres, 
to the larger SME and corporate markets. The segment uses 
several routes to market and provides managed hosting 
services through iomart Hosting, RapidSwitch, Titan Internet, 
EQSN and iomart Cloud Services. EQSN Limited was 
acquired during the year and has been reported as part of 
the Hosting segment since acquisition.

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  payments  or  costs  associated  with  acquisitions.  This 
segment  EBITDA  is  used  to  measure  performance  as  the  CEO 
believes that such information is the most relevant in evaluating 
the results of the segment. 

iomart group plc Annual Report 2012

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Notes to the Financial Statements. Year ended 31 March 2012.

37

3. SEGMENTAL ANALYSIS (CONTINUED) 

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

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

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

All segments are continuing operations. No customer accounts for more than 10% of external revenues. Inter-segment transactions are 
accounted for using an arms-length commercial basis.

Operating Segments
Revenue by Operating Segment

Easyspace 
Hosting 

External 
£’000 
9,131 
24,345 
33,476 

2012 
Internal 
£’000 
- 
955 
955 

Total 
£’000 
9,131 
25,300 
34,431 

External 
 £’000  
7,558 
17,694 
25,252 

 2011
Internal 
 £’000  
- 
896 
896 

Total
£’000
7,558
18,590
26,148

Geographical Information
In presenting the consolidated information on a geographical basis, revenue is based on the geographical location of customers. The 
United Kingdom is the place of domicile of the parent company, iomart Group plc. All of the Group’s revenue originates from the United 
Kingdom. 

Analysis of Revenue by Destination

United Kingdom 
Rest of the World 
Revenue from operations 

Profit by Operating Segment

2012 

2011
£’000
22,585
2,667
25,252

2012 
£’000 
29,726 
3,750 
33,476 

 2011

EBITDA  Depreciation,
before  amortisation, 
acquisition 
costs and

EBITDA  Depreciation, 
amortisation,  
before 
acquisition 
acquisition 
costs and 
costs and  
share based 
payments 
£’000 
3,600 
10,097 
(2,511) 
- 
- 
11,186 

£’000 
(350) 
(4,404) 
- 
(304) 
(104) 
(5,162) 

share based  Operating 
payments  profit/(loss) 
£’000 
3,250 
5,693 
(2,511) 
(304) 
(104) 
6,024 
174 
6,198 

(5,162) 

11,186 

Easyspace 
Hosting 
Group overheads 
Acquisition costs 
Share based payments 

Group interest and tax 
Profit for the year 

acquisition 
costs and 
share based 
payments 
 £’000  
2,794 
6,178 
(2,328) 
- 
- 
6,644 

6,644 

share based  Operating
payments  profit/(loss)
£’000
2,759
2,827
(2,328)
(195)
(290)
2,773
89
2,862

£’000 
(35) 
(3,351) 
- 
(195) 
(290) 
(3,871) 

(3,871) 

Group overheads, acquisition costs, share based payments, interest and tax are not allocated to segments.

www.iomart.com 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
38

Notes to the Financial Statements. Year ended 31 March 2012.

4. OPERATING PROFIT

The profit for the year from total operations is stated after 
charging the following operating costs:

Staff costs excluding development costs capitalised and research and 
development costs written off the statement of comprehensive income  

9,376 

7,582

 2012 
 £’000  

 2011 
 £’000 

Depreciation of property plant and equipment 
 - Owned assets 
 - Leased assets 
Property, plant and equipment hire 
 - Land and buildings 
 - Plant and machinery 
Amortisation of intangible assets 
 - Acquired intangible assets 
 - Other intangible assets 
R&D expensed to statement of comprehensive income 
Marketing and sales 
Infrastructure 
Provision for doubtful debts 
Premises and office  

Included within other expenses are fees paid to the Group’s auditors, 
an analysis of which is provided below:

Auditors’ remuneration 

- Fees payable for the audit of the consolidation and the parent company accounts 
- Fees payable for audit of subsidiaries, pursuant to legislation 
- Tax compliance fees 
- Corporate finance and advisory transactions 

2,816 
882 

1,702 
182 

604 
452 
68 
493 
431 
29 
5,487 

 2012 
£’000 
30 
49 
27 
17 
123 

2,031
658

1,683
239

316
381
62
622
434
71
4,376

2011
£’000
26
38
19
55
138

iomart group plc Annual Report 2012

 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Notes to the Financial Statements. Year ended 31 March 2012.

39

5. INFORMATION REGARDING DIRECTORS AND EMPLOYEES

Directors’ emoluments 
Aggregate emoluments 
Pension contributions to personal money purchase schemes 
Share based payments 

Emoluments payable to the highest paid director are as follows: 
Aggregate emoluments 
Pension contributions to personal money purchase schemes 

2012 
£’000 

1,038 
94 
69 

409 
50 

2011
£’000

881
148
157

297
120

During the year the company made personal pension contributions to the personal pension schemes of 3 directors (2011: 3).
The aggregate amount of gains realised by directors on the exercise of share options during the year was £21,830 (2011: £nil).
The detailed numerical analysis of directors’ remuneration and share options is included in the Report of the Board to the Members on 
Directors’ Remuneration on pages 15 to 18.

Average number of persons employed by the Group (including directors): 
Technical 
Customer services 
Sales and marketing 
Administration 

Staff costs of the Group during the year in respect of employees and directors were: 
Wages and salaries 
Social security costs 
Other pension costs 
Share based payments 

2012 
No. 

2011
No.

104 
27 
54 
26 
211 

2012 
£’000 

8,849 
869 
96 
104 
9,918 

76
20
39
25 
160

2011
£’000

6,964
664
77
290
7,995

The Group operates a stakeholder pension scheme and also contributes to a number of personal pension schemes on behalf of executive 
directors and some senior employees.  In the case of executive directors, details of the pension arrangements are given within the Report 
of the Board to the Members on Directors’ Remuneration on pages 15 to 18. In the case of senior employees, pension contributions to 
individuals’ personal pension arrangements are payable by the Group at a rate equal to the contribution made by the senior employee 
subject to a maximum employer contribution of 5% of basic salary. 

6. ACQUISITION COSTS

Professional fees 
Non-recurring integration costs 
Total acquisition costs 

2012 
£’000 
137 
167 
304 

2011
£’000
195
-
195

During the year costs of £137,000 (2011: £195,000) were incurred in respect of professional fees on various acquisitions. In addition 
to these professional fees, one-off costs of £167,000 (2011: £nil) directly related to the integration of acquisitions into the Group were 
also incurred.

www.iomart.com 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
40

Notes to the Financial Statements. Year ended 31 March 2012.

7. NET FINANCE COST

Finance income: 
Bank interest receivable 
Other interest income 
Finance income for the year 

Finance expenses: 
Bank loan  
Finance leases  
Other interest payable 
Finance expense for the year 

Net finance cost 

2012 
£’000 

2011
£’000

58 
12 
70 

(123) 
(123) 
(6) 
(252) 

45
152
197

(25)
(112)
(41)
(178)

(182) 

19

Included in other interest income is £12,000 (2011: £40,000) in respect of leasehold deposits and £nil (2011: £112,000) in relation to 
interest earned on sums held in escrow.

8. DIVIDENDS ON SHARES CLASSED AS EQUITY

Paid during the year: 
Final dividend – for year ended 31 March 2011 
Equity dividends on ordinary shares 

Interim dividend – for year ended 31 March 2010 
Equity dividends on ordinary shares 

2012 
Pence per 
share 

2012 

£’000 

2011 
  Pence per
share 

2011

£’000 

0.65p 

643 

- 

-

- 

- 

0.4p 

643 

391

391

The directors have recommended a final dividend for the year ended 31 March 2012 of 0.90p per share (2011: 0.65p per share).  Subject 
to shareholder approval this proposed final dividend would be payable on 5 September 2012 to shareholders on the register as of 17 
August 2012.

iomart group plc Annual Report 2012

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
9. TAXATION

Tax charge for the year 
Adjustment relating to prior year 
Total current taxation 

Origination and reversal of temporary differences 
Effect of changes in tax rates 
Total deferred taxation credit 

Total taxation credit 

Notes to the Financial Statements. Year ended 31 March 2012.

41

2012 
£’000 

(249) 
(134) 
(383) 

770 
(31) 
739 

356 

2011
£’000

(183)
33
(150)

220
-
220

70

The Group has a deferred tax asset which has been recognised in respect of tax losses within four subsidiary companies, which have 
generated taxable profits and are expected to continue to do so.

The differences between the total current tax shown above and the amount calculated by applying the standard rate of UK corporation 
tax to the profit before tax is as follows:

Profit before tax 

Tax	charge	@	26%	(2011	–	28%)	

Expenses disallowed for tax purposes 
Non-taxable income 
Adjustments in respect of prior years 
Movement in deferred tax relating to changes in tax rates 
Effect of research and development tax reliefs  
Tax effect of share based remuneration 
Effect of intangible asset tax reliefs 
Movement in unprovided deferred tax related to fixed assets 
Movement in unprovided deferred tax related to other timing differences 
Movement in deferred tax relating to prior years 
Increase in tax losses utilised and recognised 

2012 
£’000 

5,842 

1,519	

82 
(304) 
134 
31 
(73) 
(219) 
(7) 
128 
(26) 
(180) 
(1,441) 

2011
£’000

2,792

782

25
-
(33)
-
(50)
(191)
(7)
130
9
-
(735)

Taxation credit for the year 

(356) 

(70)

The  weighted  average  applicable  tax  rate  for  the  year  ended  31  March  2012  was  26%  (2011:  28%).  The  total  current  tax  charge 
of  £249,000  (2011:  £183,000)  on  operations  represents  4.3%  (2011:  6.6%)  of  the  Group  profit  before  tax  of  £5,842,000  (2011: 
£2,792,000). A number of changes to the UK Corporation tax system were announced in the March 2012 Budget Statement with the 
main rate of corporation tax reduced from 26% to 24% from 1 April 2012. Further reductions to the main rate are proposed to reduce 
the rate by 1% per annum to 22% by 1 April 2014. These changes had not been substantively enacted at the balance sheet date and, 
therefore, are not included in these financial statements. It is expected that the effect of these changes will have an immaterial impact on 
the deferred tax asset currently recognised.

www.iomart.com 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
42

Notes to the Financial Statements. Year ended 31 March 2012.

10. DEFERRED TAX

The Group had recognised deferred tax assets and liabilities as follows:

2012 

Deferred tax  Deferred tax 
Recognised  Unrecognised 
£’000 

£’000 

2011
Deferred tax  Deferred tax 
Recognised  Unrecognised
£’000

£’000 

Tax losses carried forward 
Share based remuneration 
Capital allowances timing differences 
Deferred tax on acquired assets with no capital allowances 
Deferred tax on customer relationships 
Deferred tax 

2,152 
381 
67 
(1,059) 
(548) 
993 

- 
- 
- 
- 
- 
- 

1,971 
354 
- 
(1,367) 
(339) 
619 

1,386
-
-
-
-
1,386

At the year end, the Group has unused tax losses of £9.0m (2011: £13.2m) available for offset against future profits. A deferred tax asset 
has been recognised in respect of £9.0m (2011: £7.7m) of such losses as these losses are expected to be used up by taxable profits by 
the end of the period covered by future projections.

The movement in the deferred tax account during the year was: 

Tax losses carried 
forward 
£’000 

Capital  Deferred tax on
  allowances  acquired assets
timing  with no capital 
allowances 
£’000 

remuneration  differences 
£’000 

£’000 

Share based 

Balance at 1 April 2011 
Acquired on acquisition of subsidiary 
Credited to equity 
(Charged)/credited to statement 
of comprehensive income 
Effect of changes in tax rates 
Balance at 31 March 2012 

1,971 
52 
- 

304 
(175) 
2,152 

354 
- 
(2) 

86 
(57) 
381 

- 
(26) 
- 

100 
(7) 
67 

(1,367) 
- 
- 

122 
186 
(1,059) 

Customer
relationships 
£’000 

(339) 
(389) 
- 

158 
22 
(548) 

Total
£’000

619
(363)
(2)

770
(31)
993

The deferred tax asset in relation to tax losses carried forward arises from unutilised tax losses in both operating segments. The deferred 
tax asset has been recognised in line with future projections over a three year period. The basis of these projections are:

•	
•	
•	

The	consistent	success	of	the	sales	teams	in	generating	new	business
Expectations	about	the	retention	of	customers
Continued	success	in	achieving	a	particular	product	mix	and	maintaining	price	yield

Based on the current profitability of certain companies within the operating segments, an assessment of projections and the expectations of 
sustainable profits in future years, a deferred tax asset in relation to the utilisation of these losses is recognised in line with IAS 12 ‘Income 
Taxes’.

The  deferred  tax  asset  in  relation  to  share  based  remuneration  arises  from  the  anticipated  future  tax  relief  on  the  exercise  of  share 
options. 

The deferred tax on capital allowances timing differences arises mainly from plant and equipment in the Hosting segment where the tax 
written down value varies from the net book value.

The deferred tax on acquired assets arises from datacentre equipment acquired through the acquisition of iomart Datacentres Limited on 
which depreciation is charged but on which there are no capital allowances available.

The deferred tax on customer relationships arises from timing differences on acquired intangible assets.

iomart group plc Annual Report 2012

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Notes to the Financial Statements. Year ended 31 March 2012.

43

11. ACQUISITIONS

Switch Media
The Group acquired 100% of the issued share capital of Switch Media Limited and its subsidiaries (“Switch Media”) on 26 April 2011. This 
transaction has been accounted for by the acquisition method of accounting.

Switch Media supplies domain registration, web hosting and web design services to its client base primarily in the UK and in the Republic 
of Ireland and the acquisition is in line with the Group’s strategy to grow its hosting operations both organically and by acquisition.
During the current year the Group incurred £12,000 of third party acquisition related costs in respect of this acquisition. These expenses 
are included in administrative expenses in the Group’s consolidated statement of comprehensive income for the year ended 31 March 
2012.  In the prior year, £76,000 of third party acquisition related costs were incurred and these were included in administrative expenses 
in the Group’s consolidated statement of comprehensive income for the year ending 31 March 2011.

The following table summarises the consideration transferred to acquire Switch Media and the amounts of identified assets acquired and 
liabilities assumed at the acquisition date:

Recognised amounts of net assets acquired and liabilities assumed: 
Cash and cash equivalents 
Trade and other receivables 
Current deferred tax asset 
Property, plant and equipment 
Intangible assets 
Trade and other payables 
Current deferred tax liability 
Non-current deferred tax liability 
Identifiable net liabilities 

Goodwill 
Total consideration 

Satisfied by: 
Cash 
Contingent consideration 
Total consideration transferred 

£’000

126 
37 
52 
24 
388 
(571)
(39)
(60)
(43) 

1,293 
1,250 

1,025 
225 
1,250 

The acquisition of Switch Media included a contingent consideration arrangement that required additional consideration to be paid by the 
Group for Switch Media subject to the integration of that business operation into the Group, the transfer of Switch Media’s provisioning 
platforms  to  existing  Group  platforms  and  the  transfer  of  Switch  Media’s  server  estate  to  the  Group’s  datacentres.  During  the  year 
£225,000 was paid by the Group in relation to this acquisition and there are no further amounts of contingent consideration due to be 
paid.

The goodwill arising on the acquisition of Switch Media is attributable to the specialised, industry specific knowledge of the management 
and staff, the benefits to the Group in merging the business with its existing infrastructure and the anticipated future operating synergies 
from the combination.  The goodwill is not expected to be deductible for tax purposes.

All services supplied by Switch Media are only invoiced after cash has been received and therefore the fair value of the assets does not 
include any trade receivables. 

The fair value included in respect of the acquired customer relationships intangible asset is £388,000, which is a final valuation. 

www.iomart.com 

 
 
 
44

Notes to the Financial Statements. Year ended 31 March 2012.

11. ACQUISITIONS (CONTINUED)

To estimate the fair value of the customer relationship intangible asset, a discounted cash flow method, specifically the income approach, 
was used with reference to the directors’ estimates of the level of revenue which will be generated from them. A post-tax discount rate of 
13.8% was used for the valuation. Customer relationships are being amortised over an estimated useful life of 3 years.

The name, Switch Media Limited, is not actively advertised or promoted, with the majority of Switch Media’s business being generated 
from existing customers or by mail shots to newly registered companies.  Switch Media has given a commitment to customers not to share 
information held about them with third parties.  No value has therefore been attributed to either the trade name/brand or to the customer 
lists acquired at the acquisition date.

The fair values of the acquired assets, liabilities and goodwill for Switch Media are final valuations.

Switch Media earned revenue of £1,179,000 and made profits after tax from operations of £233,000 in the period since acquisition.

EQSN
The Group acquired 100% of the issued share capital of EQSN Limited on 23 November 2011. This transaction has been accounted for 
by the acquisition method of accounting.

EQSN provides colocation and managed hosting facilities and services to the larger SME and corporate markets and the acquisition is in 
line with the Group’s strategy to grow its hosting operations both organically and by acquisition.

During the current year the Group incurred £64,000 of third party acquisition related costs in respect of this acquisition. These expenses 
are included in administrative expenses in the Group’s consolidated statement of comprehensive income for the year ended 31 March 
2012.  

The following table summarises the consideration transferred to acquire EQSN and the amounts of identified assets acquired and liabilities 
assumed at the acquisition date:

Recognised amounts of net assets acquired and liabilities assumed: 
Cash and cash equivalents 
Trade and other receivables 
Property, plant and equipment 
Intangible assets 
Trade and other payables 
Current income tax liabilities 
Borrowings 
Current deferred tax liability 
Non-current deferred tax liability 
Identifiable net assets 
Goodwill 
Total consideration 

Satisfied by: 
Cash 
Contingent consideration 
Total consideration transferred 

£’000

221
354
104
979
(251)
(70)
(24)
(57)
(205)
1,051 
1,424 
2,475 

2,250 
225 
2,475 

The acquisition of EQSN includes a contingent consideration arrangement that requires additional consideration of £225,000 to be paid by 
the Group for EQSN subject to the integration of that business operation into the Group. The maximum value of contingent consideration 
has been paid subsequent to the year end and therefore £225,000 has been accrued in respect of this contingent consideration.

The goodwill arising on the acquisition of EQSN is attributable to the specialised, industry specific knowledge of the management and staff 
and the anticipated future operating synergies from the combination.  The goodwill is not expected to be deductible for tax purposes.

iomart group plc Annual Report 2012

  
 
Notes to the Financial Statements. Year ended 31 March 2012.

45

11. ACQUISITIONS (CONTINUED)

The fair value of the assets acquired includes trade receivables of £303,000. The gross amount due under contracts is £320,000 and 
value of trade receivables against which there is a provision is £17,000.

The fair value included in respect of the acquired customer relationships intangible asset is £979,000, which has been determined on a 
provisional basis pending a final review.

To estimate the fair value of the customer relationship intangible asset, a discounted cash flow method, specifically the income approach, 
was used with reference to the directors’ estimates of the level of revenue which will be generated from them.  A post-tax discount rate of 
11.8% was used for the valuation.  Customer relationships are being amortised over an estimated useful life of 8 years.

The  name  EQSN  Limited  is  not  actively  advertised  or  promoted,  with  the  majority  of  EQSN’s  business  being  generated  from  existing 
customers or by word of mouth.  EQSN has given a commitment to customers not to sell, distribute or lease information held regarding 
them without their permission.  No value has therefore been attributed to either the trade name/brand or to the customer lists acquired at 
the acquisition date.

EQSN earned revenue of £807,000 and made profits after tax from operations of £36,000 in the period since acquisition.

Global Gold
The  Group  acquired  100%  of  the  issued  share  capital  of  Global  Gold  Holdings  Limited  and  its  subsidiary  (“Global  Gold”)  on  24 
November 2011. This transaction has been accounted for by the acquisition method of accounting.

Global Gold supplies domain registration, web hosting and email services to its client base primarily in the UK and the acquisition is in 
line with the Group’s strategy to grow its hosting operations both organically and by acquisition.

During the current year the Group incurred £61,000 of third party acquisition related costs in respect of this acquisition. These expenses 
are included in administrative expenses in the Group’s consolidated statement of comprehensive income for the year ended 31 March 
2012. 

The following table summarises the consideration transferred to acquire Global Gold and the amounts of identified assets acquired and 
liabilities assumed at the acquisition date:

Recognised amounts of net assets acquired and liabilities assumed: 
Cash and cash equivalents 
Trade and other receivables 
Property, plant and equipment 
Intangible assets 
Trade and other payables 
Current income tax liabilities 
Current borrowings 
Non-current borrowings 
Current deferred tax liability 
Non-current deferred tax liability 
Identifiable net liabilities 

Goodwill 
Total consideration 

Satisfied by: 
Cash 
Settlement of directors’ loan accounts 
Contingent consideration 
Total consideration transferred 

£’000

6 
137 
265
181 
(490)
(84)
(53)
(35)
(19)
(35)
(127) 

875 
748 

680 
47
21 
748 

www.iomart.com 

 
  
 
 
46

Notes to the Financial Statements. Year ended 31 March 2012.

11. ACQUISITIONS (CONTINUED)

The acquisition of Global Gold includes a contingent consideration arrangement that requires additional consideration to be paid by the 
Group for Global Gold subject to the levels of working capital and debt at the date of acquisition, the annualised revenue at 31 March 
2012, and to the integration of the business operation into the Group, the transfer of Global Gold’s provisioning platforms to existing 
Group  platforms  and  the  transfer  of  Global  Gold’s  server  estate  to  the  Group’s  datacentres.  The  maximum  contingent  consideration 
payable is £500,000. The levels of working capital and debt at the date of acquisition have now been quantified and agreed with the 
vendors and the value of annualised revenue at 31 March 2012 has also been agreed. The agreed amount of contingent consideration 
which has been paid subsequent to the year end was £21,000 and therefore £21,000 has been accrued in respect of this contingent 
consideration.

The goodwill arising on the acquisition of Global Gold is attributable to the benefits to the Group in merging the business with its existing 
infrastructure and the anticipated future operating synergies from the combination.  The goodwill is not expected to be deductible for tax 
purposes.

The fair value of the assets acquired includes trade receivables of £50,000. The gross amount due under contracts is £74,000 and value 
of trade receivables against which there is a provision is £24,000.  

The fair value included in respect of the acquired customer relationships intangible asset is £181,000, which has been determined on a 
provisional basis pending a final review.

To estimate the fair value of the customer relationship intangible asset, a discounted cash flow method, specifically the income approach, 
was used with reference to the directors’ estimates of the level of revenue which will be generated from them. A post-tax discount rate of 
13.8% was used for the valuation. Customer relationships are being amortised over an estimated useful life of 5 years.

The name Global Gold is not actively advertised or promoted, with the majority of Global Gold’s business being generated from existing 
customers or by word of mouth.  Global Gold has given a commitment to customers not to use for any purpose, other than the service 
agreement, any confidential information received from the customer.  No value has therefore been attributed to either the trade name/
brand or to the customer lists acquired at the acquisition date.

Global Gold earned revenue of £326,000 and incurred losses after tax from operations of £58,000 in the period since acquisition.

Pro-forma full year information

The following summary presents the Group as if the businesses acquired during the year had all been acquired on 1 April 2011.  The 
amounts include the results of the acquired businesses and depreciation and amortisation of the acquired fixed assets and intangible 
assets recognised on acquisition.  The amounts do not include any possible synergies from the acquisitions.  The information is provided 
for illustrative purposes only and does not necessarily reflect the actual results that would have occurred, nor is it necessarily indicative of 
the future results of the combined companies. 

Revenue 

Profit after tax for the year 

Pro-forma year ended 31 March 2012
£’000
35,656

6,042

iomart group plc Annual Report 2012

 
 
 
 
Notes to the Financial Statements. Year ended 31 March 2012.

47

12. EARNINGS PER ORDINARY SHARE

Basic earnings per share is calculated by dividing the earnings attributable to ordinary shareholders by the weighted average number of 
ordinary shares in issue during the year, after deducting any own shares held by an Employee Benefit Trust in a Joint Share Ownership 
Plan (“JSOP”).  Diluted earnings per share is calculated by dividing the earnings attributable to ordinary shareholders by the total of the 
weighted average number of ordinary shares in issue during the year, after deducting any own shares (JSOP), and adjusting for the dilutive 
potential ordinary shares relating to share options, including the dilutive effect of JSOP shares that have vested.  

Total operations 

Profit for the financial year and basic earnings attributed to ordinary shareholders 

Weighted average number of ordinary shares: 

Called up, allotted and fully paid at start of year 
Shares held by Employee Benefit Trust 
New shares issued during year (weighted average) 
Weighted average number of ordinary shares - basic 

Dilutive impact of share options 
Dilutive impact of JSOP shares 
Weighted average number of ordinary shares - diluted 

Basic earnings per share 
Diluted earnings per share 

Adjusted earnings per share 

Profit for the financial year and basic earnings attributed to ordinary shareholders 
Add: Amortisation of acquired intangible assets 
Add: Acquisition costs 
Add: Shared based payments 
Less: Tax impact of adjusted items 

Adjusted profit for the financial year and adjusted earnings 
attributed to ordinary shareholders 

Adjusted basic earnings per share 
Adjusted diluted earnings per share 

2012 
£’000 
6,198 

No 
000 

103,840 
(4,832) 
623 
99,631 

780 
2,372 
102,783 

2011
£’000
2,862

No
000

102,753
(4,977)
674
98,450

958
1,026
100,434

6.22 p 
6.03 p 

2.91 p
2.85 p

2012 
£’000 

6,198 
604 
304 
104 
(247) 

2011
£’000

2,862
316
195
290
(163)

6,963 

3,500

6.99 p 
6.77 p 

3.56 p
3.48 p

www.iomart.com 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
48

Notes to the Financial Statements. Year ended 31 March 2012.

13. INTANGIBLE ASSETS 

Cost 
At 1 April 2010  
Additions 
Acquired on acquisition of subsidiary 
Development cost capitalised 
At 1 April 2011 
Additions 
Acquired on acquisition of subsidiary 
Development cost capitalised 
At 31 March 2012 

Accumulated amortisation: 
At 1 April 2010 
Charge for the year 
At 1 April 2011 
Charge for the year 
At 31 March 2012 

Carrying amount: 

At 31 March 2012 

At 31 March 2011 

Goodwill 
 £’000  

Development 
costs 
£’000 

Customer 
relationships 
£’000 

Software 
 £’000  

Domain
names 
 £’000  

20,723 
3,229 
- 
- 
23,952 
3,592 
- 
- 
27,544 

- 
- 
- 
- 
- 

27,544  

23,952  

760 
- 
- 
351 
1,111 
- 
- 
474 
1,585 

(378)  
(275) 
(653)  
(335) 
(988)  

597 

458 

800 
- 
1,119 
- 
1,919 
- 
1,548 
- 
3,467 

(261)  
(316) 
(577)  
(604) 
(1,181)  

294  
197 
- 
- 
491  
89 
- 
- 
580  

(229)  
(96) 
(325)  
(107) 
(432)  

Total
£’000

22,608
3,426
1,119
351
27,504
3,681
1,548
474
33,207

31  
- 
- 
- 
31  
- 
- 
- 
31  

(9)  
(10) 
(19)  
(10) 
(29)  

(877) 
(697)
(1,574) 
(1,056)
(2,630) 

2,286  

148  

2  

30,577

1,342  

166  

12  

25,930

All amortisation and impairment charges are included in the depreciation, amortisation and impairment of non-financial assets classification, 
which is disclosed as administrative expenses in the statement of comprehensive income. 

During the year, goodwill was reviewed for impairment in accordance with IAS 36 “Impairment of Assets”. No impairment charges (2011: 
nil) arose as a result of this review. For this review goodwill was allocated to individual Cash Generating Units (CGU) on the basis of the 
Group’s operations. The goodwill acquired in the Switch Media and Global Gold acquisitions in the current year has been allocated to 
the Easyspace CGU and the goodwill acquired in the EQSN acquisition has been allocated to the Hosting CGU which relate to the CGUs 
expected to benefit from the respective business combinations. The carrying value of goodwill by each CGU is as follows: 

Cash Generating Units (CGU) 

Easyspace 
Hosting 

2012 
£’000 
14,482 
13,062 
27,544 

2011
£’000
12,314
11,638
23,952

The recoverable amount of a CGU is determined based on value-in-use calculations. These calculations use pre-tax cash flow projections 
based on financial budgets approved by the Board covering a two-year period. Cash flows beyond the two-year period are extrapolated 
using the estimated growth rates stated below. 

iomart group plc Annual Report 2012

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Notes to the Financial Statements. Year ended 31 March 2012.

49

13. INTANGIBLE ASSETS (CONTINUED)

The growth rates and margins used to estimate future performance are based on past performance and the experience of growth rates. 
The growth rate does not exceed the long-term average growth rate for the business in which the CGU operates. The growth rates used 
to estimate future performance beyond the periods covered by the annual and strategic planning processes do not exceed the long-term 
average growth rates for similar products.

The assumptions used for the CGU included within the impairment reviews are as follows:

Discount rate  
Future perpetuity rate  
Forecast period for which cash flows are estimated (years) 

Easyspace 
10% 
2.25% 
2 

Hosting
12%
2.25%
2

Based on an analysis of the impairment calculation’s sensitivities to changes in key parameters (growth rate, discount rate and pre-tax cash 
flow projections) there was no probable scenario where the CGU’s recoverable amount would fall below its carrying amount. 

14. LEASE DEPOSIT 

The lease deposit of £2,416,000 (2011: £2,016,000) is due to be repaid at the end of the lease which at the earliest is July 2020. The 
Group is due to receive interest on the lease deposit at the prevailing market rate and therefore it has not been discounted.

15. PRINCIPAL SUBSIDIARIES

The following subsidiaries have been consolidated in the Group financial statements:

Country of 
registration 
and operation 

Activity 

       Ordinary share capital 

Owned by the 
company 
% 

Owned by
subsidiary
undertakings
%

iomart Limited  
iomart Hosting Limited  
iomart Cloud Services Limited  
EQSN Limited 
iomart Virtual Servers Hosting Limited  
Netintelligence Limited  
Easyspace Limited 
Switch Media Limited 
Switch Media (Ireland) Limited 
Global Gold Networks Limited 
Global Gold Holdings Limited 
Rapidswitch Limited 
Titan Internet Limtied 
iomart Datacentres Limited  
Internetters Limited 
NicNames Limited 
Web Genie Internet Limited 

Scotland 
Scotland 
Scotland 
Scotland 
Scotland 
Scotland 
England 
England 
England 
England 
England 
England 
England 
England 
England 
England 
England 

Dormant  
Managed hosting services 
Managed hosting services 
Managed hosting services 
Dormant 
Dormant 
Webservices 
Webservices 
Webservices 
Webservices 
Non-trading 
Non-trading 
Managed hosting services 
Datacentre services 
Dormant 
Dormant 
Non-trading 

100 
100 
100 
100 
100 
100 
100 
100 
- 
- 
100 
100 
100 
100 
- 
- 
- 

-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
100
100
-
-
-
-
100
100
100

www.iomart.com 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
50

Notes to the Financial Statements. Year ended 31 March 2012.

16. PROPERTY, PLANT AND EQUIPMENT

Freehold 
Property 
£’000 

Leasehold
improve- 
ments 
£’000 

Datacentre 
Equipment 
£’000 

Computer 
equipment 
£’000 

Office 
equipment 
£’000 

Motor
vehicles 
£’000 

Total
£’000

Cost: 
At 1 April 2010 
Additions in the year  
Acquisition of subsidiary 
Disposals in the year 
At 1 April 2011 
Additions in the year  
Acquisition of subsidiaries 
At 31 March 2012 

Accumulated depreciation: 
At 1 April 2010 
Charge for the year 
Disposals in the year 
At 1 April 2011 
Charge for the year 
Disposals in the year 
At 31 March 2012 

Carrying amount: 
At 31 March 2012 

837  
- 
- 
- 
837  
- 
- 
837  

(20) 
(20) 
- 
(40) 
(19) 
- 
(59) 

2,139  
1,371 
14 
- 
3,524  
74 
26 
3,624  

(458) 
(135) 
- 
(593) 
(228) 
- 
(821) 

8,395  
400 
- 
- 
8,795  
937 
- 
9,732  

(1,329) 
(709) 
- 
(2,038) 
(793) 
- 
(2,831) 

4,684  
2,868 
421 
- 
7,973  
3,115 
359 
11,447  

(2,275) 
(1,758) 
- 
(4,033) 
(2,561) 
- 
(6,594) 

778 

2,803  

6,901  

4,853  

At 31 March 2011 

797 

2,931  

6,757  

3,940  

710  
10 
81 
- 
801  
17 
8 
826  

(414) 
(60) 
- 
(474) 
(80) 
- 
(554) 

272 

327 

7 
- 
55 
(24) 
38 
- 
- 
38 

- 
(7) 
5 
(2) 
(17) 
- 
(19) 

16,772 
4,649
571
(24)
21,968 
4,143
393
26,504 

(4,496)
(2,689)
5
(7,180)
(3,698)
-
(10,878)

19 

15,626 

36 

14,788 

The net book value of computer equipment held under finance lease at 31 March 2012 was £2,253,000 (2011: £1,735,000).

17. TRADE AND OTHER RECEIVABLES

Trade receivables 
Less: Provision for impairment 
Trade receivables (net) 
Other receivables 
Prepayments and accrued income  
Trade and other receivables    

2012 
£’000 
2,431 
(371) 
2,060 
301 
1,710 
4,071 

2011
£’000
1,358
(177)
1,181
240
1,679
3,100

The carrying amount of trade and other receivables approximates to their fair value, which has been calculated based on expectations of 
debt recovery from historic performances feeding into impairment provision calculations. Some of the higher value trade receivables in the 
Hosting division are reviewed individually for impairment and judgment made as to any likely impairment based on historic trends and the 
latest communication with specific customers. The balance of trade receivables in the Group are individually small in terms of value, so 
are considered for impairment by business unit specific provision calculations and are not individually impaired. 

iomart group plc Annual Report 2012

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
  
  
  
  
 
 
 
Notes to the Financial Statements. Year ended 31 March 2012.

51

17. TRADE AND OTHER RECEIVABLES (CONTINUED)

To consider the total exposure to credit risks, the Group uses figures net of VAT. At 31 March 2012, £1,391,000 (2011: £686,000) of 
net trade receivables were fully performing. Net trade receivables of £669,000 (2011: £495,000) were past due, but not impaired. The 
credit quality of financial assets that are neither past due or impaired can be assessed by reference to the customer type. Trade receivables 
consist of a large number of customers in various industries and geographical areas. The Group is not exposed to any significant credit 
risk exposure to any single counterparty or any group of counterparties having similar characteristics. The aging below shows that almost 
all are less than three months old and historic performance indicates a high probability of payment for debts in this aging. Those over three 
months relate to a small number of larger customers without history of default.

Up to 3 months 
Over 3 months but less than 6 months 
Over 6 months but less than 1 year 
Total unimpaired trade receivables which are past due   

The movement in the allowance for impairment in respect of trade receivables during the year was as follows:

Balance at start of the year 
Provision for receivables impairment 
Acquired during the year 
Balance at end of year   

18. CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS

Cash at bank and on hand  
Cash and cash equivalents 

2012 
£’000 
599 
34 
36 
669 

2012 
£’000 
177 
153 
41 
371 

2012 
£’000 

8,935 
8,935 

2011
£’000
434
33
28
495

2011
£’000
124
53
-
177

2011
£’000

6,864
6,864

The credit risk on cash and cash equivalents is considered to be negligible because the counter parties are UK banking institutions. The 
effective interest rate earned on short term deposits was 0.88% (2011: 0.51%).

www.iomart.com 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
52

Notes to the Financial Statements. Year ended 31 March 2012.

19. TRADE AND OTHER PAYABLES

Trade payables 
Other taxation and social security 
Accruals 
Deferred income 
Trade and other payables 

2012 
£’000 

(1,751) 
(970) 
(3,335) 
(4,536) 
(10,592) 

2011
£’000

(1,377)
(596)
(3,407)
(4,364)
(9,744)

The carrying amount of trade and other payables approximates to their fair value. Trade payables and accruals are non-interest bearing 
and generally mature within three months.  

20. CONTINGENT CONSIDERATION

Contingent consideration due on acquisitions: 
- Titan Internet Limited 
- EQSN Limited 
- Global Gold Holdings Limited 

Total contingent consideration due on acquisitions 

Subsequent to the year end both contingent considerations have been settled.

2012 
£’000 

- 
(225) 
(21) 

(246) 

2011
£’000

(600)
-
-

(600)

iomart group plc Annual Report 2012

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
21. BORROWINGS

Current: 
Obligations under finance leases  
Bank loans 
Current borrowings 

Non-current: 
Obligations under finance leases  
Total non-current borrowings 

Total borrowings 

Notes to the Financial Statements. Year ended 31 March 2012.

53

2012 
£’000 

(1,251) 
(4,000) 
(5,251) 

(1,211) 
(1,211) 

2011
£’000

(846)
(2,000)
(2,846)

(920)
(920)

(6,462) 

(3,766)

The carrying amount of borrowings approximates to their fair value.

The obligations under finance leases are secured by the related assets and are repayable as follows:

Due within one year 
Due between two and five years 

Capital 
£’000 
1,251 
1,211 
2,462 

2012 
Interest 

Total 
£’000  £’000 
1,374 
1,277 
189  2,651 

123 
66 

Capital 
£’000 
846 
920 
1,766 

2011
Interest 

Total
£’000  £’000
938
964
136  1,902

92 
44 

The Group in its ordinary course of business enters into hire purchase and finance lease agreements to fund or re-finance the purchase 
of computer equipment and software. The lease agreements are typically for periods of 2 to 3 years and do not have contingent rent or 
escalation clauses. The agreements have industry standard terms and do not contain any restrictions on dividends, additional debt or 
further leasing.

The finance lease liability has an effective interest rate of 6.8% (2011: 6.9%). Lease payments are made on a monthly and quarterly basis. 
The future lease obligation of £2,651,000 (2011: £1,902,000) has a present value of £2,452,000 (2011: £1,846,000). 

The Group has a multi option revolving credit facility of £10m which was made available in order to finance business acquisitions and to 
finance capital expenditure. In the previous year, in order to fund the acquisition of Titan Internet Limited, £2.0m of this facility was drawn 
down in November 2010. In the current year, in order to fund the acquisition of Switch Media Limited £1.0m was drawn down in April 
2011 and in order to fund the acquisition of EQSN Limited in November 2011 a further £1.0m was drawn down. As a consequence the 
total draw down on the facility as at 31 March 2012 is £4.0m (2011: £2.0m). The interest rate on the bank loan is fixed for periods of 
either 3 or 6 months and is currently fixed for a 6 month term at 3.3% per annum (2011: 3.0%) which results in an effective annual interest 
rate, which includes the cost of draw down fees, of 3.8% (2011: 5.0%). Due to the short term nature of the loan, the future loan obligation 
of £4,076,000 (2011: £2,030,000) approximates the present value.

22. OPERATING LEASES

The Group has outstanding commitments for future minimum lease payments under non-cancellable operating leases, which fall due as 
follows:

Within one year 
Between two to five years 
After five years 

2012 

2011

Land and  
buildings 
£’000  
1,729 
5,703 
4,885 
12,317 

Other 
£’000 
215 
873 
1,726 
2,814 

Land and
buildings 
£’000 
2,222 
5,189 
6,006 
13,417 

Other 
£’000
181
252
381
814

Lease terms for land and buildings
Operating  leases  do  not  contain  any  contingent  rent  clauses.  None  of  the  operating  leases  contain  renewal  of  purchase  options  or 
escalation clauses or any restrictions regarding further leasing or additional debt. At 31 March 2012, the total future minimum sub-lease 
payments expected to be received under non-cancellable sub-leases were £181,000 (2011: £226,000).

www.iomart.com 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
54

Notes to the Financial Statements. Year ended 31 March 2012.

23. SHARE CAPITAL

Authorised 

At 31 March 2010, 2011, and 2012 
Called up, allotted and fully paid 
At 31 March 2010 
Exercise of options 
At 31 March 2011  
Exercise of options 
At 31 March 2012 

Ordinary shares of 1p each

Number of shares 

£’000

200,000,000 

102,752,599 
1,087,244 
103,839,843 
977,561 
104,817,404 

2,000

1,028
10
1,038
10
1,048

During the year the Company issued 977,561 (2011: 1,087,244) ordinary shares of 1p each in respect of the exercise of share options 
by employees for which a net total of £396,314 (2011: £473,000) was received.

On 9 August 2011, 227,105 ordinary shares (2011: nil) were transferred from the Own Shares JSOP reserve following the exercise of 
Joint Share Ownership options by an employee. The exercise price of the JSOP option was 51.47p and the market price on the exercise 
date was 97.0p (2011: nil). As at 31 March 2012 the Company held 4,750,079 shares (2011: 4,977,184) in the iomart Group plc 
Employee Benefit Trust in relation to the JSOP which are accounted for in the Own Shares JSOP reserve and have a nominal value of 
£47,501 (2011: £49,772). 

The JSOP shares are valued at 49.5p per share, which was the mid-market value of the shares at the start of trading on the day they were 
issued, resulting in a total value in the Own Shares JSOP reserve of £2,351,289 (2011: £2,463,706). 

The JSOP shares are held jointly between employees and the iomart Group plc Employee Benefit Trust. Under the terms of the JSOP rules 
employees are eligible to receive the excess of any disposal proceeds received for the JSOP shares over the participation price. Certain 
of the JSOP shares, as identified in the Remuneration Report on pages 15-18, are subject to a 3% per annum escalation until the JSOP 
shares are sold. The JSOP shares do not carry dividend or voting rights whilst they are jointly held by the employee and the iomart Group 
plc Employee Benefit Trust. 

Should the market price of a vested JSOP share exceed the participation price the employee has the option to convert the value of any 
such excess value into a number of wholly owned shares within the JSOP. If an employee exercises this right then the wholly owned shares 
subsequently held within the JSOP by the employee shall be eligible for both dividend and voting rights.

The share capital of iomart Group plc consists of ordinary shares with a par value of 1p. All shares, excluding the shares held by the iomart 
Group plc Employee Benefit Trust, are equally eligible to receive dividends and represent one vote at the shareholders' meetings of iomart 
Group plc. All shares issued at 31 March 2012 are fully paid.

iomart group plc Annual Report 2012

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Notes to the Financial Statements. Year ended 31 March 2012.

55

24. SHARE BASED PAYMENTS

The  Group  operated  the  following  share  based  payment  employee  share  option  schemes  during  the  year;  Enterprise  Management 
Incentive scheme, a number of other approved schemes and a number of unapproved schemes. All schemes are settled in equity only and 
are summarised below.

Vesting period 

Maximum term 

Performance criteria 

Required to remain in  
employment

Enterprise Management  

Up to 3 years 

Incentive scheme 

from grant  

Other approved schemes 

Between 1 and  
3 years from grant  

Unapproved schemes 

3 years from grant  

Joint Share  

Ownership Plan 

Up to 3 years 

from grant  

10 years after 

date of grant 

10 years after 
date of grant 

10 years after  
date of grant 

10 years after 

date of grant 

As set by Remuneration

Committee 

As set by Remuneration
Committee 

As set by Remuneration
Committee 

As set by Remuneration

Committee 

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

The  performance  criteria  as  set  by  the  Remuneration  Committee  are  based  on  the  achievement  of  annual  objectives  and  continuous 
employment.

During the year, options over 977,561 ordinary shares (2011: 1,087,244) were exercised and the average market price at the exercise 
dates was 103.8p (2011: 66.6p). The weighted average remaining contractual life is 6 years (2011: 7 years).

As  disclosed  in  note  4,  a  share  based  payment  charge  of  £104,000  (2011:  £290,000)  has  been  recognised  in  the  statement  of 
comprehensive  income  during  the  year  in  relation  to  the  above  schemes.  The  fair  value  of  the  employee  services  received  is  valued 
indirectly by valuing the options granted using the Black-Scholes option pricing model. No new share options were granted in the year 
(2011: 580,000). 

Details of options and awards outstanding, and a reconciliation of movements in the year in respect of the Company’s ordinary shares of 
1p each, under the various share option schemes are as follows:

www.iomart.com 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
56

Notes to the Financial Statements. Year ended 31 March 2012.

24. SHARE BASED PAYMENTS (CONTINUED)

As at 31 March 2012

Details 

                       Options for shares outstanding 

Vested
options for  
shares not yet  
exercised

 Exercise 
  price 

Grant 
date 

Exercise 
date 

Expiry 
date 

31 March 
2011 

Issued 

Expired  Forfeited  Exercised  31 March  31 March
2012

2012 

Enterprise management incentive   scheme 

       6.25   02/07/2003 

02/07/2004 

02/07/2013 

       6.25   02/07/2003 

02/07/2005 

02/07/2013 

       6.25   02/07/2003 

02/07/2006 

02/07/2013 

42,081 

42,083 

42,086 

     78.50   17/11/2004 

17/11/2007 

17/11/2014 

224,521 

     74.00   24/08/2006 

24/08/2009 

24/08/2016 

  50.50  27/09/2007 

27/09/2010 

27/09/2017 

  43.50  20/12/2007 

20/12/2007 

20/12/2017 

  43.50  20/12/2007 

20/06/2008 

20/12/2017 

50,000 

85,982 

50,000 

60,000 

  43.50  20/12/2007 

20/12/2008 

20/12/2017 

110,000 

  43.50  20/12/2007 

20/06/2009 

20/12/2017 

110,000 

  43.50  20/12/2007 

20/12/2009 

20/12/2017 

  43.50  20/12/2007 

20/06/2010 

20/12/2017 

69,770 

10,000 

  46.50  29/09/2008 

31/03/2009 

29/09/2018 

136,021 

  46.50  29/09/2008 

31/03/2010 

29/09/2018 

  46.50  29/09/2008 

31/03/2011 

29/09/2018 

50,001 

83,331 

  46.50  06/10/2008 

31/03/2009 

06/10/2018 

235,923 

  46.50  06/10/2008 

31/03/2010 

06/10/2018 

28,495 

  26.50  05/02/2009 

05/02/2012 

05/02/2019 

100,000 

  37.00  11/05/2009 

31/03/2010 

11/05/2019 

225,000 

  37.00  11/05/2009 

31/03/2011 

11/05/2019 

124,324 

  37.00  11/05/2009 

31/03/2012 

11/05/2019 

  37.00  11/05/2009 

31/03/2013 

11/05/2019 

25,000 

25,000 

  44.50  09/12/2009 

31/03/2013 

09/12/2019 

200,000 

  90.50  29/10/2010 

29/10/2010 

29/10/2020 

  90.50  29/10/2010 

01/04/2010 

29/10/2020 

  87.50  02/12/2010 

31/03/2011 

02/12/2020 

  87.50  02/12/2010 

31/03/2012 

02/12/2020 

  87.50  02/12/2010 

31/03/2013 

02/12/2020 

  87.50  02/12/2010 

31/03/2014 

02/12/2020 

Unapproved schemes 

  11.75   31/10/2001 

31/10/2001 

31/10/2011 

  46.50  29/09/2008 

31/03/2010 

29/09/2018 

83,333 

49,263 

16,667 

76,668 

81,808 

59,999 

50,000 

69,086 

  46.50  29/09/2008 

31/03/2011 

29/09/2018 

183,332 

  37.00  11/05/2009 

31/03/2011 

11/05/2019 

125,676 

  37.00  11/05/2009 

31/03/2012 

11/05/2019 

225,000 

  37.00  11/05/2009 

31/03/2013 

11/05/2019 

225,000 

  90.50  29/10/2010 

01/04/2011 

29/10/2020 

  90.50  29/10/2010 

01/04/2012 

29/10/2020 

  87.50  02/12/2010 

31/03/2013 

02/12/2020 

  87.50  02/12/2010 

31/03/2014 

02/12/2020 

34,071 

83,333 

28,191 

66,667 

Approved Schemes  

     13.50   26/09/2001 

26/09/2004 

26/09/2011 

5,000 

Total 
Weighted Average Exercise price 

3,592,712 
50.27p 

iomart group plc Annual Report 2012

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 
- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

(50,000) 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

(3,333) 

(3,333) 

(3,334) 

38,748 

38,750 

38,752 

38,748

38,750

38,752

- 

- 

- 

(50,000) 

(50,000) 

(68,500) 

(50,000) 

(29,885) 

- 

(76,344) 

(33,334) 

(66,665) 

224,521 

224,521

50,000 

85,982 

- 

10,000 

41,500 

60,000 

39,885 

10,000 

59,677 

16,667 

16,666 

50,000

85,982

-

10,000

41,500

60,000

39,885

10,000

59,677

16,667

16,666

(29,500) 

206,423 

206,423

- 

- 

28,495 

28,495

100,000 

100,000

-  (225,000) 

-  (124,324) 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

200,000 

83,333 

49,263 

16,667 

76,668 

81,808 

59,999 

- 

-

-

-

-

-

83,333

49,263

16,667

76,668

-

-

-

69,086 

69,086

- 

- 

- 

34,071 

83,333 

28,191 

66,667 

-

-

-

34,071

-

-

-

-

(33,333) 

149,999 

149,999

-  (125,676) 

(25,000) 

(25,000) 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

-  (225,000) 

-  (225,000) 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

(5,000) 

- 

(50,000)  (500,000)  (977,561)  2,065,151  1,545,153
54.85p
40.54p 
11.75p 

37.00p 

59.03p 

 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
  
  
  
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
Notes to the Financial Statements. Year ended 31 March 2012.

57

24. SHARE BASED PAYMENTS (CONTINUED) 

As at 31 March 2011

Exercise 
  price 

Details 

Grant 
date 

                                     Options for shares outstanding 

Exercise 
date 

Expiry 
date 

31 March 
2010 

Issued  Transferred  Forfeited Excercissed 

  31 March 
2011 

Vested

options for  
shares not yet  
exercised

31 March
2011

Enterprise management incentive scheme 
       6.25   02/07/2003 
       6.25   02/07/2003 
       6.25   02/07/2003 
     78.50   17/11/2004 
     74.00   24/08/2006 
27/09/2007 
  50.50 
20/12/2007 
  43.50 
20/12/2007 
  43.50 
20/12/2007 
  43.50 
20/12/2007 
  43.50 
20/12/2007 
  43.50 
20/12/2007 
  43.50 
29/09/2008 
  46.50 
29/09/2008 
  46.50 
29/09/2008 
  46.50 
06/10/2008 
  46.50 
06/10/2008 
  46.50 
05/02/2009 
  26.50 
11/05/2009 
  37.00 
11/05/2009 
  37.00 
11/05/2009 
  37.00 
11/05/2009 
  37.00 
09/12/2009 
  44.50 
29/10/2010 
  90.50 
29/10/2010 
  90.50 
02/12/2010 
  87.50 
02/12/2010 
  87.50 
02/12/2010 
  87.50 
02/12/2010 
  87.50 

02/07/2004  02/07/2013 
02/07/2005  02/07/2013 
02/07/2006  02/07/2013 
17/11/2007  17/11/2014 
24/08/2009  24/08/2016 
27/09/2010  27/09/2017 
20/12/2007  20/12/2017 
20/06/2008  20/12/2017 
20/12/2008  20/12/2017 
20/06/2009  20/12/2017 
20/12/2009  20/12/2017 
20/06/2010  20/12/2017 
31/03/2009  29/09/2018 
31/03/2010  29/09/2018 
31/03/2011  29/09/2018 
31/03/2009  06/10/2018 
31/03/2010  06/10/2018 
05/02/2012  05/02/2019 
31/03/2010  11/05/2019 
31/03/2011  11/05/2019 
31/03/2012  11/05/2019 
31/03/2013  11/05/2019 
31/03/2013  09/12/2019 
29/10/2010  29/10/2020 
01/04/2010  29/10/2020 
31/03/2011  02/12/2020 
31/03/2012  02/12/2020 
31/03/2013  02/12/2020 
31/03/2014  02/12/2020 

31/10/2001  31/10/2011 
20/12/2009  20/12/2017 
20/06/2010  20/12/2017 
31/03/2009  29/09/2018 
31/03/2010  29/09/2018 
31/03/2011  29/09/2018 
30/09/2009  05/02/2019 
31/03/2011  11/05/2019 
31/03/2012  11/05/2019 
31/03/2013  11/05/2019 
01/04/2011  29/10/2020 
01/04/2012  29/10/2020 
31/03/2013  02/12/2020 
31/03/2014  02/12/2020 

Unapproved schemes 
  11.75  
  43.50 
  43.50 
  46.50 
  46.50 
  46.50 
  26.50 
  37.00 
  37.00 
  37.00 
  90.50 
  90.50 
  87.50 
  87.50 

31/10/2001 
20/12/2007 
20/12/2007 
29/09/2008 
29/09/2008 
29/09/2008 
05/02/2009 
11/05/2009 
11/05/2009 
11/05/2009 
29/10/2010 
29/10/2010 
02/12/2010 
02/12/2010 

Approved Schemes  
     44.00   24/01/2001 
     13.50   26/09/2001 
     11.75   31/10/2001 

44,581 
47,916 
47,920 
224,521 
50,000 
85,982 
150,000 
160,000 
160,000 
160,000 
99,655 
10,000 
345,700 
216,668 
211,287 
235,923 
28,495 
100,000 
250,000 
124,324 
25,000 
25,000 
200,000 
- 
- 
- 
- 
- 
- 

50,000 
40,230 
100,000 
80,647 
166,667 
172,042 
12,000 
125,676 
225,000 
225,000 
- 
- 
- 
- 

- 
- 
- 
- 
- 
- 
- 
- 
- 
- 
- 
- 
- 
- 
- 
- 
- 
- 
- 
- 
- 
- 
- 
83,333 
49,263 
16,667 
76,668 
81,808 
59,999 

- 
- 
- 
- 
- 
- 
- 
- 
- 
- 
34,071 
83,333 
28,191 
66,667 

- 
- 
- 
- 
- 
- 
- 
- 
- 
- 
- 
- 
(116,668) 
(116,667) 
(111,290) 
- 
- 
- 
- 
- 
- 
- 
- 
- 
- 
- 
- 
- 
- 

- 
- 
- 
- 
- 
- 
- 
- 
- 
- 
- 
- 
- 
- 
(16,666) 
- 
- 
- 
- 
- 
- 
- 
- 
- 
- 
- 
- 
- 
- 

- 
- 
- 
- 
- 
- 
- 
116,668 
116,667 
(50,000) 
111,290  (100,000) 
- 
- 
- 
- 
- 
- 
- 
- 

- 
- 
- 
- 
- 
- 
- 
- 

(2,500) 
(5,833) 
(5,834) 
- 
- 
- 
(100,000) 
(100,000) 
(50,000) 
(50,000) 
(29,885) 
- 
(93,011) 
(50,000) 
- 
- 
- 
- 
(25,000) 
- 
- 
- 
- 
- 
- 
- 
- 
- 
- 

- 
(40,230) 
(100,000) 
(197,315) 
(164,248) 
- 
(12,000) 
- 
- 
- 
- 
- 
- 
- 

42,081 
42,083 
42,086 
224,521 
50,000 
85,982 
50,000 
60,000 
110,000 
110,000 
69,770 
10,000 
136,021 
50,001 
83,331 
235,923 
28,495 
100,000 
225,000 
124,324 
25,000 
25,000 
200,000 
83,333 
49,263 
16,667 
76,668 
81,808 
59,999 

50,000 
- 
- 
- 
69,086 
183,332 
- 
125,676 
225,000 
225,000 
34,071 
83,333 
28,191 
66,667 

42,081
42,083
42,086
224,521
50,000
85,982
50,000
60,000
110,000
110,000
69,770
10,000
136,021
50,001
83,331
235,923
28,495
-
225,000
124,324
-
-
-
83,333
-
16,667
-
-
-

50,000
-
-
-
69,086
183,332
-
125,676
-
-
-
-
-
-

24/01/2004  24/01/2011 
26/09/2004  26/09/2011 
31/10/2004  31/10/2011 

37,500 
5,000 
23,888 

- 
- 
- 

- 
- 
- 

- 
- 
- 

(37,500) 
- 
(23,888) 

- 
5,000 
- 

-
5,000
-

Total 
Weighted Average Exercise price   

4,266,622 
48.23p 

580,000 
88.79p 

-  (166,666) (1,087,244)  3,592,712  2,312,712
51.02p
-  46.50p 

50.27p 

43.39p 

www.iomart.com 

 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
  
  
  
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
58

Notes to the Financial Statements. Year ended 31 March 2012.

24. SHARE BASED PAYMENTS (CONTINUED)

Details of options and awards outstanding, and a reconciliation of movements in the year in respect of the Company’s ordinary shares of 
1p each, under the JSOP scheme are as follows:

As at 31 March 2012 

Details 

                                       Options for shares outstanding  

Vested options

for JSOP  
shares not yet  

exercised

Exercise 
price 

Grant 
date 

Exercise 
date 

Expiry 
date 

31 March 
2011 

Issued  Surrenderd 

Exercised  Expired 

  31 March 
2012 

31 March
2012

Joint Share Ownership Plan 
52.51 
52.51 
52.51 
53.58 
78.50 
51.47 
51.47 
51.47 
51.47 

31/03/2010 
31/03/2010 
31/03/2010 
31/03/2010 
31/03/2010 
31/03/2010 
31/03/2010 
31/03/2010 
31/03/2010 

31/03/2010 
31/03/2011 
31/03/2012 
31/03/2010 
31/03/2010 
31/03/2010 
20/06/2010 
31/03/2010 
31/03/2011 

06/10/2018 
935,582 
06/10/2018  1,050,000 
06/10/2018  1,350,000 
914,018 
27/09/2017 
500,479 
17/11/2014 
20,115 
20/12/2017 
50,000 
20/12/2017 
90,324 
29/09/2018 
66,666 
29/09/2018 

- 
- 
- 
- 
- 
- 
- 
- 
- 

- 
- 
- 
- 
- 
- 
- 
- 
- 

- 
- 
- 
- 
- 
(20,115) 
(50,000) 
(90,324) 
(66,666) 

Total 
Weighted Average Exercise price   

4,977,184 
53.95p 

- 
n/a 

- 
n/a 

(227,105) 
51.47p 

935,582 

- 
935,582
-  1,050,000  1,050,000
-  1,350,000  1,350,000
914,018
- 
500,479
- 
-
- 
-
- 
-
- 
-
- 

914,018 
500,479 
- 
- 
- 
- 

-  4,750,079  4,750,079
55.45p

55.45p 

n/a 

As at 31 March 2011

Details 

                                       Options for shares outstanding  

Exercise 
price 

Grant 
date 

Exercise 
date 

Expiry 
date 

31 March 
2010 

Issued  Surrenderd  Exercised  Expired 

  31 March 
2011 

Vested options

for JSOP  
shares not yet  

exercised

31 March
2011

Joint Share Ownership Plan 
50.99 
50.99 
50.99 
52.00 
78.50 
50.99 
50.99 
50.99 
50.99 

31/03/2010 
31/03/2010 
31/03/2010 
31/03/2010 
31/03/2010 
31/03/2010 
31/03/2010 
31/03/2010 
31/03/2010 

31/03/2010  06/10/2018 
31/03/2011  06/10/2018 
31/03/2012  06/10/2018 
31/03/2010  27/09/2017 
31/03/2010  17/11/2014 
31/03/2010  20/12/2017 
20/06/2010  20/12/2017 
31/03/2010  29/09/2018 
31/03/2011  29/09/2018 

935,582 
1,050,000 
1,350,000 
914,018 
500,479 
20,115 
50,000 
90,324 
66,666 

- 
- 
- 
- 
- 
- 
- 
- 
- 

- 
- 
- 
- 
- 
- 
- 
- 
- 

- 
- 
- 
- 
- 
- 
- 
- 
- 

935,582 

- 
935,582
-  1,050,000  1,050,000
-
-  1,350,000 
914,018
914,018 
- 
500,479
500,479 
- 
20,115
20,115 
- 
50,000
50,000 
- 
90,324
90,324 
- 
66,666
66,666 
- 

-  4,977,184  3,627,184
55.05p

53.95p 

n/a 

Total 
Weighted Average Exercise price   

4,977,184 
52.60p 

- 
n/a 

- 
n/a 

- 
n/a 

iomart group plc Annual Report 2012

 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Notes to the Financial Statements. Year ended 31 March 2012.

59

25. RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS

Dividends paid to key management (only directors are deemed to fall into this category) were as follows:

Angus MacSween 
Chris Batterham 
Sarah Haran 
Richard Logan 
Ian Ritchie 
Fred Shedden (resigned 29 September 2011) 
Total dividends paid to directors 

2012 
£’000 
126 
1 
7 
1 
1 
5 
141 

2011
£’000
77
-
4
-
1
3
85

The only other related party transactions in the year were the salary payments to key management as disclosed in note 5 and the Report 
to the Board to the Members on Directors’ Remuneration on pages 15-18.

26. CONTINGENCIES AND COMMITMENTS

(a) Contingencies
The Group is a party to certain operating lease agreements for properties which have been converted into datacentres. These operating 
leases impose a liability on the Group, at the request of the lessor, to reinstate the properties to the condition they were in before conversion 
to datacentres. All of these properties are on long term leases and these leases may be extended. Consequently the Directors believe that 
the likelihood of these liabilities crystalising is remote. There were no other contingent assets or liabilities as at 31 March 2012 (2011: 
nil).

(b) Commitments 
Capital expenditure on property, plant and equipment committed by the Group at 31 March 2012 was £74,000 (2011: £83,000). 

27. RISK MANAGEMENT

The  Group  finances  its  operations  by  raising  finance  through  equity,  bank  borrowings  and  finance  leases.  No  speculative  treasury 
transactions are undertaken however the Group does from time to time enter into forward foreign exchange contracts to hedge known 
currency exposures. Financial assets and liabilities include those assets and liabilities of a financial nature, namely cash, investments, short 
term receivables/payables and borrowings. 

The carrying amounts of financial assets presented in the statement of financial position relate to the following measurement categories 
as defined in IAS 39:

www.iomart.com 

 
 
 
60

Notes to the Financial Statements. Year ended 31 March 2012.

27. RISK MANAGEMENT (CONTINUED)

2012 
Non-current: 
Lease deposit 

Current: 
Trade receivables 
Cash and cash equivalents 
Other receivables 
Total for category 

2011 
Non-current: 
Lease deposit 

Current: 
Trade receivables 
Cash and cash equivalents 
Other receivables 
Total for category 

Loans and 
receivables 
£’000 

Designated at
fair value
through profit
or loss 
£’000 

2,416 

2,060 
8,935 
301 
13,712 

2,016 

1,181 
6,864 
240 
10,301 

- 

- 
- 
- 
- 

- 

- 
- 
- 
- 

Total 
£’000

2,416

2,060
8,935
301
13,712

2,016

1,181
6,864
240
10,301

The carrying amounts of financial liabilities presented in the statement of financial position relate to the following measurement categories 
as defined in IAS 39:

At 
fair value  
through profit 

Financial
liabilities
measured at 
or loss  amortised cost 
£’000 
£’000 

Other
(non-IAS 39) 
£’000 

Total 
£’000

2012 
Non-current: 
Finance leasing capital obligations 

Current: 
Trade payables 
Accruals  
Bank loan 
Contingent consideration due on acquisition 
Finance leasing capital obligations  
Forward foreign exchange contracts 
Total for category 

2011 
Non-current: 
Finance leasing capital obligations 

Current: 
Trade payables 
Accruals  
Bank loan 
Contingent consideration due on acquisition 
Finance leasing capital obligations  
Forward foreign exchange contracts 
Total for category 

- 

- 
- 
- 
- 
- 
(21) 
(21) 

- 

- 
- 
- 
- 
- 
(30) 
(30) 

- 

(1,211) 

(1,211)

(1,751) 
(3,335) 
- 
(246) 
- 
- 
(5,332) 

- 
- 
(4,000) 
- 
(1,251) 
- 
(6,462) 

(1,751)
(3,335)
(4,000)
(246)
(1,251)
(21)
(11,815)

- 

(920) 

(920)

(1,377) 
(3,401) 
- 
(600) 
- 
- 
(5,378) 

- 
- 
(2,000) 
- 
(846) 
- 
(3,766) 

(1,377)
(3,401)
(2,000)
(600)
(846)
(30)
(9,174)

The forward foreign exchange contracts noted in the above table are considered to be Level 2 financial assets per the fair value hierarchy 
classifications  under  IFRS  7  ‘Financial  Instruments:  Disclosures’,  as  their  price  is  based  on  inputs  other  than  quoted  prices  that  are 
observable for the asset, either directly or indirectly.

iomart group plc Annual Report 2012

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Notes to the Financial Statements. Year ended 31 March 2012.

61

27. RISK MANAGEMENT (CONTINUED)

Liquidity risk
The Group seeks to manage financial risk to ensure sufficient liquidity is available to meet foreseeable needs and to invest cash safely and 
profitably. The Group reviews its cash flow requirements on a monthly basis.

Interest rates
The interest rate on the Group’s cash at bank is determined by reference to the base rate and the interest rate on the Group’s revolving 
credit facility is based on LIBOR plus a margin.

Currency risk
During the year the Group made payments totalling US$1.9m (2011: US$1.8m) to acquire domain names for its Easyspace division. The 
Group entered into forward exchange contracts to hedge its exposure to the US Dollar arising on these purchases. At the year end, the 
Group had outstanding forward contracts under which it was due to purchase $1,800,000 (2011: $840,000) for a total of £1,148,000 
(2011: £555,000), at an average exchange rate of US$:GBP of 1.57 (2011: 1.51) over the period to March 2013. The fair value of these 
currency contracts is estimated to be approximately a loss of £21,000 (2011: loss £30,000). This has been recognised in the statement of 
comprehensive income for the year. The Group has no non-monetary assets or liabilities denominated in foreign currencies and the level 
of monetary assets and liabilities denominated in foreign currencies is minimal. 

Capital risk
The Group currently has net cash. The Group’s policy on capital structure is to maintain a level of gross cash which the Board considers 
to be adequate for the size of the Group’s operations which at the moment is no less than £5m. Consequently, the Group makes use 
of both banking facilities and finance lease arrangements to help fund the acquisition of companies and capital expenditure in order 
to maintain that level of gross cash. The Group is committed to paying annual dividends depending on the underlying profitability and 
cash generation of the business. The Group was in compliance with all covenants under its banking facility arrangements throughout the 
reporting period.

Credit risk
The majority of the Group’s customers are small businesses and a significant number of these customers take advantage of the deferred 
payment terms offered by the Group, however the revenue recognition policy takes account of this, so that there is no exposure from the 
deferred payment terms. Therefore the Group consider that the trade receivables of £2,060,000 (2011: £1,181,000) which are stated 
net of applicable provisions represent the total amount exposed to credit risk. The Group’s cash at bank is held within the UK clearing 
banks.

Further information on financial instruments policy and procedures is given in the Directors’ Report.

www.iomart.com 

 
Customer Focused

“As	we	win	bigger	and	more	complex	contracts	it’s	great	to	know	
that	we	have	got	a	hosting	partner	that	is	prepared	to	go	that	extra	
mile	for	us	and	adapt	as	our	requirements	change.”
Vincent Cassidy, Group IT Director, o2o

iomart group plc Annual Report 2012

63

Holding Company Financial Statements
Year ended 31 March 2012

INDEPENDENT AUDITOR’S REPORT TO THE MEMBERS OF 
IOMART GROUP PLC

Opinion on other matter prescribed by the Companies Act 
2006

We have audited the parent company financial statements of iomart 
Group plc for the year ended 31 March 2012 which comprise the 
parent company balance sheet and the related notes. The financial 
reporting framework that has been applied in their preparation is 
applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United 
Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).

This report is made solely to the 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 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 company and the company’s members 
as a body, for our audit work, for this report, or for the opinions 
we have formed.

Respective responsibilities of directors and auditors

in 

fully 

As  explained  more 
the  Directors’  Responsibilities 
Statement, the directors are responsible for the preparation of the 
parent company financial statements and for being satisfied that 
they give a true and fair view. Our responsibility is to audit and 
express an opinion on the parent company financial statements in 
accordance  with  applicable  law  and  International  Standards  on 
Auditing (UK and Ireland). Those standards require us to comply 
with  the  Auditing  Practices  Board’s  (APB’s)  Ethical  Standards  for 
Auditors.

In our opinion the information given in the Directors' Report for the 
financial year for which the financial statements are prepared is 
consistent with the parent company financial statements.

Matters on which we are required to report by exception

We  have  nothing  to  report  in  respect  of  the  following  matters 
where 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.

Other matter

We have reported separately on the Group financial statements of 
iomart Group plc for the year ended 31 March 2012.

Scope of the audit of the financial statements

A  description  of  the  scope  of  an  audit  of  financial  statements 
is  provided  on  the  APB's  website  at  www.frc.org.uk/apb/scope/
private.cfm.

Opinion on financial statements

In our opinion the parent company financial statements:
•	

give	a	true	and	fair	view	of	the	state	of	the	company's	affairs	
as at 31 March 2012; 

•	

•	

have	been	properly	prepared	in	accordance	with	United	
Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice; and

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

Andrew Howie
Senior Statutory Auditor
for and on behalf of Grant Thornton UK LLP
Statutory Auditor, Chartered Accountants
Glasgow
28 May 2012

www.iomart.com 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
64

Holding Company Financial Statements. Year ended 31 March 2012.

BALANCE SHEET

FIXED ASSETS 
Investments 

CURRENT ASSETS 
Debtors 
Cash at bank and in hand 

Note 

2012 
£’000 

2011
£’000

3 

4 

35,782 
35,782 

13,820 
8,083 
21,903 

31,098
31,098

14,151
5,981
20,132

CREDITORS: amounts falling due within one year 

6 

(17,923) 

(10,433)

NET CURRENT ASSETS 

NET ASSETS 

CAPITAL AND RESERVES 
Called up share capital 
Own shares 
Capital redemption reserve 
Share premium account 
Profit and loss account 

TOTAL EQUITY SHAREHOLDERS’ FUNDS 

3,980 

9,699

39,762 

40,797

1,048 
(2,351) 
1,200 
20,362 
19,503 

1,038
(2,464)
1,200
19,977
21,046

39,762 

40,797

7 
8 
8 
8 
8 

These financial statements were approved by the board of directors on 28 May 2012.
Signed on behalf of the board of directors

Angus MacSween
Director and chief executive officer
iomart	Group	plc	–	Company	Number:	SC204560

The following notes form part of the primary financial statements.

iomart group plc Annual Report 2012

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
Holding Company Financial Statements. Year ended 31 March 2012.

65

Pension scheme arrangements
The Group operates a stakeholder pension scheme and contributes 
to a number of personal pension schemes on behalf of executive 
directors and some senior employees.  No other post retirement 
benefits are provided to employees.  Pension costs are charged to 
the profit and loss account in the period to which they relate.

Share-based payment 
All share-based payment arrangements granted after 7 November 
2002 that had not vested prior to 1 January 2005 are recognised 
in the financial statements. All share-based payment arrangements 
in the company are equity settled.  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. This fair value is appraised 
at the grant date and excludes the impact of non-market vesting 
conditions (for example, profitability and sales growth targets).

All equity-settled share-based payments are ultimately recognised 
as an expense in the profit and loss account with a corresponding 
credit to “Profit and loss reserve”.  

1. ACCOUNTING POLICIES

The  financial  statements  are  prepared  in  accordance  with 
applicable United Kingdom accounting standards.

Investments
Investments held as fixed assets are stated at cost less provision 
for any permanent diminution in value. As part of the acquisition 
strategy  of  the  Company,  the  trade  and  net  assets  of  subsidiary 
undertakings  at  or  shortly  after  acquisition  may  be  transferred 
at book value to fellow subsidiaries. The cost of the Company's 
investment  in  that  subsidiary  undertaking  would  have  reflected 
the  underlying  fair  value  of  its  net  assets  and  goodwill  at  the 
time  of  its  acquisition.  As  a  result  of  such  a  transfer,  the  value 
of the Company's investment in that subsidiary undertaking may 
fall  below  the  amount  at  which  it  was  stated  in  the  Company's 
accounting  records.  The  carrying  value  of  the  investment  in  all 
companies  transferred  is  considered  together  against  the  future 
cash  flows  and  net  asset  position  of  those  companies  which 
received the trade and net assets.

Deferred taxation
Deferred tax is provided in full on timing differences which result 
in an obligation at the balance sheet date to pay more tax, or a 
right to pay less tax, at a future date, at rates expected to apply 
when they crystallise based on current tax rates and law.  Timing 
differences  arise  from  the  inclusion  of  items  of  income  and 
expenditure  in  taxation  computations  in  periods  different  from 
those in which they are included in financial statements. Deferred 
tax assets are recognised to the extent that it is regarded as more 
likely than not that they will be recovered. Deferred tax assets and 
liabilities are not discounted.

Leases
Assets obtained under finance leases, which transfer substantially 
all the risks and rewards of ownership, are capitalised at their fair 
value on acquisition and depreciated over their estimated useful 
economic lives.  The finance charges are allocated over the period 
of the lease in proportion to the capital element outstanding.

Operating lease rentals are charged to the profit and loss account 
in equal annual amounts over the lease term.

Financial instruments
Financial assets are recognised in the balance sheet at the lower 
of cost and net realisable value. Provision is made for diminution 
in value where appropriate.

Income and expenditure on financial instruments is recognised on 
the accruals basis and credited or charged to the profit and loss 
account in the financial period to which it relates.

www.iomart.com 

 
66

Holding Company Financial Statements. Year ended 31 March 2012.

1. ACCOUNTING POLICIES (CONTINUED)

Share-based payment (continued)
If  vesting  periods  or  other  non-market  vesting  conditions  apply,  the  expense  is  allocated  over  the  vesting  period,  based  on  the  best 
available estimate of the number of share options expected to vest.   Estimates are subsequently revised if there is any indication that the 
number of share options expected to vest differs from previous estimates.  Any cumulative adjustment prior to vesting is recognised in the 
current period.  No adjustment is made to any expense recognised in prior periods if share options ultimately exercised are different to 
that estimated on vesting.

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

Development expenditure
Development expenditure is charged to the profit and loss account as incurred.

2. (LOSS)/PROFIT OF PARENT COMPANY

As permitted by Section 408 of the Companies Act 2006, the profit and loss account of the parent company is not presented as part 
of these financial statements.  The parent company’s (loss)/profit for the financial period after taxation was £1,006,000 (2011: profit 
£807,000).

Shares in subsidiary undertakings 
£’000

 32,796
4,687
21

37,504

(1,698)
(24)

(1,722)

35,782

31,098

3. INVESTMENTS HELD AS FIXED ASSETS

Cost  
At 1 April 2011 
Additions 
Share based payment 

Cost at 31 March 2012 

Impairment 
At 1 April 2011 
Charge for the year 

Impairment at 31 March 2012 

Net book value of Investments at 31 March 2012 

Net book value of Investments at 31 March 2011 

All of the above investments are unlisted.

iomart group plc Annual Report 2012

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Holding Company Financial Statements. Year ended 31 March 2012.

67

3. INVESTMENTS HELD AS FIXED ASSETS (CONTINUED)

The following subsidiaries are included in the company financial statements:

Country  
of registration  
and operation 

Activity 

Ordinary share capital

Owned by the 
company 
% 

Owned by the
subsidiary
undertakings
% 

Dormant  

Dormant 
Dormant 

Scotland 
Scotland  Managed hosting services 
Scotland  Managed hosting services 
Scotland  Managed hosting services 
Scotland 
Scotland 
England  Webservices 
England  Webservices 
England  Webservices 
England  Webservices 
Non-trading 
England 
England 
Non-trading 
England  Managed hosting services 
England 
England 
England 
England 

Datacentre services 
Dormant 
Dormant 
Non-trading 

iomart Limited  
iomart Hosting Limited  
iomart Cloud Services Limited  
EQSN Limited 
iomart Virtual Servers Hosting Limited  
Netintelligence Limited  
Easyspace Limited 
Switch Media Limited 
Switch Media (Ireland) Limited 
Global Gold Networks Limited 
Global Gold Holdings Limited 
Rapidswitch Limited 
Titan Internet Limtied 
iomart Datacentres Limited  
Internetters Limited 
NicNames Limited 
Web Genie Internet Limited 

4. DEBTORS

Prepayments and accrued income 
Other debtors 
Other taxation and social security 
Deferred taxation (note 5) 
Amounts owed by subsidiary undertakings 

100 
100 
100 
100 
100 
100 
100 
100 
- 
- 
100 
100 
100 
100 
- 
- 
- 

2012 
£’000 

163 
5 
172 
381 
13,099 

-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
100
100
-
-
-
-
100
100
100

2011
£’000

160
1
220
354
13,416

13,820 

14,151

www.iomart.com 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
68

Holding Company Financial Statements. Year ended 31 March 2012.

5. DEFERRED TAXATION

The company had recognised deferred tax assets and potential unrecognised deferred tax assets as follows:

Share based remuneration 

The movement in the deferred tax account during the year was: 

Balance brought forward 
Profit and loss account movement arising during the year 
Profit and loss account reserve movement during the year 
Balance carried forward 

2012 
Recognised  Unrecognised 
£’000 
- 

£’000 
381 

2011
Recognised  Unrecognised
£’000 
-

£’000 
354 

2012 
£’000 

354 
29 
(2) 
381 

2011
£’000

72
202
80
354

The  deferred  tax  asset  in  relation  to  share  based  remuneration  arises  from  the  anticipated  future  tax  relief  on  the  exercise  of  share 
options.

6. CREDITORS: AMOUNTS FALLING DUE WITHIN ONE YEAR 

Trade creditors 
Other taxation and social security 
Accruals and deferred income 
Contingent consideration 
Bank loan 
Amounts owed to subsidiary undertakings 

7. SHARE CAPITAL

Authorised 
At 31 March 2010, 2011, and 2012 
Called up, allotted and fully paid 
At 31 March 2010 
Exercise of options 
At 31 March 2011  
Exercise of options 
At 31 March 2012 

2012 
£’000 

87 
43 
653 
246 
4,000 
12,894 
17,923 

  Ordinary shares of 1p each
Number of shares 

200,000,000 

102,752,599 
1,087,244 
103,839,843 
977,561 
104,817,404 

2011
£’000

8
41
710
600
2,000
7,074
10,433

£’000

2,000

1,028
10
1,038
10
1,048

During the year the company issued 977,561 (2011: 1,087,244) ordinary shares of 1p each in respect of the exercise of share options 
by employees for which a net total of £396,314 (2011: £473,000) was received.

iomart group plc Annual Report 2012

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Holding Company Financial Statements. Year ended 31 March 2012.

69

7. SHARE CAPITAL (CONTINUED)

As at 31 March 2012 the company held 4,750,079 shares (2011: 4,977,184) in the iomart Group plc Employee Benefit Trust in relation 
to the JSOP which are accounted for in the Own Shares JSOP reserve and have a nominal value of £47,501 (2011: £49,772). 

The JSOP shares are valued at 49.5p per share, which was the mid-market value of the shares at the start of trading on the day they were 
issued, resulting in a total value in the Own Shares JSOP reserve of £2,351,289 (2011: £2,463,706). 

The JSOP shares are held jointly between employees and the iomart Group plc Employee Benefit Trust. Under the terms of the JSOP rules 
employees are eligible to receive the excess of any disposal proceeds received for the JSOP shares over the participation price. Certain 
of the JSOP shares, as identified in the Remuneration Report on pages 15-18, are subject to a 3% per annum escalation until the JSOP 
shares are sold. The JSOP shares do not carry dividend or voting rights whilst they are jointly held by the employee and the iomart Group 
plc Employee Benefit Trust. 

Should the market price of a vested JSOP share exceed the participation price the employee has the option to convert the value of any 
such excess value into a number of wholly owned shares within the JSOP. If an employee exercises this right then the wholly owned shares 
subsequently held within the JSOP by the employee shall be eligible for both dividend and voting rights.

The share capital of iomart Group plc consists of ordinary shares with a par value of 1p. All shares, excluding the shares held by the iomart 
Group plc Employee Benefit Trust, are equally eligible to receive dividends and represent one vote at the shareholders' meetings of iomart 
Group plc. All shares issued at 31 March 2012 are fully paid.

8. STATEMENT OF MOVEMENT IN RESERVES

Loss for the financial period 
Dividends 
Share based payments 
Deferred tax on share based remuneration 
Issue of own shares from JSOP 
Issue of new shares for option redemption 

Opening balance 

Closing balance 

Own  
shares  
JSOP 
£’000 

Capital 
redemption 
reserve 
£’000 

Share 
premium 
account 
£’000 

- 
- 
- 
- 
113 
- 
113 

- 
- 
- 
- 
- 
- 
- 

- 
- 
- 
- 
- 
385 
385 

Profit
and loss
account
£’000 

(1,006)
(643)
104
(2)
4
-
(1,543)

(2,464)  

1,200  

19,977  

21,046

(2,351)  

1,200  

20,362  

19,503

www.iomart.com 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
70

Holding Company Financial Statements. Year ended 31 March 2012.

9. SHARE BASED PAYMENTS

For  details  of  share  based  payment  awards  and  fair  values  see  note  24  to  the  Group  financial  statements.  The  Company  accounts 
recognise the charge for share based payments for the year of £104,000 (2011: £290,000) by;  

1)  taking the charge in relation to employees of the holding company through the holding company statement of comprehensive 

income £83,000 (2011: £171,000),

2)  recording an increase to its investment in subsidiaries for the amounts attributable to employees of subsidiaries and recording a 

corresponding entry to the profit and loss account reserve £21,000 (2011: £119,000).

10. RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS

The company has taken advantage of the exemption in Financial Reporting Standard No. 8 “Related Party Transactions” not to disclose 
transactions with wholly owned subsidiaries. Dividends paid to key management (only directors are deemed to fall into this category) of 
the Company have been disclosed in note 25 of the Group financial statements and the only other related party transactions in the year 
were salary payments to key management as disclosed in note 5 of the Group financial statements.

11. CONTINGENCIES AND COMMITMENTS

(a)  Contingencies

The Company is a party to certain operating lease agreements for properties which have been converted into datacentres. These 
operating leases impose a liability on the Company, at the request of the lessor, to reinstate the properties to the condition they 
were in before conversion to datacentres. All of these properties are on long term leases and these leases may be extended. 
Consequently the Directors believe that the likelihood of these liabilities crystalising is remote. There were no other contingent 
assets or liabilities as at 31 March 2012 (2011: nil).

(b) Commitments 

There are no commitments present as at 31 March 2012 (2011: nil).

12. ULITIMATE CONTROLLING PARTY

The Directors’ have assessed that there is no ultimate controlling party.

iomart group plc Annual Report 2012

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
71

Notice of the 2012 Annual General Meeting

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the 2012 annual general meeting 
of  the  Company  will  be  held  at  Lister  Pavilion,  Kelvin  Campus, 
West of Scotland Science Park, Glasgow G20 0SP on 30 August 
2012 at 2.30 pm for the purpose of considering and, if thought 
fit, passing the following resolutions, of which resolutions 1 to 9 
(inclusive) will be proposed as ordinary resolutions and resolutions 
10 to 11 (inclusive) will be proposed as special resolutions:-

1  To receive and adopt the financial statements of the Company 
and the directors' and auditors' reports thereon for the year ended 
31 March 2012.

2  To  approve  the  report  of  the  board  to  the  members  on 
directors' remuneration for the year ended 31 March 2012.

3  To reappoint Crawford Beveridge (who was appointed by the 
board since the last annual general meeting) as a director of the 
Company.

4  To reappoint Angus MacSween (who retires by rotation and, 
being eligible, offers himself for re-election) as a director of the 
Company.

5  To  reappoint  Richard  Logan  (who  retires  by  rotation  and, 
being eligible, offers himself for re-election) as a director of the 
Company.

6  To declare a final dividend for the year ended 31 March 2012 
of 0.90p per share payable on 5 September 2012 to shareholders 
registered at the close of business on 17 August 2012.

7  To reappoint Grant Thornton UK LLP, Chartered Accountants, 
as auditors of the Company and to authorise the directors to fix 
their remuneration. 

8  That, in accordance with section 551 of the Companies Act 
2006 (the "Act"), the Directors are generally and unconditionally 
authorised  to  allot  shares  in  the  Company  or  grant  rights  to 
subscribe for or convert any security into shares in the Company 
(the "Rights") provided that:

(a)  the  maximum  aggregate  nominal  amount  of  shares  to  be 
allotted in pursuance of such authority is an aggregate nominal 
amount equal to £350,693.01; and

(b)  this  authority  shall  expire,  unless  sooner  revoked  or  varied 
by  the  Company  in  general  meeting,  at  the  conclusion  of  the 
Company's  annual  general  meeting  to  be  held  in  2013  save 
that  the  Company  may,  before  such  expiry,  make  an  offer  or 
agreement which would or might require shares to be allotted or 
Rights granted after such expiry and the Directors may allot shares 
in pursuance of such offer or agreement notwithstanding that the 
authority conferred by this resolution has expired.

This authority is in substitution for all previous authorities conferred 

on the Directors in accordance with section 80 of the Companies 
Act 1985 or section 551 of the Act.

9  That for the purposes of section 551 of the Act, the Directors 
are generally and unconditionally authorised to exercise all powers 
of the Company to allot equity securities (as defined in section 560 
of the Act) in connection with a rights issue in favour of the holders 
of ordinary shares in the capital of the Company (the "Ordinary 
Shareholders") where the equity securities respectively attributable 
to the Ordinary Shareholders are proportionate (as nearly as may 
be) to the respective numbers of Ordinary Shares held by them up 
to  a  maximum  nominal  amount  of  £350,693.01  provided  that 
this authority shall expire, unless sooner revoked or varied by the 
Company in general meeting, at the conclusion of the Company's 
annual general meeting to be held in 2013 save that the Company 
may, before such expiry, make an offer or agreement which would 
or might require equity securities to be allotted after such expiry 
and the Directors may allot equity securities in pursuance of any 
such offer or agreement notwithstanding that the power conferred 
by this resolution has expired.

10  That  subject  to  the  passing  of  resolutions  8  and  9  and  in 
accordance with section 570 of the Act and in place of all existing 
powers,  the  Directors  are  generally  empowered  to  allot  equity 
securities of the Company (as defined in section 560 of the Act) 
for cash pursuant to the authority conferred by resolutions 8 and 
9  as  if  section  561  of  the  Act  did  not  apply  to  such  allotment 
provided that this power shall be limited to:

(a)  the allotment of equity securities in connection with an issue in 
favour of holders of ordinary shares of 1 penny each in the capital 
of the Company (the "Ordinary Shares") where the equity securities 
are offered  to such holders  in proportion  (as  nearly  as  may  be) 
to  the  respective  number  of  Ordinary  Shares  held,  or  deemed 
to  be  held,  by  that  shareholder  but  subject  to  such  exclusions 
or  other  arrangements  as  the  Directors  may  deem  necessary  or 
expedient in relation to fractional entitlements or legal or practical 
problems under the laws of, or the requirements of any recognised 
regulatory body or any stock exchange in, any territory;

(b)  the  allotment  of  equity  securities  pursuant  to  any  authority 
conferred upon the Directors in accordance with and pursuant to 
article 41 of the articles of association of the Company; and

(c)  the allotment (otherwise than pursuant to (a) and (b) above) 
of  equity  securities  up  to  an  aggregate  nominal  amount  of 
£105,207.90;

provided that this authority will expire, unless sooner revoked or 
varied by the Company in general meeting, at the conclusion of 
the Company's annual general meeting to be held in 2013, save 
that the Company may at any time before such expiry make an 
offer or agreement which would or might require equity securities 
to be allotted after such expiry and the Directors may allot equity 
securities in pursuance of such offer or agreement notwithstanding 

www.iomart.com 

72

Notice of the 2012 Annual General Meeting

that the power conferred by this resolution has expired.

11  That  the  Company  be  and  is  hereby  generally  and 
unconditionally authorised for the purposes of section 701 of the 
Act to make one or more market purchases (within the meaning of 
section 693(4) of the Act) on a recognised investment exchange (as 
defined in section 693(5) of the Act) of Ordinary Shares provided 
that:

(a)  the maximum number of Ordinary Shares hereby authorised 
to  be  purchased  is  10,520,790    (representing  10%  of  the 
Company's issued ordinary share capital at the date of the notice 
of this annual general meeting);

(b)  the minimum price, exclusive of any expenses, which may be 
paid for any such Ordinary Share is 1p;

(c)  the  maximum  price,  exclusive  of  any  expenses,  which  may 
be  paid  for  any  such  Ordinary  Share  shall  be  not  more  than 
5%  above  the  average  of  the  middle  market  quotations  for  an 
Ordinary Share on the relevant investment exchange on which the 
Ordinary Shares are traded for the five business days immediately 
preceding the date on which such Ordinary Share is contracted to 
be purchased;

(d)  unless  previously  revoked  or  varied,  the  authority  hereby 
conferred shall expire on the conclusion of the next annual general 
meeting of the Company; and

(e)  the  Company  may  make  a  contract  or  contracts  for  the 
purchase of Ordinary Shares under this authority before the expiry 
of this authority which would or might be executed wholly or partly 
after  the  expiry  of  such  authority,  and  may  make  purchases  of 
Ordinary Shares in pursuance of such a contract or contracts, as 
if such authority had not expired.

By order of the board  

Bruce Hall 
Lister Pavilion, Kelvin Campus,
Company Secretary 
West of Scotland Science Park,
22 June 2012  
Glasgow G20 0SP

iomart group plc Annual Report 2012

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Notice of the 2012 Annual General Meeting

73

NOTES:
Appointment of Proxy

EXPLANATORY  NOTES  TO  THE  NOTICE  OF  ANNUAL 
GENERAL MEETING IOMART GROUP PLC

1  As a member of the Company you are entitled to appoint a 
proxy to exercise all or any of your rights to attend, speak and vote 
at a meeting of the Company.  You should have received a proxy 
form with this notice of meeting.  You can only appoint a proxy 
using the procedures set out in the notes to the proxy form. A proxy 
need not be a member of the Company.

2  To  be  effective,  the  proxy  form,  and  any  power  of  attorney 
or  other  authority  under  which  it  is  executed  (or  a  duly  certified 
copy  of  any  such  power  or  authority),  must  be  deposited  at  the 
office  of  the  Company’s  registrars,  Capita  Registrars,  PXS,  34 
Beckenham Road, Beckenham, Kent, BR3 4TU, not less than 48 
hours (excluding weekends and bank holidays) before the time for 
holding the meeting (i.e. by 2.30pm on Tuesday 28 August 2012) 
and if not so deposited shall be invalid.

Entitlement to attend and vote

3  Pursuant  to  Regulation  41  of  the  Uncertificated  Securities 
Regulations 2001, only those members entered in the Company's 
register of members at:

•	 6.00pm	on		28	August	2012;	or

•	
if	this	meeting	is	adjourned,	at	6.00pm	on	the	day	two	days	
prior  to  the  adjourned  meeting,  shall  be  entitled  to  attend  and 
vote at the meeting.

Documents on Display

4  Copies of the service contracts and letters of appointment of 
the directors of the Company will be available:

•	

for	at	least	15	minutes	prior	to	the	meeting;	and

•	 during	the	meeting.

Communication

5  Except as provided above, members who wish to communicate 
with the Company in relation to the meeting should do so by post 
to the Company's registered office, details of which are below.  No 
other methods of communication will be accepted.

Address:  The Company Secretary, iomart Group plc,
Lister Pavilion, Kelvin Campus
West of Scotland Science Park, Glasgow G20 0SP

Ordinary Resolutions

Resolutions 1 to 9 are all to be proposed as ordinary resolutions.  
This means that for each of those resolutions to be passed, more 
than half of the votes cast must be in favour of the resolution.

Resolution 1 – To receive and adopt the financial statements 
for  the  year  ended  31  March  2012  and  the  directors'  and 
auditors' reports thereon

For each financial year the directors of the Company must present 
the  audited  financial  statements,  the  directors'  report  and  the 
auditors' report on the financial statements to the shareholders at 
an annual general meeting.  

Resolution  2  –  To  approve  the  directors'  remuneration 
report

Shareholders  are  asked  to  approve  the  directors'  remuneration 
report  which  may  be  found  in  the  annual  report  on  pages  15 
to 18.  This resolution is an advisory one and no entitlement to 
remuneration is conditional on the resolution being passed.

Resolution 3, 4 and 5 – Re-election of directors

Under article 24 of the Company's articles of association one third 
of the directors are required to retire by rotation at each annual 
general meeting.  Pursuant to those articles, Mr Angus MacSween 
and  Mr  Richard  Logan  are  required  to  retire  by  rotation  at  this 
annual  general  meeting  and,  being  eligible,  offer  themselves 
for  reappointment.  In  addition,  the  articles  also  stipulate  that 
any  director  appointed  by  the  Board  during  the  year  must  offer 
themselves for reappointment at the next available annual general 
meeting. Mr Crawford Beveridge was appointed on 29 September 
2011 and accordingly offers himself for reappointment. The Board 
is  satisfied  that  the  performance  of  Mr  Crawford  Beveridge,  Mr 
Angus MacSween and Mr Richard Logan continues to be effective 
and  demonstrates  commitment  to  their  roles  with  the  Company 
including commitment of time for Board meetings and other duties 
required of them.  Accordingly, resolutions 3, 4 and 5 propose the 
reappointment of Mr Crawford Beveridge, Mr Angus MacSween 
and Mr Richard Logan.

Brief  biographical  details  of  Mr  Crawford  Beveridge,  Mr  Angus 
MacSween and Mr Richard Logan are given below.

Crawford  Beveridge  66,  appointed  2011;  Crawford  Beveridge 
CBE  has  over  40  years  experience  in  the  technology  industry, 
including 16 years at Sun Microsystems ("Sun"), most recently as 

www.iomart.com 

 
74

Notice of the 2012 Annual General Meeting

Executive  Vice  President  and  Chairman,  EMEA,  APAC  and  the 
Americas until retiring in January 2010. His business background 
also includes roles with Hewlett-Packard, Digital Equipment Corp., 
Analog Devices, non-executive director of Hitachi Global Storage 
Technologies, a subsidiary of Hitachi Ltd and Chief Executive of 
Scottish Enterprise. Current board roles include Chairman of the 
investment  advisory  board  at  Scottish  Equity  Partners  and  Non 
Executive Chairman of NASDAQ listed Autodesk.

Angus  MacSween  55,  appointed  2000;  after  a  short  service 
commission  in  the  Royal  Navy,  Angus  started  his  first  business 
selling telephone systems in 1984. Since selling this first business 
he  has  established,  grown  and  sold  5  profitable  businesses  in 
the telephony and internet sector. Following the sale of Teledata 
Limited, the UK’s leading telephone information services company 
to Scottish Telecom plc, Angus spent two years on the executive of 
Scottish Telecom plc where he was responsible for the development 
of  the  company's  Internet  division.  In  December  1998  Angus 
founded iomart.

Richard  Logan  54,  appointed  2006;  Richard  is  a  chartered 
accountant having qualified with Arthur Young in 1984. Richard 
then  spent  7  years  with  Ben  Line  Group  initially  as  Group 
treasurer  and  latterly  as  financial  director  of  Ben  Line’s  main 
container shipping division.  From 1992 to 2002 Richard served 
as  finance  director  of  Kingston  SCL  a  company  which  provided 
administration and billing software to the mobile communications 
market during which time he was involved in a management buy-
out and subsequent trade sale of the company.  Immediately prior 
to  joining  iomart  Richard  served  as  finance  director  of  ePOINT 
Group, a technology company based in Scotland.

Resolution  6  –  To  declare  a  dividend  0.90p  per  Ordinary 
Share

Subject  to  the  provisions  of  the  Companies  Acts,  the  Company 
may  by  ordinary  resolution  declare  dividends,  but  no  dividend 
shall  exceed  the  amount  recommended  by  the  Board.    The 
Board recommends the payment of a final dividend of 0.90p per 
Ordinary Share, to be payable to shareholders registered at close 
of business on 17 August 2012.

Resolution  7  –  Re-appointment  and  remuneration  of 
auditors

The  Company  is  required  at  each  general  meeting  at  which 
financial  statements  are  presented  to  shareholders  to  appoint 
auditors  who  will  remain  in  office  until  the  next  such  meeting.  
Grant  Thornton  UK  LLP  have  expressed  their  willingness  to 
continue in office for a further year.  In accordance with company 
law  and  corporate  governance  best  practice,  shareholders  are 
also  asked  to  authorise  the  directors  to  determine  the  auditors' 
remuneration.

iomart group plc Annual Report 2012

Resolutions 8 and 9 – Authority to authorise the directors to 
allot shares 

Section 551 of the Companies Act 2006 (the "Act") requires that 
the  authority  of  the  directors  to  allot  shares  shall  be  subject  to 
the  approval  of  the  shareholders  in  general  meeting.    These 
resolutions, if passed, would give the directors general authority 
to allot shares in the capital of the Company.

Resolution 8 would give the directors the authority to allot shares 
up  to  an  aggregate  nominal  amount  of  £350,693.01,  being 
approximately one-third of the issued ordinary share capital of the 
Company as at the date of the notice of this meeting.

In  line  with  recent  guidance  issued  by  the  Association  of  British 
Insurers,  resolution  9  would  give  directors  the  authority  to  allot 
shares  in  connection  with  a  rights  issue  in  favour  of  ordinary 
shareholders  up  to  an  aggregate  nominal  amount  equal  to 
£350,693.01 (representing 35,069,301 Ordinary Shares).  This 
amount represents approximately a further one third of the issued 
ordinary share capital of the Company as at the date of the notice 
of this meeting.

There is no present intention to exercise either of the authorities 
sought under these resolutions, which will expire at the conclusion 
of the Company's annual general meeting to be held in 2013.

Special Resolutions

Resolutions  10  and  11  will  be  proposed  as  special  resolutions.  
This  means  that  for  each  of  those  resolutions  to  be  passed,  at 
least  three-quarters  of  the  votes  cast  must  be  in  favour  of  the 
resolution.

Resolution  10  -  Disapplication  of  statutory  pre-emption 
rights

Resolution 10 gives authority to the directors of the Company to 
disapply  the  provisions  of  section  561  of  the  Act.    Under  that 
section, if the directors wish to allot any of the unissued shares for 
cash the directors must in the first instance offer those shares to 
existing shareholders in proportion to the number of shares held 
by such shareholders.  An offer of this type is called a "rights issue" 
and the entitlement to be offered a new share is known as a "pre-
emption right".

There may be circumstances, however, where it is in the interests 
of the Company for the directors to allot some of the new shares 
for cash other than by way of a rights issue.  This cannot be done 
under the Act unless the shareholders first waive their pre-emption 
rights. There are legal, regulatory and practical reasons why it may 
not  always  be  possible  to  issue  new  shares  under  a  rights  issue 
to  some  shareholders,  particularly  those  resident  overseas.    To 
cater for this, resolution 10 (at paragraph (a)), in authorising the 

directors to allot new shares by way of a rights issue, also permits 
the directors to make appropriate exclusions or arrangements to 
deal with such difficulties.
Under the Company's articles of association the Board may, with 
the sanction of an ordinary resolution, offer the holders of shares 
the right to receive shares, credited as fully paid, instead of cash in 
respect of the whole (or some part, to be determined by the Board) 
of such dividend or dividends as are specified by such resolution.  
Paragraph  (b)  of  resolution  10  asks  shareholders  to  waive  their 
pre-emption rights in respect of any such issue of shares.

Resolution 10 (at paragraph (c)) asks shareholders to waive their 
pre-emption rights, but only for new shares equal to 10 per cent. 
of  the  Company's  issued  ordinary  share  capital  as  at  the  date 
of  the  notice  of  this  meeting.    The  directors  will  be  able  to  use 
this  power  without  obtaining  further  authority  from  shareholders 
before  they  allot  new  shares  covered  by  it.  However,  by  setting 
the limit of 10 per cent., the interests of existing shareholders are 
protected, as their proportionate interest in the Company cannot, 
without their agreement, be reduced by more than 10 per cent. 
by the issue of new shares for cash to new shareholders.  If the 
directors  wish,  other  than  by  rights  issue,  to  allot  for  cash  new 
shares which would exceed this limit, they would first have to ask 
the Company's shareholders to waive their pre-emption rights in 
respect of that proportion of new shares which exceeds the 10 per 
cent. ceiling.  

The  power  given  by  resolution  10  will,  unless  sooner  revoked 
or  renewed  by  the  Company  in  general  meeting,  last  until  the 
conclusion of the next annual general meeting of the Company 
to be held in 2013.

Resolution 11 – Authority to purchase the Company's own 
shares

This resolution grants authority to the Company to make purchases 
of up to a maximum of 10% of the issued ordinary share capital of 
the Company as at the date of the notice of this meeting.

In certain circumstances it may be advantageous for the Company 
to  purchase  its  Ordinary  Shares.    The  directors  would  use  the 
share  purchase  authority  with  discretion  and  purchases  would 
only  made  from  funds  not  required  for  other  purposes  and  in 
light  of  market  conditions  prevailing  at  the  time.    In  reaching  a 
decision to purchase Ordinary Shares, your directors would take 
account of the Company's cash resources and capital, the effect 
of such purchases on the Company's business and on earning per 
Ordinary Share.

The  directors  have  no  present  intention  of  using  the  authority.  
However,  the  directors  consider  that  it  is  in  the  best  interests  of 
the Company and its shareholders as a whole that the Company 

Notice of the 2012 Annual General Meeting

75

should  have  flexibility  to  buy  back  its  own  shares  should  the 
directors in the future consider that it is appropriate to do so.

In  relation  to  any  buy  back,  the  maximum  price  per  Ordinary 
Share at which the Company is authorised in terms of resolution 
11 to effect that buy back is 5% above the average middle market 
price of an Ordinary Share for the five business days immediately 
preceding the date on which the buy back is effected.

The statutory provisions governing buy backs of own shares are 
currently  contained  in,  inter  alios,  sections  693  and  701  of  the 
Companies Act 2006. 

www.iomart.com 

 
Experts

iomart’s	Chief	Technology	
Officer	Bill	Strain	was	named	
IT Leader of the Year at the 
IT	Pro	Awards

iomart group plc Annual Report 2012

Officers and Professional Advisers

Directors

Ian Ritchie CBE, FREng, FRSE, FBCS, CEng, BSc 

Non executive chairman

Angus MacSween  

Chris Batterham MA, FCA 

Crawford Beveridge CBE 

Sarah Haran  

Richard Logan BA, CA 

Secretary

Bruce Hall BAcc(Hons), CA

Chief executive officer

Non executive director 

Non executive director

Director

Director

Registered office

Lister Pavilion, Kelvin Campus, West of Scotland Science Park, Glasgow 

G20 0SP

Nominated adviser and broker

Peel Hunt LLP, Moor House, 120 London Wall, London EC2Y 5ET

Principal Bankers

Lloyds Banking Group, Bank of Scotland plc, 235 Sauchiehall Street

Glasgow G2 3EY

Solicitors

Pinsent Masons LLP, 141 Bothwell Street, Glasgow G2 7EQ

Independent auditors

Grant Thornton UK LLP, 95 Bothwell Street, Glasgow G2 7JZ

Registrars

Capita IRG plc, Bourne House, 34 Beckenham Road

Beckenham, Kent BR3 4TU

Company Registration Number

SC204560

77

www.iomart.com 

78

Group Contact Information

iomart Group

) : + 44 (0) 141 931 6400

* : info@iomart.com

www.iomart.com

iomart hosting

* : info@iomarthosting.com

www.iomarthosting.com

Easyspace

* : sales@easyspace.com

www.easyspace.com

RapidSwitch

* : sales@rapidswitch.com

www.rapidswitch.com

Westcoastcloud

* : info@westcoastcloud.com

www.westcoastcloud.com

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iomart group plc Annual Report 2012

  
  
  
  
Visible

iomart continues to invest in innovative marketing and sales 
strategies to ensure a healthy prospect pipeline.
Image taken at iomart's cloud seminar at London Film Museum May 2012

www.iomart.com 

www.iomart.com

iomart group plc Annual Report 2012

iomart Group plc, Lister Pavilion, Kelvin Campus, West of Scotland Science Park, Glasgow, G20 0SP. www.iomart.com