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PCI-PAL

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FY2019 Annual Report · PCI-PAL
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256666 PCI-PAL.qxp  17/10/2019  14:18  Page 1

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PCI-PAL PLC 

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PCI-PAL PLC 

CONTENTS 

STRATEGIC REPORT 
•  Highlights 
•  Chairman’s Statement 
•  Chief Executives Statement 
•  Chief Financial Officer’s Statement 
•  Principal Risks and Uncertainties and Risk Mitigation 
•  Corporate Responsibilities 

GOVERNANCE 

•  The Board of Directors 
•  Corporate Governance 
•  Audit Committee Report 
•  Remuneration Committee Report 
•  Directors and Advisers 
•  Directors Report 

FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 

Independent Auditors Report to the Members of PCI-PAL PLC 

• 
•  Consolidated Statement of Comprehensive Income 
•  Consolidated Statement of Financial Position 
•  Consolidated Statement of Changes in Equity 
•  Consolidated Statement of Cash Flows 
•  Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statement 
•  Company Statement of Financial Position 
•  Company Statement of Changes in Equity 
•  Company Statement of Cash Flows 
•  Notes to the Company Financial Statement 

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PCI-PAL PLC 

HIGHLIGHTS 

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 JUNE 2019 

Significant Sales Growth and Channel Partnerships Delivering 

PCI-PAL PLC (AIM: PCIP), the customer engagement specialist that secures and protects payment card data 
for companies handling payments by phone, is pleased to announce full year results for the year ended 30 
June 2019 (the "Period"). 

Financial Highlights 

•  Revenue increase of 40% to £2.82 million (2018: £2.01 million)  
•  Gross margin increased to 60.2% (2018: 42.6%) reflecting the transition of our service delivery to AWS 
•  Substantial increase in sales leading to: 

o  Signed  Annual  Contract  Value  (“ACV”)  increasing  by  290%  to  £1.91  million  (2018:  £0.49 

million); and  

o  Total Contract Value (“TCV”) increasing by 223% to £5.66 million (2018: £1.75 million) 

•  Total contracted recurring ACV1 now stands at £4.06 million (2018: £2.17 million) 
•  Deferred income increased 117% to £2.45 million (2018: £1.13 million) as a result of new business 

• 

sales growth 
Loss before Tax in line with expectations at £4.50 million (2018: £3.78 million) following significant 
investment in the North American operations  

•  Cash balances at year end of £1.49 million (2018: £3.75 million) 
•  New £2.75 million debt facility entered into in October 2019 to provide additional working capital to 

support continued growth  

Strategic Highlights 

•  Strong performance against all key metrics across EMEA and North America businesses 
•  Established as the only partner-first, pureplay organisation operating in the PCI phone payment space 

with a truly cloud delivery model with availability zones across multiple continents 
•  Partner-first strategy proven with 84%2 of all new business sold via partners (2018: 40%) 
•  Signed and delivered largest contract in Company’s history in UK 
•  Signed second largest contract in Company’s history in North America 
•  Established global, integrated reseller partnerships with two more global leading CCaaS vendors 
•  Established reseller partnership and delivered first customer with largest telco in Canada 
•  Services and customers live across five Amazon Web Services (“AWS”) regions of the PCI Pal cloud 

platform globally 

•  Maintained customer retention at over 95% 

Current Trading  

•  Successful start to FY 2020 with new business sales levels tracking to management expectations 
•  New business sold through channel partners has continued at a high rate of >85% 
•  Announced as EMEA Partner of the Year for the Genesys Partner Community, “AppFoundry” 
•  Total Contracted ACV as at 30 June 2019 providing over 80% revenue visibility against management 

expectations for FY 2020  

•  Appointment  of  US-based  software  executive,  Simon  Wilson,  to  the  board  in  the  role  of  Non-

Executive Director, effective from 1st November 2019 

1 Contracted ACV is the total annual recurring revenue of all signed contracts, whether invoiced and included in deferred revenue or 
still to be deployed and/or not yet invoiced  
2 Percentage of new business by signed ACV 

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PCI-PAL PLC 

CHAIRMAN’S STATEMENT  
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 JUNE 2019 

During the last twelve months, PCI Pal has made significant progress against both its strategic and operational 
goals, while at the same time bringing further clarity and specificity to its operating plans. Our business now 
has a clearly stated Vision: To be the preferred solution provider that technology vendors globally turn to for 
achieving  PCI  compliance  for  payments  by  phone.  We  are  determined  to  achieve  that  Vision  through  a 
channel-first approach.  

Early and rapid channel success is already becoming evident. For example, 84% of this year’s new business 
bookings were generated through partners and we have created tight-knit, integrated product partnerships 
with  several  of  the  world’s  leading  Cloud  Contact  Centre-as-a-Service  (CCaaS)  vendors  and  other  leading 
technology companies.  

The  advantages  of  a  channel-first  approach  and  our  Cloud-based  solutions  go  beyond  just  winning  new 
business.  Having  varying  degrees  of  pre-integration  with  our  contact  centre,  telephony,  and  payment 
gateway partners is now enabling us to deploy and take our customers live in shorter periods of time. The 
ease of Cloud deployments (compared to on-premise) is also reducing customer delivery challenges that are 
frequently  encountered  in  our  industry.  We  believe  that  this  is  becoming  a  major  source  of  competitive 
differentiation for PCI Pal, as well as improving the capital and people efficiency of our business model. We 
will continue to focus on further improvements in deployment efficiencies going forward, thereby ensuring 
higher levels of success for both our partners and their customers, as well as our own direct customers. 

People 
The appointment of James Barham as CEO in October 2018 and his work in building the North American team 
and operation has marked an acceleration of our plan to expand the operational capability of our business to 
handle  sales  and  delivery  growth  in  a  capital  efficient  and  cost-effective  manner,  in  order  to  scale  the 
business. Key aspects of the plan include establishing global rather than regional functions to avoid localised-
based thinking, duplication and inefficiencies; the creation of a Chief Information Security Officer function to 
underpin the reliability and safety of our customer services; and the recruitment and development of first 
class talent.  

The ranks of our management team have been expanded to include a new CTO based in the U.K. and a new 
CRO based in the U.S. Our ability to attract such technically talented and wonderful people in both North 
America and the U.K. is a testament to both the attractiveness of the market opportunity ahead for PCI Pal 
as well as the management team’s dedication to people development.  

In addition, I am very pleased with the appointment of Simon Wilson to the Group board as a non-executive 
director.  Simon’s background includes thirty years in international business to business software.  He has 
been  a  resident  of  the  United  States  for  over  twenty  five  years  and  past  positions  include  CEO,  CFO  and 
corporate  development  roles  as  well  as  independent  board  director  in  a  range  of  US  and  UK  companies 
including SurfControl plc, Endace plc and M86 Security. 

The PCI Pal team has grown from 34 to 50 employees over the course of the year and I would like to personally 
thank all of our employees for their excitement, dedication and hard work in growing PCI Pal and in pursuing 
our  Mission:  safeguarding  the  reputation  and  trust  of  our  customers.  I  have  no  doubt  that  they  will  all 
continue to build on their successes during the last twelve months, both as individuals and as globally focused 
teams. 

New debt facility 

On 8 October 2019 the Company entered into a new £2.75 million debt facility. In common with many Cloud 
companies operating a SaaS business model, we have chosen to utilize a layer of debt on top of equity funds 
raised so as to optimise the growth in shareholder value.  The additional capital available under the facility, 
of which £1.5 million will be drawn immediately, provides the Company with additional working capital as it 
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PCI-PAL PLC 
continues  to  grow  and  expand  thereby  enabling  it  to  continue  to  capitalise  on  the  Company’s  excellent 
growth opportunities. Full disclosure of the terms of the facility has been made in the notes to these accounts 
and within the Chief Financial Officer’s Review. 

Shareholder Communications 
As a board we set out this year to expand and improve our communications with current and prospective 
shareholders as we sought to increase transparency and understanding of the global PCI market opportunity 
ahead for the Group. Examples have included more detailed investor presentations, expanded analysis of 
results  and  underlying  KPIs,  more  frequent  communications  and  the  judicious  use  of  RNS-Reach,  and 
participation in investor-focused events such as ‘tech demo days’ and investor group conferences. We look 
forward to continuing and reinforcing these programmes and events as each year progresses, and I welcome 
your feedback and suggestions for further improvement. 

Corporate Governance 
We continue to monitor the business in line with the latest Corporate Governance Code published by the 
Quoted Company Alliance. In the Corporate Governance section of our Annual Accounts, we outline how we 
have complied with the Code and where our policies depart from the recommendations made by the Code, 
and the reasons for doing so, which reflect the current size and scale of our business. 

Looking Forward 
We are clearly seeing an expansion of the market drivers causing businesses to properly adopt solutions that 
provide adherence to PCI compliance standards. In addition to the enforcement of the industry standards 
themselves, the advent of actual legislation such as GDPR and  the clear and  measurable  business risks of 
reputational damage in the event of customer data loss, are all increasing the logic and value of adopting 
solutions like PCI Pal’s. Increasing demands from consumers for data protection, as well as the rapid adoption 
of Cloud-technologies, are also accelerating the rate of adoption. 

With  a  clear  strategy;  experienced  management;  an  attractive  business  model;  a  growing  global  market 
opportunity and good corporate governance, PCI Pal is well positioned to build on this year’s success. As we 
take our next steps towards achieving additional key milestones on the journey to building shareholder value 
and profitable growth, I look forward to sharing further progress reports and news during the coming financial 
year. 

Chris Fielding 
Non-Executive Chairman 
8 October 2019 

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PCI-PAL PLC 

CHIEF EXECUTIVE’S STATEMENT 
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 JUNE 2019 

PCI Pal Overview 
With this being my first annual report as Chief Executive, I am pleased to report that we have continued our 
momentum from the half year by showing continued strong growth in all our key metrics. In particular, new 
business Annual Contract Value (“ACV”) increased 290% year on year to £1.91 million (2018: £0.49 million); 
with new business Total Contract Value (“TCV”) increasing 223% year on year to £5.66 million (2018: £1.75 
million). 

Revenues grew 40% year on year to £2.82 million (2018: £2.01 million), with Contracted ACV1 at the year-end 
now standing at £4.06 million (2018: £2.17 million), illustrating the build-up in future revenue visibility that 
our  SaaS  licensing  model  produces  as  new  sales  are  achieved  and  revenue  eventually  recognised.  This 
progress is firmly establishing the building blocks towards future sustainable cash generation and profitability.  

We have delivered against our stated strategies for the year: focusing on the accessibility of our virtualised 
cloud offering hosted on AWS; penetrating the North American market through channel relationships; and 
growing  our  capability  to  attract  major  global  technology  partners  through  our  easy-to-integrate,  cloud 
technology.  As  a  result,  we  have  established  ourselves  as  the  only  channel-first,  pureplay  organisation 
operating in the PCI phone payment space with a truly global cloud delivery model with availability zones 
across multiple continents.  

The increase in our North American ACV from £0.10 million to £0.44 million is evidence of this year’s success 
in North America which is substantially the result of our achievements in building channel relationships with 
70% of sales for the year coming from channel partners. 

We have made substantial progress in our focus of being channel-first by adding reseller partnerships with 
several leading global technology vendors including 8x8, Talkdesk, and Genesys, as well as partnerships with 
some of those companies’ leading resellers including maintaining our partnership with the largest carrier in 
Canada. These new partners have chosen to work with PCI Pal because of our pureplay, cloud business model 
which is in contrast to that of our competitors whose solutions are typically legacy hardware offerings, or 
privately-hosted cloud solutions.  

Through  our  vision  to  be  the  chosen  payment  security  provider  to  technology  vendors  globally,  we  are 
opening up an area of the market previously untapped. Our easy-to-use, light touch integrations allow our 
partners to sell our services to not only enterprise, large organisations, but also cost-effectively to the higher 
volume of small to medium size enterprises. Additionally, we have proven our ability to service all size contact 
centres  from  the  cloud  having  this  year  won,  and  successfully  delivered  within  six  months  of  signing,  the 
contract to supply one of the largest contact centres in Europe, with over 4,000 agents active on our platform 
each day for this customer alone.  

During the course of the year, we have made significant steps forward as we establish ourselves as a global 
business engaged with enterprise partners yet still retaining the benefits of being small and agile. We have 
introduced a clear mission and vision for the business, as well as identifying the core values which represent 
our business. We have brought our international businesses closer together, ensuring that we maximise our 
global sales opportunities and partnerships. This has been particularly evident in sales where we created the 
position of Chief Revenue Officer, responsible for sales globally, bringing the global sales function together to 
maximise the benefits of all sales activity across all territories. We have also strengthened our Engineering 
and Professional Services teams, ensuring we can deliver our solutions on-time wherever they are required. 
All of these actions have helped us win new customers across multiple continents. 

1 Contracted ACV is the total annual recurring revenue of all signed contracts (excludes professional services and setup fees), whether invoiced and 
included in deferred revenue or still to be deployed and/or not yet invoiced 

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PCI-PAL PLC 

Market Drivers 
As thought leaders in our growing marketplace, we have taken the lead in research in the market carrying out 
consumer  research  campaigns  across  the  UK,  U.S.,  Australia,  and  Canada  in  our  “This  is”  series.  In  these 
market research reports, we have seen strong similarities between these four developed contact centre and 
payment markets, with consumers becoming increasingly aware of the security of companies from whom 
they buy products and services. Across our reports more than 33% of consumers in all regions surveyed claim 
to have been victims of security theft. Additionally, and more specific to our market, we found that between 
40% - 55% of consumers were uncomfortable to share their credit and debit card information over the phone. 

The market for PCI Pal is any organisation taking payments by phone or within contact centre environments 
globally, and particularly in our core markets across EMEA and North America. Contact centre markets in both 
the UK and US represent between 3-4% of the working populations of those countries, so in contact centres 
alone there is a sizeable market to address.  

We  access  our  market  through  a  channel  go-to-market  sales  model,  working  primarily  with  technology 
vendors  who  are  involved  in  customer  interactions  for  those  companies.  By  majority  today  these  include 
CCaaS,  UCaaS,  Carrier,  VARs,  Payment  Service  Providers,  and  consultancies  advising  these  organisations. 
These partner organisations work with PCI Pal to provide cloud-based, globally accessible payment security 
solutions  to  their  customers  who  use  their  broader  customer  experience,  call  handling,  and  payment 
solutions.  PCI  Pal’s  position  as  the  only  true-cloud,  pureplay  vendor  in  the  PCI  space  for  contact  centres 
positions us with strength in being selected by these companies as their partner for secure payments. 

The  UK  market  is  the  most  advanced  globally  in  terms  of  adoption  of  compliance  standards,  such  as  PCI 
compliance, related to payment security. It is our belief that the North American region and mainland Europe 
are  beginning  to  adopt  improved  security  practices  and  working  towards  achievement  of  PCI  compliance 
across their businesses and as a result we have seen increases in enquiries across these territories. We are 
seeing  organisations  worldwide  move  towards  the  use  of  technology  to  solve  complex  compliance  and 
security  challenges  through    the  use  of  secure  technology  like  PCI  Pal’s.  This  evolution  toward  secure 
operations is not only being driven by the major risks to companies that lose data (including loss of reputation, 
loss of customers, and reductions in share price or company value) but more recently by regulations being 
introduced across all territories within which we operate. Chiefly this is led by the General Data Protection 
Regulations (GDPR) which is law that governs companies handling EU citizen’s data, but also more regional 
data regulations such as the California Consumer Privacy Act in the U.S. Recent well-publicised data breaches 
include market leaders in a variety of sectors from airlines, to financial services, to technology. 

In terms of the contact centre market itself, there is a significant shift from traditional on-premise technology 
to  cloud  environments  offering  improved  customer  experience  through  a  growing  number  of  additional 
digital customer engagement channels, with research forecasting CAGRs of nearly 25% between 2019 – 2024. 
We believe that this trend will naturally suit our true-cloud, pureplay offering as we can fully integrate our 
solution  seamlessly  into  our  cloud  partners  offerings  in  a  light-touch  fashion  that  does  not  interrupt  that 
partners ability to provide their core service offerings. 

Cloud  
PCI Pal has continued to develop its position as the only true-cloud, globally available, partner-first provider 
of  secure  payment  solutions  to  contact  centres  worldwide.  We  have  extended  the  accessibility  of  our 
platform with availability zones within AWS in the UK, Ireland, Germany, United States, Canada, and Australia 
with customers live across all regions. 

We have proven our ability to move at pace when scaling the platform, activating new availability zones in 
Germany  and  Australia  to  meet  partner  and  customer  demand  within  2  weeks  each.  Our  ability  to  react 
quickly to provide partners who operate globally with service availability anywhere in the world is a significant 
competitive advantage. In addition, these partners’ customers benefit from localised data sovereignty across 
our multi-region, cloud platform environment. 

In addition to the ability to scale geographically, our AWS-based platform also allows us to scale automatically 

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to meet the demands of customer growth. The ability to scale for greater volume handling is an essential part 
of the capital efficiency of our model which in turn allows us to offer more competitive pricing to our partners. 
In addition, we are able to manage our entire global cloud platform from our Network Operations Centre 
(NOC), located at our UK headquarters.  

Channel Partners 
Having outlined our commitment to making PCI Pal a channel-first business, I am pleased to report that we 
finished the period with 84% of sales generated from channel partners, a 110% increase on the prior year 
(2018: 40%). The channel strategy is essential to maximising our long-term sales growth potential by being 
able to address all sizes of organisations, to utilise PCI Pal solutions, as well as giving us the ability to scale the 
business  internationally.  This  strategy  is  significantly  supported  by  our  capabilities  in  light-touch,  easy-to-
integrate  methodologies  that  suit  the  leading  cloud  technology  vendors  with  whom  we  work.  Channel 
partners are driving sales pipelines to record levels across both EMEA and North America.  

We have three categories of partners: 

Integrated  Partners  -  Telephony  pre-integration  with  the  PCI  Pal  environment  from  CCaaS  and  UCaaS 
platforms and Carrier networks creates opportunities for both us and our partners to shorten sales cycles and 
enable more efficient and faster project delivery. Adding to the integrated partners we worked with going 
into the year, we were successful in winning global agreements with two well-known global vendors, 8x8 and 
Talkdesk (both headquartered in the United States), as well as pan-European vendor, Puzzel. In addition, we 
secured and delivered our first customer through our reseller partnership with the leading carrier in Canada. 

Solutions  Providers  -  Reseller  relationships  in  this  category  are  typically  Value-added  Resellers  (VARs)  and 
Systems Integrators focused on selling licences and services around the traditional on-premise contact centre 
platforms, for example Genesys, Cisco, Mitel and Avaya. Solutions Providers also include payment service 
providers  and  payment  gateways  who  resell  PCI  Pal  services  to  complement  their  existing  portfolio  of 
payment solutions, such as Civica, Paymetric, and Capita Pay 360. Such relationships provide access to the 
wide  installed  customer  bases  of  these  vendors.  In  the  period  we  have  signed  three  of  the  largest  North 
American VARs serving the Genesys contact centre marketplace, some of whom are also focused on newer 
offerings from the CCaaS providers.  

Referral  Partners  –  Our  strategy  in  this  category  is  two-fold.  Firstly,  we  utilise  referral  arrangements  with 
some major technology vendors with whom reseller arrangements are not immediately available as a first 
step in working with them towards becoming an Integrated Partner. Secondly, we have targeted relationships 
with Master Agents in order to capitalise on the rising trend and success in the software marketing world of 
agent networks, particularly for CCaaS and  UCaaS vendors in the  United States.  Master Agents are highly 
organised  networks  of  agents  specialising  in  all  segments  of  enterprise  class  cloud  software  applications. 
During the year we signed a global referral agreement with Telarus, the largest Master Agent in North America 
for contact centre technology.  

All of these partners benefit from the PCI Pal partner program which was fully launched during the year. The 
Partner Program not only oversees the on-boarding of partners from a technical stand-point but ensures that 
we  are  engaged  at  the  appropriate  level  in  all  relevant  areas  of  the  partner’s  organisation;  with  sales 
enablement, marketing support and collaboration, and co-ordinated service delivery. Our significant focus on 
speed  of  partner  enablement  is  illustrated  by  a  number  of  successful  “Fast  Start”  campaigns  with  new 
partners,  supporting  them  in  creating  real  value  from  reselling  our  services  early  in  the  relationship,  and 
generating early stage pipeline for PCI Pal.  

North America 
We launched our PCI Pal solution in the US in February 2018 and following a successful first full financial year 
in North America, we can report TCV sales bookings for the region increased by 328% to £1.50 million (2018: 
£0.35 million) of which recurring ACV is £0.44 million.  

As well as gaining sales momentum, we made progress in our strategy of winning partnerships with major 

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PCI-PAL PLC 
technology vendors in the territory, particularly in the CCaaS, Carrier and Payment markets. These types of 
partners underpin our ability to sell our solutions in volume and at scale to any size organisation within that 
partner’s customer ecosystem. Whilst this is a globally consistent strategy for us, it is particularly important 
in the United States where the addressable market is more than five times the size of the UK. I am pleased to 
report  we  have  made  strong  progress  against  this  strategy,  winning  a  number  of  partnerships  with  well-
known  technology  vendors,  one  of  which  resulted  in  a  global  contract  with  a  US  headquartered,  home 
appliance manufacturer. This was the second largest contract in the Company’s history. 

We secured global reseller agreements as the sole provider to leading CCaaS and UCaaS vendors 8x8 and 
Talkdesk.  Additionally,  we  extended  our  relationship  with  NewVoiceMedia,  following  their  acquisition  by 
Vonage,  into  their  wider  global  group  which  incorporates  NewVoiceMedia  (CCaaS),  Vonage  (UCaaS),  and 
Nexmo,  (CPaaS  -  Communications-Platform-as-a-Service).  Additionally,  we  have  secured  a  number  of 
customers through our referral arrangement with NICE inContact and have been recognised with an award 
for our thought-leadership efforts into their partner programme.  

In the carrier space, we signed and delivered our first order through our reseller agreement with the largest 
carrier in Canada, who is also a major regional distributor of several other contact centre technology partners 
with whom we have relationships globally. Our cross-pollination of these relationships within our ecosystem 
is a good example of how we are able to benefit from the progress we have made in being the only channel-
focused, pureplay vendor with a growing number of market leading technology partnerships.  

As noted above, of the traditional platform providers, we focused the majority of our efforts into our Genesys 
relationship and have signed three of their major US-based VARs. In addition, since the end of the year we 
were awarded EMEA AppFoundry Partner of the Year with Genesys (AppFoundry being their technology and 
partner marketplace). We achieved this award as a result of our work on key customer projects where PCI Pal 
played a specialist and important role in wider Genesys deals. 

Having spent the majority of the year working in the U.S. establishing our business in the region, I am pleased 
to report that we have put together an excellent team of experienced professionals, the majority of whom 
have  extensive  knowledge  of  the  contact  centre  and  unified  communications  space  having  worked  at 
successful channel focused businesses. We now have a team spread across all time zones in the United States, 
with sales, marketing, engineering and delivery resources in country.  

With low levels of competition in the North American market, limited primarily to UK-domiciled competitors 
who deploy a direct sales approach, we believe we are in a strong position from which to expand our pipeline 
and gain market share through our channel-first approach, as well as our positioning as the go-to provider to 
the CCaaS / UCaaS market. 

During the year our partners have introduced us to a number of customers in the Australia/New Zealand 
region (ANZ). Due to the time zone overlap, we have been running our early activities from our US-based 
team, supported by our Engineering and Professional Services teams in the UK. 

The majority of our global partners have businesses in Australia covering the ANZ region, and naturally due 
to the repeatable nature of our integrations, we have felt a pull from these partners towards the territory. 
We have demonstrated our commitment to these partners by the activation of our Sydney AWS instance, 
upon  which  we  have  a  number  of  live  customers.  The  Australian  market  is  culturally  and  technologically 
similar to the UK and US so, as such, we see this as important strategic activity for the future. 

EMEA 
We have seen a significant step forward for the UK-based EMEA business, with excellent growth across all 
key metrics including a 180% increase in TCV sales bookings for the year at £3.92m (2018: £1.40m) which 
incorporated ACV value of £1.41 million (2018: £0.38 million), with 90% of ACV sales coming from channel. 
Included in channel generated business was the signing and delivery of the Company’s largest contract to 
date, as announced in December 2018, through a major new partner in the payment processing space. In 
June, we also won a milestone contract with a FTSE 100 company, via our reseller partnership with Genesys. 

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These results confirm the long term value of our channel strategy.  

PCI-PAL PLC 

Our business is more mature in the UK, in a market more advanced in its adoption of security solutions for 
payments. As such we have been focusing on our relationships with existing channel partners in the region 
to drive new customer acquisition. These partners include Civica, Capita Pay 360, 8x8, and Vonage.  

Outside of the UK, the EMEA market has lower levels of adoption for PCI solutions and, like North America, 
less competition. As a result, we believe there is an early-stage opportunity to capitalise on what is collectively 
a large and under-penetrated contact centre market. During the year we have taken initial steps towards 
finding suitable partners such as our partnership with a French telecoms company, and a Norwegian-based 
pan-European  CCaaS  vendor.  Additionally,  we  have  signed  end-user  customers  in  the  Nordics,  France, 
Germany and Spain. Many of our global partners see a similar market opportunity and are hiring extensively 
in the wider region as contact centres across Europe begin to adopt cloud technologies. In a similar way to 
what we have seen in ANZ, we are optimistic that our partners will pull us into customer opportunities in the 
territory over time. Our partnerships, and more importantly technical integrations with these partners, are 
repeatable globally across their platforms and we are leveraging their business expansion to achieve our own 
strategic objectives in this regard. As a result of this positive momentum we opened the Frankfurt (Germany) 
instance of our platform earlier in the year to ensure EU customer data can retain appropriate sovereignty 
requirements post-Brexit. 

Operations 
The focus of the business in the previous two years has been to build a team and foundation from which we 
can scale, in order to benefit from the operational gearing of a true-cloud operation. During the year we have 
taken  further  steps  to  scale  the  business  by  focusing  increasingly  on  people,  process,  and  technology  to 
underpin  this  foundation,  namely  engineering  and  operations.  As  part  of  this  we  restructured  these 
departments into three teams: engineering; compliance and IT; and professional services. We created the 
role  of  Chief  Information  Security  Officer  (CISO)  which  was  taken  up  by  the  Group’s  long  standing  Chief 
Technology Officer (CTO), Geoff Forsyth. 

Additionally, we hired a new CTO who joined the business in January 2019. Hugh James brought with him a 
wealth  of  experience  specific  to  DevOps,  telecommunications,  and  SaaS  environments,  as  well  as  specific 
experience of the PCI marketplace. Hugh spent a number of years working in a senior role at one of our key 
partners, NewVoiceMedia (now Vonage) during their global expansion. Along with this hire, we have added 
resources into engineering during the year in order to meet the growing demand from our new technology 
partners. As part of the operational restructuring, we have created a global professional services function 
that focuses entirely on assisting partner and customer solutions delivery, incorporating both implementation 
and project management. We have reduced the dependency of professional services on engineering as we 
continually drive for repeatability in our technical solutions for our partners and customers. We have added 
resource in the core area of SIP telephony to aid a growing number of implementations and to contribute to 
further  reductions  in  Time-To-Go-Live  (TTGL).  In  addition,  we  have  enabled  more  natural  collaboration 
between sales and professional services by assigning global responsibility to the heads of sales, presales, and 
professional services. 

Throughout the year we have achieved solid improvements in project delivery times as a result of changes 
that have  been  made with projects now being  delivered in 4-7  months  compared  to our higher  historical 
average of 6-9 months. The changes we are making with people, process, and technology are expected to 
continue to improve deployment efficiencies that will in turn further reduce TTGL.  

The  business  is  now  better  positioned  with  a  stable  operational  function  upon  which  to  maximise  the 
opportunities presented by our partners as well as strategically important enterprise customers anywhere in 
the world. This stable foundation will enable PCI Pal to benefit from the advantages of operational gearing as 
we grow our revenues at a faster rate than our costs. 

Page 11  

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
PCI-PAL PLC 

People 
As we state in our Vision, it is our people, beyond the technology, that underpin our business. Creating an 
environment within which our employees can succeed ensures the success of the partners that rely on us. We 
have built a small, dynamic, and committed team who are experts in their chosen fields, and together they 
are driving this business forward at pace.  

During  the  year  we  have  placed  significant  emphasis  in  developing  the  business’  focus  and  application  of 
personal development planning and support for all our staff and managers. We created the role of People 
and  Development  Manager,  which  reports  directly  to  me,  illustrating  the  Company’s  commitment  to  an 
improved  focus  in  this  key  area.  Examples  of  that  focus  include  the  implementation  of  personal  and 
professional development reviews; increasing the availability of both internal and external training courses 
for key skills; and proactively building a benefits and talent development strategy across the business. 

For the forthcoming year we have introduced OKRs (Objectives and Key Results) for every employee in the 
Company. OKRs create a framework for defining and tracking objectives and their outcomes, providing a top-
down view of what is required from individuals within the business in order for them to contribute to the 
Company’s achievement against its corporate goals, mission, and vision.  

As a business that has grown from 11 to 50 people in under 3 years, we have given considerable attention to 
our approach to hiring, and I am proud to report that our employee retention remains very high. We are 
passionate about hiring and bringing great talent into this business, not just in terms of market, technical, 
human or managerial skills but also in terms of international and cultural understanding, language skills and 
a desire to have fun. We focus on this in every aspect of our recruitment processes. Technology is a globally 
competitive  market  so  we  have  made  improvements  to  our  employee  benefits  packages  to  continue  to 
attract  the  best  people.  These  benefits  support  the  broader  appeal  of  working  for  our  dynamic  growing 
business, and are designed to be strongly competitive for the geographic markets in which we hire.  

New  this  year  we  have  introduced  quarterly  company  “all-hands”  meetings  where  the  CEO  and  other 
contributors  from across the  business speak  to  the  whole Company simultaneously across all  time  zones. 
These sessions provide a company-wide update, including progress against key or high-profile OKRs. These 
meetings  ensure  that  employees  of  all  levels  regularly  receive  a  wider-view  of  business  progress  and 
therefore can better understand the part they play in that journey. Between the quarterly all-hands meetings, 
we run regular cross departmental social events and encourage departmental team building.  

I view talent acquisition, development and retention as one my most important responsibilities as CEO, and I 
am very pleased with the accelerated progress the Company has made in this area during the year. 

New Debt Facility 
In September 2016, the Group began a five year journey to fully develop the payment security opportunity 
offered by the PCI Pal business. We are now three years into the original journey, and I am very pleased with 
the strong position we have built. We have made significant progress in establishing major partnerships and 
transitioned  our  business  to  a  channel-first  organisation.  We  have  established  our  core  service  offerings 
across the globe and have built an excellent team upon which we can scale. As a result of this momentum, 
we  are  seeing  more  opportunities  from  organisations  of  all  sizes,  including  large  enterprise  partners  and 
customers. 

As we look to continue to grow and capitalise on the excellent market opportunity before us, we have taken 
the opportunity to strengthen our balance sheet and on 8 October 2019 entered into a £2.75 million debt 
facility  with  Shawbrook  Bank.  We  have  drawn  down  £1.5  million  of  this  facility  and  the  balance  remains 
available to be drawn down in the next twelve months. This facility will underpin the Group’s working capital 
requirements for the foreseeable future. 

Page 12  

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
PCI-PAL PLC 

Current Trading and Outlook  
Following the strong growth and improvement in the business’ key metrics in FY 2019, I can report that the 
new  financial  year  has  started  well  and  in  line  with  management  expectations.   Our  strength  as  the  only 
partner-first, globally available cloud provider in our space has been underpinned by PCI Pal being awarded 
“Partner of the Year EMEA” by Genesys, one of our key technology partners, and their partner community, 
the “AppFoundry”.  To date in FY 2020 our continued partner-focus has resulted in the proportion of new 
business  sales  coming  from  channel  partners  being  higher  than  that  of  the  full  prior  financial 
year.  Additionally, the nature of our SaaS revenue model provides for greater than 80% revenue visibility 
against management expectations for FY 2020.   

I am also very pleased to announce the appointment of Simon Wilson to the Board as Non-Executive Director 
effective 1st November 2019.  Simon has provided valuable consultancy to the Board in helping us create, plan 
and execute our North American market entry plans. His extensive board-level and international corporate 
strategy experience is a strong addition to the team.  

James Barham 
CEO 
8 October 2019 

Page 13  

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
PCI-PAL PLC 
CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER’S REVIEW 
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 JUNE 2019 

Changes in accounting rules  
The Company has implemented IFRS 15: Revenue from Contracts with Customers, effective from 1 July 2018, 
on  a  fully  retrospective  basis,  with  the  financial  statements  being  presented  against  restated  financial 
statements for the year ended 30 June 2018. Full disclosure of the changes has been made in the notes to 
these accounts.  

The retrospective impact of adopting IFRS 15 has been limited. PCI Pal’s SaaS contracted revenue model is 
made up of monthly and annual license fees which, both before and following the adoption of IFRS 15, are 
recognised monthly across the term of the contract. The forward impact for PCI Pal of IFRS 15 is therefore 
mostly limited to the impact of also spreading implementation professional service fees over the contract 
periods. 

Revenue and gross margin 
Group revenue grew by 40% to £2.82 million (2018: £2.01 million) and gross margin improved to 60% (2018: 
43%). This shift reflects the higher margin revenue generated by the PCI Pal platform hosted on AWS which 
has only a limited reliance on third party carriers to receive or deliver calls. Going forward, we expect the 
gross margin to continue to improve as all new business will be delivered on this platform. 

The Group’s revenue reflects its SaaS business model. It delivers its services through the partnership channel 
to contact centres who are charged primarily on a recurring licence basis. The terms of the sales contracts 
generally allow for automatic renewal of the licences for a further 12 month period at the end of their initial 
term. Renewal and retention rates are therefore extremely high exceeding 95%. As the business sells and 
delivers more contracts the visibility of recurring revenue increases. At the year end, the Group had visibility 
of more than 80% of management’s expected revenue for the next financial year. 

Administrative expenses 
Total  administrative  expenses  were  £6.37  million  (2018:  £4.65  million),  an  increase  of  37%.  Of  the  £1.72 
million  increase,  £1.67  million  was  driven  by  the  establishment  and  expansion  of  our  North  American 
operations, following the successful fundraising in January 2018. 

Personnel costs charged to the Comprehensive Income Statement (including travel and subsistence expenses) 
were  £4.47  million  (2018:  £3.30  million),  and  £0.56  million  (2018:  £0.46  million)  was  capitalised  as 
Development  costs.  These  personnel  costs  make  up  70%  (2018:  71%)  of  the  administrative  costs  of  the 
business. 

Following the adoption of IFRS 15, commissions of £0.30 million (2018: £0.14 million) payable to the sales 
team members and directly attributable to new contracts was deferred and will be released over the length 
of the contract to which they apply. 

Exceptional costs 
During the year the Group charged an exceptional cost of £0.36 million to the Statement of Comprehensive 
Income.  This  cost  wholly  related  to  the  costs  of  termination  of  the  employment  contract  with  William 
Catchpole, the former CEO and board director. 

Adjusted operating loss1 
Adjusted operating loss for the Group changed as follows for the year: 
Central 
£000s 
(605) 
(790) 
185 

EMEA  North America 
£000s 
£000s 
(2,489) 
(1,138) 
(955) 
(1,953) 
(1,534) 
815 

2019 
2018 
Change in year 

1 Loss from Operating Activities before exceptional costs and share option charges 

Page 14  

Total 
£000s 
(4,232) 
(3,698) 
(534) 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
PCI-PAL PLC 

The EMEA region’s Adjusted Operating Loss improved by £0.82 million in the year.   The operations within 
this  region  have  been  established  longer  than  those  in  North  America  and  include  the  majority  of  the 
Engineering,  Information  Security  and  Professional  Services  people  and  costs  for  the  Group  as  a 
whole.    EMEA’s  Adjusted  Operating  Loss  has  started  to  improve  during  the  period  because  the  rate  of 
expansion of headcount and operating costs is slowing at the same time as revenues and gross margin are 
increasing.    

Following the fundraising in January 2018 PCI Pal fully launched its cloud services in North America.   James 
Barham, originally in his capacity as COO prior to becoming group CEO, was seconded to the region and was 
living and working there for most of the period. During this time, we fully established the North American 
office in Charlotte, NC, the operational team and our channel-centric route-to-market strategy.   As of the 
year end the team had 10 employees. The Operating Losses incurred in the region therefore reflect the build 
out of the team in the region.    As sales and subsequent customer deployments in North America continue 
to grow,  we  expect Operating Losses in  the future  to start to decrease when  the rate of revenue growth 
exceeds the rate of growth in operating costs. 

Costs for our Central operations relating to PLC activities decreased in the period as for a portion of the year, 
the costs of the CEO were charged to the North American operations. 

Further divisional information is shown in Note 9. 

Key financial performance indicators 
The  directors  use  several  Key  Financial  Performance  Indicators  (KPIs)  to  monitor  the  performance  of  the 
Group, its subsidiaries and targets.   The principal KPIs are as follows: 

1.  Revenue 
2.  Gross Margin 
3.  Signed ACV in financial period 
4.  Contracted ACV 
5.  Cash facilities available* 
6.  Deferred Income 
7.  Ratio Personnel cost to 
administrative expenses 

2019 
£2.82 million 
60.2% 
£1.91 million 
£4.06 million 
£1.49 million 
£2.45 million 
70% 

2018 
£2.01 million 
42.6% 
£0.49 million 
£2.17 million 
£6.05 million 
£1.13 million 
71% 

*  Cash balance plus Loan notes receivable plus undrawn debt facilities 

Actual performance to budget is reviewed on a monthly basis and the results are used to continually update 
the Groups forecasts as to expected performance and cash resources. 

Capital expenditure 
As  required  by  IAS  38,  we  have  capitalised  a  further  £0.56  million  (2018:  £0.46  million)  in  development 
expenditure as we continue to invest in the AWS platform.  

As a business we are not hindered by having to commit significant amounts upfront in capital to deploy new 
instances of our AWS platform globally, nor to extend its load-capacity handling. Our AWS platform is paid 
for on a monthly basis and charged as an administrative expense. In total we spent £0.03 million on new 
computer equipment in the year.  

Deferred income 
Deferred income increased to £2.45 million (2018: £1.13 million) mostly reflecting the significant growth in 
new business sales and the consequent increase in invoices raised in advance, per our contract terms and 
revenue model.  

Page 15  

 
 
 
 
  
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
PCI-PAL PLC 

Contracted ACV 
Total Contracted ACV2 at the end of the financial year was £4.06 million (2018: £2.17 million). This is a new 
metric that we have started tracking in the period and is a key indicator of our ability to reach first cash flow 
and then profit break-even.  Growing levels of Contracted ACV2 produces increasing levels of future revenue 
visibility, an attractive aspect of the Group’s business model. 

Trade receivables 
Trade  receivables  grew  to  £1.057  million  (2018:  £0.475  million).  The  level  of  receivables  reflects  both 
significant growth in new business sales overall during the period, as well as the typical year end boost in 
sales levels. This balance should be converted into cash in the first half of FY 2020. 

Taxation 
During the year the UK entity received £0.14 million as a R & D tax credit from HMRC relating to the financial 
year ending 30 June 2017. An application has been made for an additional credit of £0.22 million related to 
the  financial  year  ending  30  June  2018,  which  has  been  received  post  the  year  end,  but  has  not  been 
recognised in the accounts.  

Cashflow and liquidity 
Net cash as at 30 June 2019 was £1.49 million (2018: £3.75 million), net cash decreased by £2.26 million in 
the year. During the year we received the final loan repayment from the sale of the contact centre business 
of £2.30 million. Adjusting for this loan repayment the Group invested £4.56 million in cash in the period 
reflecting the expansion of operations and the consequent loss made for the financial year. 

Post the close of the financial year, the Group has entered into a £2.75 million loan facility with Shawbrook 
Bank. The principal terms are as follows: 

Term 
Interest rate 
Arrangement Fee 
Non utilisation fee 
Exit fee 

Security 

36 months with three month capital repayment holiday 
9.3% over LIBOR paid monthly 
1.4% of loan facility 
0.6% of unutilised amount 
cash  amount  calculated  on  the  shares  equivalent  of  7.5%  of  the  facility 
payable on takeover of Group or refinance of the loan 
Fixed and Floating debenture over the assets of the Group. 

The loan balance can be drawn in two tranches with a minimum of £1.0 million within five business days of 
the signing of the agreement and the remaining balance within twelve months. The Company will initially be 
drawing  down  £1.5  million  of  this  new  facility.  The  facility  is  being  used  to  support  the  working  capital 
requirements of the Group as it continues to grow – see Note 28 for full disclosure of terms.  

This debt facility will support our working capital needs created by rapid growth and the expansion of our 
Sterling-exposure to multiple currencies. In common with many Cloud companies operating a SaaS business 
model,  we  have  chosen  to  utilise  this  layer  of  debt  on  top  of  equity  funds  raised  to  fund  the  journey  to 
becoming a cash generative business. This mixed financing structure is intended to optimise the growth in 
shareholder value over time. 

Dividend 
The Board is not recommending a dividend for the financial year (2018: £nil). 

William Good 
Chief Financial Officer8 October 2019 

2 Contracted ACV is the total annual recurring revenue of all signed contracts, whether invoiced and included in deferred revenue or still to be deployed 
and/or not yet invoiced 

Page 16  

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
PCI-PAL PLC 

PRINCIPAL RISKS AND UNCERTAINTIES AND RISK MITIGATION 

The Group is exposed to several risks factors that may affect its performance. The Group has a framework for 
reviewing and assessing these risks on a regular basis and has put in place appropriate procedures to mitigate, 
where possible, against them. No system of control or mitigation can completely eliminate all risks. The Board 
has determined that the following are the principal risks facing the Group. 

Short trading history of the Group: The Group has a limited operating history as a standalone business under 
the  PCI  Pal  brand,  having  launched  it’s  true-cloud  offering  on  AWS  in  only  October  2017,  and  its  North 
American business shortly after in February 2018. It therefore does not have an extensive track record to call 
on. The Group has brought in people with extensive experience of our market and new geographies, including 
advisors with specific experience of international, scale-up software companies. The Group is therefore still  
subject to some of the risks and uncertainties associated with new business enterprise trading for under 3 
years. 

There can be no assurances that the Group will successfully develop its business in the manner intended or 
otherwise, or that the resources it has will be suitable or sufficient for its requirements. The Group therefore 
may require the injection of further capital in the future.  

Generation of sales through Channel Partners: While the Board continues to be confident that the use of 
international  channel  partners  (including  but  not  limited  to  CCaaS  vendors,  VARs,  carriers,  and  payment 
service providers) is the most appropriate route to market to scale the business, delays could arise in the 
expected timetable of engagement and enablement of those partners. Such delays could slow the rate of 
growth in the Group’s sales bookings and revenues. This could have an impact on the trading and financial 
position  of  the  Group  and  the  planned  future  timing  of  when  it  is  expected  to  reach  break-even. 
Notwithstanding this, the Board is confident that the Group has hired the right people, adding to the already 
experienced  team,  to  capitalise  on  existing  channel  partnerships  whilst  growing  new  channel  routes-to-
market. It is our focus on hiring of people, refinement of process, and suitability of our technology to our 
business model that gives the Board the belief that these risks are therefore manageable. 

Growth plans may change: The PCI compliance and personal data security market place is rapidly evolving 
and growing. PCI Pal’s focus today is in the PCI compliance for telephone payments, primarily in the UK and 
North  America,  managing  payments  made  in  contact  centre  environments.  Given  the  pace  at  which  the 
global markets are moving, the Group may choose to explore additional strategic growth options utilising our 
existing global cloud platform. As such, the Board may alter its current expansion plans if a material new 
opportunity presents itself that, in its opinion, is more attractive than its current plans. Any change in strategy 
may require additional financing, which may include the issue of additional ordinary shares in the Company 
and dilution to shareholdings.  

Staff Retention and Recruitment: The Group has built a strong, core team to deliver its on-going strategy. 
However, additional staff may be required to scale the business. Failure to recruit the individuals required 
would significantly restrict the Group’s growth potential. The Group also depends on the services of its key 
technical, operations, sales and management personnel. The loss of the services of any one or more of these 
key persons could have a material adverse effect on the Group’s business. As detailed in the CEO’s review, 
the  Group  has  an  active  policy  to  identify,  hire,  train,  motivate  and  retain  highly  skilled  personnel  in  key 
functions.  

Loss  or  infringement  of  Intellectual  property  rights  (“IPR”):  The  Group  is  in  part  reliant  on  its  own  IPR 
embedded in its proprietary software and as a result has a number of patents in pending status across the 
territories within which it operates. In order to counteract the risk of third parties infringing PCI Pal’s own 
intellectual property rights, or claim that PCI Pal has infringed their rights, the company regularly reviews its 
proprietary software and development activities with its IPR lawyers. As such the Directors do not envisage 
the risk of loss or infringement to be significant.  

Page 17  

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Information technology: Data security and business continuity pose inherent risks for the Group. The Group 
invests  in  and  keeps  under  review  formal  data  security  and  business  continuity  policies  which  are 
independently audited. The Group’s solutions do not store details of its clients’ payment data or that of their 
end customers as such significantly reducing any potential exposure in the event of a data security incident.  

PCI-PAL PLC 

Our core PCI platforms are audited annually to enable us to maintain our PCI DSS accreditations. These audits 
include independent monthly firewall scanning, six monthly penetration testing by ‘white hat hackers’ and 
annual  validation,  document  review  and  reporting  by  a  PCI  SSC  certified  security  assessor.  The  Group’s 
primary platform is hosted on AWS which is a PCI compliant hosting environment in its own right. The Group 
has an established an Information Security team, headed by our Chief Information Security Officer (CISO), 
who focus on ensuring the highest standards of data security and compliance are maintained. Additionally, 
the CISO is a board member. 

Operational risks:  
To reduce the operational risks for the legacy first-generation platform the Group has multiple datacentres 
locations  from  which  services  are  delivered.  These  back-up  facilities  have  independent  telephone  lines, 
phone switch and computer data systems synchronised to the main datacentre that can automatically fail-
over in the event of a major incident occurring.  

The primary AWS platform is hosted across multiple AWS regions, and within those regions retains resilience 
through a minimum of two independent availability zones. Load balancers and auto-scaling groups running 
within each availability zone constantly monitor the health and capacity of the network and automatically 
take action, launching new server instances in the event of high load or server The PCI Pal platform is true 
cloud, with all data centres maintained by AWS globally.  

General business risks: 
The Group has expanded into new regions and this has naturally created general business risks, for example 
due to having to set up systems to comply with all new local regulations and laws. Failure to comply with 
these  laws  may  result  in  sanctions  against  the  Group.  To  try  and  mitigate  these  risks  the  Directors  use  a 
system  of  establishing  a  network  of  professional  advisers  located  in  each  region  to  advise  the  Group 
accordingly, and then implement a suitable control environment.  

The  Group  generates  most  of  its  cashflow  and  revenue  from  the  licensing  and  periodic  charges  for  our 
solutions. The Group invoices its customers both initially on the signature of its contracts and then at set 
times during the term of the contract. The timing of some of these periodic charges may be linked to contract 
implementation.  Unexpected  or  extended  delays  to  the 
delivery  milestones  related  to  solution 
implementation process may therefore impact the timing of our ability to charge and receive payment for 
our services, which may have a serious, detrimental impact on the Group’s financial position. The Board has 
created KPIs specifically related to project delivery and implementations and management reviews these on 
a day to day basis. The Board believes the Group has employed the right people to oversee these risks and 
has established good systems and processes to ensure we can manage the risk as best as possible. 

Market place and competition: The sectors in which the Group operates in and/or routes to market may 
undergo rapid or unexpected changes or not develop at a pace in line with the Boards’ expectations. It is also 
possible  that  competitors  will  develop  similar  or  better  products;  the  Group’s  technology  may  become 
obsolete or less effective if left without product development or evolution; or that consumers use alternative 
channels of communications or methods of payment, which may reduce demand for the Group’s products 
and services in the future.  

In addition, the Group’s success may depend in part upon its ability to develop new and enhanced existing 
software  solutions,  on  a  timely  and  cost-effective  basis,  that  meet  changing  customer  requirements  and 
incorporate technological advancements. The Directors review market movements, customer and partner 
requirements  and  competitors’  products  regularly,  and  in  depth.  This  focus  allows  the  Directors  to  make 
product  driven  decisions  for  the  Group  to  ensure  that  we  move  with  the  marketplace,  open  new 

Page 18  

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
opportunities, and keep ahead of the competition with our chosen strategy.  

PCI-PAL PLC 

Reputational  risk:  The  Group’s  reputation  may  be  damaged  by  a  range  of  events,  such  as  poor  solution 
implementation, servicing of product partners, product performance or data security incidents. The Group’s 
reputation underpins its service offerings and so any damage to our reputation may damage our prospects. 
The Board believes that the steps taken in establishing strong people, process, and technology ensure that 
this risk is significantly reduced.  

Financial risk management objectives and policies  
The principal financial instruments used by the Group, from which financial risk arises, are trade receivables, 
cash at bank and trade and other payables and, created post year-end, the new bank debt facility. The Board 
has  overall  responsibility  for  the  determination  of  the  Group’s  financial  risk  management  objectives  and 
policies and, while retaining ultimate responsibility for them, it has delegated the authority for designing, 
operating and reporting thereof to the Group’s finance function. The overall objective is to set policies that 
seek to reduce risk as far as possible without unduly affecting the Group’s competitiveness and flexibility. 
Further details regarding these policies are set out below: 

•  Credit risk: Credit risk is the risk of financial loss to the Group if a partner or customer or a counter 
party to a financial instrument fails to meet its contractual obligations. The Group is mainly exposed 
to  credit  risk  from  credit  sales.  It  is  Group  policy  to  assess  the  credit  risk  of  new  customers  and 
partners before entering new contracts and it has a frequent and proactive collections process. The 
concentration  of  credit  risk  is  limited  as  the  credit  given  is  spread  across  all  clients  and  partners. 
Under  the  terms  of  our  contracts  many  services  are  charged  for  in  advance  of  delivery,  thus 
mitigating the risk further. Credit risk also arises from cash and cash equivalents and deposits with 
banks and financial institutions. At the year-end, the Group’s cash at bank was held with two banks.  
•  Market risk: The Directors consider that exposure to market risk, arising from the Group’s use of 
interest-bearing and foreign currency financial instruments, is not significant. This is assessed in note 
20.  
Liquidity risk: Liquidity risk arises from the Group’s management of working capital. It is the risk that 
the Group will encounter difficulty in meeting its financial obligations as they fall due. On a monthly 
basis,  the  Directors  review  an  annual  twelve-month  cash  flow  projection  as  well  as  information 
regarding cash balances. The Group has recently established an on-going term debt facility with a UK 
Bank to assist in managing its liquidity risk. 

• 

•  Currency risk – As a consequence of the increasingly international nature of its business, the Group 
has become more exposed to risks associated with changes in foreign currency exchange rates. The 
Group is based in the United Kingdom and presents its consolidated financial statements in pounds 
sterling.  The  Group’s  current  revenues  are  currently  generated  primarily  in  pounds  sterling  but 
increasingly it is envisaged that the revenues will be generated in foreign currency, particularly the 
US dollar and the Canadian dollar. The Group also has substantial contractual obligations (primarily 
employment contracts) that are denominated in U.S. Dollars. The Group has no currency hedging 
arrangements in place at present and notwithstanding any future currency hedging arrangements 
that the Group may put in place, the Group will have exposure to translation effects arising from 
movements  in  the  relevant  currency  exchange  rates  against  sterling.  Therefore,  there  can  be  no 
assurance  that  its  future  results  or  resources  will  not  be  significantly  affected  by  fluctuations  in 
exchange rates. 

•  Taxation risk – The Group’s operations and business will be subject to the effect of future changes 
to tax legislation and practice in the countries in which it operates. Any change in the tax status of 
the Group or any member of the Group or in applicable tax legislation or regulations in any relevant 
jurisdiction  could  affect  its  ability  to  provide  returns  to  shareholders  or  negatively  alter  post  tax 
returns  to  shareholders.  The  taxation  of  an  investment  in  the  Group  depends  on  the  individual 
circumstances of the investor.  

•  Risks relating to the UK’s proposed exit from the European Union - The UK’s June 2016 referendum 
vote to leave the European Union (“EU”), the subsequent initiation of the withdrawal procedure in 
March 2017 when the UK Government triggered article 50 of the Treaty on European Union and the 

Page 19  

 
 
 
 
 
PCI-PAL PLC 

recent  parliamentary  events  and  postponement  of  Article  50,  has  created  significant  uncertainty 
regarding the UK’s relationship with the EU, including the terms and timeframe within which the UK’s 
exit from the EU will be effected. Although the Group has not experienced any immediate material 
changes to its operations and structure, the UK’s proposed exit from the EU could generate political, 
economic and currency volatility and uncertainty in the markets. The effects of the UK’s exit from 
the  EU  on  the  Group  could  include:  (i)  significant  legal  and  regulatory  uncertainty;  (ii)  increased 
compliance and operating costs for the Group; (iii) increased levels of inflation, in the UK and other 
markets in which the Group operates; (iv) lower levels of demand for the Group’s services; and (v) a 
reduction in the net assets and/or share price of the Group. Although it is impossible to predict the 
full impact of the UK’s exit from the EU at this stage, the resultant risks could have a material adverse 
impact on the Group’s growth plans, financial position, results of operations and/or prospects. 
Litigation  Risk  –  Companies  in  all  sectors,  including  the  sector  in  which  the  Group  operates,  are 
subject to legal claims, with and without merit. The Group may become involved in legal disputes in 
the future. Defence and settlement costs can be substantial, even with respect to claims that have 
no merit. Due to the inherent uncertainty of the litigation process, there can be no assurance that 
the  resolution  of  any  particular  legal  proceeding  will  not  have  a  material  adverse  effect  on  the 
Group’s financial position, results of operations and/or prospects. 

• 

Page 20  

 
 
 
 
PCI-PAL PLC 

CORPORATE RESPONSIBILITIES 

Mission, Vision and Values 
Our mission is to safeguard reputation and trust. We provide organisations that engage with customers by 
phone with globally accessible cloud solutions ensuring their conversations are PCI compliant and personal 
data is protected. Safeguarding reputation and trust. 

At PCI Pal, our vision is to be the preferred solution provider that technology vendors globally turn to for 
achieving PCI compliance for payments by phone. By dedicating ourselves to the focused pursuit of easy to 
integrate and simple to deploy technology, we will provide the most compelling value proposition for our 
partners to solve their customers’ challenges in achieving compliance and safeguarding reputations.   It is our 
people beyond the technology, who underpin our business and support our partners. 

Our Values: 
00. Security is job zero 
01. Be the difference 
02. Champion the mission 
03. Team first 
04. Enjoy the journey 

The PCI Pal CSR policy compliments our business mission, vision and values, reflecting the way we work and 
the services we deliver by focusing on three components:  

Customer Engagement and Business Growth 
“developing our business based on highly professional and ethical standards” 
We build strong relationships with our customers and stakeholders by ensuring we fully understand their 
objectives  and  needs.  By  being  honest,  open  and  transparent  in  our  dealings  we  aim  to  have  the  highest 
professional and ethical standards. Working in partnership with our stakeholders we create tailored, high 
quality and fair value solutions. We engage with our customer base to address both opportunities and issues 
and have procedures in place to deal effectively with both complaint escalations and compliments.  

Employee engagement, retention and development:  
“recruiting and developing employees to ensure PCI Pal services are led and delivered by a well-motivated, 
educated and engaged workforce” 
Supported by a thorough onboarding programme that starts from the point of employment acceptance, PCI 
Pal  welcomes  our  new  people  to  the  business  in  a  friendly  and  professional  manner.  Tailored  induction 
timetables give new starters the chance to engage with key players within the business to help them quickly 
establish  working  relationships  and  begin  building  their  network.  Training  doesn’t  stop  after  onboarding 
finishes, with a host of tailored management initiatives, technical courses and development opportunities. 
Our  people  development  framework  encourages  feedback  and  open  discussions  around  performance, 
objectives and achievements. The diversity of our workforce reflects both the customers and communities 
we  work  with.  We  expect  our  employees  to  act  with  integrity  towards  both  one  another,  and  partners, 
customers  and  suppliers,  with  diversity,  fairness  and  equal  opportunity  policies  laid  out  in  our  online 
employee handbook.  

Our employee turnover is low, but when people do decide to move on, we take the opportunity to interview 
and document their reasons for leaving to allow us to make improvements wherever possible. 

The welfare of our people is underpinned by our Health and Safety and Wellbeing policies. These ensure our 
people are both educated and supported with issues they may have both within and outside the workplace.  

Page 21  

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
PCI-PAL PLC 

Community Impact  
“appreciating and improving the communities we work within” 
We  recognise  the  importance  of  the  local  and  global  communities  within  which  we  operate.  We  aim  to 
enhance our contribution to the community by being sensitive to the needs of local people and groups, and 
by promoting ethical and socially responsible trading.  

Our environmental policy ensures we are aware of the environmental impact our business has, and the 
steps we take to reduce this. We seek to reduce waste by exploiting systems to remove the need for 
paperwork and have recycling bins throughout the offices. Video and conference facilities are used as a first 
option for meetings. 

The Strategic Report for the Group was reviewed and approved by the Board of Directors on 8 October 
2019  

Signed by Order of the Board 

J C Barham 
CEO 
8 October 2019 

Page 22  

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
PCI-PAL PLC 

Page 23  

 
 
 
 
PCI-PAL PLC 

CORPORATE GOVERNANCE 
Chairman’s statement on Corporate Governance 

Dear Shareholder, 
The Board  is  responsible for ensuring the long-term success of  the  Group and is  committed  to delivering 
leadership through good governance and accountability for the benefit and protection of our shareholders. 
In this Corporate Governance section, we outline how we have complied with the latest governance code as 
published by the Quoted Company Alliance (the “Code”) and explain where our policies vary from the Code.  

As the Chairman of the Group I am responsible for ensuring that the Board outlines and delivers its strategy. 
To this end the full Board meets regularly throughout the year and is available for short notice meetings as 
required from time to time. The Board consists of three executive directors each with their own areas of 
expertise, together with two non-executive directors, including myself.  

In  accordance  with  the  Code,  the  Board  has  a  list  of  matters  that  are  reserved  for  its  authority  and  also 
delegates  certain  roles  and  responsibilities  to  Committees,  whilst  retaining  overall  responsibility  for  the 
decisions  recommended  and  made.  As  a  Board,  we  have  decided  that  a  Nominations  Committee  is  not 
required, given the current size of the business, and any future nominations will be decided by the full Board.  

Our Audit Committee has focused upon ensuring that the Group plans for, and adopts, the latest accounting 
standards, the most important has been the adoption of IFRS 15: Revenue from Contracts with Customers 
which was adopted by the Group on the 1st July 2018. The Committee is informed by the work of the external 
auditors, Grant Thornton, and considers recommendations from our Chief Financial Officer. 

Our  Remuneration  Committee  has  overall  responsibility  for  changes  made  to  the  Executive  Directors 
remuneration.  It  is  also  responsible  for  the  approval  of  the  Group’s  various  share  options  schemes.  In 
considering its responsibilities it also takes input from the Group Chief Executive Officer where appropriate. 

We are confident that the Board has adopted an appropriate corporate governance strategy that will allow 
us to deliver on our strategic goals. 

Chris Fielding 
Non-Executive Chairman 
8 October 2019 

Page 24  

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
PCI-PAL PLC 

CORPORATE GOVERNANCE 
Compliance statement 

The  Directors  recognise  the  importance  of  sound  corporate  governance.  The  Board  considers  that  it  has 
complied with the provisions of the UK Corporate Governance Code, (the Code) as issued by the Quoted 
Company Alliance, with the exception of the following areas:  

1.  The Group does not have a formal system of training the Directors for their on-going roles, instead 
they are expected to keep up-to-date personally with matters relevant to their own positions through 
memberships of relevant professional societies; regular briefings from lawyers and accountants as 
well as other professional advisers; 

2.  The Board has not prepared a formal statement on culture, ethical values and behaviours and so 
there  is  no  formal,  regular  measurement  or  assessment  of  this.  However,  the  Group  has  only  50 
employees  operating  from  two  principal  locations.  The  Board  is  therefore  confident  that  it  can 
adequately assess the corporate culture within the Group; 

3.  Given the company size and recent growth, the Board has not carried out a formal evaluation of the 

Board’s performance or of its individual directors;  

4.  The  Board  has  not  established  a  nominations  committee  and  so  all  matters  relating  to  the 

appointment of directors are reserved for the full Board. 

Information on significant shareholders in the Company has been included in the directors’ report on page 
33.  

Leadership  
The Board is collectively responsible for the long-term success of the Group and provides effective leadership 
by setting the strategic aim of the Group and overseeing the efficient implementation of these aims in order 
to achieve a successful and sustainable business.  

In  practice the  Executive  Directors prepare and present the strategic  plan to  the Board, which  the Board 
challenges  in  order  to  determine  the  strategic  priorities.  The  Board  also  ensures  that  the  appropriate 
framework of controls is in place to enable the proper assessment and management of risks. The Executive 
Directors are responsible for the management of the business and implementing the Board’s decisions.  

Board composition 
The Board of PCI PAL PLC is made up of an independent Non-Executive Chairman, CEO, CFO, CISO and one 
other independent Non-Executive Director. Details of the Board’s experience are shown on page 23 which 
demonstrate the range of skills and insight that they bring to the Board. It is important that the Non-Executive 
Directors bring a wide range of skills to the Board in order  to provide robust  challenges to the Executive 
Directors and to ensure that shareholders’ interests are represented. The two Non-Executive Directors are 
both deemed to be independent. All Directors are subject to election by the shareholders at the first Annual 
General Meeting following their appointment, and to re-election thereafter every three years.  

Board meetings 
The  Board  meets  formally  four  to  six  times  per  year  to  discuss  the  strategy,  direction  and  financial 
performance of the company. Other additional Board meetings occur as required. The Directors review a 
management pack each month and a more detailed Board pack on a quarterly basis, which enables them to 
fulfil all of their duties of stewardship. This Board pack contains detailed financial information as well as wider 
resources on the KPIs for the Group.  

The Non-Executive Directors attend all of the meetings. 

Page 25  

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Directors’ meeting attendance 2018/19 

PCI-PAL PLC 

Board 
Scheduled 

Board 
Short 
Notice 

Audit 
Scheduled 

Audit 
Short 
Notice 

Rem Com 
Scheduled 

Rem Com 
Short Notice 

Executive Directors 
James Barham 
William Good 
Geoff Forsyth 

Non-executive directors 
Chris Fielding 
Jason Starr 

5/5 
5/5 
4/5 

5/5 
5/5 

3/3 
3/3 
3/3 

3/3 
3/3 

1* 
1* 
1* 

1 
1 

- 
- 
- 

- 
- 

- 
- 
- 

- 
- 

1* 
1* 
1* 

1/1 
1/1 

* = attended by invitation of the Chairman of the Committee 

Directors can formally attend meetings either: in person; by conference call or by video conferencing. 

The executive directors are employed on a full-time basis. 

Division of roles and responsibilities 

The Chairman is responsible for the leadership of the Board and ensuing the effectiveness of all aspects of its 
role. Each scheduled meeting includes an agenda that allows each Executive Director to report to the Board 
on performance of the business including risk analysis and monitoring. Non-scheduled meetings are normally 
called to discuss single points of matter. 

The Chairman’s role and the Chief Executives role have been divided. The Chairman sets the agenda for each 
meeting and ensures compliance with Board procedures and sets the highest standards of integrity, probity 
and corporate governance throughout the Group. The Chief Executive is responsible for running the Group’s 
business  by  proposing  and  developing  the  Group’s  strategy  and  overall  commercial  objectives.  He  also 
ensures that the Chairman is notified of forthcoming matters that may affect the running of the Group that 
the Chairman may not be aware of. 

Evaluation 
The Board has not undergone a formal evaluation during the financial year.  

Re-election 
The articles of association require that at the AGM one third, or as near as possible, of the Directors will retire 
by rotation. In addition, any new Director to the Board will automatically stand for re-election at the first 
AGM following his or her appointment. 

Insurance 
The Group maintains appropriate insurance cover in respect of legal action against the Directors. 

Conflict of Interest 
Under the articles of association, the Board has the authority to approve any conflicts or potential conflicts 
of  interest  that  are  declared  by  individual  directors;  conditions  may  be  attached  to  such  approvals  and 
directors will generally not be entitled to participate in discussions or vote on matters in which they have or 
may have a conflict of interest. 

Page 26  

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
PCI-PAL PLC 

Financial and business reporting 
Please refer to the following pages for information as to how the Board has carried out the financial and 
business reporting obligations: 

1.  Page 35 of the Directors’ Report details the Board’s responsibility statement setting out the steps 
taken  to  present  a  fair,  balanced  and  understandable  assessment  of  the  Group’s  position  and 
prospects. 

2.  Pages 4 to 21 of these accounts reports on the business model and explains how the Group generates 
and preserves value over the longer term and also reports on the strategy for delivering the objectives 
of the Group. 

3.  Page  37  of  the  Directors’  Report  confirms  that  the  financial  statements  have  been  prepared  on  a 

going concern basis 

Risk Management and internal controls 
The Board has overall responsibility for establishing and maintaining sound risk management and internal 
control systems. The Board monitor these risks and systems regularly to ensure they continue to be effective 
and fit-for-purpose. Further information on risk management and internal  controls is set out in  the Audit 
Committee Report on Page 28. 

The Directors have carried out an assessment of the principal risks facing the group and how these risks can 
be reduced. The explanation of these risks and how they are being mitigated can be found on pages 17 to 20. 

Communications with shareholders 
The Board recognises the importance of regular and effective communication with shareholders. The primary 
forms of communication are: 

1.  The annual and interim statutory financial reports and associated investor and analyst presentations 

and reports. 

2.  Announcements relating to trading or business updates released to the London Stock Exchange. 
3.  The Annual General Meeting which provides shareholders with an opportunity to meet the Board of 

Directors and to ask questions relating to the business. 

4.  Private investor roadshows and presentations at investor conferences. 

All statutory financial reports are published on www.pcipal.com and are made available on a timely basis. 

Page 27  

 
 
 
  
  
 
PCI-PAL PLC 

AUDIT COMMITTEE REPORT 

Dear Shareholder, 
On behalf of the Audit Committee, I am pleased to present our report for the year ended 30th June 2019.  

Composition 
The Audit Committee comprises the Chairman and the other Non-Executive Director. The Audit Committee 
as in prior years is chaired by myself. The executive directors may attend by invitation.  

Responsibilities 
The Audit Committee meets at least once a year to review the independent audit report of the Company’s 
auditors and the wider responsibilities set out below: 

1.  Monitor the integrity of the financial statements of the Company.  
2.  Review the Group’s internal financial controls and risk management systems.  
3.  Ensure a formal channel is available for employees and other stakeholders to express any complaints 

in respect of financial accounting and reporting. 

External Audit 
In relation to the Group’s external auditors the key responsibilities are: 

1.  Make recommendations to the Board, for it to put to the shareholders for their approval in relation 
to the appointment of the external auditor and to approve the remuneration and terms of reference 
of the external auditor. 

2.  Discussion of the nature, extent and timing of the external auditor’s procedures and discussion of 

the external auditor’s findings. 

3.  Review and monitor the external auditor’s independence and objectivity and the effectiveness of the 

audit process. 

4.  Develop  and  implement  policy  on  the  engagement  of  the  external  auditor  to  supply  non-audit 

services. 

Changes in accounting policies 
During the financial year the Group has adopted IFRS 15: Revenue from Contracts with Customers and has 
worked with the Group Auditors to ensure that all the required information has been correctly implemented 
and disclosed. As a result, the prior year financial results have been restated.  

The retrospective impact of adopting IFRS 15 has been limited. PCI Pal’s operating model is to provide a SaaS 
solution to its end customers via a Cloud platform service. Our partner and customer contracts are therefore 
structured primarily as annual recurring license fees, revenue from which is recognised rateably over time. 
The  forward  impact  for  PCI  Pal  of  IFRS  15  is  therefore  mostly  limited  to  the  impact  of  also  spreading 
implementation professional service fees over the contract periods.  

The Group has also adopted IFRS 9: Financial Instruments. As the Group does not enter into forward contracts 
to hedge forecast transactions there has not been any restatement to the accounts.  
In the next financial year, the Group will be adopting IFRS 16: Leases. However, the Group does not expect 
this adoption to have a material impact on its results.  

Internal Audit 
PCI-PAL  does  not  currently  have  an  internal  audit  function,  which  the  Board  considers  appropriate  for  a 
Group of the Company’s size. The Committee will continue to monitor this situation and may add such a 
function in due course as the Group continues to grow. 

Page 28  

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Internal control procedures 
The Board is responsible for the Group’s system of internal controls and risk management, and for reviewing 
the effectiveness of these systems. These systems are designed to manage, rather than eliminate, the risk of 
failure to achieve business objectives. 

PCI-PAL PLC 

The key features of the Group’s internal controls are described below:  

1.  A clearly defined organisational structure with appropriate delegation of authority.  
2.  The  approval  by  the  Board  of  a  one-year  budget,  including  monthly  income  statements,  balance 
sheets and cash flow statements. The budget is prepared in conjunction with senior managers to 
ensure targets are feasible.  

3.  The business plan is updated on a periodic basis to take into account the most recent forecasts. On 
a  monthly  basis,  actual  results  are  compared  to  the  latest  forecast  and  market  expectations  and 
presented to the Board on a timely basis.  

4.  Regular reviews by the Board and by the senior management team of key performance indicators.  
5.  Dual authority is required for bank payments.  
6.  Payments are not permitted without an approved invoice signed in accordance with the Delegation 

of Authority document. 

7.  Reconciliations  of  key  balance  sheet  accounts  are  performed  and  independently  reviewed  by  the 
finance  team.  Wherever  possible  segregation  of  duties  are  implemented  to  provide  additional 
comfort and support on all finance processes.  

8.  Appropriate physical security and virtual checks are in place at all locations to protect the Group’s 

assets. 

9.  Appropriate  whistleblowing  and  escalation  points  are  established  and  communicated  to  staff  to 

provide a safe and secure forum for employees to escalate matters.  
10. A disaster recovery plan and back-up system is documented and in place. 

The Board in conjunction with the Audit Committee keeps under review the Group’s internal control system 
on a periodic basis.  

Chris Fielding 
Chairman of the Audit Committee 
8 October 2019 

Page 29  

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
PCI-PAL PLC 

REMUNERATION COMMITTEE REPORT 
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 JUNE 2018 

Dear Shareholder, 
On behalf of the Board I am pleased to report to you on remuneration matters considered by the Committee 
during the year. 

Composition 
The  Remuneration  Committee  consists  of  non-executive  directors  Jason  Starr  (Committee  Chairman)  and 
Chris Fielding, and it is normal to invite the Chief Executive to the meeting to hear his recommendation for 
remuneration. 

Remuneration Policy 

The objective of the Group’s remuneration policy is to attract, motivate, and retain high quality individuals 
who  will  contribute  significantly  to  shareholder  value.  The  Remuneration  Committee  decides  on  the 
remuneration of the executive directors. 

Annual Performance Bonus 

For  Board  executives,  a  bonus  will  be  paid  dependant  on  the  level  of  achievement  against  annual  key 
performance  indicators  for  the  Group,  which  will  be  set  annually  by  the  Remuneration  Committee,  with 
achievement assessed at the end of the year. 

The Executive Directors annual bonus scheme is based upon the achievement of certain quantifiable profit 
and commercial targets for the Group, as appropriate. 

Any bonus will be paid as cash, company shares or a combination of the two, also to be decided annually by 
the Remuneration Committee. Under normal circumstances, a bonus will not be payable if targets are not 
met. 

Executive Directors’ remuneration 
The remuneration package of the Executive Directors includes the following elements: 

Basic salary 
Salaries  are  normally  reviewed  annually  considering  the  rate  of  inflation  and  salaries  paid  to  Directors of 
comparable companies. Pay reviews also consider Group and personal performance. 

Additional benefits 
The Executive Directors receive an annual car allowance, personal health insurance and a contribution to 
their pension scheme of 10% of their basic salary paid annually in advance. 

Payments made to the former Chief Executive Officer 

In October 2018 the Group terminated the employment of William Catchpole, the Chief Executive. The Group 
reached  a  settlement  with  him  and  the  remuneration  committee  sanctioned  the  following  amounts  as  a 
termination payment: A payment in lieu of notice of £161,000; compensation for loss of office of £100,000; 
settlement of outstanding pension obligations of £11,000 and settlement of outstanding benefit obligations 
of £8,000. The Group also contributed towards his legal fees. 

Page 30  

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
PCI-PAL PLC 

Long Term Incentive Plan 
Long Term Incentives will continue to be set under the 2012 Long Term Incentive Plan (“Plan”). The 
key elements of this LTIP are as follows: 

•  The  Group  reviews  its  medium  and  long-term  strategy  on  an  annual  basis,  towards  the  end  of  each 
financial year. The output of this annual review will be an updated set of actions to implement or modify 
existing or new strategic imperatives. 

•  During each financial year the Remuneration Committee will agree participants for participation in the 
plan as recommended by the CEO. The Committee will grant share options to participants which will 
vest  during/over  a  minimum  three  year  period,  depending  on  whether  the  options  have  met  the 
performance criteria set. The vesting rules reflect the generally accepted employment practices for each 
region the participant is employed in. 

•  The performance criteria set will be specifically designed to align shareholder and executive’s interests, 
such as retaining key personnel for a minimum period or delivering growth in the Company’s share price. 

Shareholders have authorised the Board to issue share options under the Plan to a maximum of 20% of the 
Group’s equity at the time of issue, but the Board has agreed it will limit share options to a total of 15% of 
shares in issue. 

Note 19 of these accounts details the number of share options that have been issued by the Group. 

The service contracts and letters of appointment of the directors include the following terms: 

Executive Directors 

Date of appointment 

Notice period 

J C Barham 
T W Good 
G Forsyth 

1 October 2016 
1 April 2017 
27 November 1999 

12 months 
12 months 
12 months 

The  Non-Executive  Directors  have  letters  of  appointment,  setting  out  the  terms  and  conditions  of  their 
appointment and their expected time commitment, and they are also subject to re-election by rotation by 
shareholders  at  least  once  every  three  years.  The  current  Non-Executive  Directors’  initial  appointments 
commenced on the following dates: 

Non-Executive Director 

Date of appointment 

C M Fielding 
J S Starr 

24 August 2014 
20 November 2014 

Note 3 of the Directors’ Report sets out the detailed remuneration and share options granted to each director 
who served during the year. 

Jason S Starr 
Chair, Remuneration Committee  
8 October 2019 

Page 31  

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
PCI-PAL PLC 

DIRECTORS and ADVISERS 

Company registration number: 

03869545 

Registered office: 

7 Gamma Terrace 
Ransomes Europark 
Ipswich 
Suffolk IP3 9FF 

Telephone: 

+44 (0)330 131 0330 

Directors: 

Secretary: 

Bankers: 

Christopher Michael Fielding 
Jason Stuart Starr 
James Christopher Barham 
Geoffrey Forsyth 
Thomas William Good  

Thomas William Good BA (Hons) ACMA CGMA 

National Westminster Bank PLC 
Silicon Valley Bank 

Auditors: 

Grant Thornton UK LLP 

Nominated Adviser 
and Broker: 

finnCap 

Registrars: 
Telephone: 

Lawyers: 

Link Asset Services 
(UK): 
(Overseas): 

0871 664 0300 
+44 371 664 0300 

Shepherd and Wedderburn LLP 
Brownstein Hyatt Farber and Schreck 

Financial statements are available at: 

www.pcipal.com 

Page 32  

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
PCI-PAL PLC 

DIRECTORS’ REPORT 

The directors present their report together with the financial statements for the year to 30 
June 2019. 

1.  Principal activities 

The Company (Company number 03869545) operates principally as a holding company. During the 
year, the main subsidiary was engaged in the provision of PCI compliant solutions. 

2.  Results, dividends, future prospects 

The trading results of the continuing operations of the company are set out in the annexed accounts 
and are summarised as follows: 

Revenue 

Loss before taxation 

2019 

£000s 
2,817 

2018 
Restated 
£000s 
2,007 

(4,502) 

(3,775) 

The directors are not recommending a payment of a final dividend (2018: nil pence per share). 

3.  Directors 

The membership of the Board is set out on page 23. 

The beneficial and other interests of the directors and their families in the shares of the Company at 
30 June 2019 and 1 July 2018 were as follows: 

G Forsyth 
J Barham 
T W Good 
C M Fielding (non-executive) 
J S Starr (non-executive) 

30 June 2019 
Ordinary shares of 1p 
each 

1 July 2018 
Ordinary shares of 
1p each 

1,311,719 
121,942 
140,000 
35,590 
- 

1,225,039 
52,203 
125,000 
- 
- 

Page 33  

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
PCI-PAL PLC 

The directors’ remuneration for the year was as follows: 

Salary 

Bonus 

Benefits 

2018/19 
G Forsyth 
J Barham 
T W Good 
C M Fielding (non-
executive) 
J S Starr (non-
executive) 
W A Catchpole (to 8th 
October 2018) 

£ 
137,100 
157,058 
139,800 
35,000 

25,000 

43,856 

£ 
- 
24,498 
- 
- 

- 

- 

£ 
5,005 
394 
- 
- 

- 

- 

Total 

537,814 

24,498 

5,399 

Salary 

Bonus 

Benefits 

2017/18 
G Forsyth 
J Barham 
T W Good 
C M Fielding (non-
executive) 
J S Starr (non-
executive) 
W A Catchpole 

£ 
111,600 
118,002 
117,068 
45,000 

25,000 

£ 
17,500 
34,500 
10,000 
- 

- 

£ 
4,885 
2,347 
- 
- 

- 

175,700 

27,500 

7,700 

Payments 
relating to 
overseas 
posting 
£ 
- 
64,838 
- 
- 

- 

- 

64,838 
Payments 
relating to 
overseas 
posting 
£ 
- 
24,455 
- 
- 

- 

- 

Total 

Pension 

£ 
142,105 
246,788 
139,800 
35,000 

25,000 

43,856 

£ 
14,150 
13,513 
- 
674 

425 

- 

632,549 

28,762 

Total 

Pension 

£ 
133,985 
179,304 
127,068 
45,000 

25,000 

210,900 

£ 
10,200 
12,500 
- 
226 

143 

- 

Total 

592,370 

89,500 

14,932 

24,455 

721,257 

23,069 

In April 2018, James Barham was relocated to the United States of America as part of the Group’s 
expansion into that region. In October 2018, James Barham was appointed CEO of the Group and as 
a result, in April 2019, he relocated back to the UK. The Group agreed to meet certain costs relating 
to these relocation and postings which totalled £64,838 (2018: £24,455) 

£70,000 of the 2017/2018 bonus figures reflect bonuses paid to the executive directors relating to 
the  Group performance from the 2016/2017 financial year  but  were only  confirmed following  the 
publication of the 2016/2017 financial year results. All bonus amounts had been fully accrued for in 
the appropriate financial year’s accounts. 

On 8th October 2018 the Group terminated the employment of William Catchpole the Chief Executive. 
The Group reached a settlement with him and the remuneration committee sanctioned the following 
amounts as a termination payment: A payment in lieu of notice of £161,000; compensation for loss 
of office of £100,000; settlement of outstanding pension obligations of £11,000 and settlement of 
outstanding benefit obligations of £8,000. The Group also contributed £8,250 towards his legal fees. 

In  the  year  to  30  June  2018,  C  M  Fielding  received  an  additional  payment  of  £10,000  relating  to 
addition time spend advising the Board during the equity fund raising, which completed in January 
2018.  

Page 34  

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
PCI-PAL PLC 

Directors’ interests in Long Term Incentive plans 

The  Directors’  interests  in  share  options  to  subscribe  for  ordinary  shares  in  the  Company  are  as 
follows: 

  Note 

James 
Barham 

Geoff 
Forsyth 
William 
Good 

1 

2 

4 

1 

1 

3 

At 1 July 
2018 
(number) 
300,000 

Granted 
in year 
(number) 
- 

Lapsed in 
year 
(number) 
(300,000) 

Exercised 
in year 
(number) 
- 

At 30 June 
2019 
(number 
- 

Exercise 
Price 
(pence) 
33.0 

550,000 

(550,000) 

- 

- 

325,000 

300,000 

525,000 

- 

- 

- 

100,000 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

525,000 

325,000 

300,000 

100,000 

28.5 

28.5 

33.0 

33.0 

26.5 

Earliest 
exercise 
date 
26th May 
2020 
26th May 
2020 
26th May 
2020 
26th May 
2020 
26th May 
2020 
13th Nov 
2021 

Last 
exercise 
date  
24th May 
2027 
24th May 
2027 
24th May 
2027 
24th May 
2027 
24th May 
2027 
11th Nov 
2028 

Total 

925,000 

1,175,000 

(850,000) 

- 

1,250,000 

Note 1: Option grant on the 25th May 2017 
Note 2: Option grant on the 12th July 2018 
Note 3: Option grant on the 12th November 2018 
Note 4: Option grant on 13th June 2019 

4. Share price and substantial shareholdings 

During the year, the share price fluctuated between 39.5 pence and 17.5 pence and closed at 30.98 
pence on 30 June 2019. 

The beneficial and other interests of other substantial shareholders and their families in the shares of 
the Company at 30 June 2019 and 1 July 2018 were as follows: 

Ordinary Shares of 1 p each 
P Wildey 
D Hamilton 
W A Catchpole 
Unicorn AIM VCT LLP 
Octopus Investments Nominees 
Livingbridge VCT LLP 

30 June 2019 
4,529,665 
1,814,000 
2,943,697 
2,000,000 
2,666,667 
2,000,000 

1 July 2018 
4,650,000 
1,814,000 
2,943,697 
2,000,000 
2,666,667 
2,000,000 

5. Directors’ responsibilities for the financial statements 

The directors are responsible for preparing the Strategic Report, the Directors’ Report and the 
financial statements in accordance with applicable law and regulations. 

Company law requires the directors to prepare financial statements for each financial year. Under that 
law the directors have elected to prepare Group financial statements in accordance with International 
Financial Reporting Standards as adopted by the European Union (“IFRSs”) and have elected to prepare 
Company  financial  statements  in  accordance  with  United  Kingdom  Accounting  Standards  (United 
Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice). 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 
at the balance sheet date and of the profit and loss of the Group for the period ended. In preparing these 
financial statements, the directors are required to: 
• 
•  make judgements and accounting estimates that are reasonable and prudent; 
• 
Page 35  

state whether applicable Accounting Standards have been followed, subject to any material 

select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently; 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
PCI-PAL PLC 

• 

departures disclosed and explained in the financial statements; and 
prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to 
presume that the Group will continue in business. 

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

The directors confirm that: 
• 

• 

so far as each director is aware, there is no relevant audit information of which the Group's 
auditor is unaware; and 
the directors have taken all 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. 

6.  Qualifying third party indemnity provision 

During the financial year, a qualifying third-party indemnity provision for the benefit of the directors 
was in force. 

7.  Research and development 

PCI-PAL is continuing to invest in its new fully-cloud based, PCI DSS level 1 compliant secure platform 
hosted on the AWS cloud infrastructure for its services. The new platform is operational but further 
functionality and product offerings are planned to be added over the coming years. The expenditure 
now meets the guidelines laid down by IAS 38 and have therefore capitalised the direct expenditure 
incurred in the development. See note 12. 

8. 

Employee policy 

The Group operates a policy of non-discrimination in respect of ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender, 
religion  and  disability  and  encourages  the  personal  and  professional  development  of  all  persons 
working within the Group by giving full and fair consideration for all vacancies in accordance with 
their particular aptitudes and abilities. 

9. 

Corporate governance 

The Group’s policy on Corporate Governance is detailed on page 24 to 27 in the report and accounts.  

10. 

Financial Risk Management Objectives 

The principal financial and non-financial risks arising within the Group are detailed on pages 17 to 20 
of the report and accounts. 

11. 

Treasury shares 

The Group holds a total of 167,229 ordinary shares as treasury shares acquired for a consideration 
of £39,636.25. 

Page 36  

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
PCI-PAL PLC 

12.  Going concern 

After  making  enquiries  and  preparing  forecasts,  which  take  a  balanced  view  of  the  future  growth 
prospects, the directors have a reasonable expectation that the Group has adequate resources to 
continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future. For these reasons, the directors continue 
to adopt the going concern basis in preparing the accounts. 

13.  Auditors 

Grant Thornton UK LLP has expressed willingness to continue in office. In accordance with S489 (4) of 
the  Companies  Act  2006,  a  resolution  to  reappoint  Grant  Thornton  UK  LLP  as  auditors  will  be 
proposed at the Annual General Meeting to be held on 21 November 2019. 

7 Gamma Terrace 
Ransomes Europark 
Ipswich, Suffolk 
IP3 9FF 

BY ORDER OF THE BOARD 

T W Good 
Secretary 
8 October 2019 

Page 37  

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Independent auditor’s report to the members of PCI-PAL PLC Opinion 

PCI-PAL PLC 

Our opinion on the financial statements is unmodified 
We have audited the financial statements of PCI-PAL PLC (the ‘parent company’) and its subsidiaries (the 
‘group’) for the year ended 30 June 2019, which comprise the Consolidated Statement of Comprehensive 
Income, the Consolidated and Company Statements of Financial Position, the Consolidated and Company 
Statements of Changes in Equity, the Consolidated and Company Statements of Cash Flows and notes to 
the financial statements, including a summary of significant accounting policies. The financial reporting 
framework that has been applied in the preparation of the group financial statements is applicable law 
and International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRSs) as adopted by the European Union. The financial 
reporting  framework  that  has  been  applied  in  the  preparation  of  the  parent  company  financial 
statements is applicable law and  United Kingdom Accounting Standards, including Financial Reporting 
Standard  102  ‘The  Financial  Reporting  Standard  applicable  in  the  UK  and  Republic  of  Ireland’  (United 
Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice). 
In our opinion: 
•  the  financial  statements  give  a  true  and  fair  view  of  the  state  of  the  group’s  and  of  the  parent 
company’s affairs as at 30 June 2019 and of the group’s loss for the year then ended; 30 June 2019 

•  the group financial statements have been properly prepared in accordance with IFRSs as adopted by 

the European Union; 

•  the  parent  company  financial  statements  have  been  properly  prepared  in  accordance  with  United 

Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice; and 

•  the financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the requirements of the Companies 

Act 2006. 

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

Conclusions relating to going concern 
We have nothing to report in respect of the following matters in relation to which the ISAs (UK) require us 
to report to you where: 
•  the directors’ use of the going concern basis of accounting in the preparation of the financial statements 

is not appropriate; or 

•  the directors have not disclosed in the financial statements any identified material uncertainties that 
may cast significant doubt about the group’s or the parent company’s ability to continue to adopt the 
going concern basis of accounting for a period of at least twelve months from the date when the financial 
statements are authorised for issue. 

Overview of our audit approach 

•  Overall materiality: £110,000. 

•  Key audit matter was identified as revenue recognition; and 

•  We  performed  full  scope  audit  procedures  on  the  financial 
statements  of  PCI-PAL  PLC  and  on  the  financial  information  of  its 
subsidiary  PCI-PAL 
(U.K)  Limited.  We  performed  analytical 
procedures  on  the  financial  information  of  the  subsidiary  PCI-PAL 
(US) Inc. 

Page 38  

 
 
 
 
 
 
PCI-PAL PLC 

Key audit matters 
Key audit matters are those matters that, in our professional judgement, were of most significance in our 
audit of the financial statements of the current period and include the most significant assessed risks of 
material misstatement (whether or not due to fraud) that we identified. These matters included those that 
had the greatest effect on: the overall audit strategy; the allocation of resources in the audit; and directing 
the  efforts  of  the  engagement  team.  These  matters  were  addressed  in  the  context  of  our  audit  of  the 
financial statements as a whole, and in forming our opinion thereon, and we do not provide a separate 
opinion on these matters. 

Key Audit Matter – Group 

Risk– Revenue Recognition  

During the year, the Group generated £2,817,000 (2018: £2,007,000) 
of  revenue,  which  after  costs  generated  a  loss  for  the  year  of 
£4,366,000 (2018: £3,775,000).  

The Group’s revenue is generated from providing contractual services 
to customers. As a result management could manipulate the timing of 
revenue  recognition  to  meet  performance  targets.  Therefore, 
revenue should be recognised in the financial statements in a manner 
that is consistent with the contractual terms and in accordance with 
the Group’s accounting policy. 

Under ISA (UK) 240 ‘The Auditor’s Responsibilities Relating to Fraud in 
an Audit of Financial Statements’ there is a presumed risk of fraud in 
revenue recognition. Additionally, the entity is loss making, therefore, 
there  is  more  risk  that  management  may  want  to  include  more 
revenue  to  show  growth.  We  therefore, 
identified  revenue 
recognition as a significant risk, which was one of the most significant 
assessed risks of material misstatement. 

How the matter was addressed in the audit – Group 

Our audit work included, but was not restricted to:  

•  Determining  that  the  stated  accounting  policy  was  in  accordance 
with International Financial Reporting Standard (IFRS) 15: ‘Revenue’ 

for  the  current  and  prior  period  and  that  revenue  has  been 

recognised in line with the revenue recognition policy; 

• 

• 

• 

For contract revenue, testing the existence, validity and appropriate 

recognition of a sample of contracts by agreeing to signed contracts 

and confirming revenue recognition points;  

Testing  the  existence,  validity  and  appropriate  recognition  for  a 

statistical  sample  for  remaining  revenue  streams  by  agreeing 

amounts to third party reports;  

Testing the cut off of sales by checking, for a sample of contracts at 

the  year  end,  the  appropriateness  of  revenue  recognised  and 

revenue deferred with reference to confirmation of works. ;  

The group’s accounting policy on revenue recognition is shown in note 
4d to the financial statements and related disclosures are included in 
note 9.  

Key observations 

Based on our audit work, we did not note any material misstatement in 
the revenue recognition as per accounting policy which was identified 
to be in accordance with IFRS 15. 

There are no key audit matters in relation to the parent entity. 

Our application of materiality 
We define materiality as the magnitude of misstatement in the financial statements that makes it probable 
that the economic decisions of a reasonably knowledgeable person would be changed or influenced. We 
use materiality in determining the nature, timing and extent of our audit work and in evaluating the results 
of that work. 

Materiality was determined as follows: 

Materiality 
measure 

Group 

Parent 

£110,000 - Our determination of materiality was based 
on consideration of a number of benchmarks which we 
believe  to  be  of  importance  to  the  users  of  the 
financial statements, most notably, total revenues and 
tax.  These  benchmarks  were 
the 
loss  before 
considered  particularly 
the 
significant  level  of  user  focus  on  these  figures  in 
assessing  the  Group’s  future  prospects  and 
in 
assessing  the  controllable  aspects  of  the  Group’s 
performance during the year. 

important  due 

to 

£99,000 - Similar to our determination of materiality for 
the  group  financial  statements,  given  the  parent 
company 
is  non-trading,  our  determination  of 
materiality was based on consideration of a number of 
benchmarks which we believe to be of importance to the 
users  of  the  financial  statements.  We  considered  total 
assets and net assets as appropriate benchmarks which 
we  believed  to  be  of  importance  to  the  users  of  the 
financial statements.  

The  level  of  materiality  was  not  determined  by  the 
application  of a  specific  measurement  percentage  to 

The  level  of  materiality  was  not  determined  by  the 
application of a specific measurement percentage to any 
single  particular  benchmark  we  considered;  rather  the 

Financial 
statements as a 
whole 

Page 39  

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Materiality 
measure 

Group 

PCI-PAL PLC 

Parent 

any single particular benchmark we considered; rather 
the  appropriate  amount  of  materiality  was 
determined to be £110,000 based on a review of the 
financial  statements  and  this  amount  was  evaluated 
for  appropriateness  by  reference  to  a  range  of 
benchmarks. 

appropriate amount of materiality was determined to be 
£99,000  based  on  a  review  of  the  financial  statements 
and  the  interaction  of  materiality  with  the  group 
financial statements and this amount was evaluated for 
appropriateness by reference to a range of benchmarks. 

70% of financial statement materiality. 

70% of financial statement materiality. 

We determined a lower level of specific materiality for 
certain  areas  such  as,  directors'  remuneration  and 
related party transactions.  

We determined a lower level of specific materiality for 
certain  areas  such  as,  directors'  remuneration  and 
related party transactions.  

£6,000 and misstatements below that threshold that, 
in our view, warrant reporting on qualitative grounds. 

£5,000 and misstatements below that threshold that, in 
our view, warrant reporting on qualitative grounds. 

Performance 
materiality 
used to drive 
the extent of 
our testing 

Specific 
materiality 

Communication 
of 
misstatements 
to the audit 
committee 

The graph below illustrates how performance materiality interacts with our overall materiality and the 
tolerance for potential uncorrected misstatements. 

Overall materiality – Group 

Overall materiality – Parent 

30%

30%

70%

70%

Tolerance for potential uncorrected mis-statements

Performance materiality

An overview of the scope of our audit 
Our  audit  approach  was  a  risk-based  approach  founded  on  a  thorough  understanding  of  the  group’s 
business, its environment and risk profile and in particular included: 
•  PCI-PAL  Plc  has  centralised  processes  over  the  key  areas  of  our  audit  focus.  Group  management  are 
responsible for all judgemental processes and significant risk areas. All accounting is centralised, and we 
have tailored our audit response accordingly with all audit work being undertaken by the group audit 
team. In assessing the risk of material misstatement to the Group financial statements we considered 
the transactions undertaken by each entity and therefore the required focus of our work and;  

•  We performed full scope audits of the financial statements of the parent company PCI-PAL PLC and PCI-
PAL (U.K.) Limited based on their materiality to the Group. The audit work performed focused on the risk 
areas for these components and the scope of our audit work was unchanged from the prior year, other 
than consideration of a greater risk over revenue recognition as a result of the introduction of IFRS 15. 

•  We performed analytical procedures on the  US subsidiary, PCI-PAL (US) Inc.  based in North  Carolina, 
United States. This was based on the entity’s size and materiality to the Group with targeted procedures 
conducted in respect of wages and salaries and revenue testing; and 

•  Full scope and targeted procedures were performed over 100% of revenue and total assets within the 

group. We performed the audit during our visit in July 2019. 

Page 40  

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
PCI-PAL PLC 

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

We have nothing to report in this regard. 
Our opinion on other matters prescribed by the Companies Act 2006 is unmodified 
In our opinion, based on the work undertaken in the course of the audit: 
•  the information given in the strategic report and the directors’ report for the financial year for which 

the financial statements are prepared is consistent with the financial statements; and 

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

requirements. 

Matters on which we are required to report under the Companies Act 2006 
In the light of the knowledge and understanding of the group and the parent company and its environment 
obtained in the course of the audit, we have not identified material misstatements in the strategic report 
or the directors’ report. 

Matters on which we are required to report by exception 
We have nothing to report in respect of the following matters in relation to which the Companies Act 2006 
requires us to report to you if, in our opinion: 
•  adequate accounting records have not been kept by the parent company, or returns adequate for our 

audit have not been received from branches not visited by us; or 

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

or 

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

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

Responsibilities of directors for the financial statements 
As explained more fully in the directors’ responsibilities statement set out on page 35, the directors are 
responsible for the preparation of the financial statements and for being satisfied that they give a true and 
fair view, and for such internal control as the directors determine is necessary to enable the preparation of 
financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error. 
In preparing the financial statements, the directors are responsible for assessing the group’s and the parent 
company’s ability to continue as a going concern, disclosing, as applicable, matters related to going concern 
and using the going concern basis of accounting unless the directors either intend to liquidate the group or 
the parent company or to cease operations, or have no realistic alternative but to do so. 

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

Page 41  

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
PCI-PAL PLC 
they could reasonably be expected to influence the economic decisions of users taken on the basis of these 
financial statements. 
A  further  description  of  our  responsibilities  for  the  audit  of  the  financial  statements  is  located  on  the 
Financial  Reporting  Council’s  website  at:  www.frc.org.uk/auditorsresponsibilities.  This  description  forms 
part of our auditor’s report. 

Use of our report 
This report is made solely to the 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. 

Christopher Frostwick 
Senior Statutory Auditor 
for and on behalf of Grant Thornton UK LLP 
Statutory Auditor, Chartered Accountants 
Chelmsford 
8 October 2019

Page 42  

 
 
 
 
 
 
PCI-PAL PLC 

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF COMPREHENSIVE INCOME 

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 JUNE 2019 

Note 

6 
7 

5 

11 

Revenue 
Cost of sales 

Gross profit 
Administrative expenses 

Loss from Operating Activities 

Adjusted Operating Loss 

Exceptional costs 

Expenses relating to Share Options 

Loss from Operating Activities 

Finance income 
Finance expenditure 

Loss before taxation  

Taxation 

Loss for the year 

Other comprehensive expense:            
Items that will be reclassified 
subsequently to profit or loss 

Foreign exchange translation differences 

Total other comprehensive expense 

Total comprehensive loss attributable 
to equity holders for the period 

2019 
£000s 

2,817 
(1,119) 

1,698 
(6,373) 

(4,675) 

(4,232) 

(361) 

(82) 

(4,675) 

181 
(8) 

(4,502) 

136 

(4,366) 

(107) 

(107) 

2018 
£000s 

Restated 

2,007 
(1,151) 

856 
(4,649) 

(3,793) 

(3,698) 

- 

(95) 

(3,793) 

28 
(10) 

(3,775) 

- 

(3,775) 

(31) 

(31) 

(4,473) 

(3,806) 

Basic and diluted earnings per share 

10 

(10.30) p 

(10.45) p 

The accompanying accounting policies and notes form an integral part of these financial statements. 

Page 43  

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
PCI-PAL PLC 

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL POSITION 

AS AT 30 JUNE 2019 

Note 

2019 
£000s 

2018 
£000s 
Restated 

2017 
£000s 
Restated 

ASSETS 

Non-current assets 
Plant and equipment 
Intangible assets 
Deferred taxation 
Loan note receivable 

Non-current assets 

Current assets 
Trade and other receivables 
Loan note receivable 
Cash and cash equivalents 

Current assets 

Total assets 

LIABILITIES 

Current liabilities 
Trade and other payables 
Current portion of long-term 
borrowings 

Current liabilities 

Non-current liabilities 
Long term borrowings 

Non-current liabilities 

Total liabilities 

Net assets 

13 
12 
17 
14 

14 
14 

15 
15 

16 

71 
1,300 
- 
- 

1,371 

1,999 
- 
1,492 

3,491 

4,862 

97 
844 
- 
1,206 

2,147 

846 
908 
3,748 

5,502 

7,649 

99 
495 
- 
2,202 

2,796 

648 
945 
1,958 

3,551 

6,347 

(3,447) 
- 

(1,842) 
- 

(1,468) 
- 

(3,447) 

(1,842) 

(1,468) 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

(3,447) 

(1,842) 

(1,468) 

1,415 

5,807 

4,879 

Page 44  

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
PCI-PAL PLC 

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL POSITION (Continued) 

AS AT 30 JUNE 2019 

Note 

2019 
£000s 

2018 
£000s 
Restated 

2017 
£000s 
Restated 

EQUITY 

Equity attributable to equity holders of the parent 

19 

Share capital 
Share premium 
Other reserves 
Currency reserves 
Profit and loss account 

Total equity 

427 
4,618 
181 
(138) 
(3,673) 

1,415 

427 
4,618 
99 
(31) 
694 

5,807 

317 
89 
4 
- 
4,469 

4,879 

The accompanying accounting policies and notes form an integral part of these financial 
statements. 

The Board of Directors approved and authorised the issue of the financial statements on 8 
October 2019. 

J Barham 

T W Good 

Director 

Director 

Page 45  

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
PCI-PAL PLC 

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF CHANGES IN EQUITY 
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 JUNE 2019 

Share 
capital 
£000s 

Share 
premium 
£000s 

Other 
reserves 
£000s 

Profit and 
loss account 

Currency 
Reserves 

Total 
Equity 

£000s 

£000s 

£000s 

317 

- 

317 

89 

- 

89 

4 

- 

4 

5,014 

(545) 

4.469 

Balance at 1 July 2017 

Adjustments from the 
adoption of IFRS 15 

Adjusted Balance as at 1 
July 2017 

Share Option 
amortisation charge 

New shares issued net of 
costs 

Transactions with 
owners 

Retranslation of 
currency reserve 

Loss for the year 

Total comprehensive 
loss 

Dividend paid 

- 

- 

- 

- 

95 

110 

4,529 

110 

4,529 

95 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

Balance at 30 June 2018 

427 

4,618 

Share Option 
amortisation charge 

Dividend paid 

Transactions with 
owners 

Retranslation of 
currency reserve 

Loss for the year 

Total comprehensive 
loss 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

5,424 

(545) 

4,879 

95 

4,639 

- 

4,734 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

(31) 

(31) 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

(3,775) 

- 

(3,775) 

(3,775) 

(31) 

(3,806) 

694 

(31) 

5,807 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

82 

- 

  82 

(107) 

(107) 

(4,367) 

- 

(4,367) 

(4,367) 

(107) 

(4,474) 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

99 

82 

- 

82 

- 

- 

- 

Balance at 30 June 2019 

427 

4,618 

181 

(3,673) 

(138) 

1,415 

The accompanying accounting policies and notes form an integral part of these financial statements. 

Page 46  

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
PCI-PAL PLC 

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF CASH FLOWS 

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 JUNE 2019 

Cash flows from operating activities 
Loss after taxation 
Adjustments for: 
Depreciation 
Amortisation of capitalised development 
Interest income 
Interest expense 
Exchange differences 
Income taxes 
Deferred tax write off 
Share based payments 
Increase in trade and other receivables 

Increase in trade and other payables 

2018 
£000s 

(4,366) 

53 
191 
(181) 
- 
(107) 
(136) 
- 
82 
(1,154) 

1,605 

2017 
£000s 
Restated 

(3,775) 

44 
107 
(28) 
- 
(31) 
- 
- 
95 
(197) 

375 

Cash used in operating activities 

(4,013) 

(3,410) 

Dividend paid 
Income taxes received 
Interest element of finance leases 
Interest paid 

- 
136 
- 
- 

- 
- 
- 
- 

Net cash used in operating activities 

(3,877) 

(3,410) 

Cash flows from investing activities 
Purchase of land, buildings, plant and 
Equipment 
Proceeds from sale of assets 
Development expenditure capitalised 
Repayment of loan note receivable 
Interest received 

Net cash generated in investing 
activities 

(110) 
- 
(564) 
2,114 
181 

(43) 
1 
(456) 
1,032 
28 

1,621 

562 

Page 47  

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
PCI-PAL PLC 

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF CASH FLOWS (Continued) 

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 JUNE 2019 

2019 
£000s 

2018 
£000s 
Restated 

Cash flows from financing activities 
Issue of shares – net of cost of issue 
Repayment of borrowings 
Capital element of finance lease rentals 

Net cash used in financing activities 

- 
- 
- 

- 

Net (decrease)/increase in cash 

(2,256) 

Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of year 

Net (decrease)/increase in cash 

Cash and cash equivalents at end of year 

3,748 

(2,256) 

1,492 

4,638 
- 
- 

4,638 

1,790 

1,958 

1,790 

3,748 

Page 48  

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
PCI-PAL PLC 
NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 JUNE 2019 

1. 

AUTHORISATION OF FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 

The Group’s consolidated financial statements (the “financial statements”) of PCI-PAL PLC (the 
“Company”) and its subsidiaries (together the “Group”) for the year ended 30 June 2019 were 
authorised for issue by the Board of Directors on 8 October 2019 and the Chief Executive, James 
Barham, and the Chief Financial Officer, William Good, signed the balance sheet. 

2. 

NATURE OF OPERATIONS AND GENERAL INFORMATION 

PCI-PAL PLC is the Group’s ultimate parent company. It is a public limited company incorporated 
and domiciled in the United Kingdom. PCI-PAL PLC’s shares are quoted and publicly traded on 
the AIM division of the London Stock Exchange. The address of PCI-PAL PLC’s registered office is 
also its principal place of business. 

The Company operates principally as a holding company. The main subsidiaries are engaged in 
the provision of telephony services and PCI Solutions. 

3. 

STATEMENT OF COMPLIANCE WITH IFRS 

These consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with International 
Financial Reporting Standards as adopted by the European Union. 

The principal accounting policies adopted by the Group are set out in note 4. The accounting 
policies have been applied consistently throughout the Group for the purposes of preparation of 
these financial statements. 

Standards and interpretations in issue, not yet effective 

The  Consolidated  Financial  Statements  of  the  Group  have  been  prepared  in  accordance  with 
International Financial Reporting Standards (“IFRS”) as adopted by the EU (“endorsed IFRS”).  

These Financial Statements have been prepared in accordance with those IFRS standards and 
IFRIC  interpretations  issued  and  effective  or  issued  and  early  adopted  as  at  30  June  2019  as 
endorsed by the EU. 

The following adopted IFRSs have been issued but have not been applied by the Group in these 
Financial Statements. Their adoption is not expected to have a material effect on the Financial 
Statements unless otherwise indicated: 

Effective for the year ending 30 June 2020 
• IFRS 16 Leases: the impact of adopting this IFRS is detailed below 
• IFRIC 23 Uncertainty over Income Tax Treatments 
• Amendments to IFRS 9 Financial instruments 
• Amendments to IAS 28 Investments in Associates and Joint Ventures  

Effective for the year ending 30 June 2022 
• IFRS 17 Insurance contracts 

IFRS 16: Leases – effect for the year ending 30 June 2020 

The Directors review newly issued standards and interpretations in order to assess the impact (if 
any) on the Financial Statements of the Group in future periods. IFRS 16 “Leases” was issued in 
January  2016.  It  requires  the  lessee  to  recognise  most  leases  on  the  balance  sheet  as  the 
distinction between operating leases and finance leases is removed. Currently operating leases 
are not recognised on the balance sheet. The only exceptions are for short term leases and leases 
of low value.  

Page 49  

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
PCI-PAL PLC 

As at 30 June 2019 the Group has one non-cancellable lease relating to its premises in Ipswich 
with  a  lease  commitment  of  £68,000  (Note  25:  Operating  Leases).  As  at  1  July  2019  for  the 
remaining lease commitment the Group expects to recognise £52,000 as a right-to-use asset and 
lease liabilities of £52,000. It is expected after adoption in 2019 that the operating loss of the 
company will improve by £9,000 but there will be no overall effect to the loss before tax figure. 

The Group will adopt IFRS 16 on the 1 July 2019. 

4. 

PRINCIPAL ACCOUNTING POLICIES 

a)  Basis of preparation  

The financial statements have been prepared on a going concern basis in accordance with the 
accounting  policies  set  out  below.  These  are  based  on  the  International  Financial  Reporting 
Standards  (“IFRS”)  issued  in  accordance  with  the  Companies  Act  2006  applicable  to  those 
companies reporting under IFRS as adopted by the European Union (“EU”). 

The  financial  statements  are  presented  in  pounds  sterling  (£),  which  is  also  the  functional 
currency of the parent company, and under the historical cost convention. 

b)  Basis of consolidation 

The Group financial statements consolidate those of the Company and its subsidiary undertakings 
(see note 18) drawn up to 30 June 2019. A subsidiary is a company controlled directly by the 
Group and all of the subsidiaries are 100% owned by the Group. Control is achieved when the 
Group is exposed, or has rights, to variable returns from its involvement with the investee and 
has the ability to affect those returns through its power over the investee. 

All intra-Group transactions, balances, income and expenses are eliminated on consolidation. 

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. 

The Group has utilised the exemption (within IFRS 1) not to apply IFRS to pre-transition business 
combinations. All other subsidiaries are accounted for using the acquisition method. 

c)  Going concern 

The financial statements have been prepared on a going concern basis, which the directors believe to 
be appropriate for the following reasons: 

The Group meets its day-to-day working capital requirements through its cash balances and trading 
receipts. Cash balances for the group were £1.492 million at the 30 June 2019. Post the financial year 
end the Group has arranged a £2.75 million, 36 month term loan with Shawbrook Bank to assist with 
the working capital requirements of the Group. 

The directors have prepared and reviewed cash flow forecasts to December 2020. These forecasts 
make several assumptions relating to predicted revenues and cash receipts, new contracts signed; 
investment in new territories and new employees. The working cash flow forecast shows that the 
Group will be able to operate within its existing resources throughout the period up this period and 
beyond. 

Page 50  

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
PCI-PAL PLC 
The Directors recognise that during the forthcoming year the Group is expected to remain loss making 
on a month-to-month basis, albeit with an improving trend. The directors will review, on a regular 
basis, the actual results achieved against the planned forecasts. Some of the planned expenditure 
assumptions in the current forecast remain discretionary and as a result the directors can delay such 
expenditure  to  further  ensure  the  Group  is  able  to  meet  its  day-to-  day  financial  working  capital 
needs. 

d)  Revenue 

Revenue represents the fair value of the sale of goods and services and after eliminating sales within 
the  Group  and  excluding  value  added  tax  or  overseas  sales  taxes.  The  following  summarises  the 
method of recognising revenue for the solutions and products delivered by the Group. 

(i) PCI compliance solutions and hosted telephony services 
Revenue for set-up and cloud provision fee will be deferred and will be recognised evenly over the 
estimated term of the contract, having accounted for the automatic auto-renewal of our contracts, 
up  to  a  maximum  of  four  years,  starting  the  month  following  from  the  date  of  signature  of  the 
underlying contract. 

The  payment  profile  for  such  contracts  typically  include  payment  for  set-up  fees  at  the  point  of 
signature of the contract, but for revenue recognition purposes, this is deemed to be an integral part 
of the wider contract rather than a separate performance obligation. 

Revenue for all other professional services and installation fees will be deferred and will be recognised 
evenly over the estimated term of the contract, having accounted for the automatic auto-renewal of 
our contracts, up to a maximum of four years, starting in the month following the hand over to the 
client for user acceptance testing. 

 (ii) Third party equipment sales 
Where the contract involves the sale of third-party equipment that could be acquired and supplied by 
other parties to the client the revenues and costs relating to this will continue to be released in full to 
the Statement of Comprehensive Income at the time the installation is complete. 

e)  Deferred Costs 

Under IFRS 15 costs directly attributable to the delivery and implementation of the revenue contracts, 
such as commissions and third party costs, will be deferred and will be recognised in the statement 
of comprehensive income over the length of the contract. 

Costs  directly  attributable  to  the  delivery  of  the  PCI  Compliance  solutions  and  hosted  telephony 
services will be capitalised as 'costs to fulfil a contract' and released over the estimated term of the 
contract, having accounted for the automatic auto-renewal of our contracts, up to a maximum of four 
years, starting the month following from the date of signature of the underlying contract.  

Costs relating to commission costs paid to employees for winning the contract will be capitalised as 
'direct  costs  to  fulfil  a  contract'  at  the  date  the  commissions  payments  become  due  and  will  be 
released in monthly increments over the minimum contract term starting the month following the 
date the cost is capitalised. 

f) 

Intangible assets 

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. 

Page 51  

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Development costs incurred are capitalised when all the following conditions are satisfied: 

PCI-PAL PLC 

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

•  there are adequate technical, financial and other resources to complete the 

development and to use or sell the intangible asset 

•  the expenditure attributable to the intangible asset during the development can be 

measured reliably 

The  cost  of  an  internally  generated  intangible  asset  comprises  all  directly  attributable  costs 
necessary  to  create,  produce  and  prepare  the  asset  to  be  capable  of  operating  in  the  manner 
intended by management. Directly attributable costs include development engineer’s salary and 
on-costs  incurred  on  software  development.  The  cost  of  internally  generated  software 
developments are recognised as intangible assets and are subsequently measured in the same 
way as externally acquired software. However, until completion of the development project, the 
assets are subject to impairment testing only. 

The Directors have reviewed the development costs relating to the new AWS platform and are 
satisfied that the costs identified meet the tests identified by IAS 38 detailed above. Specifically, 
the initial platform was launched in October 2017 and has been successfully sold in Europe, North 
America and Australia, with further sales expected, as detailed in the Chief Executives’ statement.   
The directors expect that the AWS platform will continue to be developed, as more functionality 
is added, and as a result the it is expecting to continue to capitalise the development costs (which 
are primarily labour costs) into the future. 

Amortisation  commences  upon  completion  of  the  asset  and  is  shown  within  administrative 
expenses in the statement of comprehensive income. Amortisation is calculated to write down 
the cost less estimated residual value of all intangible assets by equal annual instalments over 
their expected useful lives. The rates generally applicable are: 

•  Development costs 

20% to 33% 

Software licences 
The cost of perpetual software licences acquired are stated at cost, net of amortisation and any 
provision for impairment. 

•  Software licences  

20% to 30% 

g)  Land, building, plant and equipment  

Land, buildings, plant and equipment are stated at cost, net of depreciation and any provision for 
impairment.  

Disposal of assets 

The  gain  or  loss  arising  on  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. 

Page 52  

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Depreciation 

PCI-PAL PLC 

Depreciation is calculated to write down the cost less estimated residual value of all plant and 
equipment assets by equal annual instalments over their expected useful lives. The rates generally 
applicable are: 

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

Land 
Buildings 
Fixtures and fittings 
Plant 
Computer equipment 

not depreciated 
2% 
20% to 
20% to 
33% 

50% 
50% 

Material residual value estimates are updated as required, but at least annually. 

h) 

Impairment testing of other intangible assets, 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. 

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  cost  to  sell,  and  value  in  use  based  on  an  internal 
discounted cash flow evaluation. Any impairment loss is first applied to write down goodwill to nil 
and then 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 no longer exists. 

i)  Equity-based and share-based payment transactions 

The Company’s share option schemes  allow employees to acquire shares in PCI-PAL PLC to be 
settled in equity. The fair value of options granted is recognised as an employee expense with a 
corresponding increase in equity in the Company accounts. The fair value is measured at grant 
date and spread over the period during which the employees will be entitled to the options. The 
fair  value  of  the  options  granted  is  measured  using  either  the  Black-Scholes  option  valuation 
model or the Monte Carlo option pricing model, whichever is appropriate for the type of options 
issued. The valuations consider the terms and conditions upon which the options were granted. 
The amount recognised as an expense is adjusted to reflect the actual number of share options 
that are expected to vest. 

j)  Taxation 

Current tax is the tax payable based on the profit for the year, accounted for at the rates enacted 
at 30 June 2019. 

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  the  initial  recognition  of  an  asset  or  liability,  unless  the  related  transaction  is  a 
business combination or affects tax or accounting profit. 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. 

Page 53  

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
PCI-PAL PLC 

Deferred tax liabilities are provided in full, accounted for at the rates enacted at 30 June 2019, 
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 year end. 

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 charged or credited 
to  other  comprehensive  income  or  directly  to  equity  in  which  case  the  related  tax  charge  is  also 
charged or credited directly to other comprehensive income or equity. 

k)  Dividends 

Dividend distributions payable to equity shareholders are included in “other short term financial 
liabilities”  when  the  dividends  are  approved  in  general  meeting  prior  to  the  year  end.  Interim 
dividends are recognised when paid. 

l)  Financial assets and liabilities 

The Group’s financial assets comprise cash and trade and other receivables, which under IAS 39 are 
classed as “loans and receivables”. Financial assets are recognised on  inception at  fair  value  plus 
transaction  costs.  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.  Any  change  in  their  value  through  impairment  or  reversal  of 
impairment is recognised in in the year. 

Trade  receivables  are  reviewed  at  inception  under  an  expected  credit  loss  model,  and  then 
subsequently for further indicators of impairment, and a provision, if required, is determined as 
the difference between the assets’ carrying amount and the present value of estimated future cash 
flows. 

The  Group  has  a  number  of  financial  liabilities  including  trade  and  other  payables  and  bank 
borrowings. These are classed as “financial liabilities measured at amortised cost” in IAS 39. These 
financial liabilities are carried on inception at fair value net of transaction costs and are thereafter 
carried at amortised cost under the effective interest method. 

m)  Cash and cash equivalents 

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

n)  Equity 

Equity comprises the following: 

•  “Share capital” represents the nominal value of equity shares. The shares have attached to 
them voting, dividend and capital distribution (including on winding up) rights; they do not 
confer any rights of redemption. 

•  “Share premium” represents the difference between the nominal and issued share price 

after accounting for the costs of issuing the shares 

•  “Other reserves” represents  the net amortisation  charge for  the Company’s share options 

scheme 

•  “Profit and loss account” represents retained profits or losses  

Page 54  

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
•  “currency reserves” represents exchange differences arising from the translation of assets and 

liabilities of foreign operations 

PCI-PAL PLC 

o)  Contribution to defined contribution pension schemes 

The pension costs charged against profits represent the amount of the contributions payable to 
the schemes in respect of the accounting period. 

p)  Foreign currencies 

Transactions in foreign currencies are translated in to Sterling at the exchange rate ruling at the 
date of the transaction. Monetary assets and liabilities in foreign currencies are translated into 
Sterling at the rates of exchange ruling at the year end. 

Any exchange differences arising on the settlement of monetary items or on translating monetary 
items at rates different from those at which they were initially recorded are recognised in the 
statement of comprehensive income in the period in which they arise. 

The  assets  and  liabilities  of  foreign  operations,  including  goodwill  and  fair  value  adjustments 
arising  on  consolidation,  are  translated  to  the  Group’s  presentational  currency,  Sterling,  at 
foreign exchange rates ruling at the balance sheet date. The revenues and expenses of foreign 
operations are translated at an average rate for the year where this rate approximates to the 
foreign exchange rates ruling at the dates of the transactions. Exchange differences arising from 
this translation of foreign operations are reported as an item of other comprehensive income and 
accumulated in the currency reserve.  

q)  Significant judgements and estimates 

The Group makes estimates concerning the future in assessing the carrying amounts of capitalised 
development costs. To substantiate the carrying amount the directors have applied the criteria of 
IAS 38 and considered the future economic benefit likely as a result of the investment. 

Careful judgement by the directors is applied when deciding whether the recognition requirements 
for development costs have been met.  Judgement factors include: current sales of the new AWS 
platform; future demand; and the resource necessary to finalise the development over the next 
few years. This is necessary as the economic success of any product development is uncertain and 
may be subject to future technical problems at the time of recognition. Judgements are based on 
the information available at each balance sheet date. In addition, all internal activities related to the 
research and development of new software products are continuously monitored by the directors.  

The  Group  has  adopted  IFRS  15.    A  key  related  judgement  is  whether  fees  relating  to  the 
establishment of a contract constitute a separate performance obligation (see Note 4d above). 
Having determined that such fees are not a separate performance obligation, a key estimate is 
the period over which such fees are recognised as revenue. The directors have judged that such 
revenue will be deferred into deferred revenue and held in the Statement of Financial Position 
and will be released to the Statement of Comprehensive Income over the estimated term of the 
contract. 

That term is estimated as: 
- for contracts with defined termination dates, revenue will be recognised over the period to the 
termination date 
- for rolling contracts with renewal clauses, revenue will be recognised over the maximum of 4 
years, representing the directors' current best estimate of a minimum contract term.   

Associated  direct  costs  will  be  assessed  and  will  also  be  deferred  over  the  same  period.   
Commission costs directly attributable to the sale will be deferred but over the minimum contract 

Page 55  

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
length of the contract it relates to. 

PCI-PAL PLC 

The calculation of the deferred tax asset involved the estimation of future taxable profits. In the 
year ended 30 June 2018, the directors assessed the carrying value of the deferred tax asset and 
decided not to recognise the asset, as the utilisation of the assets was unlikely in the near future. 
The directors have reached the same conclusion for this accounting period and so no asset has 
been recognised. 

5. 

LOSS BEFORE TAXATION 

The loss on ordinary activities is stated after: 

Disclosure of the audit and non-audit fees 

Fees payable to the Group’s auditors for: 
The audit of Company’s accounts 

The audit of the Company’s subsidiaries pursuant to legislation 

Fees payable to the Group’s auditors for other services 

Audit related assurance services 
Tax – compliance services 
Tax – advisory services 

Depreciation and amortisation – charged in administrative expenses 

Plant and equipment  
Intangible assets 

Rents payable 
Amortisation of share-based payments 
Foreign exchange gain 

6. FINANCE INCOME 

Unwind of loan note receivable discount 

Bank interest receivable 

7. FINANCE EXPENDITURE 

Interest on bank borrowings 
Other 

Page 56  

2019 
£000s 

2018 
£000s 

20 

12 

- 
6 
12 

53 
191 
148 
82 
89 

15 

17 

- 
6 
24 

44 
107 
133 
95 
22 

2019 
£000s 

2018 
£000s 

181 

0 

181 

25 

3 

28 

2019 
£000s 
- 
8 

2018 
£000s 
- 
10 

8 

10 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
8. DIRECTORS AND EMPLOYEES 

PCI-PAL PLC 

Staff  costs  of  the  Group,  including  the  directors  who  are  considered  to  be  part  of  the  key 
management personnel, during the year were as follows.  

Wages and salaries 
Social security costs 
Other pension costs 

Average number of employees during the year 

Remuneration in respect of directors was as follows: 

Emoluments 
Bonus 
Pension contributions to money purchase pension schemes 

Employer’s National insurance and US Federal Taxes 

2019 
£000s 
3,381 
425 
74 

3,880 

2019 

Heads 
45 

2019 
£000s 
543 
24 
29 

65 

661 

2018 
£000s 
2,401 
302 
55 

2,758 

2018 

Heads 
37 

2018 
£000s 
592 
90 
23 

92 

797 

During the year 4 (2017: 5) directors participated in money purchase pension schemes. 

The Board consider the Board of directors to be the key management for the Group. 

In October 2018 the Group terminated the employment of its Chief Executive. The Group reached a 
settlement with him and paid him the following amounts as a termination payment: 

Payment in Lieu of Notice 
Bonus 
Compensation for loss of office 
Settlement of pension obligations 
Settlement of benefit obligations 

Employer’s National insurance  

£000s 
161 
- 
100 
11 
8 
280 
22 

302 

The amounts set out above include remuneration in respect of the highest paid director as 
follows: 

Emoluments 
Bonus 
Pension contributions to money purchase pension schemes 

2019 
£000s 
157 
24 
14 

2018 
£000s 
183 
28 
- 

A detailed breakdown of the Directors’ Emoluments, in line with the AIM rules, appears in the 
Directors’ Report. 

Page 57  

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
PCI-PAL PLC 

9. SEGMENTAL INFORMATION 

PCI-PAL  PLC  operates  one  business  sector:  the  service  of  providing  data  secure  payment  card 
authorisations for call centre operations and this is delivered on a regional basis.   The Group 
manages its operations by reference to geographic segments, which are reported on below: 

Segment results, assets and liabilities include items directly attributable to a segment as well as 
those that can be allocated on a reasonable basis. Unallocated assets comprise items such as cash 
and  cash  equivalents,  taxation  and  borrowings.  All  liabilities,  other  than  the  bank  loan,  are 
unallocated.  Segment capital expenditure is  the total cost incurred during the  year to acquire 
segment assets that are expected to be used for more than one period. 

2019 

Revenue 
Cost of Sales 

Gross Profit 

Administration Expenses 

Loss from Operating Activities 

Finance income 

Finance costs 

PCI Pal 
EMEA 
£000s 

2,721 
(1,119) 

1,602 

59% 

(2,754) 

(1,152) 

- 

(3) 

PCI Pal 
North 
America 
£000s 

96 
- 

96 

100% 

(2,680) 

(2,584) 

- 

(5) 

Central 
£000s 

Total 
£000s 

- 
- 

- 

(939) 

(939) 

181 

- 

2,817 
(1,119) 

1,698 

60% 

(6,373) 

(4,675) 

181 

(8) 

Loss before tax 

(1,155) 

(2,589) 

(758) 

(4,502) 

Segment assets 

3,142 

537 

1,183 

4,862 

Segment liabilities 

(2,779) 

(566) 

(115) 

(3,447) 

Other segment items: 
Capital Expenditure 
- Equipment, Fixtures & 

Licences 

Capital Expenditure 
- Capitalised Development  

Depreciation 
 - Equipment, Fixtures & Licences 
Depreciation 
- Capitalised Development  

27 

647 

53 

191 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

27 

647 

53 

191 

Page 58  

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
   
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
9.  SEGMENTAL INFORMATION (continued) 

PCI-PAL PLC 

2018 Restated 

Revenue 
Cost of Sales 

Gross Profit 

Administration Expenses 

Loss from Operating Activities 

Finance income 

Finance costs 

PCI Pal 
EMEA 
£000s 

2,007 
(1,151) 

856 

43% 

(2,809) 

(1,953) 

- 

(6) 

PCI Pal 
North 
America 
£000s 

- 
- 

- 

-% 

(955) 

(955) 

- 

(3) 

Central 
£000s 

Total 
£000s 

- 
- 

- 

2,007 
(1,151) 

856 

43% 

(885) 

(885) 

(4,649) 

(3,793) 

28 

(1) 

28 

(10) 

Loss before tax 

(1,959) 

(958) 

(858) 

(3,775) 

1,889 

(1,697) 

1,252 

(102) 

4,508 

7,649 

(43) 

(1,842) 

Segment assets 

Segment liabilities 

Other segment items: 
Capital Expenditure 
- Equipment, Fixtures & 

Licences 

Capital Expenditure 
- Capitalised Development  

Depreciation 
 - Equipment, Fixtures & Licences 
Depreciation 
- Capitalised Development  

43 

456 

45 

107 

- 

- 

- 

- 

Revenue can be split by location of customers as follows: 

Continuing activities 

PCI – PAL division 

United Kingdom and European Union 

North America 

Asia Pacific 
Middle East 
Continuing Operations 

- 

- 

- 

- 

43 

456 

45 

107 

2019 
£000s 

2018 
£000s 
Restated 

2,610 

1,907 

90 

6 

111 
2,817 

- 

- 

100 
2,007 

All non-current assets are located in the United Kingdom and no customer accounted for more 
than 10% of the revenue of the Group

Page 59  

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
   
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
10. 

EARNINGS PER SHARE 

PCI-PAL PLC 

The calculation of the earnings per share is based on the profit after taxation added to reserves 
divided by the weighted average number of ordinary shares in issue during the relevant period as 
adjusted for treasury shares. Details of potential share options are disclosed in note 19. 

12 months 
ended 
30 June 
2019 

12 months 
ended 
30 June 
2018 
Restated 

(Loss)/profit after taxation added to reserves 

(£4,366,000) 

(£3,775,000) 

Basic weighted average number of ordinary shares in 
issue during the period 

42,386,720 

36,137,282 

Diluted weighted average number of ordinary shares in issue 
during the period 

47,083,804 

39,355,616 

Basic and diluted earnings per share 

(10.30) p 

(10.45) p 

There are no separate diluted earnings per share calculations shown as it is considered to be anti-dilutive.  

11. 

TAXATION 

Analysis of charge in the year 
Current tax: 
In respect of the year: 
UK Corporation tax based on the results for the year at 
19% (2018: 19%) 
R & D Tax credit received 

Total current tax (charged)/credited 

Movement on recognition of tax losses 

Total deferred tax charged 

(Charge)/credit 

2019 
£000s 

2018 
£000s 

- 

136 

136 

- 

- 

136 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

Page 60  

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
PCI-PAL PLC 

11. TAXATION (continued) 

Factors affecting current tax charge 

The tax assessed on the loss on ordinary activities for the year was lower than the standard rate 
of corporation tax in the UK of 19% (2018: 19%) and in the United States of 21% (2018: 21%) 

Loss on ordinary activities before tax 

Loss on ordinary activities multiplied by standard 
rate of corporation tax in the UK & US of 20.14% 
(2017: 20%) 
Expenses not deductible for tax purposes 
Depreciation (less than)/in excess of capital allowances 
for the year 
Utilisation of tax losses 
Unrelieved tax losses 
Other 

Movement on deferred tax timing differences 
R&D Tax Credit received 
Prior year adjustment 

Total tax credited for the year 

2019 
£000s 

(4,502) 

2018 
£000s 
Restated 

(3,775) 

(907) 

(717) 

1 

28 
- 
883 
(5) 

- 
136 
- 

136 

1 

11 
- 
717 
(12) 

- 

- 

- 

The Group has unrecognised tax losses carried forward of £9.42 million (2018: £5.23 million). 

Page 61  

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
PCI-PAL PLC 

SIP, RTP 
and SBC 
licences 
£000s 

Capitalised 
Development 

£000s 

Total 
£000s 

951 
647 
- 

951 
564 
- 

1,515 

1,598 

107 

183 
- 

290 

107 

191 
- 

298 

- 
83 
- 

83 

- 

8 
- 

8 

75 

1,225 

1,300 

SIP, RTP 
and SBC 
licences 
£000s 
- 

Capitalised 
Development 
£000s 
495 

- 
- 

- 

- 
- 

- 

- 

- 

456 
- 

951 

- 
107 

- 

107 

844 

Total 
£000s 
495 

456 
- 

951 

- 
107 

- 

107 

844 

12. 

INTANGIBLE ASSETS 

2019 

Cost: 

At 1 July 2018 
Additions 
Disposals 

At 30 June 2019 

Depreciation (included within 
administrative expenses): 

At 1 July 2018 
Charge for the year 
Disposals 

At 30 June 2019 

Net book amount 
at 30 June 2019 

2018 

At 1 July 2017 

Additions 
Disposals 

At 30 June 2018 

Depreciation (included within 
administrative expenses): 

At 1 July 2017 
Charge for the year 

Disposals 

At 30 June 2018 

Net book amount 
at 30 June 2018 

Page 62  

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
PCI-PAL PLC 

Fixtures 
and 
Fittings 
£000s 

Computer 
Equipment 
£000s 

22 
- 
- 

22 

6 

4 
- 

10 

12 

199 
27 
- 

226 

118 

49 
- 

167 

59 

Fixtures 
and 
Fittings 
£000s 
20 

Computer 
Equipment 
£000s 
159 

3 
(1) 

22 

3 
3 

- 

6 

16 

40 
- 

199 

77 
41 

- 

118 

81 

13. 

PLANT AND EQUIPMENT 

2019 

Cost: 

At 1 July 2018 
Additions 
Disposals 

At 30 June 2019 

Depreciation (included within 
administrative expenses): 

At 1 July 2018 
Charge for the year 
Disposals 

At 30 June 2019 

Net book amount 
at 30 June 2019 

2018 

At 1 July 2017 

Additions 
Disposals 

At 30 June 2018 

Depreciation (included within 
administrative expenses): 

At 1 July 2017 
Charge for the year 

Disposals 

At 30 June 2018 

Net book amount 
at 30 June 2018 

There are no assets held as finance leases. 

Page 63  

Total 
£000s 

221 
27 
- 

248 

124 

53 
- 

177 

71 

Total 
£000s 
179 

43 
(1) 

221 

80 
44 

- 

124 

97 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
PCI-PAL PLC 

14.  TRADE AND OTHER RECEIVABLES 

Trade receivables 

Accrued income 

Other receivables 
Loan notes receivable within one year 

Prepayments and accrued income 

2019 
£000s 

1,057 

35 

605 
- 

302 

2018 
£000s 
Restated 
475 

- 

155 
908 

216 

Trade and other receivables due within one year 

1,999 

1,754 

Loan notes receivable in more than one year 

Trade and other receivables 

- 

1,999 

1,206 

2,960 

All  amounts  are  considered  to  be  approximately  equal  to  the  carrying  value.  The  maximum 
exposure to  credit risk at  the reporting date is the carrying value of each class of receivables 
mentioned above.  

Trade  receivables  are  reviewed  at  inception  under  an  expected  credit  loss  model,  and  then 
subsequently for further indicators of impairment, and a provision has been recorded as follows: 

Opening provision 

Charged to income 

Closing provision at 30 June 

2019 
£000s 
8 

- 

8 

2018 
£000s 
15 

(7) 

8 

All of the impaired trade receivables are past due at the reporting dates. In addition, some of the 
non-impaired trade receivables are past due at the reporting date: 

0-30 days past due 

30-60 days past due 
Over 60 days past due 

2019 
£000s 
118 

19 

140 

277 

2018 
£000s 
61 

6 

52 

119 

Amounts which are not impaired, whether past due or not, are considered to be recoverable at their 
carrying value. Factors taken into consideration are past experience of collecting debts from those 
customers, plus evidence of post year end collection. 

Loan notes receivable 
The loan notes receivable outstanding as at 30 June 2018 were fully repaid in the period. 

Page 64  

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
PCI-PAL PLC 

15. 

CURRENT LIABILITIES 

Trade payables 

Social security and other taxes 

Deferred Income 

Accruals 

2019 
£000s 

491 

97 

2,453 

406 

2018 
£000s 
Restated 
447 

111 

1,131 

153 

Trade and other payables 

3,447 

1,842 

Bank loans (note 16) 

Amounts due under finance leases (note 16) 

Current portion of long-term borrowings 

Amounts due under finance leases are secured on the related assets. 

16.  NON-CURRENT LIABILITIES 

Bank loans 
Amounts due under finance leases 

Long term borrowings 

Borrowings 

Bank loans are repayable as follows: 

Within one year 
After one year and within two years 
After two years and within five years 
Over five years 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

3,447 

1,842 

2019 
£000s 
- 
- 

- 

2019 
£000s 
- 
- 
- 
- 

2018 
£000s 
- 
- 

- 

2018 
£000s 
- 
- 
- 
- 

- 

- 

Page 65  

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
PCI-PAL PLC 

17.  DEFERRED TAXATION 

Deferred taxation is calculated at a rate of 19% (2018: 19%) in the UK and 21% (2018: 19%) in the US 

Opening balance at 1 July 2017 

(Charged)/credited through the statement of 
comprehensive income in the year 

At 30 June 2018 

Charged through the statement of 
comprehensive income in the year 

At 30 June 2019 

Unprovided deferred tax assets 

Accelerated capital allowances 
Trading losses 

Tax losses 
£000s 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

Total 
£000s 
Restated 
- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

2019 
£000s 

2018 
£000s 
Restated 

- 
1,602 

- 
1,060 

1,602 

1,060 

The unprovided deferred tax assets are calculated at a rate of 17% (2018: 17%). 

Page 66  

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
18. 

GROUP UNDERTAKINGS 

PCI-PAL PLC 

At 30 June 2019, the Group included the following subsidiary undertakings, which are included 
in the consolidated accounts: 

Name 

Country of 
Incorporation 

Class of share 
capital held 

Proportion 
held 

Nature of business 

PCI-PAL (U.K.) Limited 

England 

Ordinary 

100% 

Payment Card Industry 
software services provider 

IP3 Telecom Limited 

England 

Ordinary 

100% 

Dormant 

The Number Experts 
Limited 

England 

Ordinary 

100% 

Dormant 

PCI PAL (US) Inc 

United States 
of America 

Ordinary 

100% 

Payment Card Industry 
software services provider 

19. 

SHARE CAPITAL 

Group 

Authorised: 
Ordinary shares of 1p each 

Allotted called up and fully paid: 
Ordinary shares of 1p each 

2019 
Number 

2019 
£000s 

2018 
Number 

2018 
£000s 

100,000,000 

1,000 

100,000,000 

1,000 

42,721,178 

427 

42,721,178 

427 

On 30 January 2018 the company placed 11,000,000 ordinary shares of 1 pence with various institutional 
investors,  priced  at  45  pence  per  share.  The  placing  raised  a  gross  amount  of  £4.95  million  before 
expenses.  The  new  shares  represent  approximately  25.8%  of  the  Company’s  enlarged  issued  ordinary 
share capital (excluding those held as treasury shares). 

The Group owns 167,229 (2016: 167,229) shares and these are held as Treasury Shares. 

During the year, the share price fluctuated between 39.5 pence and 17.5 pence and closed at 30.98 pence 
on 30 June 2019. 

Page 67  

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Share Option schemes 
The  Company  operates  an  Employee  Share  Option  Scheme.  The  share  options  granted  under  the 
scheme are subject to performance criteria and generally have a life of 10 years. The grant price is taken 
with reference to the closing quotation price as derived from the Daily Official List of the London Stock 
Exchange.  

The performance criteria are set by the remuneration committee. The grants are individually assessed 
with  regard  to  the  location  of  the  employee  and  generally  have  one  of  the  following  performance 
criteria: 

1: 50% of the options will vest if the share price of the Company as measured on the London Stock 
Exchange trades above the share price at the date of grant, for a continuous 30 day period; 25% or the 
options will vest if the share price of the Company trade 50% above the share price of the Company at 
the date of Grant for a continuous 30 day period; and the remaining 25% will vest if the share price of 
the Company trades 100% above the share price of the Company at the date of Grant for a continuous 
30 day period. The options cannot be exercised for a three year period from the date of Grant. or; 

2: The number of options granted will vest equally over a four year period in monthly tranches with the 
earliest exercise date being 12 months from the date of issue of the option 

All options will lapse after a ten-year period if they have not been exercised. 

The following options grants have been made and are valued using the Monte Carlo Pricing 
model with the following assumptions: 

Date of Grant 

Exercise Price 

Price at date of 
grant 
Estimated time to 
Maturity 
Expected Dividend 
yield 
Risk Free Rate 
No Steps used in 
calculation 
No of simulations 
used in calculation 
Fair value of Option 

Weighted average 
life in years 

# option shares 
issued at grant 
# option shares 
lapsed  
# option shares 
outstanding as at 
30 June 2019 
# option shares 
exercisable as at 30 
June 2019 

Total charge for 
year 
Total cumulative 
charge as at 30 
June 2019 

25 May 
17 
33.0 
pence 
44.0 
pence 
5 years 

12 July 
18 
28.5 
pence 
28.5 
pence 
5 years 

12 Nov 
18 
26.5 
pence 
26.5 
pence 
5 years 

02 Jan 
19 
19.0 
pence 
19.0 
pence 
5 years 

27 Feb 
19 
23.0 
pence 
23.0 
pence 
5 years 

10 May 
19 
22.0 
pence 
22.0 
pence 
5 years 

13 Jun 
19 
28.5 
pence 
28.5 
pence 
5 years 

Total 

0.0% 

0.0% 

0.0% 

0.0% 

0.0% 

0.0% 

0.0% 

0.57% 
10 

0.996% 
10 

0.996% 
10 

0.839% 
10 

0.961% 
10 

0.870% 
10 

0.622% 
10 

100,000 

100,000 

100,000  100,000 

100,000 

100,000 

100,000 

14.11 
pence 
2.90 
years 

14.18 
pence 
4.03 
years 

14.23 
pence 
4.36 
years 

14.25 
pence 
4.50 
years 

14.21 
pence 
4.66 
years 

14.23 
pence 
4.85 
years 

14.30 
pence 
4.95 
years 

N/A 

N/A 

N/A 

N/A 

N/A 
N/A 

N/A 

N/A 

3,065,000 

565,000 

225,000  320,000 

105,000 

145,000 

525,000 

4,950,000 

(580,000) 

(350,000) 

(10,000) 

0 

0 

0 

0 

(940,000) 

2,485,000 

215,000 

215,000  320,000 

105,000 

145,000 

525,000 

4,010,000 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

£52,002 

£5,915 

£3,875 

£4,500 

£1,014 

£588 

£741 

£68,635 

£147,118 

£5,915 

£3,875 

£4,500 

£1,014 

£588 

£741 

£163,751 

Page 68  

 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
The  fair  value  of  these  options  has  been  calculated  on  an  issue  by  issue  basis  and  £68,635  (2018: 
£91,116) has been charged to the statement of comprehensive income account for this financial year. 

The following options have been valued using a Black Scholes Pricing model with the following 
assumptions: 

Date of Grant 

Exercise Price 

Price at date of 
grant 

Estimated time to 
Maturity 
Expected 
Dividend yield 
Risk Free Rate 
Volatility 
Fair value of 
Option 
Weighted average 
life in years 

# option shares 
issued at grant 
# option shares 
lapsed  
# option shares 
outstanding at 30 
June 2019 
# option shares 
exercisable as at 
30 June 2019 

Total charge for 
year 
Total cumulative 
charge as at 30 
June 2019 

28 Jun 
17 
41.5 
pence 
41.5 
pence 

04 Oct 
17 
44.5 
pence 
44.5 
pence 

12 Jul 
18 
28.5 
pence 
28.5 
pence 

12 Jul 18 

28.5 
pence 
28.5 
pence 

12 Nov 
18 
26.5 
pence 
26.0 
pence 

12 Nov 
18 
26.0 
pence 
26.0 
pence 

07 Jan 
19 
18.4 
pence 
18.4 
pence 

27 Feb 
19 
23.0 
pence 
23.0 
pence 

Total 

5 years 

5 years 

5 years 

5 years 

5 years 

5 years 

5 years 

5 years 

0.0% 

0.0% 

0.0% 

0.0% 

0.0% 

0.0% 

0.0% 

0.0% 

0.57% 
20.0% 
7.8 
pence 
3.0 
years 

0.57% 
20.0% 
8.4 
pence 
3.26 
years 

0.996% 
20.0% 
5.6 
pence 
4.03 
years 

0.996% 
20.0% 
5.6 
pence 
4.03 
years 

1.03% 
20.0% 
5.0 
pence 
4.36 
years 

1.03% 
20.0% 
5.2 
pence 
4.36 
years 

0.89% 
20.0% 
3.6 
pence 
4.52 
years 

0.96% 
20.0% 
4.5 
pence 
4.66 
years 

150,000 

150,000 

415,000 

641,667  150,000 

60,000 

15,000 

100,000 

1,681,667 

0 

0 

(25,000) 

(550,000) 

0 

0 

0 

0 

(575,000) 

150,000 

150,000 

390,000 

91,667  150,000 

60,000 

15,000 

100,000 

1,106,667 

71,875 

59,375 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

131,250 

£2,346 

£2,524 

£4,271 

£1,004 

£941 

£393 

£52 

£308 

£11,839 

£4,937 

£4,384 

£4,271 

£1,004 

£941 

£393 

£52 

£308 

£16,290 

 The fair value of these options has been calculated on an issue by issue basis and £11,839 (2018: 
£2,401) has been charged to the statement of comprehensive income account for this financial year. 

The analysis of the Company’s option activity for the financial year is as follows: 

Number of 
Options 

2019   

Weighted 
Average 
exercise 
Price 

£   

0.339 
0.266 

0.300 
0.303 

3,255,000 
3,266,667 
- 
(1,405,000) 
5,116,667 

2018 
Weighted 
Average 
exercise 
price 
£ 
0.330 
0.445 

0.330 
0.339 

Options outstanding at start of year 
Options granted during the year 
Options exercised during the year 
Options lapsed during the year 
Options outstanding at end of year 

Options exercisable at the end of year 

131,250 

Number of 
Options 

3,215,000 
150,000 
- 
(110,000) 
3,255,000 

- 

Page 69  

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
FINANCIAL RISK MANAGEMENT AND FINANCIAL INSTRUMENTS 

20. 
The Group uses various financial instruments including cash, trade receivables, trade payables, other 
payables, loans and leasing that arise directly from its operations. The main purpose of these financial 
instruments is to maintain adequate finance for the Group’s operations. The existence of these financial 
instruments exposes the Group to a number of financial risks, which are described in detail below. The 
directors do not consider price risk to be a significant risk. The directors review and agree policies for 
managing each of these risks, as summarised below, and these remain unchanged from previous years. 

Capital Management 

The capital structure of the Group consists of debt, cash, loans and equity. The Group’s objective when 
managing capital is to maintain the cash position to protect the future on-going profitable growth which 
will reflect in shareholder value. 

At  30  June  2018,  the  Group  had  a  closing  cash  balance  of  £1,492,000  (2018:  £3,748,000)  and  no 
borrowings. 

Financial risk management and objectives 

The Group seeks to manage financial risk to ensure sufficient liquidity is available to meet foreseeable 
needs and to invest cash assets safely and profitably. The directors achieve this by regularly preparing 
and reviewing forecasts based on the trends shown in the monthly management accounts. 

In October 2019, after the close of the financial year, the Group agreed a £2.75 million, 36 month term 
loan facility with Shawbrook Bank secured over the assets of the business to assist with the working 
capital requirements of the Group 

Interest rate risk 

The Group does not use loan or lease finance and so there is no interest rate risk.  

Post the balance sheet date the Group has entered a term loan agreement with Shawbrook Bank, details 
of which are disclosed in Note 28: Subsequent Events 

Credit risk 

The Group’s principal financial assets are cash and trade receivables, with the principal credit risk arising 
from trade receivables. In order to manage credit risks the Group conducts third party credit reviews on 
all new clients, takes deposits where this is deemed necessary and collects payment by direct debit, 
limiting the exposure to a build-up of a large outstanding debt.  Concentration of credit risk with respect 
to trade receivables are limited due to the wide nature of the Group’s customer base:  no one customer 
accounts for more than 10% of revenues.  In some cases, licences fees are paid for annually in advance. 

Liquidity risk 

The Group aims to mitigate liquidity risk by closely monitoring cash generation and expenditure. Cash 
is monitored daily and forecasts are regularly prepared to ensure that the movements are in line with 
the directors’ strategy. 

Foreign currencies and foreign currency risk 

During the year exchange gains of £89,400 (2018: £21,600) have arisen and at the year-end. As at the 
30 June 2019 the Group held the following foreign currency cash balances: 

Page 70  

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
US Dollar:   
$97,406 
          $8 
Canadian Dollar: 
Australian Dollar:  $11,273 
Total 

Sterling equivalent: £77,111  
Sterling equivalent: £5 
Sterling equivalent: £6,130 
Sterling equivalent: £83,246 

(2018: £83,246) 
(2018: £nil) 
(2018: £nil) 
(2018: £83,246) 

Transactions  in  foreign  currencies  are  translated  at  the  exchange  rate  ruling  at  the  date  of  the 
transaction and monetary assets and liabilities in foreign currencies are translated at the rates ruling at 
the year end. At present foreign exchange is minimal and hedging and risk management is not deemed 
necessary as the company trades and spends in the various currencies. 

The Group’s principal exposure to exchange rate fluctuations arise on the translation of overseas net 
assets, profits and losses into Sterling, for presentational purposes.   The risk is managed by taking the 
differences  that  arise  on  the  retranslation  of  the  net  overseas  investments  to  the  currency  reserve.   
Foreign currency risk on cash balances is monitored through regular forecasting and the Group tries to 
maintain  a  minimum  level  of  currency  in  the  accounts  so  as  to  meet  the  short  term  working  capital 
requirements. 

No  sensitivity  analysis  is  provided  in  respect  of  foreign  currency  risks  as  the  risk  is  considered  to  be 
moderate. 

Financial assets  

Current financial assets 

Cash at bank 
Trade receivables – current 
Accrued income 
Loan notes receivable 

Note 

2019 

2018 

14 
14 
14 

£000s 
1,492 
1,057 
35 
- 

2,584 

£000s 
3,748 
475 
- 
2,114 

6,337 

The fair values of the financial assets are considered to be approximately equal to the carrying values. 

Financial liabilities  

Current financial liabilities 

Trade payables 
Accruals 

Note 

2019 

2018 

15 
15 

£000s 
491 
406 

£000s 
447 
153 

897 

600 

The fair values of the financial liabilities are considered to be approximately equal to the carrying 
values.  

21. 

CAPITAL COMMITMENTS 

The Group has no capital commitments at 30 June 2019 or 30 June 2018. 

Page 71  

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
22. 

CONTINGENT ASSETS 

The Group has no contingent assets at 30 June 2019 or 30 June 2018. 

23. 

CONTINGENT LIABILITIES 

The Group has no contingent liabilities at 30 June 2019 or 30 June 2018.  

24. CHANGES IN ACCOUNTING POLICIES 

Impact on the financial statements 
As a result of the changes in the entity's accounting policies, prior year financial statements had to be 
restated.  

IFRS  9 Financial  Instruments was  implemented  without  restating  comparative  information,  on  the 
grounds of materiality.  

IFRS 15 Revenue from Contracts with Customers was adopted and the prior year financial statements 
have been restated. The tables below show the adjustments recognised for each individual line item for 
the period ending 30 June 2018.  

The adjustments for the twelve months to 30 June 2018 are as follows: 

Consolidated statement of comprehensive 
income for the twelve months to 30 June 2018 

As originally 
presented 

Adjustment 
IFRS 15 

Continuing operations 
Revenue 
Cost of sales 

Gross profit 
Administrative expenses 
Loss from operating activities 
Interest payable 
Finance income 
Interest receivable 

Loss before taxation 
Taxation 

Loss for period from continuing activities 
Profit for period from discontinued activities 
Total comprehensive (loss)/income for the 
period 

£’000 

£’000 

2,136 
(1,151) 
985 
(4,747) 
(3,762) 
(10) 
28 
- 
(3,744) 
- 
(3,744) 
- 
(3,744) 

(129) 
- 

(129) 
98 
(31) 
- 
- 
- 

(31) 
- 
(31) 
- 
(31) 

Restated 
twelve 
months 
ended 30 
June 
2018 
£’000 

2,007 
(1,151) 

856 
(4,649) 
(3,793) 
(10) 
28 
- 

(3,775) 
- 
(3,775) 
- 
(3,775) 

Profit / (loss) per share expressed in pence 
Basic and diluted 

(10.36) 

(0.09) 

(10.45) 

Page 72  

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Consolidated statement of financial position as at 
30 June 2017  

As originally 
presented 

Adjustment 
IFRS 15 

£’000 

£’000 

Restated 
twelve months 
ended 30 June 
2017 
£’000 

Assets 
Non-current assets 
Plant & Equipment 
Intangible assets 
Loan note receivable 

 Non-current assets 

Current assets 
Trade and other receivables 
Loan note receivable 
Cash and cash equivalents 

 Current assets 

Total assets 

Liabilities 
Current liabilities 
Trade and other payables 
Other interest-bearing loans and borrowings 

 Current liabilities 

Non-current liabilities 
Long term borrowings 
Non-current liabilities 

 Total liabilities 

Net assets 

Shareholders’ equity 
Share capital 
Share premium 
Other reserve 
Currency reserve 
Profit & loss account 
Total shareholders’ equity 

99 
495 
2,202 
2,796 

608 
945 
1,958 
3,511 

6,307 

(883) 
- 
(883) 

- 
- 
(883) 
5,424 

317 
89 
4 
- 
5,014 
5,424 

- 
- 
- 
- 

40 
- 
- 
40 

40 

(585) 
- 
(585) 

- 
- 
(585) 
(545) 

- 
- 
- 
- 
(545) 
(545) 

99 
495 
2,202 
2,796 

648 
945 
1,958 
3,551 

6,347 

(1,468) 
- 
(1,468) 

- 
- 
(1,468) 
4,879 

317 
89 
4 
- 
4,469 
4,879 

Page 73  

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Consolidated statement of financial position as at 
30 June 2018  

As originally 
presented 

Adjustment 
IFRS 15 

£’000 

£’000 

Restated 
twelve months 
ended 30 June 
2018 
£’000 

Assets 
Non-current assets 
Plant & Equipment 
Intangible assets 
Loan note receivable 

 Non-current assets 

Current assets 
Trade and other receivables 
Loan note receivable 
Cash and cash equivalents 

 Current assets 

Total assets 

Liabilities 
Current liabilities 
Trade and other payables 
Other interest-bearing loans and borrowings 

 Current liabilities 

Non-current liabilities 
Long term borrowings 
Non-current liabilities 

 Total liabilities 

Net assets 

Shareholders’ equity 
Share capital 
Share premium 
Other reserve 
Currency reserve 
Profit & loss account 
Total shareholders’ equity 

Reconciliation of contract revenue balances under IFRS 15 

b/fwd deferred revenue   
Amounts invoiced and deferred in year 
Amounts released as revenue in year 
c/fwd deferred revenue 

Page 74  

97 
844 
1,206 
2,147 

708 
908 
3,748 
5,364 

7,511 

(1,128) 
- 
(1,128) 

- 
- 
(1,128) 
6,383 

427 
4,618 
99 
(31) 
1,270 
6,383 

2019 
£000s 
(714) 
(821) 
398 
(1,137) 

97 
844 
1,206 
2,147 

846 
908 
3,748 
5,502 

7,649 

(1,842) 
- 
(1,842) 

- 
- 
(1,842) 
5,807 

427 
4,618 
99 
(31) 
694 
5,807 

- 
- 
- 
- 

138 
- 
- 
138 

138 

(714) 
- 
(714) 

- 
- 
(714) 
(576) 

- 
- 
- 
- 
(576) 
(576) 

2018 
£000s 
(585) 
(379) 
250 
(714) 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Reconciliation of contract cost balances under IFRS 15 

b/fwd deferred cost balance   
Amounts of costs deferred in year 
Amounts of costs released in year 
c/fwd deferred cost balance 

2019 
£000s 
138 
605 
(138) 
605 

2018 
£000s 
40 
138 
(40) 
138 

IFRS 15 - Revenue from Contracts with Customers - Impact of adoption 

The Group has adopted IFRS 15 from 1 July 2018 which resulted in changes in accounting policies and 
adjustments to the amounts recognised in the financial statements. In accordance with the transition 
provisions  in  IFRS  15,  the  group  has  adopted  the  new  rules  retrospectively  and  has  restated 
comparatives both for the 2018 financial year and the opening balance sheet at 1 July 2017. In summary, 
the following adjustments were made to the amounts recognised in the balance sheet at the date of 
initial application (1 July 2018). 

(i)  Revenue 

From 1 July 2017 all set-up, professional service and installation fees for our PCI compliance solutions 
and our hosted telephony services previously recognised in revenue during the implementation phase 
of the client projects have been restated under IFRS 15. These fees will now be deferred into deferred 
revenue and held in the balance sheet and will be released to the statement of comprehensive income 
over the estimated term of the contract up to a maximum of four years. 

In addition, the opening balance sheet at 1 July 2017 has been restated for contracts where fees have 
been recognised in revenue prior to 1 July 2017.  

The net impact of this restatement is a reduction in previously reported revenue of £0.129 million for 
the 12 month period to 30 June 2018.  

The total deferred liability restated at 30 June 2018 is £0.714 million. 

There have been no adjustments made to revenue for the sale of third-party equipment.  

(ii) Commission costs (administrative expenses) 

Commission paid to members of the sale team for the signing of specific contracts is deferred onto the 
balance sheet and held in other current assets and is matched to the revenue over the minimum period 
of the contract term.  

In addition, the opening balance sheet at 1 July 2017 has been restated for contracts where commission 
has been charged as an administrative expense prior to 1 July 2017.  

Net commission costs of £0.089 million for the 12 month period to 30 June 2018 have been capitalised 
into other current assets.  

IFRS 15 - Revenue from Contracts with Customers - Accounting policies 

IFRS 15 provides a single, principles-based five-step model to be applied to all sales contracts, based on 
the transfer of control of goods and services to customers. Revenue represents the fair value of the sale 
of goods and services and after eliminating sales within the Group and excluding value added tax or 
overseas sales taxes. The following summarises the method of recognising revenue for the solutions and 
products delivered by the Group. 

Page 75  

 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
  
(i) PCI compliance solutions and hosted telephony services 
Revenue for set-up and cloud provision fee will be deferred and will be recognised evenly over 
the  estimated  term  of  the  contract,  having  accounted  for  the  automatic  auto-renewal  of  our 
contracts, up to a maximum of four years, starting the month following from the date of signature 
of the underlying contract. 

The payment profile for such contracts typically include payment for set-up fees at the point of 
signature of the contract, but for revenue recognition purposes, this is deemed to be an integral 
part of the wider contract rather than a separate performance obligation. 

Revenue for all other professional services and installation fees will be deferred and will be recognised 
evenly over the estimated term of the contract, having accounted for the automatic auto-renewal of 
our contracts, up to a maximum of four years, starting in the month following the hand over to the client 
for user acceptance testing.  

Costs directly attributable to the delivery of the PCI Compliance solutions and hosted telephony services 
are capitalised as 'costs to fulfil a contract' and released over the estimated term of the contract, having 
accounted for the automatic auto-renewal of our contracts, up to a maximum of four years, starting the 
month following from the date of signature of the underlying contract.  

Costs  relating  to  commission  costs  paid  to  employees  for  winning  the  contract  will  be  capitalised  as 
'costs to fulfil a contract' at the date the commissions payments become due and will be released in 
monthly increments over the minimum contract term starting the month following the date the cost is 
capitalised. 

 (ii) Third party equipment sales 
Where the contract involves the sale of third-party equipment that could be acquired and supplied by 
other parties to the client the revenues and costs relating to this will continue to be released in full to 
the Statement of Comprehensive Income at the time the installation is complete. 

IFRS 9 - Financial Instruments - Accounting policies 

The  Group  does  not  enter  into  forward  contracts  to  hedge  forecast  transactions  and  so  there  is  no 
requirement to restate the previous financial statements.  

25.  OPERATING LEASE COMMITMENTS 

Total future lease payments: 

Less than one year 
After one and within two years 
After two and within five years 

2019 
£000s 

2018 
£000s 

45 
23 
- 

68 

109 
45 
68 

222 

Operating lease commitments relate to the following buildings: 

Ipswich Nos 5,6 & 7 Gamma Terrace expires December 2021, with optional break clause for 
September 2019 

The Company operates from a serviced office facility at 30 Moorgate London that is cancellable at 
short notice. 

The Company operates from a serviced office facility at 101 N Tryon St, Charlotte that is cancellable 
at short notice. 

Page 76  

 
 
 
 
 
 
  
  
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
26. 

TRANSACTIONS WITH DIRECTORS 

There were no transactions with directors in the year to June 2019 or June 2018. 

27. 

DIVIDENDS 

The directors have proposed a dividend of nil pence per share (2018: nil pence per share) post year 
end (subject to shareholder approval). 

28. 

SUBSEQUENT EVENTS 

Post the close of the financial year the Group has entered into a £2.75 million loan facility with 
Shawbrook Bank. The principal terms are as follows: 

  Term 
  Interest rate 
  Arrangement Fee 
  Non utilisation fee 
  Exit fee  
  Security 

36 months with three month capital repayment holiday 
9.3% over LIBOR paid monthly 
1.4% of loan facility 
0.6% of unutilised amount 
shares equivalent of 7.5% of the facility payable as detailed below 
Fixed and Floating debenture over the assets of the Group. 

The  loan  balance  can  be  drawn  in  two  tranches  with  a  minimum  of  £1.0  million  within  five 
business days of the signing of the agreement and the remaining balance within twelve months. 
The company will initially be drawing down £1.5 million of this new facility. The facility is being 
used to support the working capital requirements of the Group as it continues to grow.  

Shawbrook Bank will be entitled to receive a cash based exit payment calculated on the value 
generated, over a 10 year period, on the equivalent of £206,250 of phantom shares (being 7.5% 
of the facility) if there is a takeover of the Group or a debt refinancing of the Shawbrook debt.   

The exit fee is a cash payment of a sum equal to P, where: 

P = (A  x  B) - C 

and where: 

A = the Phantom Shares Number – the Phantom Shares Value divided by the fair market value 
of one ordinary share, calculated using the average of the closing share price in the previous 
five days immediately prior to the date of the facility letter; 

B = the fair market value of one ordinary share at the time of the exit fee event; and 

C = the Phantom Shares Value, which is £206,250. 

An Exit Fee Event is where there is: 

(a) 

(b) 

(c) 

a sale or other disposition of all or substantially all of the assets in the Company in 
whatever form (whether in a single transaction or multiple related transactions); or  

an  acquisition  of  shares  in  the  Company  by  a  person  (and  any  persons  acting  in 
concert with that person) that results in that person (together with any such persons 
acting in concert) acquiring a controlling interest in the Company; or 

a  reorganisation,  consolidation  or  merger  of  the  Company  (whether  in  a  single 
transaction  or  multiple  related  transactions)  where  shareholders  before  the 

Page 77  

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
transaction(s) directly or indirectly beneficially own issued voting securities of the 
surviving entity after the transaction(s) together carrying the right to cast 50% or 
less of the votes capable of being cast at general meetings of the surviving entity; 
or 

(d) 

(e) 

a  distribution  or  other  transfer  of  assets  to  the  shareholders  of  the  Company  in 
connection with the liquidation of the Company; or 

 a refinancing of the Facility with a bank or debt lender (other than the Bank) within thirty 
six months of the date of the Facility Agreement, provided that the outstanding balance of 
the Facility prior to the date of such refinancing is equal to or greater than £500,000 

Page 78  

 
 
COMPANY STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL POSITION 

AS AT 30 JUNE 2019 

Note 

2019 
£000s 

2018 
£000s 

ASSETS 

Non current assets 

Investments in Subsidiaries 
Loan Note Receivable 

Current assets 
Debtors 
Cash at bank and in hand 

Creditors: amounts falling due within one 
year 

Net current assets 

Total assets less current liabilities 

Creditors: amounts falling due after more 
than one year 

Net assets 

Capital and reserves 
Called up share capital 

Share premium account 

Other reserves 
Profit and loss account 

Shareholders’ Funds 

5 
6 

6 

7 

8 

- 
- 

- 

8,568 
1,160 

- 
1,206 

1,206 

6,769 
2,357 

9,728 

9,126 

(115) 

(43) 

9,613 

9,083 

9,613 

10,289 

- 

- 

9,613 

10,289 

427 

4,618 

181 
4,387 

427 

4,618 

99 
5,145 

9,613 

10,289 

The loss for the Company for the year was £757,700 (2018: £857,500) 

The financial statements were approved by the directors and were authorised for issue on 8 
October 2019. 

J Barham 

Director 

T W Good 

Director 

Page 79  

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
COMPANY STATEMENT OF CHANGES IN EQUITY 

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 JUNE 2019 

Share 
capital 
£000s 

Share 
premium 
£000s 

Other 
reserves 
£000s 

Balance at 1 July 2017 

Dividend paid 

317 

- 

89 

- 

Equity issued in period 

110 

4,529 

Share Option amortisation charge 

- 

- 

Transactions with owners 

110 

4,529 

Loss for the year 

Total comprehensive loss 

- 

- 

- 

- 

4 

- 

- 

95 

95 

- 

- 

Profit and 
loss 
account 
£000s 

Total 
equity 
£000s 

6,003 

6,413 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

4,639 

95 

4,734 

(858) 

(858) 

(858) 

(858) 

Balance at 30 June 2018 

427 

4,618 

99 

5,145 

10,289 

Dividend paid 

Equity issued in period 

Share Option amortisation charge 

Transactions with owners 

Loss for the year 

Total comprehensive loss 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

82 

82 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

82 

82 

(758) 

(758) 

(758) 

(758) 

Balance at 30 June 2019 

427 

4,618 

181 

4,387 

9,613 

The accompanying accounting policies and notes form an integral part of these financial statements. 

Page 80  

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
COMPANY STATEMENT OF CASH FLOWS 

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 JUNE 2019 

Cash flows from operating activities 
Loss after taxation 
Adjustments for: 
Depreciation 
Interest income 

Share based payments 

Profit on sale of call centre division 

Increase in trade and other receivables 

Increase/(decrease) in trade and other payables 

Cash used in continuing operations 

Dividend paid 

Net cash used in operating activities 

Cash flows from investing activities 

Cash received for sale of call centre operation 

Repayment of loan note receivable 

Dividend received 

Interest received 

Net cash generated from investing activities 

Cash flows from financing activities 

Issue of shares 

Repayment of borrowings 

Net cash used in financing activities 

Net (decrease)/increase in cash 

2019 
£000s 

2018 
£000s 

(758) 

(858) 

- 

(181) 

82 

- 

- 

(28) 

95 

- 

(2,707) 

(4,377) 

72 

(86) 

(3,492) 
- 

(5,254) 
- 

(3,492) 

(5,254) 

- 

- 

2,114 

1,033 

- 

181 

- 

28 

2,295 

1,061 

- 

- 

- 

(1,197) 

4,638 

- 

4,638 

445 

Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of year 

2,357 

1,912 

Net (decrease)/increase in cash 

(1,197) 

445 

Cash and cash equivalents at end of year 

1,160 

2,357 

Page 81  

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 JUNE 2019 

1.  ACCOUNTING POLICIES 

Basis of preparation 

The financial statements of the Company have been prepared in accordance with applicable United 
Kingdom law and accounting standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice) 
including  Financial  Reporting  Standard  102,  "The  Financial  Reporting  Standard  applicable  in  the 
United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland" ("FRS102") and the Companies Act 2006. This includes 
the recognition and measurement principles of IAS 39, whilst the Group accounts apply IFRS 9. 

The  directors  have  continued  to  adopt  the  going  concern  basis  in  preparing  the  financial 
statements. 

Deferred taxation 

Deferred tax is recognised on all timing differences where the transactions or events that give the 
Company  an  obligation  to  pay  more  tax  in  the  future,  or  a  right  to  pay  less  tax  in  future,  have 
occurred by the year end. Deferred tax assets are recognised when it is more likely than not that 
they will be recovered. Deferred tax is measured on an undiscounted basis using rates of tax that 
have been enacted or substantively enacted by the year end. 

Investments 

Shares  in  subsidiary  undertakings  are  included  at  original  cost  less  any  amounts  written  off  for 
permanent diminution in value. 

Land and buildings 

Land and buildings are stated at cost, net of depreciation and any provision for impairment. 

Related Party Transactions 

The Company maintains Group intercompany balances with 100% owned subsidiaries, and therefore 
has taken advantage of Section 33 of FRS102 which states that transactions between a parent and its 
100% owned subsidiaries do not need to be disclosed. 

Financial assets and liabilities 

The Company’s financial assets comprise cash and trade and other receivables, which under IAS 39 are 
classed  as  “loans  and  receivables”.  Financial  assets  are  recognised  on  inception  at  fair  value  plus 
transaction costs. 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. 
Any change in their value through impairment or reversal of impairment is recognised in profit or loss in 
the year. 

Provision against trade receivables is made when there is objective evidence that the Company 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 assets’ carrying amount and the 
present value of estimated future cash flows. 

Page 82  

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
The Company has a number of financial liabilities including trade and other payables. These are classed 
as “financial liabilities measured at amortised cost” in IAS 39. These financial liabilities are carried on 
inception at fair value net of transaction costs and are thereafter carried at amortised cost under the 
effective interest method. 

Cash and cash equivalents 

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

Intercompany balances 

Intercompany balances represent amounts lent to subsidiary companies for working capital purposes.  
The loans are repayable on demand and interest is not charged on the balances outstanding. 

Equity 

Equity comprises the following: 

•  “Share capital” represents the nominal value of equity shares. The shares have attached to 
them voting, dividend and capital distribution (including on winding up) rights; they do not 
confer any rights of redemption. 

•  “Share premium” represents the difference between the nominal and issued share price 
•  “Other reserves” represents  the net amortisation  charge for the Company’s share options 

scheme 

•  “Profit and loss account” represent retained profits 

Contribution to defined contribution pension schemes 

The pension costs charged against profits represent the amount of the contributions payable to the 
schemes in respect of the accounting period. 

Foreign currencies 

Transactions  in  foreign  currencies  are  translated  at  the  exchange  rate  ruling  at  the  date  of  the 
transaction. Monetary assets and liabilities in foreign currencies are translated at the rates of exchange 
ruling at the year end. 

Any  exchange  differences  arising  on  the  settlement  of  monetary  items  or  on  translating  monetary 
items at rates different from those at which they were initially recorded are recognised in the profit or 
loss in the period in which they arise. 

2.  LOSS FOR THE FINANCIAL YEAR 

The Company has taken advantage of section 408 of the Companies Act 2006 and has not included 
its  own  the  statement  of  comprehensive  income  in  these  financial  statements.  The  loss  for  the 
Company for the year was £757,700 (2018: £857,500). 

3.  PERSONNEL REMUNERATION 

During  the  period  the  Company  had  three  employees  James  Barham,  William  Good  and  William 
Catchpole  and  also  pays  the  service  fees  of  the  two  non-executive  directors.  Their  salaries  and 
benefits are disclosed in the Directors Report above.  

Page 83  

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
4.  INTEREST INCOME 

The  Company  received  interest  from  bank  deposits  of  £1,000  (2018:  £3,000).  The  Company  also 
recognised £180,000 (2018: £25,000) from the unwinding of the Loan notes receivable discount.  

The Company does not charge interest on its intercompany balances. 

5.  FIXED ASSETS INVESTMENTS 

Cost at 1 July 2017 

Disposals 

Additions 

Cost at 30 June 2018 

Additions 

Disposals 

Cost at 30 June 2019 

6.  TRADE AND OTHER RECEIVABLES 

Amounts due within one year 
Loan notes receivable 
Amount owed by Group undertaking 
VAT recoverable 
Prepayments 

Amounts due after one year 
Loan notes receivable 

Subsidiary 
undertakings 
£000s 
- 

Total 

£000s 
- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

2019 
£000s 

2018 
£000s 

- 
8,534 
13 
21 

8,568 

- 

8,568 

908 
5,824 
17 
20 

6,769 

1,206 

7,975 

Amounts owed by Group undertakings are repayable on demand and there is no interest charged 

7. CREDITORS: AMOUNTS FALLING DUE WITHIN ONE YEAR 

Trade creditors 
Accruals 

Page 84  

2019 
£000s 
27 
88 

2018 
£000s 
23 
20 

115 

43 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
8.  SHARE CAPITAL 

Company 

Authorised: 
Ordinary shares of 1p each 

2019 
Number 

2019 
£000s 

2018 
Number 

2018 
£000s 

100,000,000 

1,000 

100,000,000 

1,000 

Allotted called up and fully paid: 
Ordinary shares of 1p each 

42,721,178 

427 

42,721,178 

427 

The Company owns 167,229 (2016: 167,229) shares and these are held as Treasury Shares. 

9. DIVIDENDS 

The directors have proposed no final dividend of in respect of the year ended 30 June 2019 (2018: 
nil pence per share).  

10. FINANCIAL ASSETS AND LIABILITIES 

The Company uses various financial instruments including cash, trade payables, other payables, that 
arise  directly  from  its  operations.  The  main  purpose  of  these  financial  instruments  is  to  maintain 
adequate finance for the Company’s operations. The existence of these financial instruments exposes 
the Company to a number of financial risks, which are described in detail below. The directors do not 
consider price risk to be a significant risk. The directors review and agree policies for managing each 
of these risks, as summarised below, and these remain unchanged from previous years. 

Capital Management 

The  capital  structure  of  the  company  consists  of  cash  and  equity.  The  Company’s  objective  when 
managing capital is to maintain the cash position to protect the future on-going profitable growth 
which will reflect in shareholder value. 

At 30 June 2019, the Company had a closing cash balance of £1,160,000 (2018: £2,356,600). 

Financial risk management and objectives 

The  Company  seeks  to  manage  financial  risk  to  ensure  sufficient  liquidity  is  available  to  meet 
foreseeable  needs  and  to  invest  cash  assets  safely  and  profitably.  The  directors  achieve  this  by 
regularly preparing and reviewing forecasts based on the trends shown in the monthly management 
accounts. 

Credit risk 

The Company’s principal financial assets are cash and intercompany receivables.  

The main credit risk arises from the intercompany receivables. The directors monitor the trading of 
its subsidiaries closely to ensure they are performing in line with expectations. 

Liquidity risk 

The Group aims to mitigate liquidity risk by closely monitoring cash generation and expenditure. Cash 
is monitored daily and forecasts are regularly prepared to ensure that the movements are in line with 
the directors’ strategy. The Company’s liquidity risk is monitored as part of this overall Group review. 

Page 85  

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Financial assets  

Current financial assets 

Cash at bank 
Intercompany receivables 
Loan notes receivable 

Note 

2019 

2018 

£000s 
1,160 
8,534 
- 

£000s 
2,357 
5,824 
2,114 

9,694 

10,295 

The fair values of the financial assets are considered to be approximately equal to the 
carrying values. 

Financial liabilities  

Current financial liabilities 

Trade payables 
Accruals 

Note 

2019 

2018 

£000s 
27 
88 

£000s 
23 
20 

115 

43 

The fair values of the financial liabilities are considered to be approximately equal to the 
carrying values.  

Page 86  

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