Final Results

[Embargoed release: 0700 hours Wednesday 28 March 2012]

21st Century Technology plc

("21st Century", "the company" or "the group")

Preliminary results for the year ended 31 December 2011

21st Century, the supplier and installation service provider of public transport CCTV and vehicle monitoring systems, today announces its preliminary results for the year ended 31 December 2011.

Financial highlights

·; Sales up 29% to £14.0m (2010: £10.8m)

·; Operating profit from continuing operations up 72% to £1.5m (2010: £0.9m)

·; Profit after tax from continuing operations up 89% at £1.2m (2010: £0.6m)

·; Earnings per share more than doubled to 1.31p (2010: 0.61p)

·; Year end cash up to £2.8m from £1.1m at the start of the year

·; Contracts exchanged on sale of freehold property

·; Distribution of 3.5p per share by way of return of capital to be proposed at the forthcoming AGM

Operational highlights

·; Contracts worth £7.2m awarded by Keolis in Sweden

·; 21st Century appointed preferred mobile CCTV supplier to FirstGroup UK Bus

·; EcoManager sales made in Czech Republic, Spain and Italy

·; EcoManager distributors appointed in mainland Europe

·; Several potentially significant EcoManager trials underway in Europe and the Middle East

Strong start to 2012

·; Freehold property sold for £2.35m (completion of sale 6 January 2012)

·; Cash at bank standing at £4.0m at 29 February 2012

·; £3.3m contract award for on board CCTV and passenger counting for Arriva, Scandinavia

Commenting on the results, Jan Holmstrom, Chairman of 21st Century, said:

"2011 was a good year for the group. We have achieved a significant increase in sales, profit and cash generated from operations. Having successfully repositioned the company, we believe we have a great opportunity to build on our success in domestic and international public transport markets.

"At the start of 2012 our cash reserves were supplemented by the sale of the company's underutilised freehold property and consequently we are proposing to make a substantial return of capital of 3.5p per share to our shareholders. The current year has also started well with the award of a £3.3m contract in Scandinavia with Arriva. If we can maintain this early momentum we will be in a strong position to consider a further distribution by way of dividend within the next 12 months."

A copy of this preliminary results announcement is available on the company's website: www.21stplc.com

Enquiries:

Notes to editors:

21st Century Technology plc (AIM: C21), a leading supplier of public transport CCTV and other monitoring systems, was admitted to trading on AIM, a market operated by the London Stock Exchange, in 2005.

21st Century is the preferred supplier of on-board CCTV systems for Arriva UK Bus, the Go-Ahead Group in the UK and FirstGroup UK Bus.

The company has pioneered the use of Wi-Fi with on-board CCTV systems. Transport for London commissioned the company to undertake a trial of 'LiveView' - a system which transmits live CCTV pictures from on board the bus to a public transport and police control centre. 21st Century was also the first company to successfully launch Automatic Video Downloads and a bus CCTV monitoring system (HeartbeatTM) which allow the CCTV manager to remotely download CCTV footage from the bus to his computer and check that all the CCTV systems fitted to his buses are fully operational, without leaving his desk.

The company's passenger counting systems utilise active infrared sensors at every exit/entry point or overhead cameras linked to the ticket machine to enable bus operators to analyse specific bus route ticket sales and passenger numbers.

21st Century's EcoManagerTM product has made a significant contribution to sales since its launch in July 2008. The EcoManager black-box system is aimed at reducing fuel and maintenance costs, reducing emissions and improving safety for bus operators by monitoring individual driving styles. Following a successful trial, in April 2009, Arriva UK committed to install the device on all their new buses and to retrofit a large proportion of their existing fleet. In November 2009 Arriva North West and Merseytravel won the industry recognised Alexander Dennis Award for Innovation following their installation of the EcoManager system which yielded fuel savings of up to 12%, associated CO2 emission reductions and a 62% reduction in accidents. This was followed in 2010 with a driver safety award for EcoManager presented by the road safety charity, Brake and in 2011, Arriva Wirral was presented with the Environmental Award by Wirral Investment Network in recognition of the environmental benefits achieved by the company as a result of the installation of EcoManager to its fleet of buses. For further information go to www.getecomanager.com.

Chairman's statement

Trading results

I am delighted to report that the group results for the year show an increase in profit after tax from continuing activities of 89% to £1.2m (2010: £0.6m) on revenues up 29% at £14.0m (2010: £10.8m). The basic earnings per share from all activities has more than doubled to 1.31p (2010: 0.61p). We have also increased our cash position significantly at the year end to £2.8m compared to £1.1m at the start of the year. The year end cash position was boosted early in the New Year following the sale of our underutilised head office building which realised a net consideration of £2.3m and consequently our cash at bank stood at £4.0m at 29 February 2012.

The group is focused on the supply of CCTV and other monitoring systems to the public transport market. These embrace the supply and installation of mobile (on vehicle) and fixed (on premises) CCTV, EcoManager driver monitoring and passenger counting systems.

CCTV

In the UK we are the preferred supplier of mobile CCTV to three of the largest bus operators - Arriva UK Bus, the Go-Ahead Group and FirstGroup UK Bus. FirstGroup UK Bus was added to our client list at the start of 2010 and I am pleased to report that in 2011 sales to FirstGroup increased by 78% to £1.6m (2010: £0.9m).

During the year we invested in additional overseas sales staff, established a Scandinavian subsidiary based in Stockholm and a Paris office to support expansion outside of the UK. I was therefore delighted to announce in early 2011 that the group was awarded two mobile CCTV contracts with a total value of £7.2m by the Swedish subsidiary of a major French transport group - Keolis.

EcoManager

To date we have sold EcoManager in nine countries in Europe and currently have major trials of EcoManager running with four potential new customers in Europe and one in the Middle East. Cumulatively we have sold almost 7,000 EcoManager units of which approximately 2,000 are the latest version which generate web based reports for the customer on individual driver behaviour and vehicle performance. This on-going service yields a rolling three year recurring gross revenue stream for the company of between £15 and £20 per bus per month. In 2011 we made our first EcoManager sales in the Czech Republic and we have now appointed distributors for EcoManager in two further territories in mainland Europe.

Land and buildings and tax provision on the property revaluation surplus

Since the disposal of the group's remaining car and motorcycle accessory and security distribution businesses at the end of 2009 and the cessation of our insurance Vehicle Installation Services at the start of 2010, the group's large head office and warehouse premises have been significantly underutilised and so the company has been actively marketing the property for sale. Consequently, in 2010 the carrying value of the land and buildings was reclassified from non-current assets in to current assets classified as held for sale.

On 28 December 2011 the company exchanged contracts for the sale of the premises for cash consideration of £2,350,000. The completion date for the sale was subsequent to the year end and the net amount realised after costs was £2,292,000. The company is now leasing back part of the site from the purchaser on a short term lease at an annualised rental of £100,000.

The carrying value of the land and buildings at 31 December 2011 along with various other items included in tangible fixed assets which were disposed of along with the property have been written down to the net amount realised on the property sale in the current year and consequently £300,000 has been written off the carrying value of the property and £26,000 has been written off tangible fixed assets in the Consolidated Statement of Financial Position.

The 2010 Consolidated Statement of Financial Position included a provision of £362,000 in respect of potential deferred tax payable on the revaluation surplus included in the carrying value of the property. In light of the actual sale price achieved and the impact of indexation allowance to be deducted before assessing the taxable gain on the property, the directors now believe that the deferred tax provision is not required and so this has been credited back to the Statement of Comprehensive Income for 2011.

The write down of the carrying value of the property and tangible fixed assets along with the deferred tax credit referred to above have been included in the results from discontinued operations within the Statement of Comprehensive Income resulting in a net credit of £36,000 in respect of discontinued operations in 2011.

Proposed return of capital, cancellation of share premium account and dividends

Following receipt of the proceeds from the disposal of the group's freehold property in the current year, the board has undergone a strategic review of its growth strategy and capital requirements. Following this review the board has concluded that the group can achieve its growth targets from the cash being generated from operations and accordingly has resolved to return approximately £3.2m to shareholders. The board intends to make this exceptional return, which equates to 3.5p per ordinary share, by way of a return of capital. The return of capital will require shareholder approval and the company expects to post a circular to shareholders in April for consideration at the Annual General Meeting to be held in May 2012. If the resolution proposing the return of capital is passed by shareholders the distribution will be made once approval of the High Court has been obtained. A full timetable will be set out within the circular.

£3,387,000 standing on the credit of the parent company's share premium account along with £1,249,000 of special and other reserves have been transferred to distributable reserves. Consequently the deficit on the parent company's distributable reserves, which had prevented the company from paying a dividend, has now been eliminated. The board will give consideration to a further distribution to shareholders within the next 12 months by way of dividend if the company has sufficient surplus distributable reserves and cash and the board considers the distribution is in the best interests of the company.

Current trading and outlook

We are currently trading in line with the company's growth plans and the new financial year has started well with the award of a contract worth £3.3m (of which £2.7m is scheduled for delivery in the current year) to supply on board CCTV, passenger counting systems, depot infrastructure, related maintenance and software hosting for a substantial part of a fleet of public transport vehicles operated by Arriva in Stockholm. With a number of trials underway in the UK and overseas we also anticipate that EcoManager will become an increasing part of our business in the current year.

Jan G Holmstrom

Chairman

27 March 2012

Consolidated statement of changes in equity

for the year ended 31 December 2011

At the Annual General Meeting held on 1 June 2011 a special resolution was passed to transfer the remaining £3,387,000 standing on the credit of the company's share premium account to distributable reserves. Following the AGM an application to the High Court was made and this completed on 23 June 2011.

The Special Reserve was created on 29 June 2006 pursuant to an undertaking for the protection of the company's creditors at that time which the company gave to the Court in connection with the reduction of its share premium account. None of the company's creditors as at 29 June 2006 remain outstanding and consequently the Special Reserve has been transferred to distributable reserves.

The Other Reserve represented share capital to be issued as contingent consideration relating to an acquisition in 1996. The directors consider that this contingent consideration will never have to be paid and so the Other Reserve has also been transferred to distributable reserves.

Other than the disposal proceeds disclosed above there was no cash flow from investing activities relating to the discontinued operations. Cash flows from operating and financing activities attributable to the discontinued operations cannot be meaningfully distinguished from those relating to continuing operations.

The cash in flow from disposal of discontinued activities in 2010 was in respect of deferred consideration on disposals made in 2009.

Notes to the preliminary results announcement for the year ended 31 December 2011

1. Basis of preparation

While the financial information included in this preliminary results announcement has been computed in accordance with EU endorsed International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRSs) on a basis consistent with that adopted in the previous year, this announcement does not in itself contain sufficient information to comply with IFRSs.

The financial information contained in this preliminary announcement does not constitute statutory accounts for the year ended 31 December 2011 or 31 December 2010. The financial information for the years ended 31 December 2011 and 31 December 2010 is derived from the statutory accounts for those periods which include audit reports which are unqualified and do not contain a statement under either Section 498(2) or Section 498(3) of the Companies Act 2006 and did not include references to any matters to which the auditor drew attention by way of emphasis. The statutory accounts for the year ended 31 December 2010 have been delivered to the Registrar of Companies. The statutory accounts for the year ended 31 December 2011 will be delivered to the Registrar of Companies following the company's Annual General Meeting

2. Segmental reporting

3. Discontinued operations

The results of discontinued operations which have been included in the consolidated statement of comprehensive income for the year were as follows:

On 28 December 2011 the company exchanged contracts for the sale of its freehold premises for cash consideration of £2,350,000. The completion date for the sale was subsequent to the year end and the net amount realised after costs was £2,292,000.

The carrying value of the land and buildings at 31 December 2011 along with various other items included in tangible fixed assets which were disposed of along with the property have been written down to the net amount realised on the property sale in the current year and consequently £300,000 has been written off the carrying value of the property and £26,000 has been written off tangible fixed assets in the Consolidated Statement of Financial Position.

The 2010 Consolidated Statement of Financial Position included a provision of £362,000 in respect of potential deferred tax payable on the revaluation surplus included in the carrying value of the property. In light of the actual sale price achieved and the impact of indexation allowance to be deducted before assessing the taxable gain on the property, the directors now believe that the deferred tax provision is not required and consequently this has been credited back to the Statement of Comprehensive Income for 2011.

The write down of the carrying value of the property and tangible fixed assets and the deferred tax credit referred to above have both been included in the results from discontinued operations within the Statement of Comprehensive Income resulting in a net credit of £36,000 in respect of discontinued operations in 2011.

4. Earnings per share

Basic earnings per share ("EPS") is calculated by dividing the earnings attributable to ordinary shareholders by the weighted average number of ordinary shares in issue during the year.

For diluted earnings, the weighted average number of ordinary shares in issue is adjusted to assume conversion of all dilutive potential ordinary shares.

Details of the weighted average number of ordinary shares used as the denominator in calculating the earnings per ordinary share is given below:

5. Assets classified as held for sale

Assets held for sale are as follows:

The group's head office premises in Mitcham Surrey comprises 51,000 sq ft of office and warehouse space on a 3.2 acre site. Since the disposal of the group's legacy distribution businesses, which was completed at the end of 2009, the head office site has been underutilised and so the company has been actively marketing the property for sale. Consequently, in 2010 the carrying value of the land and buildings was reclassified from non-current assets in to current assets classified as held for sale

On 28 December 2011 the companyexchanged contracts for the sale of the premises for cash consideration of £2,350,000. The sale completed on 6 January 2012 and the net amount realised after costs was £2,292,000.

The net book value of the land and buildings has been written down to the net amount realised on the property sale in 2012 and consequently £300,000 was written off the carrying value of the property at 31 December 2011.

6. Reconciliation of operating profit to net cash inflow from operating activities