annual report and accounts 2008 overview
1 anite
2 anite at a glance
4 chairman’s statement
review
6 chief executive’s review
10 financial review
management and governance
18 directors and advisers
20 report of the directors
23 corporate governance report
29 remuneration report
35 report of the audit committee
financial statements
36 statement of directors’ responsibilities
37 independent auditors’ report group
38 consolidated income statement
39 consolidated balance sheet
40 consolidated statement of changes in equity
41 consolidated cash flow statement
42 notes to the accounts
83 fiveyear summary
84 independent auditors’ report company
85 company balance sheet
86 company statement of changes in equity
87 company cash flow statement
88 notes to the company accounts
additional information
98 group directory
100 information for shareholders anite is an international software and solutions company
the industryspecific solutions we provide to the wireless
telecoms travel and public sector markets invariably include
our proprietary software at their core
the comprehensive service we offer which includes
implementation systems integration maintenance and
managed services enables us to build longstanding and
mutually rewarding relationships with our customers
overview
anite 1
anite plc
annual report and accounts 2008
anite  revenue of £1540m 2007 £1584m
 operating profit of £247m 2007 £27 6m
 operating margin of 160 2007 17 4
 ebitda of £336m 2007 £357m
 first fullyear contribution of £188m of revenue and £55m of operating profit from wireless network testing nemo
 profit before tax of £226m 2007 £268m after net finance charges of £2 1m
2
2007 £08m
 163 million shares bought back during the year and cancelled at an average price of 459p per share for a total cost
of £7 5m
 net debt reduced to £154m 2007 £226m
3
 recommended final dividend of 060p per share 2007 055p making a total of 0875p 2007 080p
 basic earnings per share 49p 2007 55p and diluted earnings per share 47p 2007 54p
statutory results
4
 revenue from continuing operations £1552m 2007 £1615m
 profit from continuing operations before tax £150m 2007 £233m
 profit for the year £132m 2007 £203m
 basic earnings per share 38p 2007 58p
 diluted earnings per share 37p 2007 57p
operating highlights
 strong performance from wireless network testing travel and good overall progress by public sector disappointing
performance from wireless handset testing
 actions taken to restructure wireless handset testing
 good progress in developing readiness for launch of 4g lte systems in handset testing strengthened by our partnership
with agilent technologies
1 adjusted results are for continuing operations for the year before disposed businesses sharebased payments amortisation of acquired intangible assets and
wireless handset testing telecoms restructuring costs
2 2008 net ﬁnance charges excludes £13m exchange gain on translation of nemo escrow account
3 see note 20 on page 71  for summary of net debt
4 for a reconciliation of adjusted results highlights to reported statutory results see note 24 on page 52
financial highlights adjusted
1
at a glance
overview
at a glance 2
anite plc
annual report and accounts 2008
revenue
1
£m proﬁt before tax
1
£m operating margin
1
 basic earnings per share
1
p
2008 2007
1584
1540
2008 2007
268
226
2008 2007
174
160
2008 2007
55
49 corporate structure
overview
at a glance 3
anite plc
annual report and accounts 2008
wireless
 anite provides specialist
systems and software
for testing mobile phone
handsets and networks
 our customers are global
mobile technology
developers mobile phone
manufacturers test houses
and mobile phone
operators
travel
 anite is a leading travel
technology solutions
provider for tour operators
airline consolidators
cruise ferry and rail
inclusive operators in the
uk and europe
 our proprietary reservations
system comres enables
customers to make and
manage bookings over
the internet it also
provides a migration path
for customers who use
legacy systems
public sector
 anite is a marketleading
software and solutions
provider to local and
central governments
 all uk police forces
and 70 of public sector
organisations use
our solutions
 central government and
criminal justice agencies
use our surveillance
intelligence gathering
recognition biometric
security and fraud solutions
public sector
wireless
travel anite has a robust balance sheet is cash
generative and profitable across all its
businesses and has sound management
and tight cost controls in place
chairman’s statement
overview
chairman’s statement 4
anite plc
annual report and accounts 2008
during the year we continued in our strategy of transforming anite
into a global softwarebased company
adjusted revenue and operating proﬁt from continuing operations
for the year the board’s preferred comparative measures were
down 28 and 105 respectively when compared with the
previous year this was wholly attributable to the handset testing
division of our wireless business which was affected by difﬁcult
market conditions during the year as a result wireless revenues
and proﬁts were reduced despite a strong performance from the
network testing nemo unit and action was taken to restructure
the handset business travel performed strongly with better than
expected order intake revenues and proﬁtability while public
sector reported a good overall improvement in performance
further details of the company’s performance are provided in the
chief executive’s review and in the ﬁnancial review
acquisitions and disposals
in july 2007 we disposed of our remaining german it services
business anite deutschland for a total consideration of £80m
paid in cash we also sold anite travel systems carus a small
noncore finnish subsidiary which was part of our travel business
for £10m paid in cash
we will continue to review the proﬁle of the group to sharpen
its focus and deliver shareholder value as well as considering
acquisition opportunities we continue to work actively with our
advisers to explore a variety of strategic alternatives to remove or
at least signiﬁcantly reduce the scale of the discount in the market
valuation of our shares that reﬂects the ownership of several
businesses
results
adjusted revenue from continuing operations was £15 40m 2007
£1584m adjusted operating proﬁt was £247m 2007 £276m
and the operating margin was 160 2007 174adjusted
operating proﬁt is stated before disposed businesses sharebased
payments telecoms restructuring costs and amortisation of
acquired intangible assets
the reconciliation of adjusted operating proﬁt to proﬁt before tax
from continuing operations is as follows
2008 2007
£m £m
adjusted operating proﬁt jlo 276
disposed businesses hj 07
sharebased payments jk 18
telecoms restructuring costs kk –
amortisation of acquired intangible assets kl 13
operating proﬁt from continuing operations i mq 252
other gains and losses h i  11
net ﬁnance charges hp  08
proﬁt before tax from continuing operations i mh 233
net ﬁnance charges in the year of £08m 2007 £08m included
a £13m currency gain on the translation of the nemo earnout
escrow account
proﬁt from continuing operations before tax was £15 0m
2007 £233m giving basic earnings per share after tax of 32p
2007 47p proﬁt for the period after tax including discontinued
operations was £132m 2007 £203m basic earnings per share
including discontinued operations were 38p 2007 58p overview
chairman’s statement 5
anite plc
annual report and accounts 2008
adjusted operating proﬁt by division
1

● wireless 62
● public sector 17
1
see divisional results table on page 14
● travel 21 ● wireless 45
● public sector 23
● travel 32
revenue by division
1

● wireless 41
● public sector 42
● travel 17 ● wireless 39
● public sector 41
● travel 20
dividend and share buyback
the board has declared a ﬁnal dividend of 060p per share
2007 055p making a total dividend for the year of 0875p per
share 2007 08p this dividend will be payable on 20 october
2008 to shareholders on the register at 19september 2008
a resolution to renew the authority to buy back shares was
approved at the company’s agm held on 3 october 2007 under
this authority 163 million shares were bought back during the
year and cancelled at an average price of 459p per share for a
total cost of £75m
balance sheet and cash
net debt reduced to £154m 2007 £226m representing gearing
of 25 2007 35 in the year we received gross cash consideration
of £90m from the disposals of anite deutschland and anite travel
systems carus and paid £118mon share buy backs and shares for
the employee share ownership plan and share incentive plan
the group has a strong ﬁnancial position and a good relationship
with its banking syndicate
people
on behalf of the directors i would like to thank all our staff for their
hard work and support during the year
summary
anite has a robust balance sheet is cash generative and proﬁtable
across all its businesses and has sound management and tight cost
controls in place this will help us withstand the current uncertain
economic times
clay brendish chairman
2008 2007 2008 2007 chief executive’s review
review
chief executive’s review 6
anite plc
annual report and accounts 2008
our determination to transform anite into
a softwarebased company is unchanged –
technology is and will continue to be
at the heart of efficient business and our
ambition is and will continue to be to make
anite the leading supplier of industryspecific
it solutions in our chosen markets
we made further progress during the year in our strategy of
transforming anite into a softwarebased company which is the leading
supplier of industryspeciﬁc it solutions in its chosen markets
this progress was made despite a disappointing performance in
wireless handset testing business
on the positive side however our network testing business nemo
performed strongly and in november 2007 our handset testing
business entered into a strategic partnership with agilent technologies
to deliver marketleading test solutions for the new lte 4g
standard this will result in the launch of a new lte hardware
platform later this year
the travel division performed extremely well and in the public
sector division pericles is now proﬁtable and acknowledged to be
a functional revenue and beneﬁts system
on the minus side the weakness in handset testing which we
highlighted at the half year has continued handset testing is
a cyclical business and after several years of strong growth the
market is currently in a natural lull created by the transition from
3g to 4g technology that has coincided with a general dip in the
market particularly in the united states although the severity
of the downturn was greater than we had initially anticipated
as a result we undertook a restructuring of the business including
senior management changes created ﬁve marketfacing business
units increased use of offshore development facilities and imposed
rigorous cost controls
i am however conﬁdent that the reduction in revenue and
operating proﬁt resulting from the weakness in the handset
testing market is temporary and that our strategy is sound
our determination to transform anite into a softwarebased
company is unchanged – technology is and will continue to be at the
heart of efﬁcient business and our ambition is and will continue to
be to make anite the leading supplier of industryspeciﬁc it
solutions in our chosen markets
strategic objectives
the longerterm strategic objectives which i set out in our 2007
annual report are also unchanged
our commitment to putting wireless at the heart of our business
continues to be our main strategy while development and growth
in that business has for the time being changed pace a little the
market is still growing and has great potential in readiness for 4g
the wireless division is currently focusing the majority of its
investment on the rd phase to enable it to meet the requirements
of what is expected to be the dominant 4g standard lte long
term evolution in conjunction with this we have signed
agreements with the early developers of lte and to date have
four collaborative arrangements in place including those with
nxp semiconductors nxp and lg electronics lg which will
strengthen the development of our new lte products meanwhile
our network testing business continues to beneﬁt from operators’
technical upgrades and a broader geographic spread
clearly we will continue to drive organic growth in all our operations
to focus on increasing our revenue and earnings improving margins
and maintaining strong operational cash ﬂow as part of our dedication
to achieving that we are becoming more of a global business
while operating in other economies brings some challenges – such
as ﬂuctuations in exchange rates – which affect our business and
which are outside our control they are outweighed by the tremendous
opportunities that being an international business creates
the success of our more recent acquisitions nemo and invenova
encourages us to continue to look for businesses in our core markets
– particularly in network testing – which will enable us to increase
our geographic presence as well as adding to the range of products
and technology we offer fixedline operators are adopting
wimax technology to give users of
laptops easier access to highspeed
broadband wimax complements the
services provided by mobile operators
and existing wireless networks and
eliminates the need to ﬁnd a hotspot
review
chief executive’s review 7
anite plc
annual report and accounts 2008
strategic progress
during the past year we sharpened our focus on the transformation
of our business into a softwarebased company when we disposed
of two noncore businesses began to reap beneﬁts from the two
businesses we had bought in the second half of the previous
ﬁnancial year and signed a collaboration agreement with agilent
technologies which enabled us to cease development of our own
hardware platform nevis
disposals in july 2007 we sold the last of our european it services
businesses anite deutschland for £8m and in february 2008 a
small finnish business anite travel systems carus for £1m
acquisitions invenova a smaller business acquired in january 2007
brought wimax testing into the group now fully integrated into
the wireless division it has given us a foothold in the wireless
broadband test systems market and enabled us to add many of the
major wimax developers to our customer base
nemo which we acquired in november 2006 and which added
network testing to our wireless business is also helping to increase
our geographic presence – its biggest potential growth areas are
asia particularly india the middle east where we opened an ofﬁce
in dubai in august 2007 latin america the cis countries and
africa nemo tools enable network operators to check the quality
of their networks regularly to verify coverage and to deal with
problems such as dropped calls and poor voice quality they also
enable the effectiveness of new services such as video streaming
to be tested and measured
our markets
anite operates in three clearlydeﬁned markets wireless travel
and public sector
wireless anite provides specialist systems and software which
enable manufacturers of mobile phones and network equipment to
bring their new products to market quickly wimax providers to test
their coverage and service providers to optimise their networks
handset testing works in three stages our software enables
manufacturers ﬁrst to test the viability of new products second
to test products’ conformance – to prove that they meet the
rigorous standards set by the network operators and industry
regulators and third to test their interoperability – their ability to
communicate with other devices and networks our partnership
with agilent technologies gives us the ability to supply customers
with a scalable platform to test all three stages rather than having
to use a variety of different hardware platforms to do the same job
the wireless business is driven by innovation new technology
the proliferation of new types of handset and new devices
the next generation 4g lte will offer huge beneﬁts to consumers
by providing highspeed access to data and a true mobile
broadband experience it will offer equally big beneﬁts to operators
by enabling them to make more efﬁcient use of the spectrum –
and bring new and existing services to consumers more rapidly
several of the leading operators have already committed to lte and
have asked to see engineering samples by the end of 2008 in the
early days of a new technology such as lte developers of user
equipment need to work with a test solution partner to verify their
designs this collaboration involves alignment of standards
advanced test tools and the provision of early test capability in
effect through these relationships anite is pioneering the eco
system needed to make lte happen we have already signed up four
agreements with leading operatorsequipment manufacturers as
collaboration partners – including nxp and lg to help us to develop
our lte test solutions in conjunction with agilent technologies
we expect our wimax business to grow as ﬁxedline operators
adopt the technology to enable them to offer subscribers easier
access to highspeed broadband on laptops – rather than having
to rely on hotspots – thereby complementing the services provided
by mobile operators and existing wireless networks the world’s
leading chip maker intel is now integrating wimax capability
into many of its products review
chief executive’s review 8
anite plc
annual report and accounts 2008
our network testing business provides measurement tools that
enable network operators to verify the initial radio plan and network
coverage during rollout to troubleshoot problem areas including
dropped calls poor voice quality and indoor coverage during
operation and to test the effect of new services such as video
streaming on existing networks investment in rd is therefore
essential to ensure that it is ﬁrsttomarket with the latest
technologies as a leading vendor of testdrive solutions we have
global agreements in place with several large mobile operators
and network vendors a focus on aftersales support through
49 local distributors on three continents makes our testdrive
solutions product a compelling choice in the market
travel anite is a leading provider of travel technology solutions for
tour operators low cost airlines and ferry and holiday park operators
in the uk and europe customers can choose to license our
products manage the system themselves or – as many do – take
advantage of our transaction fee based service where we provide
hosting and 24x7 system availability from our secure data centre
in last year’s annual report we said we had increased our
investment in our comres reservation system a browserbased
solution comres combines content management reservations
and customer relationship management for internet bookings call
centre reservations and fastsearch facilities in addition we have
successfully developed the capabilities of comres to offer further
applications such as supplier connectivity and procurement
facilities which form part of our com ebusiness suite
during this ﬁnancial year our belief in the value of the system has
been justiﬁed at the beginning of april 2008 comres went live at
tui ag the largest tour operator in germany on time and on
budget – completing the ﬁrst phase of this project anite’s software
enables tui ag to manage bookings through more than 9400 retail
outlets to 180 destinations throughout the world once all the tui
ag brands are live comres will manage several million passengers
per year
superbreak mini holidays is one of the latest customers to adopt
comres with more than 1million bookings a year superbreak is
the market leader in the provision of uk and european short breaks
the implementation of comres will enable this specialist tour
operator to run its operations on new technology providing a more
ﬂexible solution to offer improved marketing services to its
customers and sell holidays faster and more effectively
the consolidation in the uk travel market conﬁrms the wisdom of
us looking to expand internationally and we have already opened an
ofﬁce in cologne germany to aid us in that endeavour we focus on
providing excellent service to our customers maintaining
relationships with them and delivering solutions which meet their
needs we are now marketing comres and the com ebusiness
suite which are constantly developing together with the services
we offer to this market
superbreak mini holidays the market leader in uk
and european short breaks has recently adopted our
comres reservation system to enable them to sell
holidays more effectively
chief executive’s review
we entered into a strategic
partnership with agilent technologies
in november 2007  as a result
a new lte hardware platform will be
launched later this year review
chief executive’s review 9
anite plc
annual report and accounts 2008
public sector
anite is a market leader in software and solutions for local
government including document management social care housing
management and the collection of local taxes and beneﬁts we work
with 70 of local authorities and also supply software and services
to the police and a number of national government departments
through our secure information solutions division sis
local authorities are constantly under pressure to provide better
and better valueformoney services our transformation products
such as document management and mobile working help the public
sector to cut costs by improving efﬁciency and effectiveness our
solutions also help them to make information more accessible and
transparent and to share information with other services where
necessary sis supplies security solutions to all uk police forces in
october 2007 it was awarded a threeyear £36m contract to
support the national automatic number plate recognitions anpr
system which positions anite as a major supplier of national police
information systems
in the past ﬁnancial year we continued our response to the
separation of local government services for adults and children
with the launch of our new adults solution supporting the central
government drive towards personalisation and social care
within public sector the year’s greatest success was the successful
implementation of pericles our browserbased revenues and
beneﬁts solution at 35 local authorities frontline staff and
management are reporting that pericles is streamlining the process
of delivering more coordinated services
in what is generally considered to be a tough market the public
sector division is performing well
looking ahead
in our drive to continue creating longterm shareholder value we
will maintain our focus on investing in growth markets on meeting
customers’ needs and on maximising opportunities from advances
in technology
in our wireless division we will continue to take advantage of
growth in emerging regions and from advances in technology will
maintain our investment in development and focus on increasing
our sales to network operators we believe that the current negative
trends in demand for 2g and 3g systems will continue throughout
the current year we will commence shipments of our 4glte
systems towards the end of 2008 although we do not expect
to see the full beneﬁts come through to the bottom line until
the 20092010 ﬁnancial year we will also continue to look for
acquisitions particularly in the network testing market which
is fragmented and is likely to consolidate
a strong order book indicates that the travel division will continue
to make good progress although the price of fuel and the risk of
recession is of increasing concern to tour operators comres is
making the progress we predicted and we are conﬁdent that it will
build on its initial success we expect the division to increase its
business outside the uk in the coming year particularly in germany
and northern europe
the public sector division is now in good shape it is expected
to continue to improve its overall performance led by our local
government business
taking the seasonality of our wireless business into account the
current year has had a satisfactory start with trading ahead of the
same period last year
steve rowley chief executive
anite’s comres reservation system
enables tui deutschland to manage
bookings through more than 9400
retail outlets to 180 destinations
throughout the world
70 of local authorities use anite’s
software and solutions to collect local
taxes to manage the payment of beneﬁts
and to manage housing and social care
our browserbased revenues and beneﬁts
solution pericles streamlines the process
of delivering coordinated services at 35
local authorities financial review
review
financial review 10
anite plc
annual report and accounts 2008
the group has continued to progress its strategy
to improve the qua lity of its earnings
the network testing business performed strongly
it returned good revenue growth and profitability
in what was its first full year of anite ownership
the group has continued to progress its strategy to improve the quality of its earnings despite the drop in overall revenues and proﬁts
which was wholly attributable to the performance of the wireless handset testing business there were good underlying margins in our
other businesses strong cash generation and a reduction in debt
group kpis
the group uses a variety of key performance indicators kpis across its various businesses as well as at group level the most important of
these at group level for continuing operations excluding disposed businesses and sov are
group kpis 2008 2007
order intake £m i nj n 1713
revenue £m i ml h 1584
adjusted operating proﬁt
1
 £m jlo 276
operating margin  inh 174
ebitda £m kkn 357
free cash
2
excluding exceptional sov and lease settlement in prior year £m i nh 204
rd pl expense £m note 27 ipl 150
rd total spend
3
 £m iok 180
headcount closing i il i 1199
1 continuing operations before disposed businesses sharebased payments amortisation of acquired intangible assets and telecoms restructuring costs
2 free cash represents net cash generated from operating activities less capital expenditure and capitalised development costs
3 rd total spend is the total development cost before the effect of capitalisationamortisation
net capitalised rd in the period reduced proﬁts by £11mnet amortisation compared with the previous year when net capitalised rd
improved proﬁts by £30m note 23
divisional overview
with the exception of the wireless handset testing business we made good progress in our other businesses during the year
wireless division
wireless kpis 2008 2007
orders £m nih 684
revenue £m nhl 647
adjusted operating proﬁt
1
 £m iio 185
operating margin
2
 iql 286
rd pl expense £m ijj 96
rd total spend
3
 £m ijj 111
headcount closing jnm 283
1 continuing operations before disposed businesses sharebased payments amortisation of acquired intangible assets and telecoms restructuring costs
2 operating margin represents adjusted operating proﬁt divided by revenue
3 rd total spend is the total development cost before the effect of capitalisationamortisation review
financial review 11
anite plc
annual report and accounts 2008
despite a strong ﬁrst time fullyear contribution from nemo our network testing business overall revenues and proﬁts in wireless
declined they were affected by the reduced revenues in handset testing – which accelerated in the second half – and a planned increase
in development spending in the division an additional £26m was expensed in the income statement impacted on the operating margin
the effect of net capitalisation of rd under ias 38 had a neutral impact on the pl compared with the previous period in which net
capitalised rd improved proﬁts by £15m 
the currency effect of exchange rate ﬂuctuations in the us dollar had the effect of reducing overall wireless revenues by £06m and proﬁts
by £07m on a constant currency basis in addition sales of thirdparty hardware fell by £48m
during the year £33m of exceptional restructuring costs were incurred in the handset testing business these resulted from the cost of
discontinuing our own platform development project nevis of £24m following our strategic agreement with agilent technologies – and
also from management and structure changes in the business to mitigate the weakness in its trading of £09m
handset testing after three years of strong growth this business experienced a fall in demand during the year this was the result of a
number of inﬂuences the technology cycle 2g revenues in longterm decline 3g revenues peaking and 4g revenues yet to compensate
which principally affected the conformance testing segment of our market budget constraints at key customers in the usa focusing on
higher utilisation of existing test systems rather than purchasing new and weakness in europe japan and korea
to mitigate the impact of these trends on proﬁtability while at the same time taking the agilent technologies partnership into
consideration we made a number of changes to the business to increase focus and reduce costs
network testing nemo this business performed strongly it returned good revenue growth and proﬁtability in what was its ﬁrst full year
of anite ownership we have focused on expanding the business geographically through the opening of new ofﬁces such as that in dubai
which will serve the middle east and by appointing new distributors strengthening our business development team and launching new and
updated products this was reﬂected in strong sales in europe and emerging markets nemo’s results in euros showed revenue increased
21 9 to €262m 2007 12months €215mand operating proﬁt including integration costs up 200 at €7 8m 2007 12months €65m
the network testing market continues to be extremely competitive and order book visibility is generally very short but the business has
excellent products – on which investment continues – and improved routes to market overall nemo’s market position has improved
during the year and we believe that we can grow our network test presence further both organically and through acquisition
orders £m headcount closing rd spend £m
2008 2007
1713
1626
2008 2007
1199
1141
2008 2007
180
173 travel division
travel kpis 2008 2007
orders £m lhp 441
revenue £m kij 275
adjusted operating proﬁt
1
 £m pm 64
operating margin
2
  joj 233
rd pl expense and total spend £m hm 05
headcount closing ji p 222
1 continuing operations before disposed businesses and sharebased payments
2 operating margin represents adjusted operating proﬁt divided by revenue
travel had a strong year with excellent growth in revenue and operating proﬁt this was driven by good demand for our comres product
our internetbased booking suite and associated services we also continue to work with norwich union’s lifetime division for which we
supply hosting and infrastructure support services
multimillion pound orders were received from tui ag the german subsidiary of the tui travel group through conﬁrmation of future
phases of the contract and from superbreak a division of holidaybreak plc international revenues as a percentage of travel’s total
revenues continue to rise to 186 2007 124
comres is being very well received in the market and our key projects the most signiﬁcant of which is the tui contract in germany are
making good progress the level of engagement and satisfaction among comres customers provides encouragement for the growth of the
order book
during the year we announced the opening of an ofﬁce in cologne to enable us to realise our plans to win more customers for comres in
the market in germany
increasing pressure on margins of tour operators is forcing them to look at ﬁnding ways of reducing costs through the use of effective
systems such as comres to improve their proﬁtability
public sector division
public sector kpis
2008 2007
orders £m nhp 588
revenue £m njl 662
adjusted operating proﬁt
1
 £m n h 51
operating margin
2
  qn 77
rd pl expense £m mo 49
rd total spend
3
 £m ln 64
headcount closing nj i 653
1 continuing operations before sharebased payments
2 operating margin represents adjusted operating proﬁt divided by revenue
3 rd total spend is the total development cost before the effect of capitalisationamortisation
total public sector public sector beneﬁted from the continuing reduction in pericles losses by £24m to £03m and tight cost control
resulting in a good increase in operating proﬁt and continuing sequential progress although total revenue fell by £38m software and
recurring maintenance revenue increased by £40m to £367m while our development and systems integration revenue fell by £66m
to £177m our revenue from our legacy vme business declined by £18m and had a £11mnegative impact on proﬁt compared with the
previous year
net capitalised rd in the period reduced proﬁt by £11mnet amortisation compared with last year when net capitalised rd improved
proﬁts by £15m capitalised rd is amortised over three years
financial review
review
financial review 12
anite plc
annual report and accounts 2008 local government our investment in new products focused on the areas in which we are strongest and believe that opportunities are
greatest we also made savings by reducing our cost base in the year
we continue to make good progress with pericles and believe that it will prove to be a successful product that will generate proﬁts in the
future as a core part of our local government business as a result there was no increase in the contract provision related to it
secure information solutions sis sis proﬁts were down yearonyear this was anticipated since the business beneﬁted from
a disproportionately high level of software licence sales and high professional services utilisation in the previous year
in october 2007 sis was awarded a threeyear £36m contract to support the national automatic number plate recognition anpr
system which secures our position as a major supplier of national police information systems anite’s anpr solution stores readings from
roadside trafﬁc cameras in a secure database enabling police to deny criminals the use of the uk’s road network the uk leads the world in
sophisticated forensic and police information systems and we have won an initial international contract in the netherlands we are also
currently exploring opportunities to secure further international business
group trading summary – continuing operations
the tables below set out the operating results of continuing operations for the group as a whole and by division these enable readers to
identify key accounting adjustments such as sharebased payments intangible asset amortisation resulting from recent acquisitions and
telecoms restructuring costs
group results continuing operations
2008 2007
before total before total
disposed disposed continuing disposed disposed continuing
£m £m £m £m £m £m
revenue i m lh i j immj 1584 31 1615
adjusted operating proﬁt
1
jlo h j jlq 276 07 283
sharebased payments jk – jk 18 – 18
amortisation of acquired intangible assets kl – kl 13 – 13
telecoms restructuring costs kk – kk –– –
operating proﬁt i mo h j imq 245 07 252
other gains and losses – h i  hi – 11 11
finance charges – net interest ji  – ji 08 – 08
finance charges – exchange gain
2
i k – i k –– –
proﬁt from continuing operations before tax i lq h i imh 237 04 233
1 before share based payments amortisation and telecoms restructuring costs
2 exchange gain of £1 3m from translation of nemo escrow account
group results ebitda excluding disposed businesses
2008 2007
£m £m
adjusted operating proﬁt jlo 276
depreciation li 46
amortisation lp 35
ebitda kkn 357
review
financial review 13
anite plc
annual report and accounts 2008 divisional results
2008 2007
proﬁt
presbp sbp proﬁt
aaia aaia  presbp sbp
£m revenue
1
exceptionals exceptionals
2
proﬁt
1
revenue
1
aaia aaia
2
proﬁt
1
wireless – telecoms lin nj lh jj 578 165 05 160
wireless – nemo ipp mm kj jk 69 20 12 08
total wireless nhl i i o oj  lm 647 185 17 168
travel kij pm hk  pj 275 64 03 61
secure information solutions ipm ij hi ii 210 31 – 31
local government lhm mi hj  lq 399 47 02 45
pericles kl hk  – hk  53 27 – 27
total public sector njl nh hk  mo 662 51 02 49
imlh jnj o p i pl 1584 300 22 278
unallocated corporate costs in ij  jp 20 09 29
surplus properties hi – hi 04 – 04
operating proﬁt jlo qh  imo 276 31 245
net ﬁnance charges ji  ik hp  08 – 08
proﬁt before tax jjn oo  ilq 268 31 237
basic eps lqp ip p kip 55p 07p 48p
1 continuing operations excluding disposed businesses
2 sharebased payments sbp amortisation of acquired intangible assets aaia telecoms restructuring costs and exchange gain on translation of nemo escrow account
orders
orders for continuing businesses excluding disposed businesses decreased by 51and are analysed by division below
2008 2007
order intake order intake
as a  as a 
order intake revenue of revenue order intake revenue of revenue
£m £m  £m £m 
wireless nih n hl ihh 684 647 106
travel lhp kij ik i 441 275 160
public sector nhp n jl qo 588 662 89
total injn imlh ihn 1713 1584 108
financial review
review
financial review 14
anite plc
annual report and accounts 2008 revenue
revenue for continuing businesses excluding disposed businesses decreased by 28 to £1540m and is analysed by type in the table below
one of the group’s ﬁnancial objectives is to improve the quality of its earnings by increasing the proportion of revenue that comes from
recurring business such as managed services and software maintenance both of which are longerterm in nature together with the revenue
stemming from sales of software licences embedded in its software which derive from the group’s internally developed ipr and knowhow
revenue analysis
wireless travel public sector total
2008 2007 2008 2007 2008 2007 2008 2007
£m £m £m £m £m £m £m £m
managed services – – ihj 69 on 75 iop 144
software maintenance i n i 145 lm 45 ipp 174 kql 364
recurring revenues i n i 145 il o 114 jnl 249 mo j 508
software licences kn i 372 h o 08 ihk 78 lo i 458
total software and recurring m jj 517 iml 122 kno 327 ihlk 966
 of total        
bespoke  si – – ihh 86 ioo 243 jo o 329
it consultancy – – – – kh 46 kh 46
thirdparty pj 130 m p 67 mh 46 iq h 243
total n h l 647 ki j 275 njl 662 imlh 1584
overhead costs
divisional performances are stated before unallocated corporate costs unallocated corporate costs include head ofﬁce staff costs
directors’ remuneration professional and ofﬁce costs and nonoperational costs during the period unallocated corporate costs totalled
£16m 2007 £20m and were reduced by lower overhead costs and reduced bonuses unallocated sharebased payments totalled £12m
2007 £09m
nonoperational properties resulted in a small surplus in the period of £01m 2007 net cost £04m we continue to manage an orderly
and lowrisk rundown of this portfolio which comprises legacy properties previously occupied by group businesses we take the
opportunity to exit from nonoperational properties where economically advantageous although this does cause ﬂuctuations in our
costs and cash ﬂows from time to time
overall costs of the continuing operations of the group are analysed below
continuing operations costs
2008 2007
prenemo nemo costs total prenemo nemo costs total
£m £m £m £m £m £m
total operating expenses m pn qp npl 545 40 585
less
sharebased payments jh  h k jk 18 – 18
telecoms restructuring costs kk – kk –– –
amortisation of acquired intangible assets h m  jq kl 01 12 13
research  development inp i n  ipl 143 07 150
adjusted operating costs knh m h lih 383 21 404
continuing revenue  jnn  jn n jnn 253 304 255
costs related to the nemo acquisition are for ﬁve months only in 2007
review
financial review 15
anite plc
annual report and accounts 2008 development costs
development spending by division during the year was as follows
2008 2007
capitalised development costs capitalised development costs
pl gross amortisation net total spend pl gross amortisation net total spend
£m £m £m £m £m £m £m £m £m £m
wireless ij j jk jk – i jj 96 35 20 15 111
travel hm –– – hm 05 –– – 05
public sector mo h o ip ii  ln 49 25 10 15 64
total ip l kh li ii  i ok 150 60 30 30 180
total development spending excluding the effect of capitalisationamortisation reduced in the year to £173m2007 £180m £184m
2007 £150m was expensed in the year including net amortisation of £11m2007 net capitalisation £30m development spending
largely focused on wireless and public sector
group ﬁnance costs
the group had a net debt position on 30 april 2008 of £154m 2007 £226m gearing was 25 2007 35  net ﬁnance costs note 4
of £08m 2007 £08m included a oneoff exchange gain of £13m on the translation of the escrow account euro denominated held for
the nemo earnout which was released in april 2008
taxation
the tax rate for the continuing operations for the year was 257 2007 301 the charge for the year amounted to £38m 2007 £70m
the cash payment for the year amounted to £39m 2007 £25m the tax rate decreased in the year as a result of the decrease in proﬁts
from countries where tax rates are higher than the uk principally in anite wireless’s us operation as wireless continues to widen its
geographic spread of proﬁts in higher tax regimes the group tax rate is expected to show some volatility as the proﬁt mix between hightax
and lowtax locations changes from year to year
shareholder returns and dividends
 adjusted basic earnings per share was 49p 2007 55p
 the board has proposed a ﬁnal dividend of 060p per share 2007 055p making a total for the year of 0875p 2007 080p – covered
six times by adjusted earnings
 retained earnings to equity holders was £132m2007 £203m for the year
at 30 april 2008 the number of shares in issue had decreased by 147 million in the period under review to 33804 million from 3527million
at 30 april 2007 in total 1626 million shares were bought back and cancelled at an average price of 459p per share and for a total cost of
£75m 155 million new shares were issued to settle saye and grantaward maturities the weighted average number of shares in issue used
to calculate basic earnings per share was therefore 34453 million 2007 35016 million this does not include the dilutive effect of share
option and grantaward schemes
financial review
review
financial review 16
anite plc
annual report and accounts 2008 disposals
the disposals of anite deutschland management gmbh part of the international division for a gross consideration of £80m and anite
travel systems ab ltd “carus” part of the travel division for a gross consideration of £10m were completed within the ﬁnancial year
revenue and proﬁt attributable to disposed and discontinued businesses in the period were £32m 2007 £154mand £03m 2007 £37m
cash management
despite the lower proﬁt performance the group achieved strong cash conversion from operating proﬁts during the year the key
movements in the year were as follows
 net proceeds from disposals – £85m 2007 £01m
 tax paid – £39m 2007 £25m
 capital expenditure – £38m 2007 £37m
 shares bought back for cancellation – £7 5m 2007 £06m
 shares bought for employee trust – £43m 2007 £03m
 dividends paid – £37m 2007 £17m
 earnouts paid for invenova and nemo acquisitions – £23m 2007 nil
 term loan repayment – £5m 2007 nil
the dividend payments included three payments two interims and a ﬁnal in the year to bring payments into line with the ﬁnancial year end
balance sheet and cash
the group has further reduced its net debt this year following the acquisitions of nemo and invenova in the previous year at a cost of
£637m and remains well within its bank covenant levels
analysis of net debt
2008 2007
£m £m
cash and cash equivalents jql 187
cash deposit held in escrow – 82
bank borrowings lmh  500
unamortised issue costs hj 05
net debt i ml  226
the group entered into a new syndicated banking facility on 31october 2006 for £90m £50m term loan and £40m revolving credit
for the acquisition of nemo in november 2006 this reduced to £85m at 30 april 2008 following the ﬁrst £5m scheduled repayment of the
term loan in november 2007 the facility is not due to be renewed until 30 november 2011in addition the group retains a £10m overdraft
facility renewable annually we believe these facilities are appropriate for our expected future requirements
christopher humphrey finance director
review
financial review 17
anite plc
annual report and accounts 2008 1 clay brendish cbe
†
nonexecutive chairman
clay 61 was appointed as nonexecutive chairman in october
2005 prior to his retirement in may 2001 he was executive deputy
chairman of cmg now part of logica having joined the board
when it acquired admiral plc the software services company he
cofounded in 1979
clay is also nonexecutive chairman of echo research limited
globeop financial services and close beacon investment fund
he is a trustee of economist newspapers limited and the
foundation for liver research and director of the test and itchen
association limited clay’s other nonexecutive directorships are
of british telecommunications plc and herald investment
trust plc
directors and advisers
management and governance
directors and advisers
1 2 3
18
anite plc
annual report and accounts 2008
2 steve rowley
chief executive
steve 49 joined the board on 3 november 2003 prior to his
appointment he was senior vice president peoplesoft europe and
he has also held executive positions in the us at 3com corporation
and at ibm
3 christopher humphrey
group finance director
christopher 51 joined the board in february 2003 he has held
senior positions in ﬁnance at conoco eurotherm international plc
and critchley group plc 4 peter bertram
†
senior independent nonexecutive director
chairman of the audit committee
peter 54 joined the board on 1 june 2004 he is currently chairman
of phoenix it group plc and alphameric plc and a nonexecutive
director of microgen plc formerly he was nonexecutive chairman
of attentiv systems group plc until may 2005 and was chief
executive ofﬁcer of azlan group plc a position he held for ﬁve years
peter is a fellow of the institute of chartered accountants in
england and wales
5 david hurstbrown
†
chairman of the remuneration and nomination committees
david 59 joined the board on 23 august 2004 following a career
in the investment banking industry david has been acting as a
nonexecutive director for a variety of public and private companies
these include imagination technologies group plc and ffastfill plc
david is a fellow of the securities institute
†
member of the audit remuneration and nomination committees
 member of the nomination committee
management and governance
directors and advisers 19
anite plc
annual report and accounts 2008
4 5 6
6 john sadler
company secretary
john joined the group on 7 july 2006 as company secretary he was
previously company secretary to lloyds chemists plc and has held a
senior company secretarial position with safeway plc
john is a fellow of the institute of chartered secretaries and
administrators
registered ofﬁce
353 buckingham avenue
slough berkshire sl1 4pf
t 44 01753 804000
f 44 01753 804497
company number
1798114
financial advisers
jpmorgan cazenove
20 moorgate
london ec2r 6da
landsbanki securities
beaufort house
15 st botolph street
london ec3a 7qr
financial pr advisers
smithﬁeld consultants
10 aldersgate street
london ec1a 4hj
auditors
deloitte  touche llp
chartered accountants
london
bankers
lloyds tsb bank plc
25 gresham street
london ec2v 7hn
registrars
equiniti limited
aspect house
spencer road
lancing
west sussex bn99 6da
solicitors
simmons  simmons
city point
one ropemaker street
london ec2y 9ss
stockbrokers
jpmorgan cazenove
20 moorgate
london ec2r 6da the directors present their report on the affairs of the group together with the audited ﬁnancial statements for the year ended 30 april 2008
change of company name
the company changed its name from anite group plc to anite plc with effect from 4 october 2007
principal activities
the group is a leading worldwide provider of it solutions software systems integration and managed services within its core markets of
wireless travel and public sector
analyses of turnover proﬁt on ordinary activities and net assets are given in note 2 on pages 50 to 53
business review and future developments
the company is required by the companies act to include a business review in this report the information that fulﬁls the requirements
of the business review can be found in the review of the year’s operations key risks trading outlook and future developments that are
contained in the chairman’s statement on page 4 the chief executive’s review on page 6 the ﬁnancial review on page 10 and the corporate
governance report on page 23 of this report
where the annual report contains forwardlooking statements these are made by the directors in good faith based on the information
available to them at the time of their approval of this report consequently such statements should be treated with caution due to the
inherent uncertainties including both economic and business risk factors underlying such forwardlooking statements or information
results
the audited accounts of the group for the year ended 30 april 2008 are set out on pages 38 to 82 the group proﬁt for the year
after taxation was £132m 2007 £203m
dividends
the directors recommend a ﬁnal dividend of 060p 2007 055p per ordinary share which if approved by shareholders at the 2008 agm will
be due for payment on 20 october 2008 to holders of ordinary shares on the register at the close of business on 19 september 2008 this
together with the interim dividend of 0275p per share paid on 28 march 2008 will make a total dividend for the year of 0875p per share
research and development
the total expenditure in the year was £173m 2007 £180m of which £184m was expensed in the income statement 2007 £150m
including net amortisation of £11m 2007 net capitalisation £30m this expenditure was incurred on product development
and enhancement
acquisitions and disposals
on 9 july 2007 the group completed the sale of anite deutschland management gmbh “anite deutschland” and its subsidiaries for
a total consideration of £80m payable in cash on completion
on 5 february 2008 the group completed the sale of anite travel systems ab ltd “carus” for a total consideration of £10m payable in
cash on completion
details of disposals that were made during the year can be found in note 3 on page 54
there were no acquisitions during the year
share capital
allotments of shares during the year
during the year the company allotted 1549185 ordinary shares with a nominal value of 10p each details are set out in note 26
on page 80
between 1 may 2008 and 8 july 2008 the company allotted 62842 ordinary shares with a nominal value of 10p each
purchase of own shares
during the year the company purchased 16260700 of its own shares for a consideration of £75m under the authority granted by
shareholders at the 2007 agm to purchase up to 35289959 ordinary shares with a nominal value of 10p each being 10 of the issued
ordinary share capital of the company as at 9 july 2007 a resolution to renew the authority will be put to shareholders at the 2008 agm
all purchases of own shares by the company were carried out in the market and the shares were subsequently cancelled the highest price
paid was 7192p and the lowest price paid was 3900p
directors
details of the persons who were directors during the year can be found in the report on corporate governance which starts on page 23
full biographical details of the company’s directors at the date of this report are given on page 18
report of the directors
management and governance
report of the directors 20
anite plc
annual report and accounts 2008 the company’s articles of association require that onethird of the directors must retire at each agm and that each director must offer
themselves for reelection at least once every three years at the 2008 agm mr brendish and mr hurstbrown will retire by rotation under
article 66 and being eligible mr brendish and mr hurstbrown offer themselves for reelection
the board considers that the performance of the directors proposed for reelection continues to be effective and that they demonstrate
a strong commitment to their role
directors’ interests
the beneﬁcial interests of the directors holding ofﬁce at 30 april 2008 and their immediate families in the capital of the company are as
set out in the remuneration report which starts on page 29
no director has or had during the period under review any interest in any contract of signiﬁcance with the company or any of its subsidiaries
other than their own employment contracts
directors and ofﬁcers of the company and its subsidiaries have the beneﬁt of a directors’ and ofﬁcers’ liability insurance policy which
provides appropriate cover in respect of legal actions brought against its directors
major shareholders
the company has been notiﬁed in accordance with part 22 of the companies act 2006 and the disclosure rules and transparency rules of
the uk listing authority that as at 11 july 2008 the following shareholders own more than 3 of the issued share capital of the company
percentage of
issued capital

aberforth partners llp qtpr
axa investment managers uk ltd twy
prudential plc vtq
bt pension scheme trustees ltd ypu
corporate social responsibility
environmental policy
the company supports the protection of a sustainable environment the group’s activities do not produce harmful waste or emissions and
the ethical investment research service grades anite as “low impact” whilst our operations are by their nature of minimal impact on the
environment we do recognise our responsibilities in this respect
anite is therefore committed to
 complying with the relevant environmental legislation regulations and industry standards of the countries in which it conducts business
 reducing the output of emissions that may adversely impact on the environment
 minimising the consumption of energy and water used in its facilities
 reducing waste and wherever practicable reusing and recycling consumables eg paper toner cartridges and computer equipment
and disposing of nonrecyclable items in an environmentally acceptable manner and
 where practicable purchasing environmentallysound goods and services
in order to achieve these objectives the company is building awareness and promoting initiatives to encourage employees to become fully
engaged the directors regularly review the environmental policy
corporate governance
a report on corporate governance is contained on pages 23 to 28
charitable contributions and voluntary initiatives
contributions by the group during the year for charitable purposes amounted to £1000 2007 £7000 the group does not make any
political donations
financial instruments
details of the ﬁnancial risk management objectives and policies of the group are set out in note 23 on page 73
management and governance
report of the directors 21
anite plc
annual report and accounts 2008 employees
the energy commitment and passion of our employees are vital to our business the company strives to create a working environment
which encourages people to be individuals and develop their full potential within a framework of shared values and goals to achieve this
anite is committed to a policy which provides all employees and potential employees with equality of opportunity for selection and
development regardless of age gender nationality race creed disability or sexuality
in the event of employees becoming disabled every effort is made to ensure that their employment with the company continues and that
appropriate training is arranged for them
employees are provided with information through myanite the group’s global intranet roadshows and other internal communications
the views and ideas of employees are sought through discussion line management and focus groups
the company operates a range of employee share schemes for executive directors and a small number of senior executives and they are
more fully described in the remuneration report contained on pages 29 to 34
since august 2005 the company has offered employees an enhanced share incentive plan which currently matches on a oneforone basis
the number of shares purchased monthly by employees
the company also has save as you earn saye schemes both in the uk and overseas no options were granted under these schemes during
the year and it is not anticipated that any further grants will be made
payment of suppliers
it is the group’s policy to agree with all suppliers where practicable appropriate terms of trade and to operate within those terms
trade creditors at 30 april 2008 represented on average 45 days’ credit 2007 43 days for the group and 40 days’ credit for the company
2007 40 days
going concern
the directors having made appropriate enquiries consider that the company and the group as a whole have adequate resources to
continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future therefore they continue to adopt the going concern basis in preparing the
ﬁnancial statements
disclosure of information to auditors
in the case of each of the persons who were directors of the company at the date when this report was approved
 so far as each of the directors is aware there is no relevant audit information of which the company’s auditors are not aware and
 each of the directors has taken all the steps that he ought to have taken as a director in order to make himself aware of any relevant
audit information and to establish that the company’s auditors are aware of that information
this conﬁrmation is given and should be interpreted in accordance with the provisions of section 234za of the companies act 1985
reelection of auditors
the board has considered and recommends the reappointment of deloitte touche llp as auditors
deloitte  touche llp have expressed their willingness to continue in ofﬁce as auditors and a resolution proposing their reappointment
will be proposed at the forthcoming annual general meeting
annual general meeting agm
the agm of the company will be held at 12pm on thursday 11 september 2008 at 353 buckingham avenue slough berkshire sl1 4pf
the notice setting out details of the business to be considered at the meeting is sent to shareholders with this annual report
by order of the board and signed by
john sadler
company secretary
17 july 2008
report of the directors continued
management and governance
report of the directors 22
anite plc
annual report and accounts 2008 the company is committed to the principles of good corporate governance contained in the combined code on corporate governance
adopted by the financial reporting council in july 2003 the “combined code” this report sets out the company’s compliance with the
combined code
statement of compliance with the combined code
the company has applied the principles set out in section 1 of the code including both the main and supporting principles by complying
with the code as reported above further explanations of how principles and supporting principles have been applied are set out below and
in the remuneration report and the report of the audit committee
the board
the board of directors is the body responsible for corporate governance for establishing policies and objectives and for the stewardship
of the group’s resources it is the group’s policy that the roles of chairman and chief executive are separate with their roles and
responsibilities clearly divided and recorded the chairman is responsible for leadership of the board ensuring its effectiveness and setting
its agenda he also ensures that communication with shareholders is effective and facilitates the contribution of the nonexecutive
directors the chief executive is responsible for implementing the strategy agreed by the board as a whole and for managing the group
currently the board is made up of the nonexecutive chairman two executive directors and two nonexecutive directors peter bertram
is the senior independent director the biographies of the directors as at the date of this report are given on page 18
the chairman was considered to be independent in his appointment to the board it is the opinion of the board that the two
nonexecutive directors are independent of management and have no business or other relationship which could interfere materially
with the exercise of their judgement in relation to the business of the company or the group
the directors believe it is essential that the company has an effective board the board operates formally through regular board meetings
and there is also frequent communication between the directors outside these meetings during the period under review the board met
20 times details of attendance at these meetings are given in the table on page 25 during the year the board also received detailed
strategy presentations from the divisional managing directors
the board is responsible to the company’s shareholders for the management and control of the group’s activities its strategic objectives
governance internal controls and the stewardship of its resources the regular and timely provision of information to the board is ensured
through the monthly preparation and circulation to all board members of the chief executive’s report which reports on operational
matters the group finance director’s report which provides the monthly management accounts and other relevant ﬁnancial information
and the company secretary’s report which covers corporate governance corporate social responsibility and matters concerning the
company’s shares share schemes and shareholders other matters are tabled on a regular basis at board meetings or are reported to the
board as appropriate
the board has a regular schedule of meetings together with further meetings when required in addition directors meet as members of
relevant committees the board has delegated the normal operational management of the company to the executive directors who
have direct responsibility for all operations and activities they are supported in this by an executive team which comprises in addition to
the executive directors the managing directors of each division plus the group human resources director and the company secretary
the board has agreed a formal schedule of matters reserved speciﬁcally for its decision which include
 strategy and objectives
 business plans and budgets
 changes in capital and corporate structure
 accounting policies and ﬁnancial reporting
 internal controls and business risk factors
 major contracts
 capital projects
 acquisitions and disposals
 communications with shareholders and
 board membership
the chairman and the nonexecutive directors meet without the executive directors present at least annually
all directors have access to the advice and services of the company secretary who is responsible for ensuring that board procedures and
applicable rules and regulations are observed there is an agreed procedure for directors to obtain independent professional advice paid for
by the company
in accordance with the company’s articles of association onethird of the board is required to retire by rotation each year and each director
must offer himself for reelection once every three years in addition any director appointed during the year will stand for election at the
next general meeting ensuring that each board member faces reelection at regular intervals details of the directors due to retire at the
2008 annual general meeting are shown on page 21
management and governance
corporate governance report 23
anite plc
annual report and accounts 2008
corporate governance report committees of the board
the board’s committees meet regularly to enable them to discharge their responsibilities each committee has terms of reference which
are reviewed regularly by the board copies are available on request from the company secretary or on the group’s website wwwanitecom
following formal decision making the board may on occasion delegate authority to a committee consisting of any two directors to
approve the detailed execution of an agreed course of action within strict parameters
audit committee
the audit committee comprises the chairman and the two nonexecutive directors it is chaired by peter bertram the committee’s role
is to assist the board in the effective discharge of its responsibilities for ﬁnancial reporting and internal control
the report of the audit committee on page 35 includes details of the audit committee and its work
nomination committee
the nomination committee comprises the chairman the two independent nonexecutive directors and the two executive directors
the board acknowledge that the committee is not technically in line with the combined code recommendation that the committee should
comprise a majority of independent nonexecutive directors as the test of independence does not apply to the board chairman in
accordance with the combined code however the board chairman was independent on his appointment and the board still consider him
to be independent it is chaired by david hurstbrown the committee may invite others including external advisers to attend its meetings
as appropriate the company secretary is the secretary to the committee the nomination committee met twice during the year details of
attendance at each meeting are shown in the table on page 25
the principal role of the nomination committee is to advise and make recommendations to the board with regard to the size structure
and composition of the board the appointment of new directors and the reappointment of existing directors the committee follows
formal rigorous and transparent procedures when appointing new directors which include the preparation of a job description the use
of external advisers to facilitate the search and the evaluation of candidates according to objective criteria all shortlisted candidates
are interviewed by at least two members of the committee
remuneration committee
the remuneration report on pages 29 to 34 includes details of the remuneration committee and its work
board and committee composition and attendance
the following tables detail the current composition of the board and its committees and the attendance of directors at meetings of the
board and board committees during the year ended 30 april 2008
date of service
contract or letter
of appointment unexpired audit remuneration nomination
director or reappointment term committee committee committee
clay brendish nonexecutive t october rppu three member member member
chairman months
steve rowley chief executive s november rpps rolling member
one year
christopher humphrey group finance director s february rpps rolling member
one year
peter bertram nonexecutive director qjune rppw one year chairman member member
senior independent q qmonths
nonexecutive director
from rx september rppt
david hurstbrown nonexecutive director rs august rppw two years member chairman chairman
one month
corporate governance report continued
management and governance
corporate governance report 24
anite plc
annual report and accounts 2008 attendance at meetings
board audit committee remuneration committee nomination committee
meetings attended meetings attended meetings attended meetings attended
during during during during during during during during
the year the year the year the year the year the year the year the year
chairman
clay brendish rp q x sr xxr r
executive directors
steve rowley rp rp – r – t rr
christopher humphrey rp rp – s –– r q
nonexecutive directors
peter bertram rp q y ss xxr –
david hurstbrown rp rp ss xxr q
 attended by invitation
terms and conditions of appointment of the nonexecutive directors
nonexecutive directors are normally appointed for a term of three years the terms and conditions of the appointment of the
nonexecutive directors are available for inspection by any person at the registered ofﬁce of the company during normal business hours
and at the annual general meeting of the company
board performance evaluation and training
the board as part of its commitment to ensure its effectiveness and evaluate its performance completed a full evaluation of its
performance and that of its directors during the year this evaluation consisted of a questionnaire being completed by all board members
in addition questionnaires were completed by members of the audit committee and the remuneration committee in connection with a
formal evaluation of each committee’s assessment of its performance and effectiveness
the nonexecutive directors have met alone to appraise the chairman’s performance
the evaluation of board performance will continue to be conducted annually and the company will engage external help from time to time
to ensure that the process is robust
induction and development of directors
all new directors receive a comprehensive induction to the company
individual directors are expected to take responsibility for identifying their training needs and to take steps to ensure that they are
adequately informed about the company and their responsibilities as a director in addition the company has a continuing professional
approach to assist the directors in discharging their responsibilities effectively this is achieved through brieﬁngs on business issues
as well as legal accounting and changes in corporate governance directors also have the ability to attend external seminars on topics
that are of interest
nonexecutive directors meet regularly with executive directors and members of the executive team and also receive regular business
updates via scheduled presentations
key performance indicators kpis
the group uses a range of performance measures to measure and manage the businesses within the group in addition the divisions have
established their own performance indicators that are speciﬁc to their individual businesses
the group kpis monitor order intake net and gross revenues margins gross and net overhead costs projects cash ﬂow capital and
development expenditure and headcount in addition to these group kpis other measures indicating speciﬁc divisional measures such
as product development loss making projects manpower utilisation and working capital are used
the group changes and reﬁnes the kpis regularly dependent on the major issues that are identiﬁed in the businesses
internal control and risk
the directors have overall responsibility for ensuring that the group maintains a sound system of internal control to provide them with
reasonable assurance that all information used within the business and for external publication is adequate including ﬁnancial operational
and compliance control and risk management and for ensuring that assets are safeguarded and therefore that shareholders’ investment is
protected there are limitations in any system of internal control and accordingly even the most effective system can provide only
reasonable and not absolute assurance against material misstatement or loss
the group continues to enhance its project management procedures to ensure that good practice is applied consistently across the group
management and governance
corporate governance report 25
anite plc
annual report and accounts 2008 in line with past practice the board has reviewed the internal control system in place during the year and until the date of the approval of
this report to ensure that it remains effective where signiﬁcant weaknesses are identiﬁed as a result of the reviews new procedures are put
in place to strengthen controls
the board has in place risk assessment processes across the group’s divisions and procedures have been established to implement best
practice there is an ongoing process for identifying managing and reviewing any changes in the risks faced by the business this process
has been in place throughout the year under review and continues it operates under the direction of the board and is reviewed by the
audit committee
the key procedures that the board has established and which are designed to provide effective internal control for the group are
 the board sets out the group authority procedures which are adopted by all the subsidiary companies
 the issue of a group accounting and procedures manual which sets out the group’s accounting practices revenue recognition rules
accounting under ifrs and bid approval processes
 the board continues to review the progress of all major ﬁxed price contracts monthly
 the director of projects and programmes oversees project management standards and procedures across the group and the education
of all divisional project managers in best practice for the management of bids and the execution and status reporting of projects
 the application of a rigorous annual budgeting process following a detailed divisional and group strategy review all budgets are subject
to approval at board level
 the executive team is responsible for reviewing the operational results communicating and applying groupwide polices and
procedures and strategy on operational matters which is communicated both to the board and to the operating units
 the formal monthly operational review by the executive directors together with the divisional management teams to assess the
ﬁnancial and operating performance and discuss the ongoing development of each business unit and the comparison of detailed
monthly management reports against budgets forecasts and prior years in addition the chief executive and group finance director
prepare a monthly report for the board on key developments performance and issues in the business
 the maintenance of local operating boards and divisional management teams enabling the board to delegate appropriate levels
of authority to a small number of subsidiary company directors and managers all of whom are directly accountable to the board
 the identiﬁcation and mitigation of major business risks is the responsibility of operating company management each operating
company maintains internal controls and procedures appropriate to its structure and business environment whilst complying with
group policies standards and guidelines the managing director and finance director of each business unit are required to complete a
self assessment checklist half yearly this provides assurance that the business unit has complied with internal controls ﬁnancial controls
and reporting requirements of the group and has brought to the attention of group management any instances of fraud or other
matters relating to their business
 insurance cover is maintained for all the major risk areas of the group based on the scale of the risk and the availability of cover in the
external market
 the use of external professional advisers to carry out due diligence reviews of potential acquisitions
 the operation of a small internal review function to carry out internal control reviews of all the operating divisions at least annually
reporting to the audit committee
 the periodic detailed objective review of each business and its future direction by management and the audit committee
the board with the advice and recommendations of the audit committee will continue to review the effectiveness of all internal systems
of control through independent reports where appropriate and by internal formal monthly review meetings in all main operating
companies and divisions to test the validity of the internal reporting process
internal review function
the board has established a group internal review function which reports to the audit committee the function is not an independent audit
function but nevertheless it is an important part of the group’s overall system of internal control
risk management
anite has undergone signiﬁcant change over the past few years the group operates in a number of fastchanging markets within wireless
public sector local government and central government and travel industry enterprise software these markets provide signiﬁcant
challenges as well as rewards and management have progressively improved the group’s approach to risk management
the combination of robust and welldeﬁned central direction strong divisional management and effective processes and controls will
enable the group to identify and deal with key risks at the earliest opportunity
the group operates rigorous processes and controls to ensure that for each division there is a detailed annual operating plan and budget
with a monthly operational review by senior management to ensure the businesses are making progress against those plans taking the
appropriate corrective actions throughout the course of the year should issues arise the progress of each division is reported regularly
to the main board meetings
corporate governance report continued
management and governance
corporate governance report 26
anite plc
annual report and accounts 2008 the principal risk factors that may affect anite group’s business are outlined below these are not all within the group’s control other
factors beside those listed may also affect the group
business asset risk
the group increasingly operates in global markets and failure to manage its portfolio of businesses effectively could have a serious impact
the group conducts regular reviews of its business portfolio it may however still be exposed to risks such as increased taxation
regulations and threats to its market leadership
political climate risk
the group recognises that in some countries in which it operates speciﬁc country risks exist that could have an effect on its business and
such risks may include volatility of national currencies unexpected changes in local laws regulations or standards and changes in local
customs and business practices
project delivery risk
the successes of many of the group businesses are dependent on the successful completion of development projects within budget
cost and speciﬁcations the delivery of these projects is subject to certain technical commercial legal contractor and economic risks
strategic and operational risks
within wireless
 the highly technical and fastchanging nature of the marketplace
 ensuring the business realises continued growth in network testing
 the ability to identify and maintain effective relationships with key suppliers and strategic partners
 the need to keep products at the forefront of changes in technology
within travel
 the changing nature of the customer market resulting from increasing use of the internet
 the need to keep products at the forefront of changes in technology
 delivery of projects and contracts to our clients within agreed budgets and timescales
 ensuring the business is ﬂexible enough to accommodate the changing structure of the travel industry
 ensuring that the division has common robust systems and backup processes in place to mitigate problems of external infrastructure
failures that might have an impact on the division’s performance
within public sector
 the nature and speed of the market changes occurring as the result of the government’s agenda for increased efﬁciency and
effectiveness in local government
 all contracts and product developments are managed with respect to the board’s approach to risk
 delivery of projects and contracts to our customers within agreed budgets and timescales
 the division continues to invest in products which are driven by regulation and market changes
 the market moves toward customer services shared management services and efﬁciency in order to enhance competitiveness
human resource and organisation risks
anite’s performance and its ability to mitigate signiﬁcant risks within its control depend on its employees and management teams
future success will depend to a large extent on the group’s ability to attract retain and motivate its people
if the group loses the services of key people or is unable to attract and retain employees with the right capabilities and experience
it would be likely to have an effect on the group’s business and operations
financial risks
the group has several ﬁnancial risks including costs the nature of commercial contracts interest rates exchange rates insurances
and other ﬁnancial risks some of these are covered in the group treasury management section below
the group also recognises that the continued change in the group’s portfolio and geographic spread requires new risk mitigation techniques
which enable the group to
 manage bank debt in compliance with banking covenants
 identify and mitigate the effect of currency interest rate and cost changes
 mitigate the increase in the group’s tax rate as sales and proﬁts expand in higher tax areas
group treasury management
the group’s ﬁnancial instruments comprise borrowings derivatives cash and liquid resources and various items such as trade debtors
and trade creditors that arise directly from and ﬁnance operations
management and governance
corporate governance report 27
anite plc
annual report and accounts 2008 the main risks arising from the group’s ﬁnancial instruments are foreign exchange risk interest rate risk liquidity risk and credit risk the
board reviews and agrees policies for managing these risks and they are summarised below these policies are reviewed on a regular basis
the group’s head ofﬁce ﬁnance function is responsible for ensuring that the policies approved by the board are adopted throughout the group
foreign currency risk
the group is subject to a crossborder transactional currency exposure in respect of trading outside each operating company’s functional
currency where possible currency receivables and payables are matched creating a natural hedge any surplus crossborder transactional
exposure is not hedged the policy is that any surplus foreign currency is converted into sterling at the earliest opportunity
the group has overseas subsidiaries which operate mainly in north america northern europe and asia paciﬁc and whose revenues and
expenses are denominated in their local currencies the group currently partly hedges its investment in overseas subsidiaries through
ﬁnancial instruments and natural hedges
interest rate risk
the group ﬁnances its operations and acquisitions through a mixture of retained reserves and bank borrowings the group seeks to
minimise overall net interest expense and where there are surplus funds to obtain a fair market rate of return the group operates a cash
pooling arrangement for all its uk operating companies and endeavours to balance liquidity requirements with achieving a market rate of
return on cash through the use of shortterm money market deposits or other term deposits appropriate ﬁnancial instruments are used to
mitigate the impact of changes in interest payable in respect of signiﬁcant borrowings further details are set out in note 23e on page 74
liquidity risk
the group seeks to maintain a balance of available facilities to fund the group’s liquidity requirements further details of which are set out
in note 23k on page 76
the group has strong operating cash inﬂows and has focused efforts on managing its working capital
credit risk
the group’s policy on credit risk is set out in note 23j on page 76
relations with shareholders
communications
the board considers effective communication with its investors whether institutional private or employee shareholders to be extremely
important
the company reports formally twice a year with the halfyear results announcement and the preliminary announcement of the fullyear
results shareholders are issued with an interim report and accounts in december and with the fullyear report and accounts in july
additionally as required under article 6 of the transparency directive the company will issue an interim management statement during
each half year these reports are posted on wwwanitecom
the company makes other announcements from time to time which can also be found on wwwanitecom
members of the board meet institutional investors on a regular basis providing an opportunity to discuss in the context of publicly
available information the progress of the business institutional investors and analysts are also invited to attend brieﬁngs by the company
following the announcements of the annual and interim results
during the year the nonexecutive directors met a number of major shareholders individually
the chairman and the senior independent director are available to shareholders on all matters relating to governance
annual general meeting agm
the company’s agm will be held on 11 september 2008 at the company’s registered ofﬁce in slough the notice of meeting is sent to
shareholders at least 20 working days before the agm the directors encourage the participation of private shareholders at the agm and
are available for questions both formally during the meeting and informally afterwards the chairmen of the audit remuneration and
nomination committees are normally available to answer questions at the agm
approved by the board and signed on its behalf
john sadler company secretary
17 july 2008
corporate governance report continued
management and governance
corporate governance report 28
anite plc
annual report and accounts 2008 this report has been prepared in accordance with schedule 7a of the companies act 1985 as inserted by the directors’ remuneration
report regulations 2002 “the regulations” and meets the relevant requirements of the listing rules of the financial services authority
as required by the regulations a resolution to approve the report will be proposed at the annual general meeting agm of the company
at which the ﬁnancial statements will be presented for approval
the regulations require the independent auditors to report to the company’s shareholders on certain speciﬁed matters and this report
has therefore been split into separate sections for the unaudited and audited information
unaudited information
remuneration committee
the remuneration committee is a committee of the board and comprises the nonexecutive directors who are independent of
management and free from any business or other relationship which could interfere with the exercise of their independent judgement
during the year membership of the committee was as follows david hurstbrown chairman of the committee peter bertram and
clay brendish the company secretary is the secretary to the committee
the committee invites the executive directors and other senior managers to attend its meetings as appropriate the committee met eight
times during the year details of attendance at the meetings are shown in the table in the corporate governance report on page 25
the principal function of the committee is to make recommendations to the board on the remuneration policy for executive directors it is
also responsible for setting the individual remuneration packages for the chairman the executive directors and the chief executive’s direct
reports and for monitoring and approving all sharebased incentive arrangements the committee also determines the terms and
conditions of employment of the executive directors
the committee operates within agreed terms of reference which are posted on the company’s website
advice and assistance
the committee uses hewitt new bridge street consultants llp as its professional advisers on executive remuneration and employee share
schemes hewitt new bridge street consultants llp provide no other services to the company
the company secretary who is also the secretary to the committee and the group human resources director provide the committee
with information and assistance the chief executive regularly attends committee meetings to provide his own insights on business
objectives and the individual performance of his direct reports however no director or senior manager is present when their own
remuneration is being speciﬁcally discussed
remuneration policy
main principles
the company’s objective is to attract retain and incentivise highcalibre executives who can drive the business forward and increase
shareholder value to meet this objective the company follows three key principles
 total rewards are designed to be competitive with the remuneration package of each executive director and their direct reports
benchmarked regularly against the market
 incentivebased rewards are seen as an important part of each executive director’s total remuneration and are designed to drive and
reward exceptional performance and
 longterm incentive arrangements are designed to align the interests of the executive directors and senior managers with those of the
shareholders and to support the company’s business strategy
reward structure
the executive directors’ total remuneration packages consist of
 base salary
 annual performance bonus
 longterm incentive arrangements and
 other beneﬁts and allowances
the executive directors make their own pension arrangements and the group makes no payment in this respect
base salary
base salary is reviewed annually and is set with reference to salary levels for similar roles in other comparable companies in the software
and computer services sector and the market generally the factors for comparability include market sector size and business complexity
management and governance
remuneration report 29
anite plc
annual report and accounts 2008
remuneration report annual performance bonus
as disclosed to shareholders in the 2007 annual report the company implemented a new annual bonus plan “the plan” for executive
directors with effect from 1 may 2007 under the terms of the plan the majority of the bonus up to 75 of basic salary is paid for
performance against a sliding scale of challenging group proﬁt before tax pbt growth targets that are agreed by the committee at the
beginning of the ﬁnancial year to ensure that true underlying pbt growth is measured pbt is calculated before net capitalisation of rd
fair value write downs amortisation of acquired business gains or losses on business disposals deduction of sharebased payments and
any increasedecrease in provisions related to “legacy” nonoperational property matters this “baseline” pbt may also be adjusted to
reﬂect any movements in average weighted share capital that may have occurred during the ﬁnancial year
under the terms of the plan an additional bonus up to 25 of basic salary may be paid on a discretionary basis with reference to
preagreed challenging personal objectives
for the year ended 30 april 2008 the threshold level of baseline pbt growth was not achieved and no bonus was paid under the plan
longterm incentive arrangements
the company operates the following two longterm sharebased incentive plans
 the performance share plan psp and
 the share matching plan smp
under the psp an individual may receive an award of shares worth up to 100 of their salary per annum although in exceptional
circumstances an award of up to 200 of their salary may be made the awards are made as conditional awards of free shares
the executive directors and a small number of the most senior executives are also able to participate in the smp as originally structured
participants were allowed to lodge in the smp shares worth up to 30 per annum of base salary which were then matched on a twofor
one gross basis
at the 2007 agm shareholders approved a change to the investment level under the smp which was effected as the committee was keen
to ensure that the most senior executives in the company were fully aligned with the business at this critical stage in its development
pursuant to this change whilst the effective average annual level of coinvestment in the smp remained unchanged at 30 per annum
executives were provided with a “oneoff” opportunity over the three ﬁnancial years from 1 may 2007 to 30 april 2010 to invest a higher
amount annually up to 90 of base salary in the smp however any investment is subject to the effective current overall aggregate limit
of 90 of salary over this threeyear period the original twoforone gross matching ratio was retained with effect from 1 may 2010 it is
currently intended that the smp will revert to the normal 30 per annum investment limit
awards granted under the psp and smp are subject to threeyear performance conditions the awards made in 2005 and 2006 under both
psp and smp were subject to a total shareholder return tsr performance condition which measures the company’s tsr performance
against a comparator group comprising the constituents of the ftse allshare software and computer services sector over a single three
year performance period commencing on the ﬁrst day of the ﬁnancial year in which the award is made in respect of the psp and smp
awards made in 2005 and 2006 a total of 25 of the award will vest if the company is ranked at the median end of the performance
period with 100 of the award vesting if the company is at or above the upper quartile with straightline vesting in between
the performance of the 2005 awards made under the psp and smp have been measured against the comparator group for the period ended
30 april 2008 and the result was below median therefore none of these awards will vest and the award will lapse on the third anniversary
of grant
the psp and smp awards made in 2007 are subject to the following performance conditions
 half of awards are subject to a total shareholder return tsr target this will continue to be measured relative to the ftse software and
computer services sector with the same median to upper quartile vesting schedule as has applied to past awards and
 half of awards are assessed by reference to anite’s earnings per share eps performance for compound annual eps growth of at least
rpi plus 4 per annum 25 of awards subject to this part of the condition will vest and for full vesting compound eps growth must
be at least rpi plus 12 per annum straightline vesting applies between these points
the eps ﬁgure used for psp and smp measurement in 2007 was 52p being basic eps before amortisation of acquired intangible assets
gains and losses on the disposal of operations the effect of net capitalisationnet amortisation on research and development costs results
from discontinueddisposed operations and sharebased payments
however before any awards vest the committee must have satisﬁed itself that the company’s underlying ﬁnancial performance over the
performance period warrants the level of vesting determined by reference to the tsr performance condition the extent to which the
performance condition is satisﬁed will be calculated by external consultants to ensure the appropriate level of thirdparty veriﬁcation
remuneration report continued
management and governance
remuneration report 30
anite plc
annual report and accounts 2008 the change in performance conditions for the 2007 awards compared to earlier awards was made by the committee as it believes that
whilst tsr is an important indicator of shareholder value creation it is also advisable to focus the company’s senior executives on driving
group proﬁtability
the committee intends to apply broadly similar performance conditions to any psp or smp awards that may be made in the forthcoming year
the committee will continue to regularly review the operation of the company’s share incentive arrangements to ensure that they take due
account of market practice and the particular circumstances of the company
tsr performance graph
to provide a further alignment of interest with shareholders the executive directors and others participating in the smp are required to
retain in shares an amount equal in value to 50 of the aftertax gain made on the vesting of awards until they have built up a shareholding
equal to 100 of base salary
the executive directors also participate in the savings related share option scheme and the share incentive plan
the use of new issue or treasury shares to satisfy awards made under the share plans is subject to a 15 dilution limit in any tenyear
period the current potential dilution is below this level the committee aware of shareholders’ views in connection with this matter
continues to take active steps to control the dilutive effect of the company’s share incentives and is currently working under an informal
dilution limit of 13 the actual dilution limit is currently 96 however following the lapse of the 2005 psp and smp awards the dilution
limit will reduce to 86
other beneﬁts and allowances
executive directors are entitled to a car allowance fuel medical insurance deathinservice and permanent health insurance together with
reasonable business expenses
other share plans
following the acquisition of anite finland limited on 30 november 2006 the company introduced a management incentive plan mip for
key employees the mip is not available to executive directors and all awards are settled using market purchase shares or a cash equivalent
further details of the mip are contained in note 7 on page 59
service contracts
the committee’s policy is that all executive directors’ service contracts will be rolling contracts of one year’s duration the service contracts
of steve rowley and christopher humphrey were each amended on 9 october 2007 the effect of the amendments in respect of each case
was to limit the obligations of the company under clause 127 termination of executive director’s employment by the company to awards
under the company’s incentive schemes made to the executive director after 1 may 2007
other than in the case of dismissal for gross misconduct the provisions of service contracts will be honoured in full information regarding
the executive directors’ service contracts is summarised in the table below
executive director date of contract notice period
christopher humphrey s february rpps qrmonths
steve rowley s november rpps qrmonths
executive directors are not permitted to hold external nonexecutive directorships or ofﬁces without the approval of the board
no executive director received any fees in respect of any external nonexecutive directorship that they have held during the year
management and governance
remuneration report 31
anite plc
annual report and accounts 2008
300
250
200
150
100
50
0
30 april
2008
30 april
2007
30 april
2006
30 april
2005
30 april
2004
30 april
2003
ftse allshare software and computer services index
anite group
this graph shows the value by 30 april 2008 of £100 invested in anite on 30 april 2003 compared with the value of £100 invested in the ftse allshare software
and computer services index the other points are the values at intervening ﬁnancial yearends the table below sets out the rights the company has to pay executive directors in lieu of notice together with the contractual
compensation payable if the company terminates the contract other than for cause without notice
months’ salary
months’ salary payable in
and contractual equivalent
beneﬁts payable number
within seven days of monthly
executive director of termination
1
instalments
2
christopher humphrey vv
steve rowley ys
1 contractual beneﬁts include the annual performance bonus the executive director would have received had he continued to be employed from the date of termination until the
expiry of the notice period
2 payments cease in effect if the executive director commences employment with a new employer during the payment period
furthermore for a period of six months following a change of control in the company steve rowley may terminate his employment on
28 days’ notice at which point he will be entitled to the same payments as set out in the table above which as can be seen shall not
exceed 12 months’ remuneration
the company is aware of the provisions in the combined code which state that compensation payments should reﬂect a departing
director’s obligation to mitigate his loss however the company has adopted the above described approach to determining the
compensation that is payable in the event that an executive director’s service contract is terminated as it believes that it is in shareholders’
interests that the obligations of each party in such circumstances are transparent and agreed in advance to provide certainty
if the company terminates an executive director’s employment without cause the remuneration committee will be asked to exercise any
discretion it has under the terms of any share incentive plans in favour of the departing executive director if the remuneration committee
determines not to follow this recommendation the departing executive director shall be entitled to damages
nonexecutive directors
clay brendish has a threeyear term of ofﬁce with six months’ notice of termination required by either party peter bertram and david
hurstbrown each have a threeyear term of ofﬁce with no notice period or provision for compensation for loss of ofﬁce
the board reviews the independent nonexecutive directors’ fees annually in the course of which it compares fees paid to nonexecutive
directors of comparable companies fees recognise the additional responsibilities undertaken by the nonexecutive directors in chairing the
board and its committees in addition to their fees the nonexecutive directors are entitled to reimbursement of reasonable business expenses
the chairman’s fees are set by the remuneration committee he is not present at any discussion of his own remuneration
audited information
executive directors’ share options
options options first
held at exercised held at exercise date of exercisable expiry
1 may 2007 in year 30 april 2008 price grant date date
christopher humphrey
approved share option plan xv yuv – xvyuv stup quwrpp s qu w rppv qtwrp qs
longterm incentive plan uwq rrv – u w qr rv stup rsqrpp t qu w rppv qtwrp qs
qty yqr – qt yyq r u vup q u w rpps rsq rppw rrqrpqt
qxw upp – qx w upp txup qv xrppt q vxrppw quxrpqt
executive options – total yyu uyt – yyuuyt
saye strwx strw x – rsp qxrrpps q trppx spyrppx
yswr – ysw r tvp rvrrppt q trppy spyrppy
total options qpsy rtt strw x q pptyvv
steve rowley
approved share option plan uv vps – u vvps uspqvqrrppsqvqrrppv quqr rpqs
longterm incentive plan qqpx prr – q qp xprr uspqvqrrppsqvqrrppv quqr rpqs
rup ppp – ru pppp txup qv xrppt q vxrppw quxrpqt
executive options – total qtqt vru – q tq tvru
saye qp rvw qp rvw
†
– tvp rvrrppt q trppw spyrppw
total options qtrt xyr q prvw q tq tvru
 the market price on 1 april 2008 the date of the exercise was 40p the total gain on exercise was £5827 the option was exercisable from 1 april 2008 to 1 october 2008
† the market price on 12 july 2007 the date of the exercise was 805p the total gain on exercise was £3553 the option was exercisable from 1 april 2007 to 1 october 2007
remuneration report continued
management and governance
remuneration report 32
anite plc
annual report and accounts 2008 there were no lapses of options during the year
the closing price of an ordinary share of anite plc as at 30 april 2008 was 3875p the range of closing prices during the year ended
30 april 2008 was 8550p high and 3850p low
directors’ emoluments year ended 30 april 2008
car subtotal beneﬁts total total
salary allowance salary bonus in kind 2008 2007
££££ £££
executive directors
steve rowley sxpppp rtppp tptppp – vvpu tqpvpu uwtswv
christopher humphrey rtvppp rtppp rwpppp – urtp rwurtp svxwuq
vrv ppp txppp vwt ppp – q qx tu vxu xtu ytsqrw
nonexecutive directors
clay brendish q suppp – q suppp –– qsuppp qrpppp
peter bertram trppp – trppp –– trppp ttppp
david hurstbrown trppp – trppp –– trppp stppp
directors at 30 april 2008 xtuppp txppp xysppp – qqxtu yptxtu q qtq qrw
executive directors’ conditional share awards
conditional conditional conditional conditional conditional share
awards at awards awards awards awards at price at date of
1 may made vested lapsed 30 april conditional conditional vesting
2007 in year in year in year 2008 award award date
christopher humphrey
performance share plan rvusx u –– – rvusxu vup q tpwrp pu qtpw rppx
performance share plan srtur q –– – srturq wsp rxpwrp pv rxpw rppy
performance share plan – rytvq p –– rytvqp xsup sqpwrp pwsqpw rpqp
share matching plan susxtv –– – susxtv vup q ypxrppu qypx rppx
share matching plan srtur p –– – srturp wsp pxpxrppv pxpxrppy
share matching plan – q pvtuu s –– qpvtuus wpup q qqprp pwqqqp rpqp
conditional share awards total qrv xrw r q su yq vs –– rvrwtsu
steve rowley
performance share plan qpy rspx –– – qpyrspx vup q tpwrp pu qtpw rppx
performance share plan uppxyp –– – uppxyp wsp rxpwrp pv rxpw rppy
performance share plan – tu upyp –– tuupyp xsup sqpwrp pwsqpw rpqp
share matching plan utvqu r –– – utvqur vup q ypxrppu qypx rppx
share matching plan uppxyp –– – uppxyp wsp pxpxrppv pxpxrppy
share matching plan – q vtttrw –– qvtttrw wpup q qqprp pwqqqp rpqp
conditional share awards total rvtprtp rpyyu q w –– twsywuw
the conditional share awards set out above are granted without payment from a participant and are subject to the performance conditions described above
management and governance
remuneration report 33
anite plc
annual report and accounts 2008 directors’ interests in shares
the interests of the directors who held ofﬁce at 30 april 2008 in the ordinary share capital of the company were as shown in the table
below all interests are beneﬁcial
number number
of shares of shares
held as at held as at
30 april 1 may
2008 2007
clay brendish cfdbbb w pppp
steve rowley jbkgek sssxsp
christopher humphrey hicjbf tsqy xt
peter bertram ebbbb spppp
david hurstbrown fbbbb tpppp
in the period from 1 may 2008 to 14 july 2008 being the latest practicable date prior to the publication of this document the only changes
in the interests of the directors related to the monthly investments of the executive directors in the share incentive plan sip during this
period steve rowley and christopher humphrey each acquired 1068 shares under the sip
this report has been approved by the board and has been signed on its behalf by
david hurstbrown chairman of the remuneration committee
17 july 2008
remuneration report continued
management and governance
remuneration report 34
anite plc
annual report and accounts 2008 membership
the audit committee is a committee of the board which comprises the nonexecutive directors who are independent of management
and free from any business or other relationship which could interfere with the exercise of their independent judgement
during the year membership of the committee was as follows peter bertram chairman clay brendish and david hurstbrown
both peter bertram and david hurstbrown are considered by the board to be “independent” as deﬁned by provision a31 of the
combined code clay brendish was considered to have met the independence criteria on his appointment as chairman of the company
on 4 october 2005
the board considers that mr bertram has recent and relevant ﬁnancial experience
the group provides an induction programme for new audit committee members
the committee invites others including the external auditors the group finance director the group financial controller and the chief
executive to attend its meetings as appropriate the company secretary is the secretary to the committee
meetings
during the period under review the committee met three times details of attendance at each meeting are shown in the table in the
corporate governance report on page 25
the committee meets with the external auditors without any executive directors present at least annually and more often if this
is considered appropriate
role responsibilities and terms of reference
the committee’s role is to assist the board in the effective discharge of its responsibilities for ﬁnancial reporting and internal review
the committee’s responsibilities include
 reviewing the annual and interim ﬁnancial statements and results announcements of the company and any other formal
announcements relating to the company’s ﬁnancial performance
 reviewing the company’s accounting policies
 monitoring and reviewing the company’s systems of internal control and risk management
 monitoring and reviewing the company’s “whistleblowing” procedures
 monitoring and reviewing the requirement for an internal audit function
 considering the appointment of the company’s external auditors overseeing the process for their selection and making
recommendations to the board in relation to their appointment and
 overseeing the relationship with the external auditor including approval of their remuneration agreeing the scope of the audit
engagement assessing their independence monitoring the provision of nonaudit services and considering their reports on the
company’s ﬁnancial statements and systems of internal control and risk management
the committee operates within agreed terms of reference which can be found on the company’s website
internal audit
the committee agreed in july 2006 to create an internal review function headed by a member of the group ﬁnance team who under the
control of the audit committee carries out a plan of detailed reviews throughout the operating companies where additional resource is
required this is sourced either from an external professional ﬁrm or by selecting divisional staff who carry out peer reviews in divisions other
than their own this internal review function does not represent an independent internal audit function as deﬁned by professional internal
audit standards but has been a signiﬁcant enhancement in the group’s internal control framework
independence of external auditors
the committee keeps under review the relationship with the external auditors including
 the independence and objectivity of the external auditors taking into account the relevant uk professional and regulatory requirements
and the relationship with the auditors as a whole including the provision of nonaudit and consulting services and
 the consideration of audit fees and any fees for nonaudit and consulting services
peter bertram chairman of the audit committee
17 july 2008
management and governance
report of the audit committee 35
anite plc
annual report and accounts 2008
report of the audit committee the directors are responsible for preparing the annual report and the ﬁnancial statements the directors are required to prepare ﬁnancial
statements for the group in accordance with international financial reporting standards as adopted by the eu ifrs and have also elected
to prepare ﬁnancial statements for the company in accordance with international financial reporting interpretations committee ifric
interpretations company law requires the directors to prepare such ﬁnancial statements in accordance with ifrs the companies act 1985
and article 4 of the eu ias regulations
international accounting standard 1 requires that ﬁnancial statements present fairly for each ﬁnancial year the company’s ﬁnancial position
ﬁnancial performance and cash ﬂows this requires the faithful representation of the effects of transactions other events and conditions in
accordance with the deﬁnitions and recognition criteria for assets liabilities income and expenses set out in the international accounting
standards board’s “framework for the preparation and presentation of financial statements” in virtually all circumstances a fair
presentation will be achieved by compliance with all applicable ifrs directors are also required to
 properly select and apply accounting policies
 present information including accounting policies in a manner that provides relevant reliable comparable and understandable
information and
 provide additional disclosures when compliance with the speciﬁc requirements in ifrs is insufﬁcient to enable users to understand
the impact of particular transactions other events and conditions on the entity’s ﬁnancial position and ﬁnancial performance
the directors are responsible for keeping proper accounting records which disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the ﬁnancial
position of the group for safeguarding the assets for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other
irregularities and for the preparation of a directors’ report and directors’ remuneration report which comply with the requirements
of the companies act 1985
the directors are responsible for the maintenance and integrity of the company website legislation in the united kingdom governing
the preparation and dissemination of ﬁnancial statements differs from legislation in other jurisdictions
directors’ responsibility statement
we conﬁrm to the best of our knowledge
 the ﬁnancial statements prepared in accordance with international financial reporting standards as adopted by the eu give a true and
fair view of the assets liabilities ﬁnancial position and proﬁt or loss of the company and the undertakings included in the consolidation
taken as a whole and
 the management report which is incorporated into the directors’ report includes a fair review of the development and performance of
the business and the position of the company and the undertaking included in the consolidation taken as a whole together with a
description of the principal risks and uncertainties they face
christopher humphrey group finance director
17 july 2008
statement of directors’ responsibilities
management and governance
statement of directors’ responsibilities 36
anite plc
annual report and accounts 2008 we have audited the group ﬁnancial statements of anite plc for the year ended 30 april 2008 which comprise the group income
statement the balance sheet the statement of changes in equity the cash ﬂow statement and the related notes 1 to 30 these group
ﬁnancial statements have been prepared under the accounting policies set out therein we have also audited the information in the
directors’ remuneration report that is described as having been audited
we have reported separately on the parent company ﬁnancial statements of anite plc company only for the year ended 30 april 2008
this report is made solely to the company’s members as a body in accordance with section 235 of the companies act 1985 our audit
work has been undertaken so that we might state to the company’s members those matters we are required to state to them in an auditors’
report and for no other purpose to the fullest extent permitted by law we do not accept or assume responsibility to anyone other than
the company and the company’s members as a body for our audit work for this report or for the opinions we have formed
respective responsibilities of directors and auditors
the directors’ responsibilities for preparing the annual report the directors’ remuneration report and the group ﬁnancial statements
in accordance with applicable law and international financial reporting standards ifrs as adopted by the european union are set out
in the statement of directors’ responsibilities
our responsibility is to audit the group ﬁnancial statements in accordance with relevant legal and regulatory requirements and
international standards on auditing uk and ireland
we report to you our opinion as to whether the group ﬁnancial statements give a true and fair view whether the group ﬁnancial statements
have been properly prepared in accordance with the companies act 1985 and article 4 of the ias regulation and whether the part of the
directors’ remuneration report described as having been audited has been properly prepared in accordance with the companies act 1985
we also report to you whether in our opinion the information given in the directors’ report is consistent with the group ﬁnancial statements
in addition we report to you if in our opinion we have not received all the information and explanations we require for our audit
or if information speciﬁed by law regarding director’s remuneration and other transactions is not disclosed
we review whether the statement of compliance with the combined code reﬂects the company’s compliance with the nine provisions of
the 2006 combined code speciﬁed for our review by the listing rules of the financial services authority and we report if it does not we
are not required to consider whether the board’s statements on internal control cover all risks and controls or form an opinion on the
effectiveness of the group’s corporate governance procedures or its risk and control procedures
we read the other information contained in the annual report and consider whether it is consistent with the audited group ﬁnancial
statements the other information comprises only the chairman’s statement the chief executive’s review the ﬁnancial review the report
of the directors the corporate governance report the unaudited part of the directors’ remuneration report and the report of the audit
committee we consider the implications for our report if we become aware of any apparent misstatements or material inconsistencies
with the group ﬁnancial statements our responsibilities do not extend to any further information outside the annual report
basis of audit opinion
we conducted our audit in accordance with international standards on auditing uk and ireland issued by the auditing practices board
an audit includes examination on a test basis of evidence relevant to the amounts and disclosures in the group ﬁnancial statements and
the part of the directors’ remuneration report to be audited it also includes an assessment of the signiﬁcant estimates and judgements
made by the directors in the preparation of the group ﬁnancial statements and of whether the accounting policies are appropriate to the
group’s circumstances consistently applied and adequately disclosed
we planned and performed our audit so as to obtain all the information and explanations which we considered necessary in order to provide
us with sufﬁcient evidence to give reasonable assurance that the group ﬁnancial statements and the part of the directors’ remuneration
report to be audited are free from material misstatement whether caused by fraud or other irregularity or error in forming our opinion
we also evaluated the overall adequacy of the presentation of information in the group ﬁnancial statements and the part of the directors’
remuneration report to be audited
opinion
in our opinion
 the group ﬁnancial statements give a true and fair view in accordance with ifrs as adopted by the european union of the state
of the group’s affairs as at 30 april 2008 and of its proﬁt for the year then ended
 the group ﬁnancial statements have been properly prepared in accordance with the companies act 1985 and article 4 of the ias
regulation
 the part of the directors’ remuneration report described as having been audited has been properly prepared in accordance with the
companies act 1985 and
 the information given in the directors’ report is consistent with the group ﬁnancial statements
deloitte  touche llp chartered accountants and registered auditors
london united kingdom
17 july 2008
independent auditors’ report group 37
anite plc
annual report and accounts 2008
independent auditors’ report to the members of anite plc 2008 2007
note £000 £000
continuing operations
revenue 23 ei i elg afadg h
cost of sales kede h g gg d
gross proﬁt lhejm hcg ch
distribution costs ej dg e abg cg
research  development ff hg i aeeha
administrative expenses fm ll m cahf
operating expenses 27 j lg ii  ehed
operating proﬁt before disposed businesses sharebased payments amortisation of
acquired intangible assets and telecoms restructuring costs 24 fh j ig bg ei e
disposed businesses 24 fdf g da
sharebased payments 7 ffm k ahbe
amortisation of acquired intangible assets 11 g he j  abgg 
telecoms restructuring costs 22 g gfl –
operating proﬁt 23 ei leh bebcd
other gains and losses 3a ji  aacf
finance income 4 g d gd accf
finance charges 4 g km f bhg 
proﬁt from continuing operations before tax ehmlk bcc dg
tax expense 8 g lhm  g ci 
proﬁt from continuing operations eeegl afch
proﬁt from discontinued operations 3b fd mj ci fc
proﬁt for the year 5 eg fgh bbg a
proﬁt attributable to equity holders of the parent egfgh bbga
continuing and discontinued operations
earnings per share – basic 9 g lp ehp
– diluted gkp egp
continuing operations
earnings per share – basic 9 g fp d g p
– diluted gep dfp
consolidated income statement
for the year ended 30 april 2008
financial statements
consolidated income statement 38
anite plc
annual report and accounts 2008 2008 2007
note £000 £000
noncurrent assets
goodwill 10 klji l hcbcc
other intangible assets 11 gd ki i cbd ca
property plant and equipment 12 eeji g abg ed
deferred tax assets 24 edh ahie
derivative ﬁnancial assets 22 – aba
trade and other receivables 15 – ic d
efeekd ac acfh
current assets
inventories 14 g lli d ei
trade and other receivables 15 igefg ehcbg
derivative ﬁnancial assets 22 eg –
current tax assets ejd aie
cash deposit held in escrow 16 – haig
cash and cash equivalents 17 fm gk h ahffe
lj ii i hi hic
total assets fdkkfi bbabfa
current liabilities
trade and other payables 18 i kj ek fei if 
bank borrowings 19 h m le d hbi
current tax payable edflg abced
derivative ﬁnancial liabilities 22 h g fl –
provisions 25 h llk ad d d c
lfd mj i g fbb
noncurrent liabilities
bank borrowings 19 g m lhg  d d fa
deferred tax liabilities 24 j g i j fd ha
derivative ﬁnancial liabilities 22 eem hm  agb b
provisions 25 h m g k ehhd
j g d li  ehfig 
total liabilities ehiele aefcai
net assets jfihh fdidb
equity
issued share capital 26 gg li h cecbe
share premium account fihdj bea
own shares 26e i eg f aai
merger reserve jigl fech
capital redemption reserve fhli hei
other reserves mhd g
retained earnings ggg agfd
total equity jfihh fdidb
approved by the board on 17 july 2008 and signed on its behalf by
s p rowley chief executive
c j humphrey group finance director
financial statements
consolidated balance sheet 39
anite plc
annual report and accounts 2008
consolidated balance sheet
30 april 2008 issued share capital
share premium own merger redemption other retained
capital account shares reserve reserve reserves earnings total
£000 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000
balance at 1 may 2006 ceahf bd cc ga e fe ch ggc abi bbbdi d ci fe
changes in equity for the
year to 30 april 2007
exchange differences arising
on translation of foreign operations –– ––– ac f – ac f
cash ﬂow hedges taken to equity –– ––– aa g – aa g
fair value losses on net
investment hedges net of foreign
exchange and tax –– ––– chi – chi
net loss recognised directly in equity acf – ac f
proﬁt for the year –– ––– – bbga bbga
total recognised income and
expense for the year –– ––– acf bbga bace
issue of share capital bbe gg –– ––– ic b
purchase of own shares into treasury –– cd  –– –– cd
dividend paid –– ––– – agec  age c
share buy back and cancellation hf –– – hf – fac fac
recognition of sharebased payments
before tax –– ––– – aiaf aia f
deferred tax related to sharebased
payments –– ––– – ffd ff d
balance at 30 april 2007 cecbe bea aa i  fe ch hei g agfd  fdi db
changes in equity for the year
to 30 april 2008
exchange differences arising
on translation of foreign operations
b
–– ––– be – be
cash ﬂow hedges taken to equity –– ––– bfc – bfc
fair value losses on net
investment hedges net of foreign
exchange and tax
a
–– ––– fde – fde
net loss recognised directly in equity –– ––– icc – ic c
proﬁt for the year –– ––– – ac bcd acbcd
total recognised income
and expense for the year –– ––– icc ac bcd abca
issue of share capital aee cif –– ––– eea
purchase of own shares in treasury –– dcc c –– –– dcc c
sale of own shares from treasury bb bb –
dividends paid –– ––– – cgi cgi
share buy back and cancellation afbf –– – afbf – gdig gdig
recognition of sharebased
payments before tax –– ––– – bbid bbid
deferred tax related to sharebased
payments –– ––– – be be
balance at 30 april 2008 gglih fihdj ie gf jigl fhli mhd ggg jfihh
1 the net loss of £645000 comprises the fair value loss on the net investment hedge of £14807000 relating to the effective portion of the cross currency swaps note 22 partly
offset by the foreign exchange gains £10745000 and tax credit of £3417000 totalling £14162000
2 includes amounts recycled through the income statement on disposal of businesses note 3a
consolidated statement of changes in equity
for the year ended 30 april 2008
financial statements
consolidated statement of changes in equity 40
anite plc
annual report and accounts 2008 2008 2007
note £000 £000
proﬁt for the year
continuing operations eeegl afch
discontinued operations fdmj cifc
eg fgh bbga
adjustments for
tax expense – continuing and discontinued 8 i d hm cbcg
proﬁtloss before tax on disposal of discontinued operations 3b g fd d d fg
loss before tax on disposal of disposed businesses 3a j i aacf
finance charges – continuing and discontinued 4 kjf gd e
sharebased payments 7 ffmh ai af
depreciation and impairment of property plant and equipment 12 h i lg d fd
amortisation and impairment of intangible assets 11 lkgj d g i
loss on disposal of property plant and equipment mh gd
decrease in provisions efjd ad gi
operating cash ﬂows before movements in working capital gdgik bbeca
decreaseincrease in inventories jfh adbd
decrease in receivables fmkm aah
decrease in payables i jeg acib
movements in working capital fded bfih
cash generated from operations before exceptional cash payments flghk cc def
cash payments for sov contract and onerous property lease
a
– acfbc
cash generated from operations flghk ai hcc
finance income received fedh aeia
finance charges paid g jmm bcfb
income taxes paid g mfl bea
net cash generated from operating activities fflfh afeeb
cash ﬂow from investing activities
purchase of subsidiary undertakings – fcgch
net bank balance acquired with subsidiary undertakings – gag
proceeds from disposal of subsidiary undertakings ligi gf
net bank balance disposed with subsidiary undertakings jkk cgb
increasedecrease in cash held in escrow related to acquisitions 16 m h ke hi g
net payments for previously closed businesses hmf –
deferred consideration paid fgdm –
part settlement of cross currency swap hhd –
purchase of property plant and equipment fkle cg
proceeds from disposal of property plant and equipment hg cb
purchase of software licences 11 ed ld fhg
expenditure on capitalised product development 11 fm lf fg g
net cash generated fromused in investing activities kfll haaec
cash ﬂow from ﬁnancing activities
issue of ordinary share capital iie icb
share buy back for cancellation khmk fac
purchase of own shares into treasury hggg cd
dividend paid to company’s shareholders 27 g kd m ag ec
decreaseincrease in bank loans iddd didci
redemption of vendor loan note instruments – dgh
net cash used ingenerated from ﬁnancing activities emmll dgbbc
net increasedecrease in cash and cash equivalents 20 ed efh ag cgh 
effect of exchange rate changes ili bb
cash and cash equivalents at a may eljji cfbfc
cash and cash equivalents at 30 april 17 fm gk h ahffe
1 the exceptional cash payments of £136m in april 2007 relate to the settlement of the sov contract £114m and settlement of an onerous property lease contract £22m
discontinued operations include international consultancy businesses which generated net operating cash outﬂows of £348000 2007 £144000 paid £nil 2007 £198000
in respect of net returns on investment and servicing of ﬁnancing and paid £16000 2007 £93000 for capital expenditure
financial statements
consolidated cash flow statement 41
anite plc
annual report and accounts 2008
consolidated cash flow statement
for the year ended 30 april 2008 1 state ment o f accounting pol icie s
a general information
anite plc is a company incorporated in the united kingdom under the c ompanies act 1985the consolidated ﬁnancial statements of the
c ompany for the year ended 30 april 2008 comprise the company and its subsidiaries together referred to as the “group” the principal
activities of the com pany and its subsidiaries are described in note 13th e ﬁnancial statements were authorised for issue by the directors
on 17july 2008 t he ﬁnancial statements are presented in pounds sterling because that is the currency of the primary economic
environment in which the gro up operates
b basis of preparation
t hese consolidated ﬁnancial statements have been prepared in accordance with international f inancial reporting standards ifrs adopted
by the european unio n and international fina ncial reporting interpretations c ommittee ifri c interpretations and those parts of the
c ompanies act 1985 applicable to companies reporting under ifrs th erefore the gr oup ﬁnancial statements comply with article 4 of
eu ias regulations
t he ﬁnancial statements have been prepared under the historical cost convention as modiﬁed by the revaluation of certain ﬁnancial
instruments
i critical accounting assumptions and judgements
t he preparation of ﬁnancial statements in accordance with ifr s requires the use of certain critical accounting assumptions it also requires
management to exercise its judgement in the process of applying the gr oup’s accounting policies th e areas requiring a higher degree of
judgement or areas where assumptions and estimates are signiﬁcant to the consolidated ﬁnancial statements are discussed in the relevant
accounting policies under the following headings
1 go odwill note 1e
2 intangible assets note 1fiiand iii
3 revenue recognition note 1k 
4 tax ation note 1l
5 employee beneﬁts – sharebased compensation note1mand
6 provisions note 1p
ii ifric interpretations and amendmentsnew ifrs
t he ifri c interpretations and amendments to published standards that are effective in 2008 and those that are not yet effective are
discussed in section 1tbelow
t he accounting policies set out below have been applied consistently to all periods presented in these consolidated ﬁnancial statements
t he transition date for the application of ifrs for the group was 1may 2004
c basis of consolidation
t he gr oup ﬁnancial statements consolidate the ﬁnancial statements of the co mpany and entities controlled by the company all of which
are made up to 30 april each year th e results of companies acquired or sold during the year are consolidated for the periods from or to the
date on which control passed c ontrol is achieved where the compa ny has the power directly or indirectly to govern the ﬁnancial and
operating policies of an investee entity so as to obtain beneﬁts from its activities in assessing control potential voting rights that presently
are exercisable or convertible are taken into account acquisitions are accounted for under the acquisition method the results of
subsidiaries disposed in the year are included in the consolidated income statement up to the effective date of disposal
on acquisition the assets and liabilities and contingent liabilities of a subsidiary are measured at their fair values at the date of acquisition
any excess of the cost of acquisition over the fair values of the identiﬁable net assets acquired is recognised as goodwill any deﬁcit in the
cost of acquisition below the fair values of the identiﬁable net assets acquired ie discount on acquisition is credited to the income
statement in the period of acquisition
where necessary adjustments are made to the ﬁnancial statements of subsidiaries to bring the accounting policies used into line with those
used by the gr oup all intercompany transactions and balances between gr oup enterprises are eliminated on consolidation
d foreign currency
tr ansactions in currencies other than the functional currency of the entity are recorded at the rates of exchange at the dates of the
transactions at each balance sheet date monetary assets and liabilities denominated in foreign currencies at the balance sheet date are
retranslated at the rates of exchange prevailing at that date nonmonetary assets and liabilities carried at fair value that are denominated
in foreign currencies are translated at the rates prevailing at the date when the fair value was determined
t he exchange differences arising on retranslation are taken to the income statement except for exchange differences arising on
nonmonetary assets and liabilities where the changes in fair value are recognised directly in equity
notes to the accounts
financial statements
notes to the accounts 42
anite plc
annual report and accounts 2008 1 stateme nt o f account ing pol ici es cont inue d
d foreign currency continued
th e results of overseas operations are translated at the average rates of exchange during the period and their balance sheets at the rates
ruling at the balance sheet date exchange differences arising on translation of the opening net assets and results of overseas operations
and on foreign currency borrowings to the extent that they hedge the gr oup’s investment in such operations are recognised directly
in the hedging and translation reserve account “other reserves”
any differences that have arisen since 1may 2004 the date of transition to ifr s are included in the retained earnings account
such translation differences are recognised as income or as expenses in the period in which the operation is disposed of
th e gro up has elected to treat goodwill and fair value adjustments arising on acquisitions before the date of transition to ifrs as
sterlingdenominated assets and liabilities
e goodwill
g oodwill arising on consolidation represents the excess of the cost of acquisition over the gro up’s interest in the fair value of the identiﬁable
assets and liabilities of a subsidiary associate or jointly controlled entity at the date of acquisition
g oodwill is recognised as an asset and reviewed for impairment at least annually any impairment is recognised immediately in the income
statement and is not subsequently reversed
on disposal or closure of a previously acquired business the attributable amount of goodwill previously written off to reserves is included
in determining the proﬁt or loss on disposal or closure
g oodwill arising prior to the transition to ifrs has been recognised and measured in accordance with uk g aap but no longer amortised
accounting assumptions and judgements
th e determination of whether or not goodwill has been impaired requires an estimate to be made of the value in use of the cashgenerating
units cg u to which goodwill has been allocated t he value in use calculation includes estimates about the future ﬁnancial performance
of the cashgenerating units including management’s estimates of longterm operating margins and longterm growth rates the carrying
amount of goodwill and the key assumptions used in the calculation of value in use of cgus to which goodwill is attributed are disclosed
in note 10
f intangible assets
i software licences
software licences are initially measured at cost cos t includes the purchase price of the assets and the directly attributable costs of bringing
the asset into its intended use after initial recognition the intangible asset is carried at cost less accumulated amortisation less any
accumulated impairment losses amortisation is charged evenly over the assets’ estimated useful life
ii separately identiﬁable intangible assets arising on business combinations
separately identiﬁable intangible assets such as customer relations technology and in process rd are recognised only when the assets
meet the following conditions
a meet the separately identiﬁable criteria below
b are controlled by the acquiring company
c provide a probable source of future economic beneﬁts and
d the fair value can be measured reliably
th e criteria to be separately identiﬁable are met when the intangible asset
i is capable of being separated from the acquired business and
ii arises from contractual or legal rights regardless of whether those rights are transferable or separable from the acquired company
or other rights and obligations
th e amortisation period ranges from ﬁve to ten years and is based on equal annual instalments over the assets’ estimated useful life
accounting assumptions and judgements
th e assessment of the future economic beneﬁts generated by these separately identiﬁable intangible assets and the determination of its
amortisation proﬁle involve a signiﬁcant degree of judgement based on management estimation of future potential revenue and proﬁt and
the useful life of the assets reviews are performed regularly to ensure the recoverability of these intangible assets
financial statements
notes to the accounts 43
anite plc
annual report and accounts 2008 1 state ment o f accounting pol icie s conti nued
f intangible assets continued
iii research and development expenditure
expenditure on research activities as deﬁned in ifr s is recognised in the income statement as an expense as incurred
expenditure on internallygenerated intangible assets arising from the gr oup’s development activities is recognised only when both
the identiﬁcation and recognition criteria as deﬁned in ias38 for an intangible asset and the following six criteria are met
1 the technical feasibility of completing the asset so that it will be available for use has been achieved
2 the g roup has the intention to complete the asset and use or sell it
3 the g roup has the ability to use or sell the asset
4 it is probable that the asset created will generate future economic beneﬁts
5 adequate technical ﬁnancial and other resources are available to complete the development and to use or sell the asset and
6 the development cost of the asset can be measured reliably
if these conditions are not met such development expenditure is recognised as an expense in the period in which it is incurred
t he qualifying expenditure capitalised represents costs directly attributable to the development of the asset th is expenditure is capitalised
from the point at which the above criteria are met up to the point at which the product is in use internallygenerated intangible assets
including capitalised development costs are amortised on a straight line basis over their useful lives which management estimate to be
no more than three years
accounting assumptions and judgements
t he assessment that the internallygenerated assets will generate future economic beneﬁts rely on the management’s estimation of
future cash ﬂow streams of these assets th e technical feasibility of the assets involves a degree of management’s judgement as to when
this is achieved
management assessment regarding the useful lives of capitalised development costs is based upon the typical product life cycle for similar
assets in the market adjusted by the risks associated with each capitalised development project
g property plant and equipment and depreciation
l and and buildings ofﬁce equipment and ﬁxtures and ﬁttings computer equipment and vehicles are stated at cost net of accumulated
depreciation and any recognised impairment loss
depreciation is provided on all tangible ﬁxed assets and freehold properties at rates calculated to write off the cost over the estimated
useful lives on a straightline basis as follows
f reehold properties 2 per annum of cost excluding land
short leasehold properties l ength of lease
of ﬁce equipment and ﬁxtures and ﬁttings 10 to 50 per annum of cost
vehicles 25 per annum of cost
c omputer equipment 33 per annum of cost
c osts relating to short leasehold properties ofﬁce equipment and ﬁxtures and ﬁttings and vehicles are included in the “plant ﬁxtures
equipment and motor vehicles” category see note 12
t he gain or loss arising on the disposal or retirement of an asset is determined as the difference between the sales proceeds and the carrying
amount of the asset and is recognised in income
h impairment of tangible and intangible assets excluding goodwill
at each balance sheet date the grou p reviews the carrying amounts of its tangible and intangible assets to determine whether there is any
indication that those assets have suffered an impairment loss if any such indication exists the recoverable amount of the asset is estimated
in order to determine the extent of the impairment loss if any where the asset does not generate cash ﬂows that are independent from
other assets the g roup estimates the recoverable amount of the cashgenerating unit to which the asset belongs any tangible or intangible
asset with an indeﬁnite useful life is tested for impairment annually and whenever there is an indication that the asset may be impaired
recoverable amount is the higher of fair value less costs to sell and value in use in assessing value in use the estimated future cash ﬂows
are discounted to their present value using a pretax discount rate that reﬂects current market assessments of the time value of money and
the risks speciﬁc to the asset for which the estimates of future cash ﬂows have not been adjusted
notes to the accounts continued
financial statements
notes to the accounts 44
anite plc
annual report and accounts 2008 1 stateme nt o f account ing pol ici es cont inue d
h impairment of tangible and intangible assets excluding goodwill continued
if the recoverable amount of an asset or cashgenerating unit is estimated to be less than its carrying amount the carrying amount of the
asset or cashgenerating unit is reduced to its recoverable amount an impairment loss is recognised as an expense immediately unless
the relevant asset is carried at a revalued amount in which case the impairment loss is treated as a revaluation decrease
where an impairment loss subsequently reverses the carrying amount of the asset cashgenerating unit is increased to the revised
estimate of its recoverable amount but so that the increased carrying amount does not exceed the carrying amount that would have been
determined had no impairment loss been recognised for the asset or cashgenerating unit in prior years a reversal of an impairment loss
is recognised as income immediately unless the relevant asset is carried at a revalued amount in which case the reversal of the impairment
loss is treated as a revaluation increase
i other investments
other investments are stated at cost less provision for any impairment
j inventories and work in progress
inventories and shortterm work in progress are stated at the lower of cost and net realisable value cost s include materials and where
relevant direct labour and appropriate overheads that have been incurred in bringing the inventories and work in progress to their present
location and condition net realisable value represents the estimated selling price less all estimated costs of completion and costs to be
incurred in marketing selling and distribution
k revenue recognition
revenue from sale of software relates mainly to perpetual licences which provide the customer with the right to use the gr oup’s products
where any associated services are not essential to the functionality of the software then the software revenue is recognised when the
following conditions are met
 persuasive evidence that an arrangement exists
 the compa ny’s fee is ﬁxed or determinable and
 collection is probable
revenue is recognised on delivery with a retention to be recognised on acceptance or otherwise as performance is deﬁned in the relevant
customer contract
revenue generated from ﬁxed price contracts including relevant licence fees where service essential to the functionality of the software
is being performed is recognised on a percentage of completion basis over the life of the contract provision is made for any expected losses
on uncompleted contracts amounts recoverable on ﬁxed price contracts which are included in debtors are stated at the net sales value
of the work done less amounts received as progress payments on account excess progress payments are included in creditors as payments
on account cu mulative costs incurred net of amounts transferred to cost of sales less provisions for contingencies and anticipated future
losses on contracts are included as ﬁxed price contract balances in work in progress
contrac ts which meet the deﬁnition of construction contract are disclosed separately as “amount due from construction customers”
in “trade and other receivables” or “amount due to construction customers” in “trade and other payables” as required under ias 11
“co nstruction c ontracts” see note 21for more details
revenue generated from time and material contracts is recognised in line with when the work is performed
maintenance revenue is generally recognised on a straightline basis over the life of the related agreement taking into account any free
maintenance periods
managed services revenue is recognised over the life of the contract c osts incurred on a contract from third parties which are directly
related to the contract are capitalised and recognised over the life of the contract contract proﬁtability is regularly reviewed and if
necessary provision for any forecast loss arising is made sales operational and administrative costs are written off as incurred
all ﬁnance income is recognised in the income statement in the period in which it arises
accounting assumptions and judgements
th e revenue and proﬁt of ﬁxed price contracts is recognised on a percentage of completion basis when the outcome of a contract can be
estimated reliably management exercises judgement in determining whether a contract’s outcome can be estimated reliably management
also makes estimates of the total cost of professional services or in some instances total contract costs which are used in determining the
value of amounts recoverable on contracts and any related provisions required for onerous contracts estimates are continually revised
based on changes in the facts relating to each contract
financial statements
notes to the accounts 45
anite plc
annual report and accounts 2008 1 state ment o f accounting pol icie s conti nued
k revenue recognition continued
t he carrying amount of amounts recoverable on contracts is disclosed in note 21
management has exercised a degree of judgement in formulating a set of criteria used for determining when revenue that involves several
deliverable elements should be recognised on a bundled or unbundled basis
l taxation
t he tax expense represents the sum of tax currently payable and deferred tax
t he tax currently payable is based on taxable proﬁt for the year taxable proﬁt differs from net proﬁt as reported in the income statement
because it excludes items of income or expense that are taxable or deductible in other years and it further excludes items that are never
taxable or deductible th e liability for current tax is calculated using tax rates that have been enacted or substantively enacted by the
balance sheet date
deferred tax is the tax expected to be payable or recoverable on differences between the carrying amounts of assets and liabilities in the
ﬁnancial statements and the corresponding tax bases used in the computation of taxable proﬁt and is accounted for using the balance
sheet liability method deferred tax liabilities are generally recognised for all taxable temporary differences and deferred tax assets are
recognised to the extent that it is probable that taxable proﬁts will be available against which deductible temporary differences can be
utilised such assets and liabilities are not recognised if the temporary difference arises from goodwill or from the initial recognition other
than in a business combination of other assets and liabilities in a transaction that affects neither the tax proﬁt nor the accounting proﬁt
deferred tax liabilities are recognised for taxable temporary differences arising on investments in subsidiaries and associates and interests
in joint ventures except where the gro up is able to control the reversal of the temporary difference and it is probable that the temporary
difference will not reverse in the foreseeable future
t he carrying amount of deferred tax assets is reviewed at each balance sheet date and reduced to the extent that it is no longer probable
that sufﬁcient taxable proﬁts will be available to allow all or part of the asset to be recovered
deferred tax is calculated at the tax rates that are expected to apply in the period when the liability is settled or the asset is realised
deferred tax is charged or credited in the income statement except when it relates to items charged or credited directly to equity in which
case the deferred tax is also dealt with in equity
accounting assumptions and judgements
in recognising income tax assets and liabilities management makes estimates of the likely outcome of decisions by tax authorities on
transactions and events whose treatment for tax purposes is uncertain where the ﬁnal outcome of such matters is different or expected
to be different from previous assessments made by management a change to the carrying value of income tax assets and liabilities will be
recorded in the period in which such a determination is made th e carrying values of current tax and deferred tax assets and liabilities are
disclosed separately in the consolidated balance sheet
m employee beneﬁts
i retirement beneﬁt costs
payments to deﬁned contribution retirement beneﬁt schemes are charged as an expense as they fall due payments made to statemanaged
retirement beneﬁt schemes are dealt with as payments to deﬁned contribution schemes where the gr oup’s obligations under the schemes
are equivalent to those arising in a deﬁned contribution retirement beneﬁt scheme the group has no deﬁned beneﬁt schemes
ii sharebased compensation
t he gr oup has applied the requirements of ifrs 2 “sharebased payments” in accordance with the transitional provisions ifrs 2 has been
applied to all grants of equity instruments after 7 november 2002 that were unvested as of 1january 2005
t he gr oup operates several equitysettled sharebased payments plans for its employees the fair value of shares determined at the grant
date of the equitysettled sharebased payment is recognised as an expense on a straightline basis over the vesting period
t he gr oup operates an inland revenue approved employee share option scheme “saye scheme” which allows employees the ability to
purchase the g roup’s ordinary shares at a discount of the current market value the gro up records an expense based on its best estimate
of the fair value of the discount related to shares expected to vest on a straightline basis over the vesting period
t he gr oup has granted executive options which include approved option plans and longterm incentive plans the grant price is normally
equal to the average quoted market price of the group shares on the date of grant the vesting period is generally three to ten years if the
options remain unexercised after a period of ten years from the date of grant the options expire furthermo re options are forfeited if the
employee leaves the gro up before the options vest unless the employee meets certain “good leaver” conditions
notes to the accounts continued
financial statements
notes to the accounts 46
anite plc
annual report and accounts 2008 1 stateme nt o f account ing pol ici es cont inue d
m employee beneﬁts continued
ii sharebased compensation continued
accounting assumptions and judgements
th e fair value of the saye scheme and executive option scheme is measured by using the blackscholes and a stochastic model namely the
montec arlo pricing model respectively th e total amount of this fair value to be expensed rateably over the vesting period is determined
by reference to the fair value of the options at the grant date excluding the impact of any nonmarket vesting conditions such as proﬁt
targets nonmarket vesting conditions are included in assumptions about the number of options that are expected to become exercisable
or the number of shares that the employee will ultimately receive th is estimate is revised at each balance sheet date and the difference is
charged or credited to the income statement with a corresponding adjustment to equity
market vesting conditions such as tsr targets are factored into the fair value of the option and therefore no subsequent adjustments will
be made if performance conditions are not met
th e proceeds received on exercise of the options net of any directly attributable transaction costs are credited to equity
for more details on the assumptions made in the valuation see note 7
n financial instruments
fina ncial assets and ﬁnancial liabilities are recognised on the gro up’s balance sheet when the gro up becomes a party to the contractual
provisions of the instrument
i trade and other debtors
trade and other debtors do not carry any interest and are stated at their nominal value as reduced by appropriate allowances for estimated
irrecoverable amounts
ii investments
investments are recognised and derecognised on a tradedate where a purchase or sale of an investment is under a contract whose terms
require delivery of the investment within the timeframe established by the market concerned and are initially measured at cost including
transaction costs
investments are classiﬁed as either heldfortrading or availableforsale and are measured at subsequent reporting dates at fair value
where securities are held for trading purposes gains and losses arising from changes in fair value are included in net proﬁt or loss for the
period
for availableforsale investments gains and losses arising from changes in fair value are recognised directly in equity until the security is
disposed of or is determined to be impaired at which time the cumulative gain or loss previously recognised in equity is included in the net
proﬁt or loss for the period
iii financial liabilities and equity
fina ncial liabilities and equity instruments are classiﬁed according to the substance of the contractual arrangements entered into an equity
instrument is any contract that evidences a residual interest in the assets of the group after deducting all of its liabilities
iv bank borrowings
interestbearing bank loans and overdrafts are recorded at the proceeds received net of direct issue costs finance charges including
premiums payable on settlement or redemption and direct issue costs are accounted for on an accruals basis to the income statement
using the effective interest method and are added to the carrying amount of the instrument to the extent that they are not settled in the
period in which they arise
v trade payables
trade payables are not interestbearing and are stated at their nominal value
vi equity instruments
equity instruments issued by the comp any are recorded at the proceeds received net of direct issue costs
financial statements
notes to the accounts 47
anite plc
annual report and accounts 2008 1 state ment o f accounting pol icie s conti nued
o derivative ﬁnancial instruments and hedge accounting
t he gr oup’s activities expose it primarily to the ﬁnancial risks of changes in foreign currency exchange rates and interest rates t he gro up
does not enter into speculative derivative contracts and all such instruments if used by the group are for hedging purposes to alter the risk
proﬁle of an existing underlying exposure to the group in line with the gr oup’s risk management policies
t he use of ﬁnancial derivatives is governed by the group’s policies approved by the board of directors which provide written principles
on the use of ﬁnancial derivatives
cash ﬂow hedge
ch anges in the fair value of derivative ﬁnancial instruments that are designated and effective as hedges of future cash ﬂows are recognised
directly in equity and the ineffective portion is recognised immediately in the income statement if the cash ﬂow hedge of a ﬁrm
commitment or forecast transaction results in the recognition of an asset or a liability then at the time the asset or liability is recognised
the associated gains or losses on the derivative that had previously been recognised in equity are included in the initial measurement of the
asset or liability for hedges that do not result in the recognition of an asset or a liability amounts deferred in equity are recognised in the
income statement in the same period in which the hedged item affects net proﬁt or loss
fair value hedge
f or an effective hedge of an exposure to changes in the fair value the hedged item is adjusted for changes in fair value attributable to the
risk being hedged with the corresponding entry in proﬁt or loss gain s or losses from remeasuring the derivative or for nonderivatives the
foreign currency component of its carrying amount are recognised in proﬁt or loss
ch anges in the fair value of derivative ﬁnancial instruments that do not qualify for hedge accounting are recognised in the income
statement as they arise
discontinued hedge accounting
hedge accounting is discontinued when the hedging instrument expires or is sold terminated or exercised or no longer qualiﬁes for hedge
accounting at that time any cumulative gain or loss on the hedging instrument recognised in equity is retained in equity until the forecast
transaction occurs if a hedged transaction is no longer expected to occur the net cumulative gain or loss recognised in equity is transferred
to net proﬁt or loss for the period
hedges of net investments in foreign operations
hedges of net investments in foreign operations are accounted for in a similar way to cash ﬂow hedges any gain or loss on the hedging
instrument relating to the effective portion of the hedge is recognised in the foreign currency translation reserve the gain or loss relating
to the ineffective portion is recognised immediately in proﬁt or loss
g ains or losses deferred in the foreign currency translation reserve are recognised immediately in proﬁt or loss on disposal of the
foreign operation
embedded derivatives
derivatives embedded in other ﬁnancial instruments or other host contracts are treated as separate derivatives when their risks and
characteristics are not closely related to those of host contracts and the host contracts are not carried at fair value with unrealised gains
or losses reported in the income statement
p provisions
provisions for warranties onerous contracts vacant properties with outstanding leases to settle restructuring costs and legal claims are
recognised when the gro up has a present legal or constructive obligation as a result of past events this is where in management’s view
it is more likely than not that an outﬂow of resources will be required to settle the obligation and the amount has been reliably estimated
restructuring provisions comprise unexpired future lease payments employee termination payments and removal costs provisions for
restructuring costs are recognised when the group has a detailed formal plan for the restructuring that has been communicated to
affected parties
deferred consideration provision is management’s best estimate of the contingent consideration payable to vendors which may be subject
to change as this is dependent on the fulﬁlment of certain performance targets of the businesses acquired
provision is established on a propertybyproperty basis to meet the estimated liabilities including dilapidations the provision covers all
ongoing unavoidable costs net of rental income provisions are not recognised for future operating losses
q operating proﬁt from continuing operations
ope rating proﬁt from continuing operations is stated after charging restructuring costs but before ﬁnance income or charges and before
gains or losses relating to disposed businesses
notes to the accounts continued
financial statements
notes to the accounts 48
anite plc
annual report and accounts 2008 1 stateme nt o f account ing pol ici es cont inue d
r leasing
le ases are classiﬁed as ﬁnance leases whenever the terms of the lease transfer substantially all the risks and rewards of ownership to the
lessee all other leases are classiﬁed as operating leases
assets held under ﬁnance leases are recognised as assets of the gro up at their fair value or if lower at the present value of the minimum
lease payments each determined at the inception of the lease th e corresponding liability to the lessor is included in the balance sheet as
a ﬁnance lease obligation l ease payments are apportioned between ﬁnance charges and reduction of the lease obligation so as to achieve
a constant rate of interest on the remaining balance of the liability f inance charges are charged directly against income unless they are
directly attributable to qualifying assets in which case they are capitalised in accordance with the group’s general policy on borrowing costs
see above
rentals payable under operating leases are charged to income on a straightline basis over the term of the relevant lease
beneﬁts received and receivable as an incentive to enter into an operating lease are also spread on a straightline basis over the lease term
rental income from operating leases is recognised on a straightline basis over the term of the relevant lease
s assets and disposal groups held for sale
assets and disposal groups are classiﬁed as held for sale if their carrying amount will be recovered through a sale transaction rather than
through continuing use thi s condition is regarded as met only when the sale is highly probable and the asset or disposal group is available
for immediate sale in its present condition
management must be committed to the sale which should be expected to qualify for recognition as a completed sale within one year from
the date of classiﬁcation
assets and disposal groups classiﬁed as held for sale are measured at the lower of the assets’ previous carrying amount and fair value less
costs to sell
t adoption of ifric interpretations new and amendments to ifrs
– applicable for the group’s accounting periods beginning on or after 1 may 2007
at the date of approval of these ﬁnancial statements the following standards interpretations and amendments thereto were issued that are
mandatory for the gro up’s accounting periods beginning on or after 1may 2007 management assessed the relevance of these amendments
and interpretations and concluded that they are either not relevant or material to the group or resulted in additional disclosures
international financial reporting interpretations committee ifric interpretations
 if ric 9 reassessment of embedded derivatives
 if ric 10 interim f inancial reporting and impairment
 if ric 11  ifrs 2 gr oup and trea sury share transactions
amendments to existing standards
 amendment to ias 1presentation of fina ncial statements – capital disclosures th ese disclosures are made in note 23a
international financial reporting standards ifrs
 if rs 7 f inancial instruments disclosures t hese disclosures are made in note 23
– applicable for the group’s accounting periods beginning on or after 1 may 2008
at the date of approval of these ﬁnancial statements the following standards interpretations and amendments thereto were issued that
are mandatory for the gr oup’s accounting periods beginning on or after 1may 2008 the group has not adopted early any of these new
pronouncements that may be relevant to the gr oup
international financial reporting interpretations committee ifric interpretations
 if ric 12service con cession arrangements
 if ric 13cu stomer loya lty programmes
 if ric 14 ias 19the limit on a deﬁned beneﬁt asset minimum funding requirements and their interaction
 if ric 15  agreements for the construction of real estate
 if ric 16 hedges of a net investment in a f oreign operation
amendments to existing standards
 improvements to if rss in may 2008 – amendments that result in accounting changes for presentation recognition
or measurement purposes
 if rs 3 revised business co mbinations
 ias 27 revised con solidated and separate fina ncial statements
international financial reporting standards ifrs
 if rs 8 opera ting segments
financial statements
notes to the accounts 49
anite plc
annual report and accounts 2008 2 revenu e and segmental infor mat ion
2 1 revenue from continuing and discontinued operations
2008 2007
note £000 £000
it c onsultancy khik 4617
bespoke services systems integration and implementation of software products jonnm 32974
ow n product software licences lohpi 45800
software maintenance and support kqlii 36385
managed services iopmp 14370
sale of thirdparty products and services ipqqn 24267
continuing businesses excluding disposed businesses imlhjl 158413
disposed businesses i imq 3065
revenue from continuing operations 23 imm i pk 161478
f inance income 4 kh kh 1336
to tal revenue from continuing operations impjik 162814
discontinued operations
revenue 23 j h mj 12384
f inance income 4 – 6
to tal revenue inhjnm 175204
22 telecoms restructuring costs
in the absence of acceptable alternatives being available in the marketplace anite had pursued a strategy of developing its own inhouse
hardware platform nevis in respect of the lte standard on 12november 2007  anite wireless announced a strategic partnership with
agilent tec hnologies to deliver test solutions for the design of next generation mobile communications products conforming to the new
3gpp lon g term evolution l te standard th e new strategic partnership with agilent tec hnologies will enhance development of best of
breed solutions making a clear business case for anite to cease its inhouse development
in addition a restructuring of the wireless handset testing business has taken place resulting in management changes and a reduction
in the overall workforce
t he impact of asset writedowns and cash settlement of exiting the current nevis ownplatform development and costs incurred as a result
of restructuring the business were £33m as set out below
note £000
impairment of inventories 298
impairment of property plant and equipment 12 443
impairment of capitalised nevis development costs 11 475
redundancy costs – development 309
oth er exit costs including inventory commitments 949
c ost of existing nevis development 27 2474
oth er restructuringredundancy costs 27 854
27 3328
t he analysis of the above restructuring costs is between research and development costs £247 4000 and administrative expenses
£854000 as disclosed in note 27
23 business segments – primary basis
t he gr oup is organised into three business segments wireless public sector and travel
t hese three business segments are the group’s primary reporting format for segment information during the period anite deutschland
management gm bh and its subsidiaries “anite deutschland” the last remaining part of the international consult ancy operation was sold
its results are included as a discontinued operation and details are disclosed in note 3
segment results assets and liabilities include items directly attributable to a segment as well as those than can be allocated on a reasonable
basis un allocated items comprise several incomeearning assets interestbearing loans corporate assets and liabilities and expenses
notes to the accounts continued
financial statements
notes to the accounts 50
anite plc
annual report and accounts 2008 financial statements
notes to the accounts 51
anite plc
annual report and accounts 2008
2 revenue and segmen tal inf orma tion con tin ued
23 business segments – primary basis continued
segment information under the primary reporting format is as disclosed in the table below
wireless tr avel public sector total
2008 2007 2008 2007 2008 2007 2008 2007
£000 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000
revenue
– continuing businesses
1
nh lih 64728 ki mq p 27733 n j lil 66236 imllj j 158697
– intersegment revenue
2
– – kn h 229 kp 55 kqp 284
nh lih 64728 ki jk p 27504 n j kon 66181 imlhj l 158413
– disposed businesses
3
– – i i m q 3065 – – ii mq 3065
revenue
– continuing operations nhl ih 64728 kj kqo 30569 njko n 66181 immipk 161478
– discontinued operations
3
– – – – – – jhmj 12384
total revenue imojkm 173862
continuing operations
segment proﬁt
– continuing businesses
1
ii jok 18100 pj io 6068 m mq p 4881 jmhpp 29049
– disposed businesses
3
– – j h j 456 – 285 j hj 741
– continuing operations iij ok 18100 pliq 6524 mm qp 5166 jmjq h 29790
u nallocated corporate costs
after recharges j ok j 3279
operating proﬁt for continuing
operations before amortisation
and telecoms restructuring costs jjmm p 26511
amortisation of acquired
intangible assets kli n 1277 – – – – kli n 1277
te lecoms restructuring costs kk j p – – – – – kkj p –
segment operating proﬁt lmjq 16823 pliq 6524 mm qp 5166
operating proﬁt impi l 25234
other gains and lossesnote 3a n m  1136 nm 1136
fina nce charges note 4 on j 751
proﬁt from continuing operations
before tax ilqp o 23347
tax expense kplq 7039
proﬁt from continuing operations iiik p 16308
discontinued operations
operating proﬁt from
discontinued operations note 3b qn 622
oper ating proﬁtloss
proﬁtloss on disposal of businesses kjhh 467
fina nce income note 4 – 6
proﬁt from discontinued operations kjqn 161
tax chargecredit ijhh 3802
proﬁt from discontinued operations jhqn 3963
proﬁt for the year ikjkl 20271
proﬁt for the period is stated after
capita lisation of development
costs dc  jkhq 3579 – – nok 2498 jqpj 6077
amortisation of capitalised dc jk h q 2061 – – iopn 955 lhqm 3016
net amortisationcapitalisation of dc – 1518 – – iiik 1543 iiik 3061
1 co ntinuing businesses comprise operating results of continuing operations before the operating results of disposed businesses and sov
2 intersegment revenues are charged at prevailing market rates
3 disposed businesses comprise the operating results of continuing operations which have ceased during the year and which do not meet the deﬁnition of discontinued operations
under if rs 5 note 3a discontinued operations are all within the international con sultancy business segment 2 revenu e and segmental infor mat ion cont inue d
other information
wireless tr avel public sector u nallocated items total
2008 2007 2008 2007 2008 2007 2008 2007 2008 2007
£000 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000
ca pital additions lnhp 31942 noo 244 i jhh 3762 i jq q 881 oopl 36829
depreciation and
intangible amortisation ihhho 6839 kon 392 j mq q 1796 kko 367 ikkiq 9394
balance sheet
assets
segment assets qlllh 100888 ijll q 12508 m jnjq 78351 lpjho 29514 j ho ojm 221261
liabilities
segment liabilities ililk 30012 ompj 11852 kkpoq 36201 pqmoo 78254 i lm ip i 156319
24 business segments – continuing operations
1
wireless travel public sector total
2008 2007 2008 2007 2008 2007 2008 2007
£000 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000
revenue
– continuing before disposed
businesses nhlih 64728 kij kp 27504 n jkon 66181 imlhjl 158413
segment proﬁt
1
ii onl 18530 plni 6393 m qll 5104 jninq 30027
u nallocated corporate costs imin 2432
adjusted operating proﬁt
1
jl nm k 27595
net ﬁnance charges before exchange
gain note 4 jhll 751
adjusted proﬁt
1
before tax j jnhq 26844
net ﬁnance changes – exchange
gain note 4 ijpj –
sharebased payments
– corporate charge ijin 847
– business segment lqi 430 j ll  325 kln  223 ihpi 978
amortisation of acquired
intangible assets klin 1277 – – – – klin 1277
te lecoms restructuring costs kkjp – – – – – kkjp –
segment operating proﬁt
before disposed businesses lm jq 16823 pj i o 6068 m mq p 4881
proﬁt before disposed
businesses and tax i lpmh 23742
– disposed businesses – – j h j 456 – 285 jhj 741
oth er gains and losses note 3a n m  1136 nm 1136
proﬁt from continuing
operations before tax note 23 ilqpo 23347
1 co ntinuing operations before disposed businesses sharebased payments amortisation of acquired intangible assets and te lecoms restructuring costs
th is additional information has been disclosed to give a clearer understanding of the results of the business segments before and after sharebased payments exceptional items
amortisation of acquired intangible assets and disposed businesses
25 public sector continuing businesses
lo cal pericles subtotal lo cal secure total
go vernment development go vernment information solutions public sector
2008 2007 2008 2007 2008 2007 2008 2007 2008 2007
£000 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000
revenue on continuing operations
1
lhlmm 39905 klim 5313 lkpo h 45218 ip m h n 20963 njkon 66181
ope rating proﬁtloss
1
– before sharebased payments miki 4749 kj n 2738 lphm 2011 iikq 3093 mq ll 5104
– sharebased payments jop 176 – – jop 176 np 47 kln 223
operating proﬁtloss
1
lpmk 4573 kj n 2738 lm jo 1835 i h oi 3046 mmqp 4881
1 co ntinuing businesses comprise the revenue and operating results of continuing operations before disposed businesses
th is additional information has been disclosed to give a clearer understanding of the results of the public sector continuing businesses
notes to the accounts continued
financial statements
notes to the accounts 52
anite plc
annual report and accounts 2008 2 revenue and segmen tal inf orma tion con tin ued
26 geographical segment – secondary basis
th e three business segments operate in four principal geographical areas as set out below
th e following analysis of the gro up’s revenue is based on the geographical location of customers irrespective of the origin of the goods or
services t he corresponding segment assets are based on the geographical location of the assets
revenue revenue revenue
continuing operations discontinued operations total
2008 2007 2008 2007 2008 2007
£000 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000
europe – un ited kingdom qip ni 94617 – – qipni 94617
europe – other j km ok 21897 jhmj 12384 jmnjm 34281
north america i mo in 25015 – – imoin 25015
rest of the world j lhkk 19949 – – jlhkk 19949
imm ipk 161478 j hm j 12384 i mo jk m 173862
c arrying additions to property
amount of plant and equipment
segment assets and intangible assets
2008 2007 restated 2008 2007
£000 £000 £000 £000
europe – un ited kingdom iinnhk 110539 ojko 35629
europe – other op jmn 87635 jqp 1058
north america ii kh j 20186 p 9
rest of the world imnl 2901 jli 133
jho ojm 221261 o o pl 36829
th e restatement in 2007 was to reclassify the goodwill and separately acquired intangible assets of nemo and invenova from europe –
u nited kingdom to europe – other and north america
27 operating expenses
2007
2008 restated
£000 £000
distribution costs
– amortisation of acquired intangible assets note 11 iqhh 745
– other iliki 11992
inhk i 12737
research  development
– amortisation of capitalised development costs note 11 lhqm 3016
– other ilkmh 12033
ip ll m 15049
– te lecoms restructuring costs jlol –
– amortisation of acquired intangible assets note 11 imin 532
jj lkm 15581
administrative expenses
– te lecoms restructuring costs pml –
– sharebased payments jjqo 1825
– other jnokp 28361
jq ppq 30186
total operating expenses npkmm 58504
analysed as
– amortisation of acquired intangible assets note 11 klin 1277
– amortisation of capitalised development costs note 11 lhqm 3016
– te lecoms restructuring costs kkjp –
– sharebased payments jjqo 1825
– other mmjiq 52386
np km m 58504
restatement of april 2007 operating expenses – amortisation of acquired intangible assets of £1277000research and development of £12033000 and amortisation of capitalised
development costs of £3016000 totalling £163 23000 which had been previously reported under administrative expenses have been reclassiﬁed between distribution costs of
£745000 and research and development of £15581000 the restatement above aligns the expense more accurately with the relevant cost classiﬁcation
financial statements
notes to the accounts 53
anite plc
annual report and accounts 2008 3 disposed bus inessesdiscont inue d ope rat ions
a other gains and losses
2008 2007
£000 £000
loss on sale of business and assets of
anite tra vel systems ab l td “ca rus” nm –
anite open tur srl “op entur” – 1136
65 1136
in the opinion of the directors anite travel systems ab l td “carus ” based in finl and which was disposed of on 5 february 2008 did not
meet the criteria to be classiﬁed as discontinued operations under ifrs 5 “noncurrent assets held for sale and discontinued operations”
as it did not represent a separate major line of business or withdrawal from a major geographical market within the group
t he operating proﬁt before interest up to the date of disposal of carus was £202000 2007 £364000 
net assets disposed of and the related loss on disposal were as follows
2008 2007
£000 £000
carus op entur
g oodwill oh n 1000
intangible assets – 15
property plant and equipment mn 5
cu rrent assets lho 767
ca sh and cash equivalents jp h 177
cr editors j qj 464
provisions – 305
net assets i imo 1195
recycled foreign exchange mp –
l oss on disposal nm 1136
net consideration i hk l 59
satisﬁed by
ca sh consideration i hm h 93
disposal costs in 34
i h kl 59
net cash ﬂows in respect of the disposal of operations are as follows
ca sh received net of disposal costs paid i hk l 59
ca sh and cash equivalents sold j ph 177
o ml 118
notes to the accounts continued
financial statements
notes to the accounts 54
anite plc
annual report and accounts 2008 3 dispose d busi nessesdiscon tin ued operation s con tin ued
b discontinued operations
during the year the directors completed the disposal of all the noncore businesses within the international consultancy division
th e results of these businesses that meet the criteria as discontinued operations under ifrs 5 are included in the international consultancy
division as discontinued operations for segment reporting purposes see note 2
2008 2007
£000 £000
proﬁt after tax for the year from discontinued operations
revenue jhmj 12384
cos t of sales i nip 9780
g ross proﬁt lkl 2604
oper ating expenses kkp 1982
oper ating proﬁt before interest qn 622
fina nce income – 6
proﬁt before tax qn 628
tax credit – 2
proﬁt after tax qn 630
proﬁt on sale of discontinued operations
warranty provision movements of previously disposed businesses note 25 ikno 417
warranty settlementconsideration received in respect of previously disposed businesses mnp –
lo ss on disposal of gmo note 3c – 50
proﬁt on disposal of anite deutschland note 3c ijnm –
net proﬁtloss before tax on sale of discontinued operations kjhh 467
tax charge on the proﬁtloss on sale of discontinued operations i jhh –
tax credit relating to activities discontinued in prior years – 3800
proﬁt after tax on sale of discontinued operations jhhh 3333
total jhqn 3963
financial statements
notes to the accounts 55
anite plc
annual report and accounts 2008 3 disposed bus inessesdiscont inue d ope rat ions cont inue d
c sale of businesses
on 9 july 2007 the grou p sold its 100 interest in the ordinary share capital of anite deutschland management gmbh and its subsidiaries
“anite deutschland” in ger many the operating proﬁt up to the date of disposal was £1120002007 £699000 the results of this
business are included in the international c onsultancy division as discontinued operations for segment reporting purposes see note 2
on 9 november 2006 the grou p sold its 100 interest in the ordinary share capital of gmo management consult ing gmbh “gmo”
in ge rmany
net assets disposed of and the related proﬁt on disposal were as follows
2008 2007
£000 £000
anite deutschland g mo
g oodwill lhh h –
intangible assets qi –
property plant and equipment po 21
cu rrent assets j oin 306
ca sh and cash equivalents kqo 195
cr editors i j jh 455
provisions for liabilities i oh –
net assets m qh i 67
recycled foreign exchange kp –
proﬁtloss on disposal i jnm 50
net consideration o jhl 17
satisﬁed by
ca sh consideration phh h 68
disposal costs o qn 51
o j hl 17
net cash ﬂows in respect of the disposal of operations are as follows
ca sh received net of disposal costs paid o jhl 17
ca sh and cash equivalents sold kqo 195
n pho 178
notes to the accounts continued
financial statements
notes to the accounts 56
anite plc
annual report and accounts 2008 4 net fin ance cha rge income
c ontinuing operations discontinued operations total
2008 2007 2008 2007 2008 2007
£000 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000
finance income
interest receivable and similar income ihn 703 – 6 ihn 709
interest on shortterm deposits oij 114 – – oij 114
exchange gain on translation of the cash deposit
held in escrow note 16 i jp j – – – ijpj –
g ains on ﬁnancial instruments
in a hedging relationship
– interest rate swaps and caps – cash ﬂow hedges o n 3 – – on 3
– cros s currency swaps – net investment hedge nq l 516 – – nql 516
others inh – – – inh –
khkh 1336 – 6 kh kh 1342
finance charges
bank loans and overdrafts km h m 1764 – – kmhm 1764
other loanscommitment fees i ko 97 – – iko 97
vendor loan notes – 2 – – – 2
u nwinding of discount on provisions note 25 i m h 224 – – imh 224
ko qj 2087 – – ko qj  2087
net ﬁnance chargeincome o n j 751 – 6 onj 745
finan ce charges on bank loans and overdrafts include amortisation of issue costs of £385000 2007 £15 0000
the unwinding of discount on provisions note 25 relates to property and deferred consideration provisions
5 profit f or the year
proﬁt for the year is stated after charging
2008 2007
£000 £000
depreciation of property plant and equipment excluding telecoms restructuring – impairment £443000 lilh 4604
amortisation of intangible software licences omh 497
amortisation of acquired intangibles assets klin 1277
amortisation of capitalised development costs excluding te lecoms restructuring – impairment £475000 lhqm 3016
lo ss on disposal of property plant and equipment ql 74
te lecoms restructuring costs note 22 kkjp –
research and development costs excluding amortisation and te lecoms restructuring costs – note 27 ilkmh 12033
cos t of inventories recognised as expense ihohk 22768
staff costs note 6 ohnoo 79081
for eign exchange gainslosses i jij 516
net creditcharge arising from movements in the property provision om  141
net movement in onerous contract provision ll  269
during the year the grou p obtained the following services from the gro up’s auditors
2008 2007
£000 £000
fe es payable to the compan y’s auditors for the audit of
– the company’s annual accounts iml 127
– the company’s subsidiaries pursuant to legislation jki 241
– fees in respect of prior year mh 35
tota l audit fees lkm 403
fe es payable to the compan y’s auditors for
– other services pursuant to legislation pl 75
– transa ction support
1
j m 215
– remuneration benchmarking services ni 49
tota l nonaudit fees ioh 339
1 thi s is in connection with acquisitions and disposal activities carried out during the year
total fees payable to other auditors in relation to the statutory audits of subsidiary companies amount to £29000 2007 £56000 nonaudit fees payable to other auditors
in relation to tax and other services were £154000 2007 £177 000
financial statements
notes to the accounts 57
anite plc
annual report and accounts 2008 6 staff cos ts
t he average number of persons employed including executive directors was as follows
2008 2007
number number
europe – unite d kingdom i hn p 1102
europe – oth er qh 168
north america jq 21
rest of the world ko 22
i j jl 1313
t he amount charged in arriving at the operating proﬁt for the year in respect of all employees was as follows
2008 2007
£000 £000
wages and salaries mphok 65614
social security costs m qpn 7657
sharebased payments j jq l 1916
pension costs lkj l 3894
o h n oo 79081
pension arrangements
t he gr oup has several deﬁned contribution group personal pension plans the contributions payable by the group in respect of the year
to these schemes are charged to the proﬁt and loss account on an accruals basis the pension costs for both years are related to deﬁned
contribution schemes only th e gro up does not operate any deﬁned beneﬁt pension schemes
key management remuneration
key management personnel as disclosed under ias 24 related party disclosures have been identiﬁed as the board of directors
details of the board of directors’ remuneration for those who served during the year are as follow
2008 2007
£000 £000
shortterm employee beneﬁts qh m 1141
sharebased payments qm m 558
i pnh 1699
notes to the accounts continued
financial statements
notes to the accounts 58
anite plc
annual report and accounts 2008 7 sharebased payment s
equitysettled share option plan
th e gro up operates several share option plans including saye and other sharebased schemes the terms of which are summarised below
c ontractual life vesting conditions share price at grant date
saye gran ted over either three four or ﬁve years savings over the period three c losing mid market quotation
with six months to exercise following four or ﬁve years until maturity on date of grant less 20
maturity after which the options expire date no performance discount
conditions
approved share option ordin arily exercisable between three and opt ions vest as soon as one c losing mid market quotation
plan “asop”  and ten years from the date of grant following year proﬁt performance target on day preceding date of grant
l ong term incentive which the options expire th e option is met or average of three days
plan “lt ip” holders must be in continued employment preceding date of grant
during this period if the options remain
unexercised after a period of ten years
from the date of grant the options expire
performance share plan both plans – conditional award vests on both plans – conditional award both plans – conditional awards
“psp”share matching third anniversary subject to performance vests on third anniversary subject of “free shares” – effectively nil
plan “smp” conditions being met in part or in full to performance conditions being cost options closin g mid market
met in part or in full award quotation on the day preceding
holders under the smp must be date of grant or average of three
still employed or good leavers days preceding the date of grant
t hese award holders must acquire is used for calculation and tax
“invested shares” which the purposes only
c ompany matches on a two for
one grossed up basis
share incentive plan le avers can keep matching shares held employees keep shares they have shares are market purchased
“sip” for three years and over ful l tax relief purchased “partnership shares” on a monthly basis
available after ﬁve years shares matched by the co mpany
“matching shares” on a one for
one basis may be retained by
good leavers bad leavers may
retain matched shares held for
three years and over matched
shares vest in full for employees
after ﬁve years no performance
conditions
management incentive a conditional award using market purchase annual vesting takes place for c losing mid market quotation
plan “mip” shares is made over a performance period meeting loyalty and performance on day preceding date of grant
agreed prior to the time of grant subject conditions based on achieving
to performance conditions being met in predetermined divisional ﬁnancial
part or in full performance measures
in accordance with the accounting policy at note 1miiif rs has been applied to all grants of equity instruments after 7 november 2002
that were unvested as of 1january 2005
financial statements
notes to the accounts 59
anite plc
annual report and accounts 2008 7 sharebased payments conti nued
details of relevant share options outstanding during the year are as follows
2008 2008 2007 2007
saye other sharebased saye othe r sharebased
weighted weighted weighted weighted
number of average number of average number of average number of average
share options exercise price share options exercise price share options exercise price share options exercise price
ou tstanding at 1 may qkoiki kjp ioi mlq ln jjp 2238187 28p 13812115 43p
g ranted during the year –– pllmm kh – –– 4626083 0p
exercised during the year mmoink jqp imhplkq jlp 1208678 22p 859248 35p
l apsed during the year jmmjp llp jhkhq ip  kp 92378 28p 424004 44p
ou tstanding at 30 april kmll lh klp jjh nii iq ilp 937131 28p 17154946 43p
exercisable at 30 april ipkq mn n nooh i p 363028 5997071
weighted average fair value
of optionsshares granted in the year – n kp – 56p
weighted average remaining
contractual life year hl ho 11 40
exercise price jkp lnp h hpp kp 23p46p 00p87p
saye other sharebased
weighted weighted
outstanding average outstanding average
shares at remaining weighted shares at remaining weighted
30 april contractual average 30 april contractual average
2008 life exercise price 2008 life exercise price
exercise price range
0p –– – imkplihi jn m
1p – 40p ipkq m n hh jk jojkhnj ni kk
41p – 806p iohlpl hq ln kqmkqmn nq m j
kml llh h l kl j j hn ii iq i p il
t he fair values for the above options were calculated using the blackscholes and stochastic option pricing models the inputs into these
models were as follows
2008 2007
saye other sharebased saye othe r sharebased
g rant date i april jhhk– io jan j hh k – 1 april 2003 – 17 jan 2003 –
i april j hh l im april j hh p 1 april 2004 16 april 2007
model used blackscholes stochastic blackscholes stochastic
weighted average share price at grant kq jq 35 35
expected volatility mm o m po  johjmq h 557587 295590
expected life km years † 35 years –
risk free rate kn lo  klmj 3647 3452
expected dividend yield h hjhn 0 009
† expected life for other sharebased payments is 100 of the options that are exercised after three years if a gain of 10 is available if this gain is not available options are held
until such a gain can be achieved any remaining options are exercised at maturity providing that they are “in the money” for l tippr oﬁt element only – 5 pa leavers in the
ﬁrst three years was assumed un der the psp smp and mip awards the expected life is equal to the vesting period of three years however for mip depending on performance
annual vesting is possible
expected volatility was determined by calculating the historical volatility of the c ompany’s share price over the following periods expected life
up to grant date other sharebased schemes – three years and saye three four and ﬁve years for three four and ﬁve year contracts respectively
t he period of exceptional volatility for the period from 30 september 1999 to 24 july 2002 was removed from the volatility calculations
t he expected life used in the model has been adjusted based on management’s best estimate for the effects of nontransferability exercise
restrictions and behavioural considerations
t he employers’ nic liability on the outstanding awards at 30 april 2008 was £514 000 2007 £422000 which is fully provided for in the accounts
notes to the accounts continued
financial statements
notes to the accounts 60
anite plc
annual report and accounts 2008 7 sharebased payment s cont inue d
th e gro up recognised total expenses of £2294000 2007 £1916000related to equitysettled sharebased payment transactions during
the year as analysed below th e sharebased liability on the mip scheme is £nil 2007 £30000 
2008 2007
£000 £000
conti nuing operations jjqo 1825
discontinued operations k 91
j j ql 1916
8 income ta x ex pense
co ntinuing operations discontinued operations total
2008 2007 2008 2007 2008 2007
£000 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000
current tax
u k corporation tax koh h 5528 – 2 kohh 5526
for eign tax j mp o 1621 – – jmpo 1621
njpo 7149 – 2 n j po 7147
adjustments in respect of prior years
u k corporation tax q 307 – 3800 q 4107
for eign tax – 154 – – – 154
q 461 – 3800 q 4261
tota l current tax expense n jq n 6688 – 3802 njqn 2886
deferred tax
u k i li l 785 – –  il il  785
for eign i h kk 434 ij hh – ino 434
tota l deferred tax creditexpense note 24 j llo 351 ij hh – i jlo 351
total income tax expense kplq 7039 ij hh 3802 mhlq 3237
th e tax charge on the proﬁtloss on sale of discontinued operations was £12m2007 £nil
co rporation tax is calculated at 2984 2007 30 of the estimated assessable proﬁt for the year taxation for other jurisdictions
is calculated at the rates prevailing in the respective jurisdictions
2008 2007
£000 £000
chargedcredited to equity
deferred tax relating to sharebased payments jhhm 664
deferred tax relating to amortisation of acquired intangibles qhp –
u k corporation tax relating to foreign exchange lkjm 516
i li j 1180
financial statements
notes to the accounts 61
anite plc
annual report and accounts 2008 8 incom e tax expense conti nued
factors affecting tax charge for the year
t he tax assessed on the proﬁt on ordinary activities for the year is higher than the standard rate of corporation tax in the u k the differences
are explained below
2008 2007
£000 £000
proﬁt before tax
c ontinuing operations ilqpo 23347
ta x on g roup proﬁt at standard u k corporation tax rate of 2984 2007 30 llqn 7003
effects of
g oodwill amortisation and impairment – 657
impairments and saleclosure of discontinued operations kqm 428
disallowed expenses and nontaxable income net jp j 1069
ineligible depreciation il k –
act irrecoverable – 473
shortterm timing differences lqh 39
ta x losses carried forward mh q 719
u tilisation of tax losses o np 531
higherlower tax rates on overseas earnings imp 101
ch anges to tax rate lm –
adjustments to current tax charge in respect of previous periods q 461
oth er mh 86
income tax expense for year kplq 7039
ta x rate for the continuing operations 257 301
t he gr oup earns its proﬁts in the uk and overseas the tax rate used for tax on proﬁt on ordinary activities is 30 reducing to 28 from
1april 2008 being the standard rate for u k corporation tax as the gr oup’s head ofﬁce is in uk 
some components of the g roup’s overseas proﬁts are likely to be taxed at an effective rate that is higher than the uk rate other components
due to the availability of losses brought forward in certain countries are likely to be taxed at a lower rate
notes to the accounts continued
financial statements
notes to the accounts 62
anite plc
annual report and accounts 2008 9 earnings per share
th e calculations of earnings per share are based on the gr oup proﬁt for the year adjusted proﬁt
1
and weighted average number of shares
in issue
basic diluted
2008 2007 2008 2007
eps summary
basic eps kpp 58p ko p 57p
basic eps for continuing operations kjp 47p ki p 46p
adjusted eps
2
lqp 55p lo p 54p
2008 2007
pence pence 2008 2007
per share per share £000 £000
proﬁt for the year kp 58 ikjkl 20271
proﬁt from discontinued operations hn 11 j hqn 3963
proﬁt for the year on continuing operations kj 47 iiikp 16308
reconciliation to adjusted proﬁt
oper ating proﬁt from disposed businesses hi 02 jhj 741
other gains and losses – 03 nm 1136
proﬁt for the year on continuing operations before disposed businesses ki 48 iihhi 16703
exchange gain on retranslation of the cash deposit held in escrow net of tax hk – pqq –
te lecoms restructuring costs net of tax ho – jkml –
amortisation of acquired intangible assets net of tax ih 03 kjqi 894
sharebased payments net of tax hl 04 iiqq 1542
adjusted proﬁt
1
lq 55 inqln 19139
1 proﬁt from continuing businesses before disposed businesses sharebased payments acquired intangible assets amortisation and te lecoms restructuring costs
2 earnings per share on adjusted proﬁt
1
have been included to give a clearer understanding of the results of the continuing businesses
both basic and diluted eps for discontinued operations is 06p 2007 11p 
number of shares ’000 2008 2007
weighted average number of shares in issue – used to calculate basic earnings per share kllm kk 350163
effect of dilutive ordinary shares
– saye and share option schemes ijjqn 4565
number of shares used to calculate diluted earnings per share km np jq 354728
financial statements
notes to the accounts 63
anite plc
annual report and accounts 2008 10 goodw ill
total
£000
cost
at 1 may 2006 51966
acquisition of subsidiaries 49676
eliminated on disposal of subsidiaries 3118
exchange movement 438
at 30 april 2007 98962
write back deferred consideration and costs no longer required
– provision note 25 5901
– accrual 69
eliminated on disposal of subsidiaries 11174
exchange movement 6101
at 30 april 2008 poqiq
accumulated impairment losses
at 1 may 2006 17847
disposal of subsidiaries 2118
at 30 april 2007 15729
disposal of subsidiaries 6468
at 30 april 2008 qjni
net book value at 30 april 2008 opnmp
net book value at 30 april 2007 83233
g oodwill is subject to annual impairment testing or more frequently if there are indications that goodwill might be impaired
t he recoverable amounts of the cash generating units c gu  are determined from value in use calculations or management’s review of the
recoverable amount the cgu is typically the combination of a group of assets acquired which cannot be separately identiﬁed within each
primary segment of the gro up the key assumptions for these calculations are as follows
 discount rate – the pretax rate used to discount the operating proﬁt projections was in the range of 10106which reﬂects
management’s views of the market risk of the cgu and
 operating proﬁt projections for the years 20092011are derived from recently approved budgets three year strategic plans
management’s view of the recoverable amount based on observable market prices for the cgu and have assumed the terminal growth
rate after 2011to be zero
notes to the accounts continued
financial statements
notes to the accounts 64
anite plc
annual report and accounts 2008 11 o th er intangibl e asset s
separately
identiﬁed
c ustomer acquired cap italised
lists and intangible development software
relationships technology rd assets costs licences total
£000 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000
cost
at 1 may 2006 –– –– 7141 2176 9317
additions –– –– 6077 687 6764
acquisition of subsidiaries 17759 5742 1536 25037 – 477 25514
disposals –– ––– 392 392
disposal of subsidiaries – 112 112
exchange movement 212 27 10 229 – 9 238
at 30 april 2007 17971 5769 1526 25266 13218 2845 41329
additions –– –– 2982 1080 4062
disposals –– ––– 536 536
disposal of subsidiaries –– ––– 135 135
exchange movement 2714 678 113 3505 – 115 3620
at 30 april 2008 jhnp m n llo inkq jp oo i injhh kknq lpklh
amortisation
at 1 may 2006 –– –– 2894 1672 4566
amortisation 745 433 99 1277 3016 497 4790
disposal –– ––– 392 392
disposal of subsidiaries –– ––– 98 98
exchange movement 4 2 – 6 – 26 32
at 30 april 2007 749 435 99 1283 5910 1705 8898
amortisation 1900 1200 316 3416 4095 750 8261
impairment losses note 22 –– –– 475 – 475
disposal –– ––– 536 536
disposal of subsidiaries –– ––– 44 44
cha nge in category 26 26 –
exchange movement 411 59 9 479 – 52 531
at 30 april 2008 kh n h i n ql ljl miop ihlml iqmk iompm
net book value at 30 april 2008 ionjm lo mk ijim jk mq k moln ilin kh omm
net book value at 30 april 2007 17222 5334 1427 23983 7308 1140 32431
financial statements
notes to the accounts 65
anite plc
annual report and accounts 2008 12 prope rty pla nt and equip ment
f reehold plantﬁxtures
land and equipment and
buildings co mputers motor vehicles to tal
£000 £000 £000 £000
cost
at 1 may 2006 5207 25744 2877 33828
additions 47 2682 1698 4427
acquired businesses –– 124 124
disposal of businesses – 306 90 396
disposals – 8560 1195 9755
exchange movement – 59 20 79
at 30 april 2007 5254 19501 3394 28149
additions – 2543 1173 3716
disposal of businesses – 806 539 1345
disposals 12 3680 254 3922
exchange movement – 128 75 203
at 30 april 2008 m jnn i on pn kplq jnphi
accumulated depreciation and impairment
at 1 may 2006 64 19290 1538 20892
ch arge for the year 75 3937 592 4604
disposal of businesses – 306 85 391
disposals – 8530 1117 9647
exchange movement – 44 19 63
at 30 april 2007 139 14347 909 15395
ch arge for the year 101 3393 646 4140
impairment for the year note 22 – 443 – 443
disposal of businesses – 748 456 1204
disposals 10 3526 269 3785
exchange movement 4 119 36 159
at 30 april 2008 jml i lhjp pn n imilp
net book value at 30 april 2008 m hij knmp j qpk iinmk
net book value at 30 april 2007 5115 5154 2485 12754
disposals include writing off of cost and depreciation of assets no longer in use
notes to the accounts continued
financial statements
notes to the accounts 66
anite plc
annual report and accounts 2008 13 investm ent s
th e gro up’s principal subsidiary undertakings are as follows
ow nership
percentage by place of
the gr oup at incorporation
c ompany name principal activity of the company 30 april 2008 registration
held directly by the company
anite holdings international li mited holding company 100 england  wales
anite properties plc property holding company 100 england  wales
anite systems holdings li mited holding company 100 england  wales
js engineers limited property holding company 100 england  wales
wick surrey properties limi ted property holding company 100 england  wales
anite telecoms holdings limi ted holding company 100 england  wales
anite fi nancial management li mited investment holding company 100 england  wales
educational measurements li mited holding company 100 england  wales
anite business systems limite d tra vel software solutions and managed services 100 england  wales
held indirectly by the company
anite europe holding gmbh holding company 100 germany
anite fi nland ltd telecoms testing technologies for wireless devices 100 finland
anite public sector limited c onsultancy systems integration and application
solutions to central  local government 100 england  wales
anite public sector holdings l imited holding company 100 england  wales
anite secure information solutions l imited c onsultancy systems integration and application
solutions to central  local government 100 england  wales
anite telecoms limited telecoms testing technologies for wireless devices 100 england  wales
anite telecoms india pvt ltd telecoms testing technologies for wireless devices 100 india
anite telecoms inc telecoms testing technologies for wireless devices 100 usa
anite telecoms kk telecoms testing technologies for wireless devices 100 japan
anite telecoms korea limi ted telecoms testing technologies for wireless devices 100 korea
anite singapore pte ltd telecoms testing technologies for wireless devices 100 singapore
anite wireless tra ding beijing l td telecoms testing technologies for wireless devices 100 china
reilrop bv holding company 100 the netherlands
all companies listed above have been included in the consolidated accounts
th e country of incorporation is also the country in which each company has its principal place of business
financial statements
notes to the accounts 67
anite plc
annual report and accounts 2008 14 inventories
2008 2007
£000 £000
electronic components knm o 4146
work in progress imn 164
f inished goods oj 199
kppm 4509
inventories are stated at lower of cost and net realisable value
15 trad e and ot her receiv abl es
2008 2007
£000 £000
current assets
tr ade debtors limpm 46249
l ess provision for impairment of trade receivables n lk 670
tr ade debtors net of provision lhqlj 45579
oth er receivables j ip m 2082
prepayments kop i 4382
amount due from construction customers note 21 kh j 353
accrued income m qi k 5931
m ki jk 58327
noncurrent assets
accrued income – 934
m ki jk 59261
t he amounts presented in the table above are net of provision for doubtful recoverability and foreseeable losses
t he gr oup’s policy is to ensure that all credit trade customers are subject to credit veriﬁcation procedures and where appropriate parent
guarantee and letter of credit especially for overseas customers are used so that the gr oup is exposed to a minimum level of bad debts
t he credit risk for trade receivables by business segments for 2008 and 2007 is as follows
in trav el the top four customers represent 9 2007 5 of the gr oup’s trade receivables
in te lecoms the top four customers represent 7 2007 3 of the gr oup’s trade receivables
in public sector the customers are government bodies in uk north america and australia which have low credit risks
ove rall the g roup has no customer that accounted for more than 5 or more of the accounts receivable at 30 april 2008 and 2007
and therefore there is no signiﬁcant concentration of credit risk since the risk is spread over a large number of unrelated counterparties
t he average credit period for trade receivables is 54 days in the unite d kingdom trade receivables are typically on 30 days’ credit terms
whilst in certain cases a schedule of payments or extended payments have been agreed interest may be charged on any outstanding
balance that is 30 days overdue at 30 april 2008 and 2007 the trade receivables were noninterest bearing
notes to the accounts continued
financial statements
notes to the accounts 68
anite plc
annual report and accounts 2008 15 tra de and ot her receiv abl es continue d
th e gro up has provided for all debts that are deemed doubtful at their estimated irrecoverable amount and for all receivables that are
more than three months overdue except in certain cases where monies have been received after the reporting date or the revenue has not
been recognised t he reason for the policy is because receivables more than three months overdue carry an increased risk of not being
recoverable the table below shows the movements in the provision for impairment of trade receivables
trade receivables
2008 2007
£000 £000
at 1 may noh 794
cha rge for the year kho 450
release in the year kjj 260
u tilised for bad debt written off ij  314
at 30 april nlk 670
th e ageing of the individually impaired trade receivables is as follows
trade receivables
2008 2007
£000 £000
two to three months overdue nm 28
more than three months overdue mop 642
n lk 670
ageing of trade receivables excluding those that have been impaired
trade receivables
2008 2007
£000 £000
neither past due nor impaired jnllk 29841
past due but not impaired
le ss than one month overdue ihqkh 10058
one to two months overdue iqih 1848
two to three months overdue nmi 473
more than three months overdue ihhp 1002
il lqq 13381
discontinued operations – 2357
lhqlj 45579
th e neither past due nor impaired and those that are past due but not impaired balances are due from customers with good credit ratings
th ere is no known reason why these amounts will not be recovered in due course of the debts past due but not impaired revenue has not
been recognised on 512007 65 of those debts greater than three months overdue
th e directors consider that the carrying amount of trade and other receivables approximates their fair value
th e trade receivables do not include any advances or retentions at 30 april 2008 2007 £nil
financial statements
notes to the accounts 69
anite plc
annual report and accounts 2008 16 ca sh deposi t hel d in escro w
2008 2007
£000 £000
ca sh deposit held in escrow – 8197
t his cash deposit of €12m£82m held in an escrow account was for the purpose of meeting the maximum contingent consideration
payable to the vendors of nemo tech nologies ltd purchased in november 2006 upon the satisfaction of certain contingent consideration
conditions as set out in the sale and purchase agreement the additional consideration paid during the year to april 2008 was €04m
£03m and the balance was released from the escrow account and transferred to another group bank account
in the year ended 30 april 2008 the group recorded an exchange gain on the translation of the euro escrow deposit of £13m 2007 nil
17 ca sh and cas h equivalen ts
2008 2007
£000 £000
ca sh at bank and in hand jhqhk 10266
te rm and overnight deposits plo i 8399
j qkol 18665
ca sh at bank and in hand was invested on a ﬂoating rate basis and is therefore subject to cash ﬂow interest risk the group has the legal
right of setoff for certain of its overdraft and cash balances under an offsetting arrangement within its banking facilities
te rm and overnight deposits comprise money market deposits which attract interest rates based on libor or equivalent market rates
ﬁxed for periods of up to three months the directors consider that the carrying amounts of cash and cash equivalents approximate to their
fair values
f or the purposes of the consolidated cash ﬂow statement cash and cash equivalents comprise the above amounts
18 trad e and ot her payabl es
2008 2007
£000 £000
tr ade creditors o qj j 12017
oth er taxes and social security n hip 6330
amount due to contract customers note 21 nl o 475
payments received on account ljnm 6561
deferred income jnimi 25174
accruals ihjpl 13585
oth er creditors j kkh 1854
m o n io 65996
tr ade and other payables principally comprise trade purchases and nonoperating costs
t he directors consider that the carrying amount of trade payables approximates their fair value
t he trade and other payables do not include any retentions at 30 april 2008 2007 £nil
notes to the accounts continued
financial statements
notes to the accounts 70
anite plc
annual report and accounts 2008 19 bank borro wings
2008 2007
£000 £000
current
bank loans lqpi 4829
noncurrent
bank loans kqplk 44610
ll pj l 49439
th e borrowings are repayable as follows
on demand or within one year lqpi 4829
in the second year lqph 4854
in the third to ﬁfth years inclusive klpnk 39756
ll pj l 49439
le ss amounts due for settlement within 12 months shown under current liabilities lqpi 4829
amount due for settlement after 12 months kqplk 44610
th e current and noncurrent bank loans comprise a £45m 2007 £50m ﬁxed term loan less £0176mof unamortised issue costs being
amortised over the period of the loan
th e loan was taken out on 30 november 2006 under a borrowing facility see note 23k for more details the ﬁrst repayment was made
on 30 november 2007 and the loan will continue until 30 november 2011being the date of maturity this loan is secured by a ﬁxed and
ﬂoating charge on the grou p’s assets
th is loan carries a weighted average ﬂoating interest rate of 657 2007 62 and exposes the group to cash ﬂow interest rate risk
th is interest rate risk was partly hedged by the gr oup using derivative ﬁnancial instruments note 22
th e bank loans are initially measured at fair value and net of transaction costs they are subsequently measured at amortised cost using
the effective interest method with interest expense recognised on an effective yield basis the average effective interest rate for this loan
was 734 2007 671
20 net debt
2008 2007
note £000 £000
cas h deposit held in escrow 16 – 8197
cas h and cash equivalents 17 jq ko l 18665
bank borrowings – current 19 lqpi 4829
bank borrowings – noncurrent 19 kqplk 44610
net debt imlmh 22577
a reconciliation of the movement in net debt for the year is as detailed below
2008 2007
£000 £000
net debtcash at 1 may jjmoo 35785
decreaseincrease in cash deposit held in escrow qloi 8097
net increasedecrease in cash and cash equivalents ihijl 17378
u namortised issue costs of bank borrowings kpm 561
decreaseincrease in bank borrowings mhhh 50000
decrease in loan notes – 478
exchange movement ipmq 120
net debt at 30 april imlmh 22577
financial statements
notes to the accounts 71
anite plc
annual report and accounts 2008 21 cons tru cti on contr acts with customers
2008 2007
note £000 £000
c ontracts in progress at balance sheet date
amounts due from contract customers included in trade and other receivables 1 5 khj 353
amounts due to contract customers included in trade and other payables 1 8 nl o  475
klm  122
c ontract costs incurred plus recognised proﬁts less recognised losses to date j ini 11922
l ess progress billings j m hn 12044
klm  122
revenue recognised during the year for construction contracts was £62m 2007 £62m
22 derivativ e fi nancial instr ument s
details of the signiﬁcant accounting policies and methods adopted the basis of measurement and the basis on which income and expenses
are recognised in respect of each class of derivative ﬁnancial instrument are disclosed in note 1to the ﬁnancial statements
t he fair values of the gr oup’s derivative ﬁnancial instruments are as follows
2008 2008 2007 2007
assets liabilities assets l iabilities
£000 £000 £000 £000
derivative ﬁnancial assets
f orward contracts ik – ––
derivative ﬁnancial assetspayables
interest rate swaps – in a cash ﬂow hedge relationship – ilm 117 –
interest rate caps – in a cash ﬂow hedge relationship –– 4–
cr oss currency swaps – in a net investment hedge relationship – i nikj – 1722
i k injoo 121 1722
analysed as expiring
within one year ik lkjp ––
more than one year and within ﬁve years – i iq lq 121 1722
i k injoo 121 1722
cash ﬂow hedges – interest rate swaps and caps
t he gr oup uses interest rate swaps and caps to manage its exposure to interest rate movements on its bank borrowings
at 30 april 2008 the interest rate swaps with notional principal amounts totalling £20m 2007 £20m have ﬁxed interest rate payments at
an average rate of 5535 and have ﬂoating interest receipts at l ibor rate for periods up until 31oc tober 2011at 30 april 2008 the
details of the interest rate caps contracts were as follows
f or a notional principal amount of £5m 2007 £5m interest rates are capped at 625 for periods up until 31january 2009
t he fair value of the interest rate swaps and caps as shown above are based on market values of equivalent instruments at the balance sheet
date all these interest rate swaps and caps are designated and effective as cash ﬂow hedges and the fair value thereof has been deferred
in equity th e net amount of the swaps and caps that has been expensed against hedged interest payments made in the period is £3000
2007 less than £300
notes to the accounts continued
financial statements
notes to the accounts 72
anite plc
annual report and accounts 2008 22 derivative fi nancial instr umen ts conti nued
net investment hedges – cross currency swaps
th e gro up has overseas subsidiaries which operate mainly in north america northern europe and asia paciﬁc and whose revenues and
expenses are denominated in their local currencies t he group has hedged part of its net investment in overseas subsidiaries through natural
hedges and utilisation of cross currency swaps
at the balance sheet date the currency split of the marktomarket values of cross currency swaps including the exchange of principals
was €1366m £1095m 2007 €1384m £946m and £922m 2007 £928m the ﬁxed interest rates on these cross currency swaps
range from 464 to 5192007 383 to 522 and the ﬂoating interest rates are based on libor sterling and euribor euro
th ese crosscurrency swaps were used to hedge the eurodenominated net investment of wireless nemo
th e fair value change on the cross currency swaps which is approximately 99 effective against the hedged item is recognised in the foreign
currencyhedging reserve an amount of £43000 2007 nil of ineffectiveness was recognised in the income statement during the year
23 f inancial risk manageme nt
a capital risk management
th e gro up manages its capital structure to ensure that the entities in the gro up will be able to continue as going concerns while maximising
the returns to the shareholders through the optimisation of the net debt and equity balance
th e gro up’s capital structure is as follows
2008 2007
note £000 £000
net debt 20 imlm h 22577
tota l equity njmll 64942
capital employed ooqql 87519
u nder the credit facility agreement the g roup is subject to certain ﬁnancial covenants relating to leverage cash ﬂow and interest cover
and also the requirement that the maximum preagreed level of overdrafts and ancillary facilities granted to the group companies that
are guarantors of the credit facility are not exceeded t he co mpany has complied with these covenants and requirements
b signiﬁcant accounting policies
details of the signiﬁcant accounting policies and methods adopted the basis of measurement and the basis on which income and expenses
are recognised in respect of each class of ﬁnancial asset liability and equity are disclosed in note 1
c categories of ﬁnancial instruments
th e following assets and liabilities at carrying values meet the deﬁnition of ﬁnancial instruments and are classiﬁed according to the
following categories
2008 2007
note £000 £000
fair value through proﬁt and loss fvtpl – held for trading
for eign currency contracts 22 i k –
loans and receivables
cas h deposit held in escrow 16 – 8197
cas h and cash equivalents 17 jq ko l 18665
trade receivables 15 lhqlj 45579
derivatives instruments in designated hedge accounting relationships
interest rate swaps and caps 22 – 121
financial assets ohkjq 72562
amortised cost
trade creditors 18 o qjj 12017
derivatives instruments in designated hedge accounting relationships
interest rate swaps and caps 22 i lm –
cros s currency swaps 22 inik j 1722
financial liabilities jliqq 13739
financial statements
notes to the accounts 73
anite plc
annual report and accounts 2008 23 fin ancia l risk managemen t con t inued
d financial risk management
t he g roup’s ﬁnancial assets and liabilities mainly comprise bank borrowings some cash and liquid resources derivative ﬁnancial instruments
deferred consideration for acquisitions and various items such as trade receivables and payables that arise directly from its operations
t he main risks arising from the grou p’s ﬁnancial instruments are market risk primarily exposure to changes in interest rates and foreign
currency risks liquidity risk and credit risk the board reviews and agrees policies for managing each of these risks which are summarised below
e market risk – interest rate
t he gr oup ﬁnances its operations and acquisitions through a mixture of reserves bank borrowings and new equity and this policy is
reviewed from time to time the gro up borrows in the desired currencies at ﬂoating rates of interest and manages the interest rate risk
by selectively using interest rate swaps and caps any surplus cash is converted into sterling and is invested in shortterm money market
and bank deposits at the prevailing rates of interest in order to achieve the market rate of return
t he ﬁnancial assets and liabilities that are interestbearing and expose the gr oup to interest rate risk are as follows
i cash and equivalents note 17 th e weighted average ﬂoating interest rate for these ﬁnancial assets which were based on libor
or equivalent market rates ﬁxed for periods up to three months was 55 2007 49 and the euro interest rate was 41 2007 33
ii bank borrowings note 19 th e weighted average ﬂoating interest rate for bank borrowings was 657 2007 62 thi s is linked
to l ibor plus a margin for bank loans th e margin varies between 060 and 105 dependent on the ratio of net debt to ebitda
reviewed annually
t he interest rate on the overdraft is based on 1 per annum over the bank’s base rate for its sterling accounts and 1per annum over the
bank’s relevant shortterm offered rate for any other currency accounts
iii interest rate swap and caps these derivatives are used to manage the gro up’s exposure to interest risk on its bank borrowings above
see note 22 for details of the interest rate
iv cross currency swaps t hese derivatives were used to hedge the net investment of an overseas subsidiary see note 22 for details of the
interest rate
interest rate sensitivity analysis
t he sensitivity analyses below have been determined based on the exposure to interest rates for both ﬁnancial assets and liabilities both
including derivative instruments as listed above at balance sheet date and adjustments have been made particularly where some of the
signiﬁcant derivatives only existed for part of the year
with all other variables held constant the table below demonstrates the sensitivity to a 1change in interest rates applied to the major
currencies of net variable rate assetsliabilities 1 is the sensitivity rate that represents management’s assessment of the reasonably
possibly change in interest rates
£denominated u sdenominated eurodenominated
2008 2007 2008 2007 2008 2007
£000 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000
ca sh and cash equivalents ikkki 10649 i no p 1420 ijonj 7261
ca sh deposit held in escrow – – – – – 8197
bank borrowings llpjl 49439 – – – –
interest rate swaps – ﬂoating rate jhhhh 20000 – – – –
net variable rate assetsliabilities iilqk 18790 inop 1420 ijonj 15458
£ interest rate u s interest rate euro interest rate
2008 2007 2008 2007 2008 2007
£000 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000
proﬁt before tax – gainloss
1 change in interest rate iim 188 io 14 ijp 154
1 change in interest rate i im 188 io 14 ijp 154
t he fair value of ﬁnancial assets and liabilities is not materially different from the book value recorded at 30 april 2008 and 2007
notes to the accounts continued
financial statements
notes to the accounts 74
anite plc
annual report and accounts 2008 23 f inancial risk manageme nt con ti nued
f market risk – foreign currency
th e gro up has overseas subsidiaries and branches which operate mainly in north america northern europe and asia paciﬁc and whose
revenues and expenses are denominated in their local currencies th e gro up currently partly hedges its investment in overseas subsidiaries
through ﬁnancial instruments and natural hedges
foreign currency sensitivity analysis
th e sensitivity analyses below is based on a 10 appreciationdepreciation of the euro and us dollar against sterling applied to the net
monetary assets or liabilities of the gro up that are not denominated in the functional currency of the operating unit involved
£denominated us denominated eurodenominated
2008 2007 2008 2007 2008 2007
£000 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000
monetary assets jol 1247 ln iq 3989 immhi 17758
monetary liabilities m  24 ihko 3165 li  1107
net monetary assets jnq 1223 km pj 824 imlnh 16651
£ u s euro
currency impact currency impact currency impact
2008 2007 2008 2007 2008 2007
£000 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000
proﬁt before tax – gainloss
10 appreciation kh 136 kqp 91 iohp 1850
10 depreciation j m 111 kjn 75 i lhm 1514
in management’s opinion the sensitivity analysis is based on the monetary assets and liabilities at reporting date and therefore does not
fully reﬂect the exposure during the year us denominated salespurchases were higher in the last month which resulted in higher us dollar
net assets at the year end
with all other variables held constant the effect of a 10 depreciation and appreciation of the euro against sterling applied to the euroleg
liability of the cross currency swaps of £1097m 2007 £946m will be a gain after tax of £72m 2007 £62m and a loss after tax of
£88m 2007 £76m in the otherforex reserve respectively th ese swaps are aftertax net investment hedges note 22 and therefore we
expect this gain and loss to be nearly 100 offset by an equal and opposite amount of foreign exchange arising on the translation of the
eurodenominated net investment of wirelessnemo
g other price risks
th e gro up is not exposed to other price risks apart from interest rate and foreign exchange risk disclosed above
h forward foreign exchange contracts
anite’s strategy is to hedge a proportion of the forecast future cash ﬂows for a period of three to ﬁve months creating a cash ﬂow
movement to offset the translational movement th e proportion of forecast cash ﬂows that will be hedged is reviewed periodically in the
light of experience
at 30 april 2008 2007 £nil the grou p had the following outstanding forward contracts to sell us dollars and receive sterling
fix ed co ntract value f air value
maturity date note rate £000 us 000 £000
28 may 2008 19595 510 1000 5
26 june 2008 19560 511 1000 4
29 july 2008 19515 512 1000 4
22 13
i interest rate and cross currency swap contracts
see note 22 for details of the interest rate swapscaps and cross currency swaps
financial statements
notes to the accounts 75
anite plc
annual report and accounts 2008 23 fin ancia l risk managemen t con t inued
j credit risk
cr edit risk refers to the risk that a counterparty will default on its contractual obligations resulting in a ﬁnancial loss to the group
t he gr oup’s maximum exposure to credit risk is as follows
2008 2007
note £000 £000
ca sh and cash equivalents 1 7 j qkol 18665
derivative ﬁnancial instruments 22 ik 121
tr ade receivables 15 lh qlj 45579
o h kjq 64365
t he credit risk on cash and derivative ﬁnancial instruments is limited because the counterparties to these assets are highly rated ﬁnancial
institutions
t he gr oup’s policy to mitigate potential credit risks and the concentration of credit risks of trade receivables are detailed in note 15– trade
and other receivables
k liquidity risk
t he gr oup’s objective is to maintain a balance and continuity of funding and ﬂexibility through the use of bank overdrafts and bank
syndicated facilities
t he gr oup’s uk overdraft facility was renewed during the year and agreed at £10m net the amount drawn down under these facilities
at 30 april 2008 and 2007 was £nil
t he gr oup entered into a new ﬁveyear syndicated facility on 31octo ber 2006 which was underwritten in full by llo yds tsb bank plc this
facility consists of a term loan of £50m repayable at £5m per annum until 30 november 2010 with the balance due on 30 november 2011
and a revolving credit facility of £40m th e amount of undrawn facilities at 30 april 2008 was £40m 2007 £40m and total undrawn
facilities including the overdraft facility was £50m 2007 £50m the revolving credit facility incurs commitment fees at market rates
t his facility is available to be drawn to support the general corporate purposes for the gro up including working capital requirements
maturity proﬁle
t he table below summarises the maturity proﬁle of the group’s undiscounted cash ﬂows of the ﬁnancial liabilities and the earliest date
on which the grou p is required to pay
2008 effect of
discount
less than one to two to three to four to undiscounted ﬁnancing
one year two years three years four years ﬁve years balance rates 2008
£000 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000
bank borrowings –
variable rate note 19 mh hh mhhh mh h h khh hh – lmhhh ion llpjl
tr ade creditors note 18 oq jj –– –– oqjj – oqjj
provision for liabilities lpk –– –– lpk – lpk
ik lhm m hhh m h hh kh hh h – m klhm ion mkjjq
derivative ﬁnancial instruments
interest rate swaps and caps –– i nh –– inh im ilm
cr oss currency swaps
1
lm jn iqk i qj ii hlo – i mq mp iol inik j
ioqki m iqk m kmj li hlo – n qm jk io nqmhn
1
split of cross currency swaps between
£leg assets ihmnip ilmlm qihok
€leg liabilities ijimon ilkoi ihojhm
i m qmp iol inik j
notes to the accounts continued
financial statements
notes to the accounts 76
anite plc
annual report and accounts 2008 23 f inancial risk manageme nt con ti nued
2007 effect of
discount
l ess than on e to two to th ree to fo ur to un discounted ﬁnancing
one year two years three years four years ﬁve years balance rates 2007
£000 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000
bank borrowings –
variable rate note 19 5000 5000 5000 5000 30000 50000 561 49439
trade creditors note 18 12017 –– –– 12017 – 12017
17017 5000 5000 5000 30000 62017 561 61456
derivative ﬁnancial instruments
cros s currency swaps
2
161 –– –– 161 1561 1722
17178 5000 5000 5000 30000 62178 1000 63178
2
split of cross currency swaps between
£leg assets 98333 5492 92841
€leg liabilities 98494 3931 94563
161 1561 1722
24 defer red tax asset sl iabili tie s
accelerated shortterm advance
tax development intangible share timing tax corporation
depreciation costs g oodwill assets based differences losses tax total
£000 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000
at 1 may 2006 1008 763 1149 – 753 291 –– 2438
acquisitions –– – 6864 –– –– 6864
cha rgecredit to
income statement
for the year 972 1102 51 383 291 49 547 500 351
trans fer to current tax –– ––– –– 473 473
cre dit to equity
for the year –– –– 664 –– – 664
at 30 april 2007 36 1865 1200 6481 1708 242 547 27 4586
acquisitionsdisposals –– 1200 –– ––– 1200
cre ditcharge to
income statement
for the year 625 259 – 1033 1098 21 547 – 2447
cha rge to equity
for the year –– – 908 2005 –– – 2913
at 30 april 2008 nni inh n – n km n phi jji – jo njmj
ce rtain deferred tax assets and liabilities have been offset to the extent permitted by ias 12
th e following is the analysis of the deferred tax balances after offset for balance sheet purposes
2008 2007
£000 £000
deferred tax assets ihl 1895
deferred tax liabilities nkmn 6481
n j m j 4586
financial statements
notes to the accounts 77
anite plc
annual report and accounts 2008 24 def erred tax assets liabil it ies cont inue d
2008 2007
£000 £000
deferred tax assets not recognised
income losses carried forward knp n 5292
ca pital losses carried forward ikomn 2920
g oodwill amortisation – 1174
surplus act carried forward j lpl 2457
i qqjn 11843
deferred tax assets in respect of future goodwill amortisation and losses carried forward in certain companies have not been recognised
because at present it is not envisaged that there will be sufﬁcient taxable proﬁts in those companies from which future reversal of these
reliefs can be deducted the unutilised reliefs may be carried forward indeﬁnitely
deferred tax liabilities have not been recognised for the withholding tax and other taxes that would be payable on the unremitted earnings
of certain overseas subsidiaries no provision is required since the gr oup is in a position to control the timing of the reversal of these
differences and either it is probable that such differences will not reverse in the foreseeable future or no tax is payable on the reversal
2008 2007
£000 £000
temporary differences in respect of which no deferred tax has been recognised
u ndistributed earnings of subsidiaries iholj 9863
no provision has been made for taxation of £918000 2007 £983000 in respect of chargeable gains rolled over because at present there
is no commitment to dispose of the replacement assets the reduction in the year was due to the decrease in the uk corporation rate
notes to the accounts continued
financial statements
notes to the accounts 78
anite plc
annual report and accounts 2008 25 prov ision s
o nerous
deferred property contract oth er gr oup
consideration warranties provision provisions provisions total
£000 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000
at 1 may 2007 8440 5185 4450 1917 335 20327
release of deferred considerationcost
provisions credited to goodwill 5901 –– – 5901
release of provision credited
to proﬁt and loss – 1367 235 44 – 1646
established during the year –– 1069 – 1744 2813
disposal of subsidiaries note 3c –– –– 170 170
u tilised during the year 2309 786 81 1582 1211 5969
u nwinding of discount 15 – 165 –– 150
exchange movement 13 202 –– 31 220
at 30 april 2008 jhj kj kl mk np jqi ojq qpjl
2008 2007
£000 £000
analysed as
cur rent liabilities lppo 14443
noncurrent liabilities lqko 5884
qpjl 20327
follow ing the ﬁnal cash consideration payments of £03m €04m and £20m us 4m during the year to the vendors of nemo and
invenova respectively the amounts of £52m nemo and £07m invenova were credited against goodwill the remaining balance of
£02m us 04m represents the grou p’s best estimate of the cash consideration payable for invenova thi s is expected to be utilised
within a year
th e warranty provision has been made to cover any potential claims made by disposed businesses during the contractual warranty period
it is expected to be utilised in one to six years th e release of warranty provision of £14m 2007 £11m  was in respect of a previous disposal
no longer required thi s amount released is included in “warranty provision movements of previously disposed businesses” in note 3b –
discontinued operations
the property provision is in respect of all properties surplus to business requirements and dilapidation provisions for properties currently in use
th e provision is calculated in accordance with ias 37 as disclosed in note 1to the accounts it is expected to be utilised in one to 14 years
additional dilapidation provisions for properties were established during the year amounting to £09m 2007 £10mthese were
capitalised in “property plant and equipment” and will be charged to the income statement on a straight line basis over the remaining term
of the relevant property lease
th e onerous contract provision includes pericles and state of victoria sov contractual commitments in the year £15m2007 £04m
and £004m 2007 £114 m was utilised in respect of the pericles and sov contracts respectively the remaining provision of sov of
£004m was released this provision is expected to be utilised within a year
other provisions included a provision of £17 m 2007 £nil established during the year for the teleco ms restructuring costs note 22
of this amount £12m 2007 £nil was utilised during the year leaving £05m carried forward at year end the remaining balance of the
other provisions is expected to be utilised within a year
financial statements
notes to the accounts 79
anite plc
annual report and accounts 2008 26 cal l ed u p share capital
deferred
o rdinary shares redeemable shares
of 10p each of £1each
number £000 number £000
authorised
at 30 april 2007 and 2008 lh hh hh hh h lhh hh mhhhh m h
allotted issued and fully paid
at 30 april 2007 352748160 35275 50000 50
issued during the year 1549185 155 ––
ca ncelled during the year 16260700 1626 ––
at 30 april 2008 kkph kn nl m kkphl mhhhh m h
a redeemable share capital
t hese deferred shares of £1each may be redeemed at any time at the option of the company at a price of 1peach th ey are nonequity
shares and have no voting rights
b shares issued during the year
i 550902 ordinary shares were issued at prices between 23p and 46p each in connection with options exercised under the co mpany’s
save as you earn saye schemes
ii 998283 ordinary shares were issued at prices between 10p and 565p each in respect of the exercise of options under the approved share
opti on scheme the lo ng term incentive plan “executive share option schemes” and the performance share plan
c outstanding options
as at 30 april 2008 the following options over the c ompany’s ordinary shares had been granted and were still outstanding
executive
share opt ion saye opti on
gr antsawards schemes to tal
ou tstanding at 1 may 19232156 977568 20209724
g ranted during the year 8445530 – 8445530
exercised during the year 1355928 623128 1979056
l apsed during the year 3882745 – 3882745
outstanding at 30 april jjlk qhik kml ll h jj oqklmk
subscription price 0p – 207p 23p – 128p
dates exercisable august 2009 august 2008
august 2014 august 2009
weighted average exercise price 66p 34p
d cancelled shares
16260700 shares were cancelled during the year having been acquired at an average price of 459p per share as part of the gro up’s share
buyback programme
e own shares reserve
t he own shares reserve £513 2000 2007 £1019000 represents the cost of shares in anite plc purchased in the market for the following
trusts of the c ompany
i 900000 shares costing £547000 were purchased in prior years for the c ompany’s employee share ownership plan “esop” to satisfy
part of the employers’ nic liability of the group’s share options schemes during the year 6m shares costing £4047000 were purchased
and are held for some of the psp smp awards and for all of the mip awards th ese shares will be held until the performance conditions
of the relevant share plan awards are fulﬁlled during the year 357645 shares were sold at fair value of £220000 to satisfy awards that
were vested
ii 1143 618 shares at a cost of £758000 are held for the c ompany’s share incentive plan sip under the sip scheme thes e shares will be
held until the conditions of the sip are fulﬁlled of this amount 492276 shares were purchased at a cost of £286000 during the year
t hese amounts have been deducted from the shareholders’ equity in accordance with ias 32 and 39
notes to the accounts continued
financial statements
notes to the accounts 80
anite plc
annual report and accounts 2008 27 dividends
dividends paid during the year was £3709000 2007 £175 3000 and the details are set out below
2008 2007
pence 2008 pence 2007
payment date per share £000 per share £000
for the year ended 30 april 2006
fina l dividend 050 1753
for the year ended 30 april 2007
interim dividend 16 may 2007 hjm poo –
fina l dividend 16 november 2007 hmm iqjo –
for the year ended 30 april 2008
interim dividend 28 march 2008 hjom qhm –
ko hq 1753
at the ag m on 11september 2008 a ﬁnal dividend in respect of the year ended 30 april 2008 of 060p per share is to be proposed
28 com mitm ent s
a capital commitments
capita l commitments are as follows
2008 2007
£000 £000
contrac ted but not provided for – ﬁxed assets – 20
b operating lease arrangements
2008 2007
£000 £000
le ase payments under operating leases recognised as an expense in the year jpoh 3149
th e gro up has total outstanding commitments under noncancellable operating leases which fall due as follows
la nd and buildings othe r
2008 2007 2008 2007
£000 £000 £000 £000
le ases expiring in one year klkh 3661 il 129
le ases expiring in two to ﬁve years inclusive ihll q 12621 lp 152
le ases expiring after ﬁve years ok nn 9813 –1
j i j lm 26095 n j 282
29 con ting ent l iabili tie s
th ere are contingent liabilities that arise in the normal course of business in respect of indemnities warranties guarantees and legal claims
however the directors have considered that none of these claims is expected to result in a material loss to the gro up there has been no
change in the directors’ assumptions in regard to contingent liabilities since the year ended 30 april 2007
financial statements
notes to the accounts 81
anite plc
annual report and accounts 2008 30 rel ated part y trans action s
a key management personnel
t he details of key management remuneration are disclosed in the remuneration report
b the board is not aware of any related party transactions that should be disclosed apart from the details below
i on 5 fe bruary 2008 reilrop bv entered into an agreement to sell anite travel systems ab lt d “carus” to a2invest ab a company
wholly owned by anders rundberg the managing director of anite trave l systems ab ltd  for €14m in cash prior to completion
a dividend of €065m was paid to the immediate parent company net assets at the date of sale were €06m and proﬁt in the period
amounted to €03m
ii no guarantees have been provided to any related parties
iii transa ctions between anite plc and its subsidiaries which are related parties have been eliminated on consolidation
notes to the accounts continued
financial statements
notes to the accounts 82
anite plc
annual report and accounts 2008 ifrs
uk gaap
2008 2007 2006 2005 2004
£000 £000 £000 £000 £000
results
revenue imm i pk 161479 154096 160169 196232
operating proﬁtloss – continuing operations impi l 25234 8857 7666 26225
proﬁtloss attributable to equity holders of
anite plc ik jk l 20271 8869 6657 29943
assets employed
noncurrent assets ij i i o h 131368 54244 52192 71317
current assets pn mm m 89893 94893 93045 74458
assets held for sale – – 473 ––
current liabilities pj h qn  97622 94246 94154 94103
liabilities directly associated with assets classiﬁed
as held for sale – – 519 ––
noncurrent liabilities n kh pm  58697 10880 12962 23361
njml l 64942 43965 38121 28311
key statistics
earnings per share – basic kpp 58p 25p 19p 86p
– diluted kop 57p 25p 19p 86p
the ﬁgures presented for 2004 under uk gaap are taken from the statutory accounts for 2004 as published
financial statements
fiveyear summary 83
anite plc
annual report and accounts 2008
five7yearsummary we have audited the parent company ﬁnancial statements of anite plc for the year ended 30 april 2008 which comprise the company
balance sheet the company statement of changes in equity the company cash ﬂow statement and the related notes 1to 17  these parent
company ﬁnancial statements have been prepared under the accounting policies set out therein
we have reported separately on the group ﬁnancial statements of anite plc for the year ended 30 april 2008 and on the information in the
directors’ remuneration report that is described as having been audited
this report is made solely to the company’s members as a body in accordance with section 235 of the companies act 1985our audit
work has been undertaken so that we might state to the company’s members those matters we are required to state to them in an auditors’
report and for no other purpose to the fullest extent permitted by law we do not accept or assume responsibility to anyone other than the
company and the company’s members as a body for our audit work for this report or for the opinions we have formed
respective responsibilities of directors and auditors
the directors’ responsibilities for preparing the annual report and the parent company ﬁnancial statements in accordance with applicable
law and international financial reporting standards ifrs as adopted by the european union are set out in the statement of directors’
responsibilities
our responsibility is to audit the parent company ﬁnancial statements in accordance with relevant legal and regulatory requirements
and international standards on auditing uk and ireland
we report to you our opinion as to whether the parent company ﬁnancial statements give a true and fair view and whether the parent
company ﬁnancial statements have been properly prepared in accordance with the companies act 1985 we also report to you whether
in our opinion the information given in the report of the directors is consistent with the parent company ﬁnancial statements
in addition we report to you if in our opinion the company has not kept proper accounting records if we have not received all the
information and explanations we require for our audit or if information speciﬁed by law regarding directors’ remuneration and other
transactions is not disclosed
we read the other information contained in the annual report and consider whether it is consistent with the audited parent company
ﬁnancial statements the other information comprises only the chairman’s statement the chief executive’s review the ﬁnancial review
the report of the directors the corporate governance report the unaudited part of the directors’ remuneration report and the report
of the audit committee we consider the implications for our report if we become aware of any apparent misstatements or material
inconsistencies with the parent company ﬁnancial statements our responsibilities do not extend to any further information outside
the annual report
basis of audit opinion
we conducted our audit in accordance with international standards on auditing uk and ireland issued by the auditing practices board
an audit includes examination on a test basis of evidence relevant to the amounts and disclosures in the parent company ﬁnancial
statements it also includes an assessment of the signiﬁcant estimates and judgements made by the directors in the preparation of the
parent company ﬁnancial statements and of whether the accounting policies are appropriate to the company’s circumstances consistently
applied and adequately disclosed
we planned and performed our audit so as to obtain all the information and explanations which we considered necessary in order to provide
us with sufﬁcient evidence to give reasonable assurance that the parent company ﬁnancial statements are free from material misstatement
whether caused by fraud or other irregularity or error in forming our opinion we also evaluated the overall adequacy of the presentation
of information in the parent company ﬁnancial statements
opinion
in our opinion
 the parent company ﬁnancial statements give a true and fair view in accordance with ifrs as adopted by the european union
of the state of the company’s affairs as at 30 april 2008
 the parent company ﬁnancial statements have been properly prepared in accordance with the companies act 1985 and
 the information given in the report of the directors is consistent with the parent company ﬁnancial statements
deloitte  touche llp chartered accountants and registered auditors
london united kingdom
17july 2008
independent auditors’ report
to the members of anite plc
independent auditors’ report company 84
anite plc
annual report and accounts 2008 2007
2008 restated
1
note £000 £000
noncurrent assets
intangible assets 2 i ii 90
property plant and equipment 3 i i jq 673
investments in subsidiaries 4 i oh mo o 113826
deferred tax assets 5 m mo 953
i ojko l 115542
current assets
trade and other receivables 6 q qi 1075
amounts owed by group undertakings 7 lhmih 59222
cash and cash equivalents 8 kh ji q 17837
o i ojh 78134
total assets jl lhql 193676
current liabilities
trade and other payables 9 kli q 3649
amounts owed to group undertakings 7 pj j oq  52945
current tax payable n lik 1533
q j i ii  58127
noncurrent liabilities
provisions 10 i h h h 500
total liabilities qkiii 58627
net assets imhq pk 135049
equity
issued share capital 11 kkpm l 35325
share premium account jmlhn 25010
own shares m ikj 1019
merger reserve kqhjq 39029
capital redemption reserve jlpm 859
retained earnings mmkli 35845
total equity imhq pk 135049
1 see note 1c for details on the restatement
approved by the board and signed on its behalf by
s p rowley chief executive
c j humphrey finance director
17july 2008
financial statements
company balance sheet 85
anite plc
annual report and accounts 2008
company balance sheet
30 april 2008 share capital
share premium own merger redemption retained
capital account shares reserve reserve earnings total
£000 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000
balance at 1 may 2006 35186 24303 715 39029 773 36751 135327
changes in equity for the year
to 30 april 2007
loss for the year –– ––– 715 715
total recognised income and expense for the year –– ––– 715 715
issue of share capital 225 707 –– –– 932
purchase of own shares into treasury –– 304 –– – 304
dividend paid –– ––– 1753 1753
share buy back and cancellation 86 –– – 86 613 613
recognition of sharebased payments before tax –– ––– 848 848
deferred tax related to sharebased payments –– ––– 349 349
balance at 30 april 2007 35325 25010 1019 39029 859 34867 134071
prior year adjustment
recognition of sharebased payments
for subsidiaries note 1c –– ––– 978 978
balance at 30 april 2007 as restated 35325 25010 1019 39029 859 35845 135049
changes in equity for the year
to 30 april 2008
proﬁt for the year –– ––– 29392 29392
total recognised income and expense for the year –– ––– 29392 29392
issue of share capital 155 396 –– –– 551
purchase of own shares into treasury –– 4333 –– – 4333
sale of own shares from treasury –– 220 –– 220 –
dividend paid –– ––– 3709 3709
share buy back and cancellation 1626 –– – 1626 7497 7497
recognition of sharebased payments
for subsidiaries note 1c –– ––– 1081 1081
recognition of sharebased payments before tax –– ––– 1216 1216
deferred tax related to sharebased payments –– ––– 767 767
balance at 30 april 2008 kkpml jmlhn mikj  kqhjq j lpm m mk li imhqpk
company statement of changes in equity
for the year ended 30 april 2008
financial statements
company statement of changes in equity 86
anite plc
annual report and accounts 2008 2008 2007
total total
note £000 £000
operating activities
proﬁtloss for the year jqkqj 715
adjustments for
income tax expense lqj 622
dividend income from subsidiary undertakings ihhhh –
sharebased payment expense ijin 848
finance charges i nmq 1462
depreciation of property plant and equipment 3 j qh 191
amortisation of intangibles assets 2 kp 109
reversal of investment impairment 4 j h q ol  –
exchange differences arising on translation of amount due to subsidiary undertakings lmpk –
impairment of amount due from subsidiary undertakings lnql –
decrease in provisions – 75
operating cash ﬂows before movements in working capital j khh 1576
decreaseincrease in receivables pl 25
decreaseincrease in payables jlo 310
cash used in operations j lnk 1291
interest received from subsidiary undertakings lni 1191
interest received ikhp 753
income taxes paid i imp 1958
net cash used in operating activities i pmj 1305
cash ﬂow from investing activities
purchase of property plant and equipment jjq 223
purchase of software licences iij 46
dividend received from subsidiary undertakings ihhhh –
net cash generated fromused in investing activities qnmq 269
cash ﬂow from ﬁnancing activities
issue of ordinary share capital mmi 932
share buyback for cancellation o lqo 613
purchase of own shares into treasury lkkk 304
dividend paid to company’s shareholders kohq 1753
redemption of vendor loan note instruments – 478
movement in amount due tofrom group undertakings
1
iqmn k 337
net cash generated fromused in ﬁnancial activities lmom 1879
net increasedecrease in cash and cash equivalents ijkpj 3453
cash and cash equivalents at 1 may iopko 21290
cash and cash equivalents at 30 april 8 kh ji q 17837
1 movement in amount due tofrom group undertakings is primarily due to cash transfers and group relief receipts from subsidiary undertakings
financial statements
company cash flow statement 87
anite plc
annual report and accounts 2008
company cash flow statement
for the year ended 30 april 2008 1 basis of preparation and accounting policies
a basis of preparation
anite plc has presented separate ﬁnancial statements in accordance with international financial reporting standards ifrs as permitted
by the companies act 1985
the company has taken the exemption from section 2304 of the companies act 1985from preparing the income statement and related
notes when the group’s consolidated income statement has been presented
b accounting policies
the accounting policies as set out below and in note 1to the group ﬁnancial statements have been applied in the preparation of these
company’s ﬁnancial statements
i investments
investments held are stated at cost less any provision for impairment
c restatement – prior year adjustment
the company has implemented the generally accepted accounting principle for accounting for sharebased payments with its subsidiary
undertakings under ifrs 2 whereby the company has granted the rights of its shares to the employees of its subsidiary undertakings under
an equitysettled arrangement and the subsidiaries have not reimbursed to the company for these rights under this arrangement the
company should treat the sharebased payment recognised in the subsidiary’s accounts as a cost of investment in the subsidiary and credit
equity with an amount equal to the sharebased payments recognised by these subsidiaries in their accounts as a result the company has
recognised cost of investment note 4 equal to the sharebased payments for 2007 £978000 and 2008 £10810 00 and credited equity
with the same amount see the statement of changes in equity the cost for 2007 was treated as a prior year adjustment as a result of
reﬂecting the effects in the change in the policy
2 othe r intangible assets
software licences
£000
cost
at 1 may 2006 262
additions 46
transfers to subsidiary undertakings 123
at 30 april 2007 185
additions 112
transfers to subsidiary undertakings 104
at 30 april 2008 i qk
amortisation
at 1 may 2006 51
amortisation 109
transfers to subsidiary undertakings 65
at 30 april 2007 95
amortisation 38
transfers to subsidiary undertakings 51
at 30 april 2008 pj
net book value at 30 april 2008 iii
net book value at 30 april 2007 90
notes to the company accounts
financial statements
notes to the company accounts 88
anite plc
annual report and accounts 2008 3 property plant and equip ment
plant ﬁxtures
equipment and
computers motor vehicles total
£000 £000 £000
cost
at 1 may 2006 723 218 941
additions 167 484 651
transfers from subsidiary undertakings 52 – 52
at 30 april 2007 838 702 1540
additions 210 536 746
at 30 april 2008 ihlp ijkp jjpn
accumulated depreciation and impairment
at 1 may 2006 531 161 692
charge for the year 136 55 191
transfers from subsidiary undertakings 16 – 16
at 30 april 2007 651 216 867
charge for the year 142 148 290
at 30 april 2008 oqk knl iimo
net book value at 30 april 2008 jmm pol iijq
net book value at 30 april 2007 187 486 673
4 inve stments in subsidiaries
2007
2008 restated
£000 £000
cost
at 1 may jhmo pi 205204
additions
1
i h pi –
transfers fromto subsidiary undertakings klnqn 401
at 30 april jl immp 204803
prior year adjustment
1
– 978
at 30 april as restated jl immp 205781
provisions for impairment
at 1 may qiqmm 91955
reversal of impairment
2
j h q ol  –
at 30 april ohqpi 91955
net book value iohmoo 113826
1 this relates to capital contribution made by the company to its subsidiaries that is equal to the sharebased payments recognised by these subsidiaries in their accounts
see note 1c – prior year adjustment for more details on the change in the policy under ifrs 2
2 the reversal of impairment of investment in educational measurement ltd following management review of the investment impairment carried out at year end
financial statements
notes to the company accounts 89
anite plc
annual report and accounts 2008 5 deferred tax assets
accelerated short term advance
tax sharebased timing tax corporation
depreciation payments differences losses tax total
£000 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000
at 1 may 2006 37 289 3– – 329
credit to income statement for the year 20 253 –2 473 748
transfer to current tax –– –– 473 473
credit to equity for the year – 349 –– – 349
at 30 april 2007 57 891 32 – 953
creditcharge to income statement for the year 7 369 3 2 – 371
charge to equity for the year – 767 –– – 767
at 30 april 2008 nl lq k –– – m mo
there are no deferred liabilities that have been offset as permitted by ias 12
6 trade and other receiv ables
2008 2007
£000 £000
amounts falling due within one year
trade receivables il h 29
other receivables jmh 273
prepayments nh i 773
q qi 1075
the directors consider that the carrying amount of trade and other receivables approximates their fair value
the trade receivables do not include any advances or retentions at 30 april 2008 and april 2007
7 amounts owed byto group undertakings
the directors consider that the carrying amount of amounts owed by and to group undertakings approximates their fair value
the provision for impairment of amounts owed by group undertakings was £124m 2007 £42m
notes to the company accounts continued
financial statements
notes to the company accounts 90
anite plc
annual report and accounts 2008 8 cash and cash equiv alents
2008 2007
£000 £000
cash at bank and in hand jiolp 9438
term and overnight bank deposits ploi 8399
kh ji q 17837
cash at bank and in hand was invested on a ﬂoating rate basis and was therefore subject to cash ﬂow interest risk the company has the
legal right of set off for certain of its overdraft and cash balances under a master netting arrangement within its banking facilities
term and overnight bank deposits comprise money market deposits which attract interest rates based on libor or equivalent market rates
ﬁxed for periods of up to three months the directors consider that the carrying amounts of cash and cash equivalents approximate to their
fair values
for the purposes of the cash ﬂow statement cash and cash equivalents comprise the above amounts
the carrying value of the company’s cash and cash equivalents and overdrafts are denominated in the following currencies
2008 2007
£000 £000
euro ihjnl 3222
sterling iqqmm 14615
kh ji q 17837
9 trade and oth er payables
2008 2007
£000 £000
trade creditors nhl 958
other taxes and social security jmo 234
other creditors pp 103
accruals jloh 2354
kliq 3649
trade and other payables principally comprise trade purchases and other operating costs
the directors consider that the carrying amount of trade payables approximates to their fair value
10 provision s
property provision
£000
at 1 may 2007 500
established during the year 500
at 30 april 2008 ihhh
the provision is in respect of dilapidation obligations under an operating property lease and disclosed under “noncurrent liabilities” in the
balance sheet
financial statements
notes to the company accounts 91
anite plc
annual report and accounts 2008 11 sha re capital
the movements on share capital are disclosed in note 26 to the consolidated ﬁnancial statements
12 sh arebased payments
the company operates several share option plans including saye and other sharebased schemes the terms are disclosed in note 7 to the
group ﬁnancial statements
details of the share options outstanding during the year are as follows
2008 2008 2007 2007
saye other sharebased saye other sharebased
weighted weighted weighted weighted
average average average average
number exercise number exercise number exercise number exercise
of share price of share price of share price of share price
options pence options pence options pence options pence
outstanding at 1 may ihl qli khp o qnoj kj ji p 123425 35p 5659829 22p
granted during the year –– lkopm o o – –– 2325827 15p
exercised during the year n pmmn  jkp inqh  – 21933 37p 18424 30p
lapsed during the year –– i hhm oo  iop 3449 46p ––
outstanding at 30 april knkp m lnp ijj lkm lj qp 104941 30p 7967232 21p
exercisable at 30 april – j plpkm l ––
weighted average remaining
contractual life years i k mp 24 84
exercise price j kplnp hhp on mp 23p46p 00p753p
the weighted average fair value of share options granted in the year was 283p 2007 739p per share
saye other sharebased
weighted weighted
outstanding average weighted outstanding average weighted
shares remaining average shares remaining average
at 30 april contractual exercise at 30 april contractual exercise
2008 life price 2008 life price
exercise price range
0p –– – op qnpon mj –
1p – 40p –– jkp ihknkio mi klp
41p – 806p knk pm ik lnp kkihklq ol j qp
kn kpm i k kh p ij jl km lj m p q p
the fair values for the above options were calculated using the blackscholes and stochastic option pricing models the inputs into these
models are disclosed in note 7 to the group ﬁnancial statements
the company recognised total expenses of £12160002007 £848000 related to equitysettled sharebased payment transactions
during the year
notes to the company accounts continued
financial statements
notes to the company accounts 92
anite plc
annual report and accounts 2008 13 commitments
i capital commitments
there were no capital commitments at 30 april 2008 and 2007
ii operating lease arrangements
2008 2007
£000 £000
lease payments under operating leases recognised as an expense in the year qoj 1106
the company has total outstanding commitments under noncancellable operating leases which fall due as follows
land and buildings
2008 2007
£000 £000
leases expiring in one year poj 872
leases expiring in two to ﬁve years inclusive khnl 3489
leases expiring after ﬁve years – 449
kq kn 4810
14 contingent liabilities
the company has contingent liabilities which have not been provided for in the accounts in respect of performance guarantees given by the
company in respect of subsidiary contracts with third parties the nature of these performance guarantees is such that they would only come
into effect in the case of a major default of a subsidiary in performing these contracts it is not practical to estimate the amount of the liability
anite plc is a guarantor of the overdraft and syndicated facilities of the group totalling £95m 2007 £100m of which £45m 2007 £50m was
drawn down at 30 april 2008 details of the borrowings are set out in note 19on page 71
15 related party transactions
a subsidiaries
the company has outstanding balances with its whollyowned subsidiaries the amounts owed by and owed to subsidiaries are disclosed in
the balance sheet these loans are unsecured and interest is calculated based on market rates
during the year the company entered into the following transactions with its subsidiaries
2008 2007
£000 £000
management fees receivable lhnl 3983
interest receivable knj 500
other costs recharged fromto subsidiaries knji 987
net cash transfersintercompany settlement to subsidiaries lhmkl 5332
b key management personnel
the key management personnel are deemed to be the members of the board of directors of the company which has responsibility for planning
directing and controlling the activities of the company transactions with key management personnel are disclosed in the directors’ report
additional information
information for shareholders 93
anite plc
annual report and accounts 2008 16 staff costs
the average number of persons employed including executive directors was as follows
2008 2007
number number
europe – united kingdom ko 40
the amount charged in arriving at the operating proﬁt for the year in respect of all employees was as follows
2008 2007
£000 £000
wages and salaries j oq n 3300
social security costs lj l 553
sharebased payments i ji n 848
other pension costs ioq 169
ln im 4870
17 financial risk management
a capital risk management
the company manages its capital structure to ensure it is operating as a going concern and maximising the returns of the shareholders
through the optimisation of its equity balance
the company’s capital structure is as follows
2008 2007
£000 £000
cash and cash equivalents kh ji q 17837
amounts owed to group undertakings pjjoq 52945
total equity imhqpk 135049
capital employed jhkhlk 170157
b signiﬁcant accounting policies
details of the signiﬁcant accounting policies and methods adopted the basis of measurement and the basis on which income and expenses
are recognised in respect of each class of ﬁnancial asset liability and equity are disclosed in note 1to the group accounts
c categories of ﬁnancial instruments
the following assets and liabilities at carrying values meet the deﬁnition of ﬁnancial instruments and are classiﬁed according to the
following categories
2008 2007
note £000 £000
loans and receivables
cash and cash equivalents 8 kh j iq 17837
trade receivables 6 i lh 29
amounts owed by group undertakings lhmih 59222
financial assets ohpnq 77088
amortised cost
trade payables 9 n hl 958
amounts owed to group undertakings pjjoq 52945
financial liabilities pjppk 53903
notes to the company accounts continued
financial statements
notes to the company accounts 94
anite plc
annual report and accounts 2008 17 financial risk management continued
d financial risk management
the company’s ﬁnancial assets and liabilities mainly comprise cash and liquid resources and various items such as trade receivables
and payables that arise directly from its operations
the main risks arising from the company’s ﬁnancial instruments are market risk primarily exposure to changes in the interest rate and
foreign currency risks liquidity risk and credit risk the board reviews and agrees policies for managing each of these risks which are
summarised below
e market risk – interest rate
the group ﬁnances its operations and acquisitions through a mixture of reserves bank borrowings and new equity and this policy is
reviewed from time to time the group borrows in the desired currencies at ﬂoating rates of interest and manages the interest rate risk
by selectively using interest rate swaps and caps any surplus cash is converted into sterling and is invested in shortterm money market
and bank deposits at the prevailing rates of interest in order to achieve the market rate of return
the ﬁnancial assets and liabilities that are interestbearing and expose the company to interest rate risk are as follows
i cash and cash equivalents note 8 the weighted average ﬂoating interest rate for these ﬁnancial assets which were based on the
sterling libor or equivalent market rates ﬁxed for periods up to three months was 55 2007 49 the euro interest rate was 41
2007 33
ii interest bearing intercompany debtors and creditors the weighted average of these interest rates net are 6 2007 5 these rates
are linked to libor plus margin the margin is 085 as stipulated in the loan agreement
interest rate sensitivity analysis
the sensitivity analyses below have been determined based on the exposure to interest rates for both ﬁnancial assets and liabilities
both including derivative instruments as listed above at balance sheet date
the table below demonstrates the sensitivity to a 1 change in interest rates with all other variables held constant applied to the major
currencies of net variable rate assetsliabilities 1 is the sensitivity rate represents management’s assessment of the reasonably possibly
change in interest rates
£denominated eurodenominated
2008 2007 2008 2007
£000 £000 £000 £000
cash and cash equivalents iqqm m 14614 ihjnl 3223
amount due byto group undertakings imjo 33112 lkjqn 26835
net variable rate assetsliabilities ji lpj 47726 kkhkj 23612
£ interest rate euro interest rate
2008 2007 2008 2007
£000 £000 £000 £000
proﬁt before tax – gainloss
1 change in interest rate j im 477 kkh 236
1 change in interest rate jim 477 kkh 236
the fair value of ﬁnancial assets and liabilities is not materially different from the book value recorded at 30 april 2008 and 2007
financial statements
notes to the company accounts 95
anite plc
annual report and accounts 2008 17 financial risk management continued
f market risk – foreign currency
foreign currency sensitivity analysis
the table below shows the company’s currency exposures in the proﬁt and loss account arising from the monetary assets and monetary
liabilities of the company that are not denominated in sterling its functional currency the sensitivity analyses below is based on a 10
appreciationdepreciation of euro against sterling applied to the net monetary assets or liabilities denominated in this currency at reporting
date the sensitivity analysis includes amounts owed by the group undertakings
eurodenominated
2008 2007
£000 £000
monetary assets ihjnl 3233
monetary liabilities lkjqn 26835
net monetary liabilities kkhk j 23602
euro currency
2008 2007
£000 £000
proﬁt before tax – gainloss
10 depreciation khh k 2146
10 appreciation kn oh 2622
in management’s opinion the sensitivity analysis is based on the monetary assets and liabilities at reporting date and it therefore does not
fully reﬂect the exposure during the year a eurodenominated cash amount of €122m£96m was transferred from a subsidiary at 30 april
2008 which results in a higher euro cash balance
g other price risks
the group is not exposed to other price risks apart from interest rate and foreign exchange risk
h credit risk
credit risk refers to the risk that a counterparty will default on its contractual obligations resulting in a ﬁnancial loss to the group
the group’s maximum exposure to credit risk are as follows
2008 2007
note £000 £000
cash and cash equivalents 8 kh j iq 17837
trade receivables 6 i lh 29
amounts owed by group undertakings lhmih 59222
o h pnq 77088
the credit risk on cash and cash equivalents is limited because the counterparties to these assets are highly rated ﬁnancial institutions
the trade receivables are amounts recoverable from the suppliers since the year end £100000 was recovered
the amounts presented in the table above are net of allowances for doubtful recoverability and foreseeable losses
the table below shows the movements in the provision for impairment of amounts owed by group undertakings
amounts owed by
group undertakings
2008 2007
£000 £000
at 1 may ljjh 4114
charge for the year ikkki 663
release in the year mhqp 557
at 30 april ijlmk 4220
notes to the company accounts continued
financial statements
notes to the company accounts 96
anite plc
annual report and accounts 2008 17 financial risk management continued
h credit risk continued
the ageing of the individually impaired amounts owed by group undertakings is as follows
amounts owed by
group undertakings
2008 2007
£000 £000
less than one month overdue phqp –
more than three months overdue lkmm 4220
ij lm k 4220
ageing of trade receivables and amounts owed by group undertakings excluding those that have been impaired
amounts owed by
trade receivables group undertakings
2008 2007 2008 2007
£000 £000 £000 £000
neither past due nor impaired i lh 29 iiimh 3220
past due but not impaired
less than one month overdue – – kk 67
one to two months overdue – – – 313
two to three months overdue – – nhl 1331
more than three months overdue – – jqqki 54291
– – jqkn h 56002
balance at 30 april i lh 29 lhmih 59222
the credit quality of those debts owed by group undertakings that are past due but not impaired has been assessed at the reporting date
and has not signiﬁcantly changed there is no reason why these amounts will not be recovered in due course
j liquidity risk
the company’s objective is to maintain a balance and continuity of funding and ﬂexibility through the use of bank overdrafts and bank
syndicated facilities working capital requirements are mainly funded through dividend income from its subsidiary undertakings
the group’s uk overdraft facility was renewed during the year and agreed at £10m net the amount drawn down under these facilities
at 30 april 2008 and 2007 was £nil
the company is a guarantor of anite plc’s overdraft and syndicated revolving credit facilities of £95m 2007 £100m of which £50m
2007 £50m was undrawn at 30 april 2008 the company is also a party to an unlimited omnibus setoff arrangement to secure
the liability of the company and certain group companies with lloyds tsb bank plc
maturity proﬁle
the table below summarises the maturity proﬁle of the group’s undiscounted cash ﬂows of the ﬁnancial liabilities which approximate their
fair value and the earliest date on which the group is required to pay
less than one year
2008 2007
£000 £000
trade payables nhl 958
amounts owed to group undertakings pjjoq 52945
pj ppk 53903
financial statements
notes to the company accounts 97
anite plc
annual report and accounts 2008 anite plc
head ofﬁce
353 buckingham avenue
slough
berkshire sl1 4pf uk
t 44 0 17 53 804000
f 44 0 1753 804497
wwwanitecom
anite wireless
head ofﬁce
ancells business park
har vest crescent
fleet
ham pshire gu512uz uk
t 44 0 1252 775200
f 44 0 12 52 77529 9
e telecomsanitecom
wwwanitecomtelecoms
finland
nemo head ofﬁce anite finland ltd
sepänkatu 20
fi90100
oulu finland
t 358 50 395 7700
f 358 8 5516182
usa
anite telecoms inc
1900 e golf road
centennial center
suite m50
schaumburg il 60173 usa
t 1847 273 3800
f 1847 437 9207
anite telecoms inc
740 scranton road
centerwest plaza
suite 320
san diego ca 921 21usa
t 1858 587 6620
f 1858 587 6625
anite telecoms inc
6225 n state h way 16 1
suite 425
irving texas 75038 usa
t 1469 9519106
f 1972 929 9898
japan
anite telecoms kk
22nd floor 161 kamiookanishi
konanku yokohamashi
kanagawa 2330002 japan
t 8145 849 21 61
f 8145 849 21 65
china
anite telecoms ltd
beijing representative ofﬁce
room 1206 block c
central international trade centre
6a jianguomenwai avenue
chaoyang district
beijing 100022 china
t 86 10 6563 0200
f 86 10 6563 0201
china
anite telecoms ltd
shanghai representative ofﬁce
room 2812 28th floor
shanghai information tower
21 1century avenue pudong new area
shanghai p r china 200120
t 86 215877 8200
f 86 215877 8203
anite wireless trading beijing ltd
room 0506 floor 22
exchange building
no 118 jian guo lu yi
chaoyang district
beijing 100022 p r china
t 86 136 0128 7369
f 86 10 6567 8521
taiwan
anite telecoms ltd
room 1704 17 fl no333 sec 1
jilong road xi nyi district
taipei 110 taiwan
t 886 0 2 2722 6890
f 886 0 2 2722 6896
south korea
anite telecoms korea ltd
272 yoidodong
youngdeungpoku
seoul 150742 south korea
t 82 2 3775 3661
f 82 2 3775 3662
singapore
anite singapore pte ltd
101thomson road
2005 united square
singapore 307591
t 65 6254 9003
f 65 6254 9885
india
anite telecoms india pvt ltd
220 7 “sai shakti” 2nd floor
80 feet road kodihalli
indiranagar
bangalore 560 008 india
t 9180 4031 1800
f 9180 4031 1810
dubai
anite finland ltd
dafza
po box 293832
dubai united arab emirates
t 9715045 16393
group directory
additional information
group directory 98
anite plc
annual report and accounts 2008 anite public sector
head ofﬁce
353 buckingham avenue
slough
berkshire sl1 4pf uk
t 44 0 1753 804000
f 44 0 1753 735735
e publicsectoranitecom
wwwanitecompublicsector
milton keynes
2 pitﬁeld
kiln farm
milton keynes
bucks mk113lw uk
t 44 0 1908 264500
e 44 0 1908 264501
eaton socon
unit 4 eaton court
colmworth business park
eaton socon
cambridgeshire pe19 8yh uk
t 44 0 1480 222470
f 44 0 870 777 1104
glasgow
3rd floor
163 west george street
glasgow g2 2jj uk
t 44 0 141 248 9611
f 44 0 141 248 9677
manchester
212washway road
sale
manchester m33 6rn uk
t 44 0 161 972 2600
f 44 0 161 972 2623
manchester
the granary
50 barton road
worsley
manchester m28 2eb uk
t 44 0 161 7270200
f 44 0 161 794 6745
hemel hempstead
maxted road
he mel hemps tead
he rtfordshire hp2 7dz uk
t 44 0 1753 804000
f 44 0 1442 884356
anite travel
head ofﬁce
353 buckingham avenue
slough
berkshire sl1 4pf uk
t 44 0 1753 804000
f 44 0 1753 735735
e travelanitecom
wwwanitecomtravel
burgess hill
innovation drive
burgess h ill
west sussex rh15 9tw uk
t 44 0 1753 804000
f 44 0 1753 804075
australia
anite travel systems pty ltd
2 ridge street
north sydney
nsw 2060 australia
t 61 0 2 9293 1351
f 61 0 2 9293 4499
germany
industriestrasse 61
sürth rodenkirchen
50999 cologne germany
t 49 0 223 6888770
anite managed services
head ofﬁce
353 buckingham avenue
slough
berkshire sl14pf uk
t 44 0 1753 804000
f 44 0 1753 735735
e managedservicesanitecom
wwwanitecommanagedservices
anite secure information
solutions
head ofﬁce
353 buckingham avenue
slough
berkshire sl14pf uk
t 44 0 1753 804000
f 44 0 1753 735735
e sisanitecom
wwwanitecomsis
eaton socon
unit 4 eaton court
colmworth business park
eaton socon
cambridgeshire pe19 8yh  uk
t 44 0 1480 222470
f 44 0 870 777 1104
glasgow
3rd floor
163 west george street
glasgow g2 2jj uk
t 44 0 141 248 9611
f 44 0 141 248 9677
manchester
21 2 washway road
sale
manchester m33 6rn uk
t 44 0 161 972 2600
f 44 0 161 972 2623
additional information
group directory 99
anite plc
annual report and accounts 2008 registered ofﬁce
353 buckingham avenue
slough
berkshire sl1 4pf uk
t 44 0 17 53 804000
f 44 0 1753 804497
wwwanitecom
registered number
anite plc’s registered number is 1798114
shareholder enquiries
equiniti limited maintain the company’s register of members if any of your details change or if you have any queries regarding your
shareholding please contact the registrars at
equiniti limited
aspect hou se
spencer road
lancing
west sussex bn99 6da uk
t 0871384 21 81 international 44 121415 7047
f 0871384 21 00 international 44 12 14157057
textphone for shareholders with hearing difﬁculties 0871384 2255 international 44 121415 7028
equiniti also offer a range of shareholder information on line at wwwshareviewcouk
share dealing service
shareview dealing a telephone and internet share dealing service is provided through equiniti and is a convenient way to sell your anite plc
shares or add to your holding commission is 15of the value of the transaction on the ﬁrst £50000 with a minimum charge of £25 and
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800am and 430pm monday to friday and for internet dealing log on to wwwshareviewcoukdealing you will need your shareholder
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a single company isa is now available to anite plc shareholders through equiniti for further details or to obtain a brochure please contact
the isa helpline on 0871384 2244 international 44 121415 7171
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if you have received two or more copies of this document it may be because there is more than one account in your name on the
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into one account please write to equiniti at the above address
sharegift
sharegift is a charity share donation scheme for shareholders administered by the orr mackintosh foundation it is especially for those who
may wish to dispose of a small parcel of shares the value of which makes it uneconomic to sell on a commission basis further information
can be obtained at wwwsharegiftorg or from equiniti
financial calendar
annual general meeting 11september 2008
ha lfyear end 31october 2008
preliminary announcement of halfyear 200809 results december 2008
financial year end 30 april 2009
preliminary announcement of 200809 results july 2009
dividend payment timetable
announcement 18july 2008
declared at annual general meeting 11september 2008
exdividend date 17september 2008
record date 19september 2008
payment date 20 october 2008
information for shareholders
additional information
information for shareholders 100
anite plc
annual report and accounts 2008 designed and produced by
85
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353 buckingham avenue
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f 44 0 1753 804497
wwwanitecom


Summary:
 chief executive’s review
review
chief executive’s review 6
anite plc
annual report and accounts 2008
our determination to transform anite into
a softwarebased company is unchanged –
technology is and will continue to be
at the heart of efficient business and our
ambition is and will continue to be to make
anite the leading supplier of industryspecific
it solutions in our chosen markets
we made further progress during the year in our strategy of
transforming anite into a softwarebased company which is the leading
supplier of industryspeciﬁc it solutions in its chosen markets
this progress was made despite a disappointing performance in
wireless handset testing business
on the positive side however our network testing business nemo
performed strongly and in november 2007 our handset testing
business entered into a strategic partnership with agilent technologies
to deliver marketleading test solutions for the new lte 4g
standard this will result in the launch of a new lte hardware
platform later this year
the travel division performed extremely well and in the public
sector division pericles is now proﬁtable and acknowledged to be
a functional revenue and beneﬁts system
on the minus side the weakness in handset testing which we
highlighted at the half year has continued handset testing is
a cyclical business and after several years of strong growth the
market is currently in a natural lull created by the transition from
3g to 4g technology that has coincided with a general dip in the
market particularly in the united states although the severity
of the downturn was greater than we had initially anticipated
as a result we undertook a restructuring of the business including
senior management changes created ﬁve marketfacing business
units increased use of offshore development facilities and imposed
rigorous cost controls
i am however conﬁdent that the reduction in revenue and
operating proﬁt resulting from the weakness in the handset
testing market is temporary and that our strategy is sound
our determination to transform anite into a softwarebased
company is unchanged – technology is and will continue to be at the
heart of efﬁcient business and our ambition is and will continue to
be to make anite the leading supplier of industryspeciﬁc it
solutions in our chosen markets
strategic objectives
the longerterm strategic objectives which i set out in our 2007
annual report are also unchanged
our commitment to putting wireless at the heart of our business
continues to be our main strategy while development and growth
in that business has for the time being changed pace a little the
market is still growing and has great potential in readiness for 4g
the wireless division is currently focusing the majority of its
investment on the rd phase to enable it to meet the requirements
of what is expected to be the dominant 4g standard lte long
term evolution in conjunction with this we have signed
agreements with the early developers of lte and to date have
four collaborative arrangements in place including those with
nxp semiconductors nxp and lg electronics lg which will
strengthen the development of our new lte products meanwhile
our network testing business continues to beneﬁt from operators’
technical upgrades and a broader geographic spread
clearly we will continue to drive organic growth in all our operations
to focus on increasing our revenue and earnings improving margins
and maintaining strong operational cash ﬂow as part of our dedication
to achieving that we are becoming more of a global business
while operating in other economies brings some challenges – such
as ﬂuctuations in exchange rates – which affect our business and
which are outside our control they are outweighed by the tremendous
opportunities that being an international business creates
the success of our more recent acquisitions nemo and invenova
encourages us to continue to look for businesses in our core markets
– particularly in network testing – which will enable us to increase
our geographic presence as well as adding to the range of products
and technology we offer fixedline operators are adopting
wimax technology to give users of
laptops easier access to highspeed
broadband wimax complements the
services provided by mobile operators
and existing wireless networks and
eliminates the need to ﬁnd a hotspot
review
chief executive’s review 7
anite plc
annual report and accounts 2008
strategic progress
during the past year we sharpened our focus on the transformation
of our business into a softwarebased company when we disposed
of two noncore businesses began to reap beneﬁts from the two
businesses we had bought in the second half of the previous
ﬁnancial year and signed a collaboration agreement with agilent
technologies which enabled us to cease development of our own
hardware platform nevis
disposals in july 2007 we sold the last of our european it services
businesses anite deutschland for £8m and in february 2008 a
small finnish business anite travel systems carus for £1m
acquisitions invenova a smaller business acquired in january 2007
brought wimax testing into the group now fully integrated into
the wireless division it has given us a foothold in the wireless
broadband test systems market and enabled us to add many of the
major wimax developers to our customer base
nemo which we acquired in november 2006 and which added
network testing to our wireless business is also helping to increase
our geographic presence – its biggest potential growth areas are
asia particularly india the middle east where we opened an ofﬁce
in dubai in august 2007 latin america the cis countries and
africa nemo tools enable network operators to check the quality
of their networks regularly to verify coverage and to deal with
problems such as dropped calls and poor voice quality they also
enable the effectiveness of new services such as video streaming
to be tested and measured
our markets
anite operates in three clearlydeﬁned markets wireless travel
and public sector
wireless anite provides specialist systems and software which
enable manufacturers of mobile phones and network equipment to
bring their new products to market quickly wimax providers to test
their coverage and service providers to optimise their networks
handset testing works in three stages our software enables
manufacturers ﬁrst to test the viability of new products second
to test products’ conformance – to prove that they meet the
rigorous standards set by the network operators and industry
regulators and third to test their interoperability – their ability to
communicate with other devices and networks our partnership
with agilent technologies gives us the ability to supply customers
with a scalable platform to test all three stages rather than having
to use a variety of different hardware platforms to do the same job
the wireless business is driven by innovation new technology
the proliferation of new types of handset and new devices
the next generation 4g lte will offer huge beneﬁts to consumers
by providing highspeed access to data and a true mobile
broadband experience it will offer equally big beneﬁts to operators
by enabling them to make more efﬁcient use of the spectrum –
and bring new and existing services to consumers more rapidly
several of the leading operators have already committed to lte and
have asked to see engineering samples by the end of 2008 in the
early days of a new technology such as lte developers of user
equipment need to work with a test solution partner to verify their
designs this collaboration involves alignment of standards
advanced test tools and the provision of early test capability in
effect through these relationships anite is pioneering the eco
system needed to make lte happen we have already signed up four
agreements with leading operatorsequipment manufacturers as
collaboration partners – including nxp and lg to help us to develop
our lte test solutions in conjunction with agilent technologies
we expect our wimax business to grow as ﬁxedline operators
adopt the technology to enable them to offer subscribers easier
access to highspeed broadband on laptops – rather than having
to rely on hotspots – thereby complementing the services provided
by mobile operators and existing wireless networks the world’s
leading chip maker intel is now integrating wimax capability
into many of its products review
chief executive’s review 8
anite plc
annual report and accounts 2008
our network testing business provides measurement tools that
enable network operators to verify the initial radio plan and network
coverage during rollout to troubleshoot problem areas including
dropped calls poor voice quality and indoor coverage during
operation and to test the effect of new services such as video
streaming on existing networks investment in rd is therefore
essential to ensure that it is ﬁrsttomarket with the latest
technologies as a leading vendor of testdrive solutions we have
global agreements in place with several large mobile operators
and network vendors a focus on aftersales support through
49 local distributors on three continents makes our testdrive
solutions product a compelling choice in the market
travel anite is a leading provider of travel technology solutions for
tour operators low cost airlines and ferry and holiday park operators
in the uk and europe customers can choose to license our
products manage the system themselves or – as many do – take
advantage of our transaction fee based service where we provide
hosting and 24x7 system availability from our secure data centre
in last year’s annual report we said we had increased our
investment in our comres reservation system a browserbased
solution comres combines content management reservations
and customer relationship management for internet bookings call
centre reservations and fastsearch facilities in addition we have
successfully developed the capabilities of comres to offer further
applications such as supplier connectivity and procurement
facilities which form part of our com ebusiness suite
during this ﬁnancial year our belief in the value of the system has
been justiﬁed at the beginning of april 2008 comres went live at
tui ag the largest tour operator in germany on time and on
budget – completing the ﬁrst phase of this project anite’s software
enables tui ag to manage bookings through more than 9400 retail
outlets to 180 destinations throughout the world once all the tui
ag brands are live comres will manage several million passengers
per year
superbreak mini holidays is one of the latest customers to adopt
comres with more than 1million bookings a year superbreak is
the market leader in the provision of uk and european short breaks
the implementation of comres will enable this specialist tour
operator to run its operations on new technology providing a more
ﬂexible solution to offer improved marketing services to its
customers and sell holidays faster and more effectively
the consolidation in the uk travel market conﬁrms the wisdom of
us looking to expand internationally and we have already opened an
ofﬁce in cologne germany to aid us in that endeavour we focus on
providing excellent service to our customers maintaining
relationships with them and delivering solutions which meet their
needs we are now marketing comres and the com ebusiness
suite which are constantly developing together with the services
we offer to this market
superbreak mini holidays the market leader in uk
and european short breaks has recently adopted our
comres reservation system to enable them to sell
holidays more effectively
chief executive’s review
we entered into a strategic
partnership with agilent technologies
in november 2007  as a result
a new lte hardware platform will be
launched later this year review
chief executive’s review 9
anite plc
annual report and accounts 2008
public sector
anite is a market leader in software and solutions for local
government including document management social care housing
management and the collection of local taxes and beneﬁts we work
with 70 of local authorities and also supply software and services
to the police and a number of national government departments
through our secure information solutions division sis
local authorities are constantly under pressure to provide better
and better valueformoney services our transformation products
such as document management and mobile working help the public
sector to cut costs by improving efﬁciency and effectiveness our
solutions also help them to make information more accessible and
transparent and to share information with other services where
necessary sis supplies security solutions to all uk police forces in
october 2007 it was awarded a threeyear £36m contract to
support the national automatic number plate recognitions anpr
system which positions anite as a major supplier of national police
information systems
in the past ﬁnancial year we continued our response to the
separation of local government services for adults and children
with the launch of our new adults solution supporting the central
government drive towards personalisation and social care
within public sector the year’s greatest success was the successful
implementation of pericles our browserbased revenues and
beneﬁts solution at 35 local authorities frontline staff and
management are reporting that pericles is streamlining the process
of delivering more coordinated services
in what is generally considered to be a tough market the public
sector division is performing well
looking ahead
in our drive to continue creating longterm shareholder value we
will maintain our focus on investing in growth markets on meeting
customers’ needs and on maximising opportunities from advances
in technology
in our wireless division we will continue to take advantage of
growth in emerging regions and from advances in technology will
maintain our investment in development and focus on increasing
our sales to network operators we believe that the current negative
trends in demand for 2g and 3g systems will continue throughout
the current year we will commence shipments of our 4glte
systems towards the end of 2008 although we do not expect
to see the full beneﬁts come through to the bottom line until
the 20092010 ﬁnancial year we will also continue to look for
acquisitions particularly in the network testing market which
is fragmented and is likely to consolidate
a strong order book indicates that the travel division will continue
to make good progress although the price of fuel and the risk of
recession is of increasing concern to tour operators comres is
making the progress we predicted and we are conﬁdent that it will
build on its initial success we expect the division to increase its
business outside the uk in the coming year particularly in germany
and northern europe
the public sector division is now in good shape it is expected
to continue to improve its overall performance led by our local
government business
taking the seasonality of our wireless business into account the
current year has had a satisfactory start with trading ahead of the
same period last year
steve rowley chief executive
anite’s comres reservation system
enables tui deutschland to manage
bookings through more than 9400
retail outlets to 180 destinations
throughout the world
70 of local authorities use anite’s
software and solutions to collect local
taxes to manage the payment of beneﬁts
and to manage housing and social care
our browserbased revenues and beneﬁts
solution pericles streamlines the process
of delivering coordinated services at 35
local authorities