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SDL plc

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FY2013 Annual Report · SDL plc
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Annual Report

2013

Annual Report 2013

Contents

Strategic Report

 Governance

Financial Statements

 Financial Highlights

20   Chairman’s Overview 

44   Statement of Directors’ 

4 

5 

6 

8 

 Chairman’s Statement

21   Corporate Governance

 CEO’s Review 

 Financial Review

22   Board of Directors

31   Directors’ Remuneration Report

Responsibilities in Respect of 
the Group Financial Statements

45   Independent Auditor’s Report

48   Consolidated financial 

statements and related notes 

93   Five Year Summary

94  Company Information

11   Case Studies

41   Directors’ Report

12   Risk Management

15   People

17   SDL Foundation

18   Environment

*These sections form part of the Directors’ Report

4 

Annual Report 2013

Financial Highlights

Profit Before Tax & Amortisation  
and One-off Costs

Revenue

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

£171.9m

£203.5m

£229.0m

£269.3m

£266.1m

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

£8.2m

Operating Margins Before 
Amortisation and One-off Costs

Operating Cash Flow

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

3.1%

17.4%

17.4%

17.3%

13.7%

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

£17.5m

£5.5m

£29.8m

£35.4m

£39.7m

£37.0m

£30.1m

£27.1m

£32.6m

Operational Performance

Strategic Performance Indicator

Revenue 

Profit before tax and amortisation  
and one-off costs

Measure

Change %

Change %

Net cash flows from operating activities

Change %

Measure

-1.2%

-77.8%

-68.6%

Technology revenues

Acquisitions

Innovation

% of group total

Transactions

44% (2012: 44%)

Completed acquisition of Bemoko Consulting 
Limited on 8 February 2013

Number of product releases

75 (2012: 41)

 
 
 
Strategic Report  

5

Chairman’s Statement

Although the financial performance of SDL in 2013 was not as 
we anticipated at the beginning of the year as bookings growth 
did not materialise as quickly as we had planned following our 
investments  in  sales  and  marketing,  I  believe  that  we  have 
made significant progress in restructuring the business in order 
to ensure long-term value creation for our shareholders.

Mark Lancaster returned to the role of Chief Executive Officer at 
the end of 2012. Although we initially expected that this would 
be  an  interim  appointment,  by  the  end  of  the  first  quarter, 
it  became  apparent  that  Mark’s  leadership  would  be  key  in 
effecting a more fundamental restructuring of the organisation. 
Consequently, the Board felt that it would be inappropriate for 
Mark to stay in the roles of both Chairman and Chief Executive 
Officer. During the second quarter the Board ran a process to 
find a new Chairman and that resulted in me taking on that role 
at the beginning of July. 

I  believe  that  it  is  important  that  the  Board  has  the  requisite 
skills and experience to support Mark and his executive team 
in  delivering  profit  and  growth,  in  order  to  enable  long-term 
value creation for our shareholders. Therefore whilst Mark set 
about the vital task of restructuring the executive team, I have 
taken the opportunity to look at the structure and capabilities 
of  the  Board.  This  has  resulted  in  recruiting  two  new  non-
executive directors. 

I  am  pleased  to  welcome  Alan  McWalter  to  the  Board.  He 
joined  us  in  March  2014.  Alan  has  a  wealth  of  valuable 
experience  and  has  succeeded  me  as  Senior  Independent 
Director.  He  will  also  serve  on  the  Audit  and  Remuneration 
Committees.  We  have  also  announced  that  Glenn  Collinson 
will join SDL as a non-executive director and Chairman of the 
Remuneration Committee from June 2014. He will also sit on 
the  Audit  Committee.  Glenn  has  significant  experience  as 
both  an  Executive  and  Non-executive  Director  in  technology 
businesses.

Having  served  on  the  Board  of  SDL  for  nearly  9  years,  Joe 
Campbell has informed the Board that he will not stand for re-
election at our AGM in April. On behalf of the Board, I would 
like to thank Joe for his valuable contribution to the business 
over  many  years.  We  also  welcomed  Dominic  Lavelle  to  the 
Board  as  Chief  Financial  Officer  replacing  Matthew  Knight 
who  stepped  down  in  November. We  thank  Matthew  for  his 
contribution. Dominic has 25 years of financial experience and 
proven credentials in turnaround situations.

Under  Mark’s 
leadership,  the  executive  team  has  taken 
some  bold  steps  in  2013,  making  significant  changes  in  the 
operational structure to align the business with the significant 
market opportunity and laying the foundations for sustainable 
future  growth. This  has  meant  evolving  from  a  business  unit 
structure to an integrated global business.

David Clayton

Chairman

In  2013,  the  executive  management  team  began  to  execute 
a  long-term  go-to-market  plan  that  has  required  significant 
changes  to  the  executive  leadership  team  including  the 
recruitment of individuals with the skills and experience to drive 
the business forward. Consequently, 2013 has seen a number 
of key hires into the business and also a number of departures. 
The Board believes that the investments being made and the 
initiatives  being  undertaken  are  thoughtful  and  considered. 
Early signs show that the decision to invest in infrastructure and 
management is strengthening our business.

The  Board  remains  very  confident  in  the  operational  cash 
generation  of  the  business.  The  Board  has  previously 
communicated  a  progressive  dividend  policy  whereby 
dividends would be set based upon the evolution of our profits. 
However, as a result of the restructuring and investment costs 
in 2013, the Board will not be recommending a final dividend 
to the Annual General Meeting for 2013.

In many respects, 2013 has been a very difficult year for SDL. I 
believe it has also been a year when we have executed some 
fundamental  changes  to  the  business,  which  we  believe  are 
essential for our future success. These changes have impacted 
not  only  the  executive  team,  but  also  the  entire  workforce 
of  SDL.  I  have  been  particularly  impressed  by  the  character, 
enthusiasm  and  energy  of  our  employees  during  a  period  of 
rapid change. On behalf of the Board, I would like to record our 
thanks to them for their commitment, passion and hard work.

David Clayton
Chairman 

Strategic Report 
 
 
 
 
6 

Annual Report 2013

CEO’s Review

This has without doubt been the toughest year SDL has ever 
had.  Although  the  financial  performance  of  SDL  in  2013 
was  significantly  below  2012,  we  feel  the  investments  and 
restructuring  we  have  made  in  2013  set  SDL  up  for  a  very 
prosperous future. Revenues were £266.1 million (2012: £269.3 
million). Profit before taxation, amortisation of intangible assets 
and “one off” costs (“PBTA”) was £8.2 million (2012: £37.0 million). 
The loss before tax for the year was £24.4 million. The reduction 
in  profits  was  due  primarily  to  planned  sales  and  marketing 
investments,  significant 
reduced 
technology licence revenues as well as weaker first half margins 
in Language Services. The cash generated from operations was 
£15.8 million (2012: £25.8 million). Gross cash in the business at 
the year-end was £18.2 million (2012: £28.5 million) whilst net 
debt was £1.8 million (2012: cash £6.3 million).

restructuring,  slightly 

Following  my  return  to  the  business  as  CEO  in  late  2012,  we 
have  made  some  significant  and  necessary  changes.  The 
market  has  evolved  significantly  over  the  last  3  years  and 
SDL needed to make structural changes to properly align the 
company with the market opportunity. 

Considering  the  massive  changes  we  have  made  to  SDL’s 
operational  and  management  structure  to  align  with  the 
market  opportunity,  we  are  now  in  a  great  position  to  take 
advantage of our fast-evolving digital world. I believe we will 
probably look back on this year as being the most important in 
SDL’s history, setting the foundations and structure to embrace 
this  market  opportunity.  We  had  some  great  customer  wins 
including  Acer,  Adidas,  Haier,  Nissan,  Skype,  Turkish  Airlines 
and VMware, and completely recovered our Language Service 
business margins to be one of the most efficient in the world 
due to our investment in technology, process and infrastructure.

We  have  restructured  the  business  from  the  ground  up, 
creating  a  structure  that  provides  a  holistic  solution  to  the 
market’s needs, not just from the technology solutions, where 
we have always been strong, but also from a go to market sales 
and  services  delivery  model. We  have  changed  our  structure 
from a product line focused model to that of a customer centric 
business  model.  During  the  second  half  of  2013,  SDL  hired 
several experienced technology executives to the company.

•	 We  have  aligned  the  sales  force  under  a  Chief  Revenue 
Officer;  Bernadette  Nixon,  an  experienced  software  sales 
leader. We now have a sales force with an aligned execution 
model  that  will  provide  greater  coverage  and  better 
leverage and solutions for our customers.

•	 Research and Development is lead by Dennis Van der Veeke, 
integration  and  technology 

providing  better  product 
aligned with market needs

•	 We  put  in  place  a  Chief  Operating  Officer;  Jean-Pierre 
Dekker to provide a single customer centric go-to-market 
and delivery function

•	 Marketing  is  now  centralised  under  Paige  O’Neill,  Chief 
Marketing Officer, to enhance our brand and go-to-market 
delivery

Mark Lancaster

CEO

•	 Dominic  Lavelle  has  been  hired  as  CFO  with  25  years  of 

financial experience

The  new  hires  are  proven  industry  leaders  in  their  field  that 
understand how to consolidate and integrate complementary 
technologies  to  deliver  business  benefits.  They  join  Dominic 
Kinnon who heads up language solutions, and, as a team, are 
jointly charged with delivering on SDL’s customer experience 
management vision.

Of  equal  importance,  we  have  implemented  a  number  of 
large scale global systems to help manage the business more 
effectively. These  include  a  new  global  HR  system,  CRM  and 
financial systems. The projects were kicked off early 2013 and 
are expected to be fully operational by the end of 2014.

We rolled out a number of training and realignment programs 
in the last quarter of 2013 and these will continue in the first 
half  of  2014  to  ensure  complete  alignment  throughout  the 
whole organisation.

the  organisation, 

Throughout 
this  has  created  new 
opportunities, allowing us to bring in new talent and right size 
the organisation, creating cost savings and efficiencies.

The technology
Over  the  last  10  years,  SDL  has  acquired,  and  then  further 
developed  discrete  technology  solutions  to  create  a  single 
integrated technology. In January 2014 we launched the SDL 
Customer  Experience  Cloud™,  a  unified  suite  of  offerings  to 
help  marketers  create  and  deliver  seamless  global  customer 
experiences across all channels, devices and languages.

The  SDL  Customer  Experience  Cloud  integrates  web  content 
management,  campaign  management,  social  intelligence, 
customer  analytics,  e-commerce, 
language  solutions  and 
document  management.  The  technology  suite  empowers 
organizations from marketing through to customer support to 
understand, create, manage and deliver contextually relevant 

Strategic Report  

7

customer  experiences  that  drive  better  marketing  decisions, 
e-commerce success and long-term customer engagement.

The market
As  the  digital  world  continues  to  grow  exponentially,  both 
the opportunity and challenges this presents to businesses is 
unprecedented and will require companies to change the way 
they operate. The amount of information relating to products 
and  services  that  is  rapidly  becoming  available  in  our  digital 
world  is  both  enormous  and  valuable.  However,  to  consume 
this  information  and  filter  the  value  to  gain  insights  of  what 
customers  find  attractive  and  then  orchestrate  a  business  to 
deliver the right contextual information at the right time across 
all channels can only be solved with technology. SDL’s goal is to 
provide businesses with an integrated suite of technology that 
allows companies to engage with their customers by gaining 
insights into their customers, orchestrating the disparate silos 
in their business to then provide the best possible information 
to  their  customers  across  the  whole  customer  journey  from 
sales through to support.

Competition in the Customer Experience Management space 
has  intensified;  there  has  been  a  considerable  amount  of 
M&A  activity  in  the  past  two  years  with  the  larger  IT  players, 
such as Oracle, Adobe, Salesforce, HP and IBM making similar 
technology-led acquisitions that SDL made over the last six years. 
We  feel  comfortable  with  our  positioning  and  differentiation. 
Our focus is to provide an integrated suite of technology that is 
focused on customer engagement versus traditional customer 
relationship  management  platforms  that  are  focused  more 
on  back  office  management  as  opposed  to  revenue-driving 
customer engagement. We expect the market to continue to 
evolve rapidly over the next three years, as consumers demand 
better customer engagement through hand held devices and 
general online access to relevant information. This, in turn, will 
force companies to provide relevant information at all points in 
the customer life cycle.

Outlook
The  foundations  and  infrastructure  are  in  place.  Throughout 
2013,  the  hard  decisions  and  investments  have  been  made. 
However,  there  will  be  a  lag  before  the  restructuring  and 
investments  take  full  effect.  As  we  move  through  2014  we 
expect  the  business  to  gain  bookings,  revenue  and  profit 
momentum as the new structure and initiatives take effect. SDL 
has a solid foundation of best of breed integrated technology, 
and, we have put in place an organisational structure to deliver 
it. This gives us great deal of confidence we will return to the 
levels  of  profitability  and  exceed  the  levels  of  technology 
growth we had in the past.

Strategic Report 
 
 
 
8 

Annual Report 2013

Financial Review

The  Group’s  performance  in  the  year  was  significantly  below 
last  year.  Revenues  were  £266.1  million  (2012:  £269.3  million). 
Profit  before  taxation,  amortisation  of  intangible  assets  and 
one-off  costs  (“PBTA”)  was  £8.2  million  (2012:  £37.0  million). 
The reduction in profits was primarily due to planned sales and 
marketing investments and slightly reduced technology licence 
revenues, plus weaker first half margins in Language Services.

to adverse economic conditions in certain countries and sectors. 
Group  revenues  by  reporting  segment  are  shown  in  figure  3 
and a geographic split by destination is shown on figure 4.

Customer concentration continues to reduce with the 20 largest 
customer contributing 26% (2012: 27%) of revenue in 2013. No 
single customer contributes more than 5% of group revenues.

“One-off” costs of £25.1 million comprise: redundancy costs of 
£2.5  million,  historic  litigation  costs  of  £1.4  million  (2012:  £1.5 
million), onerous lease costs of £0.4 million, other costs of £0.4 
million and an impairment of goodwill of £20.4 million in our 
Content  and  Analytic Technologies  segment. The  impairment 
is a natural consequence of a disappointing trading year as this 
segment delivered 2013 losses of £5.5 million.

After these one-off costs, loss before tax was £24.4 million (2012: 
£27.4 million profit).

The  cash  generated  from  operations  was  £15.8  million  (2012: 
£25.8 million). Gross cash in the business at the year-end was 
£18.2 million (2012: £28.5 million) whilst net debt was £1.8 million 
(2012:  cash  £6.3  million).  Capital  expenditure  was  £6.1  million 
(2012: £5.4 million) due to increased investment in SaaS cloud 
infrastructure.  Tax  paid  was  £10.3  million  (2012:  £8.3  million), 
above  the  profit  and  loss  tax  charge  shown  in  the  income 
statement primarily due to some prior year tax payments and 
the deferred tax credit for intangible asset amortisation which 
suppresses the profit and loss charge. See figure 1.

The  headline  revenue  decrease  of  1.2%  can  be  attributed 
to  an  underlying  organic  decline  of  3.6%,  1.0%  growth  from 
acquisitions and a 1.4% increase arising from foreign exchange 
effects.  Geographically,  the  decline  in  Asia  was  2.2%,  North 
America was 0.2%, with Europe decreasing by 4.3%. See figure 2.

The business continues to benefit from a diverse mix of regions, 
industry verticals and customers, limiting the group’s exposure 

Performance by Segment
As a result of the restructuring described in the CEO Review, the 
Group is now organised into business units based on services 
and technology products, and has three reportable segments.

Language Services (contributing £150.5 million or 56% of total 
revenue and £17.6 million of PBTA) (2012: contributing £151.1 
million or 56% of total revenue and £23.2 million of PBTA). 

Segment revenue reduced by 0.4% in the year, comprising an 
underlying  decline  of  2.0%  at  constant  currency  and  a  1.6% 
gain  on  foreign  exchange.  A  weaker  performance  in  the  first 
half, which saw a half on half headline revenue decline of 2.5%, 
was turned around in the second six months of the year where 
half on half revenue growth of 1.7% was achieved. A stronger 
second half was driven by growth in continental Europe where 
revenue grew by 7% in the half or 6% for the year and in Canada 
where revenue grew by 9% in the half or 5% for the year.

Segment  PBTA  margin  declined  to  11.7%,  due  to  the 
disappointing first half. PBTA margin was much improved in this 
business  towards  the  end  of  the  year  as  a  result  of  the  wide-
reaching  efficiency  programme.  The  second  half  contributed 
£10.7 million to the PBTA result for the year at PBTA margin of 
13.8%, an improvement on the 9.4% achieved in the first half.

We continue to invest in improving our infrastructure, including 
expanding the use of automated translation technology, new 
workflow efficiency tooling and other productivity improvement 
projects. Adoption of the Intelligent Machine Translation (iMT) 

Fig 1  Operating Cash Flow

Fig 2  Revenue

£5.7m

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£1.8m

£5.5m

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£269.3m 

£266.1m

(£9.8m)

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(£24.4m)

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Strategic Report  

9

solution across the customer base has increased from 16% to 
20%. During the period we have grown our presence in Poland 
and India by approximately 60 heads. We have also established 
a  new  translation  network  office  in  Ho  Chi  Minh  in  Vietnam, 
leveraging our existing presence in this country.

267 new accounts were added globally, which are expected to 
contribute to growth in 2014.

New  clients  in  2013  include  Acer,  Asus,  Carestream,  Haier, 
Lenovo, Nissan, NTT and Skype.

Content & Analytic Technologies (contributing £79.4 million 
or  30%  of  revenue  and  losses  of  £5.5  million  PBTA)  (2012: 
contributing £79.1 million or 29% of revenue and £10.5 million 
PBTA).

This segment comprises Web Content Management Solutions, 
eCommerce technologies and Structured Content Technologies, 
plus  Marketing  Analytics,  Campaign  Management  and  Social 
Intelligence technologies (the main components of the Alterian 
acquisition which completed on 27 January 2012). Prior period 
comparatives include only 11 months of Alterian trading. 

Segment  revenue  grew  by  0.4%,  comprising  an  underlying 
decline  of  4.2%  offset  by  an  acquisition  effect  of  3.6%  and  a 
foreign exchange effect of 1.0%.

The  segment  PBTA  margin  was  -7%  (2012:  +13%),  due  to 
£12.1  million  of  planned  sales,  marketing  and  research  and 
development  investments  made  during  the  first  half  of  the 
year which did not deliver the planned revenue increase in the 
second half of the year.

in  2013 

New  clients 
include  Amerigroup  Corporation, 
Amalgamated Banks of South Africa, Brown Forman, Frito Lay, 
NH  Hotel,  Prostate  Cancer  UK,  Skype,  Tekla  Corporation  and 
Turkish Airlines.

Language  Technologies  (contributing  £36.2  million  or  14% 
of  total  revenue  and  losses  of  £3.9  million  of  PBTA)  (2012: 
contributing £39.1 million or 15% of revenue to the group and 
£4.0 million of PBTA).

This  segment  comprises  Desktop  translation  technologies, 
Enterprise translation solutions and Machine Translation.

Segment revenue reduced by 7.4%, comprising an underlying 
decline  of  8.7%  and  foreign  exchange  effects  contributing 

a  1.3%  increase.  Whilst  sales  of  translation  productivity  tools 
remained  relatively  stable,  licence  revenues  were  affected  by 
weak  licence  bookings  in  enterprise  translation  management 
tools. Although gross margins were broadly maintained at 82% 
(2012: 84%), a combination of declining segment revenues and 
maintaining investments resulted in a PBTA margin for the year 
of -11% (2012: +10%). 

New  clients  in  2013  include  Adidas,  Capitol  IQ,  VMware  and 
Wurtholters Kluwer China.

Technologies  (combined  revenue  of  £115.6  million  or  44% 
of total revenue and losses of £9.4 million PBTA) (2012: £118.2 
million or 44% of revenue and £14.5 million PBTA).

Software as a Service (“SaaS”) sales continued to increase as a 
proportion of total licence sales (2013: 49%; 2012 41%), a positive 
trend that improves the revenue visibility of the business going 
forward.

Gross Margin

The group’s gross margin was 55%, a decrease from 56% in 2012.

Administrative Expenses

Administrative  costs  excluding  intangibles  amortisation  and 
one-off costs increased in 2013 to £137.4 million (2012: £114.3 
million).

Research and development costs of £24.8 million (2012: £22.9 
million) are included in administrative expenses. This includes 
£0.5  million  of  incremental  cost  for  an  additional  month  of 
research  and  development  for  Alterian  that  was  acquired  on 
27  January  2012.  Significant  product  releases  in  2013  were 
SDL Trados  Studio  2014,  SDL  Intelligent  Marketing  Suite,  SDL 
Customer  Commitment  Framework,  SDL  Fredhopper  7.5,  SDL 
Tridion 2013 and www.freetranslation.com.

Development costs have been reviewed, and the Board remains 
of  the  opinion  that  capitalisation  criteria  under  International 
Accounting  Standard  (IAS)  38  are  not  met.  Consequently,  no 
development costs are capitalised on the balance sheet.

Headcount  was  3,205  at  the  end  of  2013,  compared  to  2,985 
at  the  end  of  2012.  Employee  related  costs  remain  the  most 
significant  component  of  group  costs,  amounting  to  67% 
of  group  overheads  (2012:  69%)  excluding  amortisation  of 
intangibles and one-off costs.

Fig 3  Analysis of Revenue by Segment

Fig 4  Geographic Split of Sales by Destination

A

E

B

14%
2012: 12%

28%
2012: 31%

30%
2012: 29%

14%
2012: 16%

C

B

A  Language Services

B  Language Technologies

A

56%
2012: 56%

D

C

13%
2012: 12%

8%
2012: 6%

37%
2012: 39%

A  UK

B  Europe

C  USA

D  Canada

C  Content and Analytic Technologies

E  Rest of World

Strategic Report 
10 

Annual Report 2013

Intangible assets ascribed to certain of the Group’s software and 
customer relationships arising from acquisitions are amortised 
over periods of between 5 and 10 years and the carrying value 
is formally reviewed on an annual basis to assess whether there 
are indicators of impairment. The intangible asset amortisation 
charge in 2013 was £7.5 million (2012: £8.1 million).

tested  quarterly.  These  covenants  relate  to  EBITA:  Borrowing 
Costs;  Net  Cash  Flow:  Debt  Service  Liability  and  Gross 
Borrowings:  EBITDA.  The  Board  remains  of  the  opinion  that 
operating with low levels of debt is appropriate in the current 
economic  environment,  whilst  maintaining  sufficient  debt 
facility headroom to finance normal investment activities.

Intangible  assets  and  goodwill  were  allocated  to  three  Cash 
Generating  Units  (“CGU”)  namely  Language  Services,  Content 
and  Analytic  Technologies  and  Language  Technologies.  The 
2013  impairment  review  resulted  in  an  impairment  of  £20.4 
million in the Content and Analytic Technologies segment. The 
full detail of the impairment review is explained in note 12 to 
the accounts.

Earnings Per Share

Basic  earnings  per  share  when  adjusted  for  amortisation  of 
intangibles  and  one-off  costs  (“adjusted  EPS”)  decreased  by 
93% to 2.57 pence. The deferred tax benefit associated with the 
amortisation  of  the  intangible  fixed  assets  and  one-off  costs 
of  £2.6  million  (2012:  £2.2  million)  and  one-off  costs  of  £25.1 
million, has been adjusted in this calculation of EPS. Basic losses 
per share were 34.78 pence (2012: earnings, 26.12 pence).

The  development  in  fully  adjusted  EPS  year  on  year  is  shown 
in figure 6.

Financing Costs

Interest costs in 2013 were £0.5 million (2012: £0.4m). At the start 
of the year drawn borrowings were £22.2 million. £2.2 million 
was  repaid  in  January  2013.  Drawn  borrowings  remained  at 
£20.0 million throughout the year. Net debt was £1.8m at year 
end.

Cash flow

The  £28.8  million  decline  in  PBTA,  before  one-off  costs,  was 
partially  offset  by  an  improved  working  capital  performance 
with  an  inflow  of  £5.7  million  (2012:  £8.1  million  outflow), 
resulting  in  a  reduction  in  cash  flow  from  operations  of  only 
£12.0 million; net cash flow from operating activities was £5.5 
million (2012: £17.5 million).

Borrowing Facilities

During the year, the group’s existing borrowing facilities of £27 
million  were  replaced  with  a  single  revolving  credit  facility  of 
£30  million  expiring  in  September  2015;  £20  million  of  this 
facility was utilised at the year-end.

Pricing of this new £30 million borrowing facility is at a 1.15% 
margin  on  LIBOR.  Under  the  credit  facility  agreement,  SDL  is 
subject to certain financial covenants which are required to be 

Derivatives and other Financial Instruments

The  Group  has  cash  and  short-term  deposits  of  varying 
durations to fund its working capital needs and other financial 
assets and liabilities such as trade debtors and trade creditors 
arising directly from its operations. The Group’s policy continued 
to  be  that  no  active  trading  in  financial  instruments  will  be 
undertaken within the operating units and all decisions on use 
of financial instruments will be taken at Group level under the 
direction of the Chief Financial Officer.

Taxation

SDL is a global business and as such the Group’s effective tax rate 
is heavily influenced by the territorial mix of where operating 
profits are earned. A detailed analysis of the taxation charge is 
included in note 6 to the accounts.

The tax charge for the year is £3.5 million (2012: £6.5 million).

Acquisition of Bemoko Consulting Limited

On  8  February  2013,  the  Group  acquired  100%  of  the  share 
capital  of  Bemoko  Consulting  Limited,  an  unlisted  company 
based in the United Kingdom. The principal activity of Bemoko 
Consulting Limited is the provision of mobile solutions.

The  total  cost  of  the  combination  comprises  £2.2  million  of 
which £1.4 million was funded from the Group’s existing cash 
resources and £0.8 million of contingent consideration will be 
settled in shares.

Trados Litigation update

As reported previously, the group has ongoing litigation related 
to  the  Trados  acquisition.  In  2013,  the  Court  of  Chancery  in 
the State of Delaware has ruled in favour of the former Trados 
Directors that there was no breach of fiduciary duty in the sale 
of Trados to the Company. The judgement allows for the plaintiff 
to seek recovery of some of their legal costs from the defendants 
on the grounds that certain aspects of the defence was given in 
bad faith, this is a cost would be a liability to the Trados Directors 
personally under Delaware law. There is also the possibility the 
Plaintiff  appeals  the  decision.  If  the  appeal  by  the  Plaintiffs  is 
successful  there  is  a  potential,  significant  reimbursement  of 
funds from the Trados directors to SDL. If the Trados Directors 
are successful in upholding the ruling, there could be additional 
legal costs to pay by SDL of up to £0.2 million.

Fig 5 

 Operating Margins before amortisation 
and one-off costs

Fig 6  Development in Fully Adjusted EPS Year on Year

%
4
7
1

.

%
4
7
1

.

%
3
7
1

.

%
7
3
1

.

3.1%

0
7
4
3

.

3
2
8
3

.

1
4
5
3

.

5
0
9
2

.

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

2009

2010

2011

2012

2.57

2013

Strategic Report  

11

Case Studies

Gulliver Travel Associates Delivers a 
Worldwide Customer Experience with SDL

Belkin supports its Surging Global Business 
with SDL WorldServer 

GTA,  part  of  Kuoni’s  Global Travel  Services  Division,  a  leading 
B2B travel provider, has selected SDL to help deliver a seamless 
and personalized customer experience to thousands of users in 
185 countries worldwide. 

As a global travel leader processing over 21,000 bookings per 
day in more than 25 languages online, GTA depends on SDL’s 
translation  technology  to  localize  tens  of  thousands  of  hotel 
and ground travel descriptions to its global customer base. The 
end result is a consistent customer experience, customized by 
language and culture, delivered around the world.

In  order  to  support  the  considerable  growth  in  translation 
volume  experienced  over  the  past  few  years,  GTA  uses  a 
combination  of  products  within  the  SDL  Language  Platform: 
SDL WorldServer and SDL BeGlobal:

•	

•	

SDL  WorldServer  increases  the  efficiency  of  its  human 
translation  process,  allowing  GTA  to  go  to  market  faster 
with  reduced  turnaround  time;  making  it  an  even  more 
competitive  option 
for  the  hospitality  and  tourism 
businesses that are its customers. 

SDL  BeGlobal  machine  translation  technology  enables 
GTA to handle the increased translation volumes and enter 
markets in new geographies at a lower cost and risk. 

“ Our global business of contracting hotel rooms 
and ground travel services is growing so fast we 
had to call ‘time out’ on traditional translation 
and look for an innovative solution that could 
cope with translating tens of thousands of 
product descriptions, drawn from 185 countries. 
We confidently selected SDL BeGlobal machine 
translation to deliver quality localized content to our 
customers in a timely, cost effective manner, helping 
our customers be more successful with our platform.”

Kevin Ashbridge, Content & Translation Manager at GTA

With sales in more than 100 countries and over 1,500 employees, 
Belkin makes people-inspired products that harness the power 
of  technology  to  enrich  people’s  lives.  From  wireless  home 
networking and entertainment, to mobile accessories, energy 
management, and a broad USB and cable mix, Belkin products 
connect the dots between people and the things they love. 

“ SDL helped us identify the areas that are really 
important as we grow into new markets. Together, 
we realised that a more flexible approach was 
required, and the OnDemand model of SDL 
WorldServer offered a fast implementation with 
long term development and customization 
opportunities.”

Marie-Claude Falardeau, Localization Engineer, Belkin

To maintain business growth, Belkin believes that the future lies 
in new and ground-breaking global markets. Ensuring accurate 
translation of its technical documentation, marketing collateral 
and in-product software is key to Belkin’s business success. 

To  support  its  growth  in  new  international  markets,  Belkin 
partnered  with  SDL  and  implemented  SDL  WorldServer  for 
centralized  translation  management,  SDL  Trados  Studio,  the 
world leading translation productivity solution and introduced 
SDL Certification. 

Following implementation, Belkin has: 

•	 Reduced 

improved 
localization  costs  as  a  result  of 
translation  reuse  –  for  one  particular  project,  a  90%  cost 
saving was achieved

•	 Achieved  faster  time-to-market  due  to  enhanced  control 

over the translation process

•	

Improved  productivity  from  the  creative  teams,  who  are 
now free to use the latest design technologies

With  SDL  language  solutions  supporting  the  localization 
process, Belkin is well placed to continue its rapid growth as a 
global leader of consumer electronics and accessories.

Strategic Report 
12 

Annual Report 2013

Risk Management

Internal control and risk management 

Board

Audit Committee

Executive Committee

Sets strategic objective and agrees  
acceptable risk profile

Monitors risk management policies and 
procedures against strategic objectives

Regular review of operational and strategic 
risk: identification / analysis / evaluation / 
mitigation

Delegates authority

Receives and reviews risk register

Reporting to the Board and Audit Committee

Approves group policies and procedures

Receives and reviews risk register

The Group’s operations expose it to a variety of risks. Effective 
management  of  these  risks  is  essential  to  the  delivery  of  the 
Group’s  business  plans  and  strategic  objectives,  as  well  as 
maximising shareholder return. The Group’s approach is geared 
towards early identification of key risks, mitigating or removing 
those risks by responding quickly and effectively.

The  Board  has  overall  responsibility  for  ensuring  that  risk  is 
appropriately managed across the group and discharges its risk 
management  processes  through  its  executive  management 
structure.

There  is  a  formal  Executive  Committee  consisting  of  the 
executive  directors  and  other  senior  managers  which  meet 
regularly  to  discuss  strategic  and  operational  matters  and 
associated  risks  to  delivery  of  strategy.  Members  of  the 
Executive Committee are regularly invited to  Board  meetings 
to discuss the operational performance of their business unit 
or functional area.

Inputs

i fi c ation

t

n

Id e

n
o

i
t
a

g

i

t

i

M

A

n

a

l

y
s
i
s

ti o n

Eval u a

Reporting

The  Group  maintains  a  risk  management  process  which 
includes the maintenance of a risk register which is reviewed 
by  the  Board.  The  risk  register  assesses  probability  of  risk 
occurrence,  the  potential  financial  impact  of  a  risk  should  it 
crystallise and the potential reputational impact of the risk.

The  Board  recognises  that  no  risk  management  process  can 
fully eliminate risk but the Board believes that it has an effective 
framework for risk management that will recognise, minimise 
and mitigate the effect of risk crystallisation should it occur.

On 8 February 2013, the Group 
acquired Bemoko Consulting 
Limited, an unlisted company 
based in the United Kingdom. 
The principal activity of Bemoko 
Consulting Limited is the 
provision of mobile solutions. 
Integration with the SDL Group 
is now complete and Bemoko’s 
target milestones are regularly 
reviewed.

No change: the Group continues 
to develop and expand its 
product and service offering. The 
Group’s commitment to research 
and development is described 
throughout this annual report. 75 
SaaS product releases in 2013. The 
Group invested £24.8m in R&D in 
the year (2012: £22.9m).

Strategic Report  

Principal risks

13

These risks are not intended to be an exhaustive analysis of all risks that may arise in the ordinary course of business. Each has been 
allocated as either affecting the business strategically, operationally or financially.

Strategic risks

Description

Acquisitions

Risk

Mitigation

2013/2014 Activity

Realising the benefits of 
an investment depends 
upon achieving the 
planned performance of 
the acquired businesses 
after acquisition and 
successful integration 
into the group.

The group has clearly defined criteria for 
suitable acquisition targets and substantial due 
diligence, including detailed review of business 
plans, is carried out before any acquisition is 
made. The group has extensive experience 
of integrating acquisitions and captures this 
knowledge for re-use.

Maintaining Technology 
Leadership and 
Intellectual Property 
Matters

The Group fails to 
develop products to keep 
up with current market 
trends or is exposed to 
intellectual property 
dispute.

The Group invests in research and 
development and has well integrated and 
planned innovation roadmaps and stringent 
delivery checkpoints. 

The Group’s investment in technical 
developments mitigates the risks to our 
intellectual property and know how.

Operational risks

Description

Risk

Mitigation

2013/2014 Activity

Recruitment, retention 
and development of high 
quality staff to support 
the growth of the 
business.

Inconsistent leadership, 
inadequately trained staff 
or employee attrition 
that prevents delivery 
of strategic business 
objectives.

The Group endeavours to provide relevant 
experience for future senior or key roles, 
competitive remuneration structures, 
including long and short term incentives, and 
ensures that there are open and transparent 
assessments, development plans and 
promotion opportunities that encourage 
employees to want to build long term careers 
with SDL. 

Appointment of Global Head of 
Human Resources.

Global review of remuneration 
and incentives undertaken and 
updated policies put in place.

Assessment of the skills required 
within the Group and plans in 
place to address identified gaps.

System interruption 
and business continuity 
planning and policies for 
dealing with business 
interruption

A significant unplanned 
outage that causes a 
major business continuity 
issue.

The Group focuses on business continuity 
planning and security of its data centre and 
hosting facilities. Business continuity planning 
embraces home working options for those 
that can work from home and considers 
alternative and distributed locations in the 
event that a significant office is taken out of 
operation. Due diligence in this area gives 
confidence and demonstrates a duty of 
care to customers and suppliers. Planning 
helps to safeguard SDL’s reputation as well as 
ensuring the company meets regulatory and 
contractual obligations.

Data protection, data loss 
and data security of both 
client confidential and 
company confidential 
data

Loss of data, leak of 
critical data or online 
solutions are not secure.

•	

Solutions for specific situations are 
incorporated into a systematic process which: 
	Examines	SDL’s	information	security	risks,	
•	
threats, vulnerabilities and impacts;
	Addresses	unacceptable	risks	with	a	
comprehensive policy on control or other 
form of risk treatment; and
	Adopts	an	overarching	management	
process to ensure that the information 
security controls continue to meet the 
business’ information security needs on an 
ongoing basis.
	Ongoing	monitoring	of	availability	and	
security incidents.

•	

•	

Investment into IT infrastructure 
and environment: scalable 
highly available email system 
with built-in business continuity 
and highly available internet 
connectivity with levels of resilient 
connectivity.

Third party provider review: 
internet services.

SDL maintained its certification 
to ISO/IEC 27001 for the UK. SDL 
continues to expand the scope 
of our certification across other 
products and regions.

Strategic Report 
14 

Compliance Risk

Annual Report 2013

Changes made to 
laws, regulations or 
standards worldwide 
could adversely impact 
the group’s capability or 
the marketability of our 
products.

Regular reviews ensure compliance with 
group policies and applicable laws, regulations 
and standards. Changes in legislation are 
monitored with the help of the Group’s 
financial and legal advisors where necessary. 

There were no significant 
incidents of non-compliance with 
legislation or regulations in terms 
of financial controls, corruption or 
product liability in 2013.

Our Code of Conduct guidelines are binding 
for all employees worldwide. They are also 
an expression of our values and lay the 
foundation for our own internal regulations. 

Contract Management 
and Litigation Control

Customer and supplier 
contractual risk exposure.

The Legal function ensures that customer 
contracts are carefully prepared, reviewed, 
negotiated and approved in line with internal 
policies that have an escalation framework in 
place for referral to senior management.

Worldwide review and 
standardisation of legal templates 
completed in 2013.
Regular reporting to senior 
management on litigation risks.

Financial risks

Description

Liquidity Risk

Risk

Mitigation

2013/2014 Activity

Cash reserves and 
working capital are not 
sufficient to repay debts 
as they fall due. Funding 
of future projects may be 
limited.

The Group is cash generative. The 
methodology for dealing with liquidity risk 
through strong generation of free cash flow is 
dealt with in note 24 to the accounts.

Counterparty Risk

The principle risk is 
exposure to RBS.

Multi-currency deposits held in a range of 
financial institutions.

Interest Rate Risk

Financial Reporting 
Processes 

Profit and cash flow 
effects of increased 
interest rates on group 
borrowing facilities.

Inadequate systems lead 
to incomplete or delayed 
reporting.

The mitigating strategy for this risk is covered 
in note 24 to the accounts.

The operational process for control over 
financial reporting is led by the Chief Financial 
Officer, who works through the Finance 
Leadership Team to ensure there are a full 
suite of policies and procedures in place that 
are communicated and disseminated to the 
operating units in SDL.

Emphasis on forecasting short, 
medium and long-term cash 
requirements and monitoring 
headroom.
Continued attention on effective 
billing and credit controls. 
Review of banking facilities.

Facility increased to £30million. 
Continuing regular and 
appropriate dialogue has taken 
place with RBS.

Revolving loan facility with RBS in 
place – see above.
Regular worldwide cash balance 
reviews.

System improvements in the 
year include implementation of 
a new financial reporting system 
and enhancements to our sales / 
bookings tool.

Strategic Report  

15

People

Corporate Social Responsibility 

Employment Policies

Framework

SDL  is  committed  to  being  a  good  corporate  citizen  in  the 
communities  in  which  it  operates,  conducting  business  in 
a  socially  and  ethically  responsible  manner.  SDL  recognises 
the  value  it  gets  from  its  continuing  program  of  Corporate 
Social  Responsibility,  both  from  the  employee’s  perspective 
through  improving  staff  engagement  and  morale  and  being 
an  employer  staff  can  feel  passionate  about  and  from  the 
perspective  of  clients  who  increasingly  prefer  to  work  with 
companies  who  demonstrate  core  ethical  values.  The  SDL 
Code of Conduct, applicable to all employees and those who 
work  for  or  on  behalf  of  SDL,  is  a  policy  document  that  sets 
out  the  standards  of  behaviour  expected  in  relation  to  areas 
such as insider dealing, bribery and raising concerns through 
the whistle blowing process.

Our  corporate  social  responsibility  framework  continues  to 
target three primary areas: 

 ¶

 We support communities through the SDL Foundation, 
which aims to promote sustainable development,
 ¶ We  promote  and  facilitate  employee  involvement  in 

charitable endeavours,

 ¶ We  are  committed  to  reducing  our  environmental 

impact.

In 2013 several SDL offices participated in charitable endeavours 
to help people or organizations in their local communities:

•	

•	

Employees in the Seattle office volunteered at a shelter for 
the homeless

Employees  from  the  Sheffield,  Bristol  and  Maidenhead 
offices  delivered  CV  workshops  to  young  people  for  The 
Prince’s Trust 

•	 One  of  our  employees  spent  5  days  at ‘Rejoice’  -  an  SDL 
Foundation  supported  charity  in Thailand  which  provides 
medical,  social  and  educational  support  to  communities 
infected with and affected by HIV/Aids

•	 Nine SDL offices around the world co-ordinated fundraising 
efforts  for  BeadforLife  through  the  sale  of 
jewellery 
manufactured  by  the  charity  from  recovered  materials. 
BeadforLife is an SDL Foundation supported charity which 
strives  to  enable  women  in  Northern  Uganda  to  bring 
themselves out of poverty.

The  Board  has  overall  ownership  of  the  Corporate  Social 
Responsibility  strategies  and  takes  very  seriously  its  broader 
responsibility  to  society  and  takes  a  progressive  approach  in 
ensuring  it  meets  its  broader  social  obligations.  The  Board 
continues  to  hold  the  opinion  that  given  the  nature  of  the 
Group’s  business  activities,  which  do  not 
involve  heavy 
manufacturing,  material  risks  from  social,  environmental  and 
ethical issues are limited.

Our employment policies are developed to reflect local legal, 
cultural and employment requirements.

The Chief Financial Officer has ultimate responsibility for Health 
and Safety. Specific tasks are delegated to local office managers 
and suitably trained individuals in the organisation.

The  Group  rejects  all  forms  of  discrimination  and  actively 
encourage an equal opportunities policy. We expressly prohibit 
discrimination on grounds such as sex, race, religion or belief, 
age or perceived age, sexual orientation or disability.

Culture and Communication

SDL  seeks  to  maintain  high  standards  and  good  employee 
relations  wherever  we  operate.  Regular  and  open 
communication  is  fundamental  to  high  levels  of  employee 
engagement.  During  2013,  SDL  rolled  out  company-wide 
global  business  applications  and  invested  in  key  areas  of  the 
business  which  underpin  SDL’s  commitment  to  building 
organizational capabilities. There are a number of mechanisms 
to connect and share expertise on a company-wide basis:

•	 Monthly company performance and strategy presentations 

by the CEO to all employees;

•	 Monthly  newsletter  sharing  company-wide  programs  as 

well as local initiatives with all employees;

•	

Site Leaders, appointed to lead every SDL office to cascade 
messaging at a local level and solicit feedback;

•	 Works councils and other employee forums maintained and 
relevant performance and change issues are also discussed 
with  our  employees  through  team  meetings,  round  table 
discussions  or  through  works  councils  or  other  elected 
representative bodies;

•	

is  embedded 

The  Code  of  Conduct 
into  employee 
induction and for existing employees is reviewed regularly. 
Our people have access to information about SDL’s policies 
through  a  global  intranet,  with  local  translations  and 
content where appropriate;

•	 A  “whistleblowing  policy” 

in  place  which  enables 
is 
employees to bring matters of concern to the attention of 
the Senior Independent Director in confidence. No matters 
were raised via this route in 2013. The Board are reviewing 
the  current  procedures  and  practices  for  dealing  with 
whistleblowing  claims  to  ensure  that  potential  issues  are 
captured and addressed as early as possible.

Talent and development

SDL continues to place high emphasis on its employees and on 
actively  developing  their  respective  skills,  and  competencies, 
through various e-learning, training, coaching and mentoring 
initiatives which operate across the company. 

SDL  is  also  committed  to  helping  employees  perform  at 
their  best  and  achieve  their  full  potential  through  ongoing 
training  and  personal  development  plans  linked  to  the  SDL 
Performance Management System. 

Strategic Report 
 
 
16 

Annual Report 2013

Gender Breakdown: Senior Management and All Employees

Female

Male

Female

Male

39%
Female 
25

61%
Male 
38

48%
Female 
1555

52%
Male 
1651

Senior Management

All Employees

•	

•	

•	

Employees  review  and  agree  development  objectives 
during  their  annual  performance  dialogue  with  their 
manager; 

SDL  supports  overseas  assignments  or  secondment  to 
enable  employees  to  benefit  from  a  period  overseas.  We 
have also seen continued movement of employees across 
different operating segments in 2013, which is effective in 
transferring best practice and sustaining culture;

The  Management  Development  Training  Programme 
was  extended  in  2013.  Overall,  a  total  of  132  Managers 
from  12  locations  worldwide  have  taken  part  during  the 
last  12  months.  This  programme  has  now  helped  almost 
400  members  of  SDL’s  senior  team  to  develop  their 
Management  and  Leadership  competence  and  is  set  to 
continue during 2014.

•	 2013  also  saw  the  rollout  of  SDL’s  Pathways  Project 
Management  programme  with  over  75  Project  managers 
attending classes in five locations. This programme is based 
on the Project management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) 
and is fully ISO & REP Certificated.

•	

In 2013, SDL launched company-wide training designed to 
ensure all employees understand the company’s Customer 
Experience  Management  strategy  and  demonstrate  how 
every employee contributes to the company’s success.

The  Group  continues  to  develop  progressive  relationships 
with several language facilities of universities in the countries 
in which it operates and supports translation as a profession. 
This serves as a way for the Group to develop the translation 
profession  as  well  as  providing  a  valuable  potential  career 
outlet for students and a source of potential future employees.

The  Group  also  actively  collaborates  with  universities  and 
research centres to promote research, solutions and assist with 
recruitment for the technology areas of the business. 

 ¶

SDL Amsterdam was the industrial partner to a dozen 
European  universities  and  research  centres  as  part 
of  the  EU  FP7  project  HATS.  The  partners  included 
for  Experimental  Software 
Fraunhofer 

Institute 

Universität 

Darmstadt, 

Engineering Kaiserslautern, Universität Kaiserslautern, 
Technische 
Chalmers 
University  of  Technology  Gothenburg,  Kungliga 
Tekniska  Högskolan  Stockholm,  Universitetet  i  Oslo, 
Norsk  Regnesentral  Oslo,  Universidad  Politécnica  de 
Madrid, Università di Bologna, Centrum voor Wiskunde 
en  Informatica  Amsterdam,  Katholieke  Universiteit 
Leuven, Institute of Cybernetics Estonia.

 ¶

 ¶

SDL Amsterdam is a partner to European universities 
and  research  centres  as  part  of  the  EU  FP7  project 
Envisage.  The  partners  include  University  of  Oslo, 
Centrum  voor  Wiskunde  en  Informatica  Amsterdam, 
Technische  Universität  Darmstadt,  Università  di 
Bologna, Universidad Complutense de Madrid.

SDL  Amsterdam  has  previously  provided  a  valuable 
career  outlet  for  students  of  European  universities 
such  as  Delft  University  of  Technology,  Technical 
University  of  Vienna,  University  of  Amsterdam,  VU 
University Amsterdam and will continue to do so.

Disabled Employees

SDL values applications from disabled or handicapped persons 
and  our  policy  is  to  always  consider  in  full  employment 
applications from disabled or handicapped persons where that 
person can perform the job requirements.

it 

Where  existing  employees  become  disabled, 
is  the 
Group’s  policy,  wherever  practicable,  to  provide  continuing 
employment under normal terms and conditions and disabled 
people  are  afforded  the  same  training  and  development 
opportunities for personal growth as other employees within 
the  organization.  Under  no  circumstance  will  discrimination 
due to disability either direct or implied be tolerated.

 
 
 
Strategic Report  

17

SDL Foundation

In  the  5  years  since  its  establishment,  the  SDL  Foundation 
has  donated  approximately  £900,000  to  some  45  projects  in 
27  countries. The  causes  have  been  a  broad  cross-section  of 
structural and sustainable projects, enabling the recipients to 
better their and their family’s future through income generating 
activities or educational and vocational training assisting them 
to achieve full-time employment.

2013  saw  a  continuation  of  the  Foundation’s  established 
working  partnerships  and  the  building  of  new  relationships. 
The applications for these donations are made and supported 
by  SDL  employees  who  are  encouraged  to  actively  involve 
themselves  with  the  charities.  This  commitment  is  further 
enhanced  by  the  Company  granting  employees  additional 
days  off  to  participate  and  use  their  skill  sets  to  help  the 
disadvantaged in society.

The material benefits that SDL Foundation’s donations made in 
2013 are illustrated by the likes of:

Hatua Likoni – providing scholarships and mentoring for some 
150 of the poorest children in the slums of Mombasa. This has 
developed  from  a  small  orphanage,  one  of  the  Foundation’s 

first  donations,  with  the  older  children  now  approaching 
University, an impossibility without this funding.

Seeds for Africa – breakfast clubs for primary schools in Sierra 
Leone  to  ensure  every  child  has  a  proper  meal,  encouraging 
attendance and stimulating performance. The overall funding is 
used to grow nutritious crops enabling the schools to become 
self sufficient as well as teaching the children agricultural skills. 
The Foundation’s funding is specifically for water capture and 
storage to enable crops to be grown despite inconsistent rains.

Beads  for  Life  –  providing  ox  ploughs  to  facilitate  the 
cultivation  of  three  times  the  area  and,  with  improved  seed, 
significantly  increase  yields.  In  addition,  9  SDL  offices  around 
the world matched the Foundation’s funding by participating 
in  a  co-ordinated  fund  raising  through  the  sale  of  jewellery 
manufactured by the charity from recovered materials.

Strategic Report 
18 

Annual Report 2013

Environment

Measuring and reporting energy efficiency, carbon and greenhouse gases (GHG).

In previous years, we have reported SDL’s carbon footprint for five of our major office sites. This year, we have extended the scope 
of our carbon reporting to include all of our offices worldwide. In calculating our global footprint, we measured the emissions from 
our 5 main offices and extrapolated for the remaining emissions based on company revenue. In order to improve data accuracy 
and completeness, we are planning to expand the scope of raw data that we collect in future years, and have also made significant 
improvements to our data collection and quality assurance methodology. 

The data below covers the 12 month period ending 31 December 2013 and is presented, where possible for comparison, alongside 
the data for 2012.

2013 Headline Results
GHG emissions for SDL worldwide in the period were 7,291 tonnes of CO2e, comprising of the following;

Global Footprint tCO2e

Activity

Electricity 

Travel 

Commuting 

Other 

tCO2e

2,681.9

1,508.5

2,235.0

865.9

7,291.3

12% 37%

30%

21%

Using  an  operational  control  approach,  SDL  assessed  its  boundaries  to  identify  all  of  the  activities  and  facilities  for  which  it  is 
responsible. Relevant activity data were identified and collected and provided to independent consultant, Carbon Clear. The validity 
and completeness of the data were checked by Carbon Clear and used to calculate the carbon emissions for SDL worldwide. The 
calculations performed follow the ISO14064 methodology and give an absolute and intensity factor for the Group’s emissions.

The results show that GHG emissions in the period were 7,291.3 tonnes of CO2e, comprised of the following;

Scope 1 & 2 – Combustion of fuels & operation of facilities. 

•	 Direct Emissions (Scope 1) were 403.5 tonnes of CO2e or 5.5% of the total.

•	

•	

Indirect Emissions (Scope 2) were 2,681.9 tonnes of CO2e or 36.7% of the total. 

Scope 3 – Additional Activity Data Reported

•	 Other, Indirect Emissions (Scope 3) were 4,205.9 tonnes of CO2e or 57.6% of the total.

Strategic Report  

19

The table below gives a more detailed breakdown of the emissions by activity.

Type of Emissions

Activity

Gas

Diesel

Direct (Scope 1)

Pool Cars/Company Vehicles

Refrigerant

Subtotal

Purchased Electricity

Subtotal

Business Travel

Commuting

Other

Subtotal

Indirect Energy (Scope 2)

Indirect Other (Scope 3)

Total Emissions (tCO2e)

2013 tCO2e

212.1

0.0

26.9

164.5

403.5

2,681.9

2,681.9

1,508.5

2,235.0

462.4

4,205.9

7,291.3

Intensity metrics of SDL’s global operations based on Full Time Employees (FTE) and Revenue (£m).

SDL

SDL

Tonnes CO2e

7,291.3

Tonnes CO2e

7,291.3

Staff (FTE)

3,177

Revenue (£m)

266.1

2.3 per employee

27.4 per £million of revenue

The  graphs  below  provide  a  comparative  analysis  of  2012  and  2013  emissions  for  the  Head  Office  in  Maidenhead  and  the  five 
main office sites. To ensure a more accurate analysis, the 2012 footprint has been recalculated using raw data from November and 
December 2012 (previously extrapolated). Data for most activities in 2013 cover a 10 month period and has been extrapolated to 
provide the full year figures. 

Head office footprint 2012/2013

SDL five main sites* footprint 2012/2013

Electricity
–16.8%

Commuting
+19.6%

Business
Travel
– 61.8%

Other
–14.4%

.

2
7
4
3
5

.

4
1
5
4
4

.

3
9
9
0
5

.

8
4
6
2
4

.

8
5
9
1
4

.

4
0
8
0
1

2
5
2
9

.

.

4
1
0
6
1

2012

2013

2012

2013

2012

2013

2012

2013

e
2
O
C

f

o
s
e
n
n
o
T

600

500

400

300

200

100

0

1400

1200

1000

e
2
O
C

f

o
s
e
n
n
o
T

800

600

400

200

0

.

4
3
9
3
1

.

2
3
5
1
1

Electricity
–17.2%

Commuting
– 5.6%

Business
Travel
– 24.8%

Other
– 6.6%

.

7
7
1
0
1

.

0
1
6
9

.

9
1
6
8

.

6
8
4
6

.

7
8
9
3

.

5
2
7
3

2012

2013

2012

2013

2012

2013

2012

2013

*Ireland, Japan, Netherlands, UK, USA

1,488.8

1,207.7

–18.9

3,671.7

3,135.3

–14.6

Total tCO2e

2012

Total tCO2e

2013

Change

%

Total tCO2e

2012

Total tCO2e

2013

Change

%

This Strategic Report is approved by the Board of Directors and signed on its behalf by

Dominic Lavelle

Director

18 March 2014

Strategic Report 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
20 

Annual Report 2013

Governance

Chairman’s overview 
Our  corporate  governance  section  sets  out  how  SDL  seeks 
to  achieve  its  commercial  goals  underpinned  by  a  corporate 
governance framework which supports the highest standards 
of  corporate  behaviour.  Commercial  and  operational  risks 
are  identified  and  controlled,  we  have  strategies  in  place 
to  optimise  stakeholder  value  over  time  and  a  system  of 
controls  is  in  place.  More  important  is  the  corporate  culture 
and  the  internal  business  relationships  which  support  good 
governance; everyone is expected to operate as One SDL and 
to follow the Code of Conduct, details of which are on page 15.

In  2013,  the  main  governance  challenge  for  the  Board  has 
been the execution of the business initiatives as discussed in 
the CEO’s Statement. In addition, and in common with many 
businesses, SDL operates under tough economic conditions in 
many of our markets. Preserving the value of the Group’s assets 
continues to be a priority for the Board, as well as execution of 
the strategies to deliver growth in the coming years.

To be effective, the Board must have full understanding of the 
complexities of the industries in which the Group operates. The 
Board  provides  SDL  with  a  good  balance  of  governance  and 
leadership and is made up of a diversity of talents and views 
from  various  sectors  and  skills.  For  details  of  changes  to  the 
structure and composition of the Board during 2013 see page 
25. We do not anticipate further substantial changes although 
the exact number of directors may rise or fall in line with the 
normal process of Board development and succession planning. 
We  also  support  and  appreciate  the  benefits  of  diversity  and 
without seeking to set a specific goal for female representation 
on the Board it remains our commitment to maintain diversity, 
including gender diversity within the Boardroom, appropriate 
to  and  reflecting  strategic  imperatives  the  Board  has  agreed 
upon. As opportunities arise, we will appoint candidates who 
have the appropriate skills.

The Board regularly seeks external evaluation and, in December 
2013  Lintstock  Limited  conducted  a  review  of  the  Board’s 
performance. The results are summarised on page 26.

David Clayton
Chairman

Compliance with the Corporate 
Governance Code 
The  UK  Corporate  Governance  Code  (the  “Code”)  sets  out 
standards of good practice in relation to board leadership and 
effectiveness, remuneration, accountability and relations with 
shareholders.

Listed  companies  are  required  to  report  on  how  they  have 
applied the main principles of the Code, and either to confirm 
that they have complied with the Code’s provisions or - where 
they have not - to provide an explanation. 

In May 2010 the FRC published a new edition of the Code which 
applied to financial years beginning on or after 29 June 2010. 
SDL has been in compliance with the Code except where the 
Directors  considered  that  in  particular  limited  circumstances, 
departure may be justified and explained.

A new edition of the Code was published in September 2012 
and this version applies to the current, 2013 reporting period. A 
copy of the code is available at www.frc.org.uk. 

The Board considers that during the year ended 31 December 
2013  the  Company  complied  with  all  the  provisions  of  the 
Code with the exception of A.2.1. In November 2012 following 
John  Hunter’s  resignation  as  Chief  Executive  Officer,  Mark 
Lancaster assumed the combined role of Chairman and Chief 
Executive  Officer.  Mark  Lancaster’s  exercise  of  both  roles  was 
a non-compliance with A.2.1 of the Code which requires clear 
division of responsibilities. This non-compliance was addressed 
by the Board and in July 2013 David Clayton, who meets the 
independence  criteria  set  out  in  the  Code,  was  appointed 
Chairman.  Mark  Lancaster  remains  as  Chief  Executive  Officer 
(“CEO”). 

In line with provision C1.1 of the Code the directors consider the 
annual report and accounts, taken as a whole, is fair, balanced 
and  understandable  and  provides  the  information  necessary 
for  shareholders  to  assess  the  Company’s  performance, 
business model and strategy.

Governance  

21

Corporate Governance

To  facilitate  day-to-day  operations  of  the  business,  the  Board 
delegates  specific  management  powers  and  responsibilities 
to  the  CEO.  In  addition,  the  business  units  within  the  Group 
are  called  upon  to  update  the  Board,  giving  the  Board  an 
opportunity  to  understand  and  explore  issues  in-depth  as 
appropriate. 

The  Board  understands  that  corporate  governance  is  about 
balancing  the  need  to  drive  strategy  and  growth  whilst 
maintaining  safeguards  and  controls.  It  is  not  viewed  as  an 
annual exercise set apart from the work of managing the group. 
Our corporate governance needs to continue to adapt so that 
it remains fit for purpose. Structures and processes across the 
Group will continue to be reviewed so that timely changes are 
made when necessary. 

The role of the Board 

Responsibility  for  governance  rests  with  the  Board.  It  is  the 
custodian  of  the  Group’s  values,  long  term  vision  and  is 
responsible for the overall conduct of the Group’s business. It 
provides strategic direction and is accountable to shareholders 
and other stakeholders for the performance of the business.

There  are  certain  matters  which  are  solely  for  the  Board’s 
decision which are set out in a “Schedule of matters specifically 
reserved  for  decision  by  the  Board”  available  on  our  website. 
Other  specific 
to  Board 
Committees.

responsibilities  are  delegated 

The Board’s framework agenda is determined at the beginning 
of  the  year  to  ensure  that  certain  items  of  business  are 
reviewed  at  appropriate  intervals.  Matters  considered  at  all 
Board meetings include: CEO’s report on strategic and business 
developments; CFO’s report based on the latest management 
accounts; an operations update and where applicable updates 
from  the  Board  committees.  The  Board  also  receives  regular 
updates, between scheduled meetings, on a range of matters.

During 2013 matters considered included:

•	 Business performance of the Group and individual business 

units

•	

Financial  position  of  the  Group  and  individual  business 
units 

•	 Group strategy

•	 Budget and long-term plans for the Group

•	

•	

Shareholder  feedback  and  engagement;  reports  from 
analysts

Succession planning and talent

•	 Risk - strategic and operational

•	 Corporate  and  social  responsibility  including  Health  & 

Safety

•	

Effectiveness of the Board and the Terms of Reference of the 
Board Committees

2013

Board meetings

AGM

Jan

x

Strategy/Planning meetings

Audit Committee

Nomination Committee

Remuneration Committee

x

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

Jul

x

x

x

Aug

Sep

Oct 

Nov

Dec

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

Governance 
22 

Annual Report 2013

Board of Directors

David Clayton
Chairman | Non-executive director

Tenure: 4 years (appointed December 2009)

Board Committees: Audit, Nomination and Remuneration

David  Clayton  was  appointed  non-executive  Chairman  of  SDL  PLC  in 
July 2013. He joined SDL as a Non-executive Director in December 2009 
and  served  as  Senior  Independent  Director  from  April  2012.  After  a 
career in senior executive roles at a number of international technology 
companies he joined BZW where, after its merger with CSFB in 1997, he 
was Managing Director and Head of European Technology Research until 
2004.  David  Clayton  joined The  Sage  Group  plc  Board  in  June  2004  as 
a  Non-executive  Director  and  took  up  his  executive  role  as  Director  of 
Strategy  and  Corporate  Development  from  October  2007  to  February 
2012.

Mark Lancaster
Chief Executive Officer

Tenure: 22 years (appointed January 1992. Stepped back as CEO Feb 2011 
to be Exec Chairman, returned to CEO role Nov 2012)

Board Committees: Chairman of Nomination

Mark Lancaster founded the company in 1992, having identified the need 
for  a  high-level  technology  and  solutions  provider  managing  business’ 
content in global markets. Mark is a graduate in electrical and electronic 
engineering. He started his career as an electronics and computer design 
engineer before moving into project management at Lotus Development 
Corporation  and 
international  development  director  with 
Ashton-Tate. He is responsible for the strategic direction and operational 
management of the Group.

later  as 

Dominic Lavelle
Chief Financial Officer (“CFO”)

Tenure: Appointed November 2013

Board Committees: None

Dominic Lavelle is a qualified Chartered Accountant who joined SDL in 
November 2013. Previously, Dominic has held CFO roles within a number 
of private and publicly traded companies including Mothercare plc, Alfred 
McAlpine plc, Allders plc and Oasis plc where his roles have encompassed 
commercial, operational and strategic responsibilities.

Governance  

23

Chris Batterham
Non-executive director

Tenure: 14 years (appointed October 1999)

Board Committees: None

Chris  Batterham  is  a  Chartered  Accountant  with  significant  experience 
in the business services sector. He was finance director of Unipalm plc, 
the first internet company to float on the London Stock Exchange, and, 
latterly,  Chief  Financial  Officer  of  Searchspace  Group  until  2005.  He 
currently holds a number of non-executive directorships including Office 
2 Office plc, Toumaz Holdings Ltd, Iomart plc and is Chairman of Eckoh 
plc.

Joe Campbell 
Non-executive director | independent

Tenure: 8 years (appointed July 2005)

Board Committees: Nomination, Chairman of Remuneration

Joe  Campbell  joined  SDL  as  a  non-executive  director  on  1  July  2005 
following the acquisition of Trados Inc where he was CEO. Prior to Trados, 
he was Chief Operating Officer of iManage, a publicly traded company 
on  the  Nasdaq.  He  adds  a  considerable  level  of  expertise  in  enterprise 
software  sales  and  experience  of  the  US  financial  markets  and  M&A 
activity.

Mandy Gradden
Non-executive director | independent

Tenure: 2 years (appointed January 2012)

Board Committees: Chairman of Audit, Remuneration

Mandy  Gradden  is  an  experienced  corporate  CFO  with  more  than  20 
years financial and senior management experience. In January 2013 she 
was appointed Group CFO of Top Right Group the privately owned B2B 
media and events business. Previous roles include: CFO of the privately 
owned Torex,  the  retail  technology  firm;  CFO  at  the  FTSE  250  business 
and technology consultancy, Detica; Director of Corporate Development 
at Telewest Communications; and Group Financial Controller at Dalgety. 
She began her career at Price Waterhouse, where, in 1992, she qualified as 
a Chartered Accountant.

Alan McWalter
Non-executive | Senior independent director

Tenure: Appointed March 2014

Board Committees: Audit and Remuneration

Alan McWalter is currently Chairman of Churchill China plc, and the Senior 
Independent Director at Dignity Plc. He also holds non-executive director 
positions with several private companies. Prior to this Mr McWalter has 
held non-executive roles in Trafficmaster Plc, Cattles Plc and Timeweaver 
Plc  and  been  an  executive  director  in  a  number  of  major  companies 
including  Thomson  Consumer  Electronics,  Kingfisher  and  Marks  & 
Spencer.

None of the directors have been accused of, or been reported as, acting in breach of professional conduct by any regulatory or statutory authority.

Governance 
24 

2013 Dashboard
Structure

SDL PLC 

BOARD 

Chairman: David Clayton

Annual Report 2013

Audit Committee

Nomination Committee

Chairman: Mandy Gradden

Chairman: Mark Lancaster

see page 27

see page 30

Remuneration Committee

Chairman: Joe Campbell

see page 31

Board composition as at 31 December 2013 

Date first elected
by shareholders

Years from first election  
to the 2014 AGM

Considered to be 
independent by the Board

Non-executive directors:

David Clayton

Chris Batterham

Joe Campbell

Mandy Gradden

Alan McWalter

Executive directors:

Mark Lancaster

Dominic Lavelle

4

14

8

2

–

April 2010

April 2000

April 2006

April 2012

Standing for first election 
in April 2014

April 2000

n/a

Yes

Yes*

Yes

Yes

Yes

n/a

n/a

*The  Nomination  committee  noted  that  Chris  Batterham  has 
served  for  14  years  as  a  non-executive  director  and  under 
the  Code  is  no  longer  considered  to  be  independent.  The 
Board  has  considered  the  matter  carefully  and  believes  that 
Chris  Batterham  continues  to  demonstrate  the  qualities  of 
independence in carrying out his role, supporting the executive 
directors  in  an  objective  manner.  His  length  of  service  and 
resulting experience and knowledge of the Company is of great 
benefit.  The  Board  also  noted  Chris  Batterham’s  resignation 
from the Audit Committee on 1 July 2013, resulting in a fully 
independent  Committee  membership.  The  Nomination 
Committee will keep his independence under review.

John Matthews who resigned from the Board as a non-executive 
director  in  April  2012  continues  to  work  with  the  Company 
John  Matthews  was  a  non-executive  Director  from  2002  to 
2012.  He  chaired  the  Audit  and  Remuneration  Committees 
and,  at  the  time  of  his  retirement  from  the  Board,  was  the 
Senior  Independent  Director.  He  had  a  career  specialising 
in  Corporate  Finance  ahead  of  then  moving  into  senior  roles 
in  industry.  In  recent  years  he  has  held  a  number  of  outside 
directorships  as  Chairman  (Crest  Nicholson,  Regus)  or  Senior 
Independent Director (Rotork, Diploma, Minerva, Center Parcs). 
He is a qualified Chartered Accountant. The Board values John 
Matthews’ financial expertise and international experience. 

The  Nomination  Committee  keep 
the  balance  and 
independence of the non-executive directors and its advisors 
under review. Norman Broadbent worked with the Nomination 
Committee in 2013, analysing the skills and succession needs 
of the Board to identify two new non-executive directors who 
will add strength to the Board and fit the culture. Alan McWalter 
(see  bio  on  page  23)  joined  SDL  in  March  2014  and  Glenn 
Collinson will join the Board in June 2014.

Our non-executive directors are appointed for an initial period 
of  three  years,  subject  to  remaining  independent  and  their 
re-election  by  the  shareholders  annually  at  the  Company’s 
Annual  General  Meeting  (“AGM”).  The  Board  makes  a  careful 
assessment  of  the  time  commitment  required  from  the 
Chairman  and  the  non-executive  directors  to  discharge  their 
roles  properly.  This  is  discussed  with  potential  candidates  as 
part  of  the  recruitment  process  and  the  time  requirement  is 
included in their engagement letters. 

The terms and conditions of appointment of our non-executive 
directors  are  available  for 
inspection  at  the  Company’s 
registered office and at our AGM.

 
Governance  

25

Board composition as at 31 December 2013

Executive Directors

Independent chairman

Independent non-executive directors

Non-independent non-executive directors

17% 33%

33% 17%

Changes during 2013

July 2013 

David Clayton was appointed non-Executive Chairman of the 
Company  with  effect  from  1  July  2013,  taking  over  the  role 
from  Mark  Lancaster.  Mark  Lancaster  had  relinquished  the 
role  of  CEO  in  February  2011  and  returned  to  the  combined 
role  of  Chairman/CEO  in  November  2012.  David  Clayton’s 
appointment continued the Company’s process of developing 
best governance practice and allowed Mark Lancaster to focus 
entirely  on  his  role  as  CEO  during  an  important  stage  of  the 
Company’s development.

Audit  Committee:  Mandy  Gradden  was  appointed  Chairman 
succeeding David Clayton and Chris Batterham resigned as a 
member.

Remuneration  Committee:  Joe  Campbell  was  appointed 
Chairman, succeeding David Clayton.

November 2013 

On 25 November 2013, Dominic Lavelle was appointed as CFO 
of  the  Group,  succeeding  Matthew  Knight  who  announced 
his intention to step down earlier in the year. The Board thanks 
Matthew  Knight  for  his  work  and  contribution  to  SDL  and 
wishes him well for the future. 

Attendance at scheduled meetings of the Board and its Committees during 2013

Board

Audit Committee

Nomination 
Committee

Remuneration 
Committee

Current directors:

Chairman:

David Clayton

Executive directors:

Mark Lancaster

Dominic Lavelle

Non-executive directors:

Chris Batterham

Joe Campbell

Mandy Gradden

In attendance:

Consultant: John Matthews

Directors who stepped down in 2013:

Matthew Knight

7/7

7/7

1*

6/7

6/7

7/7

7***

7/7

5/5

5***

1*

5/5**

-

5/5

-

5***

1/1

1/1

–

-

1/1

-

-

-

3/3

3***

–

3***

3/3

3/3

2***

2***

*Dominic Lavelle attended the November Audit Committee and Board meetings ahead of his appointment on 25 November 2013.
**Chris Batterham was a serving member of the Audit Committee for two of the meetings and invited to attend the remaining three. 
***Attendance by invitation.

Governance 
26 

Board Performance 

Director induction

New  directors  receive  a  personalised  induction  programme, 
tailored  to  their  experience,  background  and  particular  areas 
of  focus  which  is  designed  to  develop  their  knowledge  and 
understanding of the Group’s business.

Professional development and training

The  Nomination  Committee  reviews  the  directors’  skills  and 
experience  against  those  needed  by  the  Board  to  oversee 
and support the Group’s current and future operations. These 
reviews support the approach to succession planning as well as 
the ongoing development of the Board’s knowledge and skills. 

Keeping  up  to  date  with  key  business  developments  is 
achieved by:

•	 Presentations  from  the  executives.  The  divisional  CEOs 
delivered  presentations  on  the  technology  and  business 
models of their sectors

•	 Meetings  with  analysts  and  major  shareholders  at  the 

technology teach-ins

•	

Financial and regulatory updates.

•	 Directors have the opportunity to identify their own training 
and  development  needs  as  part  of  the  annual  evaluation 
process.

Annual Report 2013

•	

•	

•	

The  Board’s  management  of  the  main  risks  was  reviewed 
and  the  oversight  of  strategy  was  assessed.  The  Board 
members’  views  as  to  the  top  strategic  issues  facing  the 
company were identified. 

The  succession  planning  for  Executive  Directors  and  for 
management beneath the Board, and the structure of the 
company at senior levels, were assessed. 

The  composition  and  performance  of  the  Committees 
of  the  Board  were  considered  in  the  review,  as  was  the 
performance  of  the  Chairman  and  that  of  individual 
Directors. 

As  a  result  of  the  exercise,  amongst  other  things,  the  Board 
agreed  to  review  its  agenda  and  the  information  provided 
to  the  Board,  review  the  strategic  planning  processes,  and 
consider  additional  Non-Executive  appointments.  The 
governance  processes  around  the  appointment  of  a  Non-
Executive  Chairman  and  the  change  to  the  role  of  the  Chief 
Executive,  and  the  implications  this  has  on  Board  oversight, 
were also addressed. 

It  is  envisaged  that  Lintstock  will  conduct  an  appraisal  next 
year to follow up on the issues raised in this year’s process. The 
review content for each subsequent evaluation is designed to 
build upon learning gained in the previous year to ensure that 
the recommendations agreed in the review are implemented 
and that year-on-year progress is measured.

Professional Advice

Diversity 

independent  professional 
Directors  are  given  access  to 
advice at the Company’s expense when the directors deem it 
necessary in order for them to carry out their responsibilities. 
The directors also have access to the advice and services of the 
Company Secretary. 

Board evaluation

Each  year  the  performance  of  the  Board  and  its  Committees 
is  evaluated.  For  the  year  ending  December  2013  the  Board 
performance  evaluation  was  conducted  by  Lintstock  Limited 
an independent consultancy who was engaged in 2012 on a 
three year Board Development programme.

The  evaluation  took  place  over  December  2013  and  January 
2014 and the findings presented at a Board meeting in March 
2014.

The first stage of the review involved Lintstock engaging with 
the Chairman and the Company Secretary to set the context 
for  the  evaluation  and  to  tailor  the  questionnaires  used  to 
the specific circumstances of SDL. All respondents were then 
requested to complete an online questionnaire addressing the 
performance  of  the  Board  and  its  Committees,  the  Chairman 
and individual Directors. The anonymity of all respondents was 
ensured throughout the process in order to promote the open 
and frank exchange of views.

Lintstock  subsequently  produced  a  report  which  addressed 
the following areas: 

•	

•	

•	

The  composition  of  the  Board  was  reviewed,  and  the 
interface between the Board and senior management was 
assessed, as was the atmosphere in the boardroom. 

The management of time at the Board was considered, and 
the annual cycle of work and the Board’s agenda were both 
reviewed. 

The quality and timeliness of the documentation provided 
in  advance  of  meetings  were  reviewed,  as  were  the 
presentations made by management to the Board. 

Without seeking to set a specific goal for female representation 
on the Board, it remains the Board’s commitment to develop 
and maintain a diverse, including gender diverse, membership 
within the boardroom, appropriate to and reflecting the global 
nature of the Company and the strategic imperatives the Board 
has agreed upon. The Board recognises the benefits of the right 
balance  of  independence,  skills,  knowledge  and  experience. 
See diversity information on page 16.

Indemnification

The  Company  maintains  liability  insurance  for  its  directors 
and  officers  which  is  renewed  annually.  Deeds  of  indemnity 
are  also  in  force  under  which  the  Company  has  agreed  to 
indemnify the directors, to the extent permitted by law and the 
Company’s articles of association, in respect of all losses arising 
out  of,  or  in  connection  with,  the  execution  of  their  powers, 
duties and responsibilities, as directors of the Company or any 
of its subsidiaries.

Board Committees

The  Board  is  supported  in  its  work  by  the  following  key 
committees:

•	 Nominations Committee;

•	 Audit Committee; and

•	 Remuneration Committee

The  terms  of  reference  of  each  of  these  committees  are 
regularly  reviewed  and  available  on  the  Company’s  website 
at  www.sdl.com.  Further  details  of  these  committees  can  be 
found in their reports on pages 27-31.

The Committees are provided with the necessary resources to 
enable them to undertake their duties in an effective manner. 
The Company Secretary or her delegate acts as secretary to the 
committees.  See  above  for  the  calendar  for  meetings  of  the 
Board and its committees.

Governance  

27

Audit Committee

“We are mindful of the need to regularly assess our systems against the Group’s  
needs and the changing regulatory environment and adapt as necessary. As members 
of the Audit Committee we share, as appropriate, leadership and guidance across other 
Board committees on which we sit; we challenge management not only about the 
integrity of the financial reporting but also about the appropriateness of the Group’s 
governance on a range of compliance matters.”

Mandy Gradden 
Chairman, Independent non-executive director

Membership in 2013

Membership in 2014

Mandy Gradden – Chairman, 
Independent non-executive director. 
Appointed Chairman on 1 July 2013.

David Clayton – Independent 
non-executive director. Resigned as 
Chairman on 1 July 2013 and remains 
as a member of the Committee.

Chris Batterham resigned as a 
member of the Committee on 1 July 
2013.

Mandy Gradden – Chairman
David Clayton
Alan McWalter – appointed in  
March 2014 
Glenn Collinson – to be appointed  
in June 2014.

Key Objectives:
To promote and maintain effective governance over:

•	

•	

•	

the appropriateness of the Group’s financial reporting; 

the performance of the external auditor; and

the management of the Group’s system of internal control 
including internal audit activities, business risks and related 
compliance activities.

Responsibilities
•	 Reviewing  financial 

results  announcements,  financial 
statements and any other formal announcement relating to 
financial performance and their compliance with relevant 
statutory and listing requirements;

•	 Reporting  to  the  Board  on  the  appropriateness  of 

accounting policies and significant judgments;

•	 Advising  the  Board  on  the  clarity  and  completeness 
of  disclosure 
in  the  Group’s  annual  financial  report 
and  whether,  taken  as  a  whole,  it  is  fair,  balanced  and 
understandable and provides the information necessary for 
shareholders  to  assess  the  Group’s  performance,  business 
model and strategy;

•	 Assess  the  adequacy  and  effectiveness  of  the  Group’s 

internal financial controls and risk management;

•	 Overseeing the relationship with the external auditor;

•	 Carrying  out  any  in-depth  reviews  of  specific  areas  of 
financial reporting, risk and internal control, as required by 
the Committee.

The Committee

The  Audit  Committee  is  comprised  of  independent  non-
executive directors: Mandy Gradden (Chairman), David Clayton 
and  Alan  McWalter.  On  1  July  2013  Chris  Batterham  stood 

down and Mandy Gradden assumed the role of Chairman. Each 
of the Committee members has, through their other business 
activities  and/or  professional  qualifications,  a  wide  range  of 
financial  and  commercial  expertise  necessary  to  fulfil  the 
Committee’s duties. The Board considers that Mandy Gradden 
has recent and relevant financial experience, as required by the 
Code.

Meetings and Activities in 2013

The  Audit  Committee  met  5  times  during  2013. The  external 
auditor, KPMG Audit Plc (“KPMG”), is invited to every meeting. 
Executive  directors,  senior  members  of  management  and 
advisors  are  invited  to  attend  meetings  as  appropriate.  The 
Committee  regularly  meets  separately  with  KPMG  and  the 
Chief Financial Officer.

The Committee assists the Board in fulfilling its responsibilities 
in  relation  to  the  Group’s  financial  reporting  requirements, 
risk  management  and  assessment  of 
internal  controls. 
Following  the  publication  of  the  revised  version  of  the  UK 
Corporate  Governance  Code,  which applies  to financial  years 
commencing  on  or  after  1  October  2012,  the  Committee 
advises  the  Board  on  whether  it  believes  the  annual  report, 
taken  as  a  whole,  is  fair,  balanced  and  understandable  and 
provides the information necessary for shareholders to assess 
the  Group’s  performance,  business  model  and  strategy.  The 
Committee’s  terms  of  reference  have  been  amended  to 
reflect this and can be found on our website at www.sdl.com/
aboutus/investors/terms-of-reference.html.

As part of the formal annual Board evaluation the Committee’s 
effectiveness was subject to external review in 2013. Details of 
the process can be found on page 26. 

Matters considered by the Committee in 2013 and up to the 
date of approval of this annual report included: 

Governance 
28 

Annual Report 2013

Committee Meeting 

Date

4 March 2013

Key Items

Annual results

•	External	auditor’s	report
•	Review	of	preliminary	results	and	draft	announcement

Draft Annual report 
Review of accounting policies assumptions, judgments and estimates

21 May

Scope of Interim Audit
External Auditor fees 
Update from internal audit/site visit
Committee composition and succession 
Whistleblowing policy

31 July

Interim results 

22 October

22 November

•	External	auditor’s	interim	report
•	Review	of	interim	preliminary	results	and	draft	announcement

Non-audit fees 
Key Judgments
Terms of Reference

External auditor Audit Strategy report
Group Tax matters review with management 

Consideration of plans for preparation of annual results
Update from internal audit/site visit
Evaluation of the Committee’s performance (undertaken in January 2014)

4 March 2014

Annual results

•	External	auditor’s	report
•	Review	of	preliminary	results	and	draft	announcement

Draft Annual report 
Review of accounting policies assumptions, judgments and estimates 

Financial Reporting

We  reviewed  and  challenged,  with  both  management  and 
the external auditor, the appropriateness of the half-year and 
annual financial statements concentrating on, amongst other 
matters:

•	

•	

The  quality  and  acceptability  of  accounting  policies  and 
practices;

The  clarity  of  disclosures  and  compliance  with  financial 
reporting 
reporting 
and 
requirements;

governance 

standards 

•	 Material  areas  in  which  significant  judgments  have  been 
applied  or  there  has  been  discussion  with  the  external 
auditor;

•	 Whether  the  annual  report  and  accounts,  taken  as  a 
whole  is  fair,  balanced  and  understandable  and  provides 
the  information  necessary  for  shareholders  to  assess  the 

Group’s performance, business model and strategy; and

•	 Any  correspondence  from  regulators  in  relation  to  our 

financial reporting.

The  significant  judgments  considered  by  the  Committee  in 
relation to the 2013 accounts were:

•	 Technology revenue recognition: Revenue is recognised 
to the extent that it is probable that economic benefits will 
flow to the Group. There is a key area of judgment in the 
timing  of  this  recognition  and  resulting  deferred  revenue 
on  software  and  support  contracts. The  Committee  have 
considered  the  associated  risks  presented  by  the  external 
auditor  as  part  of  the  2013  half  year  and  2013  full  year 
audit. The  Committee  have  concluded  that  the  timing  of 
recognition continues to be in line with IFRS requirements 
and 
judgments  made  are 
appropriate.

is  comfortable  that  the 

	
	
	
	
	
	
 
Governance  

29

•	 Goodwill  impairment:  The  carrying  amounts  of  the 
Group’s goodwill and acquisition-related assets have been 
reviewed to determine whether there is any indication of 
impairment. The key judgments are in determining the cash 
generating  units  (“CGU”)  and  assumptions  in  underlying 
reviewed 
impairment  models.  The  Committee  has 
management  reports  which  were  part  of  the  audit  by 
KPMG. Following review and discussion with management 
and the external auditor, the Committee is satisfied that the 
impairment charge of £20.4m recorded in the Content and 
Analytic Technologies CGU is an appropriate judgment and 
furthermore  the  Committee  concurs  with  management’s 
assessment that the value in use of the other CGUs exceeds 
the  carrying  value  of  the  goodwill  and  intangible  assets. 
See also notes to accounts on page 70.

from 

reports 

through 

•	 Deferred  taxation:  The  Committee  addressed  taxation 
issues 
senior  management 
and  a  process  of  challenging  the  appropriateness  of 
management’s views including the degree to which these 
were  supported  by  professional  advice  from  external 
legal  and  other  advisory  firms. This  includes,  in  particular, 
management’s  judgments  on  the  recognition  of  deferred 
tax on losses. See also notes to accounts on page 64.

Internal control and risk management

The Group’s assessment of its principal risks and uncertainties 
are set out on pages 12-14.

Key elements of the Group’s internal financial control framework 
and procedures include:

•	 Regular meetings of the executive team with the executive 
directors to review operational aspects of the business;

•	 Defined responsibilities and limits of authority, including a 
schedule of matters that are required to be brought to the 
Board for decision;

•	 A comprehensive Group-wide system of financial reporting, 
budgeting and cash forecasting and control through which 
financial accounts are prepared and submitted to the Board 
monthly;

•	 Regular  preparation  and,  when  appropriate,  update  of 
profit  and  cash  flow  forecasts,  to  monitor  actual  against 
expected performance;

•	 Regular  meetings  of  the  Board  and  Audit  Committee  at 
which financial information is reviewed and business risks 
are reported upon and monitored; and

•	 Reviews  by  the  Group’s  Finance  Director  and/or  Financial 
Controller on the outcomes of the Site Visit program where 
specific business units are selected for audit of compliance 
risks  and  vulnerabilities  in  consultation  with  the  Audit 
Committee. The main aims of the Site Visit program are to 
ensure the:
 ¶ Operation  of  an  effective  system  of  internal  control 

being maintained at Group and country levels;

 ¶

 ¶

 ¶

Production  of  accurate,  relevant  and  timely  financial 
information by each of the countries;

 Safeguarding  of  the  Group’s  assets  through  physical 
controls and segregation of duties; and

Proactive  risk  identification  and  mitigation  though 
appropriate monitoring and controls.

Reports of the results of these Site Visits are presented to and 
considered by the Audit Committee.

A  review  by  the  Audit  Committee  and  the  Board  of  the 
effectiveness  of  the  Group’s  risk  management  and  internal 
control systems is undertaken at least annually.

Internal Audit

At  the  November  2013  Committee  meeting  the  need 
for  and  potential  scope  of  an  Internal  Audit  department 
was  considered.  The  Committee  decided  that  the  current 
procedures  and  escalations  on  risk,  control  and  governance 
from  the  risk  management  framework  together  with  the 
external auditor, are sufficient assurance and no internal audit 
function  is  required  at  this  time. These  arrangements  will  be 
kept under review.

External Audit

The  Committee  received  a  detailed  audit  plan  from  KPMG  at 
the start of the audit cycle, identifying their assessment of key 
risks. For 2013 the primary risks identified were in relation to: 

•	

Technology revenue recognition

•	 Goodwill impairment

•	

Tax  charge  -  appropriateness  of  tax  provisions  and  the 
recognition or otherwise of deferred tax assets

The  Committee  held  private  meetings  with  the  external 
auditor at the March and July Committee meeting to provide 
additional  opportunity  for  open  dialogue  and  feedback 
without management being present. 

The  Committee  considered  the  nature,  scope,  results  and 
costs  of  the  audit  as  well  as  the  resources  deployed  and  the 
conduct of the audit. The Audit Committee keeps under review 
the  cost  effectiveness,  independence  and  objectivity  of  the 
external auditors and has adopted a formal written process in 
this regard. 

Non-audit  services  above  £20,000  are  sanctioned  formally  by 
the  Audit  Committee  evaluating  the  nature  of  the  work  and 
fees  involved  and  the  materiality  of  the  fees.  Expertise  being 
provided  is  very  closely  monitored  as  are  any  non-audit 
relationships  between  the  Group  and  the  Auditor.  Other 
accounting firms are also used for non-audit services, including 
taxation advice and compliance where it is cost effective and 
efficient to do so. The objective of maintaining a policy on non-
audit services is to ensure the external auditor’s independence. 
The  external  auditor  is  not  engaged  to  perform  any  service 
where  the  output  is  then  subject  to  their  review  as  external 
auditor.  The  total  sum  invoiced  to  the  Group  by  its  external 
auditor for non-audit services provided in 2013 was £313,000 
representing 94% (2012: £285,000, 82%). The fee for 2013 audit 
services was £334,000 (2012: £349,000).

At the end of 2009 the Committee put the audit and taxation 
affairs  of  the  Group  out  to  tender,  a  recommendation  was 
made to the shareholders at the 2010 Annual General Meeting 
and  KPMG  were  duly  appointed.  The  Committee  is  satisfied 
with  the  auditor’s  effectiveness  and  independence  and  has 
not considered it necessary to require an independent tender 
process at this time. 

Our  auditor,  KPMG  Audit  Plc  has  instigated  an  orderly  wind 
down  of  business.  The  Board  has  decided  to  put  KPMG  LLP 
forward to be appointed as auditor and a resolution concerning 
their appointment will be put to the forthcoming AGM of the 
Company.

Governance 
30 

Annual Report 2013

Nomination Committee

“An appropriate range of skills, knowledge and experience on our Board is key to  
achieving the Group’s objectives and sustaining performance over the long term.”

Mark Lancaster 
Chairman

Membership in 2013

Membership in 2014

Mark Lancaster – Chairman

Mark Lancaster – Chairman

David Clayton

Joe Campbell

David Clayton

Joe Campbell until the AGM in 2014

The  Committee  considers  a  number  of  factors  when  making 
new  appointments,  including  what  the  new  director  will 
add  to  the  balance  of  skills  and  experience  and  whether  the 
director  will  be  able  to  commit  sufficient  time  to  discharge 
their  responsibilities.  An  external  executive  search  company, 
Norman Broadbent was commissioned to shortlist candidates 
with suitable skills and experience.

The  Board  acknowledges  that  diversity  extends  beyond  the 
boardroom and supports management in their efforts to build 
a  diverse  organisation.  It  endorses  the  Company’s  policy  to 
attract  and  develop  a  highly  qualified  and  diverse  workforce 
and to ensure that all selection decisions are based on merit and 
that all recruitment activities are fair and non-discriminatory.

During the year consideration was also given to:

•	 Review of re-election of the directors at the AGM – it was 
noted  that  Chris  Batterham  has  served  for  more  than 
fourteen  years  as  a  non-executive  director  and  under  the 
Code  is  no  longer  considered  to  be  independent.  The 
Committee has considered the matter carefully and believes 
that Chris Batterham continues to demonstrate the qualities 
of  independence  in  carrying  out  his  role,  supporting  the 
executive  directors  in  an  objective  manner.  His  length  of 
service  and  resulting  experience  and  knowledge  of  the 
Company  is  of  great  benefit.  The  Committee  also  noted 
Chris  Batterham’s  resignation  from  the  Audit  Committee 
on  1  July  2013,  resulting  in  a  fully  independent  Audit 
Committee membership. The Nomination Committee will 
keep his independence under review.

•	

The  results  of  the  Board  evaluation  for  2013  (see  the 
Corporate Governance section for details).

•	 Challenges and requirements for succession and leadership, 
and reviewed the plans to ensure the Group has the right 
capacity for the future.

Key Objectives:
•	

Ensure  the  Board  has  an  appropriate  structure,  size  and 
composition to discharge its responsibilities;

•	

Identify  and  nominate  candidates  to  fill  board  vacancies; 
and

•	 Review the leadership needs of the organisation to ensure 

the continued ability to compete in the marketplace.

Responsibilities
•	 Review structure, size and composition of the Board.

•	

Leads  the  process  to  identify  and  nominate  new  Board 
appointment candidates.

•	 Reviews Board succession planning and leadership needs.

•	 Reviews current structure of the Board and its committees 
including  diversity  and  balance  of  skills  and 
the 
independence of non-executive directors.

•	 Oversees  performance  evaluation  of  the  Board, 

its 

committees and individual directors.

•	 Consider  any  conflicts  of  interest  reported  by  directors  of 

the Group.

The Committee

The  Committee  consists  of  Mark  Lancaster  (as  Chairman), 
David Clayton and Joe Campbell. There were no changes in the 
membership throughout 2013. 

Meetings and Activities in 2013 

In  a  year  of  planned  and  rapid  change  for  both  executive 
management  and  the  Board,  the  Committee  has  been 
conscious of the need to assess and manage the risks that such 
change brings and to ensure that the only risks taken are those 
essential to improved performance.

The  Committee  has  supported  the  CEO  in  developing  his 
executive  team  throughout  the  year  and  this  process  is 
ongoing but substantially complete. 

In  the  first  quarter  of  2014,  the  Committee  oversaw  the 
appointment  of  the  following  new  non-executive  directors: 
Alan  McWalter  who  joined  the  Board  on  1  March  2014  and 
Glenn Collinson who will be joining the Board on 1 June 2014.

Governance  

31

Remuneration Committee

Directors’ Remuneration Report

“Remuneration policies are designed to support the strategic direction of the business. 
We are mindful that they are comprehensible to shareholders and in line with 
economic conditions.”

Joe Campbell 
Chairman, Independent non-executive director

Membership in 2013

Membership in 2014

Joe Campbell – Chairman, 
Independent non-executive 
director. Appointed Chairman on 
1 July 2013.

David Clayton – Independent 
non-executive director. Resigned 
as Chairman on 1 July 2013 and 
remains as a member of the 
Committee.

Mandy Gradden – Independent  
non-executive director.

Joe Campbell – Chairman up to  
the AGM in 2014.
Glenn Collinson – incoming 
Chairman.
David Clayton – plans to step off the 
Committee on the appointment of 
the new Chairman.
Mandy Gradden 
Alan McWalter

Key Objectives:
•	 Assess and recommend to the Board policies for executive 

remuneration.

•	 Approve  the  design  and  performance  criteria  of  share-

based-plans.

Responsibilities
•	 Determine,  on  behalf  of  the  Board,  the  broad  policy 
on  remuneration  of  the  Chairman,  Chief  Executive  and 
executive directors.

•	 Operate within recognised principles of good governance.

•	 Prepare  an  annual  report  on  directors’  remuneration 

including policy disclosures.

•	

Ensure balance between long and short term incentives is 
appropriate and aligned to strategic goals.

The Committee

The  Committee  is  comprised  entirely  of  independent  non-
executive  directors:  Joe  Campbell  (Chairman),  David  Clayton, 
Mandy  Gradden  and  Alan  McWalter  (who  was  appointed  in 
March  2014).  David  Clayton  was  Chairman  of  the  Committee 
until 1 July 2013 when he stepped aside in recognition of the 
developing  best  practice  of  Chairmen  of  Boards  not  serving 
on their Remuneration Committee. David will step down from 
the  Committee  in  June  2014  on  the  appointment  of  Glenn 
Collinson.

The Board determines the remuneration of the non-executive 
directors  and  also  has  responsibility  for  electing  persons  to 
the  Board. The  Remuneration  Committee  does  not  have  the 
authority to employ or dismiss directors.

The Committee’s effectiveness is reviewed on an annual basis 
as part of the Board evaluation process.

Meetings and Activities in 2013 

•	 Review of the executive directors’ annual bonus payout for 

2013

•	 Carried  out  benchmarking  exercise  on  executive  director 

and senior management remuneration packages;

•	

•	

Established the executive directors’ bonus for 2014;

Established a bonus structure for senior management;

•	 Reviewed the vesting criteria for share-based awards made 

in 2010;

•	 Approved share-based awards for 2013;

•	 Met with shareholders and reviewed feedback on executive 

remuneration; and

•	 Reviewed revised remuneration reporting regulations and 

prepared the Directors’ remuneration report.

External advisors 

The  Remuneration  Committee  obtains  advice  from  various 
independent sources as appropriate. The Committee’s advisors 
in 2013 were:

•	 CJW Remuneration Consultants for advice on:  

the use of share incentives within the Group; plan design; 
market practice; and governance.

•	 PricewaterhouseCoopers  LLP 

independent 
assessors  for  testing  the  vesting  criteria  (TSR  and  EPS)  of 
share-based incentives.

(PWC)  as 

•	

Towers Watson for: market data and benchmarking 
executive rewards; advice on market practice; and reward 
consultancy.

The  Committee  Chairman  has  direct  access  to  the  advisors 
as  and  when  required. The  advice  is  used  by  the  Committee 
as a guide, providing an alternative view and not a substitute 
for  thorough  consideration  of  the  issues  by  each  Committee 
member.

Governance 
32 

Annual Report 2013

Directors’ Remuneration Report 

Letter from the Remuneration 
Committee Chairman

Dear Shareholders

It is my pleasure to present the Directors’ remuneration report for 
the year ended 31 December 2013. This report has been prepared 
by  the  Remuneration  Committee  and  approved  by  the  Board. 
It sets out how we have approached the task of supporting the 
Group’s strategy and the decisions we have made. 

The Committee endorses and supports the UK Department for 
Business, Innovation & Skills’ drive to improve the transparency 
of reporting of Directors’ remuneration. In our 2012 report, we 
made changes to improve the quality of disclosure and were 
pleased to receive 97.9 per cent of shareholder votes in favour. 

2013  was  a  year  of  change  and  restructuring  for  the  Group 
and the Remuneration Committee has sought to ensure that 
the  remuneration  policies  remain  designed  to  support  the 
strategic  direction  of  the  business.  We  are  mindful  that  the 
policies which drive the required behaviour remain equitable, 
comprehensible  to  shareholders  and  in  line  with  economic 
conditions.  The  SDL  remuneration  structure  remains  simple, 
made up of a base salary, pension, benefits, a bonus plan and a 
single long-term incentive plan.

It  remains  a  core  objective  of  our  Remuneration  policy  that 
we  can  attract,  retain  and  motivate  high  quality  individuals 
who  can  execute  our  business  strategy.  We  believe  that  our 
Remuneration  Policy  and  the  link  between  remuneration 
and  individual  and  business  performance  continue  to  be 
appropriate and are in the interests of shareholders.

Details of the remuneration decisions for 2013 are set out in the 
report below. In summary, 2013 was focused on re-building SDL 
- investing in systems and infrastructure to support our long-term 

Directors’ Remuneration Policy 

Policy overview

The Remuneration Committee (the Committee) determines and agrees 
with the Board, the Company’s policy on the remuneration of the Board 
Chairman and Executive Directors. The Committee’s terms of reference 
are available on the Company’s website.

In  determining  the  Remuneration  Policy,  the  Committee  takes  into 
account the following:

•	

•	

•	

the  need  to  attract,  retain  and  motivate  talented  Executive 
Directors and senior management;

consistency with the remuneration approach applied to employees 
throughout the Group; and

external  comparisons  to  examine  current  market  trends  and 
practices  and  equivalent  roles  in  similar  companies  taking  into 
account  their  size,  business  complexity,  international  scope  and 
relative performance.

business goals. As a consequence, our financial performance fell 
short of the targets set at the beginning of the year and reduced 
bonuses  were  paid  in  2013  to  the  senior  management  team. 
The  long-term  incentives  that  were  due  to  vest  in  2013  also 
lapsed as performance target were not met. In respect of annual 
bonuses for Mark Lancaster and Matthew Knight, this resulted in 
no  bonus  being  made  to  them,  despite  their  having  achieved 
against their personal objectives. The Committee believes that this 
demonstrates that our remuneration policy is effective in aligning 
pay with performance.

The  report  is  in  two  sections:  the  Directors’  remuneration 
policy  and  the  Directors’  annual  remuneration  report  which 
details how our policy was implemented for the year ended 31 
December 2013.

At  the  2014  AGM,  the  Directors’  remuneration  policy  report  will 
be  put  to  a  binding  shareholder  vote  and  the  Directors’  annual 
remuneration report will be put to an advisory shareholder vote. 
We propose that the Directors’ remuneration policy will apply from 
the 2014 AGM, subject to obtaining shareholder approval.

interest 
The  Remuneration  Committee  takes  an  active 
in  investors’  views  and  was  delighted  that  last  year  the 
remuneration  report  received  a  97.9%  vote  in  favour.    Out  of 
the  63.4  million  votes  that  were  cast,  2.1%  were  against  and 
2.5% abstained.

I look forward to receiving your support for the resolutions at 
our forthcoming AGM.

Joe Campbell
Remuneration Committee Chairman

Shareholder views

The  Committee  regularly  compares  the  Company’s  Remuneration 
Policy with shareholder guidelines, and takes account of the results of 
shareholder votes on remuneration.

If any material changes to the Remuneration Policy are contemplated, 
the Chairman of the Board and other non-Executive Directors consult 
with major shareholders about these in advance. 

Details  of  votes  cast  for  and  against  the  resolution  to  approve  last 
year’s  Remuneration  report  are  provided  in  the  annual  report  on 
remuneration section of this report.

Future policy table

The  table  on  pages  33  and  34  summarises  the  key  aspects  of  the 
Company’s  Remuneration  Policy  for  Executive  Directors  effective 
from  the  2014  AGM  (subject  to  shareholder  approval)  but  has  been 
informally effective since 1 January 2014 in any event. This policy remains 
unchanged  from  the  year  ended  31  December  2013.  See  pages  36 
and 37 for details of payments made in 2013. There has been very little 
change to our policy beyond adjusting certain performance measures 
for the annual bonus to reflect the new strategic priorities for the Group.

Governance  

33

2014 Remuneration policy 
This  section  describes  SDL’s  forward-looking  remuneration 
policy  for  executive  Directors,  explaining  how  each  element 
of  executive  Directors’  remuneration  package  operates.  Total 
remuneration packages for executive Directors are made up of 
salary, pension contributions, benefits, annual bonus and long 
term incentive plan awards.

Development of our remuneration policy

The remuneration policy for our executive directors is designed 
in  line  with  the  remuneration  philosophy  and  principles  that 
underpin remuneration for the wider Group. The remuneration 
arrangements for employees below the main Board reflect the 
seniority of the role and local market practice and therefore the 
components and levels of remuneration for different employees 
will differ from the policy for executives as set out below.

Consideration of pay and conditions for the wider Group

Many aspects of the remuneration policy for executive Directors 
are consistent with the reward strategy for all colleagues across 
the company. However, below executive level, pay and benefits 
are lower in aggregate, driven by market comparatives and the 
nature  of  the  roles.  Core  principles  and  features  of  broader 
remuneration practices are discussed later in this report.

Communication with our shareholders

The  Remuneration  Committee  is  committed  to  an  ongoing 
dialogue with shareholders and seeks the views of significant 
shareholders  when  any  major  changes  are  being  made  to 
remuneration  arrangements.  The  Committee  takes 
into 
account the views of significant shareholders when formulating 
and implementing the policy.

Purpose

Operation

Maximum opportunity

Performance

Executive directors

Salary

To attract and retain 
the best talent.

Base salaries are normally reviewed 
annually with reference to market 
data (on which the Committee 
receives independent advice from 
Towers Watson).

Increases are made only 
exceptionally to reflect market 
movements and changes in job 
responsibilities.

Salaries are reviewed against 
level of skill, experience and 
scope of responsibilities 
of the individual and 
business performance, 
economic climate and 
market conditions; and 
peer group of comparably 
sized companies and other 
software businesses.

Taxable  
benefits

To aid retention and 
remain competitive 
within the market 
place.

Pension

To aid retention and 
provide competitive 
retirement benefits.

Annual bonus

Motivate 
and reward 
achievement of 
challenging annual 
targets that support 
the company’s 
short and mid-term 
strategy.

Car Allowance
Private medical insurance
Life assurance
Health insurance
Other benefits may be offered 
if considered appropriate and 
reasonable by the Committee.

These are set at a level which 
the Remuneration Committee 
considers appropriate when 
compared with comparable 
roles in companies of a similar 
size and complexity.
See pages 36-37 for details of 
payments in 2013.

Participation in defined contribution 
pension arrangements. Executive 
directors may choose to participate 
or receive a cash allowance in lieu 
of pension.

The company makes 
contributions to the personal 
pensions of the CEO and CFO 
equivalent to 12.8% and 12%  
of salary respectively.

n/a

n/a

Measures and targets are set 
annually and payout levels are 
determined by the Remuneration 
Committee after the year end 
based on performance against 
those targets. The Remuneration 
Committee may, in exceptional 
circumstances, amend the bonus 
payout should this not, in the 
view of the Committee, reflect 
overall business performance or 
individual contribution.

The bonus is delivered in cash.
See below for further details.

Value of annual bonus is 
limited to a percentage of 
salary. 

For maximum performance: 
150% of salary.

For acceptable performance: 
between 50% and 100% of 
salary.

The performance objectives 
are Group profit and revenue 
targets with an overall 
multiplier for sales bookings 
growth. Further details of 
each executive director’s 
2013 objectives are provided 
in the implementation of 
directors’ remuneration 
section.

The measures that will apply 
for the financial year 2014 are 
given in the following report

Governance 
Purpose

Operation

Maximum opportunity

Performance

Annual Report 2013

34 

Long-term 
incentive plan

To motivate and 
incentivise delivery 
of sustained 
performance linked 
to the Company’s 
strategy; aligning 
Executive Directors’ 
interests with those 
of shareholders.

Sharesave

A scheme offering 
employees in 
specific territories 
the opportunity to 
build a shareholding 
in the Company.

Retention 
arrangement

To allow the 
Company to 
retain high calibre 
executives.

Maximum award of 150% of 
salary.

The Committee retains the 
discretion to make awards up 
to the individual limit under 
the plan and would expect 
to consult with significant 
investors if awards were to be 
made routinely above current 
levels.

2011 Plan – approved by 
shareholders at the AGM on 
20 April 2011 
Performance period is 3 
years. 
TSR - must at least match 
that of the FTSE 250 index 
over the performance period.
EPS - must increase by 
at least inflation + 3% 
per annum during the 
performance period by 
reference to the Consumer 
Prices Index

Maximum Save As You Earn 
saving of £500 per month or 
foreign currency equivalent.

None

Dependent on circumstances.

n/a

Awards of share-based incentives 
are made annually, vesting over 
3 years. Vesting is subject to 
comparative Total Shareholder 
Return (“TSR”) and Earnings 
Per Share (“EPS”) targets. The 
Remuneration Committee has 
discretion to decide whether and 
to what extent targets have been 
met, and if an exceptional event 
occurs that causes the Committee 
to consider that the targets are no 
longer appropriate, the Committee 
may adjust them.

Executive Directors participate on 
the same basis as all employees. 
Monthly savings are made over 
a three year period linked to 
the grant of an option over SDL 
shares. Options under the plan are 
granted at up to a 20% discount to 
market value. 

The Committee may make one-
off awards to Executive Directors 
in exceptional circumstances, but 
only when in the best interests 
of the Company/shareholders. 
Any awards would be subject 
to continued employment/ 
performance conditions, as 
appropriate. Shareholders will 
be consulted before any such 
award wherever practicable. 
Shareholders will be informed at 
the time of any such award.

Chairman & 
non-executive 
director fees

To provide an 
appropriate reward 
to attract and 
retain high-calibre 
individuals. Non-
executive directors 
do not participate 
in any incentive 
scheme.

Fees are reviewed periodically.
The Chairman is paid a single 
consolidated fee. The non-
executive directors are paid a 
basic fee plus additional fees 
for chairmanship of a Board 
Committee or taking on the role  
of Senior Independent Director. 
Fees are paid in cash.

Fees are disclosed in the 
Directors’ remuneration report.

None.

Notes to the remuneration policy table

Annual Bonus: The 2013 bonus plan was based upon the 
achievement of Group revenue and profit before amortisation and 
taxation (PBTA) with an overall multiplier based on the growth in 
licence sales bookings (“bookings”), measured against the budget 
approved by the Board for the year.

Revenue and profit targets are given equal weightings and operate 
independently. For a minimum payout, bookings must have increased, 
compared with 2012 bookings, by seven per cent. There is no bonus 
payment if bookings growth is below seven per cent. The bookings 
multiplier is linear; zero below seven per cent and scaling up to one at 
fifteen per cent. There is no revenue or profit performance cap.

be eligible for an additional over-performance payout if the Group 
over-achieves on its target bookings. The levels of bonus award will 
therefore reflect actual performance relative to both annual and 
longer-term expectations.

Annual bonus performance measures are selected to provide 
an appropriate balance between incentivising directors to meet 
profitability and other financial targets for the year and achieve 
strategic operational objectives. The Remuneration Committee may, in 
exceptional circumstances, amend the bonus payout should this not, 
in the view of the Committee, reflect overall business performance or 
individual contribution.

For details of 2013 payments see pages 36-37.

For exceptional performance: 150% of salary

For 2014 the annual bonus is based on key performance indicators 
(KPIs) linked to the Group’s strategy, which provides a rounded 
assessment of the Group’s performance. 

The two financial metrics will be profit and revenue. Directors will 

For acceptable performance: a range of between 50% and 100% of 
salary

Strategic Report  

35

For external and internal appointments, the Company may meet 
certain relocation expenses as appropriate.

Legacy arrangements: For the avoidance of doubt, this Policy report 
includes authority for the Company to honour any commitments 
entered into with current or former directors that have been disclosed 
to shareholders in previous Remuneration reports. Details of any 
payments to former directors will be set out in the implementation 
section of this report as they arise.

External Non-executive Director positions: Executive directors are 
permitted to serve as Non-executive Directors of other companies 
where there is no competition with the Company’s business activities 
and where these duties do not interfere with the individual’s ability to 
perform his duties for the Company. Neither of the Executive Directors 
currently has such appointments.

If the appointment is not connected to the Company’s business, the 
Executive Director is entitled to retain any fees received.

Claw back/Malus: There are no specific provisions to withhold or 
recover sums paid under short and long term incentives.

Non-executive directors: The remuneration of the non-executive 
directors is periodically reviewed by the Chairman following 
consultation with the Board. Our policy is to pay competitively 
considering external market research and individual roles and 
responsibilities. Current non-executive director fees are included in 
the table on pages 36 and 37.

Non-executive directors do not participate in any incentive or benefit 
plans. The Company does not provide any pension contributions.

Non-executive directors have letters of appointment setting out their 
duties and time commitment expected. The letters are available for 
inspection by shareholders at the Company’s registered office upon 
request.

The appointment of non-executive directors may be terminated 
without compensation.

Non-executive directors are generally not expected to serve for a 
period exceeding nine years.

The Chairman meets with each non-executive director to review 
individual performance.

In line with the UK Corporate Governance Code, all non-executive 
directors submit themselves for re-election every year at the Annual 
General Meeting.

Long-Term Incentive plan: The current SDL Long Term Share 
Incentive Plan was approved by shareholders at an Annual General 
Meeting of the Company in April 2011 (“the 2011 plan”). It reflects 
current law and market practice and the performance conditions are 
based on TSR and EPS as in the view of the Committee these remain 
the key drivers of the business. 

The 2011 Plan, which was designed following consultations with the 
main institutional shareholder committees (and which is the only long 
term discretionary executive share plan available to the executive 
directors) complies with the overall dilution limits relating to the 
number of new shares (including the re-issue of treasury shares) that 
can be made available to employee share schemes as published by 
the Association of British Insurers (“ABI”). 

The Committee, having carefully considered current market practice, 
restricts individual limits to 150% of basic salary per annum. This is the 
maximum annual limit and the actual level of awards is considered 
each year by the Committee before they are made. The vesting of 
awards is subject to TSR and EPS performance conditions being 
achieved over a minimum period of three years.

Service contracts and loss of office payment policy: Service 
contracts normally continue until the director’s agreed retirement 
date or such other date as the parties agree. The service contracts 
contain provision for early termination. No director has a notice 
period exceeding 12 months.  Service agreements contain no 
contractual entitlement to receive variable pay; participation in these 
arrangements is at the Committee’s discretion. If the employing 
company terminates the employment of an executive director 
without giving the period of notice required under the contract, the 
executive director would be entitled to claim recompense for up to 
one year’s remuneration subject to consideration of the director’s 
obligation to mitigate the loss. Such recompense is expected to 
be limited to: base salary due for any unexpired notice period; any 
amount assessed by the Committee as representing the value of other 
contractual benefits, and pension, which would have been received 
during the period. In the event of a change of control of the Company 
there is no enhancement to these terms.

Any outstanding share-based entitlements granted to an executive 
director under the Company’s share plans will be determined 
based on the relevant plan rules. The default treatment is that any 
outstanding awards lapse on cessation of employment. However, in 
certain prescribed circumstances, such as death, disability, retirement 
or other circumstances at the discretion of the Committee (taking 
into account the individual’s performance and the reasons for their 
departure) ‘good leaver’ status can be applied.

An Executive Director’s service contract may be terminated without 
notice and without any further payment or compensation, except 
for sums accrued up to the date of termination, on the occurrence of 
certain events such as gross misconduct.

Approach to remuneration for new executive director 
appointments: The remuneration package for an externally recruited 
new executive director would be set in accordance with the terms 
and maximum levels of the Company’s approved remuneration policy 
in force at the time of appointment.

In addition, the Committee may offer additional cash and/or share-
based elements when it considers these to be in the best interests 
of the Company (and therefore shareholders). In considering any 
such payments the Committee would take account of remuneration 
relinquished when leaving the former employer and the nature, 
vesting dates and any performance requirements attached to the 
relinquished remuneration. Shareholders will be informed of any such 
payments at the time of appointment.

For an internal appointment, any variable pay element awarded in 
respect of the prior role may be allowed to pay out according to its 
terms, adjusted as relevant to take into account the appointment. 
In addition, any other ongoing remuneration obligations existing 
prior to appointment may continue, provided that they are put to 
shareholders for approval at the earliest opportunity.

Strategic Report 
36 

Annual Report 2013

Statement of implementation of 
remuneration policy in the following 
financial year
The  base  salary  for  the  Chief  Executive  is  £500,000. The  new 
CFO  was  appointed  in  November  2013  on  a  base  salary  of 
£280,000. Pension and benefits are in line with benefits stated 
in the policy table.

The performance measures for the annual bonus plan are given 
in the illustration below. Targets are not disclosed because they 
are considered by the Board to be commercially sensitive.

There was no change in the maximum LTIP opportunity for our 
CEO and awards of 150% of base salary are expected to be made 
in 2014. For minimum vesting where the LTIP award will vest at 
the 25% level the TSR must match that of the FTSE 250 index 
(excluding  investment  companies)  and  EPS  must  increase  by 
inflation plus 3% per annum during the performance period. 
For maximum vesting the Company’s TSR over the period must, 
in addition to meeting the EPS condition, outperform the total 
return by reference to the index by 100%.

Illustration of 2014 remuneration policy
The  tables  below  set  out  an  illustration  of  the  remuneration 
policy for 2014 in line with the remuneration policy above and 
include base salary, pension, benefits and LTIPs.

The  tables  provide  an 
illustration  of  the  proportion  of 
total  remuneration  made  up  of  each  component  of  the 
remuneration  policy  and  the  value  of  each  component. 
Benefits are calculated as per the single figure of remuneration.

Three scenarios have been illustrated for each executive director:

Below target 
performance:

no bonus payout
no vesting of the LTIP award in 2012

Target 
performance:

Below target
Exceptional 
performance:
On target

between 50% to 100% of salary paid out as 
annual bonus
100% vesting of LTIPs

5%

11%

84%

150% of salary paid out as annual bonus
100% vesting of LTIPs
31%

31%

4%

2%

31%

Exceptional

The  scenarios  below  do  not  take  into  account  share  price 
appreciation or dividends. For the purpose of the illustrations, 
the value of each component has been rounded to the nearest 
£1,000.

2000

1500

1000

500

36%

23%

36%

0

3%

2500

2%

CEO Illustration

Salary

Benefits

Pension
5%

11%

Bonus

LTIP

Below target

84%

On target

31%

31%

31%

Exceptional

23%

36%

2%

4%

3%

2%

36%

0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

Pension

Bonus

LTIP

CFO Illustration

Salary

Below target

86%

Benefits
3%

11%

On target

37% 20% 37%

1%

5%

1%

3%

Exceptional

24%

36%

36%

0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

Information subject to audit
Remuneration Report 2013
The following table shows the remuneration earned by each director during 2013 versus 2012 and single total figures given.

Below target

Benefits

Pension

Bonus

Salary

LTIP

11%

3%

86%

Basic salary and fees (£)

On target
Taxable benefits (£)

37% 20% 37%

David Clayton

Mark Lancaster

Dominic Lavelle

Matthew Knight

John Hunter

Chris Batterham

Joe Campbell

Mandy Gradden

John Matthews

Jane Thompson

2013

57,500

500,000

28,718

169,583

–

40,000

46,130

35,000

34,500

–

2012

45,000

316,667

–

185,000

266,731

40,000

44,793

32,083

11,667

13,125

2013

Exceptional
–

32,557

1,231

15,603

Salary

–

–

–

–

–

–

2012
24%
–

31,610
0

–

12,364
Benefits
16,396

–

–

–

–

–

1%

5%

1%

3%
2013
36%

–

Pension (£)

36%

500

64,036
1000

1500

–

Pension

20,350

Bonus

–

–

–

–

–

–

2500

2012

–

42,036
2000

–

22,200
LTIP
43,777

–

–

–

–

–

911,431

955,066

49,391

60,370

84,386

108,013

142,294

113,624

352,266

485,146

1,158,832

2,103,155

CEO remuneration 2009-2013

2013 Mark Lancaster

2012 Mark Lancaster

John Hunter

Total 2012:

2011

John Hunter

2010 Mark Lancaster

2009 Mark Lancaster

Basic salary and fees (£)

Taxable benefits (£)

Pension (£)

Bonus (£)

Contractual loss of office 

LTIP Vest (£)

500,000

41,667

266,731

308,398

291,667

300,000

300,000

32,557

2,634

16,396

19,030

12,364

30,798

30,068

64,036

5,336

43,777

49,113

35,000

40,036

40,036

Bonus (£)

Contractual loss of office payment (£)

LTIP vest (£)

TOTAL (£)

2013

2012

2013

2012

2013

2012

112,294

485,146

30,000

113,624

352,266

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

2013

57,500

596,593

29,949

319,160

–

40,000

46,130

35,000

34,500

– 

2012

45,000

987,753

–

249,564

679,170

40,000

44,793

32,083

11,667

13,125

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

242,574

257,727

217,437

payment (£)

352,266

352,266

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

618,887

325,090

379,949

TOTAL (£)

596,593

49,637

679,170

728,807

1,200,492

953,651

967,490

 
Governance  

Notes to the single figure total 
remuneration table:

Basic Salary
Salaries  in  2012:  Mark  Lancaster  was  paid  basic  salary  of 
£300,000  rising  to  £500,000  on  the  assumption  of  the  duties 
of CEO in December 2012. All other Directors salaries remained 
unchanged.  Salaries  in  2013:  David  Clayton’s  fee  increased  to 
£70,000 on the assumption of the duties of Chairman in July 
2013. Dominic Lavelle joined as CFO in November 2013 on a 
basic salary of £280,000.

The base salaries of executive directors are reviewed annually 
having  regard  to  personal  performance,  divisional  or  Group 
performance,  significant  changes 
in  responsibilities  and 
competitive  market  practice  in  their  area  of  operation.  The 
principal external comparator groups against which executive 
directors’ reward is currently reviewed include the FTSE 250 and 
similarly sized UK-headquartered companies. Changes to base 
salary are generally effective from 1 January.

Benefits
The benefits in 2013 were unchanged from the previous year 
and  included:  car  allowance,  private  medical  insurance  and  
life assurance.

Pension
The  company  made  contributions  in  2012  and  2013  to  the 

37

personal pensions of the CEO and CFO equivalent to 12.8% and 
12% of salary respectively. 

Bonus
The annual bonus in 2012 was £112,294 and £30,000 for Mark 
Lancaster,  CEO  and  Matthew  Knight,  CFO,  respectively.  The 
annual bonus in 2013 was £nil for both the CEO and CFO. For 
2013 the Group Bonus plan, and hence the bonus for executive 
directors,  was  based  on  50%  profitability  targets  and  50% 
revenue targets with an overall multiplier for bookings growth. 
The  bookings  growth  in  2013  was  insufficient  to  trigger  the 
bookings  multiplier  and  hence  no  bonus  was  paid  to  the 
executive  directors  in  2013. The  actual  target  range  for  2012 
and 2013 have not been disclosed as this is considered by the 
Board to be commercially sensitive information.

LTIP Vest
The LTIP awards granted in 2010 failed to vest in 2013. SDL’s TSR 
performance against the Comparator Group placed it 11th out 
of 23 companies, exceeding the median performance required 
and satisfying the TSR requirement for vesting of the award. The 
EPS performance achieved was approximately 5% – around half 
of the minimum vesting target required. As the EPS performance 
condition  failed,  all  LTIPs  granted  in  2010  for  release  in  2013 
lapsed. LTIPs vesting in 2012 are valued using the share price at 
the time of vest. 

The following table sets out the Company’s EPS performance for 
the four measures externally quoted. The results are as follows:

EPS measure

Actual as at 
31 Dec 09 (p)

Actual as at 
31 Dec 09 (p)

Threshold EPS 
target (p)

Maximum EPS 
target (p)

Actual annual 
compound 
growth rate

Level of vesting

EPS – basic

EPS – diluted

Adj EPS – basic

Adj EPS – diluted

23.55

22.79

29.05

28.11

26.12

25.98

33.95

33.77

31.35

30.33

38.67

37.41

46.00

44.51

56.74

54.90

3.51%

4.46%

5.33%

6.30%

0%

0%

0%

0%

The table above illustrates that under all of the four measures, the EPS performance condition has not been met and therefore no awards vested in 2013.

Basic salary and fees (£)

Taxable benefits (£)

Pension (£)

Bonus (£)

Contractual loss of office payment (£)

LTIP vest (£)

TOTAL (£)

2013

2012

2013

2012

2013

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

David Clayton

Mark Lancaster

Dominic Lavelle

Matthew Knight

John Hunter

Chris Batterham

Joe Campbell

Mandy Gradden

John Matthews

Jane Thompson

2013

57,500

500,000

28,718

169,583

40,000

46,130

35,000

34,500

–

–

2012

45,000

316,667

–

185,000

266,731

40,000

44,793

32,083

11,667

13,125

32,557

1,231

15,603

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

31,610

64,036

42,036

12,364

16,396

20,350

22,200

43,777

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

911,431

955,066

49,391

60,370

84,386

108,013

Basic salary and fees (£)

Taxable benefits (£)

Pension (£)

CEO remuneration 2009-2013

2013 Mark Lancaster

2012 Mark Lancaster

John Hunter

Total 2012:

2011

John Hunter

2010 Mark Lancaster

2009 Mark Lancaster

500,000

41,667

266,731

308,398

291,667

300,000

300,000

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

32,557

2,634

16,396

19,030

12,364

30,798

30,068

64,036

5,336

43,777

49,113

35,000

40,036

40,036

2013

2012

2013

2012

–

112,294

–

30,000

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

113,624

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

352,266

–

–

–

–

–

142,294

113,624

352,266

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

2012

–

485,146

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

2013

57,500

596,593

29,949

319,160

–

40,000

46,130

35,000

34,500

– 

2012

45,000

987,753

–

249,564

679,170

40,000

44,793

32,083

11,667

13,125

485,146

1,158,832

2,103,155

Bonus (£)

–

–

–

–

242,574

257,727

217,437

Contractual loss of office 
payment (£)

LTIP Vest (£)

–

–

352,266

352,266

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

618,887

325,090

379,949

TOTAL (£)

596,593

49,637

679,170

728,807

1,200,492

953,651

967,490

Governance 
 
38 

Annual Report 2013

In  2012  SDL  achieved  a  ranking  TSR  position  of  6th  out  of 
a  comparator  group  of  20  companies  together  with  an 
attributable  Earnings  Per  Share  (EPS)  growth  of  19.3%.  The 
Remuneration  Committee  therefore  approved  a  71.5%  vest 
of the award. The balance of the award lapsed in line with the 
scheme rules.

Retention award 

As  reported  in  the  2010  Annual  Report,  the  Committee 
after  discussions  with  institutional  shareholders,  made  an 
exceptional and one-off conditional award to Mark Lancaster 
on 17 January 2011 of 141,510 SDL shares, vesting over three 
years. The  final  tranche  of  the  award  vested  in  January  2014. 
The award is now fully vested and yet to be exercised by Mark 
Lancaster. As there were no performance conditions attached 
to  the  award,  it  was  included  in  the  2011  remuneration  for 
Mark Lancaster and is noted in the ‘Directors’ shareholdings and 
share interest’ section of this report.

Loss of office payments

No  payments  have  been  made  that  have  not  already  been 
included in the single figure of remuneration set out earlier in 
this report.

Remuneration for the previous CFO

Matthew Knight stepped down from the Board as Chief Financial 
Officer  on  25  November  2013  and  resigned  from  the  Group 
as  an  employee  on  28  February.  He  received  a  base  salary, 
benefits and pension contributions up to his leave date. All of 
Matthew’s  outstanding  share  awards  lapsed  on  cessation  of 
his employment. A contractual payment of £67,374 was made, 
along with £46,250 payment in lieu of notice.

Remuneration of Chief Executive Officer and how the 
Remuneration Policy relates to the wider Company 

Many aspects of the remuneration policy for Executive Directors 
are consistent with the reward strategy for all colleagues across 
the company.

However, below executive level, pay and benefits are lower in 
aggregate,  driven  by  market  comparatives  and  the  nature  of 
the roles.

Core principles and features of broader remuneration practices 
include:

•	

Fair and competitive basic pay for all employees, including 
the Executive Directors with reference to the local market 
rate supported by relevant benchmarking.

•	 Attractive  short  and 

long-term 

incentive  schemes 
throughout  the  organisation  aligned  to  business  strategy 
and performance. The Company is currently reviewing the 
operation  of  key  performance  related  pay  structures  to 
increase alignment to business goals, improve consistency, 
transparency and fairness and ensure effective line of sight 
and cascade.

•	 A  range  of  benefits  depending  on  employee  location 
including  pensions,  core  benefits,  paid  annual  leave  and 
healthcare insurance.

•	 Promotion  of 

employment 

are 
commensurate  with  a  good  employer  and  with  a  high 
profile brand, including high standards of health and safety 
and policies on equal opportunity.

conditions 

that 

Historical executive pay and Company performance

SDL Total Shareholder Return 
as at 31 Dec

Single figure 
remuneration of CEO

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

Single figure remuneration of 
CEO

SDL Total Shareholder Return as 
at 31 Dec 

2009

£1.0m

2010

£1.0m

2011

£1.2m

2012

£0.7m

2013

£0.6m

179.37

283.84

292.76

227.58

162.53

 
Governance  

39

Directors’ shareholdings and share interests
The directors and their interests in the share capital of the Group as at 31 December 2013 according to the register of directors’ 
interests are detailed as follows:

Shareholdings (including connected persons)

Sold 
during year

At 
31 Dec 2013

David Clayton

Chris Batterham

Joe Campbell

Mandy Gradden

Matthew Knight

Mark Lancaster

Dominic Lavelle

*John Matthews

*advisor to the Board

LTIPS

Mark Lancaster

Mark Lancaster

Mark Lancaster

Mark Lancaster

Dominic Lavelle

Matthew Knight

Matthew Knight

Matthew Knight

At 
1 Jan 2013

–

86,895

–

7,500

–

Purchased 
during year

40,000

–

–

–

–

Purchase 
price (p)

264.3p

–

–

658p

–

686,644

515,350

500,000 @ 300p; 
15,350 @ 331p

–

20,000

–

7,000

–

261.5p

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

Issue price

At 1 Jan 2013

Awarded 
during the year

Exercised 
during the year

Achieved 
during the year

494.3(a)

670(b)

748(c)

420(d)

–

670(b)

748(c)

420(d)

60,692

67,164

60,160

–

–

27,612

24,733

–

–

–

178,571

–

–

–

–

33,036

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

Expired or 
lapsed during 
the year

60,692

–

–

–

–

27,612

24,733

33,036

40,000

86,895

–

7,500

–

1,201,994

–

27,000

At 
31 Dec 2013

–

67,164

60,160

178,571

–

–

–

–

(a) awarded 12 April 2010, expire 12 April 2020
(b) awarded 18 May 2011, expire 18 May 2021
( c) awarded 10 April 2012, expire 10 April 2022
(d) awarded 17 April 2013, expire 17 April 2023

In 2013 a total of 1,193,532 LTIP shares were awarded to executive directors and senior management with a performance period of 
three years from date of grant.

Of this total, Mark Lancaster and Matthew Knight were awarded 178,571 and 33,036 respectively. 

All unvested shares held by Matthew Knight (including the 2013 award) lapsed on his resignation from the SDL Group.

Relative importance of spend on pay

Staff costs (£m)

Dividends (£m)

PBTA (£m)

2012

128.5

4.9

37.0

2013

145.7

–

8.2

Percentage 
change

13.4

–

-77.8

 Average pay per employee in 2013 was £45,500 (2012: £45,900) a reduction of 1%.

Governance 
 
40 

Conditional award

Annual Report 2013

Issue price

At 1 Jan 2013

Awarded 
during the year

Exercised 
during the year

Achieved 
during the year

Expired 
unachieved 
during the year

At 
31 Dec 2013

Mark Lancaster

636p

141,510

–

–

–

–

141,510

Exceptional and one-off conditional award to Mark Lancaster on 17 January 2011 with one third vesting in 2012, 2013 and 2014. 
Vested in full as at 17 January 2014.

Options

Exercise price 
(p)

At 1 Jan 2013

Awarded 
during the year

Exercised 
during the year

Expired 
unexercised 
during the year

At 
31 Dec 2013

Mark Lancaster

119.33p

200,000

–

–

–

200,000

Options are exercisable between 4 April 2006 and 4 April 2015

Sharesave

All employees in Canada, Netherlands, the UK and the USA including executive directors, are eligible to participate in the Company’s 
UK or International Sharesave Plan

Service Contracts

The policy of the Company is to have service contracts for all the executive directors that continue indefinitely unless determined 
by notice but to avoid long notice periods or excessive financial termination provisions. The non-executive directors have contracts 
that run for three-year terms, commencing from the date of appointment, subject to three months notice from either side. There are 
no special provisions for executive or non-executive directors with regard to compensation in the event of loss of office. No director 
had a notice period exceeding 12 months.

There have been no further changes to any directors’ interests in shares (including options and long term incentive plan shares) 
since the end of the financial year up to a date that is not more than one month before the date of the notice of the annual general 
meeting. 

The company has granted an indemnity to one or more of its directors and subsidiary company directors against liability in respect 
of proceedings brought by third parties, subject to the conditions set out in the Companies Act 2006. Such qualifying third party 
indemnity provision remains in force as at the date of approving the directors’ report.

 
Governance  

41

Directors’ Report

The  directors  present  their  report  together  with  the  audited 
consolidated  financial  statements  for  the  year  ended  31 
December 2013.

The Board are required to present a fair review of the business 
during the year to 31 December 2013 and of the position of the 
Group at the end of the financial year along with a description 
of the principal risks and uncertainties faced. 

The purpose of the Strategic Report is to give shareholders the 
ability to assess how the directors have performed their duties 
under section 172 of the Companies Act 2006 (to promote the 
success  of  the  Company).  It  provides  context  to  the  financial 
statements, an analysis of past performance and an insight into 
the main objectives, strategies and risks and how these might 
impact future performance.

The information that fulfils the requirements of the Strategic Report 
can be found in the following sections of the Annual Report, which 
are incorporated into the Strategic Report by reference:

•	 Chairman’s Statement

•	 Chief Executive Officer’s Review

•	

Financial Review

•	 Risk Management

•	 People

•	

Environment

•	 Governance 

Going Concern
In line with UK Corporate Governance Code requirements the 
Directors have made enquiries concerning the potential of the 
business to continue as a going concern.

The  company  has  a  £30m  Revolving  Credit  Facility  with  RBS 
which currently matures in September 2015 and the Company 
has been in discussions with RBS in order to amend and extend 
this facility. RBS have issued a credit approved term sheet which 
extends the facility to June 2017 (if required by the group and 
subject to the group meeting certain tests in 2014). As with the 
current  facility,  the  availability  of  the  amended  facility  is  also 
subject to a number of conditions, such as quarterly covenant 
tests.  The  Company  expects  to  finalise  agreement  with  the 
bank very shortly.

The  Directors’  enquiries  included  a  review  of  performance  in 
2013, 2014 annual plans, a review of working capital including 
the  liquidity  position,  financial  covenant  compliance  and  a 
review of current cash levels. As a result, they have a reasonable 
expectation that the group has adequate resources to continue 
in operational existence for the foreseeable future. Given this 
expectation, they have continued to adopt the going concern 
basis in preparing the accounts.

Acquisition of Bemoko Consulting Limited

On  8  February  2013,  the  Group  acquired  100%  of  the  share 
capital  of  Bemoko  Consulting  Limited,  an  unlisted  company 

based in the United Kingdom. The principal activity of Bemoko 
Consulting Limited is the provision of mobile solutions. 

The  total  cost  of  the  combination  comprises  £2.2  million  of 
which £1.4 million was funded from the Group’s existing cash 
resources and £0.8 million of contingent consideration will be 
settled  in  shares  if  certain  criteria  are  met.  See  Note  3  in  the 
financial statements for further details.

Results and Dividends
The results for the year are set out in the Strategic Report on 
page 4. Dividends paid are set out on page 65.

Share Capital and Control 
Pursuant  to  section  992  of  the  Companies  Act  2006  which 
implements  the  EU  Takeovers  Directive,  the  Company  is 
required  to  disclose  certain  additional  information.  Such 
disclosures, to the extent not covered elsewhere in the annual 
report, include the information set out below.

•	

•	

The structure of the Company’s capital and the rights and 
obligations attached to those shares are given in note 19 to 
the accounts. 

There are no restrictions on the transfer of securities of the 
Company,  including  limits  on  holdings  and  requirements 
to obtain approval of the company or other holders for a 
transfer. 

•	 All persons with a significant holding, along with the value 
of that holding are given in the table below (share price at 
17 February 2014; 385 pence).

There is no person holding securities with special control rights.

•	 All  shares  issued  under  employee  share  schemes  have 
rights which are directly exercisable by the employees. 

•	

•	

There is no restriction on voting rights. The Company is not 
aware of any agreements between holders of securities that 
may result in restrictions on voting rights.

There are no agreements between shareholders that may 
result in restrictions on the transfer of securities or on voting 
rights. 

•	 Amended  Articles,  taking  account  of  changes  in  English 
company law brought about by the Companies Act 2006, 
were  approved  by  shareholders  at  the  Annual  General 
meeting on 23 April 2010. 

•	

•	

•	

The  powers  of  the  directors  are  given  in  the  Articles  of 
Association plus those granted by special resolution at the 
AGM dated 30 April 2013 governing shares issuance.

There  are  no  significant  agreements  entered  into  by  the 
Company that take effect, alter or terminate upon a change 
of control following a takeover bid and the effect of such 
agreements.

The agreements between the company and its directors for 
compensation  for  loss  of  office  are  given  in  the  Directors 
Remuneration Report on page 31.

Governance 
42 

Annual Report 2013

Employment policy
See  also  ‘People’  on  page  15.  Our  employment  policies  are 
developed  to  reflect  local  legal,  cultural  and  employment 
requirements.

The Group rejects all forms of discrimination and operates an 
equal opportunities policy. We expressly prohibit discrimination 
on grounds such as sex, race, religion or belief, age or perceived 
age, sexual orientation or disability.

The  Group  continues  to  give  full  and  fair  consideration  to 
applications  for  employment  made  by  disabled  persons, 
having  regard  to  their  respective  aptitudes  and  abilities.  The 
policy includes, where practicable, the continued employment 
of those who may become disabled during their employment 
and  the  provision  of  training  and  career  development  and 
promotion, where appropriate.

The  Group  continues  a  policy  of  employee  involvement  by 
making information available on matters of concern to them. 
Many  employees  are  stakeholders  in  the  Company  through 
participation 
long-term 
performance share plan.

in  share  option  schemes  and  a 

Health & Safety
The Chief Financial Officer has ultimate responsibility for Health 
and Safety. Specific tasks are delegated to local office managers 
and suitably trained individuals within the organisation.

The  Group  recognises  and  accepts  its  responsibility  as  an 
employer to provide safe and healthy working conditions for 
all its employees. The Company commits to maintaining a safe 
working  office  environment  complying  with  relevant  local 
legislation and providing training where appropriate in matters 
of health and safety.

SDL’s policy on Health & Safety includes the following:

•	

•	

•	

•	

•	

To  provide  information,  training  and  supervision  as  is 
necessary to ensure health and safety at work;

To provide and maintain safe equipment;

To  comply  with  statutory  requirements  for  health,  safety 
and welfare in each global office;

To maintain safe and healthy working conditions; and

To  review  and  revise  this  policy  as  necessary  at  regular 
intervals.

Greenhouse gas emissions
All  disclosures  concerning  the  Group’s  greenhouse  gas 
emissions  (as  required  to  be  disclosed  under  the  Companies 
Act  2006  (Strategic  Report  and  Directors’  Report)  Regulations 

2013 are contained in the Environment section of the Strategic 
report on page 18.

Contractual Relationships
There are no individual contracts which are considered to be 
significant or critical to the overall business of the Group. 

Creditor Payment Policy and Practice
It is the Group’s policy that payments to suppliers are made in 
accordance with those terms and conditions agreed between 
the Group and its suppliers, provided that all trading terms and 
conditions  have  been  complied  with  and  that  there  are  no 
disputes. This policy was applied consistently in 2013 and the 
ethical  treatment  of  suppliers  is  of  importance  to  the  supply 
relationships  with  the  extensive  list  of  individual  freelance 
translators that form an integral part of the translation supply 
chain and on whom SDL relies. Any changes in supplier terms 
and conditions are through negotiation. 

At 31 December 2013, the Company had an average of 29 days 
purchases outstanding in trade creditors (2012: 32 days).

Political and Charitable Donations
During the year, no political donations were made. Charitable 
donations  amounting  to  £7,129  were  made  to  external 
charities and £80,000 was donated to The SDL Foundation. 

Auditor
Our auditor, KPMG Audit Plc has instigated an orderly wind down 
of  business.  The  Board  has  decided  to  put  KPMG  LLP  forward 
to  be  appointed  as  auditor  and  a  resolution  concerning  their 
appointment will be put to the forthcoming AGM of the company.

Directors’ Statement as to Disclosure of 
Information to Auditor
The directors who were members of the Board at the time of 
approving the directors’ report are listed on pages 22 and 23. 
Having made enquiries of fellow directors and of the company’s 
auditor, each of these directors confirms that:

•	

to the best of each director’s knowledge and belief, there is 
no information relevant to the preparation of their report of 
which the company’s auditor is unaware; and

•	 each  director  has  taken  all  the  steps  a  director  might 
reasonably  be  expected  to  have  taken  to  be  aware  of 
relevant  audit 
information  and  to  establish  that  the 
company’s auditor is aware of that information.

 Share Capital and Control

Toscafund Asset Management

Artemis Investment Management
Schroder Investment Management

BlackRock 
Aberforth Partners
Baillie Gifford

Herald Investment Managers

Legal & General Investment Managers

Holding at  
17 February 2014

% of issued share capital

Value of Holding (£’000)

9,885,923

7,702,514
7,669,370

6,487,380 
4,177,471
3,732,836

3,151,269

2,487,562

12.30

9.58
9.54

8.07 
5.20
4.64

3.92

3.09

£38,061

£29,655
£29,527

£24,976 
£16,083
£14,371

£12,132

£9,577

 
 
Governance  

43

Special Business at the  
Annual General Meeting
At  the  Annual  General  Meeting,  items  1  to  12  inclusive  are 
proposed as ordinary resolutions and items 13 and 14 as special 
resolutions.. These resolutions together with explanatory notes, 
as  appropriate,  are  set  out  in  the  Notice  of  Annual  General 
Meeting. 

Where Shareholders are in any doubt as to what action to take 
in  this  matter  they  should  consult  appropriate  independent 
advisors.  Where  all  securities  have  been  sold  or  transferred 
by  the  person  receiving  this  document,  it  should  be  passed 
to  the  person  for  whom  the  sale  or  transfer  was  affected  for 
transmission to the purchaser or transferee.

COMPANY NUMBER
The Company number of SDL PLC is 2675207.

By order of the Board

Dominic Lavelle

Director

18 March 2014

Governance 
 
44 

Annual Report 2013

Statement of Directors’ 
Responsibilities in Respect of the 
Group Financial Statements

Responsibility  statement  of  the  directors  in  respect  of  the 
annual financial report

The directors confirm that to the best of their knowledge:

•	

•	

the financial statements, prepared in accordance with the 
applicable set of accounting standards, give a true and fair 
view of the assets, liabilities, financial position and profit or 
loss of the company and the undertakings included in the 
consolidation taken as a whole; and

the  strategic  report 
fair  review  of  the 
includes  a 
development  and  performance  of  the  business  and  the 
position of the issuer and the undertakings included in the 
consolidation taken as a whole, together with a description 
of the principal risks and uncertainties that they face.

In addition, the directors as at the date of this report consider 
that  the  Annual  Report  &  Accounts,  taken  as  a  whole,  is  fair, 
balanced  and  understandable  and  provides  the  information 
necessary 
the  Company’s 
to  assess 
for  shareholders 
performance, business model and strategy.

Dominic Lavelle

Director

18 March 2014

The directors are responsible for preparing the Annual Report 
and  the  group  and  parent  company  financial  statements  in 
accordance with applicable law and regulations.

Company  law  requires  the  directors  to  prepare  group  and 
parent  company  financial  statements  for  each  financial 
year.  Under  that  law  they  are  required  to  prepare  the  group 
financial  statements  in  accordance  with  IFRSs  as  adopted  by 
the  EU  and  applicable  law  and  have  elected  to  prepare  the 
parent  company  financial  statements  in  accordance  with 
UK  Accounting  Standards  and  applicable  law  (UK  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 of the group and parent 
company and of their profit or loss for that period. In preparing 
each of the group and parent company financial statements, 
the directors are required to:

•	

select  suitable  accounting  policies  and  then  apply  them 
consistently;

•	 make  judgments  and  estimates  that  are  reasonable  and 

prudent;

•	

•	

for the group financial statements, state whether they have 
been  prepared  in  accordance  with  IFRSs  as  adopted  by  
the EU;

for the parent company financial statements, state whether 
applicable  UK  Accounting  Standards  have  been  followed, 
subject to any material departures disclosed and explained 
in the parent company financial statements; and

•	 prepare  the  financial  statements  on  the  going  concern 
basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the group 
and the parent company will continue in business.

The directors are responsible for keeping adequate accounting 
records  that  are  sufficient  to  show  and  explain  the  parent 
company’s transactions and disclose with reasonable accuracy 
at any time the financial position of the parent company and 
enable them to ensure that its financial statements comply with 
the Companies Act 2006. They have general responsibility for 
taking such steps as are reasonably open to them to safeguard 
the assets of the group and to prevent and detect fraud and 
other irregularities.

Under  applicable  law  and  regulations,  the  directors  are  also 
responsible for preparing a Strategic Report, Directors’ Report, 
Directors’  Remuneration  Report  and  Corporate  Governance 
Statement that complies with that law and those regulations.

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

Financial Statements  

45

Independent Auditor’s report to the 
members of SDL plc only 

Opinions and conclusions arising from our audit 

1.  Our opinion on the financial statements 

is unmodified

We  have  audited  the  financial  statements  of  SDL  plc  for  the  
year ended 31 December 2013 set out on pages 48 to 94. In 
our opinion:

•	

•	

•	

•	

the financial statements give a true and fair view of the state 
of the Group’s and of the parent company’s affairs as at 31 
December  2013  and  of  the  Group’s  loss  for  the  year  then 
ended;

the  Group  financial  statements  have  been  properly 
prepared 
International  Financial 
Reporting Standards as adopted by the European Union;

in  accordance  with 

the  parent  company  financial  statements  have  been 
properly  prepared  in  accordance  with  UK  Accounting 
Standards; and

the financial statements have been prepared in accordance 
with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006 and, as 
regards the Group financial statements, Article 4 of the IAS 
Regulation. 

2.  Our assessment of risks of material 

misstatement 

In  arriving  at  our  audit  opinion  above  on  the  financial 
statements  the  risks  of  material  misstatement  that  had  the 
greatest effect on our audit were as follows:

Technology revenue (£115.6m)

Refer  to  page  28  (Audit  Committee  Statement),  page  57 
(accounting policy) and page 60 (financial disclosures).

•	

The risk – Technology revenue includes licensed software 
and  related  services.  Technology  revenue  recognition  is 
considered a significant audit risk as there is often significant 
judgement 
the  consideration 
receivable  to  each  element  of  the  contract  and  to  the 
determination of the stage of completion of each element. 
This  judgement  could  materially  affect  the  timing  and 
quantum of revenue and profit recognised in each period.

in  allocating 

required 

•	 Our response – In this area our audit procedures included, 
among others, inspecting those contracts contributing the 
highest levels of license revenue, and critically assessing:
 ¶

the  appropriateness  of  the  directors’  judgements  in 
determining  the  fair  value  of  each  element  of  the 
contract  by  reference  to  standalone  selling  prices, 
day  rates  for  consultancy  and  training,  support  and 
maintenance rates and renewal rates; 

 ¶

 ¶

 ¶

the elements of the contract that have been delivered 
by  obtaining  proof  of  delivery  for  all  delivered 
elements;

the  significance  of  undelivered  elements,  such  as 
professional  services  outstanding  or  upgrades  or 
future changes to products, to determine the potential 
impact on revenue recognition; 

the  appropriateness  and  consistent  application  of 
the Group’s accounting policies across each contract 
tested. 

We assessed the recoverability of receivables for any potential 
impact  on  revenue  recognition  at  the  date  of  delivery,  or 
date  of  initial  recognition  of  revenue  if  later,  challenging 
indicated  that  either  obligations 
whether  non-payment 

had not been fulfilled or that it was not probable that future 
economic  benefits  would  flow  to  the  Group.  We  did  this  by 
checking whether cash had been received after the year end 
in respect of amounts owed to the Group at the year end, or, 
where  amounts  remain  unpaid,  by  evaluating  the  directors’ 
judgements  on  recoverability,  taking  into  account  specific 
customer  circumstances,  externally  available  data  on  trade 
credit exposures and our own knowledge of recent bad debt 
experience in the industry. 

We also assessed the adequacy of the Group’s disclosure about 
significant judgements in relation to revenue recognition.

Impairment of goodwill (£209m carrying value and 
impairment charge of £20.4m)

Refer  to  page  29  (Audit  Committee  Statement),  page  54 
(accounting policy) and page 70 (financial disclosures).

•	

The risk – The carrying value of goodwill is a significant part 
of the net assets of the Group and is significant compared 
to  the  market  capitalisation  of  the  Group.  Following  the 
deterioration  in  the  trading  performance  of  the  Group 
during  the  financial  year,  particularly  the  Content  and 
Analytic  Technologies  cash  generating  unit,  there  is  an 
increased  risk  of  impairment.  Goodwill  is  assessed  for 
impairment using a discounted cash flow model to calculate 
a value in use. Due to the inherent uncertainty involved in 
forecasting and discounting future cash flows, this is one of 
the key judgemental areas that our audit concentrates on.

•	 Our response – In this area our audit procedures included, 
among  others,  testing  the  budgeting  procedures  upon 
which  the  forecasts  are  based  and  the  principles  and 
integrity  of  the  Group’s  discounted  cash  flow  model. 
We  compared  the  input  assumptions  to  externally  and 
internally  derived  data  as  well  as  our  own  assessments  in 
relation to key inputs such as market performance, current 
business trends and pipeline, projected economic growth, 
cost  inflation  and  discount  rates.  In  addition,  where  no 
impairment  was  recorded,  we  performed  break-even 
analysis on the assumptions and considering the likelihood 
of  the  assumptions  reaching  these  breakeven  points.  Our 
assessment  included  consideration  of  the  potential  risk 
of  management  bias  and  consideration  of  the  historical 
accuracy of the directors’  forecasts.

We  also  compared  the  sum  of  the  discounted  cash  flows  to 
the Group’s market capitalisation by challenging whether the 
Group’s  assumptions  are  appropriate  in  the  light  of  different 
assumptions used by investors.

We  also  assessed  the  adequacy  of  the  Group’s  disclosures  in 
respect  of  impairment  testing  and  whether  the  disclosures 
about  the  sensitivity  of  the  outcome  of  the  impairment 
assessment to changes in key assumptions properly reflect the 
risks inherent in the key assumptions and the requirements of 
relevant accounting standards.

Recognition of deferred tax assets on tax losses carried 
forward at 31 December 2013 (£2.0m)

Refer  to  page  29  (Audit  Committee  Statement),  page  56 
(accounting policy) and page 63 (financial disclosures).

•	

The risk - The recognition of deferred tax assets on losses 
requires  the  Group  to  be  sufficiently  certain  that  forecast 
taxable profits will be generated against which those losses 
may  be  recoverable. This  is  considered  to  be  a  significant 
audit  risk  as  there  are  significant  complexities  and 
judgements required in forecasting future taxable profits in 
each tax jurisdiction. The judgement is complicated further 
by  detailed  local  legislation,  particularly  in  the  US,  where 

Financial Statements 
46 

Annual Report 2013

the  utilisation  of  brought  forward  tax  losses  in  acquired 
entities may be restricted. 

•	 Our response - In this area our audit procedures included, 
among others, challenging the Group’s forecasts of future 
taxable profits, checking the consistency of the underlying 
assumptions  used  with  those  used  in  the  cash  flow 
forecasts used for impairment testing (see above) and the 
Group’s assessment of going concern, and our experience 
of the industry. 

We  inspected  reports  prepared  for  the  Group  by  external 
experts  to  support  the  availability  of  losses  in  jurisdictions 
(most  notably  the  US)  where  there  are  potential  restrictions. 
We  utilised  our  own  tax  specialists  to  challenge  the  key 
judgements  made  by  management  around  the  specific  tax 
legislation in significant locations.

We also assessed the adequacy of the Group’s disclosure about 
significant  judgements  in  relation  to  recognition  of  deferred 
tax.

3.   Our application of materiality and an 
overview of the scope of our audit

The materiality for the Group financial statements as a whole 
was set at £750,000. This has been determined with reference 
to  a  benchmark  of  Group  loss  before  taxation  which  we 
consider to be one of the principal considerations for members 
of the Company in assessing the financial performance of the 
Group. Materiality represents 3% of Group loss before taxation 
and 9% of Group profit before taxation excluding amortisation, 
restructuring  costs  and  historical  litigation  costs,  as  disclosed 
on the face of the income statement. 

We agreed with the Audit Committee to report to it all corrected 
and  uncorrected  misstatements  we  identified  through  our 
audit  with  a  value  in  excess  of  £40,000,  in  addition  to  other 
audit  misstatements  below  that  threshold  that  we  believe 
warranted reporting on qualitative grounds. 

Audits  for  group  reporting  purposes  were  performed  by 
component auditors at the key reporting components in the 
following  countries:  Belgium,  Germany,  Ireland  and  Holland 
and by the group audit team in the UK. In addition, specified 
audit  procedures  were  performed  by  component  auditors  in 
Japan,  Korea,  Canada  and  the  US. These  audit  procedures  at 
components  and  procedures  at  consolidation  level  covered 
79%  of  Group  revenue;  80%  of  the  total  profits  and  losses 
before tax that made up Group loss before tax, and more than 
85% of total Group assets. 

The  audits  undertaken  for  group  reporting  purposes  at  the 
key  reporting  components  of  the  Group  were  all  performed 
to  materiality  levels  set  by,  or  agreed  with,  the  group  audit 
team.  These  materiality  levels  were  set  individually  for  each 
component and ranged from £100,000 to £600,000. 

Detailed instructions were sent to all auditors in these locations. 
These  instructions  covered  the  significant  audit  areas  that 
should be covered by the audits (which included the relevant 
risks  of  material  misstatement  detailed  above)  and  set  out 
the  information  required  to  be  reported  back  to  the  group 
audit  team.  The  group  audit  team  visited  the  United  States, 
and  telephone  meetings  were  also  held  with  all  component 
auditors.

4.   Our opinion on other matters 

prescribed by the Companies Act 2006 
is unmodified

In our opinion:

•	

•	

the  part  of  the  Directors’  Remuneration  report  to  be 
audited has been properly prepared in accordance with the 
Companies Act 2006; and 

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. 

5.   We have nothing to report in respect of 
the matters on which we are required 
to report by exception 

Under ISAs (UK and Ireland) we are required to report to you 
if, based on the knowledge we acquired during our audit, we 
have  identified  other  information  in  the  annual  report  that 
contains a material inconsistency with either that knowledge 
or the financial statements, a material misstatement of fact, or 
that is otherwise misleading.

 In particular, we are required to report to you if: 

•	 we  have  identified  material  inconsistencies  between  the 
knowledge we acquired during our audit and the directors’ 
statement  that  they  consider  that  the  annual  report  and 
financial statements taken as a whole is fair, balanced and 
understandable and provides the information necessary for 
shareholders  to  assess  the  Group’s  performance,  business 
model and strategy; or

•	

the Governance section of the Strategic Report within the 
annual report describing the work of the Group Audit and 
Risk  Committee  does  not  appropriately  address  matters 
communicated by us to the Audit and Risk Committee.

Under  the  Companies  Act  2006  we  are  required  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  and  the  part  of 
the  Directors’  Remuneration  report  to  be  audited  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. 

Under the Listing Rules we are required to review: 

•	

•	

The directors’ statement set out on page 41 in relation to 
going concern; and

The  part  in  the  Corporate  Governance  Statement  on 
page  20  relating  to  the  company’s  compliance  with  the 
provisions of the UK Corporate Governance Code specified 
for our review.

We  have  nothing  to  report 
responsibilities.

in  respect  of  the  above 

47

Financial Statements  

Scope and responsibilities

As  explained  more  fully  in  the  Directors’  Responsibilities 
Statement  set  out  on  page  44,  the  directors  are  responsible 
for  the  preparation  of  the  financial  statements  and  for  being 
satisfied  that  they  give  a  true  and  fair  view.  A  description  of 
the  scope  of  an  audit  of  financial  statements  is  provided  on 
the  Financial  Reporting  Council’s  website  at  www.frc.org.uk/
auditscopeukprivate . This report is made solely to the company’s 
members as a body and is subject to important explanations 
and  disclaimers  regarding  our  responsibilities,  published  on 
our  website  at  www.kpmg.com/uk/auditscopeukco2013a, 
which are incorporated into this report as if set out in full and 
should be read to provide an understanding of the purpose of 
this report, the work we have undertaken and the basis of our 
opinions.

Paul Gresham (Senior Statutory Auditor)

for and on behalf of KPMG Audit Plc, Statutory Auditor

Chartered Accountants

15 Canada Square

London 

E14 5GL

18 March 2014

Financial Statements 
48 

Annual Report 2013

Consolidated Income Statement

for the year ended 31 December 2013

 Sale of goods

 Rendering of services

 Revenue

 Cost of sales

 Gross profit

 Administrative expenses

 Operating (loss)/profit

Operating profit before tax, amortisation and one-off costs

 Amortisation of intangible assets

 One-off costs

 Operating (loss)/profit

 Finance revenue

 Finance costs

 (Loss)/profit before tax

 Profit before tax, amortisation and one-off costs

 Amortisation of intangible assets

 One-off costs

 (Loss)/profit before tax

 Tax expense

(Loss)/profit for the year attributable to equity holders  
of the parent

Earnings per ordinary share – basic (pence)

Earnings per ordinary share – diluted (pence)

Adjusted earnings per ordinary share (basic and diluted) are shown in note 8.

Notes

 4

 5

 5

 5

 5

 5

 5

 5

 6

 8

 8

2013
£m

 49.6

 216.5

2012
£m

 50.8

 218.5

 266.1

 269.3

 (120.1)

 (117.7)

 146.0

 151.6

 (170.0)

 (123.9)

 (24.0)

 8.6

 (7.5)

 (25.1)

 (24.0)

 0.1

 (0.5)

 (24.4)

 8.2

 (7.5)

 (25.1)

 (24.4)

 (3.5)

 (27.9)

 27.7

 37.3

 (8.1)

 (1.5)

 27.7

 0.1

 (0.4)

 27.4

 37.0

 (8.1)

 (1.5)

 27.4

 (6.5)

 20.9

 -34.78

 -34.78

 26.12

 25.98

 
Financial Statements  

49

Consolidated Statement  
of Comprehensive Income

for the year ended 31 December 2013

(Loss)/profit for the period

Currency translation differences on foreign operations

Currency translation differences on foreign currency quasi equity loans to foreign subsidiaries

Notes

2013
£m

 (27.9)

 (0.1)

 (0.3)

Income tax (charge) / benefit on currency translation differences on foreign currency  
quasi equity loans to foreign subsidiaries

 6

 (0.1)

 Other comprehensive income

 Total comprehensive income

 (0.5)

 (28.4)

2012
£m

 20.9

 (6.6)

 (0.3)

 0.1

 (6.8)

 14.1

All the total comprehensive income is attributable to equity holders of the parent Company. A currency translation difference on a 
foreign operation may be reclassified to the Income Statement upon disposal of that operation. There are no other items included 
in Other Comprehensive Income that may be reclassified to the Income Statement in the future.

Financial Statements 
50 

Annual Report 2013

Consolidated Statement  
of Financial Position

at 31 December 2013

Assets

Non current assets

Property, plant and equipment

Intangible assets

Deferred tax asset

Rent deposits

Current assets

Trade and other receivables

Cash and cash equivalents

Total assets

Current liabilities

Trade and other payables

Loans and overdraft

Current tax liabilities

Provisions

Non current liabilities

Other payables

Deferred tax liability

Provisions

Total liabilities

Net assets

Equity

Share capital

Share premium account

Retained earnings

Foreign exchange differences 

Total equity

Approved by the Board of directors on 18 March 2014

M Lancaster 
Director

D Lavelle 
Director

Notes

 9

 10

 6

 13

 14

 15

 17

 18

 16

 6

 18

 19

2013
£m

 9.6

 209.0

 3.7

 1.6

 223.9

 70.9

 18.2

 89.1

2012
£m

 8.8

 234.5

 4.4

 1.6

 249.3

 66.0

 28.5

 94.5

 313.0

 343.8 

 (79.9)

 (20.0)

 (4.8)

 (2.3)

 (72.7)

 (22.2)

 (8.3)

 (1.6)

 (107.0)

 (104.8)

 (2.6)

 (6.0)

 (0.9)

 (9.5)

 (2.1)

 (8.3)

 (0.8)

 (11.2)

 (116.5)

 (116.0)

196.5

 227.8

 0.8

 97.4

 83.5

 14.8

 0.8

 96.8

 114.9

 15.3

 196.5

 227.8

 
Financial Statements  

51

Consolidated Statement  
of Changes in Equity

for the year ended 31 December 2013

At 1 January 2012

Profit for the period

Other comprehensive income

Total comprehensive income

Deferred income taxation on share based 
payments (Note 6)

Tax credit for share options  
(Note 6)

Arising on share issues

Dividend paid

Share based payments (Note 20)

 At 31 December 2012

At 1 January 2013

Loss for the period

Other comprehensive income

Total comprehensive income

Deferred income taxation on share based 
payments (Note 6)

Arising on share issues

Dividend paid

Share based payments (Note 20)

 At 31 December 2013

 Share
 Capital

£m

 0.8

 Share
 Premium
 Account
£m

 95.9

 –

 –

–

 –

 –

 –

 –

–

 0.8

 –

 –

 –

 –

 –

 0.9

 –

–

 96.8

Retained 
Earnings

£m

 99.0

 20.9

 –

 20.9

 0.2

 0.5

 –

 (4.6)

 (1.1)

 Foreign 
Exchange 
Differences
£m

 22.1

 –

 (6.8)

 (6.8)

 –

 –

 –

 –

 –

 Total

£m

 217.8

 20.9

 (6.8)

 14.1

 0.2

 0.5

 0.9

 (4.6)

 (1.1)

 114.9

 15.3

 227.8

 Share
 Capital

£m

 0.8

 Share
 Premium
 Account
£m

 96.8

 –

 –

 –

–

 –

 –

 –

 0.8

 –

 –

 –

 –

 0.6

 –

 –

 97.4

Retained 
Earnings

£m

 114.9

 (27.9)

 –

 (27.9)

 0.2

 –

 (4.9)

 1.2

 83.5

 Foreign 
Exchange 
Differences
£m

 15.3

 –

 (0.5)

 (0.5)

–

–

 –

 –

 14.8

 Total

£m

 227.8

 (27.9)

 (0.5)

 (28.4)

0.2

 0.6

 (4.9)

 1.2

 196.5

The amounts above are attributable to equity holders of the parent company.

Financial Statements 
52 

Annual Report 2013

Consolidated Statement  
of Cash Flows

at 31 December 2013

(Loss)/profit before tax

Depreciation of property, plant and equipment

Amortisation of intangible assets

Impairment losses on intangible assets (goodwill)

Finance revenue

Finance costs

Share based payments

Gain on disposal of investment

Increase in trade and other receivables

Increase/(decrease) in trade and other payables

Exchange differences

Cash generated from operations  
before one-off alterian related outflows

Alterian acquisition related cash outflows

Cash generated from operations

Income tax paid

Net cash flows from operating activities

Cash flows from investing activities

Payments to acquire property, plant & equipment

Receipts from sale of property, plant & equipment

Payments to acquire subsidiaries

Net cash acquired with subsidiaries

Receipts from sale of investment

Interest received

Net cash flows from investing activities

Cash flows from financing activities

 Net proceeds from issue of ordinary share capital

 Proceeds from borrowings

 Repayment of borrowings

 Dividends paid

 Repayment of capital leases

 Interest paid

 Net cash flows from financing activities

Decrease in cash and cash equivalents 

Movement in cash and cash equivalents

Cash and cash equivalents at the start of year

Decrease in cash and cash equivalents

Effect of exchange rates on cash and cash equivalents

Net cash and cash equivalents at end of year

Notes

 9

 10

10

2013
£m

 (24.4)

 5.1

 7.5

 20.4

 (0.1)

 0.5

 1.2

 –

 (2.4)

 8.1

 0.2

 16.1

 (0.3)

 15.8

 (10.3)

 5.5

 (6.1)

 0.1

 (1.4)

 0.2

 –

 0.1

 (7.1)

 0.2

 20.0

 (22.2)

 (4.9)

 (0.4)

 (0.5)

 (7.8)

2012
£m

 27.4

 4.1

 8.1

–

 (0.1)

 0.4

 (1.1)

 (0.7)

 (3.1)

 (5.0)

 (1.7)

 28.3

 (2.5)

 25.8

 (8.3)

 17.5

 (5.4)

 –

 (69.7)

 0.6

 0.7

 0.2

 (73.6)

 0.4

 22.2

 (1.9)

 (4.6)

 (0.8)

 (0.4)

 14.9

 (9.4)

 (41.2)

 28.5

 (9.4)

 (0.9)

 18.2

 70.4

 (41.2)

 (0.7)

 28.5

 21

 21

 21

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Financial Statements  

53

Notes to the Accounts

for the year ended 31 December 2013

1 Corporate information

The consolidated financial statements of SDL plc (the ‘Group’) 
for  the  year  ended  31  December  2013  were  authorised  for 
issue  in  accordance  with  a  resolution  of  the  directors  on  17 
March 2014. SDL plc is a public limited company incorporated 
and  domiciled  in  England  whose  shares  are  publicly  traded 
on  the  London  Stock  Exchange.  The  consolidated  financial 
statements of SDL plc and its subsidiaries have been prepared 
in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards 
(as adopted by the European Union).

The principal activities of the Group are described in Note 4.

2 Accounting policies

Basis of accounting

The  consolidated  financial  statements  of  SDL  plc  and 
its  subsidiaries  have  been  prepared 
in  accordance  with 
International  Financial  Reporting  Standards  as  adopted  by 
the  EU  as  relevant  to  the  financial  statements  of  SDL  plc. 
The  Company  has  elected  to  prepare  its  parent  company 
financial  statements  in  accordance  with  UK  GAAP  and  these 
are  presented  on  pages  81  to  92. The  consolidated  financial 
statements  are  prepared  on  a  historical  cost  basis,  except  for 
derivative  financial  instruments  that  have  been  measured  at 
fair value.

The  consolidated  financial  statements  are  presented  in  UK 
sterling  and  all  values  are  rounded  to  the  nearest  hundred 
thousand except where otherwise indicated. 

Going Concern

In line with UK Corporate Governance Code requirements the 
Directors have made enquiries concerning the potential of the 
business to continue as a going concern.

The Company has a £30m RCF facility with RBS which currently 
matures  in  September  2015  and  the  Company  has  been  in 
discussions with RBS in order to amend and extend this facility. 
RBS have issued a credit approved term sheet which extends 
the facility to June 2017 (if required by the Group and subject 
to the Group meeting certain tests in 2014). As with the current 
facility,  the  availability  of  the  amended  facility  is  also  subject 
to number of conditions, such as quarterly covenant tests. The 
Company  expects  to  finalise  agreement  with  the  bank  very 
shortly.

The  Directors’  enquiries  included  a  review  of  performance  in 
2013, 2014 annual plans, a review of working capital including 
the  liquidity  position,  financial  covenant  compliance  and  a 
review of current cash levels. As a result, they have a reasonable 
expectation that the Group has adequate resources to continue 
in operational existence for the foreseeable future. Given this 
expectation they have continued to adopt the going concern 
basis in preparing the accounts.

Changes in accounting policy

The  accounting  policies  adopted  are  consistent  with  those 
of the previous financial year. During the year, the Group has 
adopted the following new and revised standards:

IFRS 13 Fair Value Measurement

IAS 19 (revised) Employee Benefits 

The  adoption  of  these  standards  has  had  no  impact  on  the 
Group’s results and balance sheets in the current or prior years.

Basis of preparation of consolidated  
financial statements
The  consolidated  financial  statements  include  the  results  of 
the  Company  and  all  its  subsidiaries  for  the  full  year  or  from 
the date of acquisition if later. Subsidiaries are all entities over 
which  the  Group  has  the  power  to  govern  the  financial  and 
operating policies. Subsidiaries are fully consolidated from the 
date on which control is transferred to the Group. 

Business combinations

The  Group  has  elected  not  to  apply  IFRS  3  retrospectively  to 
business  combinations  that  took  place  before  the  date  of  1 
January  2004.  As  a  result,  goodwill  recognised  as  an  asset  at 
31  December  2003  is  recorded  at  its  carrying  amount  under 
UK  GAAP  and  is  not  amortised.  The  purchase  method  of 
accounting is used to account for the acquisition of subsidiaries 
by the Group. The cost of an acquisition is measured as the fair 
value  of  the  assets,  equity  instruments  issued  and  liabilities 
incurred or assumed at the date of exchange. Identifiable assets 
and  liabilities  acquired  and  contingent  liabilities  assumed 
in  a  business  combination  are  measured  initially  at  their  fair 
values at the acquisition date, irrespective of the extent of any 
non-controlling interest. The excess of the cost of acquisition 
over the fair value of the Group’s share of the identifiable net 
assets acquired is recorded as goodwill. Transaction costs are 
expensed  as  incurred.  If  the  cost  of  acquisition  is  less  than 
the fair value of the net assets of the subsidiary acquired, the 
difference  is  recognised  directly  in  the  income  statement.  If 
the business combination allows for a provision of contingent 
consideration,  this  will  be  provided  in  the  accounts  at  the 
fair  value.  If  the  business  combination  allows  for  deferred 
compensation this will be recognised in the income statement 
over the service period.

Intangible assets: Goodwill 

Following initial recognition, goodwill is measured at cost less 
any accumulated impairment losses. Goodwill is reviewed for 
impairment annually or more frequently if events or changes 
in  circumstances  indicate  that  the  carrying  value  may  be 
impaired.  As  at  the  acquisition  date,  any  goodwill  acquired 
is allocated to each of the cash generating units expected to 
benefit  from  the  combination’s  synergies.  A  cash-generating 
unit  is  the  smallest  identifiable  group  of  assets  that  generate 
cash inflows that are largely independent of the cash inflows 
from other assets. This is usually at business segment level or 
statutory  company  level  as  the  case  may  be.  Impairment  is 

Financial Statements 
54 

Annual Report 2013

determined by assessing the recoverable amount of the cash-
generating  unit,  to  which  the  goodwill  relates.  Where  the 
recoverable amount of the cash-generating unit is less than the 
carrying  amount,  an  impairment  loss  is  recognised.  Goodwill 
arising on acquisitions pre 1 January 2004 was capitalised and 
amortised over its useful economic life, which was presumed 
to be 8 years. Any goodwill remaining on the balance sheet at 
1 January 2004 is not amortised after 1 January 2004, but is also 
subject to annual impairment reviews.

Intangible assets: Other 

Intangible assets acquired separately are capitalised at cost and 
from a business acquisition are capitalised at fair value as at the 
date  of  acquisition.  Following  initial  recognition,  intangible 
assets are held at cost less accumulated amortisation. Intangible 
assets  are  amortised  on  a  straight-line  basis  over  their  useful 
economic  lives,  which  are  reassessed  annually  together  with 
any  assessment  of  residual  value.  The  useful  lives  of  these 
intangible  assets  are  assessed  over  the  expected  period  that 
benefits  accrue  to  the  Group.  Amortisation  is  charged  as  a 
separate line item on the income statement.

Customer  relationship  intangible  assets  are  amortised  on  a 
straight-line basis over their estimated useful life of between 5 
and 7 years. Other intangible assets are amortised on a straight-
line basis over their estimated useful life of between 5 and 10 
years.

Intangible assets: Impairment of assets

An impairment loss is recognised for the amount by which the 
asset’s  carrying  amount  exceeds  its  recoverable  amount. The 
recoverable  amount  is  the  higher  of  an  asset’s  fair  value  less 
costs to sell and its value in use, where value in use is calculated 
as  the  present  value  of  the  future  cash  flows  expected  to 
be  derived  from  the  asset.  For  the  purpose  of  assessing 
impairment, assets are grouped at the lowest levels for which 
there  are  separately  identifiable  cash  flows  (cash  generating 
units).

Property, plant and equipment 

Property,  plant  and  equipment  are  stated  at  historical  cost 
less depreciation and any impairment in value. Historical cost 
includes  the  expenditure  that  is  directly  attributable  to  the 
acquisition of the assets. All other repairs and maintenance are 
charged to the income statement during the financial period 
in which they are incurred. Depreciation is provided to write off 
the cost less the estimated residual value based on prices at the 
balance sheet date of property, plant and equipment over their 
estimated useful economic lives as follows:

Leasehold improvements – The lower of ten years or the lease 
term straight line

Computer equipment – 4-5 years straight line

Fixtures & fittings – 20% reducing balance

Motor vehicles – 20% reducing balance

Useful economic lives and residual values are assessed annually.

An  item  of  property,  plant  and  equipment  is  derecognised 
upon  disposal  or  when  no  future  economic  benefits  are 
expected to arise from the continued use of the asset. Any gain 
or  loss  arising  on  derecognising  the  asset  (calculated  as  the 
difference between the net disposal proceeds and the carrying 
amount of the item) is included in the income statement in the 
year the item is derecognised.

Revenue

Revenue is recognised to the extent that it is probable that the 
economic benefits will flow to the Group and the revenue can 
be measured reliably. The following specific recognition criteria 
must also be met before revenue is recognised:

•	 Rendering of services

Revenue  on  service  contracts  is  recognised  only  when 
their outcomes can be foreseen with reasonable certainty 
and  is  based  on  the  percentage  stage  of  completion  of 
the  contracts,  calculated  on  the  basis  of  costs  incurred. 
Accrued  and  deferred  revenue  arising  on  long-term 
contracts  is  included  in  trade  receivables  as  accrued 
income  and  in  trade  and  other  payables  as  deferred 
income as appropriate. 

Support  and  maintenance  contracts  are  invoiced  in 
advance and normally run for periods of 12 months with 
automatic  renewal  on  the  anniversary  date.  Revenue 
in  respect  of  support  and  maintenance  contracts  is 
recognised evenly over the 12 months commencing from 
the date of the contract period.

Managed services (hosting) fees are recognised over the 
term of the hosting contract on a straight-line basis.

Professional  services  and  consulting  revenue,  which  is 
provided  on  a ‘time  and  expense’  basis,  is  recognised  as 
the service is performed.

For multiple element arrangements revenue is allocated 
to each element on fair value regardless of any separate 
prices  stated  within  the  contract.  The  portion  of  the 
revenue allocated to an element is recognised when the 
revenue  recognition  criteria  for  that  element  have  been 
met.

•	

Sale of goods

Revenue from the sale of goods is recognised when the 
significant  risks  and  rewards  of  ownership  of  the  goods 
have  passed  to  the  buyer,  usually  on  despatch  of  the 
goods.

Revenue on software licenses and upgrades is recognised 
on  despatch,  when  there  are  no  significant  vendor 
obligations remaining and the collection of the resulting 
receivable 
In  circumstances 
where  a  considerable  future  vendor  obligation  exists  as 
part  of  a  software  licence  and  related  services  contract, 
revenue is recognised over the period that the obligation 
exists per the contract. 

is  considered  probable. 

Foreign currencies

Transactions in foreign currencies are recorded using the rate 
of  exchange  ruling  at  the  date  of  the  transaction.  Monetary 
assets  and  liabilities  denominated  in  foreign  currencies  are 
translated  using  the  rate  of  exchange  ruling  at  the  balance 
sheet date and the gains or losses on translation are included 
in the income statement with the exception of differences on 
foreign currency borrowing that provide a hedge against a net 
investment in a foreign entity. These are taken directly to the 
Statement of Comprehensive Income until the date of disposal 
of the net investment, at which time they are recognised in the 
consolidated  income  statement.  The  assets  and  liabilities  of 
overseas subsidiaries and branches are translated at the closing 
exchange  rate.  Income  statements  of  such  undertakings  are 
translated  at  the  average  rate  of  exchange  during  the  year. 
Gains  and  losses  arising  on  these  translations  are  recognised 

Financial Statements  

55

in Other Comprehensive Income. As permitted by IFRS 1, SDL 
has  elected  to  deem  the  cumulative  amount  of  exchange 
differences  arising  on  translation  of  the  net  investments  in 
subsidiaries at 1 January 2004 to be nil.

Intra-company  loans  for  which  settlement  is  neither  planned 
nor  likely  to  occur  in  the  foreseeable  future  are  defined  as 
quasi-equity loans and the currency translation differences on 
retranslation  at  the  balance  sheet  date  are  recognised  in  the 
Statement of Comprehensive Income.

Hedge accounting

The  Group  uses  derivative  financial  instruments  such  as 
foreign currency and interest rate contracts to hedge its risks 
associated with interest rate and foreign currency fluctuations. 
Such  derivative  financial  instruments  are  stated  at  fair  value. 
The  fair  value  of  forward  exchange  contracts  is  calculated 
by  reference  to  current  forward  exchange  rates  for  contracts 
with  similar  maturity  profiles.  The  fair  value  of  interest  rate 
contracts  is  determined  by  reference  to  market  values  for 
similar instruments. Where derivatives do not qualify for hedge 
accounting,  any  gains  or  losses  arising  from  changes  in  fair 
value  are  taken  directly  to  the  profit  or  loss  account  for  the 
period.

Cash and cash equivalents

Cash and cash equivalents include cash in hand and deposits 
held  at  call  with  banks.  For  the  purpose  of  the  Consolidated 
Statement of Cash Flows, cash and cash equivalents consist of 
cash and cash equivalents as defined above.

Borrowing costs

Borrowing  costs  are  recognised  as  an  expense  in  the  period 
in  which  they  are  incurred,  unless  they  relate  to  capitalised 
research and development.

Leases

Finance leases, which transfer to the Group substantially all the 
risks and benefits incidental to ownership of the leased item, 
are capitalised at the inception of the lease at the fair value of 
the leased asset or, if lower, at the present value of the minimum 
lease payments. Lease payments are apportioned between the 
finance  charges  and  reduction  of  the  lease  liability  so  as  to 
achieve  a  constant  rate  of  interest  on  the  remaining  balance 
of the liability. Finance charges are charged directly within the 
Income Statement.

Leases  where  the  lessor  retains  substantially  all  the  risks  and 
benefits  of  ownership  of  the  asset  are  classified  as  operating 
leases. Operating lease payments are recognised as an expense 
in the income statement on a straight-line basis over the lease 
term.

Incentives received from landlord

In accordance with SIC 15, the aggregate benefit of incentives 
is recognised as a credit to the income statement. The benefits 
of  the  incentives  are  allocated  over  the  life  of  the  lease  on  a 
straight-line basis.

Pension cost

The  company  contributes  to  a  group  personal  pension 
scheme  for  qualifying  employees  whereby  it  makes  defined 
contributions to independently administered personal pension 
schemes. The company does not control any of the assets or 
have  any  ongoing  liabilities  with  regard  to  the  performance 
of  and  payments  from  these  individual  personal  schemes. 
SDL  Global  Solutions  (Ireland)  Limited  operates  a  separate 
defined contribution scheme whose assets are held separately 

from the company. The pension cost charge for both schemes 
represents contributions payable during the period. 

Provisions

Provisions  are  recognised  when  the  Group  has  a  present 
obligation (legal or constructive) as a result of a past event, it 
is probable that an outflow of resources embodying economic 
benefits will be required to settle the obligation and a reliable 
estimate can be made of the amount of the obligation. If the 
effect  of  the  time  value  of  money  is  material,  provisions  are 
discounted  using  a  current  pre-tax  rate  that  reflects,  where 
appropriate, the risks specific to the liability. Where discounting 
is used, the increase in the provision due to the passage of time 
is recognised as a finance cost.

Financial assets

Financial  assets  in  the  scope  of  IAS  39  are  classified  as  either 
financial  assets  at  fair  value  through  profit  or  loss,  available 
for  sale  financial  assets, 
loans  and  receivables  or  held-
to-maturity 
investments,  as  appropriate.  When  financial 
assets  are  recognised  initially,  they  are  measured  at  fair 
value,  plus,  in  the  case  of  financial  assets  not  at  fair  value 
through  profit  or  loss,  directly  attributable  transaction  costs. 
The  Group  determines  the  classification  of 
its  financial 
assets  after 
initial  recognition  and,  where  allowed  and 
appropriate,  re-evaluates  this  designation  at  each  financial  
year-end.

Financial assets at fair value through profit or loss

Financial  assets  classified  as  held  for  trading  are  included 
in  the  category  ‘Financial  assets  at  fair  value  through  profit 
or  loss’.  Financial  assets  are  classified  as  held  for  trading  if 
they are acquired for the purpose of selling in the near term. 
Derivatives are also classified as held for trading unless they are 
designated and effective hedging instruments. Gains or losses 
on investments held for trading are recognised in the income 
statement. 

Available-for-sale financial assets 

Available-for-sale  financial  assets  are  non-derivative  financial 
assets  that  are  designated  as  available-for-sale.  Available-for-
sale assets are recognised initially at fair value plus any directly 
attributable transaction costs. Subsequent to initial recognition, 
they are measured at fair value and changes therein, other than 
impairment  losses  are  recognised  in  other  comprehensive 
income. When an investment is derecognised, the gain or loss 
accumulated in equity is reclassified to profit or loss. Available-
for-sale financial assets comprise equity securities.

Loans and receivables

Loans and receivables are non-derivative financial assets with 
fixed  or  determinable  payments  that  are  not  quoted  in  an 
active market. Such assets are carried at amortised cost using 
the effective interest method. Gains and losses are recognised 
in the income statement when the loans and receivables are 
derecognised or impaired, as well as through the amortisation 
process. 

Held to maturity financial assets

If  the  Group  has  the  positive  intent  and  ability  to  hold  debt 
securities to maturity, then such financial assets are classified 
as  held  to  maturity.  Held-to-maturity  financial  assets  are 
recognised  initially  at  fair  value  plus  any  directly  attributable 
transaction  costs.  Subsequent  to  initial  recognition,  held-to-
maturity financial assets are measured at amortised cost using 
the effective interest method, less any impairment losses. 

Financial Statements 
56 

Annual Report 2013

Derecognition of financial assets and liabilities

A financial asset or liability is generally derecognised when the 
contract that gives rise to it is settled, sold, cancelled or expires.

Where an existing financial liability is replaced by another from 
the same lender on substantially different terms, or the terms of 
an existing liability are substantially modified, such as exchange 
or modification, it is treated as a derecognition of the original 
liability and the recognition of the new liability, such that the 
difference  in  the  respective  carrying  amounts  together  with 
any costs or fees incurred are recognised in the profit or loss. 

Taxation

The  charge  for  current  taxation  is  based  on  the  results  for 
the  year  as  adjusted  for  items  which  are  non-assessable  or 
disallowed, based on tax rates that are enacted or substantively 
enacted at the balance sheet date. 

Deferred income tax is provided, using the liability method, on 
temporary differences at the balance sheet date between the 
tax bases of assets and liabilities and their carrying amounts for 
financial reporting purposes.

Deferred  income  tax  liabilities  are  recognised  for  all  taxable 
temporary differences except:

•	 where the deferred income tax liability arises from the initial 
recognition of an asset or liability in a transaction that is not 
a business combination and, at the time of the transaction, 
affects  neither  the  accounting  profit  or  loss  nor  taxable 
profit or loss; and

•	

in respect of taxable temporary differences associated with 
investments in subsidiaries, where the timing of the reversal 
of  the  temporary  differences  can  be  controlled  and  it  is 
probable that the temporary differences will not reverse in 
the foreseeable future.

Deferred  income  tax  assets  are  recognised  for  all  deductible 
temporary differences, carry-forward of unused tax assets and 
unused tax losses, to the extent that it is probable that taxable 
profit will be available against which the deductible temporary 
differences,  and  the  carry-forward  of  unused  tax  assets  and 
unused tax losses can be utilised, except:

•	 where  the  deferred  income  tax  asset  relating  to  the 
deductible  temporary  difference  arises  from  the  initial 
recognition of an asset or liability in a transaction that is not 
a business combination and, at the time of the transaction, 
affects  neither  the  accounting  profit  or  loss  nor  taxable 
profit or loss; and

•	

respect  of  deductible 
investments 

temporary  differences 
in 
associated  with 
in  subsidiaries,  deferred 
tax  assets  are  only  recognised  to  the  extent  that  it  is 
probable  that  the  temporary  differences  will  reverse 
in  the  foreseeable  future  and  taxable  profit  will  be 
available  against  which  the  temporary  differences  can  
be utilised.

The carrying amount of deferred income tax assets is reviewed 
at  each  balance  sheet  date  and  reduced  to  the  extent  that 
it  is  no  longer  probable  that  sufficient  taxable  profit  will  be 
available to allow all or part of the deferred income tax asset 
to be utilised.

In the United Kingdom, the Group is entitled to a tax deduction 
for  amounts  treated  as  remuneration  on  exercise  of  certain 
employee  share  options.  As  explained  under  ‘Share  based 
payments’  below,  a  remuneration  expense  is  recorded  in  the 
consolidated income statement over the period from the grant 
date to the vesting date of the relevant options. As there is a 

temporary difference between the accounting and tax bases, 
a  deferred  tax  asset  may  be  recorded. The  deferred  tax  asset 
arising on share option awards is calculated as the estimated 
amount of tax deduction to be obtained in the future (based 
on  the  Group’s  share  price  at  the  balance  sheet  date)  pro-
rated  to  the  extent  that  the  services  of  the  employee  have 
been rendered over the vesting period. If this amount exceeds 
the  cumulative  amount  of  the  remuneration  expense  at  the 
statutory rate, the excess is recorded directly in equity, against 
retained  earnings.  Similarly,  current  tax  relief  in  excess  of  the 
cumulative  amount  of  the  remuneration  expense  at  the 
statutory rate is also recorded in retained earnings. 

When  deferred  tax  assets  are  recognised  post  acquisition, 
goodwill is adjusted accordingly. 

Deferred income tax assets and liabilities are measured at the 
tax rates that are expected to apply to the year when the asset 
is realised or the liability is settled, based on tax rates (and tax 
laws) that have been enacted or substantively enacted at the 
balance sheet date.

Income  tax  relating  to  items  recognised  directly  in  equity  is 
recognised in equity and not in the income statement.

Revenues,  expenses  and  assets  are  recognised  net  of  the 
amount of VAT except:

•	 where the VAT incurred on a purchase of goods and services 
is not recoverable from the taxation authority, in which case 
the VAT is recognised as part of the cost of acquisition of the 
asset or as part of the expense item as applicable; and

•	

trade receivables and payables are stated with the amount 
of VAT included.

The  net  amount  of  VAT  recoverable  from,  or  payable  to,  the 
taxation authority is included as part of receivables or payables 
in the balance sheet.

Share based payments

(including  directors)  of 

receive 
Employees 
remuneration in the form of share-based payment transactions, 
whereby employees render services in exchange for shares or 
rights over shares (‘Equity-settled transactions’).

the  Group 

Equity-settled transactions

The  cost  of  equity-settled  transactions  with  employees  is 
measured  by  reference  to  the  fair  value  at  the  date  at  which 
they  are  granted  and  is  recognised  as  an  expense  over  the 
vesting period, which ends on the date on which the relevant 
employees  become  fully  entitled  to  the  award.  Fair  value  is 
determined by using an appropriate option pricing model. In 
valuing equity-settled transactions, no account is taken of any 
vesting conditions, other than conditions linked to the price of 
the shares of the company (market conditions). The volatility in 
the models is calculated by reference to historical share price.

The cost of equity-settled transactions is recognised, together 
with a corresponding increase in equity, ending on the date on 
which the relevant employees become entitled to the award 
(‘vesting date’). The cumulative expense recognised for equity 
settled  transactions  at  each  reporting  date  until  the  vesting 
date reflects the extent to which the vesting period has expired 
and the number of awards that, in the opinion of the directors 
of the Group at that date, based on the best available estimate 
of the number of equity instruments that will ultimately vest. 
The expense is recognised in the income statement over the 
vesting period.

Financial Statements  

57

No  expense  is  recognised  for  awards  that  do  not  ultimately 
vest,  except  for  awards  where  vesting  is  conditional  upon  a 
market condition, which are treated as vesting irrespective of 
whether or not the market condition is satisfied, provided that 
all other performance conditions are satisfied.

IAS 27 (revised) Consolidated and 
Separate Financial Statements

IAS 28 (revised) Investments  
in Associates

1 January 2014

1 January 2014

Where  the  terms  of  an  equity-settled  award  are  modified,  as 
a minimum an expense is recognised as if the terms had not 
been modified. In addition, an expense is recognised over the 
remainder of the vesting period for any increase in the value of 
the transaction as a result of the modification, as measured at 
the date of modification.

Where  an  equity-settled  award  is  cancelled,  it  is  treated  as  if 
it  had  vested  on  the  date  of  cancellation,  and  any  expense 
not  yet  recognised  for  the  award  is  recognised  immediately. 
However, if a new award is substituted for the cancelled award, 
and designated as a replacement award on the date that it is 
granted, the cancelled and new awards are treated as if they 
were a modification of the original award, as described in the 
previous paragraph.

The Group has taken advantage of the transitional provisions of 
IFRS 2 in respect of equity-settled awards and has applied IFRS 
2 only to equity-settled awards granted after 7 November 2002 
that had not vested at 1 January 2005.

National  Insurance  on  Share  Option  Grants:  The  anticipated 
National Insurance charge on gains made by employees over 
the period from date of grant of the option to the end of the 
performance period has been provided for.

Research and development costs

Research  costs  are  expensed  as 
incurred.  Development 
expenditure incurred on an individual project is carried forward 
when  its  future  recoverability  can  reasonably  be  regarded  as 
assured  and  technical  feasibility  and  commercial  viability 
can  be  demonstrated.  Where  these  criteria  are  not  met  the 
expenditure is expensed to the income statement. Following 
the initial recognition of the development expenditure the cost 
model is applied, requiring the asset to be carried at cost less 
any  accumulated  amortisation  and  accumulated  impairment 
losses. Any expenditure carried forward is amortised over the 
period  of  expected  future  sales  from  the  related  project. The 
carrying value of development costs is reviewed for impairment 
annually  when  the  asset  is  not  yet  in  use  or  more  frequently 
when  an  indicator  of  impairment  arises  during  the  reporting 
year indicating that the carrying value may not be recoverable.

Development  costs  that  are  subject  to  amortisation  are 
reviewed  for  impairment  whenever  events  or  changes  in 
circumstances indicate that the carrying amount may not be 
recoverable.

New standards and interpretations not applied

IASB  and  IFRIC  have  issued  the  following  standards  and 
interpretations  with  an  effective  date  after  the  date  of  these 
financial statements:

International Accounting 
Standards (IASs / IFRSs)

IFRS 10 Consolidated Financial 
Statements

IFRS 11 Joint Arrangements

IFRS 12 Disclosure of Interest  
in Other Entities

Effective date*

1 January 2014

1 January 2014

1 January 2014

*Effective date refers to accounting periods commencing on or 
after the dates above.

The  Directors  do  not  anticipate  that  the  adoption  of  these 
standards and interpretations will have a material impact on the 
Group’s financial statements in the period of initial application. 

Significant critical accounting judgements, estimates and 
assumptions

Judgements

The preparation of the Group’s consolidated financial statements 
requires  management  to  make  judgements,  estimates  and 
assumptions  that  affect  the  reported  amounts  of  revenues, 
expenses,  assets  and liabilities, and the disclosure  of  contingent 
liabilities, at the end of the reporting period. However, uncertainty 
about these estimates and assumptions could result in outcomes 
that require a material adjustment to the carrying amount of the 
asset or liability affected in future periods.

In  the  process  of  applying  the  Group’s  accounting  policies, 
management has made the following judgements, which have 
the most significant effect on the amounts recognised in the 
consolidated financial statements:

Revenue - technology revenue

Management  reviews  the  terms  of  all  license  contracts  to 
ensure  that  the  appropriate  fair  values  are  determined  that 
consideration  receivable  is  allocated  appropriately  to  each 
element of the contract, and that there are no future vendor 
obligations that would affect the license revenue recognised.

Research and development costs

Management  continually  review  research  and  development 
expenditure to assess whether any costs meet the criteria for 
capitalisation.  There  have  been  no  costs  capitalised  in  2013 
(2012:  £nil)  with  the  primary  criteria  for  non  capitalisation 
being technical and commercial feasibility achieved late in the 
development cycle for new product releases.

Estimates and assumptions

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

Impairment

The  determination  of  whether  or  not  goodwill  has  been 
impaired  requires  an  estimate  to  be  made  of  the  value 
in  use  of  the  cash  generating  unit  to  which  goodwill 
has  been  allocated.  The  value  in  use  calculation  includes 
estimates about the future financial performance of the cash 
generating units, management’s estimates of discount rates, 
long-term  operating  margins  and  long-term  growth  rates 
(note 12). If the results of the cash generating unit in a future 
period are materially adverse to the estimates used for the 
impairment testing an impairment charge may be triggered.

Taxes

Uncertainties  exist  with  respect  to  the  interpretation  of 
complex  tax  regulations  and  the  amount  and  timing  of 

Financial Statements 
58 

Annual Report 2013

support  the  recognition  of  these 
tax assets.

losses  as  deferred 

Revenue - rendering of services

Management  makes  estimates  of  the  total  costs  that  will  be 
incurred  by  SDL  on  a  contract  by  contract  basis.  Management 
reviews the estimate of total costs on each contract on an ongoing 
basis  to  ensure  that  the  revenue  recognised  accurately  reflects 
the proportion of the work done at the balance sheet date.

Share based payments

The Group measures the cost of equity-settled transactions with 
employees by reference to the fair value of the equity instruments 
at the date at which they are granted. Estimating fair value for 
share-based  payment  transactions  requires  determining  the 
most appropriate valuation model, which is dependent on the 
terms  and  conditions  of  the  grant. This  estimate  also  requires 
determining  the  most  appropriate  inputs  to  the  valuation 
model including the expected life of the share option, volatility 
and  dividend  yield  and  making  assumptions  about  them. The 
assumptions and models used for estimating fair value for share-
based payment transactions are disclosed in Note 20.

Further details on taxes are disclosed in Note 6.

future taxable income. Given the wide range of international 
business  relationships  and  the 
long-term  nature  and 
complexity of existing contractual agreements, differences 
arising  between  the  actual  results  and  the  assumptions 
made,  or  future  changes  to  such  assumptions,  could 
necessitate future adjustments to tax income and expense 
already  recorded.  Differences  of  interpretation  may  arise 
on  a  wide  variety  of  issues  depending  on  the  conditions 
prevailing in the respective Group company’s domicile.

Deferred tax assets are recognised for all unused tax losses 
to the extent that it is probable that taxable  profit will  be 
available against which the losses can be utilised. Significant 
management  judgement  is  required  to  determine  the 
amount of deferred tax assets that can be recognised, based 
upon the likely timing and the level of future taxable profits 
together with future tax planning strategies.

The Group had recognised tax losses carried forward of £2.0 
million (2012: £3.2 million).

The  Group  has  unrecognised  tax  losses  carried  forward 
amounting  to  £2.7  million  (2012:  £2.4  million).  These 
losses  relate  to  subsidiaries  that  have  a  history  of  losses, 
do  not  expire  and  may  not  be  used  to  offset  taxable 
the  Group.  The  subsidiaries 
income  elsewhere 
have  no  taxable  temporary  differences  or  any  tax 
that  could  partly 
planning  opportunities  available 

in 

3 Business combinations

Acquisition of Bemoko Consulting Limited

On 8 February 2013, the Group acquired 100% of the share capital of Bemoko Consulting Limited, an unlisted company based in the 
United Kingdom. The principal activity of Bemoko Consulting Limited is the provision of mobile solutions. 

The total cost of the combination comprises £2.2 million of which £1.4 million was funded from the Group’s existing cash resources 
and £0.8 million of contingent consideration will be settled in shares. The values of the identifiable assets and liabilities of Bemoko 

Consulting Limited as at the date of acquisition were: 

 Book value
£m

 Fair value to Group
£m

Intangible assets

Trade receivables

Cash and cash equivalents

Deferred tax liabilities

Net assets

Goodwill arising on acquisition

Discharged by:

Cash paid to shareholders 

Fair value of contingent consideration

Total consideration

Cash outflow on the acquisition:

Net cash and cash equivalents acquired with the subsidiary

Total cash paid

Net cash outflow

–

0.1

0.2

–

0.3

0.8

0.1

0.2

(0.2)

0.9

1.3

2.2

£m

1.4

0.8

2.2

0.2

(1.4)

(1.2)

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Financial Statements  

59

The maximum contingent consideration is £0.8 million. The fair value was calculated at £0.8 million and under IFRS 3 (revised) any 
re-measurement will be recognised in the income statement.

From the date of acquisition, Bemoko Consulting Limited has contributed £0.4 million of revenue and a loss of £0.2 million to the 
net loss after tax of the Group. If the combination had taken place at the beginning of the year, the loss for the Group would have 
been £27.9 million and revenue from continuing operations would have been £266.1 million. Included in the £1.3 million of goodwill 
recognised above are certain intangible assets that cannot be individually separated from the acquired business due to their nature. 
These items include the assembled workforce.

Acquisition of Alterian plc in 2012

On 27 January 2012 the Group acquired 100% of the share capital of Alterian plc, a listed company based in the United Kingdom. The 
principal activity of the Alterian plc group is the provision of marketing analytics, social media monitoring, campaign management 
and content management. 

The total cost of the combination comprised £73.1 million. £20 million of the cost of the acquisition was funded by draw down of 
the Group loan facility and the remainder was funded from the Group’s existing cash resources.

The fair value of the identifiable assets and liabilities of the Alterian plc group as at the date of acquisition were:

 Book value
£m

 Fair value to Group
£m

Intangible assets

Property, plant and equipment

Trade receivables

Other receivables

Cash and cash equivalents

Deferred tax asset

Trade payables

Overdraft

Other payables

Deferred tax liabilities

Net assets

Goodwill arising on acquisition

Discharged by:

Cash paid to shareholders 

Exercise proceeds from employee share options

Total cash payable

Cash outflow on the acquisition:

Net cash and cash equivalents acquired with the subsidiary

Total cash paid

Net cash outflow

27.0

 1.7

 9.2

 1.2

 0.6

 1.2

 (3.0)

 (1.9)

 (23.9)

 (1.2)

 10.9

19.7

 1.6

 9.7

 1.0

 0.6

 1.2

 (3.0)

 (1.9)

 (23.6)

 (4.5)

 0.8

 72.3

 73.1

£m

 73.1

 (3.4)

 69.7

 0.6

 (73.1)

 (72.5)

Alterian related acquisition costs included in administration expenses in the income statement amounted to £0.7 million in 2012.

From the date of acquisition Alterian plc group contributed £28.4 million of revenue and a profit of £2.3 million to the net profit 
after tax of the Group for the year ended 31 December 2012. If the combination had taken place at the beginning of 2012, the profit 
for the Group in 2012 would have been £21.8 million and revenue from continuing operations would have been £271.7 million. 
Included in the £72.3 million of goodwill recognised above are certain intangible assets that cannot be individually separated from 
the acquiree due to their nature. These items include assembled workforce and buyer specific synergies.

Financial Statements 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
60 

Annual Report 2013

4 Segment information

The Group operates in the Customer Experience Management 
industry.  For  management  purposes,  the  Group  is  organised 
into business units based on their products and services and, 
following  a  reorganisation  in  the  year,  has  three  reportable 
operating segments as follows: 

•	

•	

The  Language  Services  (formerly  referred  to  as  Global 
Solutions) segment is the provision of a translation service 
for customer’s multilingual content in multiple languages. 

The  Content  and  Analytic Technologies  segment  (formerly 
the  Content  Management  Technologies  and  Campaign 
Management, Analytic and Social Intelligence segments) is 
the sale of content management, campaign management, 
social media monitoring and marketing analytic technologies 
together with associated consultancy and services. 

•	

The  Language  Technologies  segment 
is  the  sale  of 
enterprise,  desktop  and  statistical  machine  translation 
technologies  together  with  associated  consultancy  and 
other services.

Management  monitors  the  operating  results  of  its  business 
units  separately  for  the  purpose  of  making  decisions  about 
resource  allocation  and  performance  assessment  prior  to 
charges for tax and amortisation.

In  accordance  with  IFRS8,  the  operating  segments  for  the 
comparative  period  have  been  restated  to  the  operating 
segments that exist in 2013.

Year ended  
31 December 2013

 External Revenue

 Total Revenue

Depreciation

£m

150.5

79.4

36.2

115.6

–

–

266.1

–

–

£m

150.5

79.4

36.2

115.6

–

–

266.1

–

–

£m

1.7

1.4

2.0

3.4

–

–

5.1

–

–

 External Revenue

 Total Revenue

Depreciation

£m

151.1

79.1

39.1

118.2

–

–

269.3

£m

151.1

79.1

39.1

118.2

–

–

269.3

£m

1.1

1.4

1.5

2.9

–

–

4.0

Language Services

Content and Analytic Technologies

Language Technologies

Total Technologies

Historic litigation costs

Restructuring costs

Impairment charge (Note 5)

Acquisition related costs

Total

Amortisation

Loss before taxation

Year ended  
31 December 2012  
– restated

Language Services

Content and Analytic Technologies

Language Technologies

Total Technologies

Historic litigation costs

Acquisition related costs

Total

Amortisation

Profit before taxation

Segment assets

Language Services

Content and Analytic Technologies

Language Technologies

Adjustments and eliminations

Total

 Segment profit 
before taxation and 
amortisation
£m

17.6

(5.5)

(3.9)

(9.4)

(1.4)

(3.3)

(20.4)

–

(16.9)

(7.5)

(24.4)

 Segment profit 
before taxation and 
amortisation
£m

23.2

10.5

4.0

14.5

(1.5)

(0.7)

35.5

(8.1)

27.4

 2012
£m

55.7

170.8

83.2

(2)34.1

343.8

 2013
£m

58.9

141.6

87.1

(1)25.4

313.0

(1) Segment assets do not include cash (£18.2m), Corporation Tax (£3.5m) and Deferred Tax (£3.7m).
(2)  Segment assets do not include cash (£28.5m), Corporation Tax (£1.2m) and Deferred Tax (£4.4m 

 
Financial Statements  

Geographical analysis of external revenues by country of domicile is as follows:

UK

USA

Republic of Ireland

Netherlands

Belgium

Germany

Canada

Rest of World

A Geographical analysis of external revenues by destination is provided in the Strategic Review on page 8.

Geographical analysis of non-current assets excluding deferred tax is as follows:

UK

USA

Rest of World

61

 2013
£m

 2012
£m

63.9

77.2

24.7

21.0

16.1

15.4

11.8

36.0

66.7

82.5

24.2

17.9

15.2

15.3

11.2

36.3

266.1

269.3

 2013
£m

173.8

40.9

5.5

220.2

 2012
£m

199.2

40.4

5.3

244.9

Goodwill and intangibles recognised on consolidation are included in the country which initially acquired the business giving rise 
to the recognition of goodwill and intangibles.

5 Other revenue and expenses

Group operating profit is stated after charging/(crediting):

Included in administrative expenses:

Research and development expenditure

Bad debt charge

Depreciation of property, plant and equipment – owned assets

Depreciation of property, plant and equipment – leased assets

Amortisation of intangible assets

Operating lease rentals for plant and machinery

Operating lease rentals for land and buildings

Net foreign exchange gains

Share based payment charge/ (credit) 

 2013
£m

 2012
£m

 24.8

 22.9

 0.8

 4.9

 0.2

 7.5

 0.6

 6.9

 –

 1.2

 0.6

 2.9

 1.1

 8.1

 0.6

 6.6

 (1.0)

 (1.1)

The net foreign exchange gains above arose due to movements in foreign currencies between the time of the original transaction 
and the realisation of the cash collection or spend, and the retranslation of US Dollar and Euro denominated intra-group loans.

Auditor’s remuneration

Audit of the Group financial statements

Other fees to auditors:

Local statutory audits for subsidiaries

Taxation compliance services 

Other services 

 2013
£m

 0.3 

 0.1

 0.1

 0.1

 2012
£m

 0.3

 0.1

 0.1

 0.1

Financial Statements 
62 

Staff costs

Wages and salaries

Social security costs

Pension costs (included in administrative expenses)

Expense/ (income) of share based payments

Annual Report 2013

 2013
£m

 124.6

 15.5

 4.4

 1.2

 2012
£m

 112.5

 13.6

 3.5

 (1.1)

 145.7

 128.5

The  Company  operates  a  personal  pension  scheme  for  qualifying  employees.  Other  companies  acquired  have  similar 
schemes  for  their  qualifying  members,  although  SDL  Global  Solutions  (Ireland)  Limited  operates  a  defined  contribution 
scheme  with  contributions  made  by  the  Company  placed  in  a  separately  administered  pension  fund.  The  pension  cost 
charge  for  the  year  represents  contributions  payable  by  the  group  to  these  schemes  and  amounted  to  £4.4  million  (2012:  
£3.5 million).

The average number of employees during the year, including executive directors, was made up as follows:

Administration and sales

Production

Finance costs

Bank loans

Other interest paid

Finance revenue

Bank interest receivable

One-off costs

 Historic litigation costs 

 Onerous lease

 Redundancy costs

 Impairment charge

 Other

 2013
Number

 2012
Number

 1,214

 1,963

 3,177

 1,022

 1,728

 2,750

 2013
£m

 0.3

 0.2

 0.5

 2013
£m

 0.1

 2013
£m

 1.4

 0.4

 2.5

 20.4

 0.4

 25.1

 2012
£m

 0.3

 0.1

 0.4

 2012
£m

 0.1

 2012
£m

 1.5

–

 –

 –

 –

 1.5

One-off costs relate to costs associated with the ongoing historic litigation claim against the Group, the costs associated with the 
re-organisation  of  the  Group  in  late  2013  and  a  goodwill  impairment  write  down  relating  to  the  Group’s  Content  and  Analytic 
Technologies CGU (see Note 12).

 These have been separately disclosed in the income statement to provide a better guide to underlying business performance.

 
 
 
 
Financial Statements  

6 Income tax

(a) Income tax on profit:

Consolidated income statement

Current taxation

UK Income tax charge

Current tax on income for the period

Adjustments in respect of prior periods

Foreign tax

Current tax on income for the period

Adjustments in respect of prior periods

Total current taxation

Deferred income taxation 

Origination and reversal of temporary differences

Total deferred income tax

Tax expense (see (b) below)

Consolidated statement of other comprehensive income

Current taxation

UK Income tax credit

Income tax charge/(benefit) on currency translation differences on foreign currency equity loans  
to foreign subsidiaries

Total current taxation

63

 2013
£m

 2012
£m

 0.7

 0.2

 0.9

 4.1

 0.3

 4.4

 5.3

 (1.8)

 (1.8)

 3.5

 2013
£m

 0.1

 0.1

 1.3

 (0.5)

 0.8

 6.3

 0.1

 6.4

7.2

 (0.7)

 (0.7)

 6.5

 2012
£m

 (0.1)

 (0.1)

A  tax  credit  in  respect  of  share  based  compensation  for  current  taxation  of  nil  (2012:  £0.5  million)  has  been  recognised  in  the 
statement of changes in equity in the year.

A tax credit in respect of share based compensation for deferred taxation of £0.2 million (2012: £0.2 million) has been recognised in 
the statement of changes in equity in the year. 

(b) Factors affecting tax charge:

The tax assessed on the profit on ordinary activities for the year is higher than the standard rate of income tax in the UK of 23.25% 
(2012: 24.5%). The differences are reconciled below:

(Loss) / profit on ordinary activities before tax

(Loss) / profit on ordinary activities at standard rate of tax in the UK 23.25% (2012: 24.5%)

Expenses not deductible for tax purposes

Impairment of goodwill

Non taxable income

Adjustments in respect of previous years

Capital allowances for the period in excess of depreciation

Utilisation of tax losses brought forward previously not recognised

Current tax losses not available for offset

Effect of overseas tax rates

Other

Tax expense (see (a) above)

 2013
£m

(24.4)

(5.7)

0.9

4.7

–

0.5

(0.5)

(1.0)

5.2

 0.2

 (0.8)

3.5

 2012
£m

27.4

6.7

0.2

–

(0.3)

(0.4)

(0.7)

(0.9)

1.3 

 –

 0.6

6.5

Financial Statements 
64 

Annual Report 2013

(c)   Factors that may affect future tax charges:

The Group may claim a Schedule 23 tax credit in respect of certain share based compensation benefits. Due to the requirements of 
IAS 12, in conjunction with IFRS 2, the amount of benefit that can be recognised in the income statement has been restricted in the 
current year and may also be restricted in future periods. Any surplus tax credit will be recorded in equity.

There are temporary differences which arise in relation to unremitted earnings of overseas subsidiaries. Since the Group is able to 
control dividend distributions from these companies it is unlikely that further UK tax on repatriation of these earnings will be payable 
in the foreseeable future. Consequently no deferred tax liability has been provided.

(d)   Deferred income tax:

The amounts recognised and unrecognised for deferred income tax are set out below:

Depreciation in advance of capital allowances

Other short-term temporary differences

Tax losses

Net deferred income tax (liability) / asset

 Recognised
2013
£m

 Unrecognised
2013
£m

Recognised
2012
£m

 Unrecognised
2012
£m

 0.9 

 (5.2)

 2.0

 (2.3)

 –

 –

 2.7

 2.7

 0.3

 (7.5)

 3.2

 (4.0)

 –

 –

 2.4

 2.4

The Group has unrecognised tax losses in net terms of £2.7 million (2012: £2.4 million) that may be available for use by offset against 
future taxable profits in the companies in which the losses arose. Deferred tax assets have not been recognised in respect of these 
losses as the Group cannot foresee profitability in the companies where the losses arose with sufficient certainty. The Group has 
other tax losses amounting to £37.6 million (2012: £36.9 million).

Included within other short term temporary differences are deferred tax assets in respect of potential Schedule 23 tax benefits of 
£0.4 million (2012: £0.7 million) and a deferred tax liability in respect of the amortisation of certain intangible assets acquired of £5.6 
million (2012: £8.0 million).

The Group has recognised deferred tax assets on losses of £2.0 million which is based on forecast future taxable profits in certain tax 
jurisdictions.

(e) Reconciliation of movement on deferred tax liability:

At 1 January

Retranslation of opening balances

Deferred tax liability arising on intangible assets acquired

Reversal of temporary differences arising on the amortisation of intangibles

Other temporary differences arising in the period

Change in rate from 23% to 20%

Deferred tax liability at 31 December

(f ) Reconciliation of movement on deferred tax asset:

At 1 January

Retranslation of opening balances

Deferred tax asset on acquisition

Temporary differences arising in the period

Deferred income tax asset arising on share based payments recorded in statement of changes in equity

Other temporary differences arising in the period

Change in rate from 23% to 20%

Deferred tax asset at 31 December

2013
£m

 8.3

 0.1

 0.2

 (1.7)

–

 (0.9)

 6.0

2013
£m

 4.4

 (0.1)

–

 (0.7)

 0.2

 (0.1)

–

 3.7

2012
£m

 6.8

 (0.1)

 4.5

 (1.9)

 (0.2)

 (0.8)

8.3

2012
£m

 5.0

 (0.1)

 1.2

 (0.5)

 0.2

 (1.4)

–

 4.4

Reductions in the UK corporation tax rate from 26% to 24% (effective from 1 April 2012) and to 23% (effective 1 April 2013) were 
substantively enacted on 26 March 2012 and 3 July 2012 respectively. Further reductions to 21% (effective from 1 April 2014) and 
20% (effective from 1 April 2015) were substantively enacted on 2 July 2013. This will reduce the company’s future current tax charge 
accordingly. The deferred tax asset of £3.7 million and liability of £6.0 million at 31 December 2013 have been calculated based on 
the rate of 20% substantively enacted at the balance sheet date.

Financial Statements  

7 Dividends

Amounts recognised as distributions to equity holders in the year:

Final dividend for the year ended 31 December 2012 of 6.1 pence per share (2012: Year ended 31 December 
2011: 5.8 pence per share)

65

2012
£m

4.6

2013
£m

4.9

8 Earnings per share

The calculation of basic earnings per ordinary share is based on a loss after tax of £27.9 million (2012: profit of £20.9 million) and 
80,283,053 (2012: 79,851,785) ordinary shares, being the weighted average number of ordinary shares in issue during the period. 

The diluted earnings per ordinary share is calculated by including in the weighted average number of shares the dilutive effect of 
potential ordinary shares related to committed share options as described in note 20. For 2013 the diluted ordinary shares were 
based on 81,222,432 ordinary shares that included 939,379 potential ordinary shares.

The following reflects the income and share data used in the calculation of adjusted earnings per share computations before one-off 
costs:

(Loss)/ profit for the year

One-off costs

Amortisation of intangible fixed assets

Less: tax benefit associated with the amortisation of intangible fixed assets and one-off costs

Adjusted profit for the year

 2013
£m

 (27.9)

25.1

 7.5

 (2.6)

 2.1

 2012
£m

 20.9

1.5

 8.1

 (2.2)

 28.3

Adjusted earnings per share is shown as the Directors believe that earnings before amortisation and one-off costs is reflective of the 
underlying performance of the business.

Weighted average number of ordinary shares for basic earnings per share

Effect of dilution resulting from share options

Weighted average number of ordinary shares adjusted for the effect of dilution

Adjusted earnings per ordinary share – basic (pence)

Adjusted earnings per ordinary share – diluted (pence)

 2013
No.

 2012
No.

80,283,053

 79,851,785

 939,379

 424,086

81,222,432

 80,275,871

 2013

 2.57

 2.54

 2012

 35.41

 35.22

 There have been no material transactions involving ordinary shares or potential ordinary shares between the reporting date and the 
date of completion of the financial statements.

Financial Statements 
66 

Annual Report 2013

9 Property, plant and equipment

 Leasehold 
Improvements
£m

 Computer 
Equipment
£m

 Fixtures  
& Fittings
£m

 Motor  
Vehicles
£m

Cost:

At 1 January 2012

Additions

Acquisition of subsidiaries

Currency adjustment

At 1 January 2013

Additions

Disposals

Currency adjustment

At 31 December 2013

Accumulated depreciation:

At 1 January 2012

Provided during the year

Disposals

Currency adjustment

At 1 January 2013

Provided during the year

Disposals

Currency adjustment

At 31 December 2013

Net book value

At 31 December 2013

At 1 January 2013

 1.6

 0.3

 –

 (0.1)

 1.8

 0.2

–

 (0.1)

 1.9

(1.0)

(0.1)

–

–

(1.1)

(0.2)

-

0.1

(1.2)

0.7

0.7

 12.1

 4.5

 1.4

 (0.6)

 17.4

 5.4

 (0.2)

 (0.3)

 22.3

(7.1)

(3.4)

–

0.3

(10.2)

(4.6)

0.1

0.4

(14.3)

8.0

7.2

 2.9

 0.3

 0.2

 (0.1)

 3.3

 0.3

 –

 –

 3.6

(2.0)

(0.5)

–

0.1

(2.4)

(0.3)

-

-

(2.7)

0.9

0.9

 0.1

 –

 –

 –

 0.1

–

 –

 –

 0.1

(0.1)

–

–

–

(0.1)

-

-

-

(0.1)

–

–

 Total

£m

 16.7

 5.1

 1.6

 (0.8)

 22.6

 5.9

 (0.2)

 (0.4)

 27.9

(10.2)

(4.0)

–

0.4

(13.8)

(5.1)

0.1

0.5

(18.3)

9.6

8.8

Included in property, plant and equipment are assets held under finance lease of £0.2m at 31 December 2013 (2012: £0.5 million).

Financial Statements  

10 Intangible assets

Customer 
Relationships

 Intellectual Property

 Goodwill

£m

£m

67

 Total

£m

205.5

92.0

(5.7)

 291.8

2.1

0.3

 294.2

(50.3)

(8.1)

1.1

(57.3)

(7.5)

(20.4)

–

(85.2)

£m

11.1

8.9

(0.4)

 19.6

0.5

-

 20.1

(7.4)

(2.7)

0.2

(9.9)

(2.4)

– 

–

50.9

10.8

(1.5)

 60.2

0.3

0.1

 60.6

(30.7)

(5.4)

0.9

(35.2)

(5.1)

–

–

143.5

72.3

(3.8)

 212.0

1.3

0.2

 213.5

(12.2)

–

–

(12.2)

–

(20.4)

–

(32.6)

(12.3)

(40.3)

7.8

9.7

20.3

25.0

180.9

209.0

199.8

234.5

Cost:

At 1 January 2012

Acquisition of subsidiaries

Currency adjustment

At 1 January 2013

Acquisition of subsidiaries

Currency adjustment

At 31 December 2013

Amortisation:

At 1 January 2012

Provided during the year

Currency adjustment

At 1 January 2013

Provided during the year

Impairment loss

Currency adjustment

At 31 December 2013

Net book value:

At 31 December 2013

At 1 January 2013

Customer relationships and intellectual property are amortised on a straight-line basis over their estimated useful lives of between 
5 and 10 years. As from 1 January 2004, the date of transition to IFRS, goodwill is no longer amortised but is now subject to annual 
impairment testing (see note 12).

Financial Statements 
68 

11 Investments in subsidiaries

Annual Report 2013

Details of the investments (excluding dormant companies) in which the Group or Company holds more than 20% of the nominal 
value of ordinary share capital are as follows:

Name of Company

Held directly:

SDL Sheffield Limited

Software & Documentation 
Localisation France SARL

SDL Sweden AB

SDL Global Solutions (Ireland) Limited

SDL International Belgium NV

SDL Software Technology (Shenzhen) Co 
Ltd

SDL Inc

SDL Poland Sp zoo

SDL International America Inc 

Country of 
Incorporation

Holding

Proportion of 
Voting Rights

Primary nature of Business

England  
& Wales

France

Sweden

Ireland

Belgium

China

Ordinary

100%

Language Services

Ordinary 

100%

Language Services

Ordinary

Ordinary

Ordinary

Ordinary

100%

100%

100%

100%

Language Services

Language Services and Language 
Technologies

Language Services

Language Services and Language 
Technologies

United States of 
America

Poland

United States of 
America

Ordinary

100%

Holding company

Ordinary

Ordinary

100%

100%

Language Services 

Language Services 

SDL Japan KK

Japan

Ordinary

100%

SDL Holdings BV

SDL do Brazil Global Solutions Ltda

SDL Trisoft NV

SDL Enterprise Technologies Inc

SDL Multilingual Solutions  
Private Ltd

SDL Hellas MEPE

Netherlands

Brazil

Belgium

United States of 
America

India

Greece

Automated Language Processing Services 
Ltd

England  
& Wales

Ordinary

Ordinary

Ordinary

Ordinary

100%

100%

100%

100%

Language Services and Language 
Technologies

Holding company

Language Services

Content and Analytic Technologies

Language Technologies

Ordinary

100%

Language Services

Ordinary

Ordinary

100%

100%

Language Services

Holding company

Turkey

Ordinary

100%

Language Services

Chile

England  
& Wales

England  
& Wales

Germany

Italy 

Spain 

Ordinary

Ordinary

100%

100%

Language Services

Holding company

Ordinary

100%

Content and Analytic Technologies

Ordinary

Ordinary

Ordinary

100%

100%

100%

Language Technologies

Language Services

Language Services

Netherlands

Ordinary

100%

Language Services

SDL Turkey Translation Services  
& Commerce Ltd

SDL Chile SA

Alterian Ltd

Bemoko Consulting Limited

Held indirectly:

SDL Passolo GmbH

SDL Italia Unipersonale Srl

Software Documentation Localization 
Spain, S.L

SDL International  
Nederland BV

SDL International (Canada) Inc 

SDL Nederland Holding BV 

SDL Tridion Holding BV

Canada

Netherlands

Netherlands

SDL Multilingual Services GmbH & Co KG

Germany

SDL Multi-Lingual Solutions (Singapore) 
PTE Ltd

Singapore

SDL Magyaror szaj szolgaltato Kft 

Hungary

SDL CZ sro

SDL Traduceri SRL

SDL Zagreb doo

Czech Republic

Romania

Croatia

Ordinary

Ordinary

Ordinary

Ordinary

Ordinary

Ordinary

Ordinary

Ordinary

Ordinary

100%

100%

100%

100%

100%

100%

100%

100%

100%

Language Services

Language Services

Holding Company

Language Services

Language Services

Language Services

Language Services

Language Services

Language Services

Financial Statements  

69

Name of Company

SDL doo Ljubljana

Trados GmbH

Country of 
Incorporation

Slovenia

Germany

SDL Tridion Corporate Services BV

Netherlands

SDL Tridion Development Centre LLC

Ukraine

SDL Tridion Development  
Lab BV

SDL Tridion GmbH

Tridion AB

SDL Tridion BV

SDL Tridion BVBA

SDL Tridion Hispania SL

SDL Tridion SAS

SDL Tridion Ltd

SDL Tridion Inc

SDL Tridion KK

Interlingua Group Ltd

Alp Services Inc

SDL Multilingual Service GmbH

SDL Multilingual Services Verwaltung 
GmbH

SDL Quatron BV

ZAO SDL Rus

XyEnterprise Inc

XyEnterprise Ltd

SDL Fredhopper Group BV

SDL Fredhopper Holding BV

SDL Fredhopper BV

SDL Fredhopper Ltd

Spring Technologies Ltd

SDL Xopus BV

Language Weaver Inc

Language Weaver SRL

SDL Media Manager Holding BV

SDL Media Manager BV

Alterian Holdings Ltd

Netherlands

Germany

Sweden

Netherlands

Belgium

Spain

France

England  
& Wales

United States of 
America

Japan

England  
& Wales

United States of 
America

Germany

Germany

Netherlands

Russia

United States of 
America

England  
& Wales

Netherlands

Netherlands

Netherlands

England  
& Wales

Bulgaria

Netherlands

United States of 
America

Romania

Netherlands

Netherlands

England  
& Wales

Holding

Ordinary

Ordinary

Ordinary

Ordinary

Ordinary

Ordinary

Ordinary

Ordinary

Ordinary

Ordinary

Ordinary

Ordinary

Proportion of 
Voting Rights

Primary nature of Business

100%

100%

100%

100%

100%

100%

100%

100%

100%

100%

100%

100%

Language Services

Language Technologies

Content and Analytic Technologies

Content and Analytic Technologies

Content and Analytic Technologies

Content and Analytic Technologies

Content and Analytic Technologies

Content and Analytic Technologies

Content and Analytic Technologies

Content and Analytic Technologies

Content and Analytic Technologies

Content and Analytic Technologies

Ordinary

100%

Content and Analytic Technologies

Ordinary

Ordinary

100%

100%

Content and Analytic Technologies

Holding company

Ordinary

100%

Holding company

Ordinary

Ordinary

Ordinary

Ordinary

Ordinary

100%

100%

100%

100%

100%

Holding company

Holding company

Content and Analytic Technologies

Language Services

Content and Analytic Technologies

Ordinary

100%

Content and Analytic Technologies

Ordinary 

Ordinary 

Ordinary 

Ordinary 

Ordinary 

Ordinary 

Ordinary 

Ordinary 

Ordinary

Ordinary

Ordinary

100%

100%

100%

100%

100%

100%

100%

100%

100%

100%

100%

100%

100%

Holding company

Holding company

Content and Analytic Technologies

Content and Analytic Technologies

Content and Analytic Technologies

Content and Analytic Technologies

Language Technologies

Language Technologies

Holding company

Content and Analytic Technologies

Holding company

Content and Analytic Technologies

Content and Analytic Technologies

Alterian Technology Ltd

England & Wales

Ordinary

SDL Technologies India PVT Ltd (formerly 
Alterian Technologies India PVT Ltd)

India

Ordinary

Intrepid Consultants Ltd

SDL Technologies (Australia)  
Pty Ltd

Alterian do Brazil  
Software e Servicos Ltda

Alterian BV

Alterian Pte Ltd

Alterian Vietnam Co Ltd

England  
& Wales

Australia

Ordinary 

100%

Content and Analytic Technologies

Ordinary

100%

Content and Analytic Technologies

Brazil

Ordinary

100%

Content and Analytic Technologies

Netherlands

Singapore

Vietnam

Ordinary

Ordinary

Ordinary

100%

100%

100%

Content and Analytic Technologies

Content and Analytic Technologies

Content and Analytic Technologies

Financial Statements 
70 

Name of Company

Alterian Holdings Inc

Alterian Inc

Intrepid Consultants Inc

SDL Government Inc

Annual Report 2013

Country of 
Incorporation

United States of 
America

United States of 
America

United States of 
America

United States of 
America

Holding

Proportion of 
Voting Rights

Primary nature of Business

Ordinary

100%

Holding company

Ordinary

100%

Content and Analytic Technologies

Ordinary

100%

Content and Analytic Technologies

 Ordinary

 100%

 Language Technologies

The proportion of voting rights held as at 31 December 2013 is as shown above. There have been no changes during 2013, with the exception 
of the acquisition of Bemoko Consulting Limited.

12  Impairment testing of goodwill and intangibles with indefinite lives

The Group has goodwill that has been acquired through business 
combinations but does not hold any intangible assets that have 
indefinite lives ascribed to them. 

The  approach  of  the  Group  is  to  test  impairment  at  the  cash 
generating unit level. This is the lowest level of unit at which the 
Group  is  effectively  able  to  manage  and  monitor  performance, 
cash  flow  and  goodwill.  Following  the  Group’s  reorganisation 
in  2013,  the  Board  has  reassessed  the  Group’s  cash  generating 
units (CGUs) and have determined that there are three CGUs for 
testing; Language Services, Language Technologies and Content 
and Analytic Technologies. The prior year CGUs of Web Content 
Management,  Structured  Content  and  Campaign  Analytics  and 
Social  Intelligence  are  incorporated  within  the  Content  and 
Analytic Technologies CGU. The goodwill has been allocated for 
impairment testing purposes to these cash generating units and 
full attribution of overheads and group costs has been made to 
each of the units in testing impairment. 

In order to evaluate the recoverable amounts relating to the cash-
generating units the following key information should be noted.

The recoverable amount has been determined using the detailed 
projections from the 2014 annual plan projected for either a five 
year period (Language Services and Language Technology) or a ten 
year period (Content & Analytic Technologies) and subsequently 
into  perpetuity,  with  a  discount  rate  applied.  A  10  year  forecast 
period  has  been  used  for  Content  and  Analytic Technologies  in 
recognition of the developing nature of some of its technologies. 

The discount rate has been calculated as the weighted average 
cost  of  capital.  Differential  post-tax  discount  rates  were  used 
reflecting a different risk weighting based on relative maturity and 

Carrying amount of goodwill allocated to cash-generating units:

Language Services

Content and Analytic Technologies

Language Technologies

size of the different cash generating units with 10.6% applied to 
Language Services (2012: 10.0%), 11.6% to Language Technologies 
(2012: 11.4%) and 11.2% to Content & Analytic Technologies (2012: 
10.7%-11.0%). These reflect the relative maturity of the businesses 
and  in  aggregate  approximate  a  group  cost  of  capital  of  11.1% 
for  2013  (2012:  10.6%).  Pre  tax  discount  rates  range  from  12.5% 
to 13.8%. The budget has been prepared at the cash generating 
unit level based on historical trends adjusted for expected events. 
These individual budgets have been aggregated as the basis for 
the 2014 annual plan.

This  methodology  places  strong  emphasis  on  early  year  cash 
flows in evaluating impairment. The valuation is on a value in-use 
basis but has decreased average perpetual growth rates to 2.5% 
from  the  3.2%  used  in  2012.  Differential  perpetual  growth  rates 
have been used reflecting the relative maturity, penetration and 
profile of the cash generating units with 2% applied to Language 
Services and 3% applied to Language Technologies and Content 
&  Analytic  Technologies.  Whilst  the  rates  of  growth  vary  across 
individual cash generating units, a long term average growth rate 
for the 5 years pre-perpetuity of 6.3% (2012: 9%) has been used 
for  the  tests.  Differential  growth  rates  have  been  applied  to  the 
different cash-generating units according to growth projections 
of 5% (2012 – 5%) for Language Services, 8% (2012 - 10-11%) for 
Language Technologies  and  3-9%  (2012  -  3-16%)  for  Content  & 
Analytic Technologies. 

Following  a  disappointing  trading  year  and  the  completion  of 
this year’s impairment review, the group has determined that the 
carrying value of goodwill in its Content and Analytic Technologies 
CGU has been impaired by £20.4m. This amount has been charged 
to the profit and loss account during the year (see note 4).

 2013
£m

 21.0

 98.3

 61.6

 180.9

 2012
£m

 21.0

 116.9

 61.9

 199.8

Financial Statements  

Sensitivity to changes in assumptions

71

Management has identified four key assumptions for which there could be a reasonably possible change that would cause the 
carrying amount to exceed the recoverable amount.

The following table shows the absolute amount by which these assumptions would need to change individually in order for the 
estimated recoverable amount of the Language Technologies CGU to be equal to the carrying amount.

Discount Rate

PBT growth (average of next 5 years)

Perpetuity growth rate

Revenue growth (CAGR)

Change required for the 
carrying amount to equal 
recoverable amount 
2013

0.6%

(1.2%)

(0.9%)

(0.6%)

Having  performed  its  impairment  test  on  the  Language  Services  CGU  and  having  analysed  the  various  sensitivities  to  this  test, 
management believe that no reasonably possible change in any of the above key assumptions would cause the carrying value of 
the Language Services CGU to exceed its recoverable amount.

Following the impairment recognised in the Groups’ Content and Analytic Technologies CGU, the recoverable amount is equal to the 
carrying amount. Therefore, any adverse movement in a key assumption would lead to a further impairment.

Next impairment test

The next impairment tests will be performed at the 2014 year end. However, management continues to monitor the performance 
of its cash generating units closely and should it believe a significant event has occurred which deteriorates the forward operating 
prospects of the business it will bring forward these tests.

13  Trade and other receivables (current)

Trade receivables

Corporation tax

Prepayments and accrued income

 2013
£m

 53.0

 3.5

 14.4

 70.9

 2012
£m

 50.4

 1.2

 14.4

66.0

All amounts are due within one year. Trade receivables are non-interest bearing and on average have thirty to sixty day settlement 
terms. Accrued income is the value of unbilled work recognised on projects in accordance with the accounting policy outlined in 
Note 2.

As at 31 December 2013, trade receivables at nominal value of £2.0 million (2012: £1.7 million) were impaired and provided for. 
Movements in the provision for impairment of receivables were as follows:

At 1 January 2012

Acquired companies provision at date of acquisition

Charge for the year

Utilised in the year

Currency adjustment

At 31 December 2012

Charge for the year

Utilised in the year

Currency adjustment

At 31 December 2013

 Total £m

 0.9

 1.0

 0.6

 (0.7)

 (0.1)

 1.7

 0.8

 (0.5)

 –

 2.0

Financial Statements 
72 

Annual Report 2013

As at 31 December, the ageing analysis of trade receivables, net of impairment, is as follows:

2013

2012

 Total
£m

 53.0

 50.4

 Not past due  
nor impaired
£m

 44.7

 43.1

 Past due but not impaired

 <30 days
£m

 30-60 days
 £m

 >60 days
 £m

 6.6

 5.3

 1.3

 1.0

 0.4

 1.0

14  Cash and cash equivalents

Cash at bank and in hand

 2013
£m

18.2

 2012
£m

28.5

Where cash at bank and in hand earns interest, interest accrues at floating rates based on daily bank deposit rates. The fair value of 
cash and cash equivalents is £18.2m (2012: £28.5m). 

At 31 December 2013, the Group had available £10 million (2012: £4.8 million) of undrawn committed borrowing facilities. 

For the purposes of the cash flow statement, cash and cash equivalents comprise the amounts shown above.

15  Trade and other payables (current)

Trade payables

Other taxes and social security costs

Other payables

Accruals and deferred income

The terms and conditions of the above financial liabilities are as follows:

Trade payables are non-interest bearing and are normally settled within 45 days.

Other taxes and social security costs are non-interest bearing and have an average term of 1 month.

Other payables, generally, are non-interest bearing and have an average term of 2 months.

16  Trade and other payables (non-current)

Other payables

Deferred income

 2013
£m

6.3

3.9

6.0

63.7

 79.9

 2013
£m

 0.6

 2.0

 2.6

 2012
£m

6.8

2.9

5.6

57.4

 72.7

 2012
£m

 0.1

 2.0

 2.1

Other payables include amounts payable under finance lease arrangements for purchase of property, plant and equipment.

The amounts payable under finance leases are set out below:

Future 
minimum 
lease 
payments
2013
£m

0.2

0.2

0.4

Interest

2013
£m

–

–

–

Present value 
of minimum 
lease 
payments
2013
£m

Future 
minimum 
lease 
payments
2012
£m

0.2

0.2

0.4

0.2

0.1

0.3

Interest

2012 
£m

–

–

–

Present value 
of minimum 
lease 
payments
2012
£m

0.2

0.1

0.3

Within one year

After one year but not more than 
five years

 
Financial Statements  

17 Loans and overdraft

Current instalments due on bank loans

£20 million variable rate secured term loan

£7 million variable secured term loan

£30 million variable rate secured term loan

73

 2012
£m

 22.2

 20.0

 2.2

 –

 22.2

 2013
£m

 20.0

 –

 –

 20.0

 20.0

During the year, the Group repaid £2.2 million, being the amount outstanding at 31 December 2012 on the Group’s £7 million 
facility. On 28 June 2013, the Group entered into a new £30 million facility with Royal Bank of Scotland replacing the Group’s £20 
million facility (fully drawn) and the Group’s £7 million facility (undrawn). This increased the Group facility by £3 million. 

The loans are secured on the net assets of the Group companies held in the certain subsidiaries. The £20 million loan is repayable in 
three and six month instalments, under a revolving facility that expires on 28 September 2015. The loan bears interest at LIBOR+1.15%.

18 Provisions

At 1 January 2013

Arising during the year

Utilised

At 31 December 2013

Current 2013

Non-current 2013

Current 2012

Non-current 2012

Property Leases

 Property 
Leases
£m

 1.0

 0.4

 (0.2)

 1.2

 0.6

 0.6

 1.2

 0.5

 0.5

 1.0

 Other

 Total

£m

 1.4

 1.4

 (0.8)

 2.0

 1.7

 0.3

 2.0

 1.1

 0.3

 1.4

£m

 2.4

 1.8

 (1.0)

 3.2

 2.3

 0.9

 3.2

 1.6

 0.8

 2.4

The provision for property leases is in respect of leasehold premises, from which the Group no longer trades, but is liable to fulfil rent 
and other property commitments up to the lease expiry date. Obligations are payable within a range of one to 8 years. Amounts 
provided  are  management’s  best  estimate  of  the  likely  future  cash  outflows. The  provision  has  been  discounted  using  market 
interest rates. The undiscounted provision is £1.3 million (2012: £1.1 million).

Other

Other  provisions  include  a  number  of  employee,  legal  and  product  related  amounts.  Obligations  are  payable  within  1-3  years. 
Included in the above is a provision for £1.7 million (2012: £1.1 million) for ongoing litigation related to a former Trados shareholder’s 
claim of breach of fiduciary duty by the former Trados Directors on the sale of Trados to SDL in 2005.

Financial Statements 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
74 

Annual Report 2013

19 Share capital

Allotted, called up and fully paid

 Ordinary shares of 1p each

 At 1 January 

 Issued on exercise of share options

 Issued on exercise of LTIPS

 Issued as payment of deferred consideration

 At 31 December

The following movements in the ordinary share capital of the company 
occurred during the year:

1. 

2. 

3. 

 24,000  ordinary  shares  of  1p  each  were  allotted  under  the  SDL 
Share Option Scheme (1999), SDL Share Option Scheme (2010) and 
earlier Unapproved Option Schemes at a price range of 117 pence 
to 279 pence per share for an aggregate consideration of £45,103.

 No  ordinary  shares  of  1p  each  were  allotted  under  the  SDL  LTIP 
Scheme.

 8,563  ordinary  shares  of  1p  each  were  allotted  under  the  SDL 
Save As You Earn Schemes at a price of 286 pence per share for an 
aggregate consideration of £24,490. 

20  Share-based payment plans

On 23 April 2010, following shareholder approval, the “SDL Share 
Option Scheme (2010)” was adopted. This replaced the “SDL Share 
Option  Scheme  (1999)”  for  which  options  are  still  exercisable. 
The  SDL  Share  Option  Scheme  (2010)  permits  the  granting  of 
both  options  approved  by  HM  Revenue  and  Customs  within 
the statutory £30,000 limit and unapproved options, subject to 
performance  conditions.  From  2010  onwards,  all  options  have 
been granted in accordance with these rules. 

The SDL Long Term Share Incentive Plan, which was approved 
by shareholders in April 2006 (“the 2006 plan”), expired for the 
purposes of new awards in April 2011. No further awards could 
be made after the expiry date but existing awards will remain 
protected although they will only vest to the extent that the 
related performance conditions are met. 

The 2006 plan has been replaced with the SDL Long Term Share 
Incentive Plan (2011) (“the 2011 Plan”) which received approval 
from shareholders in April 2011. The 2011 Plan is broadly similar 
in construction. It has been updated to reflect current law and 
market practice and the proposed performance conditions are 
designed to be more closely aligned to the company’s current 
business strategy and objectives. 

On 17 April 2013, 1,137,026 shares were granted under a Retention 
Share  Plan  to  a  small  group  of  senior  management  excluding 
Executive  Directors. The  shares  will  vest  in  two  equal  tranches 
over  a  two  year  period  on  the  anniversary  of  the  grant  date, 
subject  to  the  achievement  of  specified  performance  criteria. 
The Retention Share Plan was not approved by shareholders and 
therefore any shares that vest will be purchased by the Company 
via the Employee Benefit Trust. There were no shares purchased 
in  2013.  The  Remuneration  Committee  has  the  discretion  to 
settle any awards that vest in cash or via shares.

On  17  April  2013,  211,607  shares  were  granted  under  the 
2011 Plan to the Executive Directors based on a market price 
of £4.20, with a performance period of three years from date 
of  grant.  Senior  management  employees  received  awards  of 
981.923 on 17 April 2013.

 2013
 millions

 2012
 millions

 2013
£m

 2012
£m

 80.2

 –

 –

 0.2

 80.4

 79.2

 0.2

 0.7

 0.1

 80.2

 0.8

 –

 –

 –

 0.8

 0.8

 –

 –

 –

 0.8

4. 

5. 

 In August 2013 92,861 ordinary shares of 1p each were allotted to 
six former shareholders of Intrepid Consultants Inc as payment of 
the contingent consideration due as a result of the acquisition of 
Intrepid Consultants Inc by the Alterian plc group in 2010.

 In  August  2013  57,120  ordinary  shares  of  1p  each  were  allotted 
to  four  former  shareholders  of  Bemoko  Consulting  Limited  as 
payment  of  the  contingent  consideration  due  as  a  result  of  the 
acquisition of Bemoko Consulting Limited by the Group in 2013.

On  24  April  2008  a  Save  As  You  Earn  (SAYE)  scheme  was 
formally approved by the shareholders at the AGM. Following 
the success of the UK and Netherlands SAYE schemes, in 2012 
an extension to the international version was rolled out to SDL 
plc’s  subsidiary  companies  in  the  United  States  and  Canada. 
The  rules  are  based  on  those  of  the  UK  in  that  employees 
must be eligible and there is a monthly savings contract over 
a 3 year period. In 2013 and 2012 options were granted to UK, 
Netherlands, Canada and United States scheme participants at 
80% of the prevailing market price. The market price is taken 
the day prior to the date of invitations to apply for an option. 
There are no performance conditions attached to the exercise 
of these options. These options may be exercised within a fixed 
six-month period, three years from the date of grant or being 
made redundant.

In recognition of the fact that there may be three consecutive 
years  in  which  the  LTIP  and  Option  awards  are  unlikely  to 
meet  the  performance  criteria  required  to  vest,  the  Board 
has  approved  a  share-based  discretionary  award  which  has 
been made to a small targeted group of executives. The Board 
believes that this Retention Share Plan (RSP) will provide benefit 
to the Group by creating appropriate performance incentives 
and facilitating the long-term retention of employees who add 
significant value. 

Shares will be provided by market purchase via the Employee 
Benefit Trust. The funding of the trust will be by way of a loan 
to the trustees. Awards are based on a percentage of salary and 
vest in equal tranches over two years, any unvested portion of 
the first tranche lapses.

Included  within  administrative  expenses  is  a  charge  of  £1.2 
million  relating  to  the  above  schemes  (2012:  credit  of  £1.1 
million  which  related  to  2010,  2011  and  2012  Long  Term 
Incentive awards and Option Scheme grants which did not, or 
are not expected to, vest).

 
 
 
 
Financial Statements  

SDL Share Option Scheme 

75

The table below sets out the number and weighted average exercise prices (WAEP) of, and movements in, the SDL Share Options 
Scheme during the year:

Outstanding at the beginning of the year

Granted during the year

Forfeited during the year

Exercised during the year

Outstanding at the end of the year

Exercisable at 31 December 

 2013
 No.

 1,025,737

 353,331

 (180,050)

 (24,000)

 1,175,018

 554,993

 2013
 WAEP

 £3.84

 £4.20

 £4.89

 £1.88

 £3.83 

 £1.95

2012
No.

 1,156,157

 166,545

 (103,459)

 (193,506)

 1,025,737

 578,993

 2012
WAEP

 £3.15

 £7.48

 £5.45

 £1.99

 £3.84

 £1.95

The weighted average share price at the date of exercise for the options exercised is £3.90 (2012: £6.63).

For the share options outstanding as at 31 December 2013, the weighted average remaining contractual life is 5.76 years (2012: 5.64 
years).

The fair value of equity settled share options granted under the SDL Share Option Scheme is estimated as at the date of grant using 
the Black Scholes model. The following table lists the inputs and key output to the model:

Weighted average share price (pence)

Weighted average fair value at grant date (pence)

Expected volatility

Expected option life

Expected dividends

Risk-free interest rate

 2013

 420

 67

 30%

 3 years

 2%

 0.3%

The range of exercise prices for options outstanding at the end of the year was £1.17-£7.48 (2012: £1.17-£7.48).

Date of Grant

Exercise Period

02/04/04-04/04/05

10 years after grant date

22/03/06-03/10/06

10 years after grant date

28/02/08-02/03/09

10 years after grant date

23/5/07

17/04/13

12/04/10

10/09/10

18/05/11

10/04/12

10 years after grant date

10 years after grant date

10 years after grant date

10 years after grant date

10 years after grant date

10 years after grant date

2013
Number

291,618

23,700

234,475

5,200

336,899

–

–

146,331

136,795

£1.01 - £1.50

£2.01 - £2.50

£2.51 - £3.00

£3.51 - £4.00

£4.01 - £4.50

£4.51 - £5.00

£5.01 - £5.50

£6.51 - £7.00

£7.01 - £7.50

Total

1,175,018

1,025,737

SDL Long Term Incentive Plan

The fair value of equity-settled shares granted under the SDL Long Term Incentive Plan is estimated as at the date of grant using a 
Monte-Carlo model, taking into account the terms and conditions upon which the options were granted. The following table lists 
the inputs and key output to the model used in the year of grant:

Expected volatility

Weighted average fair value at grant date (pence)

Expected life

Expected dividends

Risk-free interest rate

 2013

 31% 

 102

3 years

2%

 0.3%

 2012

 30%

 467

 3 years

 1%

 0.5%

 2012

 748

 144

 30%

 4 years

 1%

 0.5%

2012 
Number

305,118

23,700

244,975

5,200

–

119,115

29,070

151,296

147,263

Financial Statements 
76 

Annual Report 2013

Outstanding at the beginning of the year

Granted during the year

Exercised during the year

Forfeited during the year

Outstanding at the end of the year

Exercisable at 31 December 

 2013
 No.

 1,710,108

 1,193,530

 –

 (989,800) 

 1,913,838

 Nil

 2013
 WAEP

 £0.01

 £0.01

 –

 £0.01

 £0.01

2012
No.

 2,304,736

 667,356

 (711,918)

 (550,066)

 1,710,108

 Nil

 2012
WAEP

£0.01

£0.01

£0.01

£0.01

£0.01

–

All LTIPs are exercisable at nil cost to the individual (with the exception of the 1p nominal value of each share awarded).

Retention Share Plan

The fair value of equity-settled shares granted under the SDL Retention Share Plan is estimated as at the date of grant using a Black 
Scholes model, taking into account the terms and conditions upon which the options were granted. The following table lists the 
inputs and key output to the model used in the year of grant:

Expected volatility

Weighted average fair value at grant date (pence)

Expected life

Expected dividends

Risk-free interest rate

Outstanding at the beginning of the year

Granted during the year

Forfeited during the year

Outstanding at the end of the year

Exercisable at 31 December 

All RSPs are exercisable at nil cost to the individual (with the exception of the 1p nominal value of each share awarded).

SDL Save As You Earn Scheme

The table below sets out the number and movements in, the SDL Save As You Earn Scheme during the year:

Outstanding at the beginning of the year

Granted during the year

Exercised during the year

Forfeited during the year

Outstanding at the end of the year

Exercisable at 31 December 

 2013
 No.

 296,407

 323,215

 (8,563)

 (219,612)

 391,447

 Nil

 2013

 30.2%

 392

 1.5 years

 1.5%

 0.18%

 2013
No.

 -

 1,137,026

 (458,830)

 678,196

 Nil

 2012
No.

 149,567

 214,131

 (31,861)

 (35,430)

 296,407

 Nil

For the SAYE shares outstanding as at 31 December 2013, the weighted average remaining contractual life is 1.82 years (2012: 1.86 
years).

The fair value of equity settled share options granted under the SDL SAYE Scheme is estimated as at the date of grant using the Black 
Scholes model. The following table lists the inputs and key output to the model in the year of grant:

 Weighted average share price (pence)

 Expected volatility

 Expected option life

 Expected dividends

 Risk-free interest rate

 2013

 324

 36%

 2012

 599

 29%

 1.4 years

 3.5 years

 1%

 0.5%

 1%

 0.2%

For all Share Based payment models, the volatility is calculated from compounded daily logs of normal returns of the company share 
price over a historic period commensurate with the expected life of the incentive.

Financial Statements  

77

21 Additional cash flow information

Analysis of Group net debt:

 1 January 2013

 Cash flow

Cash and cash equivalents

Loans

£m

 28.5

 (22.2)

 6.3

£m

 (9.6)

 2.2

 (7.4)

 Cash acquired on 
acquisition
£m

 Exchange 
differences
£m

 31 December 
2013
£m

 0.2

 –

 0.2

 (0.9)

 –

 (0.9)

 18.2

 (20.0)

 (1.8)

Cash and cash equivalents

Loans

 1 January 2012

 Cash flow

£m

 70.4

 –

 70.4

£m

 (41.8)

 (20.3)

 (62.1)

 Debt acquired on 
acquisition
£m

 Exchange 
differences
£m

 0.6

 (1.9)

 (1.3)

 (0.7)

 –

 (0.7)

 31 December 2012

£m

 28.5

 (22.2)

 6.3

22 Commitments and contingencies

The Group has entered into commercial leases on certain properties used as offices. The future minimum rentals payable under non-
cancellable operating leases as at 31 December are as follows: 

Within one year

After one year but not more than 
five years

More than five years

 Land and buildings

 Other

 Total

2013
£m

 5.2

 15.9

 2.6

 23.7

2012
£m

 5.2

 17.6

 4.4

 27.2

2013
£m

 0.6

 1.2

 -

 1.8

2012
£m

 1.6

 0.7

 -

 2.3

2013
£m

 5.8

 17.1

 2.6

 25.5

2012
£m

 6.8

 18.3

 4.4

 29.5

The future minimum rentals receivable under non-cancellable operating leases as at 31 December 2013 were £0.2 million (2012: 
£0.4 million). 

23 Related party disclosures

Compensation of key management personnel of the Group

Short term employee benefits

Post employment benefits

Gains on exercise of LTIPS

Total compensation paid to key management personnel

 2013
£m

 1.1

 0.1

–

 1.2

 2012
£m

 1.7

 0.1

 0.5

 2.3

Transactions  between  group  companies,  which  are  related  parties,  have  been  eliminated  on  consolidation  and  have  not  been 
included in this note. The key management personnel are the Executive Directors of the Group.

24 Financial risk management objectives and policies

An explanation of the Group’s financial risk management objectives, policies and strategies are set out in the Strategic Report on 
pages 6 to 19.

Interest Rate Risk: Net debt has decreased from £6.3 million cash in 2012 to £1.8 million net debt in 2013. Borrowings amounted to 
£20.0 million at December 2013 (see note 17) which bears interest at LIBOR +1.15%. The Board remains of the opinion that operating 
with low levels of debt is appropriate in the current economic environment, whilst maintaining sufficient debt facility headroom to 
finance normal investment activities. 

To ensure adequate working capital the Group maintains cash deposits and these deposits are affected by any movements in rates 
of interest generally. These cash deposits are generally receiving interest income at LIBOR (or USD, EURO equivalent) plus a margin. 
The Group seeks to place all cash surplus to operational requirements in secure money market funds. To enhance the interest earning 
capacity of the Group, processes have been put in place to ensure that cash balances held by subsidiary companies are kept as low as 
operationally possible. With regard to relative interest rates, adequate cash is retained in key operating currencies to fund the operational 
needs of the Group.

Financial Statements 
 
 
 
78 

Annual Report 2013

The following table demonstrates the sensitivity to a 1 percent change in the UK £ interest rate:

Profit before tax gain/(loss)

 + 1 %

 – 1 %

The following table demonstrates the sensitivity to a 1 percent change in the Euro interest rate:

Profit before tax gain/(loss)

 + 1 %

 – 1 %

The following table demonstrates the sensitivity to a 1 percent change in the US$ interest rate:

 2013
£m

 (0.2)

 0.2

 2013
£m

 –

 (–)

 2013
£m

 0.1

 (0.1)

 2012
£m

 (0.2)

 0.2

 2012
£m

 –

 (–)

 2012
£m

 0.1

 (0.1)

Profit before tax gain/(loss)

 + 1 %

 – 1 %

Liquidity  Risk:  The  Group’s  objective  is  to  optimise  the  funds 
currently  available  to  it  in  order  to  maintain  the  lowest 
operational  borrowing  profile  necessary.  At  the  end  of  2013 
the  Group  had  net  debt  of  £1.8  million  which  comprised 
of  cash  balances  of  £18.2  million  and  loans  of  £20.0  million. 
Underpinning  this  philosophy  are  processes  to  manage 
operating  cash  flow,  with  a  focus  on  approvals  policy  for 
significant cash outlays and credit control.

Foreign Currency Risk: A significant amount of business is done 
with customers in both the USA and Continental Europe with 
approximately  44%  of  total  invoicing  done  in  US  Dollar  and 
30% in Euro. The most significant sensitivity is to the US Dollar 
as illustrated below. This overseas client base gives rise to short-
term debtors and cash balances in both US Dollars and Euros. 
Consequently,  the  movements  in  the  US  Dollar/Sterling  and 
Euro/Sterling exchange rates affect the Group Balance Sheet, as 
well as the Consolidated Income Statement. The Group seeks 
to manage this risk in the first instance by looking to a natural 
hedge and ensuring where possible currency needs in the USA 
are  funded  from  the  settlement  of  US  Dollar  denominated 
debtors.  After  a  review  of  effectiveness  the  Group  has  not 
entered into any new US Dollar hedges since 2008. At the end 
of 2013 the Group has no hedges outstanding.

In addition, the Group has exposure on the Balance Sheet to the 
movements  in  US  Dollar/Sterling  and  Euro/Sterling  exchange 
rates  as  a  result  of  intangible  assets  held  in  non  functional 
currency,  the  retranslation  of  US  and  continental  European 
overseas subsidiaries net assets into UK Sterling for consolidation 
purposes and finally intercompany loan and trading relationships 
held in non functional currency. In the case of the latter, this can 
have  an  impact  on  net  profitability  where  the  intercompany 
relationships are not treated for accounting purposes as equity 
loans. 

Income  Statement 

The  Consolidated 
is  also  affected  by 
movements in the US Dollar/Sterling and Euro/Sterling exchange 
rates when sales to customers are converted to Sterling at the 
date  of  the  sales  transaction,  as  this  will  vary  from  month  to 
month. This  is  partially  offset  by  the  effect  of  retranslating  US 
Dollar and Euro denominated costs into UK Sterling from month 
to month. 

The following table demonstrates the sensitivity to a 1 cent change in the US Dollar exchange rate:

Profit before tax gain/(loss)

+ 1 cent

– 1 cent

Statement of Financial Position* increase/(decrease) in net assets

+ 1 cent

– 1 cent

 2013
£m

 (0.3)

 0.3

 (0.4)

 0.4

 2012
£m

 (0.4)

 0.4

 (0.5)

 0.5

 
 
Financial Statements  

The following table demonstrates the sensitivity to a 1 cent change in the Euro exchange rate:

Profit before tax gain/(loss)

+ 1 cent

– 1 cent

Statement of Financial Position* increase/(decrease) in net assets

+ 1 cent

– 1 cent

* Based on the Statement of Financial Position at 31 December

Economic Conditions - Credit Control Risk: Given  the  economic 
conditions at the end of 2013, SDL continues to benefit from a 
diverse list of major clients of which no client contributes more 
than  5%  of  sales. The  Group  is  however  continuing  to  place 
emphasis  on  sound  application  of  credit  control  processes 
given the recent deterioration in macro-economic conditions. 
The  Group  has  made  provision  against  trade  receivables  to 
reflect specific collection risks identified.

79

 2012
£m

 (0.1)

 0.1

 (1.1)

 1.1

 2013
£m

 (0.1)

 0.1

 (1.1)

 1.1

Capital  Management:  The  Board  monitors  the  total  equity 
and  the  cash  and  cash  equivalents  balance  in  considering 
its  retained  capital  and  when  and  how  a  return  of  capital  to 
shareholders  is  appropriate.  The  Group  maintains  a  strong 
capital  base  so  as  to  maintain  employee,  customer,  market, 
investor and creditor confidence in the business and to ensure 
that  it  continues  to  operate  as  a  going  concern.  The  Board 
operates  a  progressive  dividend  policy  whereby  dividends  are 
set based on the evolution of the Group’s profits.  As a result of 
the  restructuring  and  investment  costs  in  2013,  the  Board  will 
not be recommending a final dividend in respect of the year end 
ended 31 December 2013.

25 Derivatives and other financial instruments

Interest rate risk profile of financial assets and liabilities

The interest rate profile of the financial assets and liabilities of the Group as at 31 December is as follows:

Year ended 31 December 2013

Floating rate

 Within 1 year

 1 - 2 years

 2 - 3 years

 3 - 4 years

Cash

Borrowings

Net cash

£m

 18.2

 (20.0)

 (1.8)

£m

 –

 –

 –

£m

 –

 –

–

£m

 –

 –

 –

Year ended 31 December 2012

Floating rate

Cash

Borrowings

Net cash

 Within 1 
year

£m

 28.5

 (22.2)

 6.3

 1 - 2 years

 2 - 3 years

 3 - 4 years

£m

 –

 –

 –

£m

 –

 –

–

£m

 –

 –

 –

 4 - 5 
years
£m

 More than 5 
years
£m

 –

 –

 –

 4 - 5 
years

£m

 –

 –

 –

 –

 –

 –

 More than 5 
years

£m

 –

 –

 –

Maturity of financial liabilities

The table below summarises the maturity profile of the Group’s financial liabilities at 31 December 2013:

Floating rate

Other liabilities

Trade and other payables

The above table excludes accruals and deferred income. 

 Less than 12 
months
£m

22.3

48.9

71.2

 Over 12 months

£m

1.1

–

1.1

 Total

£m

 18.2

 (20.0)

 (1.8)

 Total

£m

 28.5

 (22.2)

 6.3

 Total

£m

23.4

48.9

72.3

Financial Statements 
 
 
80 

Annual Report 2013

The table below summarises the maturity profile of the Group’s financial liabilities at 31 December 2012:

Other liabilities

Trade and other payables

 Less than 12 
months
£m

23.8

47.9

71.7

 Over 12 months

 Total

£m

0.9

–

0.9

£m

24.7

47.9

72.6

The fair value of the contingent consideration included in other payables is estimated by reviewing purchase documentation and 
forecast information. This represents a level 3 measurement in the fair value hierarchy under IFRS 7. Any subsequent remeasurement 
to this liability will be recorded in the income statement.

Borrowing facilities

During the year, the Group repaid £2.2 million, being the amount outstanding at 31 December 2012 on the Group’s £7 million facility. 
On 28 June 2013, the Group entered into a new £30 million facility with Royal Bank of Scotland replacing the Group’s £20 million 
facility (fully drawn) and the Group’s £7 million facility (undrawn). This increases the Group facility by £3 million. This new facility 
expires on 28 September 2015 and the amount drawn at 31 December 2013 was £20 million.

Credit risk

The maximum credit risk exposure related to financial assets is represented by the carrying value as at the balance sheet date. 

Fair values of financial assets and liabilities

The carrying value of financial assets and liabilities approximate their fair value. Fair values of assets and liabilities are based on their 
carrying values. The directors consider that there were no material differences between the book values and fair values of all the 
Group’s financial assets and liabilities at each year-end. The fair values have been calculated using the market interest rates where 
applicable. 

There are no hedging arrangements in place as at 31 December 2013 (2012: None). 

The interest rate risk on the borrowings at 31 December 2013 is directly linked to the 3 month and 6 month LIBOR and is set out in 
note 17. The interest rates that the Group would pay under the facilities are linked directly to these LIBOR rates. 

26 Events after the statement of financial position date

There are no known events occurring after the statement of financial position date that require disclosure. 

Financial Statements  

Company Balance Sheet

at 31 December 2013

Fixed assets

Tangible assets

Investments in subsidiaries

Rent deposits

Current assets

Debtors: amounts falling due within one year

Debtors: amounts falling due after more than one year

Cash at bank and in hand

Current liabilities

Creditors: amounts falling due within one year

Interest bearing Loans and Borrowings

Net current liabilities

Total assets less current liabilities

Creditors: amounts falling due after more than one year

Provisions for liabilities and charges

Capital and reserves

Called up share capital

Share premium account

Profit and loss account

Total equity

Approved by the Board of directors on 18 March 2014

M Lancaster 
Director

D Lavelle
Director

Notes

 2

 3

 4

 4

 5

 6

 7

 8

 9,10

 10

 10

81

2012
£m

 0.8

 216.1

 0.1

 217.0

 46.3

 14.8

 4.2

 65.3

2013
£m

 1.0

 198.7

 0.1

 199.8

 52.2

 8.7

 0.5

 61.4

 (95.7)

 (20.0)

 (115.7)

 (95.0)

 (20.0)

 (115.0)

 (54.3)

 (49.7)

 145.5

 167.3

 (26.6)

 (21.0)

 (2.2)

116.7

 0.8

 97.4 

 18.5

116.7

 (1.5)

144.8

 0.8

 96.8

 47.2

144.8

Financial Statements 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
82 

Annual Report 2013

Notes to the Accounts

for the year ended 31 December 2013

1 Accounting policies

The principal accounting policies that have been consistently 
applied  in  arriving  at  the  financial  information  set  out  in  this 
report are:

Accounting convention

The  financial  statements  are  prepared  under  the  historical 
cost  convention  as  modified  for  certain  items  which  have 
been  measured  at  fair  value,  namely  financial  instruments. 
The  financial  statements  are  presented  in  accordance  with 
applicable accounting standards in the United Kingdom.

Basis of preparation of financial statements

No  profit  and  loss  account  is  presented  for  the  Company  as 
permitted  by  Section  408  of  the  Companies  Act  2006.  The 
Company’s result for the year is shown in note 13.

Fixed assets and depreciation

Depreciation is provided to write off the cost less the estimated 
residual  value  of  tangible  fixed  assets  over  their  estimated 
useful economic lives as follows:

Leasehold improvements – The lower of ten years or the lease 
term straight line

Computer equipment – 4-5 years straight line

Fixtures & fittings – 20% reducing balance

Motor vehicles – 20% reducing balance

Foreign currencies

Transactions in foreign currencies are recorded using the rate of 
exchange ruling at the date of the transaction. Monetary assets 
and liabilities denominated in foreign currencies are translated 
using the rate of exchange ruling at the balance sheet date and 
the gains or losses on translation are included in the profit and 
loss account.

The  currency  translation  differences  on  retranslation  of  the 
foreign  branches  at  the  balance  sheet  date  are  recognised 
directly in equity.

Financial instruments

The  Company  uses  forward  foreign  currency  contracts  and 
options  to  reduce  exposure  to  foreign  exchange  rates.  The 
Company  also  uses  interest  rate  swaps  to  adjust  interest  rate 
exposures. Such instruments are stated at fair value. Gains and 
losses arising from changes in fair value are taken to the profit 
and loss account in the period. 

The Group’s consolidated financial statements contain financial 
instrument  disclosures  which  comply  with  FRS  29  ‘Financial 
Instruments:  Disclosures’.  Consequently,  the  Company  has 
taken  advantage  of  the  exemption  in  FRS  29  not  to  present 
separate financial instrument disclosures for the Company.

Leases

Assets  acquired  under  finance  leases  and  hire  purchase 
contracts are capitalised and the outstanding future obligations 
are shown in creditors. Operating lease rentals are charged to 
the  profit  and  loss  account  on  a  straight-line  basis  over  the 
period of the lease. Operating lease income is credited to the 
profit and loss account on a straight-line basis over the period 
of the lease.

Incentives received from landlord

incentives 

In  accordance  with  UITF  28, 
of 
and 
are allocated over the life of the lease on a straight line basis.

the  aggregate  benefit 
is  recognised  as  a  credit  to  the  profit 
incentives  

loss  account.  The  benefits  of 

the 

Pension cost

The  Company  contributes  to  a  group  personal  pension 
scheme  for  qualifying  employees  whereby  it  makes  defined 
contributions to independently administered personal pension 
schemes. The company does not control any of the assets or 
have any ongoing liabilities with regard to the performance of 
and payments from these individual personal schemes. 

Research and development

Research and development costs are written off as incurred in 
the year of expenditure. 

Revenue

Revenue is recognised to the extent that it is probable that the 
economic benefits will flow to the Company and the revenue 
can  be  measured  reliably.  The  following  specific  recognition 
criteria must also be met before revenue is recognised:

•	 Rendering of services

Revenue  on  service  contracts  is  recognised  only  when 
their outcomes can be foreseen with reasonable certainty 
and  is  based  on  the  percentage  stage  of  completion  of 
the  contracts,  calculated  on  the  basis  of  costs  incurred. 
Accrued  and  deferred  revenue  arising  on  long-term 
contracts  is  included  in  debtors  as  accrued  income  and 
creditors as deferred income as appropriate. 

Support  and  maintenance  contracts  are  invoiced  in 
advance and normally run for periods of 12 months with 
automatic  renewal  on  the  anniversary  date.  Revenue 
in  respect  of  support  and  maintenance  contracts  is 
recognised evenly over the 12 months commencing from 
the date of the contract period.

Managed services (hosting) fees are recognised over the 
term of the hosting contract on a straight-line basis.

Professional  services  and  consulting  revenue,  which  is 
provided  on  a ‘time  and  expense’  basis,  is  recognised  as 
the service is performed.

For  multiple  element  arrangements  revenue  is  allocated 
to each element on fair value regardless of any separate 

Financial Statements  

83

prices  stated  within  the  contract.  The  portion  of  the 
revenue allocated to an element is recognised when the 
revenue  recognition  criteria  for  that  element  have  been 
met.

•	 Sale of goods

Related party transactions

The Company has taken advantage of the exemption granted 
by Financial Reporting Standard 8 from disclosing related party 
transactions with entities that are 100% owned by the SDL plc 
group.

Revenue from the sale of goods is recognised when the 
significant  risks  and  rewards  of  ownership  of  the  goods 
have  passed  to  the  buyer,  usually  on  despatch  of  the 
goods.

Revenue on software licenses and upgrades is recognised 
on  despatch,  when  there  are  no  significant  vendor 
obligations remaining and the collection of the resulting 
receivable is considered probable. In circumstances where 
a considerable future vendor obligation exists as part of a 
software licence and related services contract, revenue is 
recognised over the period that the obligation exists per 
the contract. 

Taxation

The  charge  for  taxation  is  based  on  the  profit  for  the  year 
and  takes  into  account  taxation  deferred  arising  from  timing 
differences between the treatment of certain items for taxation 
and accounting purposes. 

Deferred  tax  is  recognised  in  respect  of  all  timing  differences 
that have originated but not reversed at the balance sheet date 
where transactions or events have occurred at that date that will 
result in an obligation to pay more, or a right to pay less or to 
receive more, tax, with the following exceptions: 

•	 provision  is  made  for  tax  on  gains  arising  from  fair  value 
adjustments  of  fixed  assets,  and  gains  on  disposal  of  fixed 
assets  that  have  been  rolled  over  into  replacement  assets, 
only  to  the  extent  that,  at  the  balance  sheet  date,  there  is 
a  binding  agreement  to  dispose  of  the  assets  concerned. 
However  no  provision  is  made  where,  on  the  basis  of  all 
available  evidence  at  the  balance  sheet  date,  it  is  more 
likely than not that the taxable gain will be rolled over into 
replacement  assets  and  charged  to  tax  only  where  the 
replacement assets are sold;

•	 provision  is  made  for  deferred  tax  that  would  arise  on 
remittance of the retained earnings of overseas subsidiaries, 
only to the extent that, at the balance sheet date, dividends 
have been accrued as receivable;

•	 deferred tax assets are recognised only to the extent that the 
directors consider that it is more likely than not that there will 
be suitable taxable profits from which the future reversal of 
the underlying timing differences can be deducted.

Deferred  tax  is  measured  on  an  undiscounted  basis  at  the  tax 
rates that are expected to apply in the periods in which timing 
differences  reverse,  based  on  tax  rates  and  laws  enacted  or 
substantively enacted at the balance sheet date.

National Insurance Contributions on  
Share Option Gains

Following  the  issuance  of  UITF  abstract  25 “National  Insurance 
contributions  on  Share  Option  Gains”  the  Company  makes 
provision  for  the  National 
Insurance  contributions  on  a 
straight-line  basis  over  the  vesting  period  of  the  options  and 
as  remeasured  each  period  thereafter  until  the  options  are 
exercised. The remeasurement is based upon the share price at 
the year-end.

Cash flow statement

The Company has taken advantage of the exemption  granted 
by  Financial  Reporting  Standard  1  to  not  present  a  cash  flow 
statement.

Investments

Investments are recorded at cost.

Investments  denominated  in  foreign  currency  are  recorded 
using  the  rate  of  exchange  at  the  date  of  acquisition  and 
reviewed annually for evidence of impairment.

Financial Assets

Investments in subsidiaries and associates

Investments in subsidiaries and associates are stated at cost less 
any provision for impairment in value.

An impairment loss is recognised for the amount by which the 
asset’s carrying amount exceeds its recoverable amount.  The 
recoverable  amount  is  the  higher  of  an  asset’s  fair  value  less 
costs to sell and its value in use, where value in use is calculated 
as  the  present  value  of  the  future  cash  flows  expected  to 
be  derived  from  the  asset.  For  the  purpose  of  assessing 
impairment, assets are grouped at the lowest levels for which 
there  are  separately  identifiable  cash  flows  (cash  generating 
units).

Investments in unquoted equity investments which do not have 
a reliable market value are stated at cost less provision for any 
impairment in value. For investments where there is an actively 
traded market the investment is stated at fair value, determined 
by reference to a quoted market bid price at the close of business 
on the balance sheet date.

Cash

Cash in bank represents cash in hand and deposits repayable 
with any qualifying institution.

Debtors

Debtors are recorded at fair value on initial measurement and 
are provided for where management consider an element of 
the balance to be irrecoverable. 

Financial liabilities

Financial liabilities are recognised when the Company becomes 
party to the contracts which give rise to them and are classified 
as  financial  liabilities  at  fair  value  through  the  profit  and  loss 
or loans and payables as appropriate. When financial liabilities 
are recognised initially, they are measured at fair value, plus in 
the  case  of  financial  liabilities  not  at  fair  value  through  profit 
and loss, directly attributable transaction costs. The Company 
determines  the  classification  of  its  financial  liabilities  at  initial 
recognition and re-evaluates this designation at each financial 
year end.

A  financial  liability  is  generally  de-recognised  when  the 
contract that gives rise to it is settled, sold, cancelled or expires.

Where  an  existing  financial  liability  is  replaced  by  another 
from  the  same  lender  on  substantially  different  terms,  or  the 
terms  of  an  existing  liability  are  substantially  modified,  such 
an exchange or modification is treated as a de-recognition of 
the original liability and the recognition of a new liability such 
that the difference in the respective carrying amounts together 
with any costs or fees incurred are recognised in profit or loss.

Financial liabilities at fair value through profit and loss constitute 
financial guarantee contracts. The fair value is calculated based 

Financial Statements 
84 

Annual Report 2013

were a modification of the original award, as described in the 
previous paragraph.

The company has taken advantage of the transitional provisions 
of FRS 20 in respect of equity-settled awards and has applied 
FRS 20 only to equity-settled awards granted after 7 November 
2002 that had not vested at 1 January 2005.

In  accordance  with  UITF  25,  National  Insurance  on  Share 
Option  Grants,  the  anticipated  National  Insurance  charge  on 
gains made by employees over the period from date of grant 
of the option to the end of the performance period has been 
provided for. 

Group and Treasury share transactions

is  accounted  for  as  equity-settled 

Where  a  parent  entity  grants  rights  to  its  equity  instruments 
its  employees  of  a  subsidiary,  and  such  share-based 
to 
compensation 
in  the 
consolidated financial statements of the parent, FRS 20 requires 
the subsidiary to record an expense for such compensation, with 
a corresponding increase recognised in equity as a contribution 
from  the  parent.  Consequently,  in  the  financial  statements  of 
the  Company,  the  Company  recognises  an  increase  in  fixed 
asset  investments  or  amounts  owed  by  group  companies  for 
the aggregate amount of these contributions, with a credit to 
equity for the same amount.

on  an  assessment  of  both  the  likelihood  that  the  financial 
guarantee  would  be  called  upon  and  expected  cash  flows 
which could arise. Liabilities are carried in the balance sheet at 
fair value and re-evaluated at each financial year end, with gains 
or losses recognised in the profit and loss account.

Provisions

Provisions  are  recognised  when  the  Company  has  a  present 
obligation as a result of a past event and management believe 
it to be probable that the Company will be required to settle 
that obligation. Provisions are measured at management’s best 
estimate of the expenditure required to settle the obligation at 
the balance sheet date and are discounted to net present value 
where this is deemed to be material.

Bank borrowings

Interest  bearing  bank  loans  are  recorded  at  the  proceeds 
received  net  of  direct  issue  costs.  Finance  charges,  including 
premiums  payable  on  settlement  and  direct  issue  costs,  are 
accounted for on an accruals basis in the profit and loss account 
using the effective rate of interest method.

Share based payments

Employees  (including  directors)  of  the  company  receive 
remuneration in the form of share-based payment transactions, 
whereby employees render services in exchange for shares or 
rights over shares (‘equity-settled transactions’).

Equity-settled transactions

The  cost  of  equity-settled  transactions  with  employees  is 
measured  by  reference  to  the  fair  value  at  the  date  at  which 
they  are  granted  and  is  recognised  as  an  expense  over  the 
vesting period, which ends on the date on which the relevant 
employees  become  fully  entitled  to  the  award.  Fair  value  is 
determined by using an appropriate option pricing model. In 
valuing equity-settled transactions, no account is taken of any 
vesting conditions, other than conditions linked to the price of 
the shares of the company (market conditions). 

The cost of equity-settled transactions is recognised, together 
with a corresponding increase in equity, ending on the date on 
which  the  relevant  employees  become  entitled  to  the  award 
(‘vesting date’). The cumulative expense recognised for equity 
settled  transactions  at  each  reporting  date  until  the  vesting 
date reflects the extent to which the vesting period has expired 
and the number of awards that, in the opinion of the directors of 
the Company at that date, based on the best available estimate 
of the number of equity instruments that will ultimately vest.

No expense is recognised for awards that do not ultimately vest, 
except for awards where vesting is conditional upon a market 
condition, which are treated as vesting irrespective of whether 
or not the market condition is satisfied, provided that all other 
performance conditions are satisfied. 

Where the terms of an equity-settled award are modified, as a 
minimum an expense is recognised as if the terms had not been 
modified. In addition, an expense is recognised for any increase 
in the value of the transaction as a result of the modification, as 
measured at the date of modification.

Where  an  equity-settled  award  is  cancelled,  it  is  treated  as 
if  it  had  vested  on  the  date  of  cancellation,  and  any  expense 
not  yet  recognised  for  the  award  is  recognised  immediately. 
However, if a new award is substituted for the cancelled award, 
and designated as a replacement award on the date that it is 
granted,  the  cancelled  and  new  awards  are  treated  as  if  they 

Financial Statements  

2 Tangible fixed assets

 Leasehold 
Improvements

Cost

At 1 January 2013

Currency adjustment

Additions

Disposals

At 31 December 2013

Depreciation

At 1 January 2013

Currency adjustment

Provided during the year 

Disposals

At 31 December 2013

Net book value

At 31 December 2013

At 31 December 2012

£m

 0.6

 –

–

–

 0.6

(0.5)

 –

 –

–

(0.5) 

0.1

 0.1

 Computer 
Equipment

£m

 1.3

–

0.6

(0.5)

 1.4

(0.7)

 –

 (0.4)

0.5

 (0.6)

0.8

 0.6

 Fixtures & Fittings

 Motor Vehicles

£m

 0.9

–

–

(0.5)

 0.4

(0.8)

 –

 –

0.5

(0.3) 

0.1

 0.1

£m

 –

–

–

–

 –

–

 –

 –

–

–

–

–

85

 Total

£m

 2.8

–

0.6

(1.0)

 2.4

(2.0)

– 

(0.4) 

1.0

(1.4)

1.0

 0.8

The net book value of assets held under finance leases is £nil as at 31 December 2013 (2012: £nil).

3 Investments in subsidiaries

Details of the investments in which the Company holds more than 20% of the nominal value of ordinary share capital are given in 
Note 11 of the Group financial statements.

Cost

At 1 January 2013

Addition during the year: Bemoko Consulting Limited

Adjustment re share option credit 

At 31 December 2013

Impairment

At 1 January 2013

Charge for the year

At 31 December 2013

Net book value

At 31 December 2013

At 31 December 2012

£m

 216.1

 2.2

 0.8

 219.1

 –

 (20.4)

 (20.4)

 198.7

 216.1

Financial Statements 
Annual Report 2013

 2013
£m

 6.1

 41.8

 0.8

 1.2

 2.3

 52.2

 2012
£m

 4.0

 38.7

 –

 0.8

 2.8

 46.3

 2012
£m

 14.8

 14.8

86 

4 Debtors

Debtors: Amounts falling due within one year

Trade debtors

Amounts owed by Group undertakings

Corporation Tax

Deferred income tax asset

Prepayments and accrued income

Accrued income is the value of unbilled work recognised on projects per the accounting policy outlined in Note 1.

Debtors: Amounts falling due after more than one year

Amounts owed by Group undertakings

 2013
£m

 8.7

 8.7

Amounts owed by Group undertakings comprise intra-group loans which fall due after more than 5 years and bear interest at rates 
of LIBOR+2%.

The amounts recognised and unrecognised for deferred income tax are set out below:

 Recognised
2013
£m

 Unrecognised
2013
£m

Recognised
2012
£m

 Unrecognised
2012
£m

Depreciation in advance of capital allowances

Other short-term temporary differences

Share based payments

Tax losses

Net deferred income tax asset

 0.6

 0.1

 0.5

–

 1.2

–

 –

 –

 0.1

 0.1

Reconciliation of movement on deferred tax asset:

At 1 January

Temporary differences arising in the period

Deferred tax asset at 31 December

 0.1

 0.2

 0.5

–

 0.8

 2013
£m

 0.8

 0.4

 1.2

 –

–

 –

 0.1

 0.1

 2012
£m

 1.3

 (0.5)

 0.8

The Company has tax losses in net terms of £0.1 million (2012: £0.1 million) that may be available for use by offset against future 
taxable profits. Deferred tax assets have not been recognised in respect of these losses as the company cannot foresee profitability 
with sufficient certainty.

5 Creditors

Creditors: amounts falling due within one year

Trade creditors

Amounts owed to Group undertakings

Corporation tax

Other taxes and social security costs

Other creditors

Accruals and deferred income

 2013
£m

1.4

86.6

-

0.5

0.5

6.7

 95.7

 2012
£m

1.4

86.6

0.9

0.3

0.3

5.5

 95.0

Financial Statements  

Reconciliation of movement on deferred tax liability:

At 1 January

Temporary differences arising in the period

Deferred tax liability at 31 December

6 Interest bearing loans and borrowings

Current instalments due on bank loans

£20 million variable rate secured term loan

£30 million variable rate secured term loan

87

 2012
£m

 0.1

 (0.1)

 –

 2012
£m

 20.0

 20.0

–

 20.0

 2013
£m

–

 –

–

 2013
£m

 20.0

 –

 20.0

 20.0

The £20 million loan is repayable within three to six months, under a revolving facility that expires on 28 September 2015. The loan 
bears interest at LIBOR+1.15%.

7 Creditors

Creditors: amounts falling due after more than one year

Amounts owed to Group undertakings

Other creditors

 2013
£m

 26.1

 0.5

 26.6

 2012
£m

 20.9

 0.1

 21.0

Amounts owed to Group undertakings comprise intra-group loans which fall due after more than 5 years and bear interest at rates 
of LIBOR+1.5% to LIBOR+3%. 

8 Provisions for liabilities and charges

Property leases

Other

 Movement in provisions:

Property leases

Other

Property Leases

 2013
£m

 0.4

 1.8                              

 2.2

 2012
£m

 0.4

 1.1

 1.5

 Provision 1 
January 2013
£m

 Arising during the 
year
£m

 Utilised during the 
year
£m

 Provision 31 
December 2013
£m

 0.4

 1.1

 1.5

–

 1.4

 1.4

–

 (0.7)

 (0.7)

 0.4

 1.8

 2.2

The provision for Property Leases is in respect of leasehold premises, from which the Company no longer trades, but is liable to 
fulfil rent and other property commitments up to the lease expiry dates. Obligations are payable within a range of one to 8 years. 
Amounts provided are management’s best estimate of the likely future cash outflows. The provision has been discounted using 
market interest rates. The undiscounted provision is £0.4 million (2012: £0.4 million).

Other provisions

Other  provisions  include  a  number  of  employee  and  legal  amounts.  Included  in  the  above  is  a  provision  for  £1.7  million  (2012: 
£1.1 million) for ongoing litigation related to a former Trados shareholder’s claim of breach of fiduciary duty by the former Trados 
Directors on the sale of Trados to SDL in 2005. 

Financial Statements 
 
88 

9 Share capital

Allotted, called up and fully paid

Ordinary shares of 1p each

At 1 January 

Issued on exercise of share options

Issued on exercise of LTIPS

Issued on exercise of SAYE scheme

Issued as payment of deferred consideration

At 31 December

The following movements in the ordinary share capital of the 
company occurred during the year:

9. 

6. 

7. 

8. 

 24,000  ordinary  shares  of  1p  each  were  allotted  under 
the  SDL  Share  Option  Scheme  (1999),  SDL  Share  Option 
Scheme (2010) and earlier Unapproved Option Schemes 
at a price range of 117 pence to 279 pence per share for 
an aggregate consideration of £45,103.

 No ordinary shares of 1p each were allotted under the SDL 
LTIP Scheme.

 8,563 ordinary shares of 1p each were allotted under the 
SDL Save As You Earn Schemes at a price of 286 pence per 
share for an aggregate consideration of £24,490. 

Annual Report 2013

 2013
 millions

 2012
 millions

 2013
£m

 2012
£m

 80.2

 79.2

 0.8

 0.8

 –

 –

 –

 0.2

 80.4

 0.2

 0.7

 -

 0.1

 –

 –

 –

 –

 –

 –

 –

 –

 80.2

 0.8

 0.8

 In  August  2013  92,861  ordinary  shares  of  1p  each  were 
allotted to six former shareholders of Intrepid Consultants 
Inc as payment of the contingent consideration due as a 
result of the acquisition of Intrepid Consultants Inc by the 
Alterian plc group in 2010.

10. 

 In  August  2013  57,120  ordinary  shares  of  1p  each  were 
allotted to four former shareholders of Bemoko Consulting 
Limited as payment of the contingent consideration due 
as a result of the acquisition of Bemoko Consulting Limited 
by the group in 2013.

10 Reconciliation of movements in shareholders funds

 Share
 Capital

 Share
 Premium
 Account
£m

At 1 January 2012

Profit for the period

Dividend paid

Currency translation differences on net investments

Deferred income taxation on share based payments

Arising on share issues

Share based payments

At 1 January 2013

Loss for the period

Dividend paid

Currency translation differences on net investments

Arising on share issues

Share based payments

At 31 December 2013

All amounts are attributable to equity holders of the parent.

£m

 0.8

 –

 –

 –

 –

 –

 –

 0.8

 –

 –

 –

 –

 –

 0.8

 Profit &
 Loss
 Account
£m

 43.9

 8.6

 (4.6)

 (0.1)

 0.5

 -

 (1.1)

 47.2

 (24.9)

 (4.9)

 (0.1)

 –

 1.2

 18.5

 Total

£m

 140.6

 8.6

 (4.6)

 (0.1)

 0.5

 0.9

 (1.1)

 144.8

 (24.9)

 (4.9)

 (0.1)

 0.6

 1.2

 116.7

 95.9

 –

 –

 –

 –

 0.9

 –

 96.8

 –

 –

 –

 0.6

 –

 97.4

 
 
 
 
Financial Statements  

89

11 Commitments and contingencies 

The Company had annual commitments under operating leases as set out below:

Leases expiring:

Within one year

After one year but not more than 
five years

More than five years

 Land and 
Buildings
 2013
£m

 –

 –

 1.0

 1.0

 Other

 Total

£m

 –

 –

 –

 –

£m

 –

 –

 1.0

 1.0

 Land and 
Buildings
 2012
£m

 0.1

 –

 0.9

 1.0

 Other

 Total

£m

 –

 –

 –

 –

£m

 0.1

 –

 0.9

 1.0

12 Share based payment plans

On  23  April  2010,  following  shareholder  approval,  the  “SDL 
Share Option Scheme (2010)” was adopted. This replaced the 
“SDL  Share  Option  Scheme  (1999)”  for  which  options  are  still 
exercisable.  The  SDL  Share  Option  Scheme  (2010)  permits 
the  granting  of  both  options  approved  by  HM  Revenue  and 
Customs  within  the  statutory  £30,000  limit  and  unapproved 
options,  subject  to  performance  conditions.  From  2010 
onwards,  all  options  have  been  granted  in  accordance  with 
these rules. 

The SDL Long Term Share Incentive Plan, which was approved 
by shareholders in April 2006 (“the 2006 plan”), expired for the 
purposes of new awards in April 2011. No further awards could 
be made after the expiry date but existing awards will remain 
protected although they will only vest to the extent that the 
related performance conditions are met. 

The 2006 plan has been replaced with the SDL Long Term Share 
Incentive Plan (2011) (“the 2011 Plan”) which received approval 
from shareholders in April 2011. The 2011 Plan is broadly similar 
in construction. It has been updated to reflect current law and 
market practice and the proposed performance conditions are 
designed to be more closely aligned to the company’s current 
business strategy and objectives. 

On  17  April  2013,  1,137,026  shares  were  granted  under  a 
Retention Share Plan to a small group of senior management 
excluding Executive Directors. The shares will vest in two equal 
tranches over a two year period on the anniversary of the grant 
date,  subject  to  the  achievement  of  specified  performance 
criteria.  The  Retention  Share  Plan  was  not  approved  by 
shareholders  and  therefore  any  shares  that  vest  will  be 
purchased  by  the  Company  via  the  Employee  Benefit  Trust. 
There  were  no  shares  purchased  in  2013. The  Remuneration 
Committee has the discretion to settle any awards that vest in 
cash or via shares.

On  17  April  2013,  211,607  shares  were  granted  under  the 
2011 Plan to the Executive Directors based on a market price 
of £4.20, with a performance period of three years from date 
of  grant.  Senior  management  employees  received  awards  of 
981.923 on 17 April 2013. 

On  24  April  2008  a  Save  As  You  Earn  (SAYE)  scheme  was 
formally approved by the shareholders at the AGM. Following 
the success of the UK and Netherlands SAYE schemes, in 2012 
an extension to the international version was rolled out to SDL 
plc’s  subsidiary  companies  in  the  United  States  and  Canada. 
The  rules  are  based  on  those  of  the  UK  in  that  employees 
must be eligible and there is a monthly savings contract over 
a 3 year period. In 2013 and 2012 options were granted to UK, 
Netherlands, Canada and United States scheme participants at 
80% of the prevailing market price. The market price is taken 
the day prior to the date of invitations to apply for an option. 
There are no performance conditions attached to the exercise 
of these options. These options may be exercised within a fixed 
six-month period, three years from the date of grant or being 
made redundant.

In recognition of the fact that there may be three consecutive 
years  in  which  the  LTIP  and  Option  awards  are  unlikely  to 
meet  the  performance  criteria  required  to  vest,  the  Board 
has  approved  a  share-based  discretionary  award  which  has 
been made to a small targeted group of executives. The Board 
believes that this Retention Share Plan (RSP) will provide benefit 
to the Group by creating appropriate performance incentives 
and facilitating the long-term retention of employees who add 
significant value. 

Shares will be provided by market purchase via the Employee 
Benefit Trust. The funding of the trust will be by way of a loan 
to the trustees. Awards are based on a percentage of salary and 
vest in equal tranches over two years, any unvested portion of 
the first tranche lapses.

Included  within  administrative  expenses  is  a  charge  of  £0.4 
million (2012: credit of £0.2 million which related to 2010, 2011 
and  2012  Long  Term  Incentive  awards  and  Option  Scheme 
grants which did not, or are not expected to, vest) relating to 
2013 Long Term Incentive awards and Option Scheme grants.

Financial Statements 
 
90 

SDL Share Option Scheme

Annual Report 2013

The table below sets out the number and weighted average exercise prices (WAEP) of, and movements in, the SDL Share Options 
Scheme during the year:

Outstanding at the beginning of the year

Granted during the year

Forfeited during the year

Exercised during the year

Outstanding at the end of the year

Exercisable at 31 December 

 2013
 No.

 1,025,737

 353,331

 (180,050)

 (24,000)

 1,175,018

 554,993

 2013
 WAEP

 £3.84

 £4.20

 £4.89

 £1.88

 £3.83

 £1.95

2012
No.

 1,156,157

 166,545

 (103,459)

 (193,506)

 1,025,737

 578,993

 2012
WAEP

 £3.15

 £7.48

 £5.45

 £1.99

 £3.84

 £1.95

The weighted average share price at the date of exercise for the options exercised is £3.90 (2012: £6.63).

For the share options outstanding as at 31 December 2013, the weighted average remaining contractual life is 5.76 years (2012: 
5.64 years).

The fair value of equity settled share options granted under the SDL Share Option Scheme is estimated as at the date of grant using 
the Black Scholes model. The following table lists the inputs and key output to the model used in the year of the grant:

Weighted average share price (pence)

Weighted average fair value at grant date (pence)

Expected volatility

Expected option life

Expected dividends

Risk-free interest rate

 2013

 420

67

 30%

 3 years

 2%

 0.3%

The range of exercise prices for options outstanding at the end of the year was 1.17-£7.48 (2012: £1.17-£7.48).

Date of Grant

Exercise Period

02/04/04-04/04/05

10 years after grant date

22/03/06-03/10/06

10 years after grant date

28/02/08-02/03/09

10 years after grant date

23/5/07

17/04/13

12/04/10

10/09/10

18/05/11

10/04/12

10 years after grant date

10 years after grant date

10 years after grant date

10 years after grant date

10 years after grant date

10 years after grant date

2013
Number

291,618

23,700

234,475

5,200

336,899

–

–

146,331

136,795

£1.01 - £1.50

£2.01 - £2.50

£2.51 - £3.00

£3.51 - £4.00

£4.01 - £4.50

£4.51 - £5.00

£5.01 - £5.50

£6.51 - £7.00

£7.01 - £7.50

Total

1,175,018

1,025,737

SDL Long Term Incentive Plan

The fair value of equity-settled shares granted under the SDL Long Term Incentive Plan is estimated as at the date of grant using a 
Monte-Carlo model, taking into account the terms and conditions upon which the options were granted. The following table lists 
the inputs and key output to the model used in the year of grant:

Expected volatility

Weighted average fair value at grant date (pence)

Expected life

Expected dividends

Risk-free interest rate

 2013

 31%

 102

 3 years

 2%

 0.3%

 2012

 30%

 467

 3 years

 1%

 0.5%

 2012

 748

 144

 30%

 4 years

 1%

 0.5%

2012 
Number

305,118

23,700

244,975

5,200

–

119,115

29,070

151,296

147,263

Financial Statements  

Outstanding at the beginning of the year

Granted during the year

Exercised during the year

Forfeited during the year

Outstanding at the end of the year

Exercisable at 31 December 

 2013
 No.

 1,710,108

 1,193,530

–

 (989,800)

 1,913,838

 Nil

 2013
 WAEP

 £0.01

 £0.01

 –

 £0.01

 £0.01

–

2012
No.

 2,304,736

 667,356

 (711,918)

 (550,066)

 1,710,108

 Nil

91

 2012
WAEP

£0.01

£0.01

£0.01

£0.01

£0.01

–

All LTIPs are exercisable at nil cost to the individual (with the exception of the 1p nominal value of each share awarded).

Retention Share Plan

The fair value of equity-settled shares granted under the SDL Retention Share Plan is estimated as at the date of grant using a Black 
Scholes model, taking into account the terms and conditions upon which the options were granted. The following table lists the 
inputs and key output to the model used in the year of grant:

Expected volatility

Weighted average fair value at grant date (pence)

Expected life

Expected dividends

Risk-free interest rate

Outstanding at the beginning of the year

Granted during the year

Forfeited during the year

Outstanding at the end of the year

Exercisable at 31 December

All RSPs are exercisable at nil cost to the individual (with the exception of the 1p nominal value of each share awarded).

SDL Save As You Earn Scheme

The table below sets out the number and movements in, the SDL Save As You Earn Scheme during the year:

Outstanding at the beginning of the year

Granted during the year

Exercised during the year

Forfeited during the year

Outstanding at the end of the year

Exercisable at 31 December 

 2013
 No.

 296,407

 323,215

 (8,563)

 (219,612)

 391,447

 Nil

 2013

 30.2%

 392

 1.5 years

 1.5%

 0.18%

 2013
No.

–

 1,137,026

 (458,830)

 678,196

 Nil

 2012
No.

 149,567

 214,131

 (31,861)

 (35,430)

 296,407

 Nil

For the SAYE shares outstanding as at 31 December 2013, the weighted average remaining contractual life is 1.82 years (2012: 1.86 
years). 

The fair value of equity settled share options granted under the SDL SAYE Scheme is estimated as at the date of grant using the Black 
Scholes model. The following table lists the inputs and key output to the model in the year of grant:

Weighted average share price (pence)

Expected volatility

Expected option life

Expected dividends

Risk-free interest rate

 2013

 324

 36%

 2012

 599

 29%

 1.4 years

 3.5 years

 1.5%

 0.5%

 1%

 0.2%

For all Share Based payment models, the volatility is calculated from compounded daily logs of normal returns of the company share 
price over a historic period commensurate with the expected life of the incentive.

Financial Statements 
92 

Annual Report 2013

13 Profit attributable to members of the parent company

The loss dealt with in the financial statements of the parent Company is £24.9 million (2012: profit of £8.6 million). No profit and loss 
account is presented for the Company as permitted by Section 408 of the Companies Act 2006.

14 Post balance sheet events

There are no known events occurring after the statement of financial position date that require disclosure. 

Financial Statements  

Five year group summary

Year Ended 31 December:

Turnover (notes 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5)

Growth in turnover

Operating profit before one-offs,  
depreciation and amortisation

Operating (loss) / profit 

(Loss)/profit before tax

(Loss)/profit after tax

Fixed assets

Cash and cash equivalents

Net current assets / (liabilities)

Total assets less current liabilities

Equity interests

Average number of employees (thousand)

Earnings per share – basic (adjusted for movements  
in capital)  
(notes 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5)

Adjusted earnings per share – basic (before one-offs  
and amortisation)

 IFRS
2013
£m

266.1

-1%

13.3

(24.0)

(24.4)

(27.9)

218.6

18.2

(17.9)

206.0

196.5

3.2

-34.78p

 IFRS
2012
£m

269.3

18%

41.0

27.7

27.4

20.9

243.3

28.5

(10.3)

239.0

227.8

2.8

26.12

 IFRS
2011
£m

229.0

13%

42.5

33.5

33.8

25.7

161.6

70.4

58.9

226.3

217.8

2.3

 IFRS
2010
£m

203.5

18%

37.7

28.6

28.8

22.0

165.6

46.6

32.6

205.5

195.5

2.1

32.72p

28.39p

23.55p

2.57p

35.41p

38.23p

34.70p

29.05p

Notes:
(1) 2009 – Acquisition of XyEnterprise Inc and Fredhopper Group BV
(2) 2010 – Acquisition of Xopus BV and Language Weaver Inc
(3) 2011 – Acquisition of Calamares Holding BV Group
(4) 2012 – Acquisition of Alterian plc Group
(5) 2013 – Acquisition of Bemoko Consulting Limited

93

 IFRS
2009
£m

171.9

8%

31.4

23.6

24.0

18.0

142.6

46.2

33.2

182.3

173.1

2.0

Financial Statements 
94 

Annual Report 2013

Company Information

Directors

David Clayton 

Mark Lancaster 

(Chairman)

(Chief Executive Officer) 

Dominic Lavelle 

(Chief Financial Officer)

Chris Batterham

Joe Campell

Mandy Gradden

Alan McWalter

Secretary

Pamela Pickering

Auditor

KPMG Audit Plc

15 Canada Square

London

E14 5GL

Bankers

National Westminster Bank Plc

Abbey Gardens

4 Abbey Street

Reading

RG1 3BA

Solicitors

DLA Piper 

3 Noble Street

London

EC2V 7EE

Registrars

Capita Registrars

Northern House

Woodsome Park

Fenay Bridge

Huddersfield

West Yorkshire

HD8 0LA

Stockbrokers

Investec Henderson Crosthwaite Corporate Finance

(a division of Investec Bank (UK) Limited)

2 Gresham Street

London

EC2V 7QP 

Registered office

Globe House

Clivemont Road  

Maidenhead 

Berkshire

SL6 7DY 

Singer Capital Markets Ltd

One Hanover Street

London 

W1S 1YZ

Registered in England and Wales Number 2675207
www.sdl.com

SDL (LSE: SDL) allows companies to optimize their customers’ experience across the entire 
buyer journey. Through its web content management, analytics, social intelligence, campaign 
management and translation services, SDL helps organizations leverage data-driven insights to 
understand what their customers want, orchestrate relevant content and communications, and 
deliver engaging and contextual experiences across languages, cultures, channels and devices.

SDL has over 1,500 enterprise customers, over 400 partners and a global infrastructure of 70 
offices in 38 countries. We also work with 72 of the top 100 global brands.

SDL plc
Globe House
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