18th Oct 2007 07:02
Premier Research Group18 October 2007 For Immediate release 18 October 2007 PREMIER RESEARCH GROUP plc INTERIM RESULTS ANNOUNCEMENT For the six months ended 31 July 2007 "Building momentum towards the full year and beyond" 18 October 2007, London, UK - Premier Research Group plc (AIM: PRG) ("PremierResearch", "Company" or "Group"), the international pharmaceutical servicesgroup today announces its interim results for the six months ended 31 July 2007. HIGHLIGHTS • Financial Performance o Revenues £25.4m, an increase of 74.6% including a full six months contribution from Scirex (H1 2005/6: £14.6m) o EBITDA £1.3.m, down 58% (H1 2005/6: £3.1m) o Pre-tax loss £0.4m, (H1 2005/6: Pre-tax profit £1.4m) o An interim dividend of 0.5p • Acquisition of ARS Inc. (USA) and D-TARGET (Switzerland) : July 2007 o Combined consideration of £18.5 million plus costs o Provide the Group with the Oracle Clinical data management and database capability in the US and access to doctors and patients for medical device clinical trials across Europe o Integration of both businesses is progressing as planned with sales synergies already being demonstrated through new contract wins • Current trading o Strong new order intake with book-to-bill ratio greater than 1 o Backlog £81.1m, (compared with an aggregate backlog of £80.6m at the time of the ARS and D-TARGET acquisitions) o More than £160.0m outstanding proposals with customers (compared with outstanding proposals of £159.3m at the time of the ARS and D-TARGET acquisitions) Commenting on summary and outlook, Dr Simon Yaxley, CEO said: ""We have made many improvements to the delivery capability of the core businessduring the first half of the year and new sales have been strong, continuing tobuild our order book of new business. We welcome our new colleagues from ARSand D-TARGET and are delighted with the cross-selling opportunities that havebeen achieved in the short term following the completion of these acquisitions.We believe we remain well placed in the market to continue to compete for newbusiness opportunities as evidenced by the strength of our sales pipeline". Enquiries: Premier Research Group plcDr Simon Yaxley, Chief Executive Officer Tel: 01344 752375Peter Kyle, Chief Financial Officer Tel: 01344 458306www.premier-research.com Buchanan CommunicationsLisa Baderoon / Rebecca Skye Dietrich Tel: 020 7466 5000 Mobile: 07721 413496 Evolution SecuritiesSimon Leathers/ Tim Worlledge Tel: 020 7071 4300 CHIEF EXECUTIVE'S REVIEW Overview I am pleased to report on progress for Premier Research in the six months ended31 July 2007. We completed the half year by announcing in early July the USacquisition of ARS, highly strategic in further accessing the important US datamanagement market, and the acquisition of D-TARGET, a specialist CRO in themedical device arena. Results The results for the six months came in below budget after the slow start to theyear that the Group traditionally experiences although, as a consequence of theinclusion of Scirex, the turnover for the half year has closed significantly upon the comparable period last year. As we have previously indicated during thefirst half the Company invested in attracting and retaining staff in keypositions to enable delivery against the growing order book scheduled fordelivery in the second half and beyond and as consequence the margins in thefirst half were temporarily lower than in previous periods. In summary, our revenues have grown during the period by 74.6% to £25.4m (H12005/6: £14.6m). In constant dollar terms and normalising for acquisitions therevenue has grown from USD 41.5m to USD 49.8m. The Group's EBITDA for the first6 months was £1.3m (H1 2005/6: £3.1m), with a loss before tax of £0.4m includingadverse IFRS adjustments amounting to £0.4m (H1 2005/6: profit before tax(pre-exceptionals) £2.9m). The IFRS adjustment in the first half was a non-cashaccrued cost of approximately £0.4m for untaken holiday which is expected to bereleased back to profits in the second half. The net debt position has increased to £28.3m as a result of new loan financingof £13.5m to fund the ARS and D-TARGET acquisitions and whilst the absoluteworking capital requirement has decreased to £8,494k (measured as unbilledservices, trade debtors, trade creditors and deferred income) this remains at asimilar level, as measured as a percentage of gross revenues, to that reportedin January 2007. Strong order intake during H1 resulted in a book-to-bill ratio in excess of 1.2and an increased order book at the end of the period. This indicator of futuresales visibility continues to be an important marker and provides reassurance onthe revenue stream to be delivered in H2 and beyond. Backlog at the end of H1 was £80.6m (including £11.1m from the new acquisitions)up from £62.5m at the end of January 2007. This increase in backlog issupported by a sales pipeline of £159.3m (including £13.3m from the newacquisitions) at the end of H1 up from £110.0m at the end of January 2007. Following the payment of our first dividend as a final dividend last year, I ampleased to declare an interim dividend at the same level of 0.5p in respect ofH1 2007/08. Operational Review Although revenues are slightly below budget for the period, the core businessoperations have continued to develop well. Earlier in the year we wereinspected by the MHRA in the UK. The post-inspection feedback indicated nocritical findings, giving us the confidence that our operational processes andprocedures are robust. Work continues to improve further under the guidance ofour Quality Assurance function We recruited a new global head of information technology and have madesignificant progress in improving our IT communication platforms, in increasingsecurity measures and in computer systems validation. Our Parallel Processing approach to data management, statistic and final reportwriting, acquired through PharmData, has been rolled out across the US and wecontinue to demonstrate the benefits of this approach to our clients resultingin significant levels of repeat business. We have strengthened both our Medical Affairs and our Regulatory Affairsfunctions resulting in the winning of our first full NDA (New Drug Application)just after the reporting period. We expect to close on additional full NDAslater in the year, strengthening further our reputation as a full serviceprovider. US Operations Through the Scirex Research Centres, we have continued to develop our analgesiafranchise, attracting several new customers to the Group in H1 and the start ofH2. The acquisition of ARS in July has provided us with an increased capability inthe North-East and with enhanced Oracle Clinical expertise, particularly in theuse of the EDC component of Oracle Clinical. This has resulted in work beingawarded to us from legacy core business customers who would previously haveplaced the EDC component of their trials with third party suppliers outside theGroup. Based in Weymouth, Massachusetts USA, ARS was a full service contract researchorganisation that specialised in providing outsourced clinical services,including; clinical monitoring, data management and Oracle Clinical databaseservices, to the biotechnology, pharmaceutical and medical device industries.ARS had developed a strong industry reputation based on its data management andOracle Clinical expertise, and has performed services for more than 50companies. The order book of work scheduled for delivery in the US was seen to be growingthrough H1 and additional staff were sought and taken on in anticipation of theincreased business delivery requirements that we have been experiencing in H2 todate. International Operations Our International delivery and sales capabilities have been strengthened duringH1 through the addition of several senior staff attracted from our largercompetitors. This has allowed us to focus on improving further the quality ofour delivery capabilities as evidenced by the MHRA inspection referenced above. International operations were strengthened through the acquisition of D-TARGETin July. D-TARGET has been integrated well with the International business and not onlyhas the geographic reach of the Group been expanded but the breadth of theGroup's capabilities has grown to include medical device expertise, a growtharea for clinical research. D-TARGET specialised in clinical research and regulatory services for medicaldevice, combination products and biologics products manufacturers from all overthe world. Head quartered in Montagny pres Yverdon, Switzerland, D-TARGET alsohad expert staff in 12 countries across Europe. D-TARGET had established astrong industry reputation in regulatory compliance services throughout Europe,helping companies to successfully get their products through the CE markapproval process. This continues to be a growth area for the Group as moremedical device companies outsource this function as the regulatory regimebecomes increasingly complex. The half year has seen us further deliver on our goal of winning and deliveringhigher value, multi-national projects. Increasing sales pipeline illustratesthe continued strong interest in our services from new and existing customerswith an increased emphasis on larger value contracts. We have seen several immediate cross selling opportunities come to fruitionsince acquiring D-Target. For example, an existing customer of D-TARGET hasawarded us a significant contract for service delivery in the US, a territorythat D-TARGET had no delivery capability in prior to the acquisition. Equally,the core business would not have seen this opportunity without the relationshipprovided through D-TARGET Post Acquisition Integration The integration of both ARS and D-TARGET into our core infrastructure continueson track. I am delighted to confirm that we have maintained our track record ofnot losing any customer from an acquired company or indeed through our corebusiness. Importantly, since the completion of the acquisitions we have beenawarded repeat business from a number of legacy customers of both acquisitionsand we have continued to be successful in attracting new customers to theenlarged Group, with the winning of numerous new significant contracts. Globalisation of the Management Team As with previous acquisitions, the operational management team was strengthenedto facilitate the integration of acquisitions, a tactic that has provedinvaluable as shown by the smooth integration of ARS and D-TARGET. Further, wehave continued building towards a single, robust management structure capable ofhandling the increasing operational requirements associated with PremierResearch's projected growth and development in the global marketplace. We havemoved from our model of two separate management teams, one in the US and one inInternational, to a single, global, management structure, aligning our deliverycapability with the changing requirements of our customer base and their needfor global delivery capability. Service Offering & Sales During the first half of the year we have focused business development effortstowards four of the highest growth areas in drug development (oncology, centralnervous system, infectious diseases and cardiovascular) together with ourunderlying expertise in paediatrics. The acquisitions have allowed us todevelop two additional niche areas of expertise; medical devices and datamanagement. Our expertise across regulatory and medical consultancy, clinical studydelivery, data management, statistics and final medical reporting, continues toprovide us with an extremely robust business model and infrastructure whichboasts over 897 employees in 30 countries. This together with a powerfulreputation amongst our peer group continues to provide the kudos to compete forhigher value contracts; a trend which we are focused on maintaining, and indeedincreasing, over time. Our diverse and highly credible customer base comprises over 250 customers.With no contract accounting for more than 6% of revenues in the last twelvemonths, this continues to provide us with recurring business, endorsing theexcellent service delivery we provide. Outsourcing Market The outsourcing market continues to be buoyant for the larger players, driven bythe increasing requirement for global access to suitable patient populations.The requirement for outsourced clinical research services continues to grow withthe improved quality, reliability, safety, efficiency and controls associatedwith outsourcing trials. All indicators point to this continuing for the longerterm. Importantly, Premier Research's positioning within this growing marketwill allow the Company to exploit the significant opportunities which arise. Current Trading & Outlook I am pleased to report that new order intake has continued to be strong movinginto the second half of the year and the book-to-bill ratio for August andSeptember remains greater than one. The continued growth of our order book andthe realisation of the operational benefits associated with the integration oflast year's acquisition together with the year end contribution from our recentacquisitions, ARS and D-TARGET, provide management with added confidence thatthe revenue growth that we have seen over the past 3 months will come through inH2 and beyond. We remain exposed to the weak US dollar despite the fact that much of our costbase is denominated in US dollars and therefore provides us with a naturalhedge. Demand for our services, the strong order book at the half year and the expectedchange orders provides good visibility on H2 revenues. Order book/backlog hasincreased significantly to £80.6M at the half year, and to £81.1M at the end ofSeptember. At this time the combination of order book and expected changeorders provides the Company with strong visibility on the market's full yearrevenue expectation. As always though the final portion is subject to the usualuncertainties surrounding new order intake, and both the order book and neworder intake are subject to the uncertainties surrounding the timing of thestart of projects and particularly the timing of patient recruitment intoongoing clinical trials and the generation of patient data, both importantrevenue generating activities. However, the strength of the order book and the sales pipeline is currently suchthat management remains confident in meeting market expectations for the year to31 January 2008. Board Changes At the beginning of September the company was pleased to announce that Dr PeterFellner commenced his role as Non-executive Chairman. We welcome Dr Fellner tothe Board and also thank Steve Harris for acting as Interim Chairman until DrFellner's appointment. Appointment of Auditors The Company is in the process of selecting a new auditor from a short list oftop tier international candidates and expects to make a formal announcement inthe next 4-6 weeks. Potential management buyout update On 29 August 2007 the Company announced that certain of its executive managementteam had made a very preliminary approach to the Board seeking their permissionto explore the possibility of making an offer for the Company. Since that timethe management team has been working with a small number of private equityhouses to explore this possibility further. Further announcements will be madeas necessary but at this stage there can be no guarantee that this approach willlead to an offer being made for the issued ordinary share capital of theCompany. Our focus remains on stimulating and accelerating organic growth. We retain akey focus on bringing further scale to the business by moving larger and morelucrative contracts through our sales pipeline. In closing, I would again like to reiterate my thanks to all our staff for theircommitment, to our new employees who join us from ARS and D-TARGET and to ourshareholders for their continued support. Dr Simon Yaxley Chief Executive Officer CONSOLIDATED GROUP INCOME STATEMENT For the period ending 31 July 2007 - Unaudited 6 Months to 31 6 Months to 31 Year to 31 July 2007 July 2006 January 2007 Note £'000 £000 £'000 Service Fee Revenue 2 25,441 14,573 43,287Reimbursement Revenue 12,476 3,273 13,799Total Revenue 37,917 17,846 57,086 Net administrative expenses (36,608) (14,692) (46,894) Operating profit before share based payments, depreciation, 1,309 3,154 10,192amortisation and costs of group restructuringShare based payments - - (221)Depreciation (323) (161) (509)Amortisation (640) - (640)Costs of group restructuring - (1,290) (2,080) OPERATING PROFIT 346 1,703 6,742 Finance expenses (789) (303) (1,022) (LOSS) / PROFIT BEFORE TAXATION (443) 1,400 5,720 Taxation 3 (361) (206) (907) (Loss) / Profit for the financial period (804) 1,194 4,813 Earnings per share 4 pence pence penceBasic (1.34) 2.24 8.49Diluted (1.33) 2.23 8.46 All activities of the group are classed as continuing. The group has no recognised gains or losses other than the results for theperiod as set out above. The company has taken advantage of Section 230 of the Companies Act 1985 not topublish its own Income Statement. CONSOLIDATED GROUP BALANCE SHEET As at 31 July 2007 - Unaudited 31 July 31 July 31 January 2007 2006 2007 Note £'000 £'000 £'000NON-CURRENT ASSETSGoodwill 6 52,195 39,173 38,768Intangible assets 6 6,094 3,842 3,202Property, plant and equipment 2,329 2,194 1,833Available for sale investment 52 52 52Trade and other receivables 189 207 207 60,859 45,468 44,062CURRENT ASSETSTrade and other receivables 7 21,709 18,735 19,385Cash and cash equivalents 10 2,549 7,029 554 24,258 25,764 19,939 TOTAL ASSETS 85,117 71,232 64,001 CURRENT LIABILITIESTrade and other payables 8 15,259 11,733 10,805Current tax liabilities 785 1,079 499Obligations under finance leases 40 31 42Other financial liabilities 5,355 1,916 555Bank overdrafts and loans 9 & 10 4,476 10,750 6,685Provision for other liabilities and charges 11 287 1,118 347 26,202 26,627 18,933NON-CURRENT LIABILITIESBank loans 10 & 11 26,328 14,869 12,287Deferred tax liability 415 - 265Obligations under finance leases 44 92 62Other financial liabilities 1,700 - -Provision for other liabilities and charges 11 179 356 297 28,666 15,317 12,911 TOTAL LIABILITIES 54,868 41,944 31,844 NET ASSETS 30,249 29,288 32,157 EQUITYCalled-up equity share capital 12 601 601 601Share premium account 12 27,855 27,754 27,799Share based payments 221 - 221Merger reserve (37) (37) (37)Translation reserve (859) - -Retained profits 2,468 970 3,573TOTAL EQUITY 30,249 29,288 32,157 CONSOLIDATED GROUP STATEMENT OF CHANGES IN EQUITY For the period ending 31 July 2007 - Unaudited Issued share Share premium Share based Merger Translation Retained Total capital account payments Reserve Reserve Profits equity £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 At 1 February, 2007 601 27,799 221 (37) - 3,573 32,157 Loss for the period - - - - (859) (804) (1,663) Equity dividends - - - - - (301) (301) Share based - 56 - - - - 56transactions At 31 July 2007 601 27,855 221 (37) (859) 2,468 30,249 CONSOLIDATED GROUP CASH FLOW STATEMENT For the period ending 31 July 2007 - Unaudited 6 Months to 31 6 Months to 31 Year to 31 July 2007 July 2006 January 2007 £'000 £000 £'000 Cash generated from operationsNet (loss) / profit (804) 1,194 4,813Adjustments for:Tax 361 206 905Depreciation 323 161 509Loss on disposal of fixed assets - - 11Amortisation 640 - 640Interest expense 789 303 1,051Share based payments - - 221Changes in working capital:Increase in debtors (1,290) (2,707) (5,468)Increase / (decrease) in creditors 2,844 (2,326) (3,814)Cash generated from operations 2,863 (3,169) (1,132)Interest Paid (789) (303) (1,051)Tax Paid (36) (157) (372)Net cash from operating activities 2,038 (3,629) (2,555)Acquisition of subsidiaries (12,507) (18,585) (18,933)Net cash acquired with subsidiary 2,235 448 415Deferred consideration on acquisitions - (1,977) (2,243)Proceeds from sale of fixed assets - - 9Purchase of fixed assets (653) (79) (167)Net cash used in investing activities (10,925) (20,193) (20,919)Cash flows from financing activitiesIssue of equity share capital - 119 119Share premium on issue of equity share capital 56 14,815 14,860Capital element of hire purchase (20) (20) (39)New bank loans 13,535 17,673 17,311Repayment of bank loans (1,791) (780) (6,462)Dividends paid to shareholders (301) - -Net cash inflow from financing activities 11,479 31,807 25,789Effects of exchange rate changes (597) 106 (519)Net increase in cash and cash equivalents 1,995 8,091 1,796 Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of the period 554 (1,242) (1,242) Cash and cash equivalents at the end of the period 2,549 6,849 554 Notes to condensed interim financial statements 1. Basis of preparation This is the first interim financial report the Group to be prepared within therequirements of the International Financial Reporting Standards adopted for usein the EU. The condensed financial statements have been prepared in accordancewith IAS 34 Interim Financial Reporting. Details of the impact on accounting policies arising from the adoption of IFRS,together with restated information for the year to 31 January 2007, have beenpublished on group's website, www.premier-research.com. The accounting policiesset out in that document have been consistently applied to all periods presentedin these interim financial statements with the exception of the impact of IAS 32and IAS 39 Financial Instruments. In accordance with IFRS 1 First Time Adoption of International FinancialReporting Standards, Premier Research Group plc has elected not to restatecomparative information for the impact of IAS 32 and IAS 39, but has onlyadopted these standards prospectively in the interim financial statements forthe accounting period of six months ending 31 July 2007. The consolidated financial statements have been prepared under the historicalcost convention, using pounds sterling which is both the presentation currencyand the functional currency of the Group. 2. Segment information 6 Months to 31 July 2007 6 Months to 31 July 2006 Year to 31 January 2007 £'000 £'000 £'000 UK 4,758 2,886 8,862Europe 3,419 6,231 12,673USA 17,264 5,456 21,752 25,441 14,573 43,287 All of the segment revenue reported above is from external customers and is forservice fees only. 3. Taxation Interim period taxation is accrued based on the estimated average annualeffective income tax rate of 30 percent (6 months ended 31 July 2006). 6 Months to 31 6 Months to 31 Year to 31 January July 2007 July 2006 2007 £'000 £'000 £'000 Current tax: • UK tax charge for current period - 124 - • UK adjustment in respect of prior periods - - (232) • Foreign tax charge for current period 211 608 491 • Foreign adjustment in respect of prior periods - - 109Total current tax expense 211 732 368 Deferred tax: • Deferred tax current period 150 24 513 • Adjustment in respect of prior periods - (550) 26Total deferred tax expense 150 (526) 539 Total tax expense in income statement 361 206 907 4. Earnings per share 6 Months to 31 July 6 Months to 31 July Year to 31 January 2007 2006 2007 Basic EPS (Loss) / Profit after tax (£804,000) £1,194,000 £4,813,000Weighted average no of shares 60,131,838 53,267,882 56,703,156Weighted average basic EPS (1.34)p 2.24p 8.49p Diluted EPS (Loss) / Profit after tax (£804,000) £1,194,000 £4,813,000Weighted average no of shares 60,428,566 53,487,751 56,905,656Weighted average fully diluted EPS (1.33)p 2.23p 8.46p Diluted earnings per share is the basic earnings per share after allowing forthe dilative effect of the conversion into Ordinary shares of the weightedaverage number of options outstanding during the period 5. Dividends During the interim period, a dividend of 0.5 pence (2006: nil) per share waspaid to the shareholders. 6. Acquisition of subsidiaries On 13 July 2007 the Group acquired 100% of the issued share capital of D-TARGETSA. Consideration for the acquisition is up to CHF 17.0m, an initial cashpayment of CHF 14.0m with a further CHF 3.0m being payable should revenuetargets in the twelve months to 31 December 2007 be achieved. The exercise to fair value the net assets acquired has yet to be completed,accordingly the net assets acquired have, in the interim, been given a fairvalue equivalent to the acquired book value, the fair values in the table beloware therefore preliminary. It has been assumed that the revenue targets to 31December 2007 will be achieved and therefore the deferred consideration includedin the goodwill calculation is the maximum payable. Book Value Fair Value £'000 £'000Net assets acquired:Property and equipment 116 116Current trade and other receivables 703 703Cash 1,849 1,849Trade and other payables (1,432) (1,432) 1,236 1,236 Goodwill 4,675Intangible asset 1,419 7,330 Satisfied byCash 5,833Costs of acquisition 247Deferred consideration 1,250 7,330 On 13 July 2007 the Group acquired the trade and assets of ARS Inc.Consideration for the acquisition is up to USD 22.125m, an initial cash paymentof USD 11.625m with further payments of USD 7.1m being payable should revenuetargets in the twelve months to 31 December 2007 be achieved and up to a furtherUSD 3.4m should revenue targets for the twelve months to 31 December 2008 beachieved. In addition to the consideration due a payment for the workingcapital acquired of up to $0.8m is also payable. The exercise to fair value the net assets acquired has yet to be completed,accordingly the net assets acquired have, in the interim, been given a fairvalue equivalent to the acquired book value, the fair values in the table beloware therefore preliminary. It has been assumed that the revenue targets to 31December 2007 and 31 December 2008 will be achieved and therefore the deferredconsideration included in the goodwill calculation is the maximum payable. Book Value Fair Value £'000 £'000Net assets acquired:Property and equipment 46 46Current trade and other receivables 694 694Cash 383 383Trade and other payables (104) (104) 1,019 1,019 Goodwill 8,546Intangible asset 2,112 11,677 Satisfied byCash 6,156Costs of acquisition 271Deferred consideration 5,250 11,677 7. Trade and other receivables 31 July 2007 31 July 31 January 2006 2007 £'000 £'000 £'000 Trade debtors 11,277 9,375 9,621Unbilled services 8,811 6,629 7,743Prepayments and other debtors 1,621 2,731 2,021 21,709 18,735 19,385 8. Trade and other payables 31 July 2007 31 July 31 January 2006 2007 £'000 £'000 £'000 Trade creditors 6,203 5,124 3,253Other taxes and social security 169 211 117Other creditors and accruals 137 100 150Accruals 3,354 3,111 3,111Deferred income 5,396 3,187 4,174 15,259 11,733 10,805 9. Borrowings 31 July 2007 31 July 31 January 2006 2007 £'000 £'000 £'000 CurrentBank overdrafts - 180 -Bank loans due within one year 4,476 10,570 6,685Finance leases due within one year 40 31 42Total 4,516 10,781 6,727Non currentBank loans due after one year 26,328 14,869 12,287Finance leases due after one year 44 92 62Total 26,372 14,961 12,349 The bank loans outstanding at 31 July 2007 denominated in Sterling totalled£11,297,000, in Euro totalled €1,851,000, in US Dollars totalled $34,449,000 andin Swiss Francs totalled CHF 2,480.000. The loans are repayable over a maximumof six years and interest is charged at various rates between 0.85% and 2% abovethe banks short term offered rates. As part of the Group's interest rate management strategy the short term offeredrate on the Euro loan has been capped at 4% and the short term offered rate onthe US Dollar loan has been capped at 5.5%. 10. Analysis of changes in net debt At 1 February Cash flow Other Changes 31 July 2007 2007 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000Net Cash:Cash and cash equivalents 554 2,592 (597) 2,549Bank overdrafts - - - - 554 2,592 (597) 2,549Debt:Debt due within 1 year (6,685) 1,584 625 (4,476)Debt due after 1 year (12,287) (13,328) (713) (26,328)Finance lease (104) 20 - (84) (19,076) (11,724) (88) (30,888)Net debt (18,522) (9,132) (685) (28,339) 11. Provisions An analysis of movements on the provision for the Group is as follows; 31 July 31 July 31 January 2007 2006 2007 £'000 £'000 £'000 Beginning of the period 644 1,055 1,055Utilised in the period (178) (643) (1,665)Created on acquisition - 1,062 1,254Balance at the end of the period 466 1,474 644 The Group provision is for restructuring on acquisitions. 12. Share capital and share premium account Called up and fully paid 1p £000 Ordinary shares 1 February 2007 60,111,986 601Issued in the period 23,333 -31 July 2007 60,135,319 601 £0001 February 2007 27,799Arising on issues in the period 5631 July 2007 27,855 Shares issued in the period were in respect of stock options exercised by aformer employee. 13. A copy of this statement is available from the Company's RegisteredOffice at the address below as well as being on the Company's website:www.premier-research.com Premier Research Group plc, 30 Wellington Business Park, Dukes Ride, Crowthorne,Berkshire RG45 6LS. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
PRG.L