Preliminary unaudited results

SERVOCA Plc

("Servoca" or the "Group")

Preliminary unaudited results

for the year ended 30 September 2016

Highlights

· Revenue £69.2m (2015: £58.8m), an increase of 17.7%

· Gross profit £18.6m (2015: £16.9m), an increase of 10.1%

· Profit before taxation* £3.5m (2015: £3.0m), an increase of 16.7%

· Cash generated from operations in the year was £2.3 million (2015: £2.2 million)

· Basic EPS of 2.25p* (2015: 1.91p), an increase of 17.8%

· Dividend of 0.35p per share (2015: 0.30p), an increase of 16.7%

* Before share based payment charges, amortisation of intangible assets and exceptional costs (£0.1m).

Andy Church, CEO, commented:-

"As stated in our recent trading update, we are pleased to report that the Group has delivered results in line with market expectations. Our results for the year ended 30 September 2016 represent another significant improvement in the performance and profitability of the Group. Our Healthcare recruitment businesses performed exceptionally well and their revenues increased to become the single largest area of Group turnover. We are pleased to be able to declare an increased dividend payment for the year-end, which our strong financial performance enables us to do. Our progress over the last year means we continue to face the future with confidence."

For further enquiries:

Servoca Plc

Andrew Church, Glenn Swaby 020 7747 3030

finnCap Ltd

Geoff Nash/James Thompson 020 7220 0500

Camille Gochez (corporate broking)

Newgate Communications

Bob Huxford/Helena Bogle 020 7653 9850

This document is available from the Company's website: www.servoca.com, on the "Shareholder Documents" page in the section headed "Investor Relations".

Chairman/CEO Review and strategic Report

Introduction

We are pleased to report that for the year ended 30 September 2016 we have delivered another year of significant improvement for the Group. Revenue, gross profit and pre-tax profits all achieved double-digit growth over prior year.

As indicated in our interim statement for the six months ended 31 March 2016, our recruitment businesses have been the driving force behind this growth, with our Healthcare operation performing exceptionally well.

We are particularly pleased with the performance for the period under review as it has been achieved despite challenges in some of our markets. The performance reflects the Group's balanced and diversified source of revenues, which has helped mitigate issues in any one area. The focus of the Group has remained the supply of people and services that are essential and not discretionary. This focus has helped deliver the resilience evident in our results for the year.

The acquisition of Classic Education was completed towards the end of the financial year. The Board believes the acquisition constitutes an ideal bolt-on to our existing Education recruitment operation and further enhances our UK geographic coverage.

The Group's strong financial performance enables the Board to propose a dividend of 0.35p per share for the year end (2015: 0.3p), an increase of 16.7% over the prior year.

The Board also intends to continue the current policy of buying back the Group's shares, in particular at recent price levels, which the Board thinks fail to fairly represent the value of the company. Our strong balance sheet and operating cash flow enables us to continue to do so for the foreseeable future.

Financial review

Group revenue was £69.2 million compared with £58.8 million in the prior year, an increase of 17.7%. Gross profit for the year was £18.6 million against £16.9 million, an increase of 10.1%.

Operating profit for the year was £3.6 million*, compared with an operating profit in the prior year of £3.1 million, an increase of 16.1%.

Profit before taxation was £3.5 million* (2015: £3.0 million), an increase of 16.7%.

Profit after taxation was £2.8 million* (2015: £2.4 million), an increase of 16.7%.

Basic earnings per share for the year were 2.25p* compared with 1.91p (2015), an increase of 17.8%.

Cash generated from operations in the year was £2.3 million (2015: £2.2 million).

Net debt increased from £2.0 million at September 2015 to £2.4 million at September 2016. This was after paying the initial consideration of £1.2 million in respect of the acquisition of Classic Education Limited, the current deferred consideration of £0.8m in respect of A+ Teachers Limited and the purchase of £0.3m of the Company's own shares now held in treasury.

The dividend of 0.35p per share will be paid on 10 February 2017 to shareholders on the register on 6 January 2017. The associated ex-dividend date is 5 January 2017.

*Before share based payment charges, amortisation of intangible assets and exceptional costs (£0.1m).

Operational highlights

Strategy and delivery

The focus in the period has remained the development of the Group's capabilities in those areas that afford good growth opportunities. We would like to thank all of our employees for their excellent contribution to another successful year.

Outsourcing

Our outsourcing activities are primarily based in two areas: Domiciliary Care and Security. Together, these businesses accounted for just over 20% of Group revenues.

Our Security business built on a solid first half and increased revenues by 8% and gross profit by 10% over the prior year. The largest single area of growth was from our Events Security division, which delivered a 38% increase in their revenues over prior year. The Events Security business affords higher margin opportunities than traditional Manned Guarding and the growth from this area helped increase the overall gross margin for the business to over 24%.

The majority of our revenues from this area are derived from several high profile football clubs. The heightened level of security threat associated with the current climate is increasing demand for adequate security and stewarding at these events. This demand is also being impacted by cuts to Police budgets, which is placing more emphasis on private security providers replacing any reduction in police resource.

The Manned Guarding and Electronics divisions both secured additional work towards the end of the financial year. These wins give the business visibility on further improvements to profitability.

In our Interim Statement for the six months ended 31 March 2016 we reported that our Domiciliary Care business had experienced a reduction in revenues and profitability over the prior year. The second half also lagged behind prior year resulting in a 12% reduction to revenues for the full-year.

Recent statements in the market by larger competitors in this space highlight the on-going problems impacting providers. Suppliers are suffering rising costs of supply (mainly labour) against a well publicised lack of funding.

Our Domiciliary Care operation represented circa 10% of Group revenues in the year ended 30 September 2016. Costs continued to be managed tightly in order to secure a profitable contribution from this area and we are focusing our effort on those opportunities that provide sustainable supply arrangements. Our relatively modest scale allows us to do this and we have chosen not to agree to charge rates that we believe cannot generate a return over the medium term. This approach is supported by the fact that demand for social care continues to rise as people live longer and are beset with health conditions and disabilities. The number of people aged over 65 in the UK will rise by more than 40% in the next sixteen years.

Recruitment

Our Healthcare recruitment business has enjoyed another fantastic year.

Both our Private Sector and NHS supply have seen significant growth with revenues up 47% and gross profit up 54% over prior year.

Our performance in Healthcare (predominantly the supply of nursing staff) is being helped by a number of factors. The first is the inexorable rise in demand for Healthcare professionals to care for the growing and ageing population, the second is our balance of supply between the private sector and the NHS and the third is our starting point, which reflected relative immaturity of market share.

The above helps explain why, despite the well publicised agency price caps in the NHS, we have still experienced significant growth throughout the year. Our private sector business has gone from strength to strength and generated more gross profit than the NHS supply over the course of the year.

In the NHS, whilst we did experience a drop in run rate margin and hours in April following the final round of price caps, the weekly hours supplied and quantity of margin generated from this supply has continued to increase over the remainder of the year. We are therefore pleased to report that as we enter the next financial year we have increased the volume of weekly hours supplied to the NHS by 25% since April.

Over the course of the second half we have seen margin pressure in the NHS delivery as a consequence of the price caps. This is why our capacity to improve volumes of supply efficiently is, and will prove, important. With this in mind, we have started the process of establishing a low cost support structure offshore that has become operational during the first quarter of the current year. This operation will support our local UK delivery teams in providing an improved 24 hour service to our customers and help substantially increase the volume of candidates we can supply.

The cost base and potential scalability of the offshore operation will give us the opportunity to profitably grow our volumes beyond what could be achieved with a UK support structure alone. The volume of opportunity available to us in the NHS, which we have access to as a consequence of our framework status, is significantly beyond what we are currently able to fulfill. The potential of our offshore operation to efficiently help us generate significantly higher volumes of candidates and business to meet this demand is an exciting prospect. This initiative is being led by experienced management who hold a strong knowledge of the issues involved in the offshore territory and who have delivered the benefits of such an initiative previously. The offshore operation will utilise our existing systems and processes which are already in place to support the growing volumes of business we have established over recent years.

Our run rate weekly gross profit across the Healthcare recruitment business as a whole finished the year 33% higher than at the start of the period.

Our Education business experienced a tougher second half of the year, reflected in the pivotal September period which fell short of expectations. For the full year, revenues were up by 5% but gross profit was down by 2% over prior year.

Following several years of continuous and significant growth, the Education business is faced with a number of challenges. Whilst demand for teachers remains higher than ever, the shortage of candidates is more acute than in recent years and this is constraining supply. The shortage also means schools are more inclined to secure available resource permanently and fee income from permanent introductions do not typically generate as much gross profit as temporary supply. Schools are also struggling with reduced budgets as a consequence of rising costs but static funding.

Whilst the fundamental demand drivers remain strong for this market, we are taking specific steps to position the business for the current climate. We have increased investment in the generation of overseas candidates as the acute shortage of UK trained teacher's shows no signs of abating. Our two recent acquisitions have also evidenced a deliberate and targeted profile. Both businesses were long established suppliers of local "supply" resource, which is more of a "necessity" purchase than alternative forms of introduction. The established nature of their local supply also means these businesses are well positioned to secure preferential access to local schools.

Our Criminal Justice business (which supplies former Police Officers and Probation professionals) has enjoyed a very good year. Revenues and gross profit were up by 40% and this helped drive record levels of profitability.

The business continues to benefit from our growing supply into the Probation sector, which accounted for more than half the gross profit generated in the period. We are also pleased to report that, in the final quarter of the year, the business secured a significant contract for the supply of temporary probation staff into a new client.

Outlook

As outlined above, the Group enters the current year with positive momentum in all areas other than Education and Domiciliary Care. The scale of this positive momentum enables us to be optimistic about our financial performance in the current year and beyond. We continue to face the future with confidence.

John Foley Andrew Church

Non Executive Chairman Chief Executive Officer

Consolidated statement of comprehensive income

For the year ended 30 September 2016

Consolidated statement of financial position

As at 30 September 2016

Consolidated statement of cash flows

For the year ended 30 September 2016

Notes to the preliminary financial statements

For the year ended 30 September 2016

1 Financial information

The preliminary financial information for the full year ended 30 September 2016 does not constitute statutory accounts as defined in Section 434 of the Companies Act 2006.

The financial information for the year ended 30 September 2016 is unaudited. The comparative figures for the year ended 30 September 2015 are audited but are not the full statutory accounts for the year. A copy of the statutory accounts for that year has been delivered to the Registrar of Companies. The auditors have reported on those accounts; their reports were unqualified, did not contain an emphasis of matter paragraph and did not contain a statement under Section 498 of the Companies Act 2006.

2 Basis of preparation and accounting policies

The preliminary financial statements have been prepared using the recognition and measurement principles of IFRS as endorsed for use in the European Union.

The accounting policies adopted in the preparation of this preliminary financial information are consistent with those followed in the preparation of the Group's annual financial statements for the year ended 30 September 2015 and no new standards or interpretations that have come into effect in the year have a material impact on the results of the business.

3 Segmental analysis

The Group's primary format for reporting segment information is by business segment, being by type of service supplied. The operating divisions are organised and managed by reporting segment where applicable and by divisions within a reporting segment where necessary. This information is provided to the Board of Directors.

The Outsourcing segment provides services to the Domiciliary Care and Security sectors.

The Recruitment segment provides recruitment services to the Healthcare, Education and Police sectors.

The majority of the Group's customers and assets are located in the UK and therefore it does not report by geographical location. There is no inter-segment revenue.

[1] The profit for each operating segment does not include holding company director costs, group legal costs, central share based payment charges or a share of central property costs.

4 Earnings per share

The calculation of earnings per share for the year ended 30 September 2016 is based on a weighted average number of shares in issue during the year of:

Basic earnings per share are calculated by dividing the net profit for the year attributable to the equity holders of the parent by the weighted average number of ordinary shares outstanding during the year excluding ordinary shares purchased by the Company and held as treasury shares.

Diluted earnings per share are calculated by dividing the net profit attributable to the equity holders of the parent by the weighted average number of ordinary shares outstanding during the year (excluding treasury shares) plus the weighted average number of ordinary shares that would be issued on conversion of all dilutive potential ordinary shares into ordinary shares. Share options totalling 150,000 that could potentially dilute basic earnings per share in the future have not been included in the calculation of diluted earnings per share because they are antidilutive for the periods presented.

Additional disclosure is also given in respect of adjusted earnings per share before amortisation of intangible assets, share based payments and exceptional costs as the directors believe this gives a more accurate presentation of maintainable earnings.

5 Called up share capital

The Company acquired 1,149,038 of its own shares in the year for £276,376 (2015: 1,020,103 for £195,343) and issued 250,000 of its own shares at nominal value (2015: 760,616 for £131,052). These amounts have been deducted from retained earnings within shareholders' equity. The number of shares held as "treasury shares" at the year end was 1,359,138 (2015: 460,100). The Company has the right to re-issue these shares at a later date.

6 Acquisitions

Classic Education Limited

On 30 June 2016, the Group acquired the entire issued share capital of Classic Education Limited for a total consideration of £1.72 million, satisfied in full by a cash consideration of £1.72 million on completion. In addition, a further £1.1 million of contingent consideration is payable dependant on Classic Education Limited achieving certain levels of gross margin in the two years to 30 June 2018. There is potentially further cash consideration to a maximum of £0.8m payable should the results for year 2 exceed the target for that year. The payment of these additional amounts is dependent on continuing employment of the former shareholders and they are therefore accounted for as post acquisition remuneration, as required by IFRS 3, rather than part of the consideration on acquisition.

Classic Education Limited is an education recruitment company operating in Kent which will enhance the Group's geographical coverage.

Details of the fair value of identifiable assets and liabilities acquired, purchase consideration and goodwill are as follows:

7 Cash and cash equivalents

8 Net debt

9 Annual General Meeting

The Annual General Meeting of Servoca Plc will be held at the Company's head office at Audrey House, 16-20 Ely Place, London, EC1N 6SN on 31 January 2017 at 2pm. It is expected that the Report and Accounts along with Notice of Meeting will be mailed to shareholders prior to 30 December 2016. The Financial Statements will be sent to the Registrar following the Annual General Meeting.