abacus group plc
annual report  accounts 2005
abacus house
bone lane
newbury
berkshire
rg14 5sf
wwwabacusgroupcouk
abacus group plc annual report  accounts 2005 the abacus group is a leading franchised distributor of electronic components flatpanel
displays printers and related products and provides additional value added services
including technical support cable and electromechanical subassembly and the design
and build of display systems
the group employs approximately 750 people and has 9 principal trading businesses
operating in the uk eire benelux scandinavia and italy
the group’s philosophy is to offer as wide a product range as possible in order to be in
tune with the widespread market trend towards supply chain management and vendor
reduction to work at design level with both existing and new customers in order to be
involved in the proliferation of new products that typifies the electronics industry and to
combine these features with an unusually high level of personal service and commitment
the group has a continual programme of investment to ensure that the logistics and
systems are in place to support and further these aims
contents
financial and operational highlights 1
abacus group at a glance 2
chairman’s statement 4
chief executive’s review 6
financial review 9
the board of directors secretary and advisors 11
directors’ report 12
corporate governance statements 17
corporate social responsibility 22
directors’ remuneration report 24
statement of directors’ responsibilities 32
auditors’ report 33
financial statements 34
five year summary 56
notice of annual general meeting 57
form of proxy 59
geographic coverage ibc abacus group plc 1
financial and operational highlights
2005 was in line with the board’s expectations as announced in the july trading
update notwithstanding the weakness exhibited by our markets the business
has performed ahead of the competition gaining market share we believe we
are well placed for 2006


Summary:
 4 abacus group plc
chairman’s statement
abacus group plc’s performance in the year ended
30 september 2005 has been in line with the level indicated
at the time of the trading update in july 2005 profit before
tax exceptional items and intangibles’ amortisation was
£81 million 2004 £100 million with the second half
contributing £41 million compared with £40 million in the
first six months profit before tax but after exceptionals and
intangibles was £33 million 2004 £93 million sales for
the year were £1783 million 2004 £1878 million clearly
we are disappointed to see a 51 fall in revenue but to
put this in context industry figures as measured by
afdec show a decline of some 8 in the uk our
major market
despite an increase in the first six months borrowings
over the year were slightly reduced between march and
september 2005 net debt fell by £30 million to £291 million
compared with £294 million at the outset of 2005 this
second half improvement was achieved by an ever tighter
control of working capital in particular stock and debtors
the exceptional item of £40 million was highlighted in the
july trading update the principal component is the inventory
provision of £35 million to cover the cost of compliance with
the new restrictions on hazardous substances rohs
legislation in the eu effective from 1 july 2006 distributors
and manufacturers in the electronics sector face this oneoff
event as lead and other potentially hazardous materials are
eliminated from components and assembly processes
the additional £05 million in the exceptional charge results
from the reorganisation in the nordic region and in the event
was slightly lower than the £07 million which we indicated
in july
the revised dividend policy was also announced in the july
trading update and consistent with this the board has
declared a second interim dividend of 36p making a total
for the year of 72p 2004 105p we consider this to be a
sustainable level from which to grow when appropriate in
the future
trading in 2005
there were a number of key events in 2005 which affected the
abacus result – some internal others external i have already
mentioned the general market but there were other issues
specific to abacus our special project division of trident
continues to grow but the second half performance was hit by
delays in the conversion of firm orders into shipments we are
now much more confident of our ability to assess the longer
lead times associated with special projects and can see the
sales trend falling into place as we go forward we consider
special projects to be a future growth area and expect it to
lead to expansion in other geographical markets
in the nordic region we reconfigured our structure closing
offices in finland and reducing our staff in the region by
30 to a total of 60 people we are however growing our
representation for the display business and have added 
abacus appointed as european distributor for 
microsoft retail management system
“
the most significant factor in the coming year will be the proposed recommended acquisition of deltron
announced on 26 october 2005 both abacus and deltron believe that the acquisition presents an excellent
opportunity for the enlarged group the proposed acquisition gives abacus the opportunity to expand into
territories in europe where at present it has no representation and to grow its business in territories where 
it already has subsidiaries the proposed acquisition provides an opportunity for considerable operational
savings thereby enabling the enlarged group to make good progress with far better prospects for further
growth in the future
” abacus group plc 5
five people in scandinavia for this activity this opportunity
arose from the collapse of our competitor eurodis from where
key staff in the region joined us in the uk the eurodis failure
also proved beneficial to abacus as we were able to purchase 
the company’s customer information since august this has
assisted abacus’s uk sales through the broadening of its
customer base
generally we consider trading levelled out in the second half
following the deterioration in the first six months and that the
abacus business is on a firm base going forward
outlook
the most significant factor in the coming year will be the
proposed recommended acquisition of deltron announced on
26 october 2005 both abacus and deltron believe that the
acquisition presents an excellent opportunity for the enlarged
group the proposed acquisition gives abacus the opportunity
to expand into territories in europe where at present it has no
representation and to grow its business in territories where it
already has subsidiaries the proposed acquisition provides
an opportunity for considerable operational savings thereby
enabling the enlarged group to make good progress with
far better prospects for further growth in the future the
acquisition will lead to deltron shareholders owning 385
of the enlarged abacus share capital and is expected to
complete on 17 january 2006
since 30 september 2005 trading has continued in line with
the directors’ expectations accordingly the directors view 
the enlarged group’s prospects for the current financial year
with confidence
people
we appointed peter allen as chief financial officer in april
following peter griffithjones’ retirement he has made a
significant contribution since his arrival both in the internal
organisation and in his assistance developing the strategy
of the group
following completion of the proposed acquisition of deltron
jerry vaughan will be joining us as managing director –
deltron he is currently chief operating officer in deltron
we will also be pleased to welcome david weir to the
abacus board as an independent nonexecutive director
margaret ricejones will be retiring as a nonexecutive
director at the agm on 27 january 2006 we are most
appreciative of the contribution she has made over the
past few years
in line with best practice the abacus remuneration
committee is proposing that shareholders approve a new long
term incentive plan for senior executives the new plan will
involve the award after a three year period of abacus shares
to a maximum value equivalent to the executive’s annual
salary the level of the award will vary between 33100
of the annual salary dependent on abacus eps out performing
the rpi by 3 to 7 per annum
at abacus we are extremely fortunate in our people and
the board joins me in thanking them for their considerable
contribution in a difficult trading period in anticipation of
a successful completion of the acquisition of deltron
i welcome their staff to the enlarged group and am
confident that we shall move forward together to enjoy
a successful future
h westropp
chairman
22 november 2005