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Tungsten Corporation Plc

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FY2019 Annual Report · Tungsten Corporation Plc
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TUNGSTEN CORPORATION PLC

REDEFINING 
TUNGSTEN.

ANNUAL REPORT & FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 2019

OUR PURPOSE

We exist to enable organisations 
to optimise their working capital, 
accelerating the global economy. 

We digitise and deliver purchase orders 
and invoices between organisations. 
Through our global network, we provide 
accurate and timely data improving 
decision-making and efficiency.

We connect finance and procurement 
systems together to enable organisations 
to exchange valid purchase orders and 
invoices with visibility and control.

STRATEGIC REPORT

INSIDE THIS  
REPORT

Strategic report
Snapshot of the year 
The Tungsten Network offering 
New and enhanced offerings 
The value proposition 
Chairman’s review 
Our market trends 
Executive Committee’s review 
Q&A with our new CEO 
Delivering our initiatives 
Our Executive team 
Go-to-market strategy 
Transforming technology 
Delivering for our customers 

Our people 
Chief Financial Officer’s review 
Risk management 

Governance
Board of Directors 
Chairman’s governance overview 
Composition and independence  
of the Board 
Audit Committee report 
Nomination Committee report 
Remuneration Committee report 
Directors’ remuneration report 
Directors’ report 
Statement of Directors’ responsibilities 

Financial statements
Independent auditors’ report 
Consolidated income statement 
Consolidated statement  
of comprehensive income 
Consolidated statement  
of financial position 
Consolidated statement  
of changes in equity 
Consolidated statement  
of cash flows 
Notes to the consolidated  
financial statements  
Parent company balance sheet 
Parent company statement  
of changes in equity 
Parent company statement  
of cash flows 
Notes to the parent company  
financial statements 
Shareholder information 

1
2
4 
6
8
11
12
15
16
16
18
21
22
24
26
30

36
38

40
44
52
54
56
60
63

64
68

69

70

71

72

73
98

99

100

101
108

TUNGSTEN CORPORATION PLC // ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 2019STRATEGIC REPORT1

SNAPSHOT 
OF THE YEAR 

Group

Revenue 

£36.0m 

FY19

FY18

Excluding TNF1

£m Revenue 

£m

£35.4m 

36.0

33.7

FY19

FY18

35.4

33.3

EBITDA margin2 

% EBITDA margin2 

2 % 

(14)

Net cash 

£2.8m 

FY19

FY18

2.8

7 % 

FY19

FY18

2

(10)

FY19

FY18

£m Net cash 

£2.8m 

FY19

FY18

6.4

2.8

Revenue per Buyer 

£k

Revenue per Buyer 

£193k 

FY19

FY18

£198k 

193

FY19

FY18

180

178

Transaction volumes 

m Transaction volumes 

18.2m 

FY19

FY18

18.2m 

18.2

17.7

FY19

FY18

%

7

£m

6.4

£k

198

m

18.2

17.7

1  Tungsten announced its intention to divest Tungsten Network Finance (“TNF”) on 30 April 2019.
2  EBITDA margin is calculated as EBITDA as a percentage of revenue.

TUNGSTEN CORPORATION PLC // ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 2019 Strategic reportGovernanceFinancial statements2

THE 
TUNGSTEN 
NETWORK 
OFFERING

AR

SUPPLIERS

Products
Total AR

Direct integration

OUR SOLUTIONS – SPANNING  
THE LIFECYCLE OF AN INVOICE

Total AP 
E-invoicing:
Automated delivery 
of invoices from  
a Supplier into the 
Buyer’s accounting  
system in a manner 
compliant with tax  
and business 
processes

Invoice Data 
Capture (IDC):
Conversion of paper 
and PDF invoices 
into electronic 
documents for 
automated delivery 
into the Buyer’s 
accounting system

Purchase Order 
Services
POs delivered 
electronically  
to Suppliers  
from Buyers

Suppliers can 
electronically 
acknowledge, 
amend, reject,  
accept and convert 
into e-invoices

Key

Supplier

Buyer

Subscription 
fees/Licence/ 
maintenance

Set-up fees

Transaction 
fees

Customer type

Revenue

TUNGSTEN CORPORATION PLC // ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 2019STRATEGIC REPORT3

AP

BUYERS

Products
Workflow
Total AP
(including Invoice Data Capture)

Products offered to  
both AP and AR
PO Services
Invoice Status Service
Analytics

Direct integration

Our 
compliance 
process

Direct integration

Supplier portal

Archive

Workflow
Audit trail and 
permission tool 
for electronic 
documents 

Total AR
Delivery of 100%  
of invoices to 
their customers, 
including Buyers 
on and off the 
Tungsten Network, 
government portals, 
via direct integration, 
PDF, paper or by link 
in an email

Invoice Status 
Service
Portal where 
Suppliers can track 
the status of their 
invoices therefore 
minimising inbound 
enquiries to Buyers

Analytics
A comprehensive suite 
of analytical tools 
to allow extraction, 
manipulation and 
analysis of invoice 
data to provide insight 
into spend categories, 
payment processes  
and trends

TUNGSTEN CORPORATION PLC // ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 2019 Strategic reportGovernanceFinancial statements4

NEW AND 
ENHANCED 
OFFERINGS

TOTAL AR: 

Total AR: 100% of sales invoices issued
The core proposition of our new Total AR 
offering is the delivery of 100% of sales 
invoices raised in a Supplier’s accounting 
systems converted into the delivery method 
required by the specific Buyer. Providing the 
invoice to the Buyer’s requirements may take 
many different forms and could be via the 
Tungsten Network, delivered in PDF or paper 
by a link in an email – and this format is often 
part of the agreed and contractual terms of 
supply. Without providing the required format, 
the invoice will not be accepted.

Why this offering is needed:

•  Working capital efficiencies – without 

automation, issuance of invoices to Buyers 
is slow and this could delay payment

•  Margin efficiencies or margin optimisation 
– in-house or manual compliance with 
many different required formats is a timely 
and costly exercise

•  Legal requirements – there is a move 

towards electronic submissions for tax  
and other compliance purposes globally

•  Reducing complexity – for multinational 

Suppliers, with global customers, 
automation takes out complexity and 
the risk of error as the Supplier can 
standardise information to be included  
in the invoice

We have partnered with an Order-to-Cash 
solution provider, Data Interconnect, who 
will support the delivery of invoices via link 
in an email, PDF or paper. As we grow our 
partner ecosystem and platform connections 
we would expect to increase transaction 
volumes. Similar to our Total AP product,  
our revenue streams will include initial Set-up 
fees, subscription fees and transaction fees. 

We continue to assess the addressable 
market but an initial estimate indicates that 
the transaction volume could be 1 billion 
invoices in circulation annually. We are in 
an excellent position to take advantage of 
this opportunity given our current customer 
relationships and now our ability to provide 
end-to-end solutions to the invoice life cycle. 

TOTAL AP: 

Total AP: Focus on IDC
Invoice Data Capture (IDC) is a core part of 
our Total AP solution and is a service which 
converts paper or PDF invoices issued by 
Suppliers into invoice data for automated 
processing.

Currently global invoice flow is dominated 
by paper and PDF, which increases both 
time and cost to process and pay. By 
converting the data, it allows invoices to 
be received automatically into the relevant 
Buyer’s Enterprise Resource Planning 
(ERP) system and therefore enter the ERP 
system’s workflow, with the requisite controls 
and automated approvals in place. Whilst 
this does not achieve the full benefits of 
e-invoicing, whereby the Supplier invoice is 
rejected if it does not match the purchase 
order, tax compliance rules or other Buyer 
stipulated requirements, it still delivers 
considerable efficiency benefits. 

The conversion process for paper or PDF 
invoices utilises technology and services 
provided by certain strategic partners, who 
scan, extract data and validate content. 
The data is then uploaded to the Tungsten 
Network platform and then automatically 
uploaded to the Buyer’s accounting system.

IDC is strategically important as it 
complements our e-invoicing offering and 
allows us to offer Total AP – the digitalisation 
of 100% of our Buyer’s purchase invoices. 
This offering can be implemented in advance 
of e-invoicing, it delivers the benefits of 
invoice automation quicker, and it can be 
utilised to digitalise the residual invoices for 
Buyers who already have high e-invoicing 
penetration.

TUNGSTEN CORPORATION PLC // ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 2019STRATEGIC REPORT5

18m+

18 million+ transactions annually 
in the Tungsten Network

100% OF SALES INVOICES ISSUED

Any ERP

TOTAL AP: 

FOCUS ON IDC

Integrated

n
o
i
t
a
m
r
fi
n
o
C

Confirm ation

Government

i o n

C o n fi r m a t

Network to 
Network

Confirmation

Link to 
invoice

PDF

Print and 
Post

Data processed  
in the same way  
as an invoice

Supplier

Supplier sends 
invoice via paper/
post or PDF/email 
to Buyer

Invoices delivered to the Buyer 
in the format they choose to 
receive their invoices

IDC partner sends 
validated data to 
Tungsten

IDC 
Services

IDC partner scans invoices 
and extracts the data and 
validates the content

Buyer

Paper and PDF 
invoices sent to  
our IDC partner

No. of paper or PDF 
invoices

0.5m
41%

% of Tungsten Buyers 
receiving IDC services

TUNGSTEN CORPORATION PLC // ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 2019 Strategic reportGovernanceFinancial statements6

THE VALUE 
PROPOSITION

TOTAL AR

Supplier

P

D

F

Supplier

Paper (OCR scanning)

W e b   F o r m

Supplier

d

g r a t e
s  (i n t e
n )
c ti o
e
n
n

F il e
c

o

Supplier

THE TUNGSTEN  

NETWORK EFFECT

Why companies need AP or AR solutions

Why choose Tungsten

 Margin efficiencies – The internal cost of manually inputting, approving 
and recording invoices is either too great or prohibitive 

Cradle to grave invoice solution offering – Whether you are a Buyer or Supplier of goods or services,  

Tungsten provides a comprehensive solution

Cash flow efficiencies – Slow processes or errors lead to extended 
lead times in receipt of funds 

Proven to provide operational agility – The Tungsten Network platform and services assist in automating,  

and therefore streamlining, processes so that our customers can focus on growing their business  

Analysis and transparency – Data-driven reporting or decision-making 
is the norm, and without automation or systems, data analytics is just not 
viable

Regulation and risk appetite – In recent times the need to automate 
reporting or submission has moved into legislation in some jurisdictions, 
driving the need for compliant solutions

Market expectation – In certain industries or geographies, automated 
processing is market practice 

Proven, modern, flexible platform – We have invested significantly in the Tungsten Network platform to ensure  

its stability, reliability and relevance in this ever-changing environment.  Our relentless focus on innovation drives  

us to continue to invest and move forward  

Committed, tailored service model – With many decades of sector experience, our team can provide the  

right solution for any business need in this sector.  Our partner ecosystem further strengthens our capabilities  

to provide an all-round service

Peace of mind – The significant automation provided by our solutions gives increased comfort to our customers  

in relation to their control environment and access to a seamless flow of data and analytics

TUNGSTEN CORPORATION PLC // ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 2019STRATEGIC REPORT7

TOTAL AP

Buyer

Buyer

Buyer

s

o r k

e t w

s   n

s

e

s i n

u

e r  b

O t h

Into E R P

Government platforms

C

o

u

m

a

n

d

ntry 
ate

s

Buyer

Buyer

The starting point  
of the journey  
to world class

untries
plex co

m
o
C

THE TUNGSTEN  
NETWORK EFFECT

INVOICE 
DATA

Why companies need AP or AR solutions

Why choose Tungsten

 Margin efficiencies – The internal cost of manually inputting, approving 

and recording invoices is either too great or prohibitive 

Cradle to grave invoice solution offering – Whether you are a Buyer or Supplier of goods or services,  
Tungsten provides a comprehensive solution

Cash flow efficiencies – Slow processes or errors lead to extended 

lead times in receipt of funds 

Proven to provide operational agility – The Tungsten Network platform and services assist in automating,  
and therefore streamlining, processes so that our customers can focus on growing their business  

Analysis and transparency – Data-driven reporting or decision-making 

is the norm, and without automation or systems, data analytics is just not 

viable

Regulation and risk appetite – In recent times the need to automate 

reporting or submission has moved into legislation in some jurisdictions, 

driving the need for compliant solutions

Market expectation – In certain industries or geographies, automated 

processing is market practice 

Proven, modern, flexible platform – We have invested significantly in the Tungsten Network platform to ensure  
its stability, reliability and relevance in this ever-changing environment.  Our relentless focus on innovation drives  
us to continue to invest and move forward  

Committed, tailored service model – With many decades of sector experience, our team can provide the  
right solution for any business need in this sector.  Our partner ecosystem further strengthens our capabilities  
to provide an all-round service

Peace of mind – The significant automation provided by our solutions gives increased comfort to our customers  
in relation to their control environment and access to a seamless flow of data and analytics

TUNGSTEN CORPORATION PLC // ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 2019 Strategic reportGovernanceFinancial statements8

STRATEGIC REPORT

CHAIRMAN’S

TONY  
BROMOVSKY 
EXECUTIVE  
CHAIRMAN 

REVIEW

Since becoming Chairman in October 2018, 
and Executive Chairman in February 2019, 
the Company has undergone a period of 
fundamental change and transformation,  
with the sole purpose of generating sales  
leads, operational efficiency and future 
scalability. These changes are already  
generating positive momentum, with an  
EBITDA profit in FY19, which is a dramatic 
turnaround from the losses of prior years.

TUNGSTEN CORPORATION PLC // ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 2019TUNGSTEN CORPORATION PLC // ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 2019 

9
Strategic report

Governance

Financial statements

I am pleased to present these, our FY19 
results. The last year has been a period of 
substantial change for the Group following 
both significant Board and management 
changes, the launch and implementation 
of the Operating Review, and the resultant 
redefinition of Tungsten’s strategy.  
The significantly improved financial and 
operational performance in the second half 
of FY19, recording EBITDA profitability and 
cash flow generation for the first time, is 
evidence that the changes and new focus 
are starting to take effect and deliver the 
expected results. We are now well positioned 
for growth in FY20 and beyond. 

Both I and the rest of the Board are delighted 
that, after an extensive and rigorous search 
process, Andrew Lemonofides will join us in 
September 2019 as our new Chief Executive 
Officer. Andrew will bring the required drive 
and strategic oversight to implement our 
new strategic focus, to improve operational 
functionality and also to expand our global 
footprint. After a suitable integration period, 
my intention is to revert back to the role of 
Non-Executive Chairman.

On behalf of the Board, I wish to record our 
gratitude to all our employees for their efforts 
throughout the year in continuing to deliver 
for our shareholders and customers.

Redefining Tungsten’s purpose
The Operating Review, initiated by the 
new Board in December 2018, has been 
deep, detailed and far-reaching. It has 
proved, and continues to prove, to be highly 
transformative in how we do business.  
We have already seen significant positive 
effects since the April 2019 update, and  
we expect continued positive contributions  
to both financial and operational performance 
in the future. The key areas to highlight are  
as follows: 

Driving the Network effect:  
introducing Total AR
The launch of our Total AR solution is a key 
enabler in Tungsten becoming the invoice 
delivery platform of choice for current and 
new Suppliers on our global Network. This 
Total AR solution allows the delivery of 
100% of sales invoices to any customer of 
the Supplier - both on and off our Network 
– in an expedient, secure and automated 
manner. Utilising the functionality of the 
Tungsten Network platform, coupled with 
our expanding interconnectivity with other 
platforms, our Total AR customers will 
now have all invoices delivered across our 
platform to all of their customers in any form 
that their customers require. We have now 
entered into a formal agreement with Data 
Interconnect to be our Total AR partner.

With Total AR as a core solution, we can 
now offer both non-network Buyers and 
Suppliers the ability to enhance their services 
by integrating with the Tungsten Network 
platform to send and receive compliant, 
validated invoices; creating the network 
effect. We have established a dedicated AR 
sales team to capitalise on this opportunity. 

Strategic partnerships with 
e-procurement providers to provide an 
additional channel to market 
Our core proposition remains the delivery 
of a best-in-class, digital, cross-border, tax-
compliant e-invoicing and adjacent services 
proposition. However, we can expand our 
reach and scalability by partnering with 
leading e-procurement providers. These 
e-procurement providers have been 
successful in generating and winning 
full-service procure-to-pay tenders from 
companies who would be a typical Tungsten 
Buyer. Invoice digitisation and automation 
is increasingly becoming a requirement of 
any wider procure-to-pay tender, along with 
e-procurement, and is less frequently a 
standalone solution. 

We know we lead the competition in relation 
to e-invoicing, and to participate in a procure-
to-pay tender we will need to partner with 
these e-procurement providers. 

In this way, we would expect partnerships 
to provide us with a valuable sales channel 
for opportunities which may not have been 
available to us previously. We are already 
in discussions with various e-procurement 
partners.

Connecting with other platforms to 
improve automation, customer service 
and user experience 
We are committed to increasing 
interconnection and interoperability with 
other platforms where connectivity will 
increase efficiency and scope of our delivery 
and service levels for our customers. 
Interconnection (allowing the passage 
of invoice data) and interoperation (full 
integration) alters Tungsten’s previous 
requirement of only allowing invoices 
validated by us to flow through our Network. 
Our customers increasingly want to source 
and receive all their invoices without the 
friction of multiple solutions. By building 
connectivity to other select platforms, we  
can capture 100% of the flow of inbound 
and outbound invoices, regardless of source 
or form, whilst maintaining our high standards  
of compliance and validation. 

We see upside in relation to transaction 
volumes through the platform, provision of 
a better customer experience and other 
customer benefits in the form of analytics 
and trade finance. 

Continuous improvements in  
day-to-day operations
Following the Operating Review, we have 
focused our efforts on the following 
improvements in day-to-day operational 
matters:

Divestment of non-core business   
As part of the Operating Review, at the 
end of FY19 we announced our intention 
to divest our trade finance business and 
are happy to say that the sale process is 
progressing well. This divestment will allow us 
to focus on our core propositions and grow 
our invoicing business, although we are not 
abandoning trade finance. Instead we believe 
that we can provide this more effectively 
and on a larger scale through an exclusive 
partnership with a leading global provider.

10

STRATEGIC REPORT

TUNGSTEN CORPORATION PLC // ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 2019

CHAIRMAN’S 
REVIEW CONT. 

Launch of new products and services  
or enhancements to existing offerings   
In the past year we launched a new version 
of our Workflow tool, improvements to 
our Invoice Data Capture product and a 
launch of a comprehensive Purchase Order 
offering. Purchase Order services now 
provide an automated tool for the sending 
of electronic purchase orders which can be 
updated, accepted or rejected with electronic 
notifications of changes exchanged between 
the Buyer and Supplier. This is an important 
adjacent service which will both increase 
customer service and the efficiency and 
speed of settlement. 

Aligning remuneration with delivering 
customer and shareholder value
A key part of the Operating Review was  
to assess whether existing relationships  
were aligned with delivering long-term  
value for customers and shareholders.  
It was quickly concluded by the Committee 
and myself, supported by the advice 
of external specialists and discussions 
with shareholders, that the remuneration 
packages, including bonus and share 
structures in place, were not aligned – and 
therefore we have implemented changes 
such as a redesigned annual bonus 
with a deferred share element and clear 
performance criteria, and are proposing other 
changes through the 2019 remuneration 
policy, such as the introduction of LTIP  
plans for senior management.  

Moving into FY20
I feel that the business opportunity ahead 
of us is more significant than it has ever 
been and it is gratifying to be able to 
report the early successes that we have 
had in redefining our strategic focus, the 
effectiveness of our operations and service 
delivery, and ongoing investment in the 
platform. We are building a momentum  
which is showing positive and tangible results. 

Tony Bromovsky
Executive Chair

22 July 2019

Curtailing ineffective expenditure   
We continue to focus on cost efficiency, 
capital allocation discipline and margin 
optimisation and creation, aligned to 
our disciplines in operational rigour and 
effectiveness. After a period of rebasing 
our spending, specifically in relation to head 
office costs, remuneration and adviser spend, 
we believe we have the right structure to 
move forward to deliver growth in EBITDA 
margin. Further cost savings will be delivered 
by automating processes, which will be  
made possible by continued investment  
in our platform. 

A restructured executive team   
We have restructured the Executive 
Committee, welcoming our new Chief 
Revenue Officer, Steve Standring and 
recently appointing our new CEO, Andrew 
Lemonofides. We have also gone through a 
period of internal reorganisation, specifically 
in the areas of product, sales and marketing, 
so that our business units and commercial 
departments are now aligned with the new 
management team and will provide improved 
accountability and functionality.

A new approach to sales  
Steve Standring will be responsible for 
driving our global offering across both AR 
and AP e-invoicing and developing our 
partner ecosystem. Steve has significant 
knowledge of the market and sector, having 
more than two decades of experience. 
He will be central to driving forward our 
expanded value proposition. We are already 
seeing an increase in pipeline opportunities 
and tender activity. 

Investment in the platform  
One of the key developments in FY19 was 
the completion of the migration of core 
technology to the Cloud in order to provide 
a safer and more efficient infrastructure. We 
removed many years of legacy software by 
implementing a new core invoice processing 
platform, designed to accommodate far 
greater transaction volumes.  

Compliance and regulatory changes   
In FY19 we saw the regulatory landscape 
change with an increased focus on 
automation and regulation requiring 
e-invoicing. In Italy, tax authorities introduced 
mandatory e-invoicing submission for tax 
purposes, and we made the strategic decision 
to invest in developing the Tungsten Network 
platform, so it was able to provide these 
compliant services. We see this move to 
electronic submission as a recurring global 
trend. Our development and investment in this 
area means we will be well positioned to lead 
compliance as other governments across the 
world move towards electronic submission.

FY20 – Completely 
Cloud-hosted 

FY19 – 48 countries

FY20 – two additional 
countries to date.  
three further countries  
to follow

FY20 – additional 
partner agreements 
to provide continued 
interconnectivity  
with our customers  
IT ecosystems

11

OUR MARKET TRENDS 

Area

Trend

What Tungsten is doing about it

Key data point

Digital and cloud Increasingly, our customers are requesting  

or requiring to be able to manage their data  
and make business decisions on the move.  
In this current environment, the solutions  
we offer need to have the option of being  
Cloud-hosted and app-based. 

The need to be Cloud-hosted and app-based  
has increased tangentially over the last 12 
months and we moved our e-invoicing services 
into the Cloud during FY18 and FY19. 

FY19 – sales approach 
includes Cloud-
enabled offering

Our ISS product is available on digital devices, 
which allows approvals on the move. 

We are working on plans to move our  
Workflow product into the Cloud.

Automation 
and increased 
regulation

We know that automation of the entire invoicing 
process provides cost efficiencies, the ability to 
manage working capital more effectively and 
better controls. 

We continue to channel our energy and 
resources into becoming even better and  
more successful at invoicing automation, 
including the important precursor to an  
invoice – a purchase order. 

However, it is also necessary for making data-
driven decisions and to comply with complex 
cross-border tax regulations and legislation.  

This is moving our services from being a “nice 
to have” to being a key part of a company’s 
processes and systems. 

We have grown to 50 the countries where we 
offer a tax-compliant service and more will 
follow in FY20. This includes integration with 
the Italian government’s mandatory portal.

We have completed the major investments in 
the technology that underpins our services and 
will now continue an incremental improvement 
programme. 

We continue to partner with third-parties who 
can enhance our solutions or enable us to offer 
adjacent products and services, including Total 
AR, Total AP, e-procurement and trade finance.

Self-service 

As technology develops and more and more 
day-to-day transactions are completed without 
human interaction, our business also needs to 
evolve to offer self-service, specifically in the 
onboarding of Suppliers.

We have invested in updating our customer 
portal and our service delivery function to 
provide the ability to provide a self-service 
onboarding route for Suppliers.

We are testing technology to introduce new 
ways for customers to integrate with the 
Tungsten Network platform.

FY19 – investment 
in machine learning 
technology

FY20 – launch of an 
enhanced Supplier 
customer portal

Competitive 
landscape

The procure-to-pay market is well established, 
although evolving with the use of technology 
and changes in regulations.  

There are a number of large and niche players 
in our market and pricing remains competitive  
in tender situations.  

We are not complacent and whilst there is 
continued demand for our services, we know 
that there is competition for new sales, and we 
must continue to deliver to retain our existing 
customer base.  

We commissioned extensive market research  
in Q2 FY19 to better understand the 
marketplace and our customers. This has 
resulted in a number of investments in the 
Tungsten Network platform and roll out of  
our Total AR Solution. We have also adapted  
our go-to-market strategy to capitalise on the 
breadth of the Tungsten offering.

FY19 – launch of Total 
AR solution

FY19 – launch of Total 
AP as a go-to-market 
offering, to include IDC

FY19 – launch of 
enhanced PO services 
offering

FY20 – new sales of 
Total AR, Total AP and 
PO services

FY20 – strong sales 
pipelines for these 
services

TUNGSTEN CORPORATION PLC // ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 2019 Strategic reportGovernanceFinancial statements 
 
12

STRATEGIC REPORT

TUNGSTEN CORPORATION PLC // ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 2019

EXECUTIVE 

COMMITTEE’S
REVIEW

In FY20, we will focus on delivering results on 
our redefined three-pronged strategic focus to 
increase sales and continue sales momentum.

13

Under the purview of a new Board, we have 
redefined the true purpose of Tungsten.  
We have looked in detail at what we are 
good at, how we add value to our customers 
and how this can be monetised. Put simply, 
we believe that we are the world’s leading 
electronic invoicing company, delivering market-
leading solutions to large, complex and global 
enterprises. 

Tungsten excels at processing and delivering 
invoices from one accounting system directly 
into another accounting system. Our services 
provide our customers quicker and more 
accurate information than manual methods, 
which in turn gives them greater visibility and 
more immediate control over their working 
capital. We also automate the validation of 
invoice data, which facilitates compliance with 
a myriad of global tax regulations and also 
comfort that each invoice meets the relevant 
requirements of the commercial agreement 
between the parties. We believe this essentially 
eliminates the possibility of a company losing 
money through fraud or human error. This is 
what Tungsten does best.

With the renewed focus on delivering a 
complete invoicing service, we announced 
the proposed disposal of our trade finance 
operations, Tungsten Network Finance, on  
30 April 2019. While we see trade finance as 
an important and complementary service to our 
core offering, we believe that we can continue 
to service our customers in this area through 
a partnership agreement rather than in-house. 
At this date, the sale process is ongoing, and 
we have presented our results for FY19 both 
including and excluding our trade finance 
operations. 

Go-to-market strategy 
Following the study that we commissioned 
from a leading research and consulting firm 
to review our market and customers, we have 
solidified our view that customers want a 
solution that is global and spans each stage of 
the invoice cycle. Therefore, we have changed 
our go-to-market strategy to present a Total 
AP e-invoicing offering, which combines our 
well-established e-invoicing offering with our 
IDC product, which digitalises paper and PDF 
invoices. This provides the customer with better, 
more complete analysis and stronger controls 
over the entire process. 

In line with this, we also provide Total AR,  
which can deliver all of the invoices our 
Suppliers issue to any customer they have, 
therefore expanding our service from only those 
invoices which were being delivered through 
the Tungsten Network platform. This provides  
a complete AR offering which we believe  
is sought after in the current market.

Moving into FY20, we expect to increase our 
ecosystem by working with those who can 
complement our services and further improve 
our offering, specifically in e-procurement. 
These partners will be targeted to those 
who can assist with our integration with 
other networks, vendor management and 
e-procurement as well as Data Interconnect, 
our Total AR partner. 

Customer Base 
92% of our FY19 revenue was from customers 
under contract, of which 54% is from upfront 
annual and maintenance fees (recurring) with 
the balance from usage related transaction  
fees (repeatable).  The remaining 8% is 
from one-off implementation, licence and 
professional services fees. In FY19 we 
added to our revenues by making total new 
sales billings of £4.0 million (excluding TNF), 
representing year-one billings for new services 
sold to current and new Buyers. £2.7 million of 
this was recognised in FY19.

In FY19 we grew our customer base by signing 
six new Buyers to our AP e-invoicing solution 
(three new customers and three sales to 
new parts of existing Buyers) and three new 
Workflow sales to current customers, which in 
total contributed £0.9 million in new revenue in 
FY19 and £1.8 million of contracted revenue 
over a three-year period. This reflected a similar 
number of new wins to FY18 and thus was 
significantly below our expectations which had 
been set at the beginning of the year.

Five e-invoicing Buyer customers that 
contributed £0.1 million of revenue in FY18, 
and three Workflow customers that also 
contributed £0.1 million of revenue in FY18, 
chose not to renew their contracts and have  
left the Network. However, more than offsetting 
this loss was the retention of 38 customers 
who renewed their agreements, primarily  
for a further three years and we successfully 

achieved price increases on 18 of those 
customers by an average of 20%, contributing 
additional recurring revenue of £0.3 million 
during FY19.

We onboarded 750 new Suppliers during 
the year, which contributed £0.4 million of 
new Supplier revenue in FY19 (FY18: £0.6 
million). This was 63% of the sales volume we 
converted in FY18 and therefore disappointing 
in light of the opportunities in our Supplier 
ecosystem.

Therefore, moving into FY20, we have made 
fundamental changes to defining our value 
proposition, our route to market and also to 
how we organise ourselves internally, with the 
goal of increasing our conversion rates and 
ultimately our new revenue volumes.

Investing in the platform
Our platform strategy is two-fold – to remain 
relevant, modern and efficient but also to adapt 
to the changing regulatory and compliance 
landscape. Total spend on products and 
technology in FY19 decreased to £12.8 
million (FY18: £17.2 million) as we prioritised 
completion of core initiatives or developments.

Following the successful investment in 
transitioning the primary technical infrastructure 
into the Cloud and rebuilding core transaction 
processing capabilities, FY19 saw a number  
of products launching, with the most significant 
being our new Total AR solution, enhanced  
PO services and Workflow 5.0 products.

Total AR: FY19 saw investment to enable 
the Tungsten Network platform to be a digital 
post box for 100% of a Supplier’s outgoing 
sales invoices. This allows the Supplier to raise 
invoices within their own ERP system, ensuring 
that they have all of the required data for 
their own reporting, tax and otherwise, whilst 
ensuring that the invoice data can be easily and 
efficiently transmitted to their Buyer to ensure 
prompt payment. 

Purchase Order services: as part of our focus 
on increasing user experience and increasing 
the value proposition of our products and 
services, we launched our newly enhanced 
capabilities allowing for digital delivery of 
purchase orders, conversion to e-invoices and 
acknowledgement of changes and updates. 

TUNGSTEN CORPORATION PLC // ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 2019 Strategic reportGovernanceFinancial statements14

STRATEGIC REPORT

TUNGSTEN CORPORATION PLC // ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 2019

EXECUTIVE 
COMMITTEE’S 
REVIEW CONT.

1  EBITDA to be presented as adjusted for changes in accounting 
standards, notably IFRS 16, to aid year-on-year comparability.

We believe that this will improve visibility and 
efficiency to both Buyers and Suppliers and  
will accelerate the take up of this product in 
FY20 and beyond.

Workflow 5.0: Workflow automates accounts 
payable processes, enabling incoming invoices 
to be automatically routed, coded, matched, 
approved and posted into our customers’ ERP 
systems via an integrated connection. This 
has been a Tungsten offering since 2014 and 
this latest version introduces a range of new 
features, such as new reporting tools and a 
new UX and UI. It was launched in January 
2019 and is now being used or installed at 
seven of our existing customers. We believe 
that the added functionality and mobile usage 
will make it more of a compelling proposition to 
both existing and new customers. 

Security remains a key priority and we have 
recently added increased security measures, 
such as multi-factor authentication to our  
sign in process and additional configuration  
to increase our geographical reach to be  
tax-compliant in Bahrain and the French  
Overseas Territories.

In FY19, development to adapt to changing 
legislation became of critical importance as 
we invested in the Tungsten Network platform 
in order to be ready to continue to provide 
compliant services in Italy. The Italian tax 
authorities introduced the requirement for 
mandatory submission and collection of all 
invoices to a government portal. We chose 
to be one of the first to provide a compliant 
solution as we wanted to support our existing 
customers but also, we anticipate that 
submission to tax driven mandated digital 
platforms is a trend which will spread globally. 
Our internal investment in order to comply 
was over £1.0 million in FY19, yet we expect 
resultant revenues to be significantly more than 
this and puts us in the position to be a market 
leader in other jurisdictions where there are 
similar changes, as we have the experience 
which can be adapted to different countries as 
needed. In Italy in FY19, we transacted half a 
million invoices with new and current customers 
to and from the government’s platform and we 
would expect this number to grow in FY20. 
This development success also demonstrates 
our ability to connect with government 
platforms and provide our customers with a 
fully compliant service against a backdrop  
of changing regulation. 

Moving into FY20, we are refreshing the UX  
of our customer portal, investing in the 
technology to provide self-service onboarding 
for Suppliers as well as improving the speed, 
ease and efficiency of Supplier assisted 
onboarding. The FY20 road map is focused  
on increasing the customer experience with  
the aim of growing the customer ecosystem 
but also improving retention rates.

Financial results
Revenue in FY19 increased by 7.1% to £36.0 
million (FY18: £33.7 million). Excluding the 
results of TNF, revenue was £35.4 million 
(FY18: £33.3 million) which represented a 
6.1% growth. The growth in revenue reflects 
the net benefits of new customer sales, 
additional product sales to current customers, 
and existing customer price increases. Overall, 
growth was slower than both expectation and 
FY18 performance, as we underperformed 
in signing and onboarding new Buyer and 
Supplier customers and the uptake of new 
products were also lower than expected.

FY19 returned an EBITDA profit of £0.6 
million (FY18: (£4.6) million loss) and excluding 
TNF, this increases to £2.5 million (FY18: 
(£3.3) million loss), an improvement of £5.8 
million. This significantly improved EBITDA 
performance reflects continued detailed focus 
on our cost base and provides us with a good 
basis for moving into FY20.

Operating and statutory losses for the year 
were £5.2 million and £3.4 million, respectively 
(FY18: (£12.1) million loss and (£11.9) million 
loss, respectively). 

Coupled with our move into EBITDA 
profitability, we were also cash generative in the 
second half of the year, generating cash flows 
of £1.9 million, to retain net cash of £2.8 million 
at the end of FY19. Gross cash at the end of 
FY19 was £3.8 million, reflecting the drawing 
of £1.0 million of our £4.0 million RCF.

Outlook
In FY20, we will focus on delivering results on 
our redefined three-pronged strategic focus to 
increase sales and continue sales momentum:
•  Driving the Network effect: introducing  

Total AR

•  Strategic partnerships with e-procurement 
providers to provide an additional channel 
to market

•  Connecting with other platforms to  

improve automation, customer service  
and user experience

Revenue growth (excluding TNF) is expected 
to accelerate from 6.1% in FY19, through 
the continuation of recurring and repeatable 
revenue and a 100% increase in new sales 
billings. 

New sales billings are expected to be weighted 
to the second half of FY20 as pipelines are 
grown, with resultant revenue impact spread 
over FY20 and FY21.

Low double digit EBITDA1 margin attained 
through continued cost discipline, coupled with 
revenue growth.

David Williams
CFO and Interim CEO

22 July 2019

15

Q. 
What do you see as the 
main opportunities for 
Tungsten in the year 
ahead?
A.

The Board and Executive team have put a clear, 
focused strategy in place and I am looking forward 
to driving this forward. It will be vital to have a 
focus on continually improving sales; capitalising 
on the new offerings in AR; increasing the Buyer 
ecosystem, and establishing strategic partnerships 
which will ultimately increase transaction flow 
through the platform, increasing our customers’ 
satisfaction and enjoyment of working with 
Tungsten. 

The customer must be at the heart of everything 
Tungsten does. Tungsten needs to continue to 
focus on the provision of excellent, high quality 
services using modern, flexible technology. 
Listening to customer feedback will allow Tungsten 
to continue to innovate and evolve its offerings. 
This will allow Tungsten to retain its lead in the 
e-invoicing space. 

Q. 
What do you bring to the 
role of CEO of Tungsten? 
A.

Passion, commitment to customer excellence and 
a firm drive for results. I have extensive experience 
of highly transactional business models where 
the focus has been the flawless and relentless 
execution of the business plan and the broader 
strategy. I believe I can make a real difference to 
the way Tungsten delivers on its commitments and 
help capitalise on the unfolding opportunities. I am 
spending time with Tony and the Executive Team 
over the summer to ensure that I hit the ground 
running when I join in September.

Q&A WITH  
ANDREW 
LEMONOFIDES 
OUR NEW CEO

Q.
What attracted you to 
Tungsten?
A.

There is a well-defined market for e-invoicing 
and Tungsten is clearly positioned to capitalise on 
the opportunities being presented. Tungsten has 
undergone a significant transformation over the 
past 12 months and now has the right products, 
technology and people in place. The work that the 
Operating Review has completed has established 
already a solid foundation for the business, one 
that I believe sets the Company up for success 
in the coming year and beyond. Overall what has 
impressed me the most has been the people 
that I have met, who have a clear and shared 
determination to deliver the redefined strategy 
in FY20 and beyond. I am really proud to join the 
team and I relish the opportunity that we have to 
deliver on this exciting business plan.

TUNGSTEN CORPORATION PLC // ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 2019 Strategic reportGovernanceFinancial statements 
16

DELIVERING 
OUR 
INITIATIVES

Executive Team
We have reshaped our 
leadership team and we 
now have a group that  
is focused, energised  
and possess the right 
talents to deliver.

David Williams
Chief Financial Officer &  
Interim Chief Executive Officer

David leads a number of teams, including Finance, 
Human Resources, Procurement, Facilities, Investor 
Relations and Communications.

Steve Standring
Chief Revenue Officer

Alec Holmes
Senior Vice President Service Delivery

Steve is responsible for Tungsten’s revenue-
generating activities including both current 
customers and new customers, as well  
as our marketing activities.

Alec leads Tungsten Network’s Service Delivery 
teams and is responsible for ensuring customer 
satisfaction at every level of the business. His 
teams include Service Delivery Management, 
Campaign Management, Customer Onboarding, 
Implementation and Customer Support.

Martyn Arbon
Chief Technology Officer

Patrick Clark
General Counsel & Company Secretary

As CTO, Martyn is responsible for delivering a fast, 
efficient, digital, end-to-end experience for our 
customers. He leads our Technology, Product  
and Systems teams.

Patrick leads the Legal team and serves as 
Company Secretary for Tungsten Corporation plc.

TUNGSTEN CORPORATION PLC // ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 2019STRATEGIC REPORT17

GO-TO-MARKET 
STRATEGY

•  New leadership
•  Redefining key sales roles
•  Invigorating stagnant accounts
•  Partnerships

TRANSFORMING
TECHNOLOGY

•  Fully in the Cloud
•  Redesigning customer portal
•  Investment in core products
•  Partnerships

Read more 
on page 18 

Read more 
on page 21

DELIVERING FOR 
OUR CUSTOMERS

•  Enhancing our services
•  Accelerating delivery
•  Increasing ROI
•  Expanding geographically
•  Partnerships

Read more 
on page 22

TUNGSTEN CORPORATION PLC // ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 2019 Strategic reportGovernanceFinancial statements18

GO-TO-
MARKET 
STRATEGY

STEVE STANDRING 
CHIEF REVENUE 
OFFICER

Businesses and governments send 280 billion invoices 
every year. 90% of those invoices are still processed 
using manual methods. For large businesses, less than 
20% of invoices are issued in a structured digital format, 
instead being sent by paper and PDF attachments, 
which offer little in the way of automation.

Refreshed and reconfigured sales force
Our target customers are large, complex, 
multinational organisations, which often 
operate shared service centres. We know 
who these targets are, and we have now put 
together a sales force that understand the 
problems they face and a set of solutions 
that can help solve them.

Redefining our value proposition
Following the in-depth market research we 
commissioned in Q2 FY19 we have honed  
in on the following:

1)  What sets us apart – We have a best-in-
class platform and a full service solution 
offering, we have an experienced sales 
and service delivery team who understand 
what our customers need and want and 
our product development is designed with 
the customer at the forefront of mind.  

2)  What drives our business – We know 

our customers are looking for efficiency, 
working capital management, security and 
control and the ability to make data driven 
decisions.  We also see regulation and 
compliance risk increasing which drives 
the need for change and investment in 
systems and processes.

3)  What this means for our customers –  
Our customers are looking for a quick  
and clear return on investment, reduced 
risk and exposure, and provide flexibility 
and transparency.

A product focus on Total AP and Total AR
•  Customers need solutions for all of their 
invoices, not just a proportion of them
•  Total AP: We are now live with our first 
customers taking our new Invoice Data 
Capture (IDC) service, which enables  
us to digitise paper and PDF invoices  
to complement our e-invoicing

•  Total AR: Provided in conjunction with  
our new partner Data Interconnect, we  
can now deliver all the invoices of our 
Supplier customers, not just those that  
go to Buyers of Tungsten Network

280 billion invoices sent globally each year

280 bn
90%
60-80%

Of those invoices still processed manually

It costs 60-80% less to process electronic 
invoices as opposed to manual

Of invoices paid on time when using 
e-invoicing 

74%
65%

As opposed to 65% when using  
manual invoicing

TUNGSTEN CORPORATION PLC // ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 2019STRATEGIC REPORT 
19

Total AP digitisation is the 
foundation supporting the journey 
to world class performance.

Core Idea
End-to-end  
process  
alignment

Business  
Agility
Business 
agility

Data
Data-driven  
decision-
making

Cash  
MGMT
Cash flow 
management

n
o
i
t
u
b
i
r
t
n
o
c

c
i
g
e
t
a
r
t
S

MCR
Manual cost  
reduction

£

RPA 
Efficiency  
improvement

BPM
Repeatable,  
scalable  
processes

e li v e r e d to sales syste

m

O   d

P

SUPPLIER

BUYER

A

l
l

i

n

v

o

i

c

e

d

ata in to ERP

I n v

d 

e  f le distribute
t o   all c usto mers

o i c

TUNGSTEN CORPORATION PLC // ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 2019 Strategic reportGovernanceFinancial statements 
 
 
20

GO-TO-
MARKET 
STRATEGY CONT.
PARTNERSHIPS

By working with partners, Tungsten can expand its 
routes to market and its addressable market, helping 
us to provide our best-in-class e-invoicing to more 
customers. 

Total AR 
Our partnership with Data Interconnect allows 
our customers and potential new suppliers to 
send 100% of their sales invoices through a 
single channel, which is then delivered in the 
format that their customer requires.

Connecting with other networks
Tungsten already connects with many  
other smaller e-invoicing networks, allowing 
suppliers on these networks to send invoices 
to Buyers on the Tungsten Network, and 
vice versa. By connecting to more networks, 
we can help our customers by removing the 
need for them to connect to many different 
systems. Through a single connection  
with Tungsten, they can process all their 
invoices electronically.

1

3

2

4

Working with e-Procurement
Tungsten Network is in progressed 
discussions with a number of potential 
partners who are leading procurement 
providers. Buyers will benefit by combining 
e-Procurement technology with Tungsten’s 
best-in-class e-invoicing solution. 

Vendor Management
By partnering with Mastercard, Tungsten 
is able to offer the Mastercard Track Trade 
Directory: a secure, permissioned repository 
of over 150 million company registrations 
worldwide. This central directory will integrate 
feeds from more than 4,500 compliance lists 
into one place, making the screening and 
onboarding of suppliers more efficient.

TUNGSTEN CORPORATION PLC // ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 2019STRATEGIC REPORT21

TRANSFORMING
TECHNOLOGY

Tungsten adopts a cloud-first approach to technology  
as a key tenet of the creation a secure, reliable and 
efficient platform. Following a successful migration  
of our core platforms to Amazon Web Services’ Cloud 
environment, all of our services and sub-systems now 
reside in the cloud.

Tungsten has adopted leading technologies 
including Java, .Net Core, Angular and Kafka. 
As we develop automation solutions for our 
customers, so automation is also a key pillar 
of our technology strategy. We have adopted 
strong DevOPS principles including, but 
not limited to; automated software testing, 
continuous integration and continuous 
deployment.

We a deploy small, but substantial, iterations 
of new functionality regularly, improving 
the service for our customers in a gradual, 
controlled and constant manner. 

We have 86 developers globally writing code  
in a number of different coding languages. 
With 35 in-house and 51 outsourced. We 
enhance our solutions by working with nine 
different technology partners and aim to further 
enhance these solutions over the course of the 
next year by continuing to invest in our core 
systems and adjacent services.

By constantly innovating we deliver the  
best possible service to our customers and 
maintain our global status as the number 
one provider of cross-border tax-compliant 
electronic invoicing.

MARTYN ARBON  
CHIEF TECHNOLOGY 
OFFICER

Invested in technology in FY19

£12m+
35
51

In-house developers

Outsourced developers

TUNGSTEN CORPORATION PLC // ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 2019 Strategic reportGovernanceFinancial statements22

DELIVERING 
FOR OUR 
CUSTOMERS
THE TUNGSTEN 
NETWORK IN 
NUMBERS

ALEC HOLMES 
SENIOR VICE 
PRESIDENT 
SERVICE DELIVERY

Tungsten does the hard 
work of engaging with 
a company’s Suppliers 
and bringing them onto 
the Network. 

We validate invoice data at the point of 
submission and ensure that customers  
receive the information in the way that  
is most helpful to them.

We have dedicated Service Delivery teams 
to help them manage the process and we  
offer help and support online and over 
the phone.

Integrated Solution Suppliers

Active e-invoicing portal users

 9,500

 103,000

e-invoicing Buyers

Workflow Buyers

 123

 56

Invoices processed 

Countries processing invoices

 18.2m

 192 

On average, suppliers use our Invoice Status Service 10 times per month  
to check where their invoice is in the payment process

 10 times/month

TUNGSTEN CORPORATION PLC // ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 2019STRATEGIC REPORT 
23

GOVERNMENT E-INVOICING PLATFORMS 

729Customers who use Italy invoicing solution 

(inc. AR or AP or both)

On 1 January 2019,  
it became mandatory  
for Italian companies  
to send domestic invoices 
electronically to the Italian 
Tax Authority (SdI) for 
validation. We saw this 
as an opportunity and a 
change that would be seen 
across the world. We were 
granted approval as a 
registered intermediary of 
SdI, allowing us to process 
100% of our customers’ 
invoices in the region. 

The mandate enabled Tungsten Network to 
sign up 729 customers for our Italian invoicing 
solution, quadrupling the volume of invoices 
we process in the country. Italy’s mandate is 
so far estimated to have reduced tax leakage 
by 20%. With this impact it is likely other EU 
countries will follow suit. Mandates are already 
in place in certain countries in Latin America 
and the Indian government recently announced 
their plans to mandate electronic invoicing on 
all business transactions in India. 

While this trend enhances government tax 
collections, it increases administration for 
our customers. This creates opportunities for 
Tungsten to deliver process efficiencies to 
companies as well as helping them comply 
with government regulations.

Governments are increasingly mandating 
electronic invoices in order to reduce tax 
leakage. Large buying organisations are 
increasingly demanding electronic invoices 
because it costs them between 60-80% less 
to process. Since they both have so much 
to gain, the uptake of electronic invoicing 
processes will accelerate in the coming years.

Active e-invoicing portal users

 103,000

TUNGSTEN CORPORATION PLC // ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 2019 Strategic reportGovernanceFinancial statements24

OUR PEOPLE

We want Tungsten Network to be a great place to work 
and are focused on living a culture in which our people 
are challenged, work well with other talented people and 
have opportunities for progression and development.

Kuala Lumpur
Malaysia
The location of our 
Financial and HR shared 
services teams, as well  
as our security and 
compliance function.

99

30

Toledo
USA
Our Workflow team 
works out of Toledo, 
including all the 
technologists, sales 
and supporting 
functions for the 
product.

22

Sofia
Bulgaria
This is the centre for 
European support, service 
delivery and campaigns. 
It also houses a number 
of developers central to 
maintaining our systems.

FY19

122

43

99

19

1

FY19

169

453

TNF

14

1

–

–

–

TNF

–

15

“There are endless 
learning and development 
opportunities that have 
helped me grow both 
professionally and 
personally”

Rashmi,
QA Analyst

London, UK

Direct Headcount 

United Kingdom

United States

Malaysia

Europe

Other

Indirect Headcount 

Worldwide

Total

LAURA CROSS  
GLOBAL HEAD  
OF HR

TUNGSTEN CORPORATION PLC // ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 2019STRATEGIC REPORT25

136

London  
UK
Tungsten’s headquarters and 
the centre of its operations. 
This is the central office for 
all of our executives and the 
majority of our functions.

09

Rest of  
the world

14

Atlanta
USA
This is home to our 
American support, service 
delivery, campaign and  
IT teams.

“I worked my way through 
inside sales, account 
management, service 
delivery, and commercial 
business development 
roles to the point I am 
now: leading all revenue-
generating teams in  
the Americas”

Ryan,
VP, Business Development

Atlanta, USA

“I’m very passionate when 
it comes to governance 
and compliance and 
Tungsten has given me a 
great career opportunity 
where professionally I’ve 
progressed from a junior  
to a senior role”

Rafi,
Head of Security and Compliance

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Tungsten Network’s people strategy focuses 
on employee engagement, performance 
managing to identify and reward the right 
people, appropriately managing attrition  
and leadership development. With this,  
our business will have the right skills now  
and in the future.

In FY19 we continued to attract a talented 
and diverse workforce and have seen growth 
in the number of women in senior and 
management positions as a result of our 
resourcing practices. 

To increase employee engagement and 
further develop our internal culture we have 
set up a Sports & Social Committee. Through 
this, we have held a number of events and 
get-togethers that have been well-received 
and attended by our people.

We have adopted a training scheme and have 
several people dedicated to the growth of our 
talent. Our Company culture is underpinned 
by the principles of diversity, inclusion and 
development, and we work hard to enable a 
safe, enjoyable work environment for all of 
our staff around the world. 

TUNGSTEN CORPORATION PLC // ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 2019 Strategic reportGovernanceFinancial statements26

STRATEGIC REPORT

CHIEF FINANCIAL
OFFICER’S
REVIEW

DAVID  
WILLIAMS
INTERIM CHIEF 
EXECUTIVE 
OFFICER &  
CHIEF FINANCIAL  
OFFICER

We have continued to produce 
simultaneous revenue growth and cost 
control. Our first EBITDA profit gives 
us a platform for growth.

TUNGSTEN CORPORATION PLC // ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 201927

Revenue
Revenue excluding TNF for the year 
was £35.4 million (FY18: £33.3 million), 
representing an increase of 6.1%. The 
growth in revenues reflected the net  
benefits of new customer sales, additional 
product sales to current customers, and 
existing customer price increases. Revenue 
including TNF for the year was £36.0 million 
(FY18: 33.7 million), representing  
an increase of 7.1%.

Total new sales billings excluding TNF in 
FY19 were £4.0 million, representing year-
one billings for new services sold to current 
and new Buyers. £2.7 million of this was 
recognised in FY19, with the balance of  
£1.3 million to be recognised in FY20.

Recurring revenue increased by £1.4 
million or 8.1% to £19.0 million (FY18: 
£17.5 million) due to a combination of six 
new Buyer sales (three new customers 
and three sales to new parts of existing 
Buyers) and three new Workflow sales to 
current customers which contributed £0.9 
million, and increased pricing in relation to 
renewing customers. Offsetting this was 
the loss of five e-invoicing Buyers in the 
year, which contributed a total £0.1 million 
of revenue in FY18, as well as a number of 
inactive suppliers. Three Workflow customers 
which contributed a total of £0.1 million of 
revenue in FY18 chose not to renew their 
maintenance contract in FY19. 

Having started the year with 187 Workflow 
and e-invoicing Buyers, the additions, losses 
and merging of four customer contracts 
resulted in 179 Buyers at year end.

Repeatable revenue increased by £0.9 
million of 7.1% to £13.5 million (FY18: 
£12.6 million) due to the four new Buyers 
contracted as well as an increase in volumes 
and pricing. Volumes increased partially due 
to the new compliance requirements in Italy 
requiring all suppliers of goods and services 
to submit invoices electronically through a 
government platform. This increased volume 
by half a million transactions in the year. 

Other revenue decreased by £0.3 million  
or 8.7% to £2.9 million (FY18: £3.2 million) 
due to fewer set-up fees from new Buyer 
customers (FY19: six new Buyer set-up fees, 
FY18: eight new Buyer set-up fees).

TNF revenue generated fees of £0.6 million 
in FY19 (FY18: £0.4 million), an increase 
of £0.2 million due to an increase in the 
average outstandings from £26.7 million  
in FY18 to £56.4 million in FY19.

Income statement

£m

Revenue

Cost of sales

Gross profit

Gross margin2

Group

Group (excl TNF)1

FY19

FY18

FY19

FY18

36.0

(1.9)

34.1

33.7

(2.3)

31.4

35.4

(1.9)

33.5

33.3

(2.3)

31.0

94.7%

93.2%

94.6%

93.0%

Adjusted operating expenses3

(33.5)

(36.0)

(31.0)

(34.3)

EBITDA4

EBITDA margin5

Other operating expenses

Operating loss

Net finance income/(costs)

Loss before taxation

Taxation

Loss for the year

0.6

2%

(5.8)

(5.2)

(0.1)

(5.3)

1.9

(4.6)

(14%)

(7.5)

(12.1)

(0.6)

(12.7)

0.8

2.5

7%

(5.3)

(2.8)

0.1

(2.7)

1.9

(3.3)

(10%)

(7.2)

(10.5)

(0.4)

(10.9)

0.8

(3.4)

(11.9)

(0.8)

(10.1)

1  Tungsten announced its intention to divest Tungsten Network Finance (“TNF”) on 30 April 2019. Results presented excluding TNF to aid 

future comparability. 

2  Gross margin is calculated as gross profit as a percentage of revenue.
3  Adjusted operating expenses exclude cost of sales, other income, interest, tax, depreciation, amortisation, foreign exchange gains  

or losses, loss on disposal of assets, share-based payments charges and exceptional items.

4  EBITDA is calculated as earnings before net finance cost, tax, depreciation and amortisation, loss on disposal of assets, foreign 
exchange gain or loss, share-based payment expense and exceptional items. The most directly comparable IFRS measure to 
segment EBITDA is operating loss for the period. Management utilises EBITDA to monitor performance as it illustrates the underlying 
performance of the business by excluding items management consider to be not reflective of the underlying trading operations  
of the Group or adding items which are reflective of the overall trading operations, as applicable.

5  EBITDA margin is calculated as EBITDA as a percentage of revenue.

Revenue

£m

Recurring revenue2

Repeatable revenue3

Total recurring & repeatable revenue

Other revenue4

Tungsten Network total revenue

TNF revenue5

Group revenue

Recurring revenue (% of total)  
Tungsten Network revenue6 
Total recurring & repeating  
revenue (% of total Tungsten Network revenue7) 

FY19

FY18 % Movement1

8.1%

7.1%

7.7%

(8.7)%

6.1%

96.9

7.1%

19.0

13.5

32.5

2.9

35.4

0.6

36.0

54% 

92% 

17.5

12.6

30.1

3.2

33.3

0.4

33.7

53% 

90%

1   Revenue is shown to the nearest £0.1 million. Movement is calculated on figures to the nearest £1. 
2  Recurring revenue represents annual subscription and maintenance fees on contracts typically ranging from one to three years and billed 

annually in advance.

3  Repeatable revenue represents transaction-based fees from contracted customers, typically billed at the point of usage or at the end  

of the month of usage.

4  Other revenue represents implementation, modification and professional services fees, billed either in advance or on completion  

of project stages.

5  TNF revenue relates to revenue generated by the trade finance business announced for disposal but not treated as an asset held  

for disposal at the end of FY19.

6  Recurring revenue is revenue from annual subscription and maintenance fees as a % of revenue excluding TNF.
7  Recurring and repeatable revenue is total recurring and repeatable revenue as a % of revenue excluding TNF.

TUNGSTEN CORPORATION PLC // ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 2019 Strategic reportGovernanceFinancial statements 
 
 
28

CHIEF 
FINANCIAL 
OFFICER’S 
REVIEW CONT.

Expenses

£m 

Sales & marketing  

Service delivery 

Technology & product 

Finance, administration & central overheads 

Adjusted operating expenses1 

Cost of sales 

Tungsten Network Finance expenses 

Depreciation and amortisation 

Loss on disposal of assets 

Foreign exchange gain/(loss) 

Share-based payment expense 

Exceptional items 

Statutory operating expenses 

Capital expenditure (incl dilapidations) 

Total operating and capital expenditure 

FY19 

(5.9) 

(7.8) 

(10.0) 

(7.3) 

(31.0) 

(1.9) 

(3.2) 

(4.0) 

(2.2) 

1.8 

0.1 

(1.0) 

(41.4) 

(3.3) 

(44.7) 

FY18 

Difference

(6.3) 

(7.7) 

(9.8) 

(10.5) 

(34.3) 

(2.3) 

(2.2) 

(2.8) 

– 

(1.4) 

(0.6) 

(2.1) 

(45.7) 

(7.6) 

(53.3) 

0.4

(0.1)

(0.2)

3.2

3.3

0.4

(1.0)

(1.2)

(2.2)

3.2

0.7

1.1

4.3

4.3

8.6

1   Adjusted operating expenses exclude cost of sales, other income, interest, tax, depreciation, amortisation, foreign exchange gains or 

losses, loss on disposal of assets, share-based payments charges and exceptional items.

Revenue by type of customer
Buyer revenues represented 43% of total 
Tungsten Network revenues in the 2019 
financial year (FY18: 43%). Total Buyer 
revenues grew 4.8% to £15.2 million (FY18: 
£14.5 million). This reflected a growth in 
recurring and discretionary revenues of 6.8% 
(£0.8 million) and a fall in one-off revenues  
of 4.4% (£0.1 million).

Supplier revenues represented 57% of total 
Tungsten Network revenue in the 2019 
financial year (FY18: 57%). Total Supplier 
revenues grew 7.2% to £20.1 million (FY18: 
£18.8 million). This reflected a growth in 
recurring and discretionary revenues of 8.3% 
(£1.5 million) and a fall in one-off revenues  
of 31.1% (£0.1 million).

Expenses
The Group’s adjusted operating expenses 
reduced by 10% to £31.0 million (FY18: 
£34.3 million).

Sales and marketing expenses reduced by 
£0.4 million to £5.9 million. This primarily 
reflects reductions to ineffective marketing 
spend in the 2nd half of the financial year.

Service delivery and technology and 
products costs remained broadly flat year 
on year (marginal increases of 1% and 
2% respectively).   Finance, administration, 
Board & central overheads were reduced 
significantly, by a total of £3.2 million, or 30%, 
to £7.3 million. This primarily reflects reduced 
Non-Executive and Executive remuneration, 
fewer senior management positions and 
reduced professional adviser fees.

Statutory operating expenses decreased by 
£4.3 million or 9% to £41.4 million (FY18: 
£45.7 million). Key movements include:

•  Foreign exchange gains: £3.2 million 
improvement to a gain of £1.8 million  
(FY18: £1.4 million loss) from the revaluation 
at year end of monetary assets and liabilities 
denominated in foreign currencies.

•  Share-based payment expense: £0.7 million 
reduction reflecting the net reduction in 
outstanding options by 1.1 million options 
(FY18: net increase by 1.9 million options), 
primarily from exiting senior management.
•  Exceptional items: £1.1 million reduction 
primarily as a result of £1.4 million lower 
provisions for onerous contracts in (FY19: 
£0.2 million; FY18: £1.6 million). Other 
exceptional items in FY19 reflected £0.6 
million of professional advice, arising in 
particular from the requisition request for  
a General Meeting, as well as £0.2 million 
of restructuring costs.

Offset by:
•  Tungsten Network Finance: £1.0 million 

increase in staff and related costs.

•  Depreciation and amortisation: £1.2 million 
increase in amortisation as a result of the 
commencement of amortising software 
development costs incurred in FY18.

•  Impairment of internally generated 

capitalised development: £2.2 million non-
cash expense as a result of the decision to 
write-off the development work in relation 
to integration of CRM systems. £2.0m of 
these costs were incurred in FY18 and  
£0.2 million in FY19. Although the 
integration will continue, it will be using 
different technology and processes.

TUNGSTEN CORPORATION PLC // ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 2019STRATEGIC REPORT 
 
 
29

Loss before tax
The Group generated a loss before tax 
excluding TNF of £2.7 million in the 
year (FY18: loss of £10.9 million). The 
improvement of £8.2 million reflects this. 
Including TNF, the Group generated a  
loss before tax of £5.3 million (FY18:  
£12.7 million).

Taxation
The statutory Group loss for the year was £3.4 
million (FY18: £11.9 million), an improvement 
of £8.5 million. A tax credit of £1.9 million 
(FY18: £0.8 million) includes a £1.5 million 
research and development tax credit (FY18: 
£0.3 million). £0.6 million of the FY19 charge 
related to FY17 expenditure, with a further 
£0.9 million relating to FY18 expenditure.

The Group has an unrecognised deferred tax 
asset of approximately £14.9 million that is 
available for offset against future tax expenses 
in the companies in which losses arise.

Funding and liquidity
Cash and cash equivalents at the end of 
FY19 were £3.8 million (FY18: £6.4 million). 
Net cash (including borrowings under the 
revolving credit facility) at the end of FY19 
was £2.8 million (FY18: £6.4 million).

The Group had a cash outflow in FY19 of 
£2.6 million, with cash and cash equivalents 
at the end of FY19 of £3.8 million. Excluding 
borrowings, cash was £2.8million. Liquidity, 
including £3 million of undrawn revolving 
credit facility with a maturity date of July 2021, 
was £6.8 million.

Cash flows from operating activities
Cash used in operating activities decreased by 
£7.7 million to £0.3 million (FY18: £8.0 million) 
due to lower operating losses and  
a decrease in trade receivables. 

By excluding IFRS 15 adjustment, the 
movements in working capital generated 
an inflow of £0.4 million from an outflow 
of £1.8 million in FY18 as a result of our 
increased focus on cash collection in relation 
to receivables which resulted in a cash inflow 
of £1.8 million from a cash outflow of £1.8 
million in FY18. Offsetting this was a cash 
outflow due to the decrease in trade payable 
of £1.4 million relating to the end of many of 
the Group’s technology transformation and the 
resulting settlement of outstanding payables.

Cash flows from fnancing activities
Cash flow from financing activities in FY19 
relate to the partial draw down of the revolving 
credit facility entered into in July 2018 and 
drawn in November 2018. In FY18 a £4.3 
million inflow resulted from the cessation  
of Tungsten using its own cash resources  
to finance Tungsten Network Early  
Payment invoices.

Analysis of H1 and H2 cash
The FY19 movement in the Group’s cash, 
excluding drawings from the RCF, was a 
£3.6 million outflow. This included a £4.4 
million outflow in H1-FY19 (net of exchange 
adjustments), offset by a £0.8 million inflow 
in H2-FY19 (£1.9 million inflow, less £1.0 
million drawings on the RCF, less £0.1 million 
exchange adjustments). The improvement by 
£3.6 million in cash flow net of RCF drawings 
and exchange adjustments in the second half 
of the financial year primarily reflected:

•  An improvement in cash used in operations 
by £3.3 million, reflecting the increase in 
EBITDA in the second half.

•  An inflow from trade and other receivables 
of £1.0 million, reflecting improved trade 
receivable collection processes.

•  A reduction in cash spent on investing 

activities decreased by £0.7 million from 
H1-FY19 to H2-FY19, reflecting the end 
of the significant FY18 capital projects, 
payments of which were partly settled  
in early FY19.

Capital expenditure 
During the year, the Group spent £3.3 million 
on capital expenditure, being £0.4 million in 
relation to property plant and equipment, and 
£2.9 million in relation to internally capitalised 
software development. This compares to 
£7.6 million in total in FY18. Our significant 
internally generated software development 
expenditure was in relation to the development 
of new functionality and a more modern look 
and feel for our customer portal and updates 
to our core transaction processing software.  

Loss per share
The basic and diluted loss per share was 
2.66p (FY18: 9.45p). 

Dividends
The Company has not paid, and does not 
propose to pay, a dividend in relation to FY19.

Post balance sheet event
On 30 April 2019, the Group announced a 
trading update on the decision to divest one of 
the business segments in the Group, Tungsten 
Network Finance. 

The negotiations for the sale were ongoing 
and are anticipated to be agreed prior to 31 
October 2019. As it will be determined by 
the sale price agreed and the structure of  
any sale, the financial effect cannot be reliably 
estimated at the time of signing  
the Annual Report.

David Williams
Chief Financial Officer

22 July 2019

Funding and liquidity

£m

Net cash flow from operating activities

Net cash flow from investing activities

Net cash flow from financing activities 

Net movement in cash & cash equivalents

Exchange adjustments

Cash and cash equivalents at the start of the period

Cash and cash equivalents at the end of the period

Analysis of H1 and H2 2019 cash flows

FY19

FY18

(0.3)

(3.3)

1.0

(2.6)

–

6.4

3.8

(8.0)

(7.6)

4.3

(11.3)

0.2

17.5

6.4

£m

H1-FY19 H2-FY19

FY19

Cash flows from investing activities
Cash spent on investing activities decreased 
by £4.3 million (FY18: £7.6 million), reflecting 
the end of the significant FY18 internally 
generated software development projects, 
in relation to the transformation of the core 
transaction network and rollout of Salesforce.

Net cash flow from operating activities

Net cash flow from investing activities

Net cash flow from financing activities 

Net movement in cash & cash equivalents

Exchange adjustments

Cash and cash equivalents at the start of the period

Cash and cash equivalents at the end of the period

(2.5)

(2.0)

-

(4.5)

0.1

6.4

2.0

2.2

(1.3)

1.0

1.9

(0.1)

2.0

3.8

(0.3)

(3.3)

1.0

(2.6)

–

6.4

3.8

TUNGSTEN CORPORATION PLC // ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 2019 Strategic reportGovernanceFinancial statements30

RISK 
MANAGEMENT

Key risks and their likelihood (mapped)

1

14

13

15

10

4

2

3

12

11

7

8

9

6

5

Key

Low

Stable
High

Risk management at Tungsten starts at the Board,  
but is delivered throughout the Group.  

Key risks and their likelihood (listed)

1.  Failure to meet strategic objectives
2.  Failure to win and/or retain customers
3.  Failure to invest in infrastructure and 

operating systems
4.  Business continuity risk
5.  Risk of cyber security breach
6.  Failure to develop or deliver upgrades
7.  Customer data breach
8.  Dependency on external IT vendors
Inability to finance the business
9. 

Risk

Strategic

10. Non-payment of customers
11. Foreign currency exposure
12. Retention of key management personnel
13. Retention of key staff
14. Regulatory change
15. Impact on the community

Impact

Mitigation

Direction of change
The Company is stable and is demonstrating progress in executing its business strategy. 

1.  The business model fails to meet  

its strategic objectives.

•  Failure to achieve targets  

for revenue, profit and earnings.

•  Damage to reputation.

2.  Tungsten Network works with some  
of the world’s biggest companies. 
There is a risk that Tungsten  
Network may fail to win and/or  
retain contracts on satisfactory  
terms and conditions with the 
existing as well as new targeted 
customers and markets.

3.  Failure to invest in enhancements 
to the infrastructure and operating 
systems leading to loss of advantage 
over our competitors and failure 
to meet the expectation of our 
customers.

Technological & Operational 

•  Failure to meet our growth plans.
•  Failure to achieve targets for revenue,  

profit and earnings.

•  Failure to meet our growth plans.
•  Failure to achieve targets for revenue,  

profit and earnings.

•  Products and services become  

unavailable. Damage to reputation.

•  The governance frameworks are key to ensuring successful implementation of all aspects of the planned enhancements and changes.

•  Detailed approval and planning process prior to project commencement.

•  The Executive Committee and Board review and challenge the status/progress of key change programmes and projects.

•  Experts in infrastructure projects and change programmes have been hired to achieve successful implementation.

•  Post-implementation reviews are undertaken once a project is completed so that lessons can be learned.

Direction of change
Several important multi-year projects to upgrade the underlying systems and infrastructure 
as well as improve operational processes were completed in FY19.

4.  Tungsten Network has a highly 

developed and complex operational 
and IT infrastructure, which is 
constantly developed and upgraded. 
A major incident as a result of an 
internal or external event could 
impact the ability of the Company  
to provide products and services  
to its customers.

•  Products and services become unavailable.
•  Customer claims for losses.  

Loss of customers.
•  Damage to reputation.
•  Failure to meet our growth plans.

•  The strategy is regularly reviewed and challenged by the Executive Committee and Board.

•  The strategy forms the basis of the annual business planning process.

•  Performance targets are aligned to strategy.

•  Strategy is regularly and effectively communicated to all staff.

•  Documented up-to-date disaster recovery and business continuity plans which are regularly tested. Use of multiple hosting centres.

• 

IT recovery plans include website resilience and penetration tests.

•  Ongoing, real-time technology defence mechanisms in place.

•  Continuous monitoring of IT systems availability.

both the planning and execution of programmes of work. 

•  Training and employee awareness programmes in place.

•  Governance frameworks in place to ensure appropriate management of the risks and mitigants.

•  New employees with the appropriate skills have been recruited and, where required, third party experts are used to review and validate  

•  The strategy is regularly reviewed and challenged by the Executive Committee and Board.

•  The strategy forms the basis of the annual business planning process.

•  Performance targets are aligned to strategy.

•  Strategy is regularly and effectively communicated to all staff.

•  Active management in place to spread revenues across all customers. No one customer accounts for significant revenue or concentration 

•  Structured contracts approval process with clearly defined selection criteria to ensure contracts are taken on or renewed only where 

Tungsten Network can provide a good service and manage any risks involved.

•  Continual review and development of the client relationship management structure and function to improve services to the existing 

•  A process is in place to continuously listen and respond to customers to enhance their experience of using Tungsten Network’s products 

of revenue.

customer base.

and services.

TUNGSTEN CORPORATION PLC // ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 2019STRATEGIC REPORT31

Principal risks and uncertainties
Tungsten is proud to operate the world’s 
biggest compliant e-invoicing network and to 
be a trusted partner to hundreds of thousands 
of global enterprises. Our customers expect us 
to proactively manage and predict the risks and 
uncertainties that are inherent in business.

The Audit Committee continually monitors and 
promotes the highest standards of integrity, 
financial reporting, risk management and 
internal control.

The Executive Directors and the senior 
management team oversee the management  
of the business utilising a wide range of 
controls, including financial, operational 
and compliance oversight, together with 
risk management. They ensure that the 
risk management strategy is implemented 
throughout the business.

Tungsten has dedicated compliance and cyber 
security teams. Amongst other things, these 
teams are accountable for the maintenance 
of the appropriate controls and processes to 
sustain Tungsten’s certification under both ISO 
27001 (information security management) and 
ISAE 3402 (controls at a service organisation). 
The Security Committee is chaired by the CFO 
and includes other members of the senior 
management team as well as key personnel 
from the business who are responsible for 
delivery.

All significant sales opportunities are subject 
to technical and contractual review by senior 
members of our legal, financial, commercial  
and technology teams. There are strict internal 
controls applied to the development of our 
systems, products and services. In order to 
assist with the management of risks, the 
Group continues to recruit individuals who are 
expert in our markets, technology and support 
disciplines. The Group has a delegation of 

authorities that clearly sets out the approval 
required for key activities, including those 
restricted to the Board and the Executive 
Directors. 

The disclosure of the key risks and 
uncertainties in the table below reflects the 
approach of the Company to also look for the 
opportunities presented when addressing such 
risks. This is not an exhaustive list of all the 
risks faced by the Company.

Tungsten considers these risks in accordance 
with the governance procedures set out from 
page 38 onwards.

Risk

Strategic

Direction of change

The Company is stable and is demonstrating progress in executing its business strategy. 

1.  The business model fails to meet  

its strategic objectives.

•  Failure to achieve targets  

for revenue, profit and earnings.

•  Damage to reputation.

•  Failure to meet our growth plans.

•  Failure to achieve targets for revenue,  

profit and earnings.

2.  Tungsten Network works with some  

of the world’s biggest companies. 

There is a risk that Tungsten  

Network may fail to win and/or  

retain contracts on satisfactory  

terms and conditions with the 

existing as well as new targeted 

customers and markets.

3.  Failure to invest in enhancements 

to the infrastructure and operating 

systems leading to loss of advantage 

over our competitors and failure 

to meet the expectation of our 

customers.

Technological & Operational 

Direction of change

Impact

Mitigation

•  The strategy is regularly reviewed and challenged by the Executive Committee and Board.
•  The strategy forms the basis of the annual business planning process.
•  Performance targets are aligned to strategy.
•  Strategy is regularly and effectively communicated to all staff.

•  Active management in place to spread revenues across all customers. No one customer accounts for significant revenue or concentration 

of revenue.

•  Structured contracts approval process with clearly defined selection criteria to ensure contracts are taken on or renewed only where 

Tungsten Network can provide a good service and manage any risks involved.

•  Continual review and development of the client relationship management structure and function to improve services to the existing 

customer base.

•  A process is in place to continuously listen and respond to customers to enhance their experience of using Tungsten Network’s products 

and services.

•  Failure to meet our growth plans.

•  Failure to achieve targets for revenue,  

profit and earnings.

•  Products and services become  

unavailable. Damage to reputation.

•  The governance frameworks are key to ensuring successful implementation of all aspects of the planned enhancements and changes.
•  Detailed approval and planning process prior to project commencement.
•  The Executive Committee and Board review and challenge the status/progress of key change programmes and projects.
•  Experts in infrastructure projects and change programmes have been hired to achieve successful implementation.
•  Post-implementation reviews are undertaken once a project is completed so that lessons can be learned.

Several important multi-year projects to upgrade the underlying systems and infrastructure 

as well as improve operational processes were completed in FY19.

The changes from these projects can be significant and critical to the success of the business. Therefore, the overall level of technological and 
operational risk facing Tungsten Network remains high.

4.  Tungsten Network has a highly 

•  Products and services become unavailable.

developed and complex operational 

and IT infrastructure, which is 

constantly developed and upgraded. 

A major incident as a result of an 

internal or external event could 

impact the ability of the Company  

to provide products and services  

to its customers.

•  Customer claims for losses.  

Loss of customers.

•  Damage to reputation.

•  Failure to meet our growth plans.

•  The strategy is regularly reviewed and challenged by the Executive Committee and Board.
•  The strategy forms the basis of the annual business planning process.
•  Performance targets are aligned to strategy.
•  Strategy is regularly and effectively communicated to all staff.
•  Documented up-to-date disaster recovery and business continuity plans which are regularly tested. Use of multiple hosting centres.
• 
•  Ongoing, real-time technology defence mechanisms in place.
•  Continuous monitoring of IT systems availability.
•  Governance frameworks in place to ensure appropriate management of the risks and mitigants.
•  New employees with the appropriate skills have been recruited and, where required, third party experts are used to review and validate  

IT recovery plans include website resilience and penetration tests.

both the planning and execution of programmes of work. 

•  Training and employee awareness programmes in place.

TUNGSTEN CORPORATION PLC // ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 2019 Strategic reportGovernanceFinancial statements32

RISK 
MANAGEMENT
CONT.

Risk

Impact

Mitigation

Technological & Operational continued

5.  Tungsten Network has a highly 
developed and complex IT 
infrastructure. There is a risk of 
information security breach including 
cyber-attacks leading to loss of 
confidentiality, integrity or availability  
of data. 

6.  Tungsten Network is constantly 
developing and upgrading many 
aspects of its technology software 
and hardware. As a result, there 
is a risk of failure or inefficiencies 
in its operations, systems and 
infrastructure.

7.  Tungsten Network processed 

18.2 million transactions in FY19 
and holds a significant volume of 
customer data. There is a risk of a 
data breach.

8.  Tungsten Network uses market- 
leading external IT vendors to 
support its businesses including 
software upgrades. There is a risk 
of failure/closure of a vendor which 
could impact the ability of the 
Company to provide products and 
services to its customers.

Financial

•  Products and services become unavailable.
•  Customer claims for losses.  

Loss of customers.
•  Damage to reputation.
•  Failure to meet our growth plans.

•  Products and services become unavailable.
•  Customer claims for losses.  

Loss of customers.
•  Damage to reputation.
•  Failure to meet our growth plans.
•  Additional costs if projects not delivered  
on time or within budget or if additional  
work required.

•  Uninsured loss claims from customers.
•  Loss of customers. Damage to reputation. 
•  Financial penalties.

•  Products and services become unavailable.
•  Customer claims for losses.  

Loss of customers.
•  Damage to reputation.
•  Failure to meet our growth plans.

Direction of change
The level of financial risk facing Tungsten Network is stable as revenues have grown 
and losses decreased. The Group remained cash negative in FY19 but generated cash in H2-FY19.

9. 

Inability to finance the Group 
businesses.

•  Failure to continue in business  

or meet liabilities.

•  Failure to meet our growth plans.

•  Mitigating cyber-attacks is of paramount importance to the Company to ensure customer confidence in the security and availability  

of our products and services.

•  Well-defined IT security procedures in place.

•  Documented up-to-date disaster recovery and business continuity plans, which are regularly tested. Use of multiple hosting centres.

•  Comprehensive review of procedures and controls as part of the annual International Standards for Assurance Engagements (ISAE)  

3402 Assurance Reports on Controls at a Service Organisation.

•  Comprehensive review of procedures and controls as part of the annual independent ISO 27001 certification, the international  

standard describing best practice for an Information Security Management System.

•  Training and employee awareness programmes in place.

•  Processes in place to improve operational performance.

•  Documented up-to-date disaster recovery and business continuity plans which are regularly tested. Use of multiple hosting centres.

• 

IT recovery plans include website resilience and penetration tests.

•  New employees with the appropriate skills have been recruited and, where required, third party experts are used to review and validate  

both the planning and execution of programmes of work. 

•  Continuous monitoring of IT systems availability.

•  Continuing to enhance our technological and operational capabilities through investment in high quality staff and IT functionality.

•  Oversight of satisfactory completion of improvements and enhancements by Executive Committee.

•  Processes in place to ensure adherence to data protection and security awareness policies.

•  Training and employee awareness programmes in place.

•  No issues raised under the independent review of procedures and controls as part of the annual ISAE 3402 Reports.

• 

Introduction of additional security technology in FY19, e.g. enhanced portal security and multi-factor authentication (MFA).

•  Prior to appointment, key vendors are subject to due diligence check and assessed for financial viability.

•  The relationship with and financial position of key vendors are reviewed on a regular basis.

•  Key vendors required to have ISO 27001 certification or equivalent. Only leading vendors are engaged.

•  The Directors regularly stress test the business model to ensure the Group has adequate working capital.

•  Robust procedures to monitor the effective management of cash and debt including cash reports and cash forecasting.

•  A cash mitigation plan exists in the event that liquidity falls below expected levels.

•  The Group has secured a revolving credit facility with its Bank.

10.  Tungsten Network may be subject to 
non-payment by its customers.

•  Failure to meet our growth plans. 
•  Ability to invest or develop.
•  Litigation costs.

•  Ongoing project to review whole credit management processes.

•  Credit monitoring process in place to address aged debtors.

•  Credit analytics reporting in place.

•  Collections project in FY19 has resulted in reduction of totals outstanding. 

11.  Exposure to foreign exchange 

fluctuations, resulting in a material 
impact on profit or cash balances.

•  Failure to meet our growth plans.
•  Failure to achieve targets for revenue,  

profits or earnings.

•  Tungsten Network reports in and holds the majority of its cash balances in British Sterling.

•  Revenues and costs for its other major currencies of US Dollar and the Euro are materially equal.

•  Currency exposure is forward managed and hedging products considered where appropriate.

TUNGSTEN CORPORATION PLC // ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 2019STRATEGIC REPORT33

Risk

Impact

Mitigation

•  Products and services become unavailable.

•  Mitigating cyber-attacks is of paramount importance to the Company to ensure customer confidence in the security and availability  

of our products and services.

•  Well-defined IT security procedures in place.
•  Documented up-to-date disaster recovery and business continuity plans, which are regularly tested. Use of multiple hosting centres.
•  Comprehensive review of procedures and controls as part of the annual International Standards for Assurance Engagements (ISAE)  

3402 Assurance Reports on Controls at a Service Organisation.

•  Comprehensive review of procedures and controls as part of the annual independent ISO 27001 certification, the international  

standard describing best practice for an Information Security Management System.

•  Training and employee awareness programmes in place.

•  Processes in place to improve operational performance.
•  Documented up-to-date disaster recovery and business continuity plans which are regularly tested. Use of multiple hosting centres.
• 
•  New employees with the appropriate skills have been recruited and, where required, third party experts are used to review and validate  

IT recovery plans include website resilience and penetration tests.

both the planning and execution of programmes of work. 

•  Continuous monitoring of IT systems availability.
•  Continuing to enhance our technological and operational capabilities through investment in high quality staff and IT functionality.
•  Oversight of satisfactory completion of improvements and enhancements by Executive Committee.

•  Processes in place to ensure adherence to data protection and security awareness policies.
•  Training and employee awareness programmes in place.
•  No issues raised under the independent review of procedures and controls as part of the annual ISAE 3402 Reports.
• 

Introduction of additional security technology in FY19, e.g. enhanced portal security and multi-factor authentication (MFA).

8.  Tungsten Network uses market- 

•  Products and services become unavailable.

•  Prior to appointment, key vendors are subject to due diligence check and assessed for financial viability.
•  The relationship with and financial position of key vendors are reviewed on a regular basis.
•  Key vendors required to have ISO 27001 certification or equivalent. Only leading vendors are engaged.

•  The Directors regularly stress test the business model to ensure the Group has adequate working capital.
•  Robust procedures to monitor the effective management of cash and debt including cash reports and cash forecasting.
•  A cash mitigation plan exists in the event that liquidity falls below expected levels.
•  The Group has secured a revolving credit facility with its Bank.

10.  Tungsten Network may be subject to 

non-payment by its customers.

•  Failure to meet our growth plans. 

•  Ability to invest or develop.

•  Litigation costs.

•  Ongoing project to review whole credit management processes.
•  Credit monitoring process in place to address aged debtors.
•  Credit analytics reporting in place.
•  Collections project in FY19 has resulted in reduction of totals outstanding. 

11.  Exposure to foreign exchange 

fluctuations, resulting in a material 

impact on profit or cash balances.

•  Failure to meet our growth plans.

•  Failure to achieve targets for revenue,  

profits or earnings.

•  Tungsten Network reports in and holds the majority of its cash balances in British Sterling.
•  Revenues and costs for its other major currencies of US Dollar and the Euro are materially equal.
•  Currency exposure is forward managed and hedging products considered where appropriate.

Technological & Operational continued

5.  Tungsten Network has a highly 

developed and complex IT 

infrastructure. There is a risk of 

information security breach including 

cyber-attacks leading to loss of 

confidentiality, integrity or availability  

of data. 

•  Customer claims for losses.  

Loss of customers.

•  Damage to reputation.

•  Failure to meet our growth plans.

6.  Tungsten Network is constantly 

•  Products and services become unavailable.

•  Customer claims for losses.  

Loss of customers.

•  Damage to reputation.

•  Failure to meet our growth plans.

•  Additional costs if projects not delivered  

on time or within budget or if additional  

work required.

•  Uninsured loss claims from customers.

•  Loss of customers. Damage to reputation. 

•  Financial penalties.

•  Customer claims for losses.  

Loss of customers.

•  Damage to reputation.

•  Failure to meet our growth plans.

developing and upgrading many 

aspects of its technology software 

and hardware. As a result, there 

is a risk of failure or inefficiencies 

in its operations, systems and 

infrastructure.

7.  Tungsten Network processed 

18.2 million transactions in FY19 

and holds a significant volume of 

customer data. There is a risk of a 

data breach.

leading external IT vendors to 

support its businesses including 

software upgrades. There is a risk 

of failure/closure of a vendor which 

could impact the ability of the 

Company to provide products and 

services to its customers.

Financial

Direction of change

The level of financial risk facing Tungsten Network is stable as revenues have grown 

and losses decreased. The Group remained cash negative in FY19 but generated cash in H2-FY19.

9. 

Inability to finance the Group 

businesses.

•  Failure to continue in business  

or meet liabilities.

•  Failure to meet our growth plans.

TUNGSTEN CORPORATION PLC // ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 2019 Strategic reportGovernanceFinancial statements34

RISK 
MANAGEMENT
CONT.

Risk

People

Impact

Mitigation

Direction of change
There has been high turnover of staff at all levels as a result of changes to the business 
strategy. New high calibre people have joined the Group, and continuous succession 
planning has resulted in a reduction in the level of risk.

12.  Inability to retain, develop and 

motivate a highly skilled and 
knowledgeable senior management 
team.

•  Failure to implement the strategy and  

achieve the business’ targets.

•  Over-reliance on key senior personnel  

to lead the business.

•  Loss of knowledge/skills within the  

senior management team.

•  Succession planning for all members of executive management is part of the Board agenda.

•  Competitive remuneration packages with oversight by the Remuneration Committee, including equity based long-term incentives.

•  Strategies for senior management retention.

13.  Inability to attract, retain, develop 
and motivate the best people with 
the appropriate capabilities to create 
a high quality, diverse and flexible 
workforce.

Regulatory/Political/Environmental/Social

•  Failure to maintain satisfactory customer  

•  Training and development, customer relationship, leadership, social responsibility and communications programmes  

service levels.

•  Loss of knowledge/skills within  

the business.

•  Over reliance on key personnel.

in place to actively engage and retain employees.

•  Competitive remuneration packages with oversight by the Remuneration Committee.

•  Focus on creation of a culture and values to attract and motivate our people.

•  Recruitment strategy and succession planning in place including active encouragement of promotion from within.

Direction of change
Although the markets in which we operate and their legal and political environments are 
constantly evolving, the overall level of regulatory/political risk facing Tungsten Network 
has not changed materially and remains stable. Implementation of the General Data Protection 
Regulation (GDPR) on 25 May 2018 has resulted in increased risk for all businesses in the 
area of data protection. This has previously been flagged as a high risk area, and remains so, 
although this is a result of the potential implications of non-compliance with the new GDPR 
regime rather than Tungsten’s state of GDPR readiness.

14.  Tungsten Network has customers 
in 192 countries around the world. 
Our business model and our 
services are affected by legal, 
political and regulatory changes 
that restrict access to markets and 
customers. These changes include 
implementation of the EU General 
Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)  
in May 2018 and the UK’s exit from 
the European Union.

15.  Tungsten Network has a negative 

impact on the physical environment, 
social environment or communities  
in which it operates.

•  Potential exposure to large fines from 

Information regulator.
•  Reputational damage. 
•  Client contractual breach.
•  Loss of existing customers and future  

• 

customer revenue.
Investor/market negative sentiment  
causing fall in share price. Regulatory  
change can provide new product  
opportunities for Tungsten Network, e.g.  
the Italy B2B Mandate in January 2019.

•  Damage to environment or communities.
•  Damage to reputation.

David Williams
CFO and Interim CEO 

22 July 2019

•  Comprehensive documented policies relating to business conduct, financial crime, bribery, corruption and whistleblowing in place.

•  Oversight and monitoring including reporting of any deviations and exceptions to the Executive Committee.

•  Strategy to ensure that business model remains flexible and responsive to change and is regularly reviewed.

•  Horizon scanning by the Executive Committee for upcoming potential changes including product/diversification strategy to reduce impact.

•  An extensive programme is in place to ensure GDPR compliance. Program elements include:

  1. Maintaining a cross-company steering and working group, led by our Compliance and Assurance team

  2. Leveraging our current industry best practices such as IS027001 certification and Cyber Essentials certifications

  3. Acquiring the latest best-of-breed proportionate technology for data discovery and classification

  4. Repeated training for all of our internal staff, including software development teams in secure coding and privacy through design

  5. Active program of rolling out GDPR compliant processes and policies

  6. Updating contract terms with customers and vendors to make GDPR compliant

•  Tungsten Network’s products benefit the environment through the elimination of paper.

•  Tungsten Network’s office footprints are assessed for their impact on the environment and “green” options implemented  

where practical.

TUNGSTEN CORPORATION PLC // ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 2019STRATEGIC REPORT35

Impact

Mitigation

•  Succession planning for all members of executive management is part of the Board agenda.
•  Competitive remuneration packages with oversight by the Remuneration Committee, including equity based long-term incentives.
•  Strategies for senior management retention.

•  Failure to maintain satisfactory customer  

•  Training and development, customer relationship, leadership, social responsibility and communications programmes  

in place to actively engage and retain employees.

•  Competitive remuneration packages with oversight by the Remuneration Committee.
•  Focus on creation of a culture and values to attract and motivate our people.
•  Recruitment strategy and succession planning in place including active encouragement of promotion from within.

•  Comprehensive documented policies relating to business conduct, financial crime, bribery, corruption and whistleblowing in place.
•  Oversight and monitoring including reporting of any deviations and exceptions to the Executive Committee.
•  Strategy to ensure that business model remains flexible and responsive to change and is regularly reviewed.
•  Horizon scanning by the Executive Committee for upcoming potential changes including product/diversification strategy to reduce impact.
•  An extensive programme is in place to ensure GDPR compliance. Program elements include:
  1. Maintaining a cross-company steering and working group, led by our Compliance and Assurance team
  2. Leveraging our current industry best practices such as IS027001 certification and Cyber Essentials certifications
  3. Acquiring the latest best-of-breed proportionate technology for data discovery and classification
  4. Repeated training for all of our internal staff, including software development teams in secure coding and privacy through design
  5. Active program of rolling out GDPR compliant processes and policies
  6. Updating contract terms with customers and vendors to make GDPR compliant

•  Tungsten Network’s products benefit the environment through the elimination of paper.
•  Tungsten Network’s office footprints are assessed for their impact on the environment and “green” options implemented  

where practical.

Risk

People

Direction of change

There has been high turnover of staff at all levels as a result of changes to the business 

strategy. New high calibre people have joined the Group, and continuous succession 

planning has resulted in a reduction in the level of risk.

12.  Inability to retain, develop and 

motivate a highly skilled and 

knowledgeable senior management 

team.

•  Failure to implement the strategy and  

achieve the business’ targets.

•  Over-reliance on key senior personnel  

to lead the business.

•  Loss of knowledge/skills within the  

senior management team.

13.  Inability to attract, retain, develop 

and motivate the best people with 

the appropriate capabilities to create 

a high quality, diverse and flexible 

workforce.

•  Loss of knowledge/skills within  

service levels.

the business.

•  Over reliance on key personnel.

Regulatory/Political/Environmental/Social

Direction of change

Although the markets in which we operate and their legal and political environments are 

constantly evolving, the overall level of regulatory/political risk facing Tungsten Network 

has not changed materially and remains stable. Implementation of the General Data Protection 

Regulation (GDPR) on 25 May 2018 has resulted in increased risk for all businesses in the 

area of data protection. This has previously been flagged as a high risk area, and remains so, 

although this is a result of the potential implications of non-compliance with the new GDPR 

regime rather than Tungsten’s state of GDPR readiness.

14.  Tungsten Network has customers 

in 192 countries around the world. 

Our business model and our 

services are affected by legal, 

political and regulatory changes 

that restrict access to markets and 

customers. These changes include 

implementation of the EU General 

Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)  

in May 2018 and the UK’s exit from 

the European Union.

15.  Tungsten Network has a negative 

impact on the physical environment, 

social environment or communities  

in which it operates.

•  Potential exposure to large fines from 

Information regulator.

•  Reputational damage. 

•  Client contractual breach.

•  Loss of existing customers and future  

customer revenue.

• 

Investor/market negative sentiment  

causing fall in share price. Regulatory  

change can provide new product  

opportunities for Tungsten Network, e.g.  

the Italy B2B Mandate in January 2019.

•  Damage to environment or communities.

•  Damage to reputation.

TUNGSTEN CORPORATION PLC // ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 2019 Strategic reportGovernanceFinancial statements36

BOARD OF 
DIRECTORS 

This year we have welcomed four new Board  
members, and Andrew Lemonofides will also  
join us as CEO in September 2019.

Tony Bromovsky
Executive Chair

In a career spanning over 40 years, Tony has acted 
as an executive and non-executive director for 
a variety of companies across sectors including 
investment, healthcare, media and technology. He 
was previously a non-executive director of Vertical 
Intelligence Limited, Local World Holdings Limited, 
Chronos Therapeutics Limited, Oxford Biodynamics 
Limited and Circle Holdings (OS) Limited. He is 
also an executive director of Kilda Investments 
Limited, which he established in 1991 as a vehicle 
to invest in a number of ventures across Eastern 
Europe covering industries such as food production, 
micro-finance lending, pharmaceuticals, wineries 
and steelmaking. Tony spent the early part of his 
career as a commodities trader at Louis Dreyfus 
followed by Woodhouse Drake and Carey and 
Drexel Burnham Lambert.

David Williams
Chief Financial Officer  
and Interim Chief Executive Officer

David has 20 years of financial experience working 
in professional practice and consultancy with  
public and private companies. After training as  
a Chartered Accountant with Arthur Andersen, 
David spent five years in the Corporate Finance 
division of Ernst & Young, followed by five years  
at FTI Consulting, advising both the public and 
private sector. He subsequently left to assume 
a variety of senior management roles. David has 
strong financial control and reporting disciplines 
and is a Fellow of the ICAEW.

Committee

N   R

Committee key

A  Audit 

Committee
N  Nomination 
Committee
R  Nomination 
Committee

  Chair
  Member

TUNGSTEN CORPORATION PLC // ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 2019GOVERNANCE37

Andrew Doman
Non-Executive Director

Duncan Goldie-Morrison
Senior Independent Non-Executive Director

Vivienne Maclachlan
Non-Executive Director

Andrew Doman is an experienced non-executive 
director. He is Chairman of Castle Trust and a 
non-executive director at Target Group. He was 
previously a non-executive director at OneSavings 
Bank (2016-8), Chief Executive Officer of Premium 
Credit (2012-5), and he was Chairman of Russell 
Investments (2011-2) having been President and 
CEO from 2009. He was also a non-executive 
director of Wesleyan Assurance Society (2008-9).

Andrew spent 22 years at McKinsey & Co, where 
his clients included a number of leading UK and 
European financial services companies. He focused 
on performance improvement and turnaround 
strategy. He has degrees in Medicine & Surgery, 
and Economics, and also holds an MBA.

Committee

A   N   R

Duncan has spent his entire career in financial 
services. His current business interests include 
family investment vehicle Bradden Capital 
Management LLC, which he established in 2003 
and where he is Managing Partner. He is also 
director and part owner of supply chain finance 
company Orbian Corporation and prepaid cards 
business Transact Payments Limited. He also 
serves on the management board of P.R.I.M.E. 
Finance, a Dutch-based charity that provides 
resolution services for disputes concerning complex 
financial transactions. Duncan's executive career 
included senior positions with Credit Agricole 
Group, Ritchie Capital and Bank of America. 
Duncan spent the early part of his career with 
NatWest Markets, Westpac Banking Corp and 
Kleinwort Benson. Duncan has also previously 
served as a non-executive director on the boards  
of ICAP plc and Primus Guaranty Limited.

Vivienne was the Chief Financial Officer of  
Alfa Financial Software, in which role she oversaw 
all of the core finance function responsibilities and 
investor relations, as well as being a key member  
of the Executive Leadership Team. Alfa is a 
technology company providing solutions  
to the asset finance market.

Prior to joining Alfa, Vivienne was a capital markets 
specialist for more than 12 years at PwC in 
London, assisting management teams and owners 
of companies to raise capital in the UK and US 
markets. Vivienne is a member of the Institute  
of Chartered Accountants of Scotland.

Committee

A   N   R

Committee

A

R  

TUNGSTEN CORPORATION PLC // ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 2019 Strategic reportGovernanceFinancial statements38

GOVERNANCE

CHAIRMAN’S 
GOVERNANCE 
OVERVIEW

Tungsten has evolved as a vibrant and agile technology 
business that helps accelerate global trade by operating 
a secure network connecting some of the world’s largest 
organisations to their supply chains.

Dear Shareholder,

The Principles of Corporate Governance
As Chairman, my role includes upholding 
the highest levels of integrity, probity and 
corporate governance throughout the 
Company and particularly at Board level. 
It therefore gives me great pleasure to 
introduce our Governance statement.

As a Board we recognise the importance 
of high standards of corporate governance 
in support of our strategic goals and long 
term success. The Company is listed on AIM 
and is subject to the continuing obligations 
of the AIM Rules. From September 2018, 
the Company has been required to apply 
a recognised corporate governance code. 
Since our admission to AIM in October 
2013, we have measured our governance 
policies and structure against the Quoted 
Companies Alliance Corporate Governance 
Code (the “QCA Code”) and we therefore 
formally adopted the QCA Code in line  
with this new requirement. We believe we 
apply the ten principles of the QCA Code. 
The policies and procedures put in place  
at the time of admission to AIM gave 
us a firm foundation for our governance 
structures and we continue to build on  
and evolve these each year.

Companies need to deliver growth in  
long-term shareholder value. This requires  
an efficient, effective and dynamic 
management framework and should  
be accompanied by good communication 
which helps to promote confidence and 
trust. The Board is highly committed  
to meeting these standards.

TUNGSTEN CORPORATION PLC // ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 201939

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

Establish a strategy and business model which 
promote long-term value for shareholders.

Seek to understand and meet shareholder needs 
and expectations.

Take into account wider stakeholder and  
social responsibilities and their implications  
for long-term success.

Embed effective risk management, considering  
both opportunities and threats, throughout  
the organisation.

Maintain the Board as a well-functioning,  
balanced team led by the Chair.

Ensure that between them the Directors  
have the necessary up-to date experience,  
skills and capabilities.

Evaluate Board performance based on clear 
and relevant objectives, seeking continuous 
improvement.

Promote a corporate culture that is based  
on ethical values and behaviours.

Maintain governance structures and processes.

10

Communicate how the Company is governed 
and is performing by maintaining a dialogue with 
shareholders and other relevant stakeholders.

The QCA’s Ten Principles of Corporate Governance

Deliver growth

The Board has collective responsibility for setting the strategic aims and 
objectives of the Group. 

These growth aims are articulated in the Chairman’s review and Executive 
Committee’s review in this Annual Report and on our website along with our 
business model. In the course of implementing these strategic aims, the Board 
takes into account the expectations of the Company’s shareholder base and 
also its wider stakeholder, environmental and social responsibilities.

The Board also has responsibility for the Group’s internal control and 
risk management systems and structures. Our risk management process 
is embedded into the business and starts at the Board and is delivered 
throughout the Group.

Maintain a dynamic management framework

As Chairman, I continually consider the operation of the Board as a whole  
and the performance of the Directors individually. 

During the last year, we have completely reconstituted our Board, which  
now has a new focus, momentum, diversity and relevant technology  
industry experience. 

It is fundamental to me as Chairman to see that the Board and its Committees 
adhere to best practices pursuant to the QCA Code. We challenge ourselves 
to ensure continuous improvement of our performance in this respect and to 
promote a corporate culture that is based on ethical values and behaviours. 

Responsibility for the overall leadership of the Group and setting the Group’s 
values and standards sits with the Board.

Build trust

During the year the Company has undertaken a number of investor relations 
activities. These include several investor roadshows and many investor 
meetings, participation at investor conferences and attending other events 
where investors have the opportunity to meet and talk to the Executive 
Directors and other members of the Board. Investors are actively encouraged 
to attend our AGM and each member of our Board see this as an important 
event in the annual calendar to meet and talk to shareholders.

During the year the Board has continued to review governance and the 
Group’s corporate governance framework. We reviewed our governance 
against the new QCA Code in July 2019 and will do so annually, as required 
by AIM Rule 26.

Tony Bromovsky
Executive Chairman

22 July 2019

TUNGSTEN CORPORATION PLC // ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 2019 Strategic reportGovernanceFinancial statements40

COMPOSITION AND INDEPENDENCE  
OF THE BOARD

The composition of the Board has been 
structured to ensure that no one individual 
can dominate its decision-making processes. 
Once the new Chief Executive joins the 
Company in September 2019, the Board 
will consist of six Directors: the Chairman 
(acting in an Executive capacity on an interim 
basis), two Executive Directors, and three 
Non-Executive Directors. All of the Non-
Executive Directors are considered by the 
Board, and regularly demonstrate, that they 
are independent. 

Details of each Director’s experience and 
background are given in their biographies on 
pages 36 to 37. The skill-set and experience 
of Board members is relevant for the current 
position of the Company and covers areas 
including finance, capital raising, financial 
services, banking, marketing, network 
platforms and general management. 

Appointments to the Board  
and re-election
The Board has delegated the tasks of 
reviewing Board composition, searching 
for appropriate candidates and making 
recommendations to the Board on candidates 
to be appointed as Directors to the 
Nomination Committee. Further details  
on the role of the Nomination Committee 
may be found on page 52.

With regard to re-election of Directors, 
the Company is governed by its Articles of 
Association (‘Articles’). Under the Articles,  
the Board has the power to appoint a 
Director during the year but any person 
so appointed must stand for election at 
the next Annual General Meeting. Andrew 
Doman, Vivian Maclachlan and our new Chief 
Executive Officer Andrew Lemonofides will 
therefore stand for election at the next AGM. 

At each Annual General Meeting,  
one-third (or the number nearest to one-
third) of the Directors must retire from  
office and, if willing, may offer themselves 
for re-election. David Williams will retire and 
stand for re-election at the next AGM. The 
Board considers that the Director offering 
himself for re-election continues to make a 
valuable contribution to the deliberations  
and continues to demonstrate commitment.

Division of responsibilities Chairman and 
Chief Executive
The division of responsibilities between the 
Chairman and Chief Executive have been 
agreed and approved by the Board.

A summary of the main responsibilities  
of each role is given below:

Role of the Chairman
•  Upholding the highest levels of integrity, 

probity and corporate governance 
throughout the Company, particularly  
at Board level

•  Chairing the Board meetings, setting 
the Board agenda and ensuring the 
Directors receive accurate, timely, and clear 
information to enable the Board to make 
sound decisions, monitor effectively and 
promote the success of the Company

•  Facilitating the effective contribution of 

and active engagement of all the Directors 
and ensuring constructive relationships 
between the Non-Executive Directors and 
the Executive Directors

•  Considering succession planning and 
ensuring the composition of the Board 
meets the needs of the business

•  Ensuring the appropriate balance is 
maintained between the interests of 
shareholders and other stakeholders

•  Ensuring the developmental needs  

of the Directors are identified and that 
these needs are met to enable Directors  
to update their skills and knowledge  
of the Group in order to carry out their 
duties as Directors

•  Ensuring the performance of the Board, 
Audit Committee and individual Directors 
are evaluated once a year and acting on 
the results of the evaluation

•  Ensure effective communication with 
shareholders and other stakeholders  
and ensure the Board is aware of the 
views of the shareholders

•  Chairing the AGM and other general 

meetings of the Company

Role of the Chief Executive
•  Running of the business of the Group 

within the authorities delegated to him  
by the Board

•  Ensuring implementation across the Group 
of the policies and strategy agreed by  
the Board

•  Leading the development of the Group’s 
future strategy, including identifying and 
assessing opportunities for the growth of 
its business, and putting in place the long-
term capital to support such development

•  Reviewing the performance of the 
businesses, managing and holding 
to account the Executive and senior 
management teams

•  Ensuring the Chairman is kept  

appraised in a timely manner of the  
issues facing the Group and of any  
events and developments

•  Ensuring the market and regulators are 

kept appraised in a timely manner of any 
material events and developments

•   Ensuring that all major transactions are 

conducted with the commercial interests of 
the Group at the forefront of negotiations, 
commensurate with the need to always 
treat customers fairly

Since February 2019, and pending the 
arrival of the new Chief Executive Officer in 
September 2019, the responsibilities of the 
Chief Executive have been divided between 
the Chairman, acting in an Executive capacity, 
and the Chief Financial Officer, acting as 
Interim Chief Executive Officer. 

Senior Independent Director
Duncan Goldie-Morrison is the Senior 
Independent Director (SID). The SID’s role is 
to act as a sounding board for the Chairman 
and serve as an intermediary for the other 
Directors when necessary. The SID will meet 
other Non-Executive Directors without the 
Chairman present at least once a year to 
appraise the Chairman’s performance, taking 
into account the views of Executive Directors. 

The SID is also available to shareholders 
should they wish to discuss concerns they 
have failed to resolve through the normal 
channels of Chairman, Chief Executive 
Officer or Executive Directors or for which 
such contact is inappropriate.

TUNGSTEN CORPORATION PLC // ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 2019GOVERNANCENon-Executive Directors
Each of the Non-Executive Directors has 
entered into a letter of appointment with the 
Company. The appointment of each of the 
Non-Executive Directors is stated to be for 
a fixed term, expiring after 12 months of the 
date of renewal or appointment. The Non-
Executive Directors’ letters of appointment 
set out the duties of the Director and 
commitment expected. They are expected 
to commit a reasonable and appropriate 
amount of time each year in order to fulfil 
their commitments to their role. Key elements 
of the Non-Executive Director’s role are to 
constructively challenge and help provide the 
Board with effective leadership in relation to 
the Company’s strategy, performance, risk 
and people management, and ensuring high 
standards of financial probity and corporate 
governance.

Development, information and support
The Directors are encouraged to attend 
training and continuing professional 
development courses as required. Updates 
are given to the Board on developments in 
governance and regulations at each Board 
meeting. Patrick Clark is the Company 
Secretary and supports the Chairman 
in ensuring that the Board receives the 
information and support it needs to carry out 
its roles. When Directors join the Board they 
receive an induction covering topics such 
as the operation of the Board, Directors’ 
responsibilities, insider dealing, AIM Rules 
and governance documents. Each Director 
also receives an induction pack including  
all of the key Company documents.

Conflicts of interest
Under the Articles, the Directors may 
authorise any actual or potential conflict  
of interest a Director may have and may 
impose any conditions on the Director that 
are felt to be appropriate. Directors are 
not able to vote in respect of any contract, 
arrangement or transaction in which they 
have a material interest and they are not 
counted in the quorum.

A process has been developed to identify  
any of the Directors’ potential or actual 
conflicts of interest. This includes declaring 
any new conflicts before the start of each 
Board meeting.

41

Nomination
Committee

–

–

1/1

0/0

–

0/0

1/1

0/0

0/0

1/1

Board meetings

  Nomination and

David Williams 
Rick Hurwitz1 
Tony Bromovsky2 
Andrew Doman3 
Duncan Goldie-Morrison4 
Vivienne Maclachlan5 
David Benello6 
Peter Kiernan7 
Nick Parker8 
Ian Wheeler9 

Board 

10/10 

9/9 

6/6 

1/1 

6/6 

0/1 

9/9 

6/7 

7/7 

9/9 

Audit   Remuneration  Remuneration 
Committee 

Committee 

Committee 

– 

– 

1/1 

– 

1/1 

– 

1/1 

1/1 

1/1 

– 

– 

– 

– 

– 

– 

– 

– 

3/3 

3/3 

3/3 

– 

– 

7/7 

1/2 

7/7 

2/2 

– 

0/0 

0/0 

0/0 

Notes:
1  Resigned on 13 February 2019.
2  Appointed as a Non-Executive Director on 22 August 2018. Appointed as Deputy Chairman on 21 September 
2018. Appointed as Chairman on 9 October 2018. Appointed as Executive Chairman on 13 February 2019.

3  Appointed on 12 December 2018.
4  Appointed on 22 August 2018.
5  Appointed on 8 February 2019.
6  Resigned on 12 December 2018.
7  Resigned on 31 October 2018.
8  Resigned on 31 October 2018.
9  Resigned on 12 December 2018.

Performance evaluation
The Chairman considers the operation  
of the Board and performance of the 
Directors on an ongoing basis as part 
of his duties and will bring any areas of 
improvement he considers are needed to the 
attention of the Board. Following the external 
Effectiveness Review in 2017, the Board has 
been following up on the recommendations 
from that process and implementing in 
particular improved governance around  
the conduct of Board and Committee 
meetings – implementing a new rolling 
calendar of Board and key Committee 
meetings, streamlining meetings agendas, 
improving the quality and timelines for 
delivery of Board and Committee papers 
and increasing discipline in the conduct of 
meetings. The Board has also actively taken 
forward the Reviews recommendations 
on diversity and succession planning for 
both the Board and senior management, 
with recent recruitment processes and 
appointments benefiting from such renewed 
focus. The Board will conduct a further 
internal review of its progress in the course 
of FY20. The Board also has in place a 
programme of assessments for individual 
Board members, with the Chairman 
responsible for Board members evaluations, 
and the SID responsible for evaluation  
of the Chairman. 

How the Board operates
The Board meets at regular intervals and 
the full Board met ten times during the year 
under review. Directors also have contact on 
a variety of issues between formal meetings. 
There is also regular contact with the  
Senior Management.

The Board has regular formal Board 
meetings, with a standing agenda focusing 
on key business and governance issues. 
During the year Board meetings have 
included presentations from Senior 
Management responsible for the various 
parts of the Tungsten Network business, 
giving the Board greater visibility and 
understanding over the Company’s  
business and the steps being taken  
to execute its strategy. 

An agenda and accompanying detailed 
papers; including reports from the Executive 
Directors and other members of senior 
management, are circulated to the Board in 
advance of each Board meeting. All Directors 
have direct access to senior management 
should they require additional information on 
any of the items to be discussed. A calendar 
of matters to be discussed at each meeting  
is prepared to ensure that all key issues  
are captured.

TUNGSTEN CORPORATION PLC // ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 2019 Strategic reportGovernanceFinancial statements 
 
 
 
 
42

COMPOSITION AND INDEPENDENCE  
OF THE BOARD CONT.

All Directors are expected to attend all 
meetings of the Board and any committees 
of which they are members, and to devote 
sufficient time to the Company’s affairs 
to fulfil their duties as Directors. Where 
Directors are unable to attend a meeting, 
they are encouraged to submit any 
comments on paper to be considered at 
the meeting to the Chairman in advance to 
ensure that their views are recorded and 
taken into account during the meeting.

Directors are encouraged to question and 
voice any concerns they may have on any 
topic put to the Board for debate. The 
Board is supported in its work by Board 
Committees, which are responsible for a 
variety of tasks delegated by the Board. 
There is also an Executive Committee 
composed of the CEO and CFO and 
representatives from senior management 
whose responsibilities are to implement the 
decisions of the Board and review the key 
business objectives and status of projects.

Attendance at Board and Committee 
meetings by the Directors is shown above 
In addition to the ten full Board meetings 
mentioned above, there were three ad hoc 
Board meetings to approve matters called 
at short notice and three Board Committee 
meetings to approve full and interim accounts 
and share option awards.

The main activities of the Board during 
the year
There are a number of standing and 
routine items included for review on each 
Board agenda. These include the CEO’s 
report and operations reports, financial 
reports, consideration of reports from the 
Board Committees, Governance, Risk and 
compliance and investor relations updates. 

In addition key areas put to the Board  
for consideration and review included:

•  Review and approval of the work  
of and proposals arising out of the 
operating review

•  Strategy presentations

•  Presentations from various parts  

of the business

•  Approval of Annual Report and Financial 

Statements

•  Review of Budget and Business Plan

•  Review and approval of new  

remuneration plan

•  Going concern and cash flow

•  Briefings and review of conflicts of interest

•  Review of AGM business

The Board Committees
There are three Board Committees, the Audit 
Committee, the Remuneration Committee 
and the Nomination Committee. Following the 
recommendation of an external effectiveness 
review in 2017, separate Remuneration 
and Nomination Committees were created 
in September 2018, having previously 
been combined into one Nomination and 
Remuneration Committee. The Audit 
Committee is composed of three Non-
Executive Directors. The Remuneration 
Committee is composed of the Chairman 
and three Non-Executive Directors. The 
Nomination Committee is composed of the 
Chairman and two Non-Executive Directors.

Each Board Committee has approved Terms 
of Reference setting out their responsibilities. 
The Terms of Reference were approved 
and reviewed by the Board during the year 
and are available on the Company’s website 
www.tungsten-network.com. Details of the 
operation of the Board Committees are set 
out in their respective reports below.  
All of the Board Committees are authorised 
to obtain, at the Company’s expense, 
professional advice on any matter within  
their Terms of Reference and to have access 
to sufficient resources in order to carry out 
their duties.

External Advisers
The Board seeks advice on various matters 
from its Nomad, Panmure Gordon & Co, 
its brokers and corporate finance advisers, 
Canaccord Genuity, its lawyers, Ashurst LLP, 
Shepherd and Wedderburn LLP and Memery 
Crystal LLP and remuneration advisers Aon 
Hewitt Limited. 

Accountability
The Company has in place a system of 
internal financial controls commensurate 
with its current size and activities, which is 
designed to ensure that the possibility of 
misstatement or loss is kept to a minimum. 
These procedures include the preparation 
of management accounts, forecast variance 
analysis and other ad-hoc reports. There are 
clearly defined authority limits throughout 
the Group, including those matters that are 
reserved specifically for the Board. 

Risks throughout the Group are considered 
and reviewed on a regular basis. Risks 
are identified and mitigating actions put 
into place as appropriate. Principal risks 
identified are set out in the Strategic report 
on pages 30 to 35. Internal control and risk 
management procedures can only provide 
reasonable and not absolute assurance 
against material misstatement. The internal 
control procedures were in place throughout 
the financial year and up to the date of 
approval of this report.

Financial and business reporting
The Board seeks to present a fair, balanced 
and understandable assessment of the 
Group’s position and prospects in all half-
year, final and any other ad-hoc reports and 
other information as may be required from 
time to time. The Board receives a number 
of reports, including those from the Audit 
Committee, to enable it to monitor and clearly 
understand the Group’s financial position.

A Disclosure Policy is in place to ensure 
that price-sensitive information is identified 
effectively and all communications with the 
market are released in accordance with 
expected time scales. The Board considers 
that this Annual Report and financial 
statements, 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.

TUNGSTEN CORPORATION PLC // ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 2019GOVERNANCE43

Shareholders
The Board is committed to maintaining 
regular and clear communication with its 
shareholders. The Board receives regular 
reports on investor relations matters. 
The Directors are keen to build a mutual 
understanding of objectives with its 
institutional shareholders and a regular 
dialogue with institutional investors has 
been maintained throughout the year. The 
Directors also encourage communications 
with private shareholders and encourage 
their participation in the Company’s Annual 
General Meeting. The Company uses its 
corporate website (www.tungsten-network.
com) to communicate with institutional 
shareholders and private investors. It contains 
the latest announcements, press releases, 
published financial information, current 
projects and other information about  
the Company.

The Annual Report and financial statements 
is a key communication document and is 
also available on the Company’s website. 
This year’s Annual General Meeting of the 
Company will be held on 19 September 
2019. The Notice of Annual General Meeting 
will be available on the Company’s website 
at www.tungsten-network.com. The Notice of 
Annual General Meeting will be sent out at 
least 21 days before the meeting. Separate 
resolutions are provided on each issue so 
that they can be given proper consideration.

Promotion of a corporate culture that is 
based on ethical values and behaviours
The Board recognises that a corporate 
culture based on sound ethical values 
and behaviours is an asset. The Company 
endeavours to conduct its business with 
integrity, in an ethical, professional and 
responsible manner, treating our employees, 
customers, suppliers and partners with 
courtesy and respect, the principles which  
are enshrined in the Company policies 
including its Code of Conduct and Business 
Ethics and Conduct Policy that apply to all 
employees in the Group.

The Group’s anti-corruption procedures state 
that the Company and its subsidiaries intend 
to conduct business in an honest and ethical 
manner. A zero-tolerance approach is taken 
to bribery and corruption and the Company 
is committed to acting professionally, fairly 
and with integrity in all its business dealings 
and relationships wherever it operates and 
to implementing and enforcing effective 
systems to counter bribery and corruption. 
The Company has a whistleblowing 
procedure under which staff may report any 
suspicion of fraud, financial irregularity or 
other malpractice to any Executive Director. 
An amended policy, recommended by the 
Audit Committee was adopted by the Board 
during the year.

The Directors follow Rule 21 of the AIM 
Rules relating to dealings by Directors in the 
Company’s securities, which is embodied in 
the Company’s share dealing code.

The Board intends to further develop  
its assessment of the recognition of 
corporate culture and ethical values during 
the year, and will enhance disclosures in 
these areas on our website and in our FY20 
Annual Report.

Modern slavery
We are committed to acting ethically and 
with integrity in all our business dealings 
and relationships and to implementing and 
enforcing effective systems and controls to 
ensure modern slavery is not taking place 
anywhere in our own business or in any 
of our supply chains, consistent with our 
obligations under the Modern Slavery Act 
2015. We expect the same high standards 
from all of our contractors, suppliers and 
other business partners. As part of our 
contracting processes, we expect our 
suppliers to comply with the Modern Slavery 
Act 2015. Our Modern Slavery Act statement 
is published on our website.

TUNGSTEN CORPORATION PLC // ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 2019 Strategic reportGovernanceFinancial statements44

AUDIT COMMITTEE  
REPORT

I am pleased to present the Audit Committee Report for the year ended 30 April 2019, which summarises our activities during the year,  
as well as setting out intended key areas of focus for FY20. 

During FY19, the Audit Committee was reconstituted following resignations and new appointments to the Board. With a relatively new Audit 
Committee in place, and with the Board undertaking the extensive Operating Review, our primary focus throughout the year has been to ensure 
the integrity and transparency of external financial reporting, and to assess the evolution of KPIs and reporting in light of the operating review. 
Additionally, we have spent a significant amount of time assessing the application of IFRS 15 “Revenue from Contracts with Customers,” as 
well as IFRS 9 “Financial Instruments”, both of which were applicable from 1 May 2018, as well as conducting a review of our risk management 
framework, risk appetite and our system of internal controls. 

Membership of the Committee and Meetings attended 
The Audit Committee solely comprises members who are independent Non-Executive Directors. Members’ skills and experience are 
documented on pages 36 to 37, with the Board concluding that they are satisfied that the Audit Committee has the required relevant  
and recent financial experience, with appropriate experience of the technology sector. 

Members during the year are as follows:

Vivienne Maclachlan (Chair – May 2019 onwards) 

Duncan Goldie-Morrison (Chair October 2018-May 2019)* 

Andrew Doman 

Peter Kiernan (Chair October 2013-October 2018) 

Nick Parker  

David Benello 

Scheduled meetings attended 

Member since

1/1 

2/2 

2/2 

1/1 

1/1 

1/1 

February 2019 – current

October 2018 – current

December 2018 – current

October 2013-October 2018

May 2015-October 2018

December 2015-December 2018

*  Duncan Goldie-Morrison served as Chair during the period October 2018 to May 2019 and remains a Committee member. 

By invitation, the meetings of the Audit Committee may be attended by the Executive Chairman, CEO, CFO and other members of the 
Executive Committee. PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, the external auditor, is also present at all of the Audit Committee meetings to ensure  
full communication of matters as they relate to external audit.  

The Audit Committee meets without management present before each full meeting. It also meets with the external auditors, without 
management present, for an open discussion about the audit process and relationship with management. It is important for the Audit 
Committee Chair to fully understand any topics of particular concern in order to facilitate meaningful dialogue during Committee meetings. 
To support this, Viv Maclachlan has met regularly, on a one-to-one basis, with the Chief Finance Officer and also meets with the Financial 
Controller and other members of senior management and the lead audit partner. The Company Secretary also attends all Audit Committee 
meetings at the invitation of the Chair. 

Role of the Audit Committee 
The Board has delegated to the Audit Committee responsibility for overseeing financial reporting, the review and assessment of the 
effectiveness of the internal control and risk management systems and maintaining an appropriate relationship with the external auditor.  
In order to fulfil these responsibilities, the Audit Committee’s duties include the following: 

•  Giving due consideration to applicable laws and regulations; 

•  Monitoring the integrity of the consolidated financial statements; 

•  Reviewing and challenging the application of accounting policies, including estimates and judgements made by management,  

and the clarity and completeness of disclosures; 

•  Overseeing the relationship with the external auditor, including a review of their independence; and 

•  Monitoring the effectiveness of the Company’s internal financial controls and risk management systems. 

Details of the roles and responsibilities can be found in the Audit Committee’s terms of reference on our website. 

TUNGSTEN CORPORATION PLC // ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 2019GOVERNANCE 
45

Principal activities of the Audit Committee in FY19

Meeting

July 2018

Area of focus

•  FY18 Annual Report and accounts – review focused on whether the report was fair, balanced and understandable

•  Going concern

•  Review of the impact of the application of IFRS 15 “Revenue from Contracts with Customers”

•  Review of internal controls and risk management processes

•  Review of principal risks and uncertainties

•  Assessment of compliance with the QCA Code

December 2018

•  Review of the interim financial statements and interim release

•  Presentation of the FY19 external audit plan, including review of non-audit services

•  Review of principal risks and uncertainties

•  Review of going concern 

Key matters considered in relation to the consolidated financial statements 
Prior to the year end Audit Committee meeting, management prepares a paper providing details of significant areas of accounting  
judgements or estimates, tax related matters, disclosure areas and other matters where relevant. The critical accounting estimates,  
judgements and disclosure areas are disclosed below. The external auditors reported to the Audit Committee any misstatements that  
they found in the course of their work and no material adjustments were required. 

After reviewing the presentations and reports from management and consulting where necessary the external auditors, the Audit Committee 
was satisfied that the consolidated financial statements appropriately addressed the critical judgements and key estimates in respect of both 
the amounts reported and disclosures.

Revenue recognition

Management’s assessment
IFRS 15 “Revenue from Contracts with Customers” has been applied from 1 May 2018 using the retrospective approach. Therefore, 
accounting policies and critical estimates and judgements have been reassessed and updated accordingly.

In applying IFRS, the Group reviewed the terms and conditions of contracts of Buyers and Suppliers and new customers and ongoing 
customer relationships. The assessment centred on identifying each performance obligation under the contract, assessment of the 
transaction price and where relevant, to allocate the transaction price to each performance obligation. 

Following this review of contracts, management has concluded that there are four performance obligations as detailed below:

•  Initial Set-up services 

•  Periodic right to use the Tungsten Network platform 

•  Support services 

•  Transaction fees 

The key judgements are as follows:

•  Identification of performance obligations

•  Allocation of transaction prices to each performance obligation

The revenue recognition accounting policy is detailed in note 2 of the consolidated financial statements and the relevant critical accounting 
estimates and judgements are detailed in note 3. 

Audit Committee’s response
The Audit Committee has reviewed management’s analysis of IFRS 15 in detail, discussing the assessment samples and conclusions 
reached with the external auditor. The Audit Committee is satisfied with the conclusions made in respect of the identification of performance 
obligations and the assessment of transaction prices for the various performance obligations and the timing of recognition. In addition to this, 
the Audit Committee is satisfied that the disclosure in the consolidated financial statements is appropriate and the Group has applied the 
standard appropriately. 

TUNGSTEN CORPORATION PLC // ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 2019 Strategic reportGovernanceFinancial statements 
46

AUDIT COMMITTEE  
REPORT CONT.

IFRS 9 Financial Instruments

Management’s assessment
IFRS 9 “Financial Instruments” has been applied from 1 May 2018 using the retrospective approach. Therefore, accounting policies  
and critical estimates and judgements have been reassessed and updated accordingly.

Review of impairment assessment for trade receivables
Pursuant to IFRS 9, the Group is required to assess the impairment of financial assets based on expected credit losses rather than losses 
incurred.

The expected credit losses on these financial assets are estimated from the initial recognition of the asset at each reporting date, using as 
a reference the past experience of the credit losses, adjusted for factors that are specific to the debtors or groups of debtors, the general 
economic conditions and an assessment of both, the current management and the forecast of future conditions.

On 1 May 2018, the Group reassessed its trade receivables impairment model in accordance with the guidelines. The Group concluded 
that the trade receivables impairment assessment process was appropriate and aligned with IFRS 9. Therefore, no revision to the trade 
receivables impairment loss assessment process is required and there is no impact to the financial statements in FY18 and FY19 from the 
adoption of IFRS 9 in relation to the impairment assessment of trade receivables.

Review of impairment assessment for intercompany receivables
Pursuant to IFRS 9, the Group is required to assess intercompany receivables for impairment based on the process below:

1: Is the intercompany receivable in the scope of IFRS 9 and the amount is repayable on demand?
Assessment: Intercompany receivables are within the scope of IFRS 9 and are repayable on demand.

2: Measurement of the impairment 
The borrowers within the Group have insufficient accessible highly liquid assets in order to repay the lenders if demanded on the reporting 
date, i.e. 30 April 2019. The lenders within the Group are therefore consider the expected manner of recovery to measure the expected credit 
losses as follows:

a) Amounts due by TNF to the Group
The Group announced in a trading update on 30 April 2019 the decision to divest Tungsten Network Finance (‘TNF’). The divestment is 
expected to be completed prior to October 2019. The recoverable amount due from TNF is considered unlikely to be collectible and the 
Group has decided to impair the following total outstanding of £26.44 million as at 30 April 2019:

•  Due to Corp plc – £22.91 million

•  Due to TN UK – £1.98 million

•  Due to TN Inc – £1.55 million

This impairment has no impact on the consolidated financial statements of Tungsten Corporation plc.

b) Other Intercompany receivables 
The lenders within the Group have decided and approved the repayment of intercompany balances over a time period of between three  
to nine years, subject to the expected liquidity of net current assets. The lenders within the Group are confident of the future performance  
of the borrowers. The lenders will continue to monitor closely and review repayment periods as and when required.

On this basis, with the adoption of IFRS 9, there is no impairment required for other intercompany receivables balance at the reporting date.

Audit Committee’s response
The Committee has reviewed management’s analysis of IFRS 9, specifically focused on the impact on intercompany balances  
and investments. The Committee is satisfied with the conclusions made in respect of the application of this standard.

TUNGSTEN CORPORATION PLC // ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 2019GOVERNANCE47

Capitalised internal development costs

Management’s assessment 
The Group continues to invest a substantial effort in the ongoing development of the Tungsten Network platform, although this has 
decreased in FY19 in comparison to the previous year. During FY19 11 projects had capitalised effort, £7.9 million was transferred  
from assets under construction to amortised software assets. 

Judgement is required in relation to whether the development is substantially new in either design or functionality and whether it is 
commercially viable in the open market. Therefore, management assess the likelihood of capitalisation of such costs prior to initiation of  
the investment project and also perform quarterly assessments of the development work that has been undertaken to determine if it meets 
the criteria set out in IAS 38 for capitalisation. Research and product development expenditure incurred on projects where commercial viability 
or demonstrable benefit is no longer assured is written off immediately. During FY19, £2.2million in relation to Project Belfast – the mapping 
of data to point OBI (the Group’s in-house Customer Relations Management team) and customer portal to Salesforce – has been written off. 

Audit Committee’s response 
The Committee reviewed and discussed with management and the external auditor as to (i) whether development costs met the 
capitalisation criteria under IAS 38, (ii) where development costs had been capitalised in relation to ongoing projects, that these  
were in relation to commercially viable projects and therefore remained on balance sheet and (iii) were satisfied that all other  
expenditure, with the exception to those projects capitalised, should be expensed. 

The Committee has reviewed and is satisfied with judgements applied by management in determining the value of the costs relating  
to the 11 projects that have been capitalised in FY19. These judgements have also been discussed with the external auditor. 

Alternative performance measures (“APMs”) and presentations not specifically defined by IFRS 

Management’s assessment 
The Group uses EBITDA, adjusted for certain items including exceptional items, which are not specifically defined by IFRS, to show 
the impact on earnings after items such as share based compensation, restructuring and other costs. Adjusting for exceptional items is 
judgemental in nature as there is no definition under IFRS. 

Additionally management have presented certain measures, including revenue and EBITDA, excluding the results of operations of TNF as 
the Group announced their intention to dispose of this segment as of 30 April 2019, although it does not meet the requirements of IFRS 5 
in order to present it as an asset held for disposal.

These measures are used by management as they believe they present a better understanding of the Group’s underlying performance.  
Such APMs are defined and reconciled to the nearest IFRS measure on the face of the income statement 

Audit Committee’s response 
The Audit Committee considered the presentations made in light of the guidance provided by the European Securities and Markets  
authority and is satisfied that the measures presented continue to be appropriately adjusted and disclosed as non-GAAP measures.  
The Audit Committee is satisfied that the non-GAAP measures were not given undue prominence and that the reconciliations provided  
were presented in a clear manner. 

Impairment of goodwill

Management’s assessment
Goodwill of £101.8 million was recorded on the acquisition of OB10 in 2013 and DocuSphere in 2014. The goodwill balance is reviewed 
annually for impairment based on an estimated value-in-use of the Group. The key assumptions were WACC, revenue growth, cost inflation 
and taxation rate. The base case was then sensitised for each of these assumptions. The headroom has increased from the prior year, as a 
result improvements in actual and expected performance and management has concluded that there should be no impairment recognised.

Audit Committee’s response
The Audit Committee have considered the key assumptions, including sales targets, the WACC applied and downside sensitivities to both 
the revenue and cost base and are satisfied that there is appropriate headroom under both base and downside case. The Audit Committee 
is also satisfied that the disclosure is sufficient to provide information on the assumptions and headroom available. This has been discussed 
with the external auditor.

TUNGSTEN CORPORATION PLC // ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 2019 Strategic reportGovernanceFinancial statements48

AUDIT COMMITTEE  
REPORT CONT.

Going concern

Management’s assessment 
The Directors must satisfy themselves that the going-concern assumption is appropriate.

Having assessed the future prospects of the Group and taken into account the principal risks, the Directors considered it appropriate  
to adopt the going concern basis of accounting in preparing its consolidated financial statements.

Audit Committee’s response 
The Audit Committee reviewed management’s summary budget and forecasts, including an overview of the assumptions made in the 
preparation of the FY20 the budget supporting the going concern assessment. This included the Group’s FY20 budget and also roll-forward 
to FY21. The Audit Committee discussed, and challenged as appropriate, before agreeing with the reasonableness of the assessment.

The Audit Committee assessed this in light of the principal risks and uncertainties as disclosed on pages 30 to 35 in the Strategic Report. The 
Audit Committee discussed and robustly challenged the downside scenarios modelled as part of the assessment as disclosed on page 88, the 
funding available and the feasibility of mitigating actions and the speed of implementation of any cost-saving measures following management 
decision-making. Following this evaluation and analysis, the Audit Committee is satisfied with the judgements and that the adoption of the 
going-concern basis is appropriate. 

Newly applicable accounting standards

Management’s assessment
Management has carried out an assessment of newly issued accounting standards applicable from 1 May 2019, with IFRS 16 “Leases” 
identified as the potentially significant new standard to be applied. Management intends to implement IFRS 16 using the “cumulative catch 
up approach” and as if IFRS 16 had been applied since the commencement date of the relevant lease. 

In assessing the impact of IFRS 16, management has assessed each of the lease contracts the Group has in place as at 30 April 2019  
to determine whether or not each contract meets the definition of a lease under IFRS 16. In those instances where management consider 
the definition has been met, and the Group is the lessee, management have determined both the value of the “Lease Liability” and the  
“Right of Use” Asset that will need to be recognised in the statement of financial position as at 1 May 2019. In carrying out these 
calculations, management has made judgements about certain parameters including the discount rate and in certain cases if there  
is reasonable certainty that a break clause will be exercised or not. 

Management have also separately assessed the terms and conditions of any lease contracts it has whereby the Group is the lessor. 

As set out in note 2 of the consolidated financial statements, the impact management expects the adoption of IFRS 16 to have on the 
statement of financial position as at 1 May 2019 is: 

•  An increase in liabilities of £5.6 million, representing the lease liabilities the Group holds;

•  An increase in assets of £5.6 million, representing the right-of-use assets the Group holds; and 

•  A reduction in opening retained earnings of £0.5 million. 

As set out in note 2, the impact management expects the adoption of IFRS 16 would have had on operating profit and the statement  
of cash flows if IFRS 16 had been applied in the year ended 30 April 2019 is: 

•  Operating loss would have been £0.9 million lower;

•  Loss before tax would have been £0.1 million higher; and

•  Operating cashflows would have increased by £0.7 million. 

Audit Committee’s response 
The Audit Committee is satisfied with the explanations provided, the judgements and conclusions made and the disclosure in the 
consolidated financial statements. The Audit Committee has reviewed and discussed these judgements, explanations and conclusions  
with management and the external auditor. 

TUNGSTEN CORPORATION PLC // ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 2019GOVERNANCE49

Assessment of the Annual Report 
The Board has charged the Audit Committee with reviewing the contents of this FY19 Annual Report to assess whether, when taken as a 
whole, it is fair, balanced and understandable and provides the necessary information for shareholders to assess the consolidated position, 
performance, business model and strategy. As such, the Audit Committee has reviewed the contents of this FY19 Annual Report and when 
forming its opinion in respect of the above matters, the Audit Committee assessed the following: 

Fair 
•   Is the presentation or information complete based on materiality? 

•   Are the key messages in the narrative aligned with the financial statements and supported by KPIs? 

•   Are the KPIs appropriate based on the financial reporting and the outlook? 

Balanced 
•   Is the Strategic Report consistent with the financial reporting? 

•   Is there appropriate balance between financial measures under IFRS and adjusted measures not defined by IFRS, with the latter not having 

undue prominence? 

•   Are the key judgements and issues set out in this report consistent with the critical accounting estimates and judgements in the financial 

reporting and the significant issues set out in the report of the External Auditors? 

•   Are the principal risks and uncertainties set out in the Strategic Report aligned with the key risks set out in the report of the External Auditors? 

Understandable 
•   Are the important messages highlighted and presented consistently and prominently throughout this Annual Report? 

•   Are the messages written clearly, simply and transparently? 

•   Will a shareholder understand the market we operate in? 

•  And how we generate value? 

Following the Audit Committee’s review, the Directors confirm that the FY19 Annual Report, when taken as a whole, is fair, balanced and 
understandable and presents the information necessary for a shareholder to assess the Company’s position and performance, business model 
and strategy. 

Internal controls and risk management 
While the Board is ultimately responsible for the operation of an effective system of internal control and risk management appropriate to the 
business, the Audit Committee is responsible for reviewing the risk management systems and internal controls to ensure that they remain 
effective and that any identified weaknesses are appropriately dealt with. 

Overview of the internal control environment 
The following key elements comprise the internal control environment which has been designed to identify, evaluate and manage, rather than 
eliminate, the risks facing the Group and to ensure timely and accurate reporting of financial data. 

•   An appropriate organisational structure with clear lines of responsibility. 

•   A comprehensive process for the annual strategic and business planning process. 

•   Systems of control procedures and delegated authorities, beyond the Board Terms of Reference, which operate within defined guidelines and 

approval limits for capital and operating expenditure and other key business transactions and decisions. 

•   Procedures by which the Group’s consolidated financial information and statements are prepared, which identify and take into account 

changes to financial risks as a result of changes to operating models or commercial terms or new accounting standards and disclosures. 

•   Established policies and procedures setting out expected standards of business conduct, integrity and ethical standards which require all 

employees to adhere to legal and regulatory requirements in the area in which they do business. 

•   A finance function which has appropriate experience and qualifications, and which regularly assesses the financial impact of risks facing  

the Group. 

•   An appropriate and documented risk management process. 

TUNGSTEN CORPORATION PLC // ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 2019 Strategic reportGovernanceFinancial statements50

AUDIT COMMITTEE  
REPORT CONT.

Developments to the control environment in FY19
The most significant changes during FY19 relate to the following: 

(i)  the commencement of a project to enhance the Group’s end-to-end Order-To-Cash processes; and 

(ii) a new Operating Review team Committee at Board level including the development of business cases for new opportunities

Order-To-Cash processes
In the second half of FY19, the Company started work on assessing areas in its Order-To-Cash processes which could be changed or enhanced 
to make the processes more efficient or effective. 

Additional temporary credit control resource was recruited in order to reduce overdue receivables. Process improvements have been identified, 
and over the course of FY20 are expected to be implemented, which are expected to have an impact on the speed, and effectiveness  
of processes.

Operating review
In the second half of FY19, following Board changes, an Operating Review Committee was formed to oversee the new strategic direction of the 
Company, including review of investment business cases for new market opportunities and potential product investment development to access 
these market opportunities. 

The Operating Review Committee includes all Non-Executive Board members with relevant representation from the Executive Committee.  
This Committee does not have decision-making power but instead supports the Executive Chairmen and Interim CEO in delivering the strategic 
vision and a forum for robust debate to assist the Executive Chairman Interim CEO with input and recommendations to help run the business. 
This structure allows all departments or business units to be represented, will enable clearer personal accountability whilst also enabling more 
efficient decision-making at the top of the business. 

Review of effectiveness of the internal control environment 
The Audit Committee, on behalf of the Board, is responsible for reviewing the effectiveness of the internal control systems and the risk 
management process on an ongoing basis. The process of review has been operational throughout the year and through to the date of  
approval of this Annual Report. At each Audit Committee meeting, management reports any whistle-blowing activity, frauds identified and  
any other significant issues. The Audit Committee has neither identified, nor been informed of any failings or weaknesses that it has determined 
to be significant. 

In FY20, management has indicated to the Audit Committee that they will continue to focus on increased automation of controls,  
specifically in the area of revenue recognition and cash collection, and also to increase detective controls as increased reporting related  
to non-financial metrics are increased.

Risk management process 
In addition to management’s risk management process as highlighted on page 31 of this Annual Report, the Audit Committee has, and will 
continue to, review the risk register a minimum of twice-annually and assess the actions taken by management to manage and mitigate the 
risks. The Group’s principal risks and uncertainties are laid out on pages 30-35 in the Strategic Report. 

Independence and performance of the External Auditors
The Board has approved a policy which is intended to maintain the independence and objectivity of the External Auditors. The policy governs 
the provision of audit, audit-related services and non-audit services provided by the auditor. In summary this requires Committee approval  
for all projects with an expected cost in excess of £10,000. 

The Group’s auditors are PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, and were appointed as statutory auditor to the Group in 2012 for the period  
ended 30 April 2013. The lead audit partner is Brian Henderson, who has been in post for five years. 

There were non-audit fees of £328,000 paid to the Group’s auditors in FY19, other than for interim review services, relating to e-invoicing 
product assistance, tax compliance services and an ISAE 3402 review (2018: £543,000 in relation to the same services). Details of audit, 
audit-related fees and non-audit fees are included in note 8 to the consolidated financial statements. The external auditor is prohibited from 
providing internal audit services. No former employee of the external or internal audit providers is employed by the Group. PwC has confirmed 
its independence to the Audit Committee. 

Effectiveness of the External Auditor 
The Audit Committee has reviewed the quality of the audit plan and related reports for the FY19 audit and is satisfied with the quality of  
these documents. The Audit Committee has discussed the quality of the audit throughout the year and considered the performance of the 
external auditors, taking into account feedback from a survey targeted at various stakeholders across the business and the committee’s  
own assessment. The evaluation focused on: robustness of the audit process, quality of delivery, reporting and people and services. 

The Audit Committee has reviewed the independence of the external auditor and concluded that it complies with UK regulatory  
and professional requirements and that its objectivity is not compromised. 

TUNGSTEN CORPORATION PLC // ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 2019GOVERNANCE51

External Audit appointment and tender
The Audit Committee reviews and makes recommendations with regard to the reappointment of the external auditor. In making these 
recommendations, the Committee considers auditor effectiveness and independence, partner rotation and any other factors which may impact 
the external auditors’ reappointment. The current external auditors, PwC, have been auditors since 2012 and they require that the lead audit 
partner rotate every five years. As partner rotation is required for the FY20 reporting cycle and non-audit fees are significant, the Committee 
concluded in May 2019 that it was an appropriate time to undertake a competitive tender process for the financial period commencing  
1 May 2019, with the audit tender decision being made at the Board meeting in July 2019. 

The tendering process was led by a steering Committee chaired by the Chair of the Audit Committee with the aim of the steering Committee 
to recommend an audit firm who will provide the highest quality, most effective and efficient audit. Critical success factors included sector 
experience, cultural fit and geographical coverage, as well as the audit record of the lead partner and firm. 

In conducting the tender process, the Audit Committee followed the FRC’S guidance “Audit Tenders Notes on Best Practice (Feb 2017).” 
Having first assessed their ability to be independent, appropriate firms were invited to tender in May 2019. The tender process encompassed 
activities such as a data room, management interviews written proposals, tender presentations and a review process including score cards. 

Following a period of consideration and a recommendation from the Committee, the Board intends to appoint BDO LLP to become the Group’s 
external auditors and PwC will be stepping down. There are no contractual restrictions on the choice of external auditors and therefore a 
resolution proposing the appointment of BDO LLP as external auditors will be put to shareholders at the 2019 Annual General Meeting.

Performance of the Audit Committee 
As the Audit Committee was reconstituted during 2019, it is proposed that the performance of the Audit Committee will be assessed  
by way of an internal process in the fourth quarter of FY20. 

Focus for FY20
Moving into FY20, we will continue to discuss and give healthy challenge to management on their key judgements and estimates in relation 
to financial accounting and review and assess the performance of the business in line with the plan. We also look forward to supporting 
management as they further develop and enhance their IT systems, specifically in the area of billing, which will support the expected future 
growth of the business. 

Specifically, we will: 
•   Review the changes to the financial control environment as the billing system enhancements are implemented; 

•   Review the appropriateness of KPIs and timeliness of production of non-financial reporting metrics; and 

•   Continue to review risk management systems and IT security arrangements to ensure that they are appropriately robust to support  

the strategies of a high growth business. 

Viv Maclachlan
Chair of the Audit Committee 

22 July 2019 

TUNGSTEN CORPORATION PLC // ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 2019 Strategic reportGovernanceFinancial statements52

NOMINATION COMMITTEE  
REPORT

Members of the Nomination Committee 
The Committee consists of Non-Executive Directors.

Members during the year were as follows:

Name 

Tony Bromovsky (Chairman) 

Andrew Doman 

Vivienne Maclachlan 

David Benello 

Peter Kiernan (Chair until October 2018) 

Nick Parker 

Ian Wheeler 

Scheduled meetings attended 

Member since/until

1/1 

0/0 

0/0 

1/1 

0/01 
0/01 
1/11 

Appointed October 2018 – Current

Appointed December 2018 – Current

Appointed February 2019 – Current

Appointed October 2018 –  
Resigned December 2018

Resigned October 2018

Resigned October 2018

Resigned December 2018

1  Attended 3/3 Nomination and Remuneration Committee meetings prior to separation into Nomination Committee and Remuneration Committee in September 2018.

The Committee met on one (1) occasion in FY19. In addition, Nomination Committee business was also considered in the three (3) joint 
Nomination and Remuneration Committee meetings held prior to formal separation of the Committee into a Nomination Committee and 
Remuneration Committee in September 2018. 

Although only members of the Committee have the right to attend meetings, other individuals, such as the Chief Executive, Chief Finance Officer, 
Company Secretary and external advisers, may be invited to attend for all or part of any meeting.

Duties
The main duties of the Nomination Committee are set out in its Terms of Reference and include the following:

•  To keep under review the leadership needs of the organisation, both executive and non-executive, with a view to ensuring the continued ability 

of the organisation to compete effectively in the marketplace

•  To keep up to date and fully informed about strategic issues and commercial changes affecting the Company and the market in which  

it operates

•  To be responsible for identifying and nominating for the approval of the Board, candidates to fill Board vacancies as and when they arise

•  To formulate plans for succession for both Executive and Non-Executive Directors and in particular for the key roles of Chairman and  

Chief Executive

•  To assess the reappointment of any Non-Executive Director at the conclusion of their specified term of office having given due regard to their 

performance and ability to continue to contribute to the Board in light of the knowledge, skills and experience required

•  To assess the re-election by shareholders of any Director having due regard to their performance and ability to continue to contribute to the 

Board in light of the knowledge, skills and experience required and the need for progressive refreshing of the Board

The main activities of the Nomination Committee during the year, including activities conducted by the Nomination and Remuneration Committee 
before it was separated in September 2018:

•  Recruitment of new Non-Executive Directors

•  Recruitment of new Chief Executive Officer

•  Succession planning

•  Consideration of continuing training needs for Directors

•  Board balance and diversity discussions

•  Re-election of Directors at the AGM

•  Review of Terms of Reference

TUNGSTEN CORPORATION PLC // ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 2019GOVERNANCE 
 
53

Diversity
The Group has in place anti-discrimination policies and considers candidates for appointment or promotion at Board and senior management 
level from a wide pool from various backgrounds and not necessarily the more traditional routes. The Board believes that appointments to 
the Board should be made relative to a number of criteria, including diversity of gender, background and personal attributes, alongside the 
appropriate skill set, experience and expertise. All appointments take these criteria into account. We currently have a globally diverse Board  
and employees which reflects our global business.

Tony Bromovsky
Chair of the Nomination Committee

22 July 2019

TUNGSTEN CORPORATION PLC // ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 2019 Strategic reportGovernanceFinancial statements54

REMUNERATION COMMITTEE  
REPORT

Members of the Remuneration Committee 
The Committee consists of Non-Executive Directors:

Members during the year were as follows:

Name 

Scheduled meetings attended 

Member since/until

Duncan Goldie-Morrison (Chair since October 2018) 

Tony Bromovsky 

Andrew Doman 

Vivienne Maclachlan 

David Benello 

Peter Kiernan (Chair until October 2018) 

Nick Parker 

Ian Wheeler 

7/7 

7/7 

1/2 

2/2 

0/0 

0/01 
0/01 
0/01 

Appointed October 2018 – Current

Appointed October 2018 – Current

Appointed December 2018 – Current

Appointed February 2019 – Current

Appointed October 2018 –  
Resigned December 2018

Resigned October 2018

Resigned October 2018

Resigned December 2018

1  Attended 3/3 Nomination and Remuneration Committee meetings prior to separation into Nomination Committee and Remuneration Committee in September 2018.

The Committee usually meets at least four (4) times a year and at such other times during the year as is necessary to discharge its duties. 
During the course of FY19, the Remuneration Committee met on seven (7) occasions. In addition, Remuneration Committee business was also 
considered in the three (3) joint Nomination and Remuneration Committee meetings held prior to formal separation of the Committee into a 
Nomination Committee and Remuneration Committee in September 2018. 

Although only members of the Committee have the right to attend meetings, other individuals, such as the CEO, CFO, Head of HR and external 
advisers, may be invited to attend all or part of any meeting.

Duties
The main duties of the Remuneration Committee are set out in its Terms of Reference and include the following:

•  Setting the remuneration policy for the Executive Directors and the Company’s Chairman, including pension rights and compensation payments

•  In determining such policy, to take into account relevant legal and regulatory requirements, and the provisions and recommendations of the 

QCA Code, the QCA’s Remuneration Committee Guide and associated guidance

•  Recommending and monitoring the level and structure of remuneration for senior management

•  When setting the remuneration policy for Executive Directors, to review and have regard to pay and employment conditions across the Group

•  To review the appropriateness and relevance of the remuneration policy

•  To appoint and determine the terms of reference for any remuneration consultants who advise the Committee

•  To approve the design of and determine the targets for any schemes of performance-related remuneration and approve the total remuneration 

paid under such schemes

•  To review the design of all share incentive plans for approval by the Board

•  To determine the policy and scope of pension arrangements for Executive Directors and other designated senior executives

•  To oversee any major changes in employee benefits structure throughout the Group

The main activities of the Remuneration Committee during the year:
Following last year’s AGM, at which a majority of 60.46% of votes were cast against the resolution approving the Director’s Remuneration 
Report for the year ended 30 April 2018, the Board and the Remuneration Committee have been working to identify the shortcomings of the 
previous remuneration arrangements and to propose solutions which will encourage and reward the right behaviours and values and support 
the delivery of the Group’s strategy. As part of this process, the Board consulted widely with the largest shareholders and engaged the services 
of external remuneration advisers, Aon Hewitt Limited.

The new remuneration plan, aligned with advice provided by the external remuneration advisers and feedback from shareholders, has now  
been approved by both the Remuneration Committee and the Board and will apply from 1 May 2019. The new remuneration plan is designed 
to align with best practice under the QCA Code and for comparative companies generally and to align the Company with delivering shareholder 
value and is founded on defining clear targets and KPIs for every employee.

TUNGSTEN CORPORATION PLC // ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 2019GOVERNANCE 
 
55

The key aspects of the new remuneration plan are as follows:

(i)  Compensation and benefits packages for Board members and senior management to be aligned with the median benchmark  

for comparative AIM listed companies;

(ii)  A move away from the payment of bonuses to Executive Directors and senior employees paid wholly in cash, to a mix of cash and deferred 

bonus shares under the Company’s new Deferred Share Bonus Plan (the “DSBP”);

(iii)  The introduction of a new Long Term Incentive Plan (the “LTIP”) for Executive Directors and senior management, vesting after three years 

based on clearly defined performance criteria providing for stretch targets; 

With the introduction of the DSBP and the LTIP, the existing UK Share Option Scheme and US Stock Option Plan are intended to be retired,  
and it is expected that current option holders will be offered the opportunity to convert to deferred shares, based on a detailed formula.

Further details about the new remuneration plan are set out in pages 56 and 57 of the Directors Remuneration Report.

Other key activities included:

•  Consideration of Executive Directors’ and Executive Committee bonuses and criteria for 2019 and review performance objective outcomes

•  Review of Executive Directors’ remuneration

•  Preparation for review of total remuneration packages of the Executive Directors

•  Benchmarking of Non-Executive Director fees and recommending reduced, revised fee levels that were adopted by the Board  

and the Executive Directors 

•  Review of the Company’s expenses policy and presentation of a new updated policy that was adopted by the Board

•  Review of Terms of Reference

Duncan Goldie-Morrison
Chair of the Remuneration Committee

22 July 2019

TUNGSTEN CORPORATION PLC // ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 2019 Strategic reportGovernanceFinancial statements56

DIRECTORS’ REMUNERATION  
REPORT

The following disclosures are made to support the Board’s goals of working towards best practice governance standards as an AIM company 
and to promote transparency about how our Directors are rewarded.

The Remuneration Committee
The Board has delegated certain responsibilities for executive remuneration to the Remuneration Committee. Details of the Remuneration 
Committee, its remit and activities are set out on page 54.

The Remuneration Committee is, among other things, responsible for setting the remuneration policy for Executive Directors and the Chairman, 
and recommending and monitoring the level and structure of remuneration for senior management.

Remuneration policy
In FY19 the Remuneration Committee worked with the Executive benefits team and Aon Hewitt Limited to create a new Remuneration Plan  
for the Company that covers Executive Directors, Non-Executive Directors and employees in general.

In creating the new Remuneration Plan, the Board sought to implement best practice for AIM listed companies, and to ensure that benefits 
packages adhered to the median benchmarks for comparable companies. 

In formulating remuneration policy for the Executive Directors, the Remuneration Committee considers a number of factors designed to:

•   have regard to the Director’s experience and the nature and complexity of their work in order to pay a competitive salary, in line with 

comparable companies, that attracts and retains Directors of the highest quality;

•  reflect the Director’s personal performance as scored against quantifiable targets; and

•  link individual remuneration packages particularly equity awards, to the Group’s long-term performance and continued success of the Group 

through the award of annual bonuses and share-based incentive schemes.

The objective of the remuneration policy is to promote the long-term success of the Company, having regard to the views of shareholders  
and stakeholders.

The key elements of the new Remuneration Plan are as follows:

Base Salary

Base salary is reviewed annually by the Remuneration Committee.

Bonus

Base salaries for Executive Directors and other senior employees will be benchmarked and will be 
awarded in line with the median level for comparable companies.

The Remuneration Committee has agreed performance conditions for the annual bonuses of the 
Executive Directors based on the achievement of certain financial and operational KPIs. Each 
Executive Director has performance conditions relating to the profitable growth of the Group and the 
increase in volume of invoices processed by Tungsten Network. Each Executive Director has additional 
performance conditions relevant to their own areas of responsibility.

The new Remuneration Plan encourages a move from payment of bonuses 100% in cash to a mix of 
cash and deferred bonus shares under the Company’s new Deferred Bonus Share Plan (the “DSBP”). 

Bonuses for Executive Directors and Exco members for FY19 performance were awarded on the 
basis of 50% cash and 50% deferred bonus shares. 

The DSBP was adopted by the Board by resolution on 29 April 2019, the key points of which are:

•  Deferred bonus shares under the DSBP are typically two year vesting (50% after 12 months,  

100% after 24 months). For FY19 only, 100% of deferred bonus shares will vest after 12 months.

•  DSBP is targeted at Executive Directors and senior level employees.

•  Deferred bonus shares are awarded subject to performance over the period under assessment, 
though vesting of awarded deferred bonus shares is not subject to performance conditions.

•  Deferred bonus shares lapse if leave before vesting, subject to discretion for good leavers to receive 

on pro rated basis. Early vesting upon M&A and other corporate events.

•  Malus and clawback provisions apply.

•  Deferred bonus shares under the DSBP are structured as options with a nominal exercise price.

TUNGSTEN CORPORATION PLC // ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 2019GOVERNANCE57

LTIP

A new Long Term Incentive Plan (the “LTIP”) has been introduced to incentivise senior management 
and encourage retention. The LTIP is intended to replace awards under the Company’s existing  
UK Share Option Scheme and US Stock Option Plan (see pages 91 and 92 for further details of  
these schemes).

The LTIP was adopted by the Board by resolution on 29 April 2019, the key points of which are:

•  LTIPs are typically three-year cliff vesting subject to agreed performance criteria.

•  Performance criteria for LTIPs are to be assessed for each financial year under review, and will focus 
on revenue growth, EBITDA growth and increase in share price. KPI’s to be weighted and vesting 
subject to sliding scale of assessment.

•  LTIP is targeted at Executive Directors and Exco members.

•  LTIPs lapse if members leave before vesting, subject to discretion for good leavers to receive shares 

on a pro rated basis. Early vesting upon M&A and other corporate events.

•  Malus and clawback provisions apply.

•  LTIPs are structured as options with a nominal exercise price.

Other Benefits

A range of benefits may be provided including pension, private medical insurance, life assurance,  
long term disability insurance, general employee benefits and travel and related expenses.  
The Remuneration Committee also retains the discretion to offer additional benefits as appropriate, 
such as assistance with relocation, tax equalisation and overseas tax advisory fees.

Director Service agreements
Details of the Executive Director’s service agreements are set out below.

Director 

David Williams 

Date of contract 

18 July 20191 

Unexpired term 

Notice period  
by Company 

Rolling contract 

12 months 

Notice period
by Director

12 months

1  Updated service contract signed 18 July 2019. Mr Williams was appointed as CFO in March 2015.

The Executive Director may be put on gardening leave during their notice period, and the Company can elect to terminate their employment  
by making a payment in lieu of notice of up to the applicable notice period.

Employees’ pay
Employees’ pay and conditions across the Group are considered when reviewing remuneration policy for Executive Directors.

Non-Executive Directors
The remuneration payable to Non-Executive Directors (other than the Chairman) is decided by the Chairman and Executive Directors.

Fees are designed to ensure the Company attracts and retains high calibre individuals. They are reviewed on an annual basis and account  
is taken of the level of fees paid by other companies of a similar size and complexity. 

In November 2019, the Director fees for all Non-Executive Directors were benchmarked and adjusted in line with the median benchmark for 
comparable companies. This resulted in a reduction of the total amounts payable to Non-Executive Directors going forward (e.g. the base fee 
was reduced from £60,000 per annum to £42,000 per annum, with proportionate additional fees payable for the Senior Independent Director 
and Committee Chairs to reflect the additional responsibility and time commitments of such roles). 

Non-Executive Directors do not participate in any annual bonus, performance-related share or option awards or pension arrangements.  
The Company repays the reasonable expenses that Non-Executive Directors incur in carrying out their duties as Directors.

TUNGSTEN CORPORATION PLC // ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 2019 Strategic reportGovernanceFinancial statements 
 
 
58

DIRECTORS’ REMUNERATION  
REPORT CONT.

Terms of appointment
The terms of appointment for the Non-Executive Directors are shown below.

Director 

Tony Bromovsky 

Andrew Doman 

Duncan Goldie-Morrison 

Vivienne Maclachlan 

Date of letter of appointment 

Term 

21 September 2018 

27 February 2019 

21 September 2018 

8 February 2019 

12 months 

12 months 

12 months 

12 months 

Notice

N/A 

N/A

N/A

N/A

Annual remuneration report
The annual remuneration report sets out details of Directors’ remuneration payments during the year and information in respect of share 
awards and Directors’ shareholdings.

Directors’ remuneration table (audited)

Director 

Executive Directors 
Richard Hurwitz2 
David Williams 

Non-Executive Directors 
David Benello3 
Tony Bromovsky4 
Andrew Doman6 
Duncan Goldie-Morrison7 
Peter Kiernan8 
Vivienne Maclachlan9 
Nick Parker10 
Ian Wheeler11 

Base salary  Benefits in kind 
£’000 

£’000 

Annual
performance 
1
bonus 
£’000 

Pensions 
£’000 

Total 
FY2019 
£’000 

Adjusted1 total
FY2018
£’000

 364  

 210  

 37 
1005 
27 

42 

40  

9 

50 

36  

226 

1 

– 

– 

– 

– 

– 

– 

– 

– 

0 

55 

 –  

– 

– 

– 

– 

– 

– 

– 

36 

21  

 –  

– 

– 

– 

– 

– 

– 

– 

626 

287 

37 

100 

27 

42 

40 

9 

50 

36 

 1,174 

 261

65

–

–

–

80 

–

100

65 

Notes:
1  Unlike in last year’s Annual Report, where the bonuses reported for FY18 were those paid in the period in respect of performance in FY17, the figures above show the 

amounts paid, or accrued to be paid, in relation to performance in FY19. Totals for FY18 have therefore been adjusted accordingly. FY19 performance bonus will be paid 
50% in cash and 50% in shares under the DSBP, deferred for 12 months.

2  Resigned on 13 February 2019 so figures represent 9.5 months compared to the full year reported for FY18. Benefits in kind represent £209,000 expatriate costs 

(comprising £120,000 tax equalisation, £71,000 accommodation and £18,000 flights and travel) and £17,000 healthcare. This represents a reduction of £193,000 on the 
equivalent figures from FY18.
3  Resigned on 12 December 2018.
4  Appointed on 22 August 2018. 
5  FY19 fees include additional element in recognition of the additional responsibility assumed as Executive Chairman on an interim basis pending the appointment of the new 

Chief Executive Officer.

6  Appointed on 12 December 2018.
7  Appointed on 22 August 2018.
8  Resigned on 31 October 2018.
9  Appointed on 8 February 2019.
10  Resigned on 31 October 2018.
11  Resigned on 12 December 2018.

No payments for loss of office or other termination payments were made to any Director in FY19.

TUNGSTEN CORPORATION PLC // ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 2019GOVERNANCE 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
59

Share option schemes (audited) 

Awards held as at Director 

Rick Hurwitz1 

David Williams 

Number 
of options 
held as at 
 1 May 2018 

Awards 
granted 
during 
the year 

Date of grant 

Option price 

Awards 
exercised 
during 
the year 

Awards
lapsed
during  Balance as at 

Vesting and
the year  30 April 2019  exercise period

1,590,000 

400,000  26 July 2018 

52.56p 

Nil  1,051,2502 

938,7503  See below

630,000 

50,000  26 July 2018 

52.56p 

Nil 

Nil 

680,000  See below

1  Mr Hurwitz resigned from the Board with effect on 13 February 2019.
2  All unvested options lapsed upon Mr Hurwitz’s departure from the Company in February 2019.
3  Mr Hurwitz’s remaining vested options under the US Stock Option Plan lapsed on 14 May 2019. 

The Company’s UK Share Option Scheme and US Stock Option Plan, further described on pages 91 and 92, provides recipients with the 
ability to purchase vested options at the option grant price. Each option grant vests in four tranches over four years from date of grant and is 
exercisable for 10 years from date of grant. Share options are awarded in recognition of performance over the financial year under assessment.

It is intended that future awards will be made under the new LTIP and DSBP (as described above) rather than under the existing share  
option schemes.

Directors’ interests in the share capital of the Company (audited)

Director 

Executive Directors 

Richard Hurwitz 
David Williams1 
Non-Executive Directors 

David Benello 

Tony Bromovsky 

Andrew Doman 

Duncan Goldie-Morrison 

Peter Kiernan 

Vivienne Maclachlan 

Nick Parker 

Ian Wheeler 

1  Includes 3,200 shares held by his son.

Number of ordinary  
shares held on  
1 May 2018 

Acquired/disposed 
during the year 

Number of ordinary 
shares held on 
30 April 2019 

Percentage of issued
share capital is issue on
30 April 2019

714,000 

103,200 

250,000 

– 

– 

-- 

194,699 

– 

800,000 

– 

– 

147,055 

– 

219,339 

251,649 

219,339 

– 

– 

– 

– 

714,000 

250,255 

250,000 

219,339 

251,649 

219,339 

194,699 

– 

800,000 

– 

0.57%

0.20%

–

0.2%

0.17%

0.20%

0.17%

0.15%

–

0.63%

–

Founders LTIP Scheme
In FY2013, certain former Directors and other individuals acquired interests in the B ordinary shares (the ‘Founders LTIP Shares’) and  
C ordinary shares (the ‘Founders LTIP Securities’) of Tungsten Corporation Guernsey Limited, a subsidiary of the Company. 

The Founders LTIP Shares were all exchanged into ordinary shares of the Company as part of the admission process. 

The Founders LTIP Securities are exchangeable into ordinary shares of the Company once the price per ordinary share of the Company has 
reached (for any 20 trading days out of 30 successive trading days, the last of such days falling not less than five and not more than 10 years 
following admission) a closing price equal to the price resulting from applying an equivalent of a compound rate of return from the date of the 
admission to the adjusted issue price equal to 8.25% per annum accrued daily and compounded quarterly.

Following the resignation of Peter Kiernan from the Board on 31 October 2018, no current Directors of the Company hold or have any interest 
in any Founders LTIP Securities. Mr Kiernan held 72,915 Founders TIP Securities as at 30 April 2019.

This Director’s Remuneration Report will be put to an advisory vote at the forthcoming 2019 AGM.

Duncan Goldie-Morrison
Chairman of the Remuneration Committees

22 July 2019

TUNGSTEN CORPORATION PLC // ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 2019 Strategic reportGovernanceFinancial statements 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
60

DIRECTORS’ REPORT

The Directors of Tungsten Corporation Plc present their report and the audited consolidated financial statements for the year ended  
30 April 2019. Particulars of important events affecting the Company and its subsidiaries and likely future developments may be found  
in the strategic report on pages 30 to 35.

Directors
Biographical details of the Directors currently serving on the Board and their dates of appointment are set out on pages 36 and 37.

The Directors of the Company who were in office during the year and up to the date of signing the financial statements were:

Executive Directors 

David Williams 
Rick Hurwitz1 

Non-Executive Directors

Tony Bromovsky2
Andrew Doman3
Duncan Goldie-Morrison4
Vivienne Maclachlan5
David Benello6
Peter Kiernan7
Nick Parker8
Ian Wheeler9

Notes:
1  Resigned on 13 February 2019.
2  Appointed as a Non-Executive Director on 23 August 2018. Appointed as Deputy Chairman on 21 September 2018. Appointed as Chairman on 9 October 2018.  

Appointed as Executive Chairman on 13 February 2019.

3  Appointed on 12 December 2018.
4  Appointed on 22 August 2018.
5  Appointed on 8 February 2019.
6  Resigned on 12 December 2018.
7  Resigned on 31 October 2018.
8  Resigned on 31 October 2018.
9  Resigned on 12 December 2018.

The Company’s approach to the appointment and replacement of Directors is governed by its Articles of Association (together with relevant 
legislation) and takes into consideration any recommendations of the QCA Code.

Subject to any restrictions in its Articles of Association and the Companies Act 2006, the Directors may exercise any powers which are not 
reserved for exercise by the shareholders.

Results and Dividend
Results for the year ended 30 April 2019 are set out in the consolidated income statement on page 68. The Company has no distributable 
reserves to declare a dividend for the year ended 30 April 2019.

Change of Control/Significant Agreements
Should the Company be subject to a change of control, the following represents the likely effects on significant agreements: 

•  The LTIP Securities will become exchangeable into ordinary shares in Tungsten Corporation Plc, with a value equal to 15% of the increase  

in the actual market capitalisation of Tungsten Corporation Plc since admission, subject to:
1.   The value of Tungsten Corporation Plc having risen by over 8.25% per annum since admission (the ‘Threshold Price’); and
2a.  Where the change of control results from, or triggers, an offer to holders of the ordinary shares of the Company, that offer being at an 

equivalent price per ordinary share of the Company equal to (or greater than) the Threshold Price; or

2b.  Where the change of control results from, or in, the removal of either of Danny Truell or Edmund Truell (the Founders) from the Board  
of the Company, and the Threshold Price having been previously reached for any 20 trading days out of 30 successive trading days

Other than the above the Company does not have any agreements with any Non-Executive Director, Executive Director or employee requiring 
compensation for loss of office resulting from a change of control. 

Articles of Association
Any amendments to the Articles of Association of the Company may be made by Special Resolution of the shareholders.

TUNGSTEN CORPORATION PLC // ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 2019GOVERNANCE 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
61

Share capital
Details of the Company’s share capital are set out in Note 2 to the consolidated financial statements. The Company’s share capital consists 
of one class of ordinary shares that do not carry rights to fixed income. As at 30 April 2019, there were 126,088,147 ordinary shares of 
£0.00438p each in issue. Ordinary shareholders are entitled to receive notice and to attend and speak at general meetings.

Each shareholder present in person or by proxy (or by duly authorised corporate representatives) has, on a show of hands, one vote.  
On a poll, each shareholder present in person or by proxy has one vote for each share held.

Other than the general provisions of the Articles (and prevailing legislation) there are no specific restrictions of the size of a holding or on the 
transfer of the ordinary shares.

The Directors are not aware of any agreements between holders of the Company’s shares that may result in the restriction of the transfer  
of securities or on voting rights. No shareholder holds securities carrying any special rights or control over the Company’s share capital.

Authority to purchase own shares
The Company was authorised by shareholder resolution at the 2018 Annual General Meeting to purchase up to 10% of its issued share capital. 
A resolution will be proposed at the forthcoming Annual General Meeting and authority sought to purchase up to 10% of its issued share 
capital. Under this authority, any shares purchased must be held as treasury shares or, otherwise, cancelled resulting in a reduction  
of the Company’s issued share capital. 

No shares were purchased by the Company during the year.   

Directors’ Interests
The number of ordinary shares of the Company in which the Directors are beneficially interested at 30 April 2019 is set out in the Directors’ 
Remuneration Report on pages 56 to 59.

Director Indemnities and Insurance
In accordance with the Companies Act 2006 and the Company’s Articles of Association, the Company has purchased Directors’ and Officers’ 
Liability Insurance which remains in place at the date of this report. The Company reviews its insurance policies on an annual basis in order to 
satisfy itself that its level of cover remains adequate.

The Directors are also indemnified under the Articles of Association of the Company.

Significant shareholders
As at 15 July 2019, the latest practicable date prior to publication, Tungsten Corporation Plc is aware of the following holdings of significant 
shareholders in the Company (as defined in the AIM Rules). These figures are based on its most recent analysis of shareholders as at  
15 July 2019, and other notifications to the Company. For clarity, shareholdings are shown separately from holdings in financial instruments,  
where disclosed.

Odey Asset Management 
Mr Edmund Truell3 
Majedie Asset Management 

AXA Investment Management  
(Paris and London)5 
Artemis Investment Management 

Miton Asset Management 

Invesco Perpetual Asset Management 

Hadron Capital 

Herald Investment Management 

Shareholdings as at
15 July 2019 

Financial instruments notified  

Total

Shares 

% 

Number1 

% 

Holdings 

17,378,652 

16,483,199 

7,503,166 

7,502,621 

6,498,906 

5,334,722 

5,136,930 

4,328,457 

3,960,000 

13.78 

13.07 

5.95 

5.95 

5.15 

4.23 

4.07 

3.43 

3.14 

945,1542 
–4 
– 

– 

– 

– 

– 

– 

– 

0.75 

18,323,806 

– 

– 

– 

– 

– 

– 

– 

– 

16,483,199 

7,503,166 

7,502,621 

6,498,906 

5,334,722 

5,136,930 

4,328,457 

3,960,000 

%

14.53

13.07

5.95

5.95

5.15

4.23

4.07

3.43

3.14

1  Total voting rights, or share equivalent.
2  945,154 shares equivalent held via CFD’s, reported to the Company on 15 July 2019.
3  Edmund Truell’s holdings disclosed above represent both his direct and indirect holdings including investments via Disruptive Capital Investments Limited (“DCIL”). 
4  DCIL previously notified the Company of its interest in relation to 6,000,000 shares that are subject to a Loan Facility entered into with Equities First Holdings LLC (“EFH”) 
in October 2016 (“the Loan Shares”), as most recently reported to the Company on 19 April 2018. DCIL has notified the Company that it does not have voting rights in 
relation to the Loan Shares until such shares are returned to DCIL under the Loan Facility. The Loan Facility will mature on 11 January 2020, although can be terminated 
earlier in the event of a cash offer for the Company. 

5  AXA London shareholding 4,681,986 (3.71%), AXA Paris 2,820,635 (2.24%) holdings combined for purposes of this table.

TUNGSTEN CORPORATION PLC // ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 2019 Strategic reportGovernanceFinancial statements 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
62

DIRECTORS’ REPORT
CONT.

Financial risk management
The Company’s objectives and policies on financial risk management including information on the exposure of the Company to credit risks, 
liquidity risks and capital management risks are set out in Note 2 to the financial statements and in the managing Group Principal Risks and 
Uncertainties Section on pages 30 to 35.

Political donations
The Company has made no political donations during the year.

Going concern statement
The Group going concern assessment is based on forecasts and projections of anticipated trading performance. The assumptions applied are 
subjective and management applies judgement in estimating the probability, timing and value of underlying cash flows. 

The Directors confirm that they have a reasonable expectation that the Group will have adequate resources to continue in operational existence 
for the next 12 months from approval of these financial statements and accordingly these financial statements are prepared on a going 
concern basis.

Independent Auditors
The Board intends to appoint BDO LLP to become the Group’s external auditors and Pricewaterhouse Coopers LLP will be stepping down. 
There are no contractual restrictions on the choice of external auditors and therefore a resolution proposing the appointment of BDO LLP  
as external auditors will be put to shareholders at the 2019 Annual General Meeting. 

Annual General Meeting
The Company’s Annual General Meeting will be held at 10am on 19 September 2019 at the office of Canaccord Genuity Limited at  
88 Wood Street, London EC2V 7QR. Details of the venue and the resolutions to be proposed are set out in a separate Notice of Meeting  
which accompanies this report.

This report was approved by the Board of Directors of Tungsten Corporation Plc and signed by order of the Board:

Patrick Clark
General Counsel and Company Secretary 

22 July 2019

TUNGSTEN CORPORATION PLC // ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 2019GOVERNANCE63

STATEMENT OF DIRECTORS’ 
RESPONSIBILITIES 

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

Company law requires the Directors to prepare financial statements for each financial year. Under that law the Directors have prepared the 
Group financial statements in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRSs) as adopted by the European Union and 
parent company financial statements in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRSs) as adopted by the European 
Union. Under company law the Directors must not approve the financial statements unless they are satisfied that they give a true and fair view 
of the state of affairs of the Group and parent company and of the profit or loss of the Group and parent company for that period. In preparing 
the financial statements, the Directors are required to:

•  select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently;

•  make judgements and accounting estimates that are reasonable and prudent; 

•  state whether applicable IFRSs as adopted by the European Union have been followed for the Group and parent company, subject to any 

material departures disclosed and explained in the financial statements; and

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

continue in business.

The Directors are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the Group and parent company and hence for taking reasonable steps for the 
prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.

The Directors are responsible for keeping adequate accounting records that are sufficient to show and explain the Group and parent company’s 
transactions and disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the Group and parent company and enable them  
to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Companies Act 2006 and, as regards the Group financial statements, Article 4 of the 
IAS Regulation.

The Directors are responsible for the maintenance and integrity of the parent company’s website. Legislation in the United Kingdom governing 
the preparation and dissemination of financial statements may differ from legislation in other jurisdictions.

Directors’ confirmations
In the case of each Director in office at the date the Directors’ report is approved:

•  so far as the Director is aware, there is no relevant audit information of which the Group and parent company’s auditors are unaware; and

•  they have taken all the steps that they ought to have taken as a Director in order to make themselves aware of any relevant audit information 

and to establish that the Group and parent company’s auditors are aware of that information. 

The Directors’ report was approved by a duly authorised Committee of the Board of Directors on 22 July 2019 and signed on its behalf by:

Patrick Clark
General Counsel and Company Secretary

22 July 2019

TUNGSTEN CORPORATION PLC // ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 2019 Strategic reportGovernanceFinancial statements64

INDEPENDENT AUDITORS’ REPORT TO  
THE MEMBERS OF TUNGSTEN CORPORATION PLC

Report on the audit of the financial statements
Opinion
In our opinion, Tungsten Corporation plc’s group financial statements and parent company financial statements (the “financial statements”):

•  give a true and fair view of the state of the group’s and of the parent company’s affairs as at 30 April 2019 and of the group’s loss and the 

group’s and the parent company’s cash flows for the year then ended;

•  have been properly prepared in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRSs) as adopted by the European Union and, 

as regards the parent company’s financial statements, as applied in accordance with the provisions of the Companies Act 2006; and

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

We have audited the financial statements, included within the Annual report and financial statements (the “Annual Report”), which comprise:  
the Consolidated statement of financial position and Parent Company balance sheet as at 30 April 2019; the Consolidated income statement 
and Consolidated statement of comprehensive income, the Consolidated and Parent Company statements of cash flows, and the Consolidated 
and Parent Company statements of changes in equity for the year then ended; and the notes to the financial statements, which include  
a description of the significant accounting policies.

Basis for opinion
We conducted our audit in accordance with International Standards on Auditing (UK) (“ISAs (UK)”) and applicable law. Our responsibilities 
under ISAs (UK) are further described in the Auditors’ responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements section of our report. We believe 
that the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion.

Independence
We remained independent of the group in accordance with the ethical requirements that are relevant to our audit of the financial statements  
in the UK, which includes the FRC’s Ethical Standard, as applicable to listed entities, and we have fulfilled our other ethical responsibilities  
in accordance with these requirements.

Our audit approach
Overview

Materiality

•  Overall group materiality: £474,000 (2018: £727,500), based on 5% of 3 years’ average loss before tax from 

continuing operations.

•  Overall parent company materiality: £426,000 (2018: £660,500), based on 1% of total assets.

Audit scope

•  Five financially significant components audited by one central team in London. 

•  Obtained 91% coverage over the revenue balance.

•  Obtained 100% coverage over the goodwill balance.

Key audit matters

•  Impairment of goodwill and indefinite life intangible assets (Group).

•  Impairment of investments in subsidiaries (Parent).

The scope of our audit
As part of designing our audit, we determined materiality and assessed the risks of material misstatement in the financial statements.  
In particular, we looked at where the directors made subjective judgements, for example in respect of significant accounting estimates that 
involved making assumptions and considering future events that are inherently uncertain. As in all of our audits we also addressed the risk  
of management override of internal controls, including evaluating whether there was evidence of bias by the directors that represented a risk  
of material misstatement due to fraud.

TUNGSTEN CORPORATION PLC // ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 2019FINANCIAL STATEMENTS65

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

Key audit matter

How our audit addressed the key audit matter

Impairment of goodwill and indefinite life intangible 
assets (Group)
As stated in note 12 to the consolidated financial 
statements, management has estimated the recoverable 
amount of the Tungsten Network Cash Generating Unit 
(CGU) using a value-in-use model by projecting cash 
flows for the next five years together with a terminal 
value using a growth rate into perpetuity. 

The total amount of goodwill and indefinite life 
intangible assets on the Group balance sheet  
as at 30 April 2019 is £120.8m. 

Although the trading performance of the Group has 
improved during the year ended 30 April 2019, and the 
share price increased in the final quarter, the market 
capitalisation was still significantly lower than the net 
assets of the Group at the year end. 

The directors’ annual impairment assessment  
took these factors into account, and concluded that 
there was headroom over the carrying value. The key 
assumptions in this assessment included the forecast 
future revenue growth, the discount rate, the perpetuity 
growth rate, corporate overheads allocated and  
cost growth.

Accordingly there is a significant risk that the goodwill 
and indefinite life intangible assets balance is not 
supported by the future cash flows of the business.

Impairment of investments in subsidiaries (Parent) 
IAS 36 Impairment of assets requires management  
to consider whether there are any indicators of 
impairment at the year end.

The parent company holds investments in a number 
of UK and overseas subsidiaries with a total carrying 
amount of £127.0m as at 30 April 2019, subsequent  
to an impairment charge of £35.0m. 

An impairment has been recognised as the Value In 
Use (VIU) model used to compute the present value of 
forecast future cash flows did not support the carrying 
value of investments.

We consider this a key audit matter given the size 
of the balance, the low market capitalisation of the 
Group and the significant judgements and estimates 
involved to determine whether the carrying value of the 
investments is appropriate.

Our audit procedures comprised the following:

•  Tested that the methodology built into the model produced by management 
to assess impairment addressed the requirements of the financial reporting 
framework, and re-performed management’s calculations;

•  Evaluated the accuracy of prior years’ forecasts in light of past performance 

and actual results achieved to assess the quality and reliability of management’s 
forecasts for the Tungsten Network CGU;

•  Agreed information, in particular forecast financial information, to budgets and 

forecasts approved by senior management and to sales pipelines; 

•  Used a valuations expert to assess the appropriateness of the discount rate 

assumption; and

•  Challenged management over the reasonableness of the key assumptions 

inherent in the model and performed sensitivity around these, being:

– the revenue growth rate for the first five years;
– perpetuity growth rate;
– the cost growth rate for the first five years;
– the allocation of corporate overheads; and
– the discount rate.

Having ascertained the extent of change in those assumptions that either 
individually or collectively would be required for the goodwill to be impaired  
for the CGU, we considered the likelihood of such a movement in those key 
assumptions arising.

We did not identify any issues with management’s key assumptions based on 
our evaluation of supporting evidence, together with management’s and our own 
sensitivity analysis performed.

We also considered the appropriateness of the related disclosures in note 12  
to the financial statements. We found that the disclosures appropriately describe 
the key judgements and sensitivities included in the directors’ assessment.

We obtained management’s impairment of investments in subsidiaries assessment 
with supporting computations and:

•  Verified that the inputs to the assessment were mathematically accurate. 

•  Agreed the value in use of the Tungsten Network CGU to the testing performed 
as detailed in the ‘Impairment of goodwill and indefinite life intangible assets’ 
Key Audit Matter above.

•  Considered the intercompany receivables balance owed by the Tungsten 

Network CGU to Tungsten Corporation plc and assessed the recoverability  
of these in accordance with IFRS 9.

•  Compared the aggregate carrying value of the investment and the intercompany 
receivables to the value in use of the Tungsten Network CGU and confirmed 
that the shortfall agrees to the impairment recognised. 

Based on the work done, we concur with management’s assessment.

TUNGSTEN CORPORATION PLC // ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 2019 Strategic reportGovernanceFinancial statements 
66

INDEPENDENT AUDITORS’ REPORT TO  
THE MEMBERS OF TUNGSTEN CORPORATION PLC CONT.

How we tailored the audit scope
We tailored the scope of our audit to ensure that we performed enough work to be able to give an opinion on the financial statements  
as a whole, taking into account the structure of the group and the parent company, the accounting processes and controls, and the industry  
in which they operate.

The Group has three segments being Tungsten Network, Tungsten Network Finance and Corporate. Tungsten Network operates from  
the UK, US, Malaysia and other European countries. There are five financially significant components being: Tungsten Corporation plc (UK), 
Tungsten Network Limited (UK), Tungsten Network Finance Limited (UK) and Tungsten Network Inc. (US), together with the consolidation 
adjustments which we considered to be a significant component as they are included as a separate component in the Group consolidation.  
The determination of our scoping was based upon obtaining sufficient coverage of each financial statement line item, which varies depending 
on the risk assessment. All of the work was performed by the Group engagement team.

Materiality
The scope of our audit was influenced by our application of materiality. We set certain quantitative thresholds for materiality. These, together 
with qualitative considerations, helped us to determine the scope of our audit and the nature, timing and extent of our audit procedures on the 
individual financial statement line items and disclosures and in evaluating the effect of misstatements, both individually and in aggregate on the 
financial statements as a whole. 

Based on our professional judgement, we determined materiality for the financial statements as a whole as follows:

Overall materiality

How we determined it

Rationale for benchmark applied

Group financial statements

Parent company financial statements

£474,000 (2018: £727,500).

£426,000 (2018: £660,500).

5% of 3 years’ average loss before tax 
from continuing operations.

1% of total assets.

A 3 year average loss before tax from 
continuing operations is a generally 
accepted auditing benchmark and accounts 
for the fluctuating losses of the Group year 
on year.

The parent company is a holding company 
for the Group and does not trade, therefore 
total assets is considered the most 
applicable benchmark and is a generally 
accepted auditing benchmark.

For each component in the scope of our group audit, we allocated a materiality that is less than our overall group materiality. The range of 
materiality allocated across components was between £265,000 and £450,000. Certain components were audited to a local statutory audit 
materiality that was also less than our overall group materiality.

We agreed with the Audit Committee that we would report to them misstatements identified during our audit above £23,700 (Group audit) 
(2018: £36,300) and £21,300 (Parent company audit) (2018: £33,000) as well as misstatements below those amounts that, in our view, 
warranted reporting for qualitative reasons.

Conclusions relating to going concern
ISAs (UK) require us to report to you when: 

•  the directors’ use of the going concern basis of accounting in the preparation of the financial statements is not appropriate; or 

•  the directors have not disclosed in the financial statements any identified material uncertainties that may cast significant doubt about the 

group’s and parent company’s ability to continue to adopt the going concern basis of accounting for a period of at least twelve months from 
the date when the financial statements are authorised for issue.

We have nothing to report in respect of the above matters.

However, because not all future events or conditions can be predicted, this statement is not a guarantee as to the group’s and parent 
company’s ability to continue as a going concern. For example, the terms on which the United Kingdom may withdraw from the European Union 
are not clear, and it is difficult to evaluate all of the potential implications on the group’s trade, customers, suppliers and the wider economy. 

Reporting on other information 
The other information comprises all of the information in the Annual Report other than the financial statements and our auditors’ report thereon. 
The directors are responsible for the other information. Our opinion on the financial statements does not cover the other information and, 
accordingly, we do not express an audit opinion or, except to the extent otherwise explicitly stated in this report, any form of assurance thereon. 

In connection with our audit of the financial statements, our responsibility is to read the other information and, in doing so, consider whether 
the other information is materially inconsistent with the financial statements or our knowledge obtained in the audit, or otherwise appears to 
be materially misstated. If we identify an apparent material inconsistency or material misstatement, we are required to perform procedures to 
conclude whether there is a material misstatement of the financial statements or a material misstatement of the other information. If, based on 
the work we have performed, we conclude that there is a material misstatement of this other information, we are required to report that fact.  
We have nothing to report based on these responsibilities.

TUNGSTEN CORPORATION PLC // ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 2019FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 
67

With respect to the Strategic Report and Directors’ Report, we also considered whether the disclosures required by the UK Companies Act 
2006 have been included. 

Based on the responsibilities described above and our work undertaken in the course of the audit, ISAs (UK) require us also to report certain 
opinions and matters as described below.

Strategic Report and Directors’ Report
In our opinion, based on the work undertaken in the course of the audit, the information given in the Strategic Report and Directors’ Report 
for the year ended 30 April 2019 is consistent with the financial statements and has been prepared in accordance with applicable legal 
requirements. 

In light of the knowledge and understanding of the group and parent company and their environment obtained in the course of the audit,  
we did not identify any material misstatements in the Strategic Report and Directors’ Report. 

Responsibilities for the financial statements and the audit
Responsibilities of the directors for the financial statements
As explained more fully in the Statement of Directors’ Responsibilities set out on page 63, the directors are responsible for the preparation of 
the financial statements in accordance with the applicable framework and for being satisfied that they give a true and fair view. The directors 
are also responsible for such internal control as they determine is necessary to enable the preparation of financial statements that are free from 
material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error.

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

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

A further description of our responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements is located on the FRC’s website at:  
www.frc.org.uk/auditorsresponsibilities. This description forms part of our auditors’ report.

Use of this report
This report, including the opinions, has been prepared for and only for the parent company’s members as a body in accordance with Chapter 3 
of Part 16 of the Companies Act 2006 and for no other purpose. We do not, in giving these opinions, accept or assume responsibility for any 
other purpose or to any other person to whom this report is shown or into whose hands it may come save where expressly agreed by our prior 
consent in writing.

Other required reporting
Companies Act 2006 exception reporting
Under the Companies Act 2006 we are required to report to you if, in our opinion:

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

•  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

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

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

We have no exceptions to report arising from this responsibility. 

Brian Henderson (Senior Statutory Auditor)
for and on behalf of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP
Chartered Accountants and Statutory Auditors
London

22 July 2019

TUNGSTEN CORPORATION PLC // ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 2019 Strategic reportGovernanceFinancial statements 
68

CONSOLIDATED INCOME  
STATEMENT

Revenue 

Operating expenses 

Operating loss 

EBITDA1 
Depreciation and amortisation 

Loss on disposal of assets 

Foreign exchange gain/(loss) 

Share-based payment expense 

Exceptional items 

Operating loss 

Finance income 

Finance costs 

Net finance costs 

Loss before taxation 

Taxation 

Loss for the year 

Note 

4 

5 

5 

5 

5 

6 

7 

9 

9 

9 

10 

Year ended  
30 April  
2019 
£’000 

36,045 

(41,256) 

Year ended 
30 April
2018
£’000 

33,663 

(45,746)

(5,211) 

(12,083)

607 

(4,103) 

(2,216) 

1,738 

(244) 

(993) 

(4,647) 

(2,813) 

– 

(1,547) 

(647) 

(2,429) 

(5,211) 

(12,083)

1,576 

(1,650) 

1,864 

(2,468)

(74) 

(604) 

(5,285) 

1,935 

(12,687)

768 

(3,350) 

(11,919)

Loss per share attributable to the equity holders of the parent during the year  
(expressed in pence per share):

Basic and diluted 

11 

(2.66) 

(9.45)

1  EBITDA is calculated as earnings before net finance cost, tax, depreciation and amortisation, loss on disposal of assets, foreign exchange gain or loss, share-based payment 

expense and exceptional items.

The above consolidated income statement should be read in conjunction with the accompanying notes.

TUNGSTEN CORPORATION PLC // ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 2019FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT  
OF COMPREHENSIVE INCOME 

Loss for the year 

Other comprehensive (expense)/income:

Items that may be reclassified subsequently to profit or loss

Currency translation differences 

Total comprehensive loss for the year 

Items in the statement above are disclosed net of tax.

69

Year ended 
30 April  
2019 
£’000 

Year ended 
30 April
2018 
£’000 

(3,350) 

(11,919)

(1,872) 

1,423

(5,222) 

(10,496)

The above consolidated statement of comprehensive income should be read in conjunction with the accompanying notes.

TUNGSTEN CORPORATION PLC // ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 2019 Strategic reportGovernanceFinancial statements 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
70

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT  
OF FINANCIAL POSITION

Assets
Non-current assets
Goodwill 
Intangible assets 
Property, plant and equipment 
Other receivables 

Total non-current assets 

Current assets
Trade and other receivables 
Invoice receivables 
Cash and cash equivalents 

Total current assets 

Total assets 

Non-current liabilities
Deferred taxation  
Provisions 
Other payables 

Total non-current liabilities 

Current liabilities
Trade and other payables 
Provisions 
Borrowings 
Contract liabilities 

Total current liabilities 

Total liabilities 

Capital and reserves attributable to the equity shareholders of the parent
Share capital 
Share premium 
Merger reserve 
Shares to be issued 
Share-based payment reserve 
Other reserves 
Accumulated losses 

Total equity 

Total equity and liabilities 

*  See note 2(b) for details of restatement due to changes in accounting policy.

Note 

12 
12 
13 
14  

14 

15 

10 
18 
19 

19 
18 
20 
21 

16 
16 

17 

As at 
30 April  
2019 
£’000 

As at
30 April
2018
Restated*
£’000

102,057 
18,733  
2,506 
187 

101,848
21,549 
2,646 
464 

123,483  

126,507 

7,464 
– 
3,810 

8,212 
2
6,418 

11,274 

14,632 

134,757  

141,139 

1,533 
1,568 
250 

3,351 

7,089 
158 
1,000 
6,816 

15,063 

18,414 

553 
188,802  
28,035 
3,760 
6,538 
(9,413) 
(101,932) 

2,110 
1,459
250

3,819 

8,607 
759
–
6,493 

15,859 

19,678 

553 
188,794 
28,035 
3,760 
6,442 
(7,541)
(98,582)

116,343  

121,461 

134,757  

141,139 

The above consolidated statement of financial position should be read in conjunction with the accompanying notes.

The consolidated financial statements on pages 68 to 97 were authorised for issue by the Board of Directors on 22 July 2019 and were signed 
on its behalf:

David Williams
Chief Financial Officer

TUNGSTEN CORPORATION PLC // ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 2019FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
71

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT  
OF CHANGES IN EQUITY

Year ended 30 April 2019

Share  
capital 
£’000 

Share 
premium 
£’000 

Merger 
reserve 
£’000 

Shares  Share-based
payment 
reserve 
£’000 

to be 
issued 
£’000 

Other  Accumulated
losses 
£’000 

reserve 
£’000 

Total equity
£’000

Balance as at 1 May 2018 

553 

188,794 

28,035 

3,760 

6,442 

(7,541) 

(98,582)  121,461 

Loss for the year 

Other comprehensive expense 

Total comprehensive expense for the year 

–  

– 

– 

Transaction with owners in their capacity as owners:

Issue of treasury shares to employees 

Share-based payment expense 

Transactions with owners 

– 

– 

– 

– 

– 

– 

8 

– 

8 

–  

– 

– 

– 

– 

– 

–  

– 

– 

– 

– 

– 

–  

– 

–  

– 

96 

96 

– 

(3,350) 

(1,872) 

–  

(3,350)

(1,872)

(1,872) 

(3,350) 

(5,222)

– 

– 

– 

– 

– 

–  

8

96

104

Balance as at 30 April 2019 

553  

188,802  

28,035 

3,760 

6,538  

(9,413) 

(101,932)  116,343 

Year ended 30 April 2018

Share  
capital 
£’000 

Share 
premium 
£’000 

Merger 
reserve 
£’000 

Shares  Share-based
payment 
reserve 
£’000 

to be 
issued 
£’000 

Other  Accumulated
losses 
£’000 

reserve 
£’000 

Total equity
£’000

Balance as at 1 May 2017 

553 

188,794 

28,035 

3,760 

5,815 

(8,964) 

(86,663)  131,330

Loss for the year 

Other comprehensive income 

Total comprehensive expense for the year 

–  

– 

–  

Transaction with owners in their capacity as owners:

Share-based payment expense 

Transactions with owners 

– 

– 

– 

– 

– 

– 

– 

–  

– 

– 

– 

– 

–  

– 

– 

– 

– 

–  

– 

– 

– 

(11,919) 

(11,919)

1,423 

–  

1,423

1,423 

(11,919) 

(10,496)

627 

627 

– 

– 

–  

– 

627

627

Balance as at 30 April 2018 

553  

188,794  

28,035 

3,760  

6,442 

(7,541) 

(98,582)  121,461

The above consolidated statement of changes in equity should be read in conjunction with the accompanying notes.

TUNGSTEN CORPORATION PLC // ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 2019 Strategic reportGovernanceFinancial statements 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
72

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT  
OF CASH FLOWS

Cash flows from operating activities

Loss before taxation 

Adjustments for:

Depreciation and amortisation 

Loss on disposal assets 

(Decrease)/increase in loss allowance 

Finance costs 

Finance income 

Foreign exchange (gain)/loss 

Share-based payment expense 

Net increase in provisions 

Cash used in operations 

Changes in working capital:

Decrease/(increase) in trade and other receivables 

(Decrease)/increase in trade and other payables 

Provision settlement for onerous contract 

Net interest paid 

Net tax refund 

Net cash outflow from operating activities 

Cash flows from investing activities:

Capitalisation of software development costs 

Purchases of other intangibles 

Purchases of property, plant and equipment 

Net cash outflow from investing activities 

Cash flows from financing activities:

Proceeds from borrowings 

Decrease in invoice receivables 

Proceeds from issue of treasury shares 

Net cash inflow from financing activities   

Net decrease in cash and cash equivalents 

Cash and cash equivalents at start of the year   

Exchange adjustments 

Cash and cash equivalents at the end of the year 

15 

The above consolidated statement of cash flows should be read in conjunction with the accompanying notes.

Year ended 
30 April  
2019 
£’000 

Year ended
30 April
2018
£’000 

Note 

(5,285) 

(12,687)

5 

5 

14 

9 

9 

4 

17 

18 

4,103 

2,216 

(522) 

1,650 

(1,576) 

(1,738) 

244 

146 

(762) 

2,421 

(1,346) 

(666) 

(430) 

473 

(310) 

2,813

–

271

2,468 

(1,864)

1,547

647 

1,014

(5,791)

(1,796)

30

–

(394)

–

(7,951)

12 

12 

13 

(2,940) 

(7,223) 

(9) 

(322) 

(70)

(330)

(3,271) 

(7,623)

1,000 

– 

8 

1,008 

(2,573) 

6,418 

(35) 

3,810 

–

4,302 

–

4,302

(11,272)

17,498 

192

6,418 

TUNGSTEN CORPORATION PLC // ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 2019FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
73

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED 
FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

1. General information

Tungsten Corporation plc (the Company) and its subsidiaries (together, the Group) is a global e-invoicing network that also offers supply chain 
financing and spend analytics.

The Company is a public limited company, which is incorporated and domiciled in the UK. The address of its registered office is Pountney Hill 
House, 6 Laurence Pountney Hill, London EC4R 0BL, UK.

These consolidated financial statements were authorised for issue by the Directors on 22 July 2019. All press releases, financial reports and 
other information are available on our investors relations page of our website: www.tungsten-network.com

These financial statements are for the Group, consisting of the Company and its subsidiaries. 

2. Accounting policies

(a) Basis of preparation
The consolidated financial statements of Tungsten Corporation plc have been prepared in accordance with International Financial Reporting 
Standards (IFRS) and IFRS Interpretations Committee (IFRIC) interpretations as adopted by the European Union and with the Companies Act 
2006 applicable to companies reporting under IFRS. These policies have been consistently applied to all the years presented, unless otherwise 
stated. The consolidated financial statements have been prepared under the historical cost convention, except for assets and liabilities 
measured at fair value under IFRS 9. 

The consolidated financial statements have been prepared on a going concern basis. The ability of the Company to continue as a going 
concern is contingent on the ongoing viability of the Group. 

The Group meets its day-to-day working capital requirements through its cash balances and also has a bank facility that it can use.  
The current economic conditions continue to create uncertainty, particularly over (a) foreign exchange rates; and (b) the level of new sales  
to new customers. The Group’s forecasts and projections, taking account of reasonably possible changes in trading performance, show  
that the Group expects to be able to operate within the level of its current cash resources without further use of its bank facilities. Having 
assessed the principal risks and the other matters discussed in connection with the viability statement, the Directors considered it appropriate  
to adopt the going concern basis of accounting in preparing its consolidated financial statements. Further information on the Group’s 
borrowings and available facilities is given in note 20 to these consolidated financial statements. 

The preparation of financial statements in conformity with IFRS requires the use of certain critical accounting estimates. The assumptions 
applied are subjective and management applies judgement in estimating the probability, timing and value of underlying cash flows as disclosed 
in Note 3.

Comparatives
These policies have been consistently applied to all the years presented, unless otherwise stated.

(b) New standards, amendments and interpretations adopted
The Group has applied the following standards and amendments for the first time for their annual reporting period commencing 1 May 2018:

•  IFRS 9, ‘Financial Instruments’; 

•  IFRS 15, ‘Revenue from Contracts with Customers’; 

•  Classification and Measurement of Share-based Payment Transactions – Amendments to IFRS 2; 

•  Annual Improvements 2014–2016 cycle; 

•  Transfers to Investment Property – Amendments to IAS 40; and 

•  Interpretation 22, ‘Foreign Currency Transactions and Advance Consideration’. 

The Group has changed its accounting policies and has made certain retrospective adjustments following the adoption of IFRS 15. This is 
disclosed below. Most of the other amendments listed above did not have any impact on the amounts recognised in prior periods and are not 
expected to significantly affect the current or future periods. 

TUNGSTEN CORPORATION PLC // ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 2019 Strategic reportGovernanceFinancial statements74

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED 
FINANCIAL STATEMENTS CONT.

2. Accounting policies cont.

(b) New standards, amendments and interpretations adopted cont.
IFRS 15 ‘Revenue from Contracts with Customers’
The Group has changed its accounting policies and has made certain retrospective adjustments in the statement of financial position as a 
result of adopting IFRS 15. There is no material impact to the income statement.

The Group adopted IFRS 15, ‘Revenue from Contracts with Customers’ on 1 May 2018 using the modified retrospective method applied  
to the contracts in force on the date of adoption. For this reason the accounting policy applied as of said date, is not comparable to that used 
for the year ended 30 April 2018. 

The statement of financial position has been adjusted by offsetting trade receivables in relation to certain contracts against contract liabilities 
where services have not yet been provided and amounts are not yet due.

The following table summarises the impact of adopting IFRS 15 on the Group’s consolidated statement of financial position as at 30 April 2018.

Balance Sheet (extract) 

Current assets 

Trade receivables  

Current liabilities  
Contract liabilities1  

As at  
30 April  
2018  
original  
presentation 
£’000 

IFRS 15 
Adjustment 
£’000 

As at
30 April
2018
Restated 
£’000

7,458 

(2,108) 

5,350

8,601 

(2,108) 

6,493

1  Contract liabilities were previously referred to as deferred income and are amounts collected ahead of services being delivered.

IFRS 9 ‘Financial Instruments’
IFRS 9 addresses the classification, measurement and derecognition of financial assets and financial liabilities and introduces new rules  
for hedge accounting and a new impairment model for financial assets. 

Trade receivables and contract assets
With the adoption of IFRS 9, the Group is required to assess the impairment of financial assets based on expected credit losses rather  
than losses incurred.

The expected credit losses on these financial assets are estimated from the initial recognition of the asset at each reporting date,  
using as a reference the past experience of the credit losses, adjusted for factors that are specific to the debtors or groups of debtors,  
the general economic conditions and an assessment of both, the current management and the forecast of future conditions.

On 1 May 2018, the Group reassessed its current impairment model in accordance with the guidelines.

The Group concluded that the impairment assessment process was appropriate and aligned with IFRS 9. Therefore, no revision to impairment 
loss assessment process is required and there is no impact to the financial statements in FY18 and FY19 from the adoption of IFRS 9.

TUNGSTEN CORPORATION PLC // ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 2019FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
75

2. Accounting policies cont.

(c) New standards, amendments and interpretations issued but not yet effective:
IFRS 16 ‘Leases’ 
IFRS 16 will primarily impact the accounting by lessees and will result in the recognition of almost all leases on the balance sheet. The standard 
removes the current distinction between operating and financing leases and requires recognition of an asset (the right to use the leased item) 
and a financial liability to pay rentals for virtually all lease contracts. The Group will take advantage of the optional exemptions which exist for 
short-term and low-value leases. The income statement will also be impacted, because the total expense is typically higher in the earlier years 
of a lease and lower in later years. Additionally, an operating expense will be replaced with interest and depreciation, so key metrics such as 
EBITDA will change. 

The Group has elected to apply IFRS 16, ‘Leases’, in accordance with the transition provisions contained in IFRS 16. The new rules will be 
adopted from 1 May 2019, with the cumulative effect of initially applying the new standard recognised on that date. Comparatives for the  
30 April 2019 financial year will therefore not be restated. 

In applying IFRS 16 for the first time, the Group has used the following practical expedients permitted by the standard: 

•  the use of a single discount rate to a portfolio of leases with reasonably similar characteristics; 

•  the accounting for operating leases with a remaining lease term of less than 12 months as at 1 May 2019 as short-term leases; 

•  the exclusion of initial direct costs for the measurement of the right-of-use asset at the date of initial application; and 

•  the use of hindsight in determining the lease term where the contract contains options to extend or terminate the lease.

The Group has also elected not to apply IFRS 16 to contracts that were not identified as containing a lease under IAS 17 and IFRIC 4, 
“Determining whether an Arrangement contains a Lease”.

The proposed accounting policy for leases under IFRS 16 is as follows:

The Group leases various properties. Rental contracts are typically made for fixed periods of 3 to 15 years but might have extension options. 
Lease terms are negotiated on an individual basis and contain a wide range of different terms and conditions. Leases are recognised as a 
right-of-use asset and a corresponding liability at the date at which the leased asset is available for use by the Group. Each lease payment is 
allocated between the liability and finance cost. The finance cost is charged to the income statement over the lease period so as to produce a 
constant periodic rate of interest on the remaining balance of the liability for each period. The right-of-use asset is depreciated over the shorter 
of the asset’s useful life and the lease term on a straight-line basis. 

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

•  fixed payments (including in-substance fixed payments), less any lease incentives receivable;

•  amounts expected to be payable by the lessee under residual value guarantees; and

•  payments of penalties for terminating the lease, if the lease term reflects the lessee exercising that option. 

The lease payments are discounted using the interest rate implicit in the lease, if that rate can be determined, or the Group’s incremental 
borrowing rate. Right-of-use assets are measured at cost comprising the following:

•  the amount of the initial measurement of lease liability;

•  any lease payments made at or before the commencement date less any lease incentives received; 

•  any initial direct costs; and

•  restoration costs. 

Extension and termination options are included in a number of property and equipment leases across the Group. These terms are used to 
maximise operational flexibility in terms of managing contracts. The majority of extension and termination options held are exercisable only  
by the Group and not by the respective lessor. 

Payments associated with short-term leases and leases of low-value assets are recognised on a straight-line basis as an expense in the 
income statement. Short-term leases are leases with a lease term of 12 months or less. Low-value assets comprise IT equipment and small 
items of office furniture.

On 1 May 2019, the Group will recognise lease liabilities in relation to leases which had previously been classified as “operating leases” under 
the principles of IAS 17. These liabilities will be measured at the present value of the remaining lease payments, discounted using the Group’s 
assumed incremental borrowing rate as of 1 May 2019. The weighted average lessee’s incremental borrowing rate applied to the lease 
liabilities on 1 May 2019 was 5%. The lease liability to be recognised at 1 May 2019 is expected to be £5.6 million. 

Additionally, if IFRS 16 had been applied from 1 May 2019, it would have decreased operating loss by £0.9 million and increased loss before 
taxation by £0.1 million. Operating cash flows would have been higher by £0.7 million, since cash payments for the principal portion of the 
lease liability are classified within financing activities. Only the part of the payments that reflects interest can continue to be presented as 
operating cash flows. 

TUNGSTEN CORPORATION PLC // ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 2019 Strategic reportGovernanceFinancial statements76

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED 
FINANCIAL STATEMENTS CONT.

2. Accounting policies cont.

(d) Basis of consolidation
Subsidiaries are those entities over which the Company has the power to govern the financial and operating policies generally accompanying 
an interest of more than one half of the voting rights. Subsidiaries are consolidated from the date on which control is transferred to the 
Company (acquisition date) and are de-consolidated from the date that control ceases. The financial statements of subsidiaries are prepared 
for the same reporting year as the Company, using consistent accounting policies.

Inter-company transactions, balances, income and expenses on transactions between Group companies are eliminated. Profits and losses 
resulting from inter-company transactions are also eliminated.

The accounting policies of subsidiaries have been changed where necessary to ensure consistency with the policies adopted by the Group.

(e) Revenue
The Group derives revenue from the following sources:

•  Initial Set-up fees;

•  Annual subscription fees, which includes the right to use the Tungsten platform, including ongoing customer support and relevant upgrades 

to the platform as required; and

•  Transaction fees which are based on the number of transactions the customer undertakes. 

The Group’s contractual arrangements contain multiple deliverables or services such as the implementation or initial Set-up services, 
which generally do not involve customisation of the Tungsten Network platform, support services which includes call centre assistance and 
maintenance services and transaction fees. 

The Group assess whether there are distinct performance obligations at the start of each contract and throughout the performance of the  
initial Set-up services, support and maintenance periods and on delivering transaction services. 

The Group has identified the following separate performance obligations:

•  Initial Set-up services – The initial Set-up services do not require additional development or customisation to the Tungsten Network platform 
and could be performed by an external third party. The transaction price is allocated based on the stand-alone selling price, derived from  
list prices and recognised over time, based on the effort incurred, but limited to the amount to which the Group has a right to payment.  
The percentage of completion basis is used because the customer receives and uses the benefits simultaneously. Estimates of revenues, 
costs or extent of progress towards completion are revised if circumstances change. Any resulting increases or decreases are reflected in 
the income statement in the period in which the change of assumptions arise. 

•  Periodic right to use the Tungsten Network platform – In the event that the annual subscription fees contain a right to use the platform, there 
is a right to use element. If there is a right of clawback on the annual right to use, such amounts are recognised throughout the period. Where 
there is no right of clawback, the annual right to use is recognised in full when there is a right of collection and collection is relatively assured.

•  Support services – This represents the stand-alone selling price of the ongoing support and maintenance, which is recognised throughout 

the period as services are delivered.

•  Transaction fees – This represents the stand-alone selling price of the individual transaction at the point in time the customer transacts.  

If there is evidence that transactions sold, and invoiced, will not be delivered, the revenue is recognised immediately in the income statement. 

Revenue related to contract liabilities
Revenue related to contract liabilities is revenue invoiced to customers where the relevant performance obligation has not been delivered. 

(f) Employee benefits defined contribution plans
The Group pays contributions to publicly or privately administered pension plans. The Group has no further payment obligations once the 
contributions have been paid. Contributions are recognised in the income statement as an employee benefit expense in the period when they 
are due. Prepaid contributions are recognised as an asset to the extent that a cash refund or a reduction in the future payments is available.

Share-based payments
The Group issues equity-settled and cash-settled share-based awards to certain employees. The fair value of share-based awards is 
determined based on the Black-Scholes model at the date of grant and expensed, based on the Group’s estimate of the shares that will 
eventually vest, over the vesting period with a corresponding increase in equity. At each balance sheet date, the Group revises its estimates 
of the number of options that are expected to vest based on service and other non-market performance conditions. The amount expensed is 
adjusted over the vesting period for changes in the estimate of the number of shares that will eventually vest, save for changes resulting from 
any market-related performance conditions.

Equity-settled share-based payments are recognised as an expense in the income statement with a corresponding credit to share option 
reserve. Cash-settled share-based payments are recognised as an expense in the income statement with a corresponding credit to liabilities.

TUNGSTEN CORPORATION PLC // ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 2019FINANCIAL STATEMENTS77

2. Accounting policies cont.

(g) Foreign currency translation
The functional currency of the Company is pounds sterling as that is the currency of the primary economic environment in which the Company 
operates. The Group’s presentation currency is pounds sterling.

Transactions and balances
Foreign currency transactions are translated into sterling using the exchange rates prevailing at the date of transaction. Foreign exchange gains 
and losses resulting from the settlement of such transactions and from the translation at year-end exchange rates of monetary assets and 
liabilities denominated in foreign currencies are recognised in the consolidated income statement.

Foreign exchange gains and losses that relate to borrowings and cash and cash equivalents are presented in the consolidated income 
statement within finance income or costs. All other foreign exchange gains and losses are presented in the consolidated income statement 
within ‘operating expenses’.

Group companies
The results and financial position of all the Group entities that have a functional currency other than sterling are translated into sterling  
as follows:

•  Assets and liabilities for each balance sheet presented are translated at the closing rate at the date of that balance sheet.

•  Income and expenses for each income statement presented are translated at average exchange rates unless this average is not a reasonable 
approximation of the cumulative effect of the rates prevailing on the transaction dates, in which case income and expenses are translated at 
the rate on the dates of the transactions.

All resulting exchange differences are recognised in other comprehensive income. None of which has the currency of a hyperinflationary economy.

The following rates were applied for £1: 

Closing rates: 

United States Dollar 

Euro 

Mexican Peso 

Bulgarian Lev 

Malaysian Ringgit 

Swiss Franc 

Indian Rupee 

Average rates: 

United States Dollar 

Euro 

Mexican Peso 

Bulgarian Lev 

Malaysian Ringgit 

Swiss Franc 

Indian Rupee 

As at  
30 April 
2019 

1.2920 

1.1587 

As at
30 April
2018

1.3776

1.1357

24.4774 

25.6437

2.2663 

5.3397 

1.3171 

2.2212

5.3998

1.3604

90.2690 

91.4746

1.3007 

1.1354 

1.3411

1.1295

25.1965 

24.7332

2.2207 

5.3407 

1.2923 

2.2089

5.5080

1.2974

91.7431 

86.7140

(h) Finance income and costs
Finance costs comprise interest payable on borrowings and foreign exchange loss on revaluation of intercompany loans. Finance income 
comprises interest receivable on funds invested, and foreign exchange gains on revaluation of intercompany loans. Interest income and 
expenses are recognised on a time apportioned basis, using the effective interest method.

(i) Exceptional items 
Items which are both material and considered by the Directors to be unusual in nature are separately disclosed on the face of the consolidated 
income statement.

TUNGSTEN CORPORATION PLC // ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 2019 Strategic reportGovernanceFinancial statements 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
78

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED 
FINANCIAL STATEMENTS CONT.

2. Accounting policies cont.

(j) Current and deferred income tax
Income tax for the years presented comprises current and deferred tax. Income tax is recognised in the income statement except to the extent 
that it relates to items recognised directly in equity, in which case it is recognised in equity.

Current tax is the expected tax payable on the taxable income for the year, using tax rates enacted or substantively enacted at the balance 
sheet date, and any adjustment to tax payable in respect of previous years.

Deferred tax is provided using the balance sheet liability method, providing for temporary differences between the carrying amounts of assets 
and liabilities for financial reporting purposes and the amounts used for taxation purposes.

The following temporary differences are not provided for: the initial recognition of goodwill; the initial recognition of other assets or liabilities 
that affect neither accounting nor taxable profit; nor differences relating to investments in subsidiaries to the extent that they are unlikely to 
reverse in the foreseeable future. The amount of deferred tax provided is based on the expected manner of realisation or settlement of the 
carrying amount of assets and liabilities, using tax rates enacted or substantively enacted at the balance sheet date.

A deferred tax asset is recognised only to the extent that it is probable that future taxable profits will be available against which the asset  
can be utilised. Deferred tax assets are reduced to the extent that it is no longer probable that the related tax benefit will be realised.

Deferred income tax assets and liabilities are offset when there is a legally enforceable right to offset current tax assets against current tax 
liabilities and when the deferred income tax assets and liabilities relate to income taxes levied by the same taxation authority on either the 
taxable entity or different taxable entities where there is an intention to settle the balances on a net basis.

Deferred income tax is provided on temporary differences arising on investments in subsidiaries and associates, except for deferred income tax 
liability where the timing of the reversal of the temporary difference is controlled by the Group and it is probable that the temporary difference 
will not reverse in the foreseeable future.

(k) Business combinations
The Group applies the acquisition method to account for business combinations. The consideration transferred for the acquisition of  
a subsidiary is the fair value of the assets transferred, the liabilities incurred to the former owners of the acquiree and the equity interests 
issued by the Group. Identifiable assets acquired and liabilities and contingent liabilities assumed in a business combination are measured 
initially at their fair values at the acquisition date. 

Acquisition-related costs are expensed as incurred.

(l) Property, plant and equipment
Owned assets
Items of property, plant and equipment are stated at cost or deemed cost less accumulated depreciation and impairment losses. Cost includes 
the original purchase price of the asset and the costs attributable to bringing the asset to its working condition for its intended use. When parts 
of an item of property, plant and equipment have different useful lives, those components are accounted for as separate items of property, plant 
and equipment.

Subsequent costs are included in the asset’s carrying amount or recognised as a separate asset, as appropriate, only when it is probable that 
future economic benefits associated with the item will flow to the Group and the cost of the item can be measured reliably.

Gains and losses on disposals are determined by comparing the proceeds with the carrying amount and are recognised in the income statement.

Leased assets
Leases under which the Group assumes substantially all the risks and rewards of ownership of an asset are classified as finance leases. 
Property, plant and equipment acquired under finance leases are recorded at fair value or, if lower, the present value of minimum lease 
payments at inception of the lease, less depreciation and any impairment.

Each lease payment is allocated between the lease liability and finance costs. The corresponding rental obligations, net of finance costs, are 
included in the other long-term payables. The interest element of the finance cost is charged to the income statement over the lease period  
so as to produce a constant periodic rate of interest on the remaining balance of the liability for each period.

Dilapidations
The estimated cost of dilapidations is recognised in leasehold improvements and provisions when the obligation arises and the liability can be 
reliably estimated. Under the lease agreement, the lessee is obliged to remove assets that it has installed in the leased property. The asset is 
depreciated and the provision is utilised in line with the lease term.

Depreciation
Depreciation is charged to the consolidated income statement on a straight-line basis over the estimated useful lives of each part of an item  
of property, plant and equipment. The property, plant and equipment acquired under finance leases are depreciated over the shorter of the 
useful life of the asset and the lease term. The estimated useful lives are as follows:

•  Leasehold improvements: depreciated over term of lease

•  Furnitures and fittings: three to five years

•  Computer equipment: two to five years

The residual values and useful lives are reviewed, and adjusted if appropriate, at each balance sheet date.

TUNGSTEN CORPORATION PLC // ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 2019FINANCIAL STATEMENTS79

2. Accounting policies cont.

(m) Intangible assets 
Goodwill
Goodwill is initially measured as the excess of the aggregate of the consideration transferred and the fair value of the non-controlling interest 
over the net identifiable assets acquired and liabilities assumed. If this consideration is lower than the fair value of the net assets of the 
subsidiary acquired, the difference is recognised immediately in the income statement.

Goodwill impairment reviews are undertaken annually or more frequently if events or changes in circumstances indicate a potential impairment. 
The carrying value of goodwill is compared to the recoverable amount of the cash generating unit to which the goodwill has been allocated, 
which is the higher of value in use and the fair value less costs of disposal. Any impairment is recognised immediately as an expense and  
is not subsequently reversed.

Intangible assets acquired in a business combination
Customer relationships and the IT platform purchased or acquired in a business combination are recognised at fair value at the acquisition date. 
The customer relationships and IT platform have finite useful lives and are carried at cost less accumulated amortisation.

Amortisation on the assets is calculated using the straight-line method over their estimated useful lives as follows:

•  Customer relationships: 20 years

•  IT platform: five to seven years

Software
Costs associated with maintaining software programmes are recognised as an expense as incurred. Development costs that are directly 
attributable to the design and testing of identifiable and unique software products controlled by the Group are recognised as intangible assets 
when the following criteria are met:

•  It is technically feasible to complete the software product so that it will be available for use

•  Management intends to complete the software product and use or sell it

•  There is an ability to use or sell the software product

•  It can be demonstrated how the software product will generate probable future economic benefits

•  Adequate technical, financial and other resources to complete the development and to use or sell the software product are available

•  The expenditure attributable to the software product during its development can be reliably measured.

Development costs for incomplete software are recognised as software development under construction in the balance sheet and are not 
amortised as these assets are not yet available for use.

Development costs for completed software are recognised as software in the balance sheet. Software costs are amortised over their estimated 
useful lives between three to five years.

Other development expenditures that do not meet these criteria are recognised as an expense as incurred. 

Development costs previously recognised as an expense are not recognised as an asset in a subsequent period.

Acquired software licences are capitalised on the basis of the costs incurred to acquire and bring to use the specific software. Software licence 
costs are amortised over their estimated useful lives, which does not exceed five years.

(n) Financial assets and financial liabilities
Non-derivative financial instruments
Non-derivative financial instruments comprise trade and other receivables, cash and cash equivalents, loans and borrowings, and trade and 
other payables.

Trade and other receivables
Trade and other receivables are recognised initially at fair value. Subsequent to initial recognition they are measured at amortised cost using  
the effective interest method, less any impairment losses.

Since the adoption of IFRS 9, trade and other receivables are considered within the class of financial assets at amortised cost. 

Invoice receivables
Invoice receivables are recognised initially at fair value. Subsequent to initial recognition they are measured at amortised cost using the 
effective interest method, less any impairment losses.

Trade and other payables
Trade and other payables are recognised initially at fair value. Subsequent to initial recognition they are measured at amortised cost using the 
effective interest method.

Cash and cash equivalents
Cash and cash equivalents comprise cash balances and call deposits. Bank overdrafts that are repayable on demand and form an integral part 
of the Group’s cash management are included as a component of cash and cash equivalents for the purpose only of the cash flow statement.

Interest-bearing borrowings are recognised initially at fair value less attributable transaction costs. Subsequent to initial recognition, interest-
bearing borrowings are stated at amortised cost using the effective interest method, less any impairment losses.

TUNGSTEN CORPORATION PLC // ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 2019 Strategic reportGovernanceFinancial statements80

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED 
FINANCIAL STATEMENTS CONT.

2. Accounting policies cont.

(o) Impairment of non-financial assets
Assets that have an indefinite useful life are not subject to amortisation and are tested annually for impairment. Assets that are subject 
to amortisation are reviewed for impairment whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying amount may not be 
recoverable. An impairment loss is recognised for the amount by which the asset’s carrying amount exceeds its recoverable amount.  
The recoverable amount is the higher of an asset’s fair value less costs to sell and value in use. For the purposes of assessing impairment, 
assets are grouped at the lowest levels for which there are separately identifiable cash flows (cash-generating units). Non-financial assets 
other than goodwill that suffered impairment are reviewed for possible reversal of the impairment at each reporting date.

(p) Trade and other receivables
Trade receivables are amounts due from customers for goods sold or services performed in the ordinary course of business. They are  
generally due for settlement within 30 days and are therefore are classified as current. Non-current receivables relate to loan receivables  
from employees.

Trade receivables are recognised initially at the amount of consideration that is unconditional, unless they contain significant financing 
components, in which case they are recognised at fair value. Due to their short-term nature, the carrying value of current receivables  
is considered to be same as the fair value. Details about the group’s impairment policies and the calculation of the loss allowances are  
in policy (o) above.

The Group applies IFRS 9’s simplified approach to measuring expected credit losses which uses a lifetime expected loss approach for all  
trade receivables. 

To measure the expected credit losses, trade receivables have been analysed based on the days past due. The expected loss rates are 
based on the payment profiles of sales over a period of 12 months before the relevant balance sheet date and the corresponding historical 
credit losses experienced within this period. The historical loss rates are adjusted to reflect current and forward-looking information on 
macroeconomic factors affecting the ability of the customers to settle the receivables. 

(q) Trade and other payables
Trade and other payables are initially stated at fair value and subsequently measured at amortised cost.

(r) Provisions
A provision is recognised when the Group has a present legal or constructive obligation as a result of a past event, it is probable that the 
obligation will have to be settled, and the amount of the obligation can be reliably estimated. Provisions are measured at the present value 
required in order to cover the obligation. The present value factor used in the calculation of the present value is selected so that it represents 
the market insight into the time value of money and liability-related risks at the time of the assessment.

(s) Leases
Operating lease payments are recognised as an expense in the income statement on a straight-line basis over the lease term.

(t) Borrowings
Borrowings are presented as current liabilities unless the Group has an unconditional right to defer settlement for at least 12 months after  
the balance sheet date. 

Borrowings are initially recognised at fair value, net of transaction costs incurred and carried subsequently at amortised cost.

(u) Share capital
Ordinary shares are classified as equity.

(v) Assets held for sale
Any group of assets that are to be disposed of through sale should be classified as held for sale where the criteria, as defined in IFRS 5  
‘Non-current Assets Held for Sale and Discontinued Operations’, are met. 

An assessment of the held for sale criteria was carried out at the year end as part of a plan to divest Tungsten Network Finance. Management 
have concluded that the held for sale criteria was not met at year end as the sale of assets were not available for immediate sale.

TUNGSTEN CORPORATION PLC // ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 2019FINANCIAL STATEMENTS81

3. Critical accounting estimates and judgements

The preparation of the financial statements requires management to make judgements and estimates that affect the application of policies and 
reported amounts of assets and liabilities, income and expenses.

Estimates and judgements are continually evaluated and are based on historical experience and other factors, including expectations of future 
events that are believed to be reasonable under the circumstances.

The Group makes estimates and assumptions concerning the future. The resulting accounting estimates, will by definition, seldom equal the 
related actual results. The estimates and assumptions that have a significant impact on the financial statements are highlighted below.

Revenue recognition 
The Group recognises revenue in respect of e-invoicing related services over the period the services are provided. Where buyer transactions 
are paid for but not processed, such revenue is deferred according to contractual terms representing the anticipated period for transactions 
being processed. Management reviews the historical record of transactions used under each contract and relevant estimates to determine 
whether the deferral period for the revenue recognition is appropriate or any changes to the existing deferral period are required. In relation to 
transaction fees for which no revenue is received, management assesses the expected usage of any unutilised transactions to determine the 
amount of contract liabilities to be recorded.

Estimated impairment of goodwill and other intangible assets
Goodwill impairment reviews are undertaken annually or more frequently if events or changes in circumstances indicate a potential impairment. 
The carrying value of goodwill is compared to the recoverable amount of the cash generating unit to which the goodwill has been allocated, 
which is the higher of value in use and the fair value less costs of disposal (Note 12). Any impairment is recognised immediately as an expense 
and is not subsequently reversed.

An impairment loss on other intangible assets 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 value in use. For the purposes of assessing 
impairment, assets are grouped at the lowest levels for which there are separately identifiable cash flows (cash-generating units). 

The key judgements are as follows: 

Going concern
The Group’s going concern assessment is based on forecasts and projections of anticipated trading performance. 

The assumptions applied are subjective and management applies judgement in estimating the probability, timing and value  
of underlying cash flows. 

Deferred taxation
The determination of the Group’s deferred tax assets involves judgements for determining the extent of its recoverability at each balance sheet 
date. The Group assesses recoverability with reference to Board approved forecasts of future taxable profits. These forecasts require use of 
assumptions and estimates.

Exceptional items
The Group considers items of income and expense as exceptional where the nature of the item, or its magnitude, is material and likely to be 
non-recurring in nature so as to assist the user of the financial statements to better understand the results of the core operations of the Group. 
Details of exceptional items are shown in note 7.

TUNGSTEN CORPORATION PLC // ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 2019 Strategic reportGovernanceFinancial statements82

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED 
FINANCIAL STATEMENTS CONT.

4. Segment report 

The Executive Committee has been identified as the Chief Operating Decision-Maker (CODM), reviewing the Group’s internal reporting  
on a monthly basis in order to assess performance and allocate resources. 

The CODM reviews financial information for three segments: Tungsten Network (which includes the e-invoicing and spend analytics business 
of Tungsten Network), Tungsten Network Finance (which includes the supply chain finance business), and Tungsten Corporate (which 
includes Tungsten Corporation plc and Tungsten Corporation Guernsey’s overheads and general corporate costs). Intersegment revenue from 
management fees and other intersegment charges are eliminated below.

The CODM analyses the financial performance of the business on the basis of segment EBITDA which is an adjusted profit measure which 
reflects loss before finance income and costs, taxation, depreciation, amortisation, loss on disposal of assets, foreign exchange gains and 
losses, share-based payment expense and exceptional items.

The most directly comparable IFRS measure to segment EBITDA is operating loss for the period. Management utilises EBITDA to monitor 
performance as it illustrates the underlying performance of the business by excluding items management consider to be not reflective  
of the underlying trading operations of the Group or adding items which are reflective of the overall trading operations, as applicable. 

Year ended 30 April 2019

Segment revenue 

EBITDA1 – excluding share-based payment expense/(income)  
EBITDA1 – including share-based payment expense/(income)   

Depreciation and amortisation 

Loss on disposal of assets 

Foreign exchange gain/(loss) 

Share-based payment (expense)/income 

Exceptional items 

Finance income 

Finance costs 

Profit/(loss) before taxation 

Income tax credit 

Loss for the year 

As at 30 April 2019

Capital expenditure  

Total assets 

Total liabilities 

Tungsten  
Network 
£’000 

35,371 

 8,115 

7,716 

(3,668) 

(2,216) 

1,792 

(399) 

(285) 

938 

(1,186) 

3,091 

Tungsten
Network
Finance 
£’000 

674 

Corporate 
£’000 

Total
£’000

– 

 36,045 

 (1,885) 

 (2,266) 

 (5,623) 

 (5,087) 

(144) 

– 

(54) 

(381) 

14 

3 

(184) 

(291) 

– 

– 

536 

(722) 

635 

(280) 

(2,631) 

(5,745) 

 607

 363

(4,103)

(2,216)

1,738

(244)

(993)

1,576

(1,650)

(5,285)

1,935

(3,350)

 2,432  

130,530  

12,074 

836  

998 

909 

3 

3,229 

5,431 

3,271

134,757

18,414

1  EBITDA is calculated as earnings before net finance cost, tax, depreciation and amortisation, loss on disposal of assets, foreign exchange gain or loss, share-based payment 

expense and exceptional items.

TUNGSTEN CORPORATION PLC // ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 2019FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
  
  
  
  
 
 
  
  
  
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
  
 
 
83

Tungsten  
Network 
£’000 

33,321  

 2,340 

2,340 

(2,304) 

(1,319) 

– 

(1,946) 

1,379 

(1,457) 

(3,307) 

Tungsten
Network 
Finance 
£’000 

342 

Corporate 
£’000 

Total
Restated*
£’000

–  

 33,663 

 (1,300) 

 (1,300) 

(5,687) 

 (6,334) 

(57) 

(169) 

– 

(118) 

74 

(276) 

(452) 

(59) 

(647) 

(365) 

411 

(735) 

(4,647)

(5,294)

(2,813)

(1,547)

(647)

(2,429)

1,864 

(2,468)

(1,846) 

(7,534) 

(12,687)

768 

(11,919)

 7,492  

135,931  

14,231 

–  

852 

223 

 122  

4,356 

5,224 

7,614 

141,139

19,678

4. Segment report cont.

Year ended 30 April 2018

Segment revenue 

EBITDA1 – excluding share-based payment expense/(income)  
EBITDA1 – including share-based payment expense/(income)   

Depreciation and amortisation 

Foreign exchange gain/(loss) 

Share-based payment expense 

Exceptional items 

Finance income 

Finance costs 

Loss before taxation 

Income tax credit 

Loss for the year 

As at 30 April 2018 

Capital expenditure  

Total assets 

Total liabilities 

*  See note 2(b) for details of restatement due to changes in accounting policy.
1  EBITDA is calculated as earnings before net finance cost, tax, depreciation and amortisation, loss on disposal of assets, foreign exchange gain or loss, share-based payment 

expense and exceptional items.

Geographical information
The Group’s revenue from external customers and non-current assets by geographical location is detailed below. Revenue by geographical 
location is allocated based on the location in which the sale originated.

United Kingdom  

United States of America 

Rest of Europe 

Malaysia 

Total  

Revenue from external customers

Year ended 
30 April  
2019 
£’000 

 18,573 

14,596 

1,619 

1,257  

Year ended
30 April
2018
 £’000 

 16,737

14,361

1,510

1,055 

 36,045 

 33,663

Non-current assets are allocated based on the geographical location of those assets and exclude other financial assets, loans receivables and 
deferred tax.

United Kingdom  

United States of America 

Malaysia 

Total  

Non-current assets

As at 
30 April  
2019 
£’000 

As at
30 April
2018
£’000

 119,265 

 122,235

4,000 

218  

4,112

160 

 123,483 

 126,507

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NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED 
FINANCIAL STATEMENTS CONT.

5. Operating expenses 

Staff costs  

Professional support 

Office accommodation and services 

IT costs 

Marketing costs 

Travel and entertainment 

Exceptional items 

Amortisation 

Depreciation 

Loss on disposal of assets 

Foreign exchange (gain)/loss 

Other operating expenses 

Total operating expenses 

6. Employee benefits expenses

Wages and salaries 

Social security costs  

Pension-defined contribution 

Share-based payments expense 

Total employee benefits expenses 

Number of employees

The yearly average number of people employed: 

Tungsten Network  

Tungsten Network Finance 

Corporate 

Total average headcount  

Refer to Note 24 for details of remuneration in respect of key management.

Note 

6 

7 

12 

13 

12 

Note 

17 

Year ended 
30 April  
2019 
£’000 

Year ended
30 April
2018
 £’000 

 16,774 

 19,645

7,003 

2,333 

4,165 

1,962 

966 

993 

3,600 

503 

2,216 

(1,738) 

2,479 

6,659

2,411

4,069

2,154

1,262

2,429

2,075

738

–

1,547

2,757

 41,256 

 45,746

Year ended 
30 April  
2019 
£’000 

14,149 

 1,423 

958 

244  

Year ended
30 April
2018
 £’000 

16,342

 1,509

1,147

 647

 16,774 

 19,645

Year ended 
30 April  
2019 

Year ended
30 April
2018

 284 

16 

10  

 310 

 299

13

 19

 331

TUNGSTEN CORPORATION PLC // ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 2019FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
  
  
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
7. Exceptional items

Professional advice1 
Restructuring costs2 
Provision for onerous contracts3  
Loan notes4 

Total exceptional items 

85

Year ended 
30 April  
2019 
£’000 

Year ended
30 April
2018
 £’000 

533 

238  

 222 

– 

 993 

–

 592

 1,587

250

 2,429

1  Professional adviser costs of £0.5 million were incurred in respect of the requisition request for a General Meeting and other corporate finance matters. 
2  Restructuring costs of £0.2 million were incurred due to contract terminations and other redundancy costs. 
3  Provision for onerous contracts includes a final settlement for technology contract termination costs and a discontinued contract of £0.2 million. 
4  Settlement of disputes in FY18 between the Company, Disruptive Capital Advisory Limited and the Company’s former Chief Executive Officer Edmund Truell,  

through the issuance of convertible loan notes worth £0.25 million.

8. Auditors’ remuneration

During the year the Group (including overseas subsidiaries) obtained the following services from its auditors and their associates:

Audit of the Parent Company and the consolidated accounts 

Audit of subsidiary financial statements 

Audit-related assurance services  

Taxation compliance services  

E-invoicing product support 

All other non-audit services 

Total auditors’ remuneration 

9. Finance income and costs

Finance income 

Interest income on short-term deposits 

Foreign exchange gains on financing activities   

Total finance income 

Finance costs 

Interest expense and bank charges 

Foreign exchange losses on financing activities   

Total finance costs 

Net finance costs 

Year ended 
30 April  
2019 
£’000 

Year ended
30 April
2018
 £’000 

93 

103 

 40 

51 

212 

65  

 564 

75

86

33 

69

322

 152

 737

Year ended 
30 April  
2019 
£’000 

Year ended
30 April
2018
 £’000 

 29 

 1,547 

 1,576 

(460)  

 (1,190) 

 (1,650) 

 (74) 

 9

1,855 

 1,864

(403)

(2,065)

(2,468)

(604)

TUNGSTEN CORPORATION PLC // ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 2019 Strategic reportGovernanceFinancial statements 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
  
  
  
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
86

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED 
FINANCIAL STATEMENTS CONT.

10. Taxation

Income tax comprises the following:

Current tax 

Research and Development tax credits 

Overseas tax 

Deferred tax  

Origination and reversal of temporary differences 

Total income tax credit for tax year 

Tax credit reconciliation 

Loss before tax 

Loss before tax multiplied by the rate of corporation tax in the UK 19% (2018: 19%) 

Items not deductible for tax purposes 

Research and Development tax credits 

Overseas tax 

Origination and reversal of temporary differences 

Tax losses for which no deferred income tax recognised 

Total income tax credit 

Year ended 
30 April  
2019 
£’000 

Year ended
30 April
2018
 £’000 

(1,513) 

169 

 (591) 

(1,935) 

(5,285)  

(1,004) 

826 

(1,513) 

169 

(591) 

179 

 (1,935) 

(328)

61

(501)

(768)

(12,687)

(2,411)

536

(328)

61

(501)

1,875

(768)

The standard rate of Corporation Tax in the UK changed from 20% to 19% with effect from 1 April 2017. Further reductions to the tax rate 
have been announced which will reduce the rate to 17% for the year starting 1 April 2020. These changes are expected to be enacted 
separately each year. 

The total income tax credit of £1.9 million is derived from:

•  £0.6 million R&D tax credit received in respect of tax year FY17, 

•  £0.9 million R&D tax credit receivable in respect of tax year FY18,

•  £0.2 million overseas corporate tax paid, and

•  £0.6 million reduction in deferred tax liability.

Deferred tax
Deferred tax liability was recognised during the acquisition of subsidiaries in 2014. The deferred tax liability movement for the year is as 
follows:

As at 1 May 2018 

Credited to income statement 

Exchange difference 

As at 30 April 2019 

As at 1 May 2017 

Credited to income statement 

Exchange difference 

As at 30 April 2018 

 £’000 

(2,110)

591

(14)

(1,533)

 £’000 

(2,630)

501

 19

(2,110)

Deferred income tax assets are recognised for tax losses carried forward to the extent that the realisation of the related tax benefit through 
future taxable profits is considered more likely than not. The Group has unrecognised deferred tax assets of £14.9 million (2018: £14.8 million) 
in respect of losses that can be carried forward against future taxable income for the period between one-year and an indefinite period of time. 

No deferred tax related to components of Other Comprehensive Income.

TUNGSTEN CORPORATION PLC // ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 2019FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
  
 
 
 
  
  
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
87

11. Loss per share

Basic and diluted loss per share is calculated by dividing the loss attributable to the ordinary shareholders by the weighted average number of 
ordinary shares in issue during the year.

Loss per share attributable to the equity holders of the parent during the year: 

Basic and diluted 

 (3,350) 

 126,088  

 (2.66) 

(11,919) 

126,069 

(9.45)

Year ended 30 April 2019 

Year ended 30 April 2018

Loss 
£’000 

Shares 
‘000 

Loss per share 
p 

Loss 
£’000 

Shares 
‘000 

Loss per share
p

Software
development
under
construction 
£’000 

8,556  

2,940 

(7,872) 

– 

– 

Total
£’000

 131,487 

 2,949 

–

(2,650)

407

3,624 

132,193

–  

–  

– 

–  

–  

 8,090 

3,600

(434)

147

11,403

 2,960 

 9 

7,872 

(2,650) 

11 

8,202 

 755  

1,838 

(434) 

7 

2,166 

12. Intangible assets

As at 30 April 2019

Goodwill 
£’000 

Customer 
relationships 
£’000 

IT platform 
£’000 

Software 
£’000 

Cost 

Balance at 1 May 2018 

101,848  

11,109  

 7,014 

Additions 

Reclassification 

Disposal 

Exchange differences 

–  

– 

– 

209  

–  

– 

– 

7 

–  

– 

– 

180 

Balance at 30 April 2019 

102,057  

 11,116  

 7,194  

Accumulated amortisation 

Balance at 1 May 2018 

Charge for the year 

Disposal 

Exchange differences 

Balance at 30 April 2019 

Net book value

As at 1 May 2018 

As at 30 April 2019 

–  

–  

– 

–  

–  

 2,575  

 573  

– 

 5 

 4,760  

1,189 

– 

135 

3,153 

6,084 

101,848  

102,057 

8,534  

7,963 

 2,254  

1,110 

2,205  

6,036 

 8,556  

 123,397 

3,624 

 120,790 

Following the changes to the Tungsten Board, the Group has been undertaking an operating review. This included an assessment led by  
Martyn Arbon, who joined Tungsten as Chief Technology Officer on 3 April 2018, of all ongoing and completed software development projects.

In particular, the commercial value of Project Belfast, was assessed. Project Belfast involved mapping of data to point OBI (the Group’s  
in-house Customer Relations Management team) and customer portal to Salesforce. Salesforce went live in July 2018 with this functionality.

During the year, through the operating review, it has been determined that, whilst the Group intends to continue to work in the integration  
of OBI and Salesforce, the work was ineffective, the technology that was used was not appropriate and that new integrations were required. 
Accordingly, the total net book value of Project Belfast, £2.2 million has been fully written off in the income statement.

TUNGSTEN CORPORATION PLC // ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 2019 Strategic reportGovernanceFinancial statements 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
88

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED 
FINANCIAL STATEMENTS CONT.

12. Intangible assets cont.

As at 30 April 2018

Cost 

Balance at 1 May 2017 

Additions 

Reclassification 

Exchange differences 

Accumulated amortisation 

Balance at 1 May 2017 

Charge for the year 

Exchange differences 

Balance at 30 April 2018 

Net book value

As at 1 May 2017 

As at 30 April 2018 

Balance at 30 April 2018 

101,848  

 11,109  

Goodwill 
£’000 

Customer 
relationships 
£’000 

IT platform 
£’000 

Software 
£’000 

Software
development
under
construction 
£’000 

Total
£’000

102,049  

11,116  

 7,188  

–  

– 

(201)  

–  

– 

(7) 

–  

– 

(174) 

 7,014  

 3,694  

1,172 

(106) 

4,760 

 660 

 70 

2,236 

(6) 

3,570  

7,223 

(2,236) 

(1) 

 124,583 

 7,293 

–

(389)

2,960 

8,556 

131,487

 430  

331 

(6) 

755 

–  

–  

–  

–  

 6,131 

2,075

(116)

8,090

–  

–  

–  

–  

 2,007  

 572  

 (4) 

2,575 

102,049  

101,848 

9,109  

8,534 

 3,494  

2,254 

230  

2,205 

 3,570  

8,556 

 118,452 

 123,397 

Impairment testing is carried out at cash generating unit (CGU) level on an annual basis. The following is a summary of the goodwill allocation 
for each reporting segment:

Tungsten Network 

Total goodwill 

As at  
30 April  
2019 
£’000 

As at
30 April
2018
 £’000 

 102,057 

 101,848

 102,057 

 101,848

The Group has estimated the recoverable amount of the Tungsten Network CGU using a value-in-use model by projecting cash flows for 
the next five years together with a terminal value using a growth rate. The five-year plan used in the impairment models is based on Board 
approved budgets and management’s past experience and future expectations of performance. The cash flow projections are based on the 
following key assumptions:

•  Revenue growth from customers using the Tungsten Network, including Tungsten Workflow and Tungsten Analytics at a compound annual 

growth rate of at least 14.5%

•  Post-tax discount rate of 12% (2018: 11.75%), being based on the Group’s weighted average cost of capital (WACC)

•  Growth rate used in perpetuity of 2.00% (2018: 2.00%)

•  Corporate overhead of £4.7 million

•  Cost growth of 2.60%

Based on the above assumptions, the recoverable amount of the Tungsten Network CGU exceeded its carrying value by £60.3 million  
(2018: £12.2 million).

The recoverable amount of the Tungsten Network CGU derived from this analysis was sensitive to the compound annual revenue growth  
rate and discount rate. In the event that the compound annual revenue growth rate assumption is reduced to 9.9%, or the discount rate 
assumption is increased to 16.7%, the recoverable amount would equal the carrying value of the CGU. 

TUNGSTEN CORPORATION PLC // ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 2019FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
89

Total
£’000

 4,057 

 354 

(1)

27

4,437

 1,411 

503

(1)

18

1,931

Leasehold 
improvements 
£’000 

Fixtures 
and fittings 
£’000 

Computer
equipment 
£’000 

 3,194  

 210  

– 

 5  

 264  

 7  

– 

7 

 3,409  

278 

 914  

 284  

– 

 1  

 1,199  

 126  

53 

– 

4 

183 

599  

 137  

(1) 

15 

750 

 371  

166 

(1) 

13 

549 

 2,280  

 2,210  

138 

 95  

228 

 201  

2,646

 2,506 

Leasehold 
improvements 
£’000 

Fixtures 
and fittings 
£’000 

Computer
equipment 
£’000 

 1,823  

 1,367  

– 

 4  

 220  

 37  

– 

7 

 3,194  

264 

 373  

 537  

– 

 4  

 914  

 70  

46 

– 

10 

126 

324  

 130  

(2) 

147 

599 

 68  

155 

(1) 

149 

371 

Total
£’000

 2,367 

 1,534 

(2)

158

4,057

 511 

738

(1)

163

1,411

 1,450  

 2,280  

150 

 138  

256 

 228  

1,856

 2,646 

13. Property, plant and equipment

As at 30 April 2019

Cost 

Balance at 1 May 2018 

Additions 

Disposals 

Exchange differences 

Balance at 30 April 2019 

Accumulated depreciation 

Balance at 1 May 2018 

Charge for the year 

Disposals 

Exchange differences 

Balance at 30 April 2019 

Net Book Value 

At 1 May 2018 

At 30 April 2019 

As at 30 April 2018

Cost 

Balance at 1 May 2017 

Additions 

Disposals 

Exchange differences 

Balance at 30 April 2018 

Accumulated depreciation 

Balance at 1 May 2017 

Charge for the year 

Disposals 

Exchange differences 

Balance at 30 April 2018 

Net Book Value 

At 1 May 2017 

At 30 April 2018 

TUNGSTEN CORPORATION PLC // ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 2019 Strategic reportGovernanceFinancial statements 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
90

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED 
FINANCIAL STATEMENTS CONT.

14. Trade and other receivables

Non-current assets

Loans to employees under EMSS scheme 

Current assets 

Trade receivables 

Less: loss allowance 

Prepayments 

VAT receivables 

Contract assets 

Corporate tax receivables 

Other receivables 

Trade and other receivables 

*  See note 2(b) for details of restatement due to changes in accounting policy.

15. Cash and cash equivalents

Cash at bank 

16. Share capital and share premium

Issued and fully paid 

Balance as at 1 May 2017 

Shares issued during the year 

Balance as at 30 April 2018 

Shares issued during the year 

Balance as at 30 April 2019 

As at 
30 April  
2019 
£’000 

As at
30 April
2018
£’000

187 

464

As at 
30 April  
2019 
£’000 

4,569 

(941) 

1,619 

123 

361 

904 

829 

 7,464 

As at
30 April
2018
Restated*
£’000

5,350

(1,463)

1,754

450

691

9

1,423

 8,214

As at 
30 April  
2019 
£’000 

3,810 

As at
30 April
2018
£’000

 6,418

Ordinary  
shares 
Number 

  126,069,397  

–  

  126,069,397  

 18,750  

 126,088,147  

Nominal 
value 
p 

43.86 

– 

43.86 

43.86 

43.86 

Share 
capital 
£’000 

Share
Premium
£’000

 553  

 188,794 

–  

– 

 553  

 188,794 

–  

 8 

 553  

 188,802 

TUNGSTEN CORPORATION PLC // ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 2019FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 
 
 
 
  
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
  
  
 
 
 
  
 
 
91

17. Share-based payments

Founder Securities Scheme
In May 2012, the Group established Founder Securities Scheme. The Founder Securities are designed to encourage the subscribers to use 
their best efforts to grow the Company within five to ten years. The Founder Securities have been treated as equity settled share-based 
payments and are considered to have vested at time of grant as there are no service conditions attaching to them.

Employee Matched Share Scheme
The Employee Matched Share scheme is part of Tungsten’s plans to encourage share ownership among its employees, and incentivise and 
align their interests with existing shareholders. As part of the scheme’s terms, any participating employee is required to acquire Tungsten shares 
in the market at an arm’s length price and hold them for the same period as the life of the option. The Employee Matched Share scheme was 
treated as equity settled share-based payments and the fair value of the outstanding options was determined using a Black-Scholes option 
pricing model.

Save As You Earn Scheme
The Save As You Earn Scheme is approved by HM Revenue & Customs and it was offered to eligible employees participating in the scheme 
who have committed to contribute between £5 and £500 per month over a three-year period. At the end of that contracted period, their 
accumulated funds can then be withdrawn from the scheme as cash or used to exercise the options at the contracted price.

The Tungsten Board formally approved these options on 4 August 2014 at an exercise price of £2.25. The SAYE Scheme comprises  
equity-settled share-based payment transactions with options vesting on the third anniversary of the grant date. The fair value of the 
outstanding options, EMSS and SAYE awards were determined using a Black-Scholes option pricing model.

UK Scheme and US Plan
All options granted under each plan are at an option price equal to fair market value at grant date. 

All outstanding options issued are subject to the following terms:

•  The options have a 10-year term from grant date to the final expiry date.

•  On an exit event involving a sale or change of control of Tungsten Corporation plc, any unvested options are accelerated and can be exercised 

in full.

With the exception of 1,200,000 options, all options issued are for a four-year term and will vest at 25% on each anniversary of the date of 
grant. 1,200,000 options issued are for a three-year term and will vest at 33.33% on each anniversary of the date of grant. 

Share Appreciation Rights (SARs)
In July 2015, the UK Scheme was amended to bring the vesting terms in line with the US plan and to allow for the grant of SARs to employees 
based outside of the UK and US, notably in Malaysia and continental Europe.

SARs are “phantom options”, whereby the beneficiary is issued with a certificate that allows them to call on the Company to pay them the 
increase in price between the option issue price and the market price, thereby representing the same economic benefit as options issued under 
the UK Scheme and US Plan, but without involving the issue of shares. Where applicable, the SARs are subject to the same rules as options 
issued under the UK Scheme and US Plan.

The following option grants have been made under the UK Scheme, US Plan and SARs:

Grant date 

21 January 2015 

23 July 2015 

07 January 2016 

15 April 2016 

26 July 2016 

19 September 2016 

16 December 2016 

03 August 2017 

26 July 2018 

Vesting period 

Issue price (P) 

UK Scheme 

US Plan 

SARs 

Total

Number of shares granted

 1-4 years 

 1-4 years 

 1-4 years 

1-4 years 

 1-4 years 

1-3 & 1-4 years 

 4 years 

3-4 years 

 4 years 

237.75 

67.50 

39.00 

58.00 

43.45 

62.70 

53.45 

58.60 

52.56 

515,000 

735,150 

– 

–  

 440,000  

 270,850  

100,000 

300,000 

–  

 955,000 

 58,000  

1,064,000 

– 

– 

100,000

300,000

647,201 

466,693  

72,169  

1,186,063 

995,000 

1,510,000 

125,000 

– 

1,047,250 

1,426,750 

838,414 

735,250 

– 

– 

99,000 

93,579 

2,505,000

125,000

2,573,000

1,667,243

4,903,015 

5,249,543 

322,748 

10,475,306

TUNGSTEN CORPORATION PLC // ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 2019 Strategic reportGovernanceFinancial statements 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
92

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED 
FINANCIAL STATEMENTS CONT.

17. Share-based payments cont.

The fair value of the outstanding options, EMSS and SAYE awards were determined using a Black-Scholes option pricing model using the 
following assumptions:

Risk-free interest rate 

Expected dividend yield 

Expected volatility 

Vesting period 

Market value of underlying shares 

Employee 
Matched  
Share 

 2.15% 

– 

 43.3% 

4.5 years 

£0.61 

Save As
You Earn 

2.15% 

– 

43.3% 

3 years 

£0.61 

UK Scheme 

US Plan 

SARs

0.8%-2.0% 

0.8%-2.0% 

0.8%-2.0%

– 

– 

–

50.25%-76.94% 

50.25%-76.94% 

50.25%-76.94%

4 years 

3-4 years 

4 years

  Share price on the valuation date  

The risk-free interest rate was based on the UK Gilt rates on date of grant of each of the share schemes. No dividends were expected.  
The expected equity volatility for the EMSS and SAYE schemes and other employee share options has been based on the historic volatility  
data since the Company’s admission to AIM in October 2013.

Share-based payment expenses of £0.2 million have been recognised in the consolidated income statement for the year ended 30 April 2019 
(30 April 2018: £0.6 million). The table below sets out the movement in shares granted under the Company share schemes:

Number 

As at 1 May 2017 

Granted during the year 

Lapsed during the year 

Founder  
Securities 

Employee
Matched 
Share 

Save As
You Earn 

UK Scheme 

US Plan 

SARs 

Total

3,760,000 

189,440 

31,600 

2,241,974 

3,007,650 

128,169 

9,358,833

– 

– 

– 

– 

1,047,250 

1,426,750 

99,000 

2,573,000

(5,357) 

(28,000) 

(538,475) 

(42,238) 

(31,750) 

(645,820)

As at 30 April 2018 

3,760,000 

184,083 

3,600 

2,750,749 

4,392,162 

195,419 

11,286,013

Granted during the year 

Lapsed during the year 

– 

– 

– 

– 

838,414 

735,250 

93,579 

1,667,243

(38,028) 

(3,600) 

(596,455) 

(2,115,495) 

(28,250) 

(2,781,828)

As at 30 April 2019 

3,760,000 

146,055 

– 

2,992,708 

3,011,917 

260,748 

10,171,428

18. Provisions

As at 1 May 2018 

Additions  

Utilised during the year 

Reversals 

Exchange difference 

As at 30 April 2019 

Analysis of total provisions: 

Non-current 

Current 

Total 

Leasehold 
property  
dilapidations 
£’000 

1,204 

160 

– 

(128) 

1 

1,237 

Onerous
contracts 
£’000 

1,014 

119 

(666) 

(5) 

27 

489 

As at  
30 April  
2019 
£’000 

1,568 

158 

1,726 

Total
£’000

2,218

279

(666)

(133)

28

1,726

As at
30 April
2018
£’000

1,459

759

2,218

The provisions for dilapidations include the estimated costs of removal of installed assets under the lease contracts, which includes a provision 
for the London office of £1.1 million and the Malaysia office of £0.1 million. 

The provisions for onerous contracts include settlement of provision for early termination system support contracts of £0.1 million and an 
estimated loss of sub-leased on one of the office lot in US at £0.4 million. 

TUNGSTEN CORPORATION PLC // ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 2019FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
19. Trade and other payables

Non-current liabilities

Other payables 

93

As at  
30 April  
2019 
£’000 

As at
30 April
2018
£’000

250 

250

The other payables represent the issuance of three-year convertible loan notes worth £0.25 million being the settlement of disputes in FY18 
between the Company, Disruptive Capital Advisory Limited and the Company’s former Chief Executive Officer Edmund Truell.

Current liabilities

Trade payables 

Social security and other taxes 

Accrued expenses 

Other payables 

Trade and other payables 

20. Borrowings

As at 1 May 2018 

As at  
30 April  
2019 
£’000 

2,593 

378 

4,088 

30 

 7,089 

Currency 

Total facility 
£’000 

Nominal 
interest rate 

Year of 
maturity 

Face value 
£’000 

New issue – Revolving credit facility 

GBP 

4,000  LIBOR+3.5% 

2021 

As at 30 April 2019 

21. Contract liabilities

As at 1 May  

Invoiced during the year  

Released to revenue 

IFRS15 adjustment 

Loss allowance 

Exchange differences 

As at 30 April 

*  See note 2(b) for details of restatement due to changes in accounting policy. 

As at
30 April
2018
£’000

3,125

366

5,039

77

 8,607

Carrying
amount
£’000

–

1,000

1,000

As at
30 April
2018
Restated*
 £’000 

7,880

34,188

(33,663)

(2,108)

(284)

480

– 

1,000 

1,000 

As at 
30 April  
2019 
 £’000  

6,493 

39,730 

(36,045) 

(2,723) 

(534) 

(105) 

 6,816 

 6,493

TUNGSTEN CORPORATION PLC // ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 2019 Strategic reportGovernanceFinancial statements 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
94

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED 
FINANCIAL STATEMENTS CONT.

22. Financial instruments, risk management and exposure

The Group’s activities expose it to a variety of financial risks, predominantly credit, liquidity and foreign currency risk. Risk management is 
carried out by the Board of Directors. The Group uses financial instruments to provide flexibility regarding its working capital requirements  
and to enable it to manage specific financial risks to which it is exposed.

Transactions are only undertaken if they relate to actual underlying exposures and hence cannot be viewed as speculative.

(a) Credit risk
Cash and cash equivalents are held with reputable financial institutions. 

The fair value of trade and other receivables (financial assets) approximates their carrying value. As at 30 April 2019, total trade and other 
receivables of £1.2 million (2018: £1.5 million) were past due but not impaired. With respect to these receivables that are neither impaired nor 
past due, there are no indications as at the reporting date that the counterparties will not meet their payment obligations. 

The overdue analysis of these receivables is as follows:

Current and not impaired 

Less than 1 month overdue 

Between 2-3 months overdue 

Over 3 months overdue 

Total past due but not impaired 

Individually determined to be impaired 

Total trade and other receivables 

Less: loss allowance 

Total trade and other receivables 

*  See note 2(b) for details of restatement due to changes in accounting policy.

The following represents the Group’s maximum exposure to credit risk related to uncollateralised balances:

Cash and cash equivalents 

Trade and other receivables 

Total  

Below credit ratings were obtained from Moody’s Corporation’s website:

Cash and cash equivalents

AA 

A 

B 

Total  

As at 
30 April  
2019 
£’000 

6,291 

613 

339 

221 

1,173 

941 

 8,405 

(941) 

 7,464 

As at  
30 April  
2019 
£’000 

3,810 

7,464 

As at
30 April
2018
Restated*
£’000

6,726

651

397

440

1,488

1,463

 9,677

(1,463)

 8,214

As at
30 April
2018
£’000

6,418

8,214

11,274 

14,632

As at  
30 April  
2019 
£’000 

 3,268  

 490  

 52   

 3,810  

As at
30 April
2018
£’000

 2,925 

 2,719 

 774 

 6,418 

TUNGSTEN CORPORATION PLC // ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 2019FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
  
  
 
 
22. Financial instruments, risk management and exposure cont.

(b) Liquidity risk
Financial assets and liabilities at amortised cost

As at 30 April 2019 

Cash and cash equivalents 
Trade and other receivables1 
Trade and other payables 

Net position 

1  Excludes prepayments.

As at 30 April 2018 

Cash and cash equivalents 
Trade and other receivables1 
Invoice receivables 

Trade and other payables 

Net position 

Carrying  
amount  
£‘000 

3,810 

5,845 

(7,089) 

2,566 

Total
contractual 
cash flows 
£‘000 

3,810 

5,845 

(7,089) 

2,566 

Carrying  
amount  
£‘000 

6,418 

6,458 

2 

Total
contractual 
cash flows 
£‘000 

6,418 

6,458 

2 

Less than 
3 months 
£‘000 

3,810 

5,624 

(7,089) 

2,345 

Less than 
3 months 
£‘000 

6,418 

6,018 

2 

(8,857) 

(8,857) 

(8,857) 

4,021 

4,021 

3,581 

3 to 12 
months 
£‘000 

– 

221 

– 

221 

3 to 12 
months 
£‘000 

– 

440 

– 

– 

440 

95

1 to 5
years
£‘000

–

–

–

–

1 to 5
years
£‘000

–

–

–

–

–

1  Excludes prepayments and see note 2(b) for details of restatement due to changes in accounting policy.

The Group aims to mitigate liquidity risk by carefully selecting acquisitions and creditors. This is managed via authorisation limits operating up to 
Group Board level. Cash flow forecasting is performed in the operating entities of the Group and aggregated by Group finance. Group finance 
monitors rolling forecasts of the Group’s liquidity requirements to ensure it has sufficient cash to meet operational needs.

(c) Foreign currency risk
The Group operates in a number of territories in the world but principally in the US and Europe and is exposed to foreign exchange risk for 
movements between the US Dollar, the Euro and Sterling. The Group’s subsidiaries conduct the majority of their business in their respective 
functional currencies; therefore there is limited transaction risk. Foreign exchange risk arises mainly from net investments in foreign operations. 
This exposure is reduced by funding the investments as far as possible with borrowings in the same currency. The Group applies hedge 
accounting principles to net investments in foreign operations and the related borrowings.

(d) Capital risk management
The aim of the Group is to maintain sufficient funds to enable it to meet working capital requirements, make suitable investments and 
incremental acquisitions while minimising recourse to external funders and/or shareholders. Capital managed by the Group at 30 April 2019 
consists of cash and cash equivalents and equity attributable to equity holders of the parent. The capital structure is reviewed by management 
through regular internal financial reporting and forecasting.

The Group considers the following balances as a part of its capital management:

Share capital and premium 
Accumulated deficit1 
Cash and cash equivalents 

Total  

1   Deficit includes shares to be issued, merger reserve, share-based payments reserve, other reserves and accumulated net losses.

As at 
30 April  
2019 
£’000 

As at
30 April
2018
£’000

 189,355  

 189,347 

 (73,012) 

(67,886)

3,810 

6,418

120,153  

 127,879

TUNGSTEN CORPORATION PLC // ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 2019 Strategic reportGovernanceFinancial statements 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
  
  
  
 
96

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED 
FINANCIAL STATEMENTS CONT.

23. Commitments

Operating leases
The table below sets out the future minimum lease rental commitments:

Current rental liabilities 

Rental liabilities maturing in 1-5 years 

Rental liabilities maturing over 5 years 

Total  

24. Related-party transactions 

The Group entered into the following transactions with related parties in the ordinary course of business:

Purchase of services 

As at 
30 April  
2019 
£’000 

1,024 

3,474 

2,979 

 7,477 

As at
30 April
2018
£’000

1,036

3,574

3,788

 8,398

Year ended 
30 April  
2019 
£’000 

Year ended
30 April
2018
£’000

34 

 34

Richard Hurwitz held the position of Director of The Witz Company (USA). During the year ended 30 April 2019, this includes the services 
received from The Witz Company (USA) totalling £30,000 (2018: £34,000). Other related-party transactions totalled £4,000 (2018: £nil).

Transactions between Group entities principally relate to intercompany financing arrangements which are eliminated on consolidation.

Key management personnel 
Key management includes Executive Directors - who are responsible for controlling and directing the activities of the Group. The compensation 
paid or payable to key management for employee services is shown below:

Short-term employee benefits  

Share-based payment expense 

Total 

Year ended 
30 April  
2019 
£’000 

1,254 

(32) 

1,222 

Year ended
30 April
2018
£’000

1,905

219

2,124

With the departure of Rick Hurwitz as the Group CEO in February 2019, all the unvested share options of 1,051,250 shares were lapsed and 
the share-based payment expense recognised previously was unwound in the income statement.

For further details with respect to Directors’ remuneration, please refer to the Directors’ Remuneration Report on pages 56 to 59.

TUNGSTEN CORPORATION PLC // ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 2019FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
97

25. Subsidiary undertakings of the Group 

The full listing of subsidiary companies in the Group is shown below. 

Subsidiary

Nature of business

Registered office

Country of 
incorporation

% of ordinary 
shares held

Tungsten Corporation Guernsey Limited1

Intermediate holding 
company

PO Box 186 Royal Chambers St Julian’s 
Avenue St Peter Port Guernsey GY1 4HP

Guernsey

Tungsten Network Limited1

Electronic invoice delivery Pountney Hill House, 6 Laurence 
Pountney Hill, London, EC4R 0BL

Tungsten Network Inc1

Electronic invoice delivery 1040 Crown Pointe Parkway, Suite 330, 

Tungsten Network Sdn Bhd1

Electronic invoice delivery 
& shared services office

Atlanta GA 30338

Level 8 Symphony House, Block D13 
Pusat Dagangan Dana 1,  
Jalan PJU1A/46, 47301 Petaling Jaya, 
Selangor Darul Ehsan

Tungsten Network GmbH1

Electronic invoice delivery Roggenkamp 21, 21266 Jesteburg, 
Hamburg

Tungsten Network (Schweiz) GmbH1

Shared services office 

Confidas Treuhand AG,  
Gubelstrasse 5, 6301 Zug

Tungsten Network S.A.P.I de CV1 

Electronic invoice delivery Bosque de Ciruelos 180, Piso Principal, 
Bosques de las Lomas, 11700 Mexico, 
D.F.

Tungsten Network EOOD1

Shared services office

38, Damyan Gruev Str.,  
1606 Sofia, Bulgaria 

Tungsten Network Private Limited1

Electronic invoice delivery Unit No.216, 2nd Flr. Sq., One,C-2,  

Image Integration Systems, Inc1

Software

Tungsten Network Finance Limited2

Intermediate holding 
company and trade 
finance solutions

Tungsten Purchaser UK Limited2

Invoice acquisition

Tungsten Account Trustee Limited2

Trustee services

Tungsten Investment Management Limited2

Investment management

Dist. Ctr. Saket, New Delhi, South Delhi, 
Delhi, India, 110017

885 Commerce Drive, Suite B, Perrysburg, 
Ohio 43551

Pountney Hill House, 6 Laurence 
Pountney Hill, London, EC4R 0BL

Pountney Hill House, 6 Laurence 
Pountney Hill, London, EC4R 0BL

Pountney Hill House, 6 Laurence 
Pountney Hill, London, EC4R 0BL

Pountney Hill House, 6 Laurence 
Pountney Hill, London, EC4R 0BL

UK

USA

Malaysia

Germany

Switzerland

Mexico

Bulgaria

India

USA

UK

UK

UK

UK

Tungsten Purchaser (US), Inc2

Invoice acquisition

Tungsten Purchaser (Canada) Ltd2

Invoice acquisition

1040 Crown Pointe Parkway, Suite 330, 
Atlanta GA 30338

855-2 Street SW, Suite 3500, Calgary, 
Alberta, T2P 4J8, Canada

USA

Canada

100

100

100

100

100

100

100

100

100

100

100

100

100

100

100

100

1  Tungsten Corporation Guernsey Limited is directly held by Tungsten Corporation plc, other subsidiaries listed above are indirectly held through Tungsten Corporation 

Guernsey Limited.

2  Tungsten Network Finance Limited is directly held by Tungsten Corporation plc, other subsidiaries listed above are indirectly held through Tungsten Network Finance Limited.

TUNGSTEN CORPORATION PLC // ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 2019 Strategic reportGovernanceFinancial statements 
 
 
 
98

PARENT COMPANY BALANCE SHEET
Registered number: 07934335

Assets

Non-current assets 

Investments in subsidiaries 

Property, plant and equipment 

Other receivables 

Total non-current assets 

Current assets 

Trade and other receivables 

Cash and cash equivalents 

Total current assets 

Total assets 

Capital and reserves attributable to the equity shareholders

Non-current liabilities 

Provisions 

Other payables 

Total non-current liabilities 

Current liabilities 

Trade and other payables 

Total current liabilities 

Total liabilities 

Share capital 

Share premium 

Shares to be issued 

Share-based payment reserve 

Other reserves 

Accumulated losses 

Total equity  

Total liabilities and equity 

Note 

5 

6 

7 

As at  
30 April  
2019 
£’000 

As at
30 April
 2018
£’000

127,040 

162,040

2,033 

789 

2,160

1,065

129,862 

165,265

 7 

53,466 

36 

53,502 

74,267

580

74,847

183,364 

240,112

8 

9 

9 

1,160 

250 

1,410 

87,327 

87,327 

88,737 

1,000

250

1,250

85,431

85,431

86,681

553 

553

188,802 

188,794

3,760 

1,497 

 (5,450) 

(94,535) 

3,760

1,401

(5,450)

(35,627)

94,627 

153,431

183,364 

240,112

The loss attributable to shareholders dealt with in the financial statements of the Company was £58.9 million (FY18: loss of £2.5 million).

The above balance sheet should be read in conjunction with the accompanying notes.

The financial statements on pages 98 to 107 were authorised for issue by the Board of Directors on 22 July 2019 and were signed  
on its behalf:

David Williams
Chief Financial Officer 

TUNGSTEN CORPORATION PLC // ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 2019FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
  
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
  
 
 
  
 
  
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
  
 
 
 
  
  
 
 
 
 
 
99

PARENT COMPANY STATEMENT 
OF CHANGES IN EQUITY

Year ended 30 April 2019

Share  
capital 
£’000 

Share 
premium 
£’000 

Shares 
to be issued 
£’000 

Share-based
payment 
reserve 
£’000 

Other 
reserves 
£’000 

Accumulated 
losses 
£’000 

Total
equity
£’000

Balance as at 1 May 2018 

553 

188,794 

3,760 

1,401 

(5,450) 

Loss for the year 

Issue of treasury shares to employees 

Share-based payment expense 

– 

– 

– 

– 

8 

– 

– 

– 

– 

– 

– 

96 

– 

– 

– 

(35,627) 

(58,908) 

153,431

(58,908)

– 

– 

8

96

Balance as at 30 April 2019 

553 

188,802 

3,760 

1,497 

(5,450) 

(94,535) 

94,627

Year ended 30 April 2018

Share  
capital 
£’000 

Share 
premium 
£’000 

Shares 
to be issued 
£’000 

Share-based
payment 
reserve 
£’000 

Other 
reserves 
£’000 

Accumulated 
losses 
£’000 

Total
equity
£’000

Balance as at 1 May 2017 

553 

188,794 

3,760 

Loss for the year 

Share-based payment expense 

– 

– 

– 

– 

– 

– 

774 

– 

627 

(5,450) 

(33,141) 

155,290

– 

– 

(2,486) 

– 

(2,486)

627

Balance as at 30 April 2018 

553 

188,794 

3,760 

1,401 

(5,450) 

(35,627) 

153,431

The above statement of changes in equity should be read in conjunction with the accompanying notes.  

TUNGSTEN CORPORATION PLC // ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 2019 Strategic reportGovernanceFinancial statements 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
100

PARENT COMPANY STATEMENT 
OF CASH FLOWS

Cash flows from operating activities 

Loss before taxation 

Adjustments for: 

Depreciation 

Share based payment (income)/expense 

Impairment in investment in subsidiary 

Loss allowance  

Finance income 

Finance costs 

Cash used in operations 

Changes in working capital: 

Increase in trade and other receivables 

Increase in trade and other payables 

Net interest paid 

Net cash outflow from operating activities  

Cash flows from investing activities 

Purchases of property, plant and equipment 

Net cash outflow from investing activities 

Cash flows from financing activities 

Proceeds from issue of treasury shares 

Net cash inflow from financing activities    

Net decrease in cash and cash equivalents 

Cash and cash equivalents at start of the year   

Exchange adjustments 

Cash and cash equivalents at the end of the year 

The above statement of cash flows should be read in conjunction with the accompanying notes.  

Year ended 
30 April  
2019 
£’000 

Year ended
30 April
2018
 £’000 

Note 

6 

4 

5 

7 

(58,908) 

(2,486)

290 

(536) 

35,000 

22,909 

– 

1,358 

113 

452

647

–

–

(11)

1,265

(133)

(1,832) 

2,528 

(1,358) 

(11,491)

968

(1,238)

(549) 

(11,894)

(3) 

(3) 

8 

8 

(122)

(122)

–

–

(544) 

580 

– 

36 

(12,016)

12,613

(17)

580

TUNGSTEN CORPORATION PLC // ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 2019FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 
 
 
 
  
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
  
  
 
  
 
  
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
  
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
  
  
  
 
101

NOTES TO THE PARENT COMPANY 
FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

1. General information

Tungsten Corporation plc (the Company) is a holding company and provider of central and management functions. The Company is a public 
company limited by shares, which is incorporated in the UK and registered in England. The address of its registered office is Pountney Hill 
House, 6 Laurence Pountney Hill, London EC4R OBL, UK.

The company financial statements were authorised for issue by the Directors on 22 July 2019. All press releases, financial reports and other 
information are available on our investors relations page of our website: www.tungsten-network.com

2. Accounting policies

(a) Basis of preparation
The Company financial statements of Tungsten Corporation plc have been prepared in accordance with International Financial Reporting 
Standards as adopted by the European Union (IFRSs as adopted by the EU), the Companies Act 2006 that applies to companies reporting 
under IFRS, and IFRS Interpretations Committee (IFRS IC). The Company financial statements have been prepared under the historical  
cost convention.

(b) New standards, amendments and interpretations adopted:
The Company has applied the following standard for the first time for their annual reporting period commencing 1 May 2018:

IFRS 9 Financial instruments
The main impact of IFRS 9 arises from the implementation of the expected credit loss model regarding intercompany loan and balances. 

As at 30 April 2019, the Company has balances due from its subsidiaries. With the adoption of IFRS 9, a loss allowance of £22.9 million has  
been recognised in relation to the balance due from a subsidiary, Tungsten Network Finance Limited as disclosed in Note 7. 

IFRS 15 Revenue from contracts with customers
This standard deals with revenue recognition and establishes principles for reporting useful information to users of financial statements about 
the nature, amount, timing and uncertainty of revenue and cash flows arising from an entity’s contracts with customers. Revenue is recognised 
when a customer obtains control of a good or service and thus has the ability to direct the use and obtain the benefits from the good or service. 
Variable consideration is included in the transaction price if it is highly probable that there will be no significant reversal of the cumulative 
revenue recognised when the uncertainty is resolved. The adoption is not applicable to the Company.

(c) New standards, amendments and interpretations issued but not yet effective:
The accounting policy for IFRS 16 ‘Leases’ is the same as that for the Group and is set out on page 75. 

(d) Critical accounting estimates and judgements
The preparation of the financial statements requires management to make judgements and estimates that affect the application of policies and 
reported amounts of assets and liabilities, income and expenses.

Estimates and judgements are continually evaluated and are based on historical experience and other factors, including expectations of future 
events that are believed to be reasonable under the circumstances.

The Company makes estimates and assumptions concerning the future. The resulting accounting estimates will by definition, seldom equal the 
related actual results. The estimates and assumptions that have a significant impact on the financial statements are highlighted below.

Going concern
The Company going concern assessment is based on forecasts and projections of anticipated trading performance. The assumptions applied 
are subjective and management applies judgement in estimating the probability, timing and value of underlying cash flows. 

Impairment in investments in subsidiaries 
Investments are reviewed for impairment whenever events indicate that the carrying value may not be recoverable.

The Company performs the assessment of the recoverable amount of the investment by comparing the cash-generating-unit’s (CGU) value in 
use to the carrying amount of the investments in subsidiaries. An impairment loss is recognised for the amount by which the carrying amount 
exceeds the recoverable amount.

(e) Significant Accounting Policies 
The accounting policies adopted are consistent with those of the previous financial year.

Share-based payments
The Company issues equity-settled and cash-settled share-based awards to certain employees. The fair value of share-based awards is 
determined based on the Black-Scholes model at the date of grant and expensed based on the Group’s estimate of the shares that will 
eventually vest, over the vesting period with a corresponding increase in equity. At each balance sheet date, the Group revises its estimates 
of the number of options that are expected to vest based on service and other non-market performance conditions. The amount expensed is 
adjusted over the vesting period for changes in the estimate of the number of shares that will eventually vest, save for changes resulting from 
any market-related performance conditions.

Equity-settled share-based awards are recognised as an expense in the income statement with a corresponding credit to the share-based 
payment reserve. Cash-settled share-based awards are recognised as an expense in the income statement with a corresponding credit  
to liabilities.

Further details on the share-based payments can be found in Note 17 to the consolidated financial statements of this Annual Report and 
financial statements.

TUNGSTEN CORPORATION PLC // ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 2019 Strategic reportGovernanceFinancial statements102

NOTES TO THE PARENT COMPANY 
FINANCIAL STATEMENTS CONT.

2. Accounting policies cont.

(f) Property, plant and equipment
Tangible assets are stated at cost less accumulated depreciation. Depreciation is charged to the income statement on a straight-line basis 
of the estimated useful lives of each item of tangible asset. Depreciation commences when an asset is brought into use over the following 
estimated useful lives:

•  Leasehold improvement: depreciated over the term of lease

•  Fixture and fittings: three to five years

•  Computer equipment: two to five years

Dilapidations
The estimated cost of dilapidations is recognised in leasehold improvements and provisions when the obligation arises and the liability can be 
reliably estimated. Under the lease agreement, the lessee is obliged to remove assets that it has installed in the leased property. The asset is 
depreciated in line with the lease term.

(g) Provisions
A provision is recognised when the Company has a present legal or constructive obligation as a result of a past event, it is probable that the 
obligation will have to be settled, and the amount of the obligation can be reliably estimated. Provisions are measured at the present value 
required in order to cover the obligation. The present value factor used in the calculation of the present value is selected so that it represents 
the market insight into the time value of money and liability-related risks at the time of the assessment.

(h) Trade and other receivables
Trade receivables are amounts due from customers for goods sold or services performed in the ordinary course of business. They are generally 
due for settlement within 30 days and are therefore are classified as current.  Non-current receivables relate to loan receivables from 
employees.

Trade receivables are recognised initially at the amount of consideration that is unconditional, unless they contain significant financing 
components, in which case they are recognised at fair value.  Due to their short-term nature, the carrying value of current receivables is 
considered to be same as the fair value.  

The Company applies IFRS 9’s simplified approach to measuring expected credit losses which uses a lifetime expected loss approach for all 
trade receivables.

To measure the expected credit losses, trade receivables have been analysed based on the days past due.  The expected loss rates are 
based on the payment profiles of sales over a period of 12 months before the relevant balance sheet date and the corresponding historical 
credit losses experienced within this period. The historical loss rates are adjusted to reflect current and forward-looking information on 
macroeconomic factors affecting the ability of the customers to settle the receivables. 

(i) Trade and other payables
Trade and other payables are initially stated at fair value and subsequently measured at amortised cost.

(j) Cash and cash equivalents
Cash and cash equivalents include cash in hand, deposits held at call with banks, other short-term highly liquid investments with original 
maturities of three months or less and bank overdrafts.

(k) Employee benefits defined contribution plans
The Company pays contributions to publicly or privately administered pension plans. The Company has no further payment obligations once the 
contributions have been paid. Contributions are recognised in the income statement as an employee benefit expense in the period when they 
are due. Prepaid contributions are recognised as an asset to the extent that a cash refund or a reduction in the future payments is available.

(l) Share capital
Ordinary shares are classified as equity.

(m) Investments in subsidiary undertakings
In the Company’s financial statements, investments in subsidiaries are stated at cost less provision for impairment in value.

Investments are reviewed for impairment whenever events indicate that the carrying value may not be recoverable. An impairment loss is 
recognised to the extent that the carrying value exceeds the higher of the investments fair value less cost of disposal and its value-in-use.  
An asset’s value-in-use is calculated by discounting an estimate of future cash flows by the post-tax weighted average cost of capital.  
Any impairment is recognised in the statement of comprehensive income and not subsequently reversed.

(n) Foreign currency translation
The accounting policy for foreign currency translation is the same as that for the Group and is set out on page 77. 

3. Loss for the year

As permitted by the exemption in Section 408 of the Companies Act 2006, the income statement of the Company is not presented as part 
of these financial statements. The loss attributable to shareholders dealt with in the financial statements of the Company was £58.9 million 
(FY18: loss of £2.5 million).

TUNGSTEN CORPORATION PLC // ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 2019FINANCIAL STATEMENTS4. Employee benefits expenses

Wages and salaries 

Social security costs 

Pension-defined contributions 

Share-based payment (income)/expense 

Total employee benefits expenses 

Number of employees 

The yearly average number of people (including Executive Directors) employed:  

Corporate 

Total average headcount 

Refer to Note 24 in the consolidated financial statements for details of remuneration in respect of key management. 

5. Investments in subsidiaries

Balance as at 1 May 

Additions 

Impairment  

Disposal 

Balance as at 30 April 

103

Year ended 
30 April  
2019 
£’000 

Year ended
30 April
2018
£’000

1,922 

185 

110 

(536) 

1,681 

2,314

220

153

647

3,334

Year ended 
30 April  
2019 

Year ended
30 April
2018

10 

10 

19

19

2019 
£’000 

2018
 £’000 

162,040 

162,040

– 

(35,000) 

– 

–

–

–

127,040 

162,040

The Company’s subsidiaries are the same as that for the Group and are set out on page 97.

The carrying value of the parent company’s investments in subsidiaries is £162.0 million at 30 April 2019. The full £162.0 million investment is 
in Tungsten Corporation Guernsey Limited, through which Tungsten Corporation plc indirectly holds the Tungsten Network group of companies. 
Tungsten Network Finance Limited is also directly owned by Tungsten Corporation plc, however the investment value is only £1.

The Company agreed for repayment of the intercompany receivables of £53.1 million over three to nine years, these cash flows would not be 
available for the assessment of the recoverable amount of the investment. Therefore, the management’s impairment assessment compares the 
Network cash-generating-unit’s (CGU) value in use of £180.1 million to the carrying amount in the investment of £162.0 million together with 
intercompany receivables of £53.1 million, which resulted an impairment of £35.0 million. 

The management is therefore concluded and decided the impairment on the investments of £35.0 million on 30 April 2019.

TUNGSTEN CORPORATION PLC // ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 2019 Strategic reportGovernanceFinancial statements 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
104

NOTES TO THE PARENT COMPANY 
FINANCIAL STATEMENTS CONT.

6. Property, plant and equipment

As at 30 April 2019

Cost 

Balance at 1 May 2018 

Additions 

Balance at 30 April 2019 

Accumulated depreciation 

Balance at 1 May 2018 

Charge for the year 

At 30 April 2019 

Net Book Value 

At 1 May 2018 

At 30 April 2019 

As at 30 April 2018

Cost 

Balance at 1 May 2017 

Additions 

Balance at 30 April 2018 

Accumulated depreciation 

Balance at 1 May 2017 

Charge for the year 

At 30 April 2018 

Net Book Value 

At 1 May 2017 

At 30 April 2018 

Leasehold  
improvements 
£’000 

Fixtures
and fittings 
£’000 

2,922 

163 

3,085 

797 

272 

1,069 

2,125 

2,016 

90 

– 

90 

55 

18 

73 

35 

17 

Leasehold  
improvements 
£’000 

Fixtures
and fittings 
£’000 

1,800 

1,122 

2,922 

364 

433 

797 

1,436 

2,125 

90 

– 

90 

36 

19 

55 

54 

35 

Total
£’000

3,012

163

3,175

852

290

1,142

2,160

2,033

Total
£’000

1,890

1,122

3,012

400

452

852

1,490

2,160

TUNGSTEN CORPORATION PLC // ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 2019FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
7. Trade and other receivables

Non-current assets 

Loans to employees under EMSS scheme 

Deposit 

Other receivables 

Current assets 

Amounts owed by Group undertakings 

Less: loss allowance  

Net amounts owed by Group undertakings 

VAT 

Other receivables 

Prepayments 

Trade and other receivables 

105

As at
30 April
2018
£’000

477

588

1,065

As at
30 April
2018
£’000

73,716

–

As at 
30 April  
2019 
£’000 

201 

588 

789 

As at 
30 April  
2019 
£’000 

76,002 

(22,909) 

53,093 

73,716

97 

– 

276 

50

249

252

53,466 

74,267

The amounts owed by Group undertakings are due from Tungsten Network Limited, Tungsten Network Finance Limited and Tungsten Network 
Sdn Bhd as at 30 April 2019. These are non-interest bearing and are repayable on demand.

In the trading update on 30 April 2019, the Company announced the decision to divest Tungsten Network Finance (‘TNF’). The divestment 
is expected to be completed prior to October 2019. The amount due from TNF is considered unlikely to be collectible and the Company has 
decided to impair the total amount due of £22.9 million.

The remaining balances of £53.1 million are due from Tungsten Network Limited and Tungsten Network Sdn Bhd. With the adoption of IFRS 9, 
the Company have decided and approved the repayment over a time period, subject to the expected liquidity of net current assets, therefore no 
impairment is required.

8. Provisions

At 1 May 2018 

Addition 

At 30 April 2019 

Analysis of total provision:

Non-current 

Leasehold
property 
dilapidation
 £’000 

1,000

160

1,160

As at 
30 April  
2019 
£’000 

1,160 

As at
30 April
2018
 £’000 

1,000

The provision for dilapidations includes the estimated costs of removal of installed assets under the lease contract for the London office. 

TUNGSTEN CORPORATION PLC // ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 2019 Strategic reportGovernanceFinancial statements 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
106

NOTES TO THE PARENT COMPANY 
FINANCIAL STATEMENTS CONT.

9. Trade and other payables

Non-current liabilities 

Other payables 

As at 
30 April  
2019 
£’000 

250 

As at
30 April
2018
 £’000 

250

The other payables represent the issuance of convertible loan notes worth £0.25 million being the settlement of disputes in FY18 between the 
Company, Disruptive Capital Advisory Limited and the Company’s former Chief Executive Officer Edmund Truell.

Current liabilities 

Trade and other payables 

Taxation and social security 

Accrued expenses  

Loan payable to Group undertakings  

Amounts owed to Group undertakings 

Trade and other payables 

As at 
30 April  
2019 
£’000 

214 

225 

1,329 

43,260 

42,299 

87,327 

As at
30 April
2018
 £’000 

296

264

1,158

41,902

41,811

85,431

The loan payable to Group undertakings is bearing an interest based on monthly GBP LIBOR. The amounts owed to Group undertakings are 
non-interest bearing and are repayable on demand. 

10. Commitments

Operating leases
The table below sets out the future minimum lease rental commitments:

Current rental liabilities  

Rental liabilities maturing in 1-5 years 

Rental liabilities maturing over 5 years 

Total 

As at 
30 April  
2019 
£’000 

650 

2,600 

2,979 

6,229 

As at
30 April
2018
 £’000 

650

2,600

3,629

6,879

11. Related-party transactions

No related party transactions have been entered into during the year with the Company.

Key management personnel
Key management includes Executive Directors. There were no key management personnel in the Company apart from the Directors.  
The compensation paid or payable to key management for employee services is set out in Note 24 to the consolidated financial statements. 

TUNGSTEN CORPORATION PLC // ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 2019FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
107

12. Capital management

The aim of the Company is to maintain sufficient funds to enable it to meet working capital requirements, make suitable investments and 
incremental acquisitions while minimising recourse to external funders and/or shareholders. Capital managed by the Company at 30 April 2019 
consists of cash and cash equivalents and equity attributable to equity holders of the parent. The capital structure is reviewed by management 
through regular internal financial reporting and forecasting.

The Company considers the following balances as a part of its capital management:

Share capital and premium 
Accumulated deficit1 
Cash and cash equivalents 

Total 

1  Deficit include shares to be issued, share-based payments reserve, other reserves and accumulated net losses.

As at 
30 April  
2019 
£’000 

189,355 

(94,728) 

36 

As at
30 April
2018
 £’000 

189,347

(35,916)

580

94,663 

154,011

TUNGSTEN CORPORATION PLC // ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 2019 Strategic reportGovernanceFinancial statements 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
108

SHAREHOLDER  
INFORMATION

Nominated adviser
Panmure Gordon & Co
1 New Change
London
EC4 9AF
UK

Broker
Canaccord Genuity Limited
88 Wood Street
London
EC2V 7QR
UK

Registrar
Equiniti
Aspect House
Spencer Road
Lancing
West Sussex
BN99 6DA
UK

0371 384 2030*
Overseas helpline +44 (0)121 415 7047

*  Lines open 8.30am to 5.30pm, Monday to Friday.

Registered office
Tungsten Corporation plc
Pountney Hill House
6 Laurence Pountney Hill
London
EC4R 0BL
UK

Tungsten Corporation plc is a public limited company incorporated and domiciled in the UK, with registered number 07934335.

TUNGSTEN CORPORATION PLC // ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 2019FINANCIAL STATEMENTSDesign and Production
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This document is printed on Symbol Freelife Matt Plus, a paper 
containing 100% virgin fibre sourced from well-managed, responsible, 
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TUNGSTEN CORPORATION PLC // ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 2019 Tungsten Corporation plc
Pountney Hill House
6 Laurence Pountney Hill
London EC4R 0BL
UK

E:  info@tungsten-network.com
T:  +44 20 7280 7807
www.tungsten-network.com