- Established presence in smart manufacturing – taking us into new markets and applications
- Markerless technology ready to commercialise and new Vicon products to stimulate growth
- Delayed purchase decisions impacted H2 performance against exceptional FY23 comparative
- Well placed to build out smart manufacturing offering via M&A with healthy pipeline of opportunities
- Positioning for future success with trading in line in the first months of the new financial year

3 December 2024 - Oxford Metrics today publishes unaudited results. While the audit is at advanced stages, the results today are unaudited as the auditors have requested extra time to complete their final audit procedures. The Group does not expect any material changes to the results and will release its audited results as soon as practically possible when the audit has been completed.

Oxford Metrics plc (LSE: OMG), the smart sensing and software company, servicing life sciences, entertainment, engineering and smart manufacturing markets, announces unaudited preliminary results for the financial year ended 30 September 2024.

Commenting on the results Imogen O’Connor, Chief Executive said:

“Against an exceptionally strong prior year comparator where our teams delivered more camera systems than ever before, the trend of extended buying really developed in September – historically our busiest month - impacting the overall result today. While conversion rates in the final month of the year were below historical levels, our Entertainment segment was affected most, reflecting the slowdown in the global games industry and subsequent content creation contraction. Geographically, UK and Europe tracked ahead with North America and APAC behind FY23.

Our teams have been working hard as we look to commercialise markerless – the future of our industry with Vicon setting the gold standard. Commercial delivery is in final stages and set to contribute modest revenue including annual recurring revenue in FY25.

Positioning the business for future success we have also extended our capabilities into a new growth area this year, establishing a presence in smart manufacturing. Having secured Industrial Vision Systems our first acquisition, we were delighted to welcome measurement specialists, Sempre into Oxford Metrics, post period end. With a strong balance sheet, we’re well placed to capture more of this growth market as inspection automation becomes mainstream and smart manufacturing becomes the standard.

FY25 trading has started in line with management expectations with a continuation of the normalised buying behaviour and trading patterns seen in the latter part of FY24. With a continued focus on cost, efficiency and reallocating resources to high-impact areas, we are positioning the business for success in 2025 and beyond.”

_{* Profit Before Tax adjusted for share-based payments, acquisition costs and amortisation of intangibles arising on acquisition
** Including Fixed Term Deposits.}

Financial and strategic highlights

• Revenue of £41.5m (FY23: £44.2m), as pipeline conversion in Vicon fell below expectations in September, typically our busiest month
• Geographically for Vicon, the UK (up 34%) and Europe (up 11%) tracked ahead, with North America (down 7%) and APAC (down 35%) behind FY23.
• As expected, gross margin improved to 66.6% (FY23: 65.0%), up 1.6 percentage points on prior year
• Adjusted Profit Before Tax* at £3.7m (FY23: £7.5m) as delayed purchase decisions impacted H2 performance against an exceptional FY23 comparative
• Strong balance sheet with net cash at £50.7m (FY23: £64.8m) to build out smart manufacturing via M&A, drive growth marketing initiative and invest in R&D
• Board proposes to maintain a progressive final dividend of 3.25p (FY23: 2.75p per share), up 18% in line with our progressive dividend policy
• Zoe Fox appointed Group CFO 1 July 2024

Markerless – the future of our industry with commercialisation in final stages

• Our teams are working hard optimising the future of motion capture, setting the gold standard
  • Secured three more blue chip partners to enter our beta programme, taking total to 10 (H1 FY24: 7)
  • Set to be deployed in the Entertainment and Location-based Entertainment markets first
• On track for commercial delivery in FY25 and modest revenue contribution

Established our smart manufacturing presence, extending our capabilities in a new growth market

• Acquired Industrial Vision Systems Ltd (“IVS”) adding smart manufacturing to our market-leading portfolio
  • Brands today require right first-time error-proof production
  • Manufacturers are revolutionising processes, replacing inspection methods with smart manufacturing
  • Revenue contribution of £2.9m, with good order intake throughout the year
• Post period end, acquired The Sempre Group (“Sempre”), measurement specialists solvingcmanufacturing challenges
  • Sempre, helps manufacturers be more efficient and improve quality – saving time and money
  • Immediately earnings enhancing Sempre has clear synergies with IVS
  • Adds strength to existing and exposure to new markets and new customers

Outlook

• Trading in the first months of the financial year has started in line with management’s expectations
• Continuation of normalised trading patterns and buying behaviour seen in latter part of FY24
• Strong balance sheet with £46.7m cash at close of business 30 November 2024 provides capital allocation flexibility
• Continued focus on cost and efficiency, actively reallocating resources to high-impact areas
• Getting markerless ready and establishing new growth area, smart manufacturing positions us for future growth
• Well positioned to capitalise on growth opportunities for success in FY25 and beyond

Vicon has started FY25 well with:

• A good spread of opportunities across all markets
• New products in the pipeline to stimulate growth
• Markerless now in final stages of commercialisation, ready to realise revenues in FY25

Smart manufacturing has made a strong start entering FY25 with:

• A healthy pipeline and orderbook
• £1.3m already secured for IVS contributing to its healthy order book
• Good pipeline for Sempre and already seeing sales synergies with IVS opportunities
• Well placed to build out smart manufacturing via M&A programme with healthy pipeline of opportunities

Click here for the full Preliminary Results 2023/24.

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