abcam annual report and accounts 2009
annual report and accounts 
year ended 30 june 2009
a producer and distributor of researchgrade antibodies
wwwabcamplccom
330 cambridge science park
cambridge
cb4 0fl
uk
email corporateabcamcom
phone 44 01223 696000
fax 44 01223 771600 our vision is to build the 
largest online catalogue 
of the best antibodies in 
the world
directors’ report
01 highlights
02 at a glance
04 we source and produce
06 we add value with customer support
08 we distribute internationally
10 another year of continued growth
12 chairman’s review
14 chief executive officer’s review
16 financial review
18 board of directors
20 corporate directory
21 report on affairs of the group
24 corporate governance statement
27 directors’ remuneration report
34 statement of directors’ responsibilities
financials
35 independent auditors’ report
36 consolidated income statement
36 consolidated statement of recognised income and expense
37 consolidated balance sheet
38 company balance sheet
39 consolidated cash flow statement
40 company cash flow statement
40 company statement of recognised income and expense
41 notes to the consolidated financial statements abcam plc   directors’ report 01
revenue
£m
194
06
245
07
366
08
568
09
earnings per share
pence
1117
06
1174
07
1688
08
3483
09
number of products 
published
23200
06
33900
07
44000
08
52400
09
profit before tax
£m
50
06
55
07
80
08
163
09
abcam was established 11 years ago to meet 
the needs of the research scientist for reliable 
validated antibodies for protein detection a 
central function of life science research since 
then we have been dedicated to assisting global 
research through investment in the extension  
of our product catalogue and increased and 
improved validation of our products across an 
expanded range of applications
david cleevely chairman
52400
number of products 
up 19 1
£568m
revenue increased 552
£163m
profit before tax 
increased 105
revenue increased by 552 to £568m and by • 
278 on a constant currency basis
pretax profits increased by 1050 to £163m • 
product range grew by 191 to approximately • 
52400 antibodies and related products
net cash increased by £110m to £255m • 
eps increased by 1063 to 3483p per share • 
proposed final dividend of 940p per share  • 
giving increase of 1162 in total dividend  
for the year to 1211p
successful completion of office moves in the uk • 
and japan to accommodate further growth
highlights annual report and accounts 2009                             abcam plc 
 
02
at a glance
our products
we have an online catalogue of over 52400 antibodies and 
related products such as proteins peptides and kits our 
aim is to provide high quality antibodies against as many 
protein targets as possible and to test each one in as many 
applications and species as we can we believe that 
honesty is the best policy so publish as much information as 
we can about each of our products on our website
our team not only adds new products to our catalogue  
every day but also regularly updates the data for our existing 
products within the year we have also initiated a project 
involving the use of a third party to accelerate the rate of 
characterisation information on products in the catalogue
our distribution
we process orders quickly and accurately and we ship across 
the globe using our fully automated webbased stock 
management system we have invested in stateoftheart 
storage and handling facilities which allow us to operate at 
high levels of efficiency and with low handling costs 
we have made an investment in the year to enable us to ship 
products at subzero temperatures we therefore now have 
the capability to extend our range beyond antibodies to 
products which must remain frozen during transportation
abcam produces and distributes 
researchgrade antibodies and 
related products
 no 1
ranked number 1 for best experience  
in terms of product quality and  
customer service
237
employees
 source the market for antibodies keys to success for commercial 
suppliers vol 3 may 2009 bioinformatics abcam plc   directors’ report 03
our market
the us is abcam’s largest market accounting for over 40 
of revenue in the last year we are focused on gaining market 
share in the most mature and competitive market in the world 
by extending our opening times and continuing to target 
regions where we have lower market penetration 
our european virtual offices allow european customers 
to contact us directly in their own languages which has 
supported an increase of over 25 in revenues derived  
from this region during the year
the contribution from our japanese office has grown 
considerably by over 50 in the year however the growing 
asian market still represents an underexploited opportunity 
for us we are in the process of opening a sales and 
marketing office in hong kong to serve the local market  
and mainland china and we continue to build our distributor 
network in order to improve our geographic reach
our customers
a cornerstone of abcam’s development has been building 
and retaining a close relationship with our customers  
the recent establishment of our own inhouse customer 
research capability means we are able to build an ever 
closer understanding of the scientific research market
we organise worldclass conferences which serve to create  
a forum for scientists to discuss and present their work often 
leading to groundbreaking discoveries it allows us to stay  
at the cutting edge of research so we can make the most 
relevant new antibodies and also to stay in touch with our 
customers learning how we can best improve our products
 1 7
conferences organised in the year
 7 6
countries we distribute to worldwide
 500000
orders fulfilled since  
our foundation
52400
antibodies and related products  
on the catalogue annual report and accounts 2009                             abcam plc 
 
04
we source and produce abcam plc   directors’ report 05
we strive to offer 
our customers the 
best antibodies in 
the world regardless 
of their source
8400
new products added to the 
catalogue this year
300
partners supplying products
our own laboratory in cambridge uk covers 
over 17500 sq ft providing world leading 
antibody purification and characterisation 
facilities as well as polyclonal antibody 
production we are focusing on targeted 
production of a range of high selling 
monoclonal antibodies
we also source other high quality antibodies 
from over 300 partners including leading 
academic laboratories primary manufacturers 
and other suppliers we achieve this through  
a network of collaborators licensing activities 
and customer suggestions
research areas
we focus our efforts on specific areas of 
research with high market demand and 
dedicate integrated teams to work on 
improving our product portfolio for each  
one each focus area has its own resource 
page on our website an ‘abwire’
cancer •	
cardiovascular •	
chromatin and nuclear signalling •	
immunology •	
neuroscience •	
stem cells •	 annual report and accounts 2009                             abcam plc 
 
06
we add value with customer support abcam plc   directors’ report 07
we add value with customer support
abcam’s customer 
service and 
scientific support 
staff aim to provide 
the best pre and 
postsales support
7 43
orders fulfilled directly from stock
40
phds inhouse providing  
leading edge support
abreviews
we value both positive and negative 
feedback about how our antibodies are 
performing our abreviews
®
 system allows 
customers to share with us their experience 
of our products by making this information 
available on our website we also provide 
other scientists with useful data to help them 
select the bestsuited products for their 
needs before making a purchase we 
believe that the quality of this information 
contributes significantly to the continued 
increase in average sales of products that 
we observe over time
abpromise
our products come with an ‘abpromise’ 
giving customers the reassurance of 
knowing that 
our antibodies are of the highest quality •	
and are backed up by an expert scientific 
support team
they can contact other customers of  •	
the same antibody via our unique 
abreviews
®
 system
if after optimisation any product does •	
not perform as described on the 
datasheet our scientific support team will 
be on hand to provide expert advice and
we will replace or refund any faulty •	
products if reported within 120 days  
of purchase annual report and accounts 2009                             abcam plc 
 
08
we distribute internationally abcam plc   directors’ report 09
we ship across the 
globe using our 
fully automated 
webbased stock 
management 
system
76
countries we distribute  
to worldwide
24
hours delivery for us and europe
we have invested in stateoftheart storage 
and handling facilities which allow us to 
operate at high levels of efficiency and with 
low handling costs we have a global reach 
currently shipping to 76 countries with next 
day delivery for the us and europe for 
instock orders our customers can directly 
access the website to monitor the status of 
their orders so they can plan their 
experiments more effectively 
we distribute our antibodies in insulated 
packaging validated to last 48 hours this 
ensures optimal conditions during transit and 
extends the shelf life of the product in our 
customers’ hands this year we have 
invested in developing the capability to ship 
products in a frozen state on dry ice this 
gives us the opportunity for future product 
portfolio expansion to new products that  
are highly temperature sensitive such as 
active proteins annual report and accounts 2009                             abcam plc 
 
10
another year of continued growth
over the past 11 years abcam has built 
a strong trusted brand associated with 
high quality products and is well 
positioned for further strong growth
aug 2002 – automated 
webbased ordering 
facility
a new automated system was 
developed that allowed abcam’s 
customers to benefit from a faster more 
streamlined order processing system 
abcam was able to increase shipping 
capacity by more than 300 without 
the need for additional manpower
oct 1998 – abcam opens 
for business
from the outset abcam was clear 
about its market proposition it would 
sell the best antibodies in the world 
with the most comprehensive honest 
and uptodate datasheets coupled to 
fast delivery and exemplary customer 
service and technical support 
may 2000 – 10th 
employee hired
oct 2004 – first place in 
deloitte’s fast 50
abcam’s winning ways reached new 
heights after it secured two awards in the 
space of a month appearing in deloitte’s 
regional technology fast 50 league table 
for the third consecutive year abcam 
topped the table on the strength of sales 
that grew 7200 between 1999 and 
2003 less than a month previously 
abcam had for the second year been 
ranked as one of britain’s fastest growing 
technology companies in the sunday 
times microsoft tech track 100 may 2003 – first overseas 
office established
abcam established its first 
permanent foothold outside the uk 
with the opening of an office in 
cambridge massachusetts the 
move reflected the growing 
importance of overseas trade to the 
company and the rapid expansion of 
its international customer base 
apr 2005 – queen’s 
award at first attempt
the queen’s award for enterprise 
has been running since 1966 and is 
widely recognised as the premier 
award for outstanding business 
performance in the uk at its first 
attempt abcam was just one of 135 
companies across the uk to win one 
of these coveted awards the award 
is positive proof of the company’s 
outstanding success as an 
international business abcam plc   directors’ report 11
nov 2005 – ipo 
on aim
abcam’s flotation on the 
aim market of the london 
stock exchange raised 
£10m to fund further 
growth opportunities 
including the expansion  
of our online catalogue 
the broadening of the 
customer base and  
the penetration of new 
geographic markets
jun 2009 – abcam’s 
expansion continues
abcam opened its new global 
headquarters at 330 cambridge 
science park cambridge uk 
providing 25000 sq ft of office 
and storage space double the 
size of the previous building jim 
warwick abcam’s chief 
operating officer commented 
“this move marks another 
important milestone in the 
growth of abcam it represents 
the fourth time that we have 
relocated to bigger premises on 
the science park and underlines 
our optimism for the future”
may 2006 – leading edge 
storage and handling 
facilities
a new storage and retrieval system 
was introduced greatly increasing our 
stock storage density and enabling 
further improvement to the speed and 
reliability of order delivery 
dec 2006 – japan  
office opens
the opening of abcam’s japanese 
office reflects the determination to 
expand in east asia one of the 
fastestgrowing antibody markets in the 
world technical support and customer 
service are top priorities for the office 
supported by marketing and web 
development staff greatly improving the 
quality of the technical support we can 
provide to customers in this region
jul 2007 – new world 
leading antibody 
facility
the facility which is one of the 
world’s most advanced antibody 
production laboratories is 
designed to produce an 
increasing number of products 
enhancing the quality range 
and availability of products 
offered to abcam’s customers 
and maintaining abcam’s 
position as one of the market 
leaders in the provision of 
antibodies and reagents
mar 2009 – 
catalogue grows 
to over 50000 
products
jul 2009 – 
market 
capitalisation 
reaches £250m
jul 2008 – 200th 
employee hired annual report and accounts 2009                             abcam plc 
 
12
david cleevely chairman
it gives me particular 
pleasure to be reporting on 
an outstanding performance 
and the excellent progress 
made during the year 
 
trading has begun well  
in the new financial year 
reflecting the robust  
and defensive nature of  
our markets
we are presenting our results for the 2009 financial year against  
a backdrop of one of the most challenging global economic 
environments for many years it therefore gives me particular 
pleasure to be reporting on an outstanding performance and the 
excellent progress made during the year abcam was established 
11 years ago to meet the needs of the research scientist for reliable 
validated antibodies for protein detection a central function of life 
science research since then we have been dedicated to assisting 
global research through investment in the extension of our product 
catalogue and increased and improved validation of our products 
across an expanded range of applications throughout that time the 
central tenets of our business have been to build an infrastructure 
such that our expansion is controlled and sustainable and critically 
to stay in close communication with our customer base so that we 
can better serve them and anticipate their future requirements
we are proud to have built a global business that is characterised 
by a rapidly increasing demand for its products and a strong 
customer base located across the world we have fulfilled over half 
a million orders since our foundation and have a huge and growing 
volume of information on our antibodies this information much of 
which is available on our website is provided from our own inhouse 
facility from our customers and suppliers and via articles which 
are now running at over 2000 per quarter in independent scientific 
publications our strong customer focus extends into the continued 
development of our ecommerce platform which provides easy 
access to detailed information relating to our products and 
extensive followup technical support all aimed at improving the 
experience of and assisting the researcher 
sales in the year increased by 552 to £568m and we benefited 
significantly from the weakness of sterling which had a positive 
impact on reported sales within that figure underlying sales growth 
at constant currency rates was still very strong at 278 and we 
made significant progress in each of our main markets
our aim is to deliver sustainable growth through continued 
investment in the business this year we have continued to develop 
the website to optimise the user experience and as part of our 
continued focus on being close to the markets and our customers 
we now have our own inhouse customer survey capability which 
will play an important role in guiding new developments 
our north american and japanese offices have both had excellent 
years and grown significantly asia represents an opportunity for us 
which is as yet relatively untapped we are therefore in the process 
of opening a sales and marketing office in hong kong to serve the 
local market and mainland china as with the opening of our 
japanese office in 2006 this will initially be on a small scale as  
we look to develop our market penetration and provide improved 
customer service levels elsewhere our distributor network has 
been further enhanced with the addition of three new distributors 
and we now have coverage over several countries in south america 
as indicated in the announcement accompanying our interim results 
in march we have taken steps to refocus our monoclonal 
manufacturing resource towards more targeted production of a 
narrower range of high selling monoclonal antibodies which we will 
supplement with the selective sourcing of monoclonal antibodies 
from third parties our aim is to leverage our excellent market 
position and knowledge to focus on areas of high demand as we 
chairman’s review abcam plc   directors’ report 13
currently do with our polyclonal production as a consequence  
we are taking an impairment charge of £11m in the year relating  
to assets which are no longer utilised as a result of the decision to 
refocus strategy away from the highervolume production processes 
our customers are the lifeblood of our business and are central  
to its operation i would like to extend thanks to them for their  
continued support to our suppliers who serve us so well and 
to our shareholders
growth at the levels we are reporting requires dedicated and 
capable staff and i am delighted to say that we have continued to 
attract people of the highest calibre at all levels across the business 
we thank them for their continued commitment creativity and 
attention to detail which makes our success possible
dividends
the board’s policy for the past two years has been to distribute  
33 of posttax earnings in light of the continued strong cash flow 
and success of the group the directors are recommending that  
the distribution ratio for this year be increased to 35 an interim 
dividend of 271p per share was paid in april 2009 and the directors 
are therefore recommending a final dividend of 940p per share 
making a total of 1211p for the year an increase of 1162 on that 
paid last year subject to shareholder approval at the annual 
general meeting ‘agm’ in november the final dividend will be 
paid on 27 november 2009 to shareholders on the register on  
6 november 2009
outlook
the potential impact of the global recession on our business is 
difficult to assess but trading has begun well in the new financial 
year the robust and defensive nature of our markets particularly 
from centrally funded research has been well demonstrated during 
the past year nevertheless the current economic circumstances 
demand a degree of caution 
since the company was founded our philosophy has been market 
led focusing on the provision of the best quality products in the 
most relevant and meaningful way for the research scientist this 
requires an integrated approach across all areas of the business 
and guides all that we do our track record demonstrates the 
strength of this philosophy which i am sure will continue to serve  
the company well in the future
i was particularly pleased to welcome mike redmond to the board 
as deputy chairman earlier in the year as i indicated in the 
announcement of his appointment after 11 years it is my intention to 
step down from the board and i will be doing so at the agm in early 
november i am very proud of our achievements the strength of the 
company which has been built and the quality of the staff we have 
been able to attract i am sure that under mike redmond’s guidance 
and leadership as chairman abcam will continue to thrive 
david cleevely freng
chairman
7 september 2009 annual report and accounts 2009                             abcam plc 
 
14
jonathan milner ceo
we continue to validate the 
strength of our business 
model and gain market  
share through our high 
quality highly specified 
antibodies breadth of 
catalogue and high levels  
of service and support
it gives me a huge amount of pleasure to report on another very 
successful year for abcam with sales growth of 552 to £568m 
278 on a constant currency basis we continue to validate the 
strength of our business model and gain market share our high 
quality highly specified antibodies and breadth of catalogue 
continue to attract new customers and the high levels of service and 
support we provide ensure strong levels of customer retention 
it is important that we continue to invest in the business whilst 
delivering profitable growth and as described below we have done 
so again this year profit before tax increased by 1185 from £80m 
to £174m before a £11m charge associated with the restructuring 
at the production facility in the 2009 financial year
sales in north america grew by 236 to 418m £262m as  
we continued to gain market share in the biggest most mature  
and competitive market in the world we are extending our opening 
times in order to improve service levels on the west coast and 
continue to target regions where we have lower market penetration
our virtual office approach to european markets and targeted 
marketing initiatives based out of our cambridge uk office but 
enabling european customers to contact us directly in their own 
languages has continued to be successful and sales to europe grew 
by 277 to €189m £163m 
in japan the transition away from using our original distributor to 
dealing exclusively with subdealers was completed during the year 
this has been a major exercise and means that we are now able to 
be closer to the customer which is a key part of our strategy and 
enables us to trade at improved margins sales in japan grew by 
524 to ¥704m £46m
we enjoyed strong growth in the uk as sales grew by 177 to 
£49m and with the expansion of our distributor network sales in 
the rest of the world grew by 510
included in the rest of the world figure are sales in the hong kong 
and chinese markets which together accounted for 30 of our 
sales this year we believe that we are underrepresented in those 
markets and consequently are in the process of opening a small 
sales and marketing office in hong kong to help capitalise on 
this opportunity
we have increased the number of products in the catalogue by 
191 during the year to approximately 52400 further extending 
our product range new products added during the year contributed 
£27m of sales as information is gathered on these products we 
expect sales to increase over time as is the case with other 
products in the catalogue 
as our market reach grows we continue to attract new suppliers  
of quality products in what is still a relatively fragmented market  
in addition we enjoy the benefit of the product development 
activities of existing suppliers with whom we have more established 
relationships and who continue to introduce new products to us we 
are also looking to expand the breadth of antibodyrelated reagents 
we offer further to which we made an investment during the year to 
enable us to ship products on dry ice this now gives us the 
capability to extend our range to products which unlike antibodies 
must remain frozen during delivery 
we have completed the restructuring of our production facility 
following the switch to more targeted monoclonal production the 
decision to do this was taken because in the view of the board the 
chief executive officer’s review abcam plc   directors’ report 15
a cornerstone of abcam’s development has been building and 
retaining a close relationship with our customers we do this in part 
by categorising the research market using our core focus areas 
which target researchers at the most exciting and cuttingedge 
frontiers of science as part of this strategy we also continue to run 
worldclass conferences where groundbreaking discoveries are 
announced often with abcam products as the enabling technology 
in those discoveries we organised 17 conferences in the year 
including our first in asia the recent establishment of our own 
inhouse customer research capability means we are able to build 
ever closer relationships with the scientific community 
this year has seen an increase in resources applied to our newly 
formed dedicated ecommerce team a particular focus of which 
has been improved and targeted email marketing we have also 
improved response times on the website and are attracting traffic to 
the site at increasing rates 
we look to build our business in a way which is scalable to 
accommodate future growth it is important that as we do this we 
continue to focus on economies of scale in order to optimise the 
return from our activities hence our endtoend internal system 
development which links the public website to our key operating 
systems this year we completed a major move of our head office to 
a new site on the cambridge science park and also moved offices 
in japan following the change in distribution channels both moves 
were undertaken to accommodate further growth and were 
completed on time with minimal disruption
as previously announced david cleevely will be stepping down 
from the board later this year david was instrumental in the 
founding of abcam in 1998 and i would like to express my thanks to 
david for all he has done for the company over that time and the 
support he has provided to me personally he has made a huge 
contribution and without him abcam would not be the great 
company it is today and perhaps would not have existed at all  
we wish him well and are very much looking forward to working  
with mike redmond who will be replacing david as chairman
abcam has a proven business model dedicated staff continuing 
strong underlying growth and significant potential we have created 
a brand that is trusted by our customers through our focus on 
antibodies on product quality and on customer service we intend 
to continue to grow the number of antibodies in our catalogue and 
will consider adding related products to assist researchers in their 
quest to uncover the secrets of the cell these are exciting times for 
abcam which is at the forefront of enabling life science research 
jonathan milner
chief executive officer
7 september 2009
development of the highvolume monoclonal production process 
had the potential to absorb significant financial and management 
resources for an uncertain outcome we will now look to supplement 
supply on a selective basis from third parties to ensure we have 
access to high quality monoclonal antibodies in order to meet 
market demand following the reorganisation our polyclonal 
production activities have benefited from the additional 
development resources made available and are producing at record 
volumes having identified that a key driver of our growth is the 
amount of characterisation data available to scientists on the 
products in our catalogue i am particularly pleased with the 
improvement both in throughput and breadth of applications that the 
characterisation team in our production facility can cover there has 
been a significant increase in the amount of information added in the 
year and we have supplemented this for the first time by bringing a 
third party into our characterisation programme to help increase the 
volume and breadth of tests undertaken  annual report and accounts 2009                             abcam plc 
 
16
jeff lliffe chief financial officer
revenues increased  
by 552 to £568m  
or 278 on a constant 
currency basis 
 
cash flow continues to be 
strong with cash generated 
from operating activities  
of £148m 
 
eps growth of 1063  
to 3483p
revenue
revenue increased in the year by 552 to £568m or 278 on a 
constant currency basis ie if foreign currency exchange rates had 
remained unchanged from 2008 the weighted average exchange 
rates applied to sales in the year were £1  1595 €1160 
¥151880 2008 £1  1993 €1355 ¥218246
gross margin
gross margins reported for the period under review were 658 
compared with 607 for the previous year the weakness of sterling 
has contributed to this rise through an increase in sterlingtranslated 
average unit selling prices whilst a relatively high percentage of the 
cost of sale is us dollar denominated the increase in sterling
translated cost arising from the impact of exchange rate movements 
during the year has been mitigated by the impact of sales of 
products acquired when the sterling exchange rate was stronger 
on a constant currency basis gross margins increased by 21 
through increases in underlying average selling prices the effective 
management of costs and improvement in the margins for products 
sold under product line acquisition agreements
administration and management expenses
administration and management expenses rose from £124m to 
£174m in the year before a nonrecurring impairment charge of 
£11m which is discussed further below the main increases relate to
a 29 increase in average headcount in particular to increase •	
staff resources in the company’s it and customer support areas 
and in pursuit of the company’s core focus area strategies
an increase in profitrelated pay to employees following the •	
substantial increase in profit during the year
an increase in costs associated with the remaking of previously •	
developed products to meet additional and expected demand
additional costs arising from the new leases for the larger •	
premises now occupied in cambridge uk and japan together 
with the costs of those office moves and 
costs arising from the commencement of an initiative involving •	
the use of a third party to accelerate the rate of addition of 
characterisation information on products in the catalogue
the bad debt provision decreased in the year from £059m to 
£031m previously provided net debts of £024m were written off 
against the provision £004m was charged to reserves to reflect 
movements in exchange rates and £008m was credited back to 
profit and loss since a lower provision was required following the 
success in cash collection during the year
impairment of tangible assets
an impairment charge of £11m was taken during the year relating to 
fixed assets associated with the highvolume production processes 
which will not now be used in the business
research and development expenditure
research and development ‘rd’ expenditure relates to the 
development of new polyclonal and monoclonal products rd 
expenditure increased by 273 to £31m reflecting the increased 
investment in these areas whilst the level of expenditure will not 
increase at the rate previously planned following the move away 
from high throughput monoclonal development it will rise in line with 
the introduction of new own manufactured polyclonal antibodies and 
as the new strategy for monoclonal antibody development is pursued
profit
after adding back the impairment charge of £11m in the 2009 
financial year referred to above and the ongoing share based 
financial review abcam plc   directors’ report 17
payments charge operating profit expressed as a percentage of 
sales was 307 2008 207 despite the impact of the additional 
administrative and rd costs outlined above
investment revenue fell in the year despite strong cash generation 
reflecting the much reduced returns in the market on cash deposits
tax
the consolidated tax charge for the year was £40m or 246 of 
profit before tax reflecting the tax credits arising from the increased 
amount of rd undertaken and the increase in the rd tax benefit 
from 50 to 75 of expenditure since august 2008
inventories
the group has strong inventory management systems which operate 
at the individual product level and are aimed at maintaining high stock 
availability for customers whilst minimising the levels of stock held to 
achieve this as a result stock levels have increased slightly less than 
the growth in sales during the course of the year over time the 
company expects the levels of stock to increase relative to sales 
since abcam products developed in house may involve batch sizes 
larger than are required for immediate sale and as more stock is 
built up overseas to enable higher levels of service in local markets
debtors
the strong debtor control processes introduced last year have 
continued to operate effectively and debtor days at the year end were 
320 2008 344 the majority of sales continue to be on credit and 
we would expect some increase in debtor days over time in line with 
practice in local markets as the geographic spread of sales widens
creditors 
current liabilities rose from £47m to £86m this figure includes 
deferred income of £13m 2008 £01m including £10m of the 
cash incentive of £11m received on entering into a new lease for the 
head office 2008 £nil which is to be credited to profit and loss 
over the life of the lease excluding this deferred income trade and 
other payables increased by 331 which is slightly less than the 
rate of increase in overall costs current tax liabilities increased to 
£19m 2008 £04m reflecting the increase in taxable profit during 
the year
cash flow
the group’s cash flow continues to be strong with cash generated 
from operating activities of £148m 2008 £71m including the 
receipt of £11m in cash referred to above which is included in 
deferred income 2008 £nil consequently despite spending £18m 
on property plant and equipment and £03m on acquiring computer 
software and distribution rights the group’s cash and shortterm 
investment balances increased during the year by £110m
accounting standards
this year is the first following the adoption of ifric 13 customer 
loyalty programmes which applies to the abpoints scheme 
operated by the company this has resulted in a reduction in 
revenue and administration and management expenses of £96000 
in the year ended 30 june 2008 the effect on the comparative 
balance sheet was to increase trade and other payables by 
£96000 with a corresponding decrease in provisions there is no 
overall impact on results or net assets
eps
the number of shares issued during the year for the exercise of 
share options and for shares issued into the employee benefit trust 
was relatively small at 458669 2008 443397 meaning that as 
posttax profit grew by 1087 2008 450 the growth in basic 
eps was 1063 2008 438 and in diluted eps was 1063 
2008 449 
currency exposure
the group continues to generate significant amounts of us dollars 
euros and japanese yen in excess of payments in these currencies 
and has arrangements in place to reduce the exposure to currency 
fluctuations during the year to 30 june 2009 the group had forward 
exchange contracts which matured to sell 141m and €114m at 
average rates of £1 to 1760 and £1 to €1246 respectively for the 
year ending 30 june 2010 the group has forward exchange 
contracts in place to sell 159m €142m and ¥3000m at average 
rates of £1 to 1496 €1138 and ¥15709 of which 15m and 
€15m were marked to market rates at 30 june 2009 the balance 
being treated as hedged contracts the group also has contracts  
in place maturing in the year ending 30 june 2011 of 42m  
€42m and ¥750m at average rates of £1  1510 €1138  
¥15630 respectively
jeff iliffe
chief financial officer
7 september 2009 annual report and accounts 2009                             abcam plc 
 
18
david cleevely freng chairman
david cleevely is an entrepreneur and business angel who has founded a series of companies 
and acted as government advisor his business and internet expertise were central to the 
formation of abcam which he cofounded in 1998 he is the founding director of the centre for 
science and policy at the university of cambridge he is chairman of crfs ltd the spectrum 
monitoring company which he cofounded in july 2007 and the founder and former chairman 
of telecoms consultancy analysys ltd acquired by datatec international ltd in 2004 in late 
2004 he cofounded the 3g pico base station company 3way networks ltd which was sold 
to airvana inc in april 2007 he joined the board of trutap ltd formerly hotxt ltd a mobile 
phone social networking provider in october 2005 and joined the board of ionscope ltd in 
2007 becoming chairman in may 2008 he has been a prime mover behind cambridge 
network ltd cofounder of cambridge wireless ltd cofounder and member of the board of 
cambridge angels ltd and is a member of the iet telecoms sector panel for eight years 
until march 2009 he was a member of the ofcom spectrum advisory board and recently 
held an industrial fellowship at the university of cambridge computer laboratory
mike redmond nonexecutive deputy chairman
michael redmond who joined abcam in february 2009 has substantial international 
experience in the pharmaceutical industry gained in both executive and nonexecutive 
capacities at businesses ranging from multinational organisations to startup companies he 
is currently chairman of dechra pharmaceuticals plc and his recent chairmanships include 
synexus clinical research plc arakis ltd and microscience ltd his executive career 
began at glaxo group plc in 1967 and he has held senior executive positions in marketing 
and management at companies including schering plough corporation and fisons plc 
jonathan milner phd chief executive officer
jonathan milner is a highly experienced entrepreneur and business leader with a background 
in genetic research he gained his doctorate in molecular genetics at leicester university after 
graduating in applied biology at bath university from 1992 to 1995 he was a research fellow 
for pfizer pharmaceuticals at bath university following which he was a research fellow at the 
university of cambridge in the laboratory of professor tony kouzarides studying genes and 
proteins associated with human cancers whilst working in research he identified the potential 
market opportunity in supplying high quality antibodies to support protein interaction studies 
he founded abcam with david cleevely and professor tony kouzarides in february 1998 as 
an internetbased business to supply this rapidly growing market he is an active member of 
the cambridge business community and is chairman of cambridge temperature concepts ltd 
a privately held medical device company developing a reliable system for ovulation monitoring 
jim warwick ma chief operating officer
jim warwick has an ma in computer science from the university of cambridge from 1986 
to 2003 he worked for analysys ltd a cambridgebased telecommunications consultancy 
heading up the it software and web development initiatives during this period he also held 
a number of nonexecutive directorships with external organisations including vbn ltd a 
webbased hosting company specialising in business cluster and innovation network 
solutions jim joined abcam in 2001 as technical director focusing on the development of 
the website and the systems integral to support it and took over operational management of 
the uk office as managing director in june 2004 in this capacity he worked on both 
costsaving and efficiency improvement projects including the barcoding and automation 
of inventory handling within the group jim is responsible for building infrastructure on a 
scalable basis and he has overseen the strategy and implementation of abcam’s overseas 
office expansion in japan which has been instrumental in delivering improved volumes and 
margins to the business in 2009 jim took on the role of chief operating officer with 
operational responsibility for the group as a whole
board of directors 19 abcam plc   directors’ report 
mark webster nonexecutive director
mark webster is an experienced pharmaceutical marketeer who joined abcam’s board as a 
nonexecutive director in july 2006 he is a chemistry graduate from durham university who 
has worked at a number of international pharmaceutical companies including abbott 
laboratories ltd shire pharmaceuticals group plc bayer ag and prostrakan group plc 
where as head of global marketing and north america he was responsible for setting up 
prostrakan’s us business at bayer he held the position of senior vice president global 
marketing and licensingacquisitions and was also a member of bayer pharmaceutical’s 
management committee as vice president of antivirals us pharmaceuticals at abbott he 
launched the hiv drug kaletra which generated more than 1bn in revenue
tony kouzarides phd nonexecutive director
tony kouzarides is a cofounder of abcam and has played a key role in expanding abcam’s 
antibody product range into the chromatin research area professor kouzarides holds the 
royal society napier professorship in cancer biology at the university of cambridge uk 
where he leads a laboratory that investigates the basic cellular role of chromatinmodifying 
enzymes and their role in human cancer he is a cofounder of chroma therapeutics ltd 
which identifies drugs against cancer and is the founder and director of cancer charity 
conquer cancer operating in spain 
peter keen aca nonexecutive and senior independent director
peter keen is a chartered accountant with more than 24 years’ experience in the financing 
and management of biotechnology companies he joined abcam’s board in october 2005 
prior to the company’s ipo he is currently corporate development and finance director of 
the private biotechnology company serentis ltd and a nonexecutive director of ark 
therapeutics plc and of the biotech growth trust plc peter has a notable track record in 
the uk biotechnology sector he was cofounder and finance director of chiroscience group 
plc after which he helped establish merlin biosciences ltd where he was responsible for a 
number of investments including ark therapeutics plc cyclacel ltd reneuron plc and 
vectura group plc more recently he was chief financial officer of arakis ltd until its 
successful trade sale in 2005 and a partner with the technology venture firm dfj esprit llp 
tim dye ma nonexecutive director
tim dye is a former chief executive of william ransom  son plc a position he held until 
january 2008 through a series of acquisitions he led the transformation of william ransom 
into one of the uk’s largest natural healthcare groups prior to joining ransom in 1999 and 
following an early career as a strategy consultant he founded and ran businesses in 
automated meter reading environmental management and property development he has 
an ma in economics from the university of cambridge
jeff iliffe aca chief financial officer
jeff iliffe is a qualified accountant who was appointed as abcam’s chief financial officer in 
november 2007 having previously worked for the company as a financial consultant he 
has extensive relevant experience of the city industry and internetbased business jeff 
was a corporate financier in life sciences at panmure gordon  co between 1989 and 1996 
he then moved into industry holding a number of financial positions at companies including 
the environmental consultancy enviros group ltd and the biotechnology company plethora 
solutions plc prior to joining abcam he was chief financial officer at the ecommerce 
company st minver ltd  annual report and accounts 2009                             abcam plc 
 
20
corporate directory
registered office
330 cambridge science park
milton road
cambridge
cb4 0fl
registered number
3509322
company secretary
tom mcguire
nominated advisor and broker
numis securities limited
the london stock exchange building
10 paternoster square
london
ec4m 7lt
solicitor
eversheds llp
1 wood street
london 
ec2v 7ws
auditor
deloitte llp
chartered accountants
cambridge uk
public relations advisor
buchanan communications limited
45 moorfields
london
ec2y 9ae
banker
national westminster bank plc
king’s parade
cambridge
cb2 3pu
registrar
capita registrars
northern house 
woodsome park
fenay bridge
huddersfield 
hd8 0ga
  21 abcam plc   directors’ report 
report on affairs of the group
the directors present their annual report on the affairs of the 
group together with the financial statements and auditors’ report 
for the year ended 30 june 2009
principal activities and future developments
the group’s activities consist of the development marketing and 
selling of antibodies and related products the group sells through 
the internet to customers in most countries of the world the group 
operates through its parent company abcam plc and through its 
wholly owned subsidiaries abcam inc and abcam kk
antibodies are sourced from over 250 of the world’s largest primary 
manufacturers as well as academic laboratories and institutes  
and the group also produces its own antibodies in its production 
facility in cambridge uk during the year the restructuring of the 
production facility was completed following the switch to more 
targeted monoclonal production and the group will now look to 
supplement supply on a selected basis from third parties to ensure 
it has access to high quality monoclonal antibodies in order to  
meet market demand following the reorganisation the group’s 
polyclonal production activities have benefited from the additional 
development resources made available and are producing at  
record volumes 
further future developments are addressed in the chairman’s 
review chief executive officer’s review and financial review on 
pages 12 to 17 
business review
the group’s management uses key performance indicators ‘kpis’ 
to monitor the progress of the business important kpis are
 30 june  30 june 30 june 
 2009 2008 2007
number of products published 52400 44000 33900
number of publications referencing  
 abcam products
1
 8224 3639 2771
revenue per employee £265000 £220000 £203000
profit before tax to revenue 306
2
 2172 226
number of debtor days at year end 32 34 44
orders fulfilled directly from stock 743 685 709
sales increased by 552 in the year 278 on a constant 
exchange rate basis as a result of continued increases in sales 
from the existing catalogue as well as the launch of new products 
the group continued to generate strong margins and pretax 
profits for the year increased to £174m
2
 2008 £80m
cash generation remained strong throughout the year with the 
group’s closing cash and shortterm deposits standing at £255m 
2008 £145m
further analysis of the year’s results as well as the outlook for the 
coming year is set out in the chairman’s review the chief executive 
officer’s review and the financial review on pages 12 to 17
1 source thomson isi web of knowledge httpisiwebofknowledgecom
2 after adding back £11m impairment of tangible assets associated with the 
higher volume production processes which will not now be implemented
principal risks and uncertainties
the group faces the competitive and strategic risks that are 
inherent in a rapidly growing market and the board and executive 
management regularly review the future strategy of the business
the group has an exposure to exchange rate fluctuation in 
particular the strength of sterling relative to the us dollar euro and 
japanese yen although there are natural hedges in place due to 
the fact that the group is able to utilise a proportion of its income in 
foreign currencies in particular the dollar to pay for outgoings in 
those currencies the group generates surpluses of each currency 
the board’s policy is to sell forward some of the expected surplus  
in order to reduce the shortterm exposure however longerterm 
movements in the relative strength of sterling will impact the group’s 
profits for further details of the group’s risk management strategy 
see note 25
the group’s activities involve importing and exporting its products 
across many international borders any changes to the regulations 
covering such movements might have an effect on the group’s 
trading activities
directors’ indemnities
the company has made qualifying third party indemnity provisions 
for the benefit of its directors which were made during the reporting 
period and remain in force at the date of this report
research and development
the group undertakes rd in areas related to its principal activities 
and this is discussed in the financial review on pages 16 to 17 
during the year the group spent £31m 2008 £24m on rd 
dividends
the directors have taken the decision to increase the total annual 
dividend to 1211p 2008 560p this represents a distribution of 
35 of profit after tax compared with the previous policy of a 33 
annual distribution 
the directors therefore propose paying a final dividend of 940p 
2008 456p per ordinary share to be paid on 27 november 2009 
to shareholders on the register on 6 november 2009 together with 
the interim dividend of 271p paid on 17 april 2009 this makes a 
combined dividend for the year of 1211p 2008 560p
capital structure
details of the authorised and issued share capital together with 
details of the movements in the company’s issued share capital 
during the year are shown in notes 26 and 27 the company has 
one class of ordinary shares which carries no right to fixed income 
each share carries the right to one vote at general meetings of  
the company
there are no specific restrictions on the size of a holding nor on  
the transfer of shares which are both governed by the general 
provisions of the articles of association and prevailing legislation
with regard to the appointment and replacement of directors the 
company is governed by the articles of association the companies 
act and related legislation and although not obliged to do so as an  annual report and accounts 2009                             abcam plc 
 
22
aim listed company has chosen to follow the principles set out in 
the combined code on corporate governance wherever possible
directors
the interests of the directors in the share capital of the company at 
30 june 2009 other than with respect to share based options and 
awards and shares conditionally awarded through the share 
incentive plan which are detailed in the directors’ remuneration 
report on page 33 were as follows
  1p ordinary 1p ordinary  
  shares on shares on 
   30 june  30 june 
  2009 2008
david cleevely  2559760 3569760
mike redmond  – –
jonathan milner  7085280 8044960
jim warwick  853520 836200
jeff iliffe  320 –
mark webster  – –
tony kouzarides  114244 114244
peter keen  8982 8982
tim dye  – –
there have been no changes in the directors’ interests in shares of 
the company between 30 june 2009 and 7 september 2009 
in line with the principles set out in the combined code on 
corporate governance which state that a nonexecutive director 
should stand for reelection annually when his length of service 
exceeds nine years tony kouzarides who has been a director of 
the company since april 1998 will offer himself for reelection at the 
forthcoming agm peter keen tim dye and mark webster will retire 
from the board by rotation and offer themselves for reelection  
mike redmond having been appointed by the directors during the 
year will offer himself for election at the agm following formal 
performance evaluation the chairman has determined that each 
individual continues to demonstrate commitment to his role and  
to display unremitting effective performance he is therefore 
recommending reelection of all nonexecutive directors standing  
at this year’s agm
as previously announced david cleevely has made the decision to 
step down from the board before the end of 2009 he has decided 
to retire following completion of the agm and accordingly is not 
seeking reelection 
supplier payment policy
it is the group’s policy that payments to suppliers are made in 
accordance with the terms and conditions agreed with them 
provided that the supplier has provided the goods or services in 
accordance with the agreed terms and conditions at 30 june 2009 
the group had an average of 19 days of purchases 2008 17 days 
outstanding in trade creditors
charitable and political donations and community support
abcam participates actively in the community of entrepreneurial 
businesses clustered around cambridge abcam supports the  
cambridge network the university of cambridge and the judge 
business school both by giving talks and presentations on our 
business as well as hosting projects for mba students abcam  
takes students from secondary education on work experience 
programmes as well as occasional international exchange students 
on placement 
the group encourages employees to get involved in local charitable 
activities a maximum of 01 of the previous year’s pretax profit is 
allocated for charitable donations which are split between the us 
uk and japanese offices these are allocated by a committee of 
staff volunteers working within guidelines set down by the directors 
the group made no political donations 2008 nil and made 
charitable donations in the year of £4113 2008 £4272 principally 
to children’s and local charities serving the communities in which 
the group operates
substantial shareholdings
other than directors’ interests which are set out above at 18 august 
2009 shareholders with a greater than 3 interest in the issued 
share capital of the company were
  number percentage 
  of ordinary of issued 
  shares held share capital
standard life investments  3265747 919
blackrock investment management  2529619 712
artemis investment management  2134819 601
fidelity investments  1977039 556
baillie gifford  1814576 511
wasatch advisors  1355083 381
ubs private banking  1194500 336
corporate social and ethical policies
abcam recognises the importance of balancing the interests of all 
its key stakeholders – its customers shareholders employees 
suppliers and the communities in which it operates management of 
the environmental and social issues that play a part in the business 
is a key factor in the group’s strategy for success and in the 
practice of good corporate governance 
the group places considerable value on the involvement of its 
employees and has continued to keep them informed of the various 
factors affecting the performance of the group this is achieved 
through formal and informal meetings equitybased or similar 
incentives are currently made available to all employees of the 
group in addition there is a profitsharing scheme based on the 
overall profitability of the group
applications for employment by disabled persons are always fully 
considered bearing in mind the aptitudes of the applicant 
concerned it is the policy of the group that the training career 
development and promotion of disabled employees should as far as 
possible be identical to that of other employees the group needs 
highlyqualified staff and does not see age colour disability ethnic 
origin gender or political or other opinion as a barrier to employment
report on affairs of the group continued abcam plc   directors’ report 23
the group aspires to carry out its business to the highest of ethical 
standards treating employees suppliers and customers in a 
professional courteous and honest manner the group has an 
ethical policy which is reviewed by the board and which is applied 
to its products this includes reviewing and where appropriate 
visiting our suppliers to check the standards they follow in their 
products and services 
health and safety and environment
abcam seeks to provide and maintain safe and healthy working 
conditions equipment and systems for all employees as far as is 
reasonably practicable and to provide such information training and 
supervision as may be needed for this purpose 
the group complies with legislation however where best practice 
demands higher standards it endeavours to apply these wherever 
reasonably practicable 
health and safety ‘hs’ in the group is ultimately the responsibility 
of the chief executive officer and is run by an hs coordinator who 
is the chairman of the hs committee this committee uses 
appropriate advice from external specialist consultants 
abcam seeks wherever possible to minimise its impact on the 
environment for the benefit of its staff and the public at large the 
group is committed to complying with environmental regulations 
and encourages and supports staff in waste recycling within  
its offices
going concern
the group’s business activities together with the factors likely to 
affect its future development performance and position are set out 
in the chairman’s review the chief executive officer’s review and 
the financial review on pages 12 to 17 notes 21 24 and 25 include 
a description of the group’s objectives policies and processes for 
managing its capital its financial risk management objectives 
details of its financial instruments and hedging activities and its 
exposure to credit risk and liquidity risk 
the group has considerable financial resources and through a 
diverse customer base is exposed not only to the western 
economies but also japan china and to a lesser extent south 
america as a consequence the directors believe that the group is 
well placed to manage its business risks successfully despite the 
current uncertain economic outlook
after making enquiries the directors have a reasonable expectation 
that the group has adequate resources to continue in operational 
existence for the foreseeable future for this reason they continue to 
adopt the going concern basis in preparing the financial statements
auditors
deloitte llp have expressed their willingness to continue in office as 
auditors and a resolution to reappoint them will be proposed at the 
forthcoming agm
directors’ statement as to disclosure of information to auditors
in the case of each of the directors of the company at the date on 
which this report was approved
as far as each of the directors is aware there is no relevant audit •	
information of which the company’s auditors are unaware and
each of the directors has taken all the steps that he ought to have •	
taken as a director to make himself aware of any relevant audit 
information as defined 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 provision of s418 of the companies act 2006
approved by the board and signed on its behalf by
david cleevely freng
chairman
7 september 2009 annual report and accounts 2009                             abcam plc 
 
24
although not required to do so by the aim listing rules the directors 
have chosen to provide selected corporate governance disclosures 
with this report which they consider valuable to the reader
the directors believe that effective corporate governance 
appropriate to the group considering its size and stage of 
development will assist in the delivery of corporate strategy  
the generation of shareholder value and the safeguarding of 
shareholders’ longterm interests the directors are committed 
therefore wherever it is reasonably practicable to ensure that the 
group is managed in accordance with the principles set out in the 
revised combined code on corporate governance ‘the code’
the role and composition of the board
the board comprises the chairman deputy chairman three 
fulltime executive directors and four nonexecutive directors brief 
biographical details of all members of the board are set out on 
pages 18 and 19
the board considers mike redmond tim dye and peter keen to be 
independent within the meaning of the code tony kouzarides is 
also considered by the board to be independent notwithstanding 
the fact that he has served on the board for more than nine years 
since he demonstrates a continuous independence in character and 
judgement in all board matters david cleevely is not deemed to  
be independent because of his shareholding mark webster is not 
deemed to be independent because he has been employed by the 
company in an executive capacity during the last five years peter 
keen has been identified as the senior independent director
the roles of chairman and chief executive officer are vested in 
separate individuals each with clear allocation of accountability and 
responsibility the chairman has prime responsibility for running the 
board and the chief executive officer has executive responsibilities 
for the company’s strategic development operations and results 
the structure of the board and the integrity of each director ensures 
that there is no one individual or group dominating the decision 
making process
the board holds full meetings every month with attendance 
required in person one month and via telephone the next month the 
principal matters that it considers are as follows
monthly management accounts key performance indicators and •	
performance against budget
regular reviews of rd operations and product sourcing •	
regular reviews of strategic objectives and group priorities •	
the annual group budget and revised forecasts •	
reporting including statutory accounts dividend policy dividend •	
payments and the agm
performance of the board and subcommittees •	
reports of the audit nomination and remuneration committees •	
an annual review of riskmanagement strategy and controls and a •	
sixmonthly review of the risk register
matters relating to the company’s obligations as a listed •	
company and
management of funds and major capital expenditure including •	
proposals for mergers or acquisitions of other companies or 
product lines
corporate governance statement
the board is supplied with information in a timely manner and in a 
form and of a quality appropriate to enable it to discharge its duties 
directors receive appropriate induction on joining the board and 
regularly update their skills and knowledge
the board has a policy to set out which matters are reserved for the 
decision of the board and those to which the executive directors 
need not refer for approval this policy also identifies those matters 
regarding which full delegation to a board committee is not normally 
permitted because a final decision is required to be taken by the 
whole board 
the terms and conditions for the appointment of nonexecutive 
directors are available for inspection matters which the board 
considers suitable for delegation are contained in the terms of 
reference of its committees
summary of board meeting attendance in 200809
twelve board meetings were held in 200809 attendance was  
as follows
   meetings 
   attended
david cleevely   1012
mike redmond   34
jonathan milner   1212
jim warwick   1212
jeff iliffe   1212
mark webster   1112
tony kouzarides   1112
peter keen   1212
tim dye   1112
figures in brackets denote the maximum number of meetings that 
could have been attended
board committees
the board has established three committees the audit committee 
the nomination committee and the remuneration committee
summary of committee membership
 audit nomination remuneration 
 committee committee committee
david cleevely yes yes yes
tim dye – chairman yes
peter keen chairman yes chairman
tony kouzarides yes yes –
mark webster – – –
on the resignation of david cleevely following the forthcoming 
agm mike redmond will be appointed to replace him on the same 
subcommittees abcam plc   directors’ report 25
summary of committee meeting attendance in 200809
 audit nomination remuneration 
 committee committee committee
david cleevely 22 12 22
tim dye – 22 22
peter keen 22 22 22
tony kouzarides 22 22 –
figures in brackets denote the maximum number of meetings that 
could have been attended 
the role of each committee is described in more detail below
the audit committee
the committee has responsibility for the following matters
reviewing the accounts and the key judgements and policies •	
underlying them in relation to the interim and annual financial 
statements before they are submitted to the board for final 
approval
reviewing the management’s reports on internal controls •	
reviewing the group’s riskmanagement process including the •	
adequacy of insurance cover
reviewing the appointment of the external auditors together with •	
the audit fee
monitoring the audit and nonaudit work of the external auditors •	
including reviewing any management letters and the company’s 
response and
reviewing the arrangements by which staff may in confidence •	
raise concerns about possible improprieties
as part of its procedures the committee discusses the interim and 
annual financial statements with the external auditors when 
appropriate noncommittee members are invited to attend during 
the period under review the committee has met twice on a formal 
basis and a number of times informally the committee is expected 
to continue to meet formally twice a year
the nomination committee
the committee is responsible for the following matters
reviewing the size and composition of the board •	
identifying and nominating suitable candidates to fill vacancies •	
on the board and
reviewing succession planning for both directors and the •	
management team
the process adopted by the committee to identify a candidate for a 
specific vacancy is in the first instance to determine whether any 
individuals known to the board would be suitable for the role if no 
candidates can be identified through this process then an external 
search consultancy will be approached shortlisted candidates are 
interviewed by all members of the committee and other executive and 
nonexecutive directors as the committee deems appropriate once 
a suitable candidate has been identified and references taken the 
chairman of the committee will recommend to the board that the 
company make a formal offer of employment to the candidate 
mike redmond deputy chairman was appointed to the board 
during the year following a selection process managed by an 
external search consultancy 
all directors are subject to election by shareholders at the first agm 
after their appointment and to reelection thereafter at intervals of 
no more than three years
the terms of appointment of all nonexecutive directors will be 
available for inspection at the forthcoming agm in november 2009
the remuneration committee 
the committee is responsible for the following matters
setting the basic pay of executive directors and the remuneration •	
of the chairman
the operation of the performancerelated bonus plan for the •	
executive directors
agreeing the allocation and term for the granting of share based •	
incentives to executive directors
determining the executive directors’ pension contributions •	
overseeing the overall annual pay review for the group and •	
agreeing the allocation and term for the granting of share based •	
incentives to executive directors
the group has a formal and transparent procedure for developing 
policy on directors’ remuneration no director is involved in 
deciding his own remuneration 
the committee aims to set levels of remuneration for executive 
directors that are sufficient to attract retain and motivate directors  
of the quality required without paying more than necessary and 
that are appropriate for the size and complexity of the group it aims 
to see that a significant proportion of each executive director’s 
remuneration package is performancerelated 
the committee is also responsible for overseeing the company’s 
profit share and its equitybased incentive schemes which are 
reviewed each year
internal control 
the board acknowledges its responsibility for safeguarding the 
shareholders’ investment and the group’s assets in applying this 
principle the board recognises that it has overall responsibility for 
ensuring that the group maintains an ongoing system of internal 
control to provide it with reasonable assurance regarding effective 
and efficient operation internal financial control and compliance 
with laws and regulations this has been in place for the year under 
review and up to the date of approval of the annual report
the audit committee reviews the need for an internal audit function 
on an annual basis and has concluded that due to the current size 
and structure of the group and the level of control exercised by the 
management team an internal audit function is neither necessary 
nor cost effective at this time the directors have reviewed the 
effectiveness of the internal controls and taken steps to ensure that 
the group has an appropriate control environment for its size and 
complexity the management team will ensure that the internal 
control environment develops with the size of the company with 
respect to the identification evaluation and monitoring of risk  annual report and accounts 2009                             abcam plc 
 
26
such systems which are designed to manage rather than eliminate 
the risk of failure to achieve business objectives will provide 
reasonable though not absolute assurance against material loss  
or misstatement
the board is committed to transparency in financial reporting 
including the preparation of the annual report internal control and 
external audit as demonstrated amongst other things by its 
reviewing of the group’s arrangements for its employees to raise 
concerns in confidence about possible wrongdoing in these areas 
which are formalised in a ‘whistleblowing’ policy circulated to all 
employees and through the adoption of its policies and procedures 
for financial reporting
board performance evaluation
during 2008 the board undertook a formal evaluation of its own 
performance the review involved detailed interviews with each 
director and the company secretary and covered the functioning of 
the board as a whole and the operation of each of the committees 
the review confirmed the high level of commitment and 
professionalism exercised by the board in the strategic and 
commercial leadership of the group it also concluded that the 
board and its individual members continue to perform effectively 
and operate within a framework of sound governance and practices 
which wherever it is reasonably practicable are consistent with the 
principles set out in the code
the board also undertakes an ongoing informal evaluation of its own 
performance via debrief discussions following each board meeting 
the company provides the board with a regular programme of 
training opportunities including training provided by external 
advisers in order to ensure directors remain appropriately informed 
of their roles and responsibilities regular updates on corporate 
governance are also provided to the board by the group’s advisors 
dialogue with shareholders
the board believes it is important to have open communications 
with shareholders to this end the chief executive officer and chief 
financial officer working in consultation with the company’s 
corporate and pr advisors make themselves available and expect 
to meet with shareholders at least twice a year the board intends to 
give a presentation on the group’s progress at the forthcoming 
agm on 2 november 2009
 
corporate governance statement continued abcam plc   directors’ report 27
directors’ remuneration report
unaudited information
remuneration report
although not required by the aim listing rules the directors have chosen to provide directors’ remuneration disclosures in this report which 
they consider valuable to the reader
the group has a remuneration committee ‘the committee’ chaired by peter keen which wherever possible follows the principles of the 
recommendations of the code consisting of two independent nonexecutive directors as well as the company chairman
during 200708 independent consultants were retained to advise on remuneration policy and to benchmark the executive directors’ 
remuneration against that of a comparator group of companies with similar characteristics to abcam in terms of their size nature of 
operations historic growth achieved and market capitalisation these consultants have continued to advise the company throughout the 
year and have updated the comparator group of companies to ensure appropriate benchmarks are maintained 
the recommendations on salary and bonus arrangements were implemented with effect from 1 july 2008 following consultation with major 
shareholders a longterm incentive plan for senior management including the executive directors was proposed and approved at the 2008 
agm following the approval awards were made in november 2008 and further awards will be made later this year
remuneration policy
the group’s policy is that a substantial proportion of the remuneration of the executive directors should be performancerelated the four 
main elements of the remuneration package for the executive directors during the year were as follows
basic annual salary •	
a performancebased bonus •	
equitybased incentives and •	
pension contributions •	
for future years the committee will ensure that
it maintains a competitive package of total compensation commensurate with comparable packages available in similar companies and •	
the interests of the executive directors are closely aligned with those of the company’s shareholders through the provision of share •	
based incentives
where appropriate independent advice will be sought to confirm these objectives are being met
basic salary
an executive director’s basic salary is determined by the committee and normally reviewed on 1 july each year executive directors’ service 
contracts which include details of remuneration will be available for inspection at the agm
performancerelated payments
the bonus payable to executive directors is based on the financial performance of the group and the achievement of individual 
performance targets related to the strategic objectives for each individual bonus payments are made in cash in a single payment once the 
audited financial statements have been approved
in the year under review the total ‘on target’ bonus for executive directors was set at 375 of basic salary capped at a maximum of 75 of 
basic salary none of the bonus is pensionable 80 of the bonus is based on the achievement of a target profit figure and 20 on 
achievement of individual strategic objectives no payment is due under the profitbased bonus if profit is less than 90 of target and the 
maximum payment is due at 105 of target as stated in the chairman’s review the year has been one of outstanding performance and 
excellent progress as a result all financial and personal performance targets were met and the bonus for 200809 will therefore be payable 
in full
in 200910 the parameters for the bonus will be set at the same percentages of salary based on revised profit targets and individual 
objectives if the maximum part of the target profit element of the performance bonus is paid then to reward exceptional performance the 
committee may at its discretion award bonuses of up to an additional 25 of salary ie the maximum bonus that could be payable will be 
capped at 100 of salary the criteria for the payment of such a bonus include additional revenue growth targets and the successful launch 
of suitable initiatives to sustain the longerterm growth strategy of the business
in prior years the financial performancebased element was paid under the abcam profit share scheme ‘pss’ under this scheme an 
amount is allocated to employees on a pointsbased system with the payment being dependent on the level of pretax profit achieved the 
amount allocated varying depending on the level of profitability the pss payment was not capped and payments on account from the pss 
were made each quarter although at no stage did they exceed 85 of the amount due until the audited financial statements were approved  annual report and accounts 2009                             abcam plc 
 
28
 
sep
2006 2007 2008 2009
jan
feb
mar
apr
may
jun
jul
aug
sep
oct
nov
dec
jan
feb
mar
apr
may
jun
jul
aug
sep
oct
nov
dec
jan
feb
mar
apr
may
jun
jul
aug
oct
nov
dec
aim all share 
index
03
05
07
09
11
13
15
index
17
19
21
23
25
abcam aim all share 
index
abcam aim all share 
index
abcam aim all share 
index
aim all share 
index
abcam
the scheme applied to all staff including executive directors and bonuses were pensionable up to the ‘on target’ profit level if financial and 
personal targets were met the bonus payable to executive directors was 50 of basic salary paid in cash
although the executive directors no longer participate in the pss scheme it still remains in place for all other employees of the group 
although the amount payable under pss is no longer pensionable
equitybased incentives
equitybased incentives are issued to the executive directors on a regular basis in the period since listing on aim no equitybased 
incentives have been granted to nonexecutive directors and there are no plans for any such grants in the future
existing arrangements
the abcam plc 2005 plan
the principal form of equitybased incentive used by the group since its flotation in november 2005 has been the abcam plc 2005 plan 
‘the plan’ which following approval at the agm in november 2008 was amended to make it more tax efficient for usbased employees 
all options granted under the plan since flotation have been based on outperformance of the ftse aim all share index measured on the 
third anniversary of the date of grant if the target is achieved then options will be exercisable during the next seven years subject to the 
rules of the scheme if the target is not met at the third anniversary then it will be monitored on certain dates over the next 12 months if the 
target is met on any of those dates then the options become exercisable if the target is not met on any of those dates the options will lapse 
on the fourth anniversary 
in the year under review no options were granted under the plan to the executive directors
the following graph shows the performance against the ftse aim all share index for the options issued since flotation which have not been 
forfeited subsequently if all the options had crystallised at 10 august 2009 then all performance conditions in relation to the options would 
have been met details of these options are set out in note 31 to the financial statements 
 
saye scheme
the company has also established a nondiscretionary hmrcapproved saye scheme in which all employees including the executive 
directors can participate under this scheme employees contract to save any amount up to a maximum of £250 per month of their 
posttax earnings for a period of either three or five years at the time of entering the contract the company offers the employee the option 
to acquire shares using the money that has been saved over the life of the contract the price at which the shares could be purchased will 
be the market value of the shares on the date immediately preceding the offer at a discount of 20 the recent takeup under the scheme 
has not been high since many employees are already at the allowable investment limits and it is currently proposed not to make any further 
offers to employees under this scheme no options were granted in the year under review
directors’ remuneration report continued abcam plc   directors’ report 29
longterm incentive plan ‘ltip’
the 200809 financial year saw the first awards to senior executives including the executive directors under the ltip the ltip includes 
performance conditions which comply with guidelines and best practice governing the grant of share based incentives in a listed company 
to the extent to which the committee considers such practice to be appropriate to the group the maximum level of award being the 
aggregate market value of shares subject to the award at the date of grant that can be granted to an eligible employee under the ltip in 
any financial year is limited to 150 of that employee’s salary
under the ltip performance share awards made in 200809 took the form of nil cost options and are subject to achievement over three 
years of two separate conditions the first conditions applying to 50 of the shares subject to each award and the second condition 
applying to the remaining 50
the total shareholder return ‘tsr’ condition
in respect of the first 50 of each award ‘the tsr awards’ the number of shares that will vest will depend on the company’s tsr 
performance as compared to a comparator group of companies ‘the comparator group’ 
where the company’s tsr is below the 50th percentile none of the tsr awards will vest •	
where the company’s tsr is at or above the 70th percentile of the comparator group all of the tsr awards will vest •	
where the company’s tsr is between the 50th and the 70th percentile the proportion of the tsr awards that will vest will be calculated •	
on a straightline basis from 30 at the 50th percentile and rising to 100 at the 70th percentile
the earnings per share ‘eps’ condition
in respect of the second 50 of each award ’the eps awards’ the number of shares that vest will depend on the eps growth of the 
company over the vesting period
at an average of less than 25 growth per annum equating to 953 growth over the period none of the eps awards will vest •	
at average growth per annum of 33 equating to total growth of 1353 the eps awards will vest in full •	
at growth rates between these two figures the eps awards will vest proportionately •	
the company regularly monitors its performance against these conditions if the awards had crystallised as at 30 june 2009 all 
performance conditions had been met and therefore all tsr and eps awards would have vested in full 
for the ltips to be granted in 200910 it is proposed that the tsr condition remains unchanged however the eps condition will be 
amended eps has increased by 1063 in the year under review part of which is due to large favourable foreign currency exchange rate 
movements which are unlikely to be repeated the remuneration committee therefore considered that in order for the ltips to be a realistic 
incentive it would be appropriate to revise future years’ target growth rates to reflect this much higher starting point it is proposed that at 
an average of less than 15 growth per annum equating to 521 growth over the period none of the eps awards will vest at average 
growth per annum of 20 equating to 728 growth over the period the eps awards will vest in full and at growth rates between these 
two figures the eps awards will vest proportionately 
200809 has been a very successful year for the group and in order to maintain appropriate incentive to the executive directors to continue 
performance at the highest level it is proposed that the level of award for the coming year be increased to 120 of salary compared to 
100 awarded during 200809 
share incentive plan ‘sip’
an hmrcapproved sip was introduced in october 2008 for all uk employees under the sip awards are made as follows
share awards
annual awards are made to ukbased staff with a market value of up to £3000 each awards take the form of a conditional entitlement to 
shares and will vest after three years’ continuous employment with the company
partnership shares
all ukbased employees are given the opportunity to invest up to £1500 per annum to acquire new shares in the company at market value 
if these shares are held for three years and the employee remains employed by the company during that time then they will also receive an 
additional share for each share acquired
new arrangements
it is the company’s intention to grant additional equity based incentives in the coming year to executive directors under the existing sip and 
ltip as set out above in addition a new arrangement is being proposed  annual report and accounts 2009                             abcam plc 
 
30
the abcam 2009 company share option plan ‘csop’
for the 200910 financial year for those employees not participating in the ltip it is proposed that an hmrcapproved csop be introduced 
for ukbased employees of the company with a maximum value of £30000 of market value options granted per employee  it is the current 
intention that the vesting of these options will be subject to the same performance conditions as applied to options granted under the 
abcam plc 2005 plan see details above
pension arrangements
in the uk all employees including executive directors are invited to participate in the group personal pension plan which is money
purchase in nature the pensionable element of remuneration in the year under review was basic salary during the year the group 
contributed 12 of basic salary excluding the individual performance bonus to a group personal pension plan in the name of each 
executive director 
the company operates a flexible benefits scheme for all ukbased employees including executive directors under which the option to 
sacrifice an element of basic pay and purchase additional pension contributions or other benefits is available as a result of the salary 
sacrificed and used to purchase additional pension contributions the company’s national insurance liability is reduced the benefit of this 
reduction is added as an additional contribution to each employee’s pension fund and for directors this amount is included within the 
employer’s pension contribution figures disclosed in the table of remuneration details below
terms of appointment
the details of directors’ contracts are summarised below
       notice 
       period  
      date of contract months
executive
jonathan milner      10 june 2000 6
jeff iliffe      6 november 2007 6
jim warwick      1 september 2001 6
nonexecutive
david cleevely      24 july 2007 1
peter keen      27 october 2005 1
tony kouzarides      24 july 2007 1
tim dye      26 may 2006 1
mark webster      10 july 2007 1
mike redmond      1 march 2009 1
directors’ remuneration report continued abcam plc   directors’ report 31
audited information
remuneration details
      employer’s 
   basic benefits performance pension total total 
   salary
1
 in kind payments contributions
1
 2009 2008 
   £000 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000
executive
jonathan milner   38 2 158 219 417 352
jim warwick   65 2 131 145 343 298
jeff iliffe appointed 20 november 2007   54 17
2
 116 131 318 183
mark webster
3
   – – – – – 81
eddie powell retired 20 november 2007   – – – – – 119
nonexecutive
david cleevely   67 – – – 67 65
peter keen   40 – – – 40 37
tony kouzarides   32 – – – 32 29
tim dye   33 – – – 33 27
mark webster
3
   27 – – – 27 17
mike redmond appointed 1 march 2009   16 – – – 16 –
   372 21 405 495 1293 1208
1 the directors are remunerated through the company’s flexible benefits scheme under which they can elect to switch basic salary into pension contributions and other 
benefits the basic salary entitlement of each executive director during the year was jonathan milner £210000 jim warwick £175000 and jeff iliffe £154000
2 allowances paid to jeff iliffe in respect of relocation expenses
3 mark webster joined the board as nonexecutive director on 1 july 2006 from 14 march 2007 to 30 october 2007 he served as an executive director before moving 
back to serve in a nonexecutive capacity
jonathan milner has agreed to waive future emoluments totalling £18400 being the approved increase in his basic salary effective from 
1 july 2009 in respect of services to be provided in the year ended 30 june 2010 
aggregate emoluments disclosed above do not include any amounts for the value of options to acquire ordinary shares in the company 
granted to or held by the directors details of options exercised during the year are as follows
      market price gain on gain on 
     exercise at exercise exercise exercise 
    number of price date 2009 2008 
name of director    options p p £ £
jim warwick    32000 5000 4820 138240 188200
david cleevely    40000 1250 4750 140000 –
jonathan milner    40000 625 4750 165000 –
eddie powell    – – – – 101000
       443240 289200 annual report and accounts 2009                             abcam plc 
 
32
share options
details of options and awards over 1p ordinary shares in the company for directors who served during the year are as follows
  number of   number of 
  options   options  date 
  awards   awards exercise from 
  at 30 june   at 30 june price which 
name of director  2008 granted exercised 2009 p exercisable expiry date
david cleevely  40000 – 40000 – 1250 31 jan 06 29 sep 15
peter keen  60000 – – 60000 1500 31 jan 06 26 oct 15
tony kouzarides  40000 – – 40000 1250 31 jan 06 29 sep 15
jeff iliffe  89743
1
 – – 89743 3120 8 nov 10 7 nov 17
jonathan milner  40000 – 40000 – 625 27 jul 07 29 sep 15
  53571
1
 – – 53571 2800 8 sep 09 6 sep 16
  46004
1
 – – 46004 4130 8 may 11 7 may 18
  139575 – 40000 99575 
jim warwick  32000 – 32000 – 500 16 jun 08 15 jun 13
  42142
1
 – – 42142 2800 8 sep 09 6 sep 16
  4218
2
 – – 4218 2240 1 nov 09 1 may 10
  41602
1
 – – 41602 3120 8 nov 10 7 nov 17
  119962 – 32000 87962 
  489280 – 112000 377280 
1  these options were granted under the abcam plc 2005 plan and are subject to the performance condition that the share price outperforms the ftse aim all share 
index at the third anniversary of grant if this is not the case performance will be tested on certain dates over the following 12 months and if the target is not met on any 
of those dates the options will lapse on the fourth anniversary
2  these options are granted under the saye scheme options under this scheme are not subject to performance conditions 
ltip awards
the following table sets out the grants made under the ltip full details of the operation of the ltip including performance conditions are 
set out above in the unaudited information contained within the directors’ remuneration report
     share 
     price at value of percentage  number 
     date of conditional of salary  awarded 
   date of date of grant award at date during the 
executive director   award release p £000 of award period
jonathan milner   6 nov 08 5 nov 11 4620 210 100 45454
jim warwick   6 nov 08 5 nov 11 4620 175 100 37878
jeff iliffe   6 nov 08 5 nov 11 4620 154 100 33333
directors’ remuneration report continued abcam plc   directors’ report 33
sip
the following table sets out the shares purchased and awarded under the sip in respect of the executive directors full details of the 
operation of the sip are set out above in the unaudited information contained within the directors’ remuneration report
   share price     
   at date of     
   purchase of     
   partnership   matching   
   shares and free shares partnership shares dividend  
   award of conditionally shares conditionally shares  number 
   matching awarded purchased awarded acquired  as at 
 date of date of shares during the during the during the during the 30 june 
executive director award release £ period period period period 2009
jonathan milner 7 nov 08 8 nov 11 4620 649 – – – 649
 27 nov 08 28 nov 11 4850 – 309 309 – 618
 8 dec 08 9 dec 11 4750 – – – 6 6
 29 apr 09 30 apr 12 6600 – – – 5 5
total    649 309 309 11 1278
jim warwick 7 nov 08 8 nov 11 4620 649 – – – 649
 27 nov 08 28 nov 11 4850 – 309 309 – 618
 8 dec 08 9 dec 11 4750 – – – 6 6
 29 apr 09 30 apr 12 6600 – – – 5 5
total    649 309 309 11 1278
jeff iliffe 7 nov 08 8 nov 11 4620 649 – – – 649
 27 nov 08 28 nov 11 4850 – 309 309 – 618
 8 dec 08 9 dec 11 4750 – – – 6 6
 29 apr 09 30 apr 12 6600 – – – 5 5
total    649 309 309 11 1278
  annual report and accounts 2009                             abcam plc 
 
34
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 european union 
‘ifrss’ and have also chosen to prepare financial statements for 
the company in accordance with ifrss company law requires the 
directors to prepare such financial information in accordance with 
ifrss the companies act 2006 and article 4 of the ias regulation 
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 ifrss 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 ifrss 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 company 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 2006
the directors are responsible for the maintenance and integrity of 
the corporate and financial information included on the company’s 
website legislation in the uk governing the preparation and 
dissemination of financial statements differs from legislation in  
other jurisdictions
statement of directors’ responsibilities
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 directors’ report includes a fair review of the development •	
and performance of the business and the position of the 
company and the undertakings included in the consolidation 
taken as a whole together with a description of the principal risks 
and uncertainties that they face
by order of the board
david cleevely freng jeff iliffe
chairman   chief financial officer
7 september 2009  7 september 2009 35 abcam plc   financials 
statement of directors’ responsibilities
we have audited the financial statements of abcam plc for the year 
ended 30 june 2009 which comprise the consolidated income 
statement the consolidated statement of recognised income and 
expense the consolidated and parent company balance sheets 
the consolidated and parent company cash flow statements the 
parent company statement of recognised income and expense 
and the related notes 1 to 33 the financial reporting framework that 
has been applied in their preparation is applicable law and 
international financial reporting standards ‘ifrss’ as adopted by 
the european union
this report is made solely to the company’s members as a body in 
accordance with sections 495 496 and 497 of the companies act 
2006 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
as explained more fully in the statement of directors’ 
responsibilities the directors are responsible for the preparation of 
the financial statements and for being satisfied that they give a true 
and fair view our responsibility is to audit the financial statements in 
accordance with applicable law and international standards on 
auditing uk and ireland those standards require us to comply 
with the auditing practices board’s ‘apb’s ethical standards  
for auditors
scope of the audit of the financial statements
an audit involves obtaining evidence about the amounts and 
disclosures in the financial statements sufficient to give reasonable 
assurance that the financial statements are free from material 
misstatement whether caused by fraud or error this includes an 
assessment of whether the accounting policies are appropriate to 
the group’s and the parent company’s circumstances and have 
been consistently applied and adequately disclosed the 
reasonableness of significant accounting estimates made by the 
directors and the overall presentation of the financial statements
opinion on financial statements
in our opinion
the financial statements give a true and fair view of the state of •	
the group’s and the parent company’s affairs as at 30 june 2009 
and of the group’s and the parent company’s profit for the year 
then ended
the financial statements have been properly prepared in •	
accordance with ifrss as adopted by the european union and
the financial statements have been prepared in accordance with •	
the requirements of the companies act 2006
separate opinion in relation to ifrss as issued by the iasb
as explained in note 3 to the financial statements the group in 
addition to complying with its legal obligation to apply ifrss as 
adopted by the european union has also applied ifrss as issued 
independent auditors’ report 
to the members of abcam plc
by the international accounting standards board ‘iasb’
in our opinion the group financial statements comply with ifrss as 
issued by the iasb
opinion on other matters prescribed by the  
companies act 2006
in our opinion
the part of the directors’ remuneration report to be audited has •	
been properly prepared in accordance with the provisions of the 
companies act 2006 that would have applied were the company 
a quoted company and
the information given in the directors’ report for the financial year •	
for which the financial statements are prepared is consistent with 
the financial statements
matters on which we are required to report by exception
under the companies act 2006 we are required to report to you if in 
our opinion
adequate accounting records have not been kept by the parent •	
company or returns adequate for our audit have not been 
received from branches not visited by us or
the parent company financial statements are not in agreement •	
with the accounting records and returns or
certain disclosures of directors’ remuneration specified by law •	
are not made or
we have not received all the information and explanations we •	
require for our audit
although not required to do so the directors have voluntarily chosen 
to make a corporate governance statement detailing the extent of 
their compliance with the 2008 frc combined code we reviewed
the directors’ statement contained within the report on affairs of •	
the group in the directors’ report in relation to going concern and
the part of the corporate governance statement relating to the •	
company’s compliance with the nine provisions of the 2008 
combined code specified for our review
stuart henderson senior statutory auditor
for and on behalf of deloitte llp
chartered accountants and statutory auditors 
cambridge uk
7 september 2009
  annual report and accounts 2009                             abcam plc 
 
36
        year ended 
       year ended 300608 
       300609 restated 
      notes £000 £000
continuing operations
revenue      6 56801 36598 
cost of sales       19420 14389
gross profit       37381 22209 
     
administration and management expenses excluding share based compensation charge
 and impairment of property plant and equipment       16985 12248
share based compensation charge      31 374 173
impairment of property plant and equipment      18 1074 –
total administration and management expenses       18433 12421
rd expenses excluding share based compensation charge      2986 2398
share based compensation charge      31 90 19
total rd expenses       3076 2417
operating profit       15872 7371 
investment revenue      11 431 581
profit before tax       16303 7952
tax       14 4012 2062
profit for the year attributable to shareholders      8 29 12291 5890 
earnings per share from continuing operations
basic      16 3483p 1688p
diluted       16 3417p 1656p
restated to reflect the adoption of ifric 13 as per note 2
consolidated statement of recognised 
income and expense
for the year ended 30 june 2009
       year ended year ended 
       300609 300608 
       £000 £000
gainslosses on cash flow hedges       1296 168
exchange differences on translation of foreign operations        245 3
tax on items taken directly to equity       247  502
net income recognised directly in equity       1788  337 
 
profit for the year       12291 5890
total recognised income and expense for the year       14079 6227
 
consolidated income statement
for the year ended 30 june 2009 37 abcam plc   financials 
        300608 
       300609 restated 
      notes £000 £000
noncurrent assets 
intangible assets      17 793 994 
property plant and equipment      18 3541 4204
deferred tax asset      23 335 –
derivative financial instruments      22 326 –
       4995 5 198 
current assets
inventories      20 6796 4506 
trade and other receivables      21 6486 4860 
cash and cash equivalents       21 25501 13473 
shortterm deposits      21 – 1020
derivative financial instruments      22 1338 – 
       40121 23859 
total assets       45116 29057 
current liabilities
trade and other payables      24 6694 4169
current tax liabilities       1871 382
derivative financial instruments      22 – 197
       8565 4748
net current assets       31556 19 111
noncurrent liabilities
deferred tax liabilities      23 – 78
deferred creditor      24 83 109
       83 187
total liabilities       8648 4935
net assets       36468 24122
equity
share capital      26 355 351
share premium account      27 11558 10871
own shares      28 301 –
translation reserve      29 197 33
share based compensation reserve      29 962 483
hedging reserve      29 933 –
deferred tax reserve      29 1368 758
retained earnings      29 21396 11692
total equity attributable to shareholders       36468  24122
restated to reflect the adoption of ifric 13 as per note 2
the financial statements were approved by the board of directors and authorised for issue on 7 september 2009
they were signed on its behalf by
jeff iliffe
director
consolidated balance sheet
at 30 june 2009 annual report and accounts 2009                             abcam plc 
 
38
        300608 
       300609 restated 
      notes £000 £000
noncurrent assets
intangible assets      17 792 994
property plant and equipment      18 3054 3976
investments      19 105 45
deferred tax asset      23 159 –
derivative financial instruments      22 326 –
       4436 5015
current assets
inventories      20 6783 4501
trade and other receivables      21 6579 5 144
cash and cash equivalents       21 24090 11918
shortterm deposits      21 – 1020
derivative financial instruments      22 1338 –
       38790 22583 
total assets       43226 27598 
current liabilities
trade and other payables      24 6193 3719
current tax liabilities       1784 269
derivative financial instruments      22 – 197
       7977 4185
net current assets       30813 18398 
noncurrent liabilities
deferred tax liabilities      23 – 178
deferred creditor      24 83 109
       83 287
total liabilities       8060 4472
net assets       35166 23126 
equity
share capital      26 355 351 
share premium account      27 11558 10871 
own shares      28 301 –
share based compensation reserve      29 908 444
hedging reserve      29 933 – 
deferred tax reserve      29 1196 758
retained earnings      29 20517 10702 
total equity attributable to shareholders       35166 23126
restated to reflect the adoption of ifric 13 as per note 2
the financial statements were approved by the board of directors and authorised for issue on 7 september 2009
they were signed on its behalf by
jeff iliffe
director
company balance sheet
at 30 june 2009 39 abcam plc   financials 
       year ended year ended 
       300609 300608 
      notes £000 £000
net cash inflow from operating activities      30 14812 7 142
investing activities
investment income       513 581
proceeds on disposal of property plant and equipment       – 1
purchase of property plant and equipment       1756 2445
purchase of intangible assets       259 274
net cash used in investing activities       1502 2139
financing activities
dividends paid       2572 1481
proceeds on issue of shares       691 257
purchase of own shares       316 –
decreaseincrease in shortterm deposits       1020 1020
net cash used in financing activities       1177 2244
net increase in cash and cash equivalents       12133 2759
 
cash and cash equivalents at beginning of year       13473 10709
effect of foreign exchange rates       105 5
cash and cash equivalents at end of year       25501 13473
consolidated cash flow statement
for the year ended 30 june 2009 annual report and accounts 2009                             abcam plc 
 
40
       year ended year ended 
       300609 300608 
      notes £000 £000
net cash inflow from operating activities      30 13535 5858
investing activities
investment income       503  561 
proceeds on disposal of property plant and equipment       – 1 
purchases of property plant and equipment       1349 2434
purchases of intangible assets       258 251
investment in subsidiary       – 29
dividends received       918  401 
net cash used in investing activities       186 1751
financing activities
dividends paid       2572 1481
proceeds on issue of shares       691 257 
purchase of own shares       316 –
decreaseincrease in shortterm deposits       1020 1020
net cash used in financing activities       1177 2244
net increase in cash and cash equivalents       12172 1863
cash and cash equivalents at beginning of year       11918 10055 
cash and cash equivalents at end of year       24090 11918 
company statement of recognised 
income and expense
for the year ended 30 june 2009
       year ended year ended 
       300609 300608 
       £000 £000
gainslosses on cash flow hedges       1296 168
share based compensation charge recognised on behalf of subsidiaries      60 29
tax on items taken directly to equity       75  502
net income recognised directly in equity       1431  363 
 
profit for the year       11484 5 126
total recognised income and expense for the year       12915 5489
 
company cash flow statement
for the year ended 30 june 2009 41 abcam plc   financials 
notes to the consolidated  
financial statements
for the year ended 30 june 2009
1 general information
abcam plc the company is incorporated in the uk under the companies act 2006 the address of the registered office is 330 cambridge 
science park milton road cambridge cb4 0fl uk
the group’s activities consist of the development marketing and selling of antibodies and related products the group sells through the 
internet to customers in most countries of the world the group operates through its parent company abcam plc and through its wholly 
owned subsidiaries abcam inc and abcam kk
these financial statements are presented in pounds sterling because that is the currency of the primary economic environment in which the 
group operates foreign operations are included in accordance with the policies set out in note 3
2 adoption of new and revised standards
in the current year three interpretations issued by the international financial reporting interpretations committee ‘ifric’ are effective for 
the current period these are ifric 11 ifrs 2 – group and treasury share transactions ifric 13 – customer loyalty programmes and 
ifric 14 ias 19 – the limit on a defined benefit asset minimum funding requirements and their interaction the group was previously 
accounting for group and treasury share transactions in accordance with ifric 11 so no further changes have been made as a 
consequence of the adoption of this interpretation the adoption of ifric 14 has not led to any changes in the group’s accounting policies 
and had no impact on the group’s financial position and performance the adoption of ifric 13 has resulted in a reduction in revenue and 
administration and management expenses by £96000 in the year ended 30 june 2008 the effect on the comparative balance sheet was to 
increase trade and other payables by £96000 with a corresponding decrease in provisions there is no overall impact on results or net assets
the group has adopted ifrs 8 operating segments in advance of its effective date with effect from 1 july 2008 ifrs 8 requires operating 
segments to be identified on the basis of internal reports about components of the group that are regularly reviewed by the chief executive 
officer to allocate resources to the segments and to assess their performance in contrast the predecessor standard ias 14 segment 
reporting required the group to identify two sets of segments business and geographical using a risks and rewards approach with the 
group’s system of internal financial reporting to key management personnel serving only as the starting point for the identification of such 
segments as a result following the adoption of ifrs 8 the identification of the group’s reportable segments has changed there is no 
effect on reported net income or net assets as a result of applying this standard 
at the date of authorisation of these financial statements the following standards and interpretations which have not been applied in these 
financial statements were in issue but not yet effective and in some cases had not been adopted by the eu
ifrs 1 amendedias 27 amended cost of an investment in a subsidiary jointly controlled entity or associate
ifrs 1 amended additional exemptions for firsttime adopters
ifrs 2 amended share based payment – vesting conditions and cancellations
ifrs 2 amended group cashsettled share based payment transactions
ifrs 3 revised 2008 business combinations
ifrs 7 amended improving disclosures about financial instruments
ias 1 revised 2007 presentation of financial statements
ias 23 revised 2007 borrowing costs
ias 27 revised 2008 consolidated and separate financial statements
ias 32 amendedias 1 amended puttable financial instruments and obligations arising on liquidation
ias 39 amended financial instruments recognition and measurement eligible hedged items
ias 39 amended financial instruments reclassification of financial assets effective date and transition
ias 39 amendedifric 9 amended embedded derivatives
ifric 12 service concession arrangements
ifric 15 agreements for the construction of real estate
ifric 16 hedges of a net investment in a foreign operation
improvements to ifrss may 2008 
the amendment to ifrs 2 restricts the definition of vesting conditions to include only service conditions requiring a specified period of 
service to be completed and performance conditions requiring the other party to achieve a personal goal or contribute to achieving a 
corporate target all other features are not vesting conditions and whereas failure to achieve such a condition was previously regarded as 
a forfeiture giving rise to a reversal of amounts previously charged to profit it must be reflected in the grant date fair value of the award and 
treated as a cancellation which results in either an acceleration of the expected charge or a continuation over the remaining vesting period 
depending on whether the condition is under the control of the entity or counterparty the group is currently assessing its impact on the 
financial statements although it is not expected to be material
whilst the revised ias 1 will have no impact on the measurement of the group’s results or net assets it is likely to result in certain changes in 
the presentation of the group’s financial statements for the forthcoming year
the directors anticipate that the adoption of the remaining standards and interpretations in future periods will have no material impact on 
the group’s reported income or net assets in the period of adoption annual report and accounts 2009                             abcam plc 
 
42
3 significant accounting policies
basis of accounting
the financial statements have been prepared in accordance with international financial reporting standards ifrss the financial 
statements have also been prepared in accordance with ifrss adopted by the european union and therefore the group financial 
statements comply with article 4 of the eu ias regulation
after making enquiries the directors have a reasonable expectation that the group has adequate resources to continue in operational 
existence for the foreseeable future for this reason they continue to adopt the going concern basis in preparing the financial statements
the financial statements have been prepared on the historical cost basis except for the revaluation of certain financial instruments the 
group financial statements are presented in sterling and all values are rounded to the nearest thousand pounds £000 except when 
otherwise indicated the principal accounting policies adopted are set out below
basis of consolidation
the consolidated financial statements incorporate the financial statements of the company and entities controlled by the company made up 
to 30 june each year control is achieved where the company has the power to govern the financial and operating policies of an investee 
entity so as to obtain benefits from its activities
all intragroup transactions balances income and expenses are eliminated on consolidation
revenue recognition
revenue is measured at the fair value of the consideration received or receivable and represents amounts receivable for goods and 
services provided in the normal course of business net of discounts vat and other salesrelated taxes
sales of goods are recognised when goods are despatched and title has passed
sales of goods that result in award credits for customers under the abpoints scheme are accounted for as multiple element revenue 
transactions and the fair value of the consideration received or receivable is allocated between the goods supplied and the award credits 
granted the consideration allocated to the award credits is measured by reference to their fair value – the amount for which the award 
credits could be sold separately such consideration is not recognised as revenue at the time of the initial sale transaction but is deferred 
and recognised as revenue when the award credits are redeemed and the group’s obligations have been fulfilled 
interest income is accrued on a time basis by reference to the principal outstanding and the effective interest rate applicable which is the 
rate that exactly discounts estimated future cash receipts through the expected life of the financial asset to that asset’s net carrying amount
dividend income from investments is recognised when the shareholders’ rights to receive payment have been established
leasing
leases 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
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
assets held under finance leases are recognised as assets of the group at their fair value or if lower at the present value of the minimum 
lease payments each determined at the inception of the lease the corresponding liability to the lessor is included in the balance sheet as a 
finance lease obligation lease 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 finance charges are charged directly against income
foreign currencies
the individual financial statements of each group company are presented in the currency of the primary economic environment in which it 
operates its functional currency for the purposes of the consolidated financial statements the results and financial position of each group 
company are expressed in sterling which is the functional currency of the company and the presentation currency for the consolidated 
financial statements
in preparing the financial statements of the individual companies transactions in currencies other than the entity’s functional currency 
foreign currencies are recorded at the rates of exchange prevailing at the dates of the transactions at each balance sheet date monetary 
assets and liabilities that are denominated in foreign currencies are retranslated to the rates prevailing at the balance sheet date non
monetary items 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 nonmonetary items that are measured in terms of historical cost in a foreign currency are not retranslated
notes to the consolidated  
financial statements continued
for the year ended 30 june 2009 43 abcam plc   financials 
3 significant accounting policies continued
exchange differences are recognised in profit or loss in the period in which they arise except for
exchange differences on transactions entered into to hedge certain foreign currency risks see below under financial instrumentshedge •	
accounting and
exchange differences on monetary items receivable from or payable to a foreign operation for which settlement is neither planned nor •	
likely to occur which form part of the net investment in a foreign operation and which are recognised in the foreign currency translation 
reserve and recognised in profit or loss on disposal of the net investment
for the purpose of presenting consolidated financial statements the results of the operations of the company’s overseas subsidiaries 
abcam inc and abcam kk are translated at the monthly average exchange rates during the period and their balance sheets at the rates 
prevailing at the balance sheet date exchange differences arising on the translation of the opening net assets and results of operations are 
classified as equity and recognised in the group’s foreign currency translation reserve 
borrowing costs
borrowing costs are recognised in profit or loss in the period in which they are incurred
retirement benefit costs
payments to defined contribution retirement benefit schemes are charged as an expense as they fall due payments made to state
managed retirement benefit schemes are dealt with as payments to defined contribution schemes where the nature of the group’s 
obligations under the schemes is equivalent to those arising in a defined contribution retirement benefit scheme 
taxation
the tax expense represents the sum of the tax currently payable and deferred tax
the 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 some items of income or expense that are taxable or deductible in other years and it further excludes items that are 
never taxable or deductible the group’s 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 amount 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 the initial recognition of goodwill or from the 
initial recognition of other assets and liabilities in a transaction that affects neither the taxable 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 group 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 
the 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 where it relates to items charged or credited directly to equity in which 
case the deferred tax is also dealt with in equity
deferred tax assets and liabilities are offset when there is a legally enforceable right to set off current tax assets against current tax liabilities 
and when they relate to income taxes levied by the same taxation authority and the group intends to settle its current tax assets and 
liabilities on a net basis  annual report and accounts 2009                             abcam plc 
 
44
3 significant accounting policies continued
property plant and equipment
property plant and equipment are stated at cost less accumulated depreciation and any recognised impairment loss 
depreciation is charged so as to write off the cost or valuation of assets over their estimated useful lives using the straightline method on 
the following bases
office equipment fixtures and fittings 20 per annum
laboratory equipment 20 per annum
computer equipment  33 per annum
hybridomas 33 per annum
the 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 
intangible assets
expenditure on research activities is recognised as an expense in the period in which it is incurred
expenditure on development activities is recognised as an asset if and only if it meets the recognition criteria set out in ias 38 – intangible assets 
payments made to acquire software and distribution rights from third parties are capitalised at cost and amortised on a straightline basis 
over their estimated minimum useful lives the minimum useful life is determined to be three years in the case of software and the term of 
the deal in the case of distribution rights which can extend up to 10 years
impairment of tangible and intangible assets
at each balance sheet date the group 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 such indication exists the recoverable amount of the asset is estimated in 
order to determine the extent of the impairment loss if any an 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
if the recoverable amount of an asset is estimated to be less than its carrying amount the carrying amount of the asset is reduced to its 
recoverable amount an impairment loss is recognised as an expense immediately 
investments
investments in subsidiaries are stated at cost less where appropriate provisions for impairment 
inventories
inventories are stated at the lower of cost and net realisable value cost comprises direct materials and where applicable direct labour 
costs and an attributable portion of production overheads that have been incurred in bringing the inventories to their present location and 
condition cost is calculated using the standard cost method net realisable value represents the estimated selling price less all estimated 
costs of completion and costs to be incurred in marketing selling and distribution provision is made for obsolete slow moving or defective 
items where appropriate
financial instruments
financial assets and financial liabilities are recognised on the group’s balance sheet when the group becomes a party to the contractual 
provisions of the instrument 
trade and other receivables
trade receivables are measured at initial recognition at fair value appropriate allowances for estimated irrecoverable amounts are 
recognised in the income statement when there is objective evidence that the asset is impaired when a trade receivable is considered 
uncollectable it is written off against the allowance account subsequent recoveries of amounts previously written off are credited against 
the allowance account changes in the carrying amount of the allowance account are recognised in the income statement
cash and cash equivalents
cash and cash equivalents comprise cash on hand and demand deposits and other shortterm highly liquid investments that are readily 
convertible to a known amount of cash and are subject to an insignificant risk of changes in value
notes to the consolidated  
financial statements continued
for the year ended 30 june 2009 45 abcam plc   financials 
3 significant accounting policies continued
financial liabilities and equity
financial 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 the accounting 
policies adopted for specific financial liabilities and equity instruments are set out below
trade payables
trade payables are measured at amortised cost
equity instruments
equity instruments issued by the company are recorded at the proceeds received net of direct issue costs 
derivative financial instruments
forward contracts are used by the group to manage its exposure to the risk associated with the variability in cash flows in relation to both 
recognised assets or liabilities and forecast transactions 
derivatives are initially recognised at fair value at the date a derivative contract is entered into and are subsequently remeasured to their fair 
value at each balance sheet date a derivative with a positive fair value is recognised as a financial asset whereas a derivative with a 
negative fair value is recognised as a financial liability the resulting gain or loss is recognised in profit or loss immediately unless the 
derivative is designated and effective as a hedging instrument in which event the timing of the recognition in profit or loss depends on the 
nature of the hedge relationship 
a derivative is presented as a noncurrent asset or noncurrent liability if the remaining maturity of the instrument is more than 12 months 
and it is not expected to be realised or settled within 12 months other derivatives are presented as current assets or current liabilities 
hedge accounting
the group designates certain derivatives as either hedges of the fair value of recognised assets or liabilities or firm commitments fair value 
hedges or hedges of highly probable forecast transactions or hedges of foreign currency risk of firm commitments cash flow hedges 
at the inception of the hedge relationship the group documents the relationship between the hedging instrument and the hedged item 
along with its risk management objectives and its strategy for undertaking various hedge transactions furthermore at the inception of the 
hedge and on an ongoing basis the group documents whether the hedging instrument that is used in a hedging relationship is effective in 
offsetting changes in fair values or cash flows of the hedged item
fair value hedges
changes in the fair value of derivatives that are designated and qualify as fair value hedges are recognised immediately in profit or loss 
together with any changes in the fair value of the hedged item that is attributable to the hedged risk the change in the fair value of the 
hedging instrument and the change in the hedged item attributable to the hedged risk are recognised in the line of the income statement 
relating to the hedged item 
hedge accounting is discontinued when the group revokes the hedging relationship the hedging instrument expires or is sold terminated 
or exercised or no longer qualifies for hedge accounting the adjustment to the carrying amount of the hedged item arising from the 
hedged risk is amortised to the income statement from that date 
cash flow hedges
the effective portion of changes in the fair value of derivatives that are designated and qualify as cash flow hedges are deferred in equity 
the gain or loss relating to the ineffective portion is recognised immediately in profit or loss and is included in the ‘administration and 
management expenses’ line of the income statement 
amounts deferred in equity are recycled in profit or loss in the periods when the hedged item is recognised in profit or loss in the same line 
of the income statement as the recognised hedged item
hedge accounting is discontinued when the group revokes the hedging relationship the hedging instrument expires or is sold terminated 
or exercised or no longer qualifies for hedge accounting any cumulative gain or loss deferred in equity at that time remains in equity and is 
recognised when the forecast transaction is ultimately recognised in profit or loss when a forecast transaction is no longer expected to 
occur the cumulative gain or loss that was deferred in equity is recognised immediately in profit or loss annual report and accounts 2009                             abcam plc 
 
46
3 significant accounting policies continued
share based payments
the group has applied the requirements of ifrs 2 share based payment in accordance with ifrs 1 ifrs 2 has been applied to all grants 
of equity instruments after 7 november 2002 that were unvested at 1 july 2006
incentives in the form of shares are provided to employees under share option share purchase sip and longterm incentive plans ltip 
equitysettled share based payments are measured at fair value excluding the effect of non marketbased vesting conditions at the date of 
grant the fair value determined at the grant date of the equitysettled share based payments is expensed on a straightline basis over the 
vesting period based on the group’s estimate of the number of shares that will eventually vest 
fair value of options issued under the group’s share option schemes is measured by the use of the monte carlo simulation 
fair value of the awards under the group’s ltip is measured by the use of the monte carlo simulation for the tsr portion and the binomial 
model for the eps portion 
fair value of an equitysettled payment under the sip is measured as the face value of the award on the date of grant 
the 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 charges made to the income statement in respect of share based payments are 
credited to retained earnings
the group operates an employee benefit trust as part of its incentive plans for employees all assets and liabilities of the trust are recorded 
in the balance sheet as assets and liabilities of the company until such time as the assets are awarded to the beneficiaries all income and 
expenditure of the trust is similarly brought into the results of the company 
own shares
own equity instruments which are acquired are recognised at cost and deducted from equity no gain or loss is recognised in the income 
statement on the purchase sale issue or cancellation of the group’s own equity instruments any difference between the carrying amount 
and the consideration is recognised in reserves 
4 critical accounting judgements and key sources of estimation uncertainty
in the application of the group’s accounting policies which are described in note 3 the directors are required to make judgements 
estimates and assumptions about the carrying amounts of assets and liabilities as at the date of reporting the financial statements and the 
reported amounts of revenues and expenditure during the year in preparation of the consolidated financial statements estimates and 
assumptions have been made by the directors concerning the fair value of share options the estimated useful lives of fixed assets accruals 
and provisions required the carrying value of investments the recoverability of deferred tax assets the carrying value of intangible assets 
and other similar evaluations actual amounts may differ from those estimates
the estimates and underlying assumptions are reviewed on an ongoing basis revisions to accounting estimates are recognised in the 
period in which the estimate is revised if the revision affects only that period or in the period of the revision and future periods if the revision 
affects both current and future periods
key sources of estimation uncertainty
the key assumptions concerning the future and other sources of estimation uncertainty at the balance sheet date that have a significant 
risk of causing a material adjustment to the carrying amounts of assets and liabilities within the next financial year are discussed below 
impairment of property plant and equipment
as a result of a restructuring exercise in the company’s manufacturing activities certain assets were no longer generating future economic 
benefits the directors have made an assessment of the recoverable amount of these assets being 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 the recoverable amount of the assets is estimated to be less than their carrying amount and so the 
carrying amount of the assets has been reduced to the recoverable amount an impairment loss of £11m has been recognised as an 
expense immediately 
notes to the consolidated  
financial statements continued
for the year ended 30 june 2009 47 abcam plc   financials 
4 critical accounting judgements and key sources of estimation uncertainty continued
impairment of intangibles
management is in the process of renegotiating a product line acquisition deal consequently it was considered that the carrying value of 
this intangible was no longer supportable and an impairment loss of £02m has been recognised to take account of the recoverable amount 
of the contract
fair value of derivatives and other financial instruments
as described in note 25 the directors use their judgement in selecting an appropriate valuation technique for financial instruments not 
quoted in an active market valuation techniques commonly used by market practitioners are applied for derivative financial instruments 
assumptions are made based on quoted market rates adjusted for specific features of the instrument other financial instruments are valued 
using a discounted cash flow analysis based on assumptions supported where possible by observable market prices or rates
valuation of own manufactured inventory
the standard costs used for the valuation of own manufactured inventory require a number of assumptions concerning the allocation of 
overheads these assumptions are based primarily on management’s estimates of time spent in each relevant area of activity
provision for slow moving or defective inventory
the provision for slow moving or defective inventory is based on management’s estimation of the commercial life and shelf life of inventory 
lines and is applied on a prudent basis in assessing this management takes in to consideration the sales history of products and the length 
of time that they have been available for resale
5 income statement for the company
as permitted by section 408 of the companies act 2006 the company has elected not to present its own income statement for the year 
abcam plc reported a profit for the year ended 30 june 2009 of £11484000 2008 £5126000
6 revenue
an analysis of the group’s revenue all of which derives from continuing operations is as follows
        year ended 
       year ended 300608 
       300609 restated 
      notes £000 £000
sales of goods       56801 36598
investment revenue      11 431 581
       57232 37 179
restated to reflect the adoption of ifric 13 as per note 2
7 operating segments
adoption of ifrs 8 operating segments
the group has adopted ifrs 8 operating segments in advance of its effective date with effect from 1 july 2008 ifrs 8 requires operating 
segments to be identified on the basis of internal reports about components of the group that are regularly reviewed by the chief operating 
decision maker being the chief executive officer to allocate resources to the segments and to assess their performance in contrast the 
predecessor standard ias 14 segment reporting required the group to identify two sets of segments business and geographical using 
a risks and rewards approach with the group’s system of internal financial reporting to key management personnel serving only as the 
starting point for the identification of such segments as a result following the adoption of ifrs 8 the identification of the group’s reportable 
segments has changed
products and services from which reportable segments derive their revenues
in prior years segment information reported externally was analysed on the basis of geographical locations this is because the directors 
consider that there are no identifiable business segments that are engaged in providing individual products or services or a group of related 
products and services that are subject to risks and returns that are different to the core business the information reported to the group’s 
chief executive officer for the purposes of resource allocation and assessment of performance is based wholly on the overall activities of 
the group the group has therefore determined that it has only one reportable segment under ifrs 8 which is ‘sales of antibodies and 
related products’ the group’s revenue and results and assets for this one reportable segment can be determined by reference to the 
group’s income statement and balance sheet 
the group has no individual product or customer which comprises more than 10 of its revenues  annual report and accounts 2009                             abcam plc 
 
48
7 operating segments continued
geographical information
the group’s revenue from external customers and information about its noncurrent segment assets excluding deferred tax by 
geographical location are detailed below
   revenue 

 noncurrent assets
      year ended   
     year ended 300608 as at as at 
     300609 restated 300609 300608 
     £000 £000 £000 £000
united states     24535 15831 435 209
uk country of domicile     4883 4 148 4173 4970
germany     4719 2935 – –
japan     4634 2 1 15 52 19
other countries     18030 11569 – –
     56801 36598 4660 5 198
restated to reflect the adoption of ifric 13 as per note 2
revenues are attributed to countries on the basis of the customer’s location no country included within ‘other countries’ contributes more 
than 5 of the group’s total revenue 
8 profit for the year
profit for the year has been arrived at after chargingcrediting
       year ended  year ended 
       300609 300608 
      notes £000 £000
net foreign exchange losses       81 136
rd expenditure       3076 2417
operating lease rentals – land and buildings      12 822 545
depreciation of property plant and equipment      18 1417 1130
impairment loss on property plant and equipment      18 1074 –
loss on disposal of property plant and equipment       160 56
amortisation of intangible assets included within administration and management expenses   17 261 307
impairment loss on intangible assets included within administration and management expenses   17 201  642
cost of inventories recognised as an expense       18870 13850
writedown of inventories recognised as an expense       550 539
staff costs      10 10148 7308
impairment gainloss recognised on trade receivables      21 84 367
legal fees associated with potential offer for group       –  250
auditors’ remuneration      9 102 91
9 auditors’ remuneration
a detailed analysis of the auditors’ remuneration on a worldwide basis is provided below
        year ended year ended 
       300609 300608 
       £000 £000
fees payable to the company’s auditors for the audit of the company’s annual accounts    62 62
fees payable to the company’s auditors for other services to the group
– the audit of the company’s subsidiaries pursuant to legislation      13 13
total audit fees       75 75
– tax services        24 13
– recruitment and remuneration services       – 3
– other services relating to treasury advice       3  –
total nonaudit fees       27 16
total auditors’ remuneration       102 91
notes to the consolidated  
financial statements continued
for the year ended 30 june 2009 49 abcam plc   financials 
10 staff costs
group
the average monthly number of employees including executive directors was
   group 

 company
     year ended year ended  year ended year ended 
     300609 300608 300609 300608 
     number number number number
management administrative marketing and distribution     170 130 111 88
laboratory     44 36 44 36
     214 166 155 124
their aggregate remuneration comprised
   group 

 company
     year ended year ended year ended year ended 
     300609 300608 300609 300608 
     £000 £000 £000 £000
wages and salaries     8054 5776 5722 4508
social security costs     683 525 418 350
pension costs     947 815 867 776
charge in respect of share options granted     464 192 404 162
     10148 7308 7411 5796
11 investment revenue 
       year ended year ended 
       300609 300608 
       £000 £000
interest revenue on cash and shortterm deposits       431 581
12 operating lease arrangements
       year ended year ended 
       300609 300608 
       £000 £000
minimum lease payments under operating leases recognised as an expense in the year
land and buildings       822 545
at the balance sheet date the group and company had outstanding commitments for future minimum lease payments under noncancellable 
operating leases all of which relate to land and buildings which fall due as follows
   group 

 company
     300609 300608 300609 300608 
     £000 £000 £000 £000
within one year      834 651 438 392
in the second to fifth years inclusive     2552 1615 2158 996
     3386 2266 2596 1388
the above table reflects the committed cash payments under operating leases rather than the expected charge to the income statement in 
the relevant periods the effect on the income statement will differ to the above figures to the extent of the amortisation of a £11m lease 
incentive received on signing of a new lease in 200809 and also the amortisation of the rentfree period included in the same lease 
agreement the expected operating lease charge in 200910 is expected to be £778000 for the group and £382000 for the company annual report and accounts 2009                             abcam plc 
 
50
13 other gains or losses 
       year ended year ended 
       300609 300608 
       £000 £000
gainloss in fair value of forward exchange contracts
– on contracts used as hedging instruments        1296 –
– on other contracts see accounting policy note for derivative financial instruments    368 197
       1664 197
14 tax
       year ended year ended 
       300609 300608 
       £000 £000
current tax        4539 1632
deferred tax note 23       527 430
       4012 2062
corporation tax is calculated at 28 2008 295 of the estimated assessable profit for the year taxation for other jurisdictions is 
calculated at the rates prevailing in the respective jurisdictions
the charge for the year can be reconciled to the profit per the income statement as follows
     year ended year ended year ended year ended 
     300609 300609 300608 300608 
     £000  £000 
profit before tax      16303  7952 
tax at the uk corporation tax rate of 28 2008 295     4565 280 2346  295
effect of different tax rates of subsidiaries operating in different jurisdictions   175 10 158  20
tax effect of expenses that are not deductible in determining taxable profit   48 03 75  09
rd tax credit uplift     771 47 325 41
deduction for exercise for share options     – – 122 15
prior year adjustments     5 00  70 09
tax expense and effective rate for the year      4012 246 2062 259
15 dividends
       year ended year ended 
       300609 300608 
       £000 £000
amounts recognised as distributions to equity holders in the year
final dividend for the year ended 30 june 2008 of 456p 2007 319p per share     1612 1 1 16
interim dividend for the year ended 30 june 2009 of 271p 2008 104p per share     960 365
total distributions to equity holders in the period       2572 1481
proposed final dividend for the year ended 30 june 2009 of 940p 2008 456p per share    3339 1599
the proposed final dividend is subject to approval of the shareholders at the agm and has not been included as a liability in these  
financial statements
notes to the consolidated  
financial statements continued
for the year ended 30 june 2009 51 abcam plc   financials 
16 earnings per share
the calculation of the basic and diluted earnings per share is based on the following data
       year ended year ended 
       300609 300608 
       £000 £000
earnings
earnings for the purposes of basic and diluted earnings per share     
  being net profit attributable to equity holders of the parent      12291 5890
number of shares
weighted average number of ordinary shares for the purposes of basic earnings per share    35287943 34902538
effect of dilutive potential ordinary shares
 share options       679385 671614
weighted average number of ordinary shares for the purposes of diluted earnings per share    35967328 3557 4152
basic earnings per share is calculated by dividing the earnings attributable to ordinary shareholders by the weighted average number of 
shares outstanding during the year diluted earnings per share is calculated on the same basis as basic earnings per share but with a 
further adjustment for the weighted average shares in issue to reflect the effect of all dilutive potential ordinary shares the number of 
dilutive potential ordinary shares is derived from the number of share options granted to employees where the exercise price is less than the 
average market price of the company’s ordinary shares during the year
17 intangible assets
group
     upfront distribution 
     licence fees rights software total 
     £000 £000 £000 £000
cost
at 1 july 2007     150 1798 – 1948
additions     15 237 – 252
disposals     1 – – 1
revaluation for impairment     – 642 – 642
at 1 july 2008     164 1393 – 1557
additions     99 – 162 261
disposals     1 – – 1
at 30 june 2009     262 1393 162 1817
amortisation and impairment
at 1 july 2007     68 189 – 257
charge for the year     53 254 – 307
disposals     1 – – 1
at 1 july 2008     120 443 – 563
charge for the year     61 157 43 261
impairment loss     – 201 – 201
disposals     1 – – 1
at 30 june 2009     180 801 43 1024
carrying amount
at 30 june 2008     44 950 – 994
at 30 june 2009     82 592 119 793 annual report and accounts 2009                             abcam plc 
 
52
17 intangible assets continued
company
     upfront distribution 
     licence fees rights software total 
     £000 £000 £000 £000
cost
at 1 july 2007     150 1798 – 1948
additions     15 237 – 252
disposals     1 – – 1
revaluation for impairment     – 642 – 642
at 1 july 2008     164 1393 – 1557
additions     99  – 161 260
disposals     1 – – 1
at 30 june 2009     262 1393 161 1816
amortisation and impairment
at 1 july 2007     68 189 – 257
charge for the year     53 254 – 307
disposals     1 – – 1
at 1 july 2008     120 443 – 563
charge for the year     61 157 43 261
impairment loss     – 201 – 201
disposals     1 – – 1
at 30 june 2009     180 801 43 1024
carrying amount
at 30 june 2008     44 950 – 994
at 30 june 2009     82 592 118 792
the amortisation period for the upfront licence fees and software is three years the amortisation period for the distribution rights is the term of 
the deal the impairment loss is in respect of the reduction in the forecast revenues and profits of one of the distribution rights agreements
notes to the consolidated  
financial statements continued
for the year ended 30 june 2009 53 abcam plc   financials
18 property plant and equipment
group
      offi ce 
      equipment    
    computer laboratory fixtures  
    equipment equipment and fittings hybridomas total 
    £000 £000 £000 £000 £000
cost
at 1 july 2007    454 2531 948 – 3933
additions    158 2168 166 22 2514
exchange differences    4 1 2 – 7
disposals    28 21 5 – 54
at 1 july 2008    588 4679 1111 22 6400
additions    193 653 1025 66 1937
exchange differences    30 53 48 – 131
disposals    68 1 780  35 884
at 30 june 2009    743 5384 1404 53 7584
accumulated depreciation and impairment
at 1 july 2007    218 346 537 – 1101
charge for the year    149 709 269 3 1130
exchange differences    23 9 5 – 37
eliminated on disposals    1 – 1 – 2
at 1 july 2008    345 1046 802 3 2196
charge for the year    165 1032 200 20 1417
impairment loss    63 988 9 14 1074
exchange differences    17 23 40 – 80
eliminated on disposals    63 1 654 6 724
at 30 june 2009    527 3088 397 31 4043
carrying amount
at 30 june 2008    243 3633 309 19 4204
at 30 june 2009    216 2296 1007 22 3541 annual report and accounts 2009                             abcam plc 
 
54
18 property plant and equipment continued
company
      offi ce 
      equipment    
    computer laboratory fixtures  
    equipment equipment and fittings hybridomas total 
    £000 £000 £000 £000 £000
cost
at 1 july 2007    344 2286 750 – 3380
additions    143 2161 156 22 2482
disposals    26 20 2 – 48
at 1 july 2008    461 4427 904 22 5814
additions    138 630 693 66 1527
disposals    57 1 780 35 873
at 30 june 2009    542 5056 817 53 6468
accumulated depreciation and impairment
at 1 july 2007    180 292 449 – 921
charge for the year    113 660 172 3 948
eliminated on disposals    21 9 1 – 31
at 1 july 2008    272 943 620 3 1838
charge for the year    119 967 118 20 1224
impairment loss    62 986 7 14 1069
eliminated on disposals    56 1 654 6 717
at 30 june 2009    397 2895 91 31 3414
carrying amount
at 30 june 2008    189 3484 284 19 3976
at 30 june 2009    145 2161 726 22 3054
as a result of the decision to refocus the monoclonal manufacturing resource towards more targeted lower level production an impairment 
loss of £11m 2008 £nil has been recognised in the year relating to tangible assets associated with the higher volume production 
processes which will not now be implemented 
19 investments
the company’s subsidiaries at 30 june 2009 and 2008 are
       proportion proportion  
      country of of shares of voting  
      incorporation held power held
abcam inc      usa 100 100
abcam kk      japan 100 100
camgene      uk 100 100
abcam inc and abcam kk are involved in the sale and distribution of antibodies and related products camgene is dormant
analysis of changes in investments
        £000
at 1 july 2008        45
additions        60
at 30 june 2009        105
investments are held at cost less provision for impairment all additions represent share based payment charges for share options issued 
by the company to employees of the subsidiaries
notes to the consolidated  
financial statements continued
for the year ended 30 june 2009 55 abcam plc   financials 
20 inventories
   group 

 company
     300609 300608 300609 300608 
     £000 £000 £000 £000
goods for resale     6796 4506 6783 4501
21 financial assets
trade and other receivables
   group 

 company
     300609 300608 300609 300608 
     £000 £000 £000 £000
amounts receivable for the sale of goods     5685 4288 2614 2470
allowance for doubtful debts     305 591 115 413
     5380 3697 2499 2057
amounts owed by subsidiary undertakings     – – 3332 2 169
other debtors     516 499 277 292
prepayments     590 664 471 626
     6486 4860 6579 5 144
trade receivables
the average credit period taken for sales is 320 days 2008 344 days no interest has been charged on the receivables trade receivables 
are provided for based on estimated irrecoverable amounts determined by reference to past default experience the group and company 
have provided fully for all receivables over 120 days because historical experience is such that receivables that are past due beyond 120 days 
are generally not recoverable trade receivables between 30 days and 120 days are provided for based on estimated irrecoverable amounts 
from the sale of goods determined by reference to past default experience
credit limits for each customer are reviewed on a monthly basis no customer represents more than 5 of the total balance of trade receivables
the analysis below shows the balances included in debtors which are past due at the reporting date for which the group or company has 
not provided as there has not been a significant change in credit quality and the amounts are still considered recoverable
ageing of past due but not impaired receivables
   group 

 company
     300609 300608 300609 300608 
     £000 £000 £000 £000
0 to 30 days overdue     938 242 434 111
30 to 60 days overdue     90 48 – 48
     1028 290 434 159
during the prior year the group formalised and improved the credit control procedures this has resulted in a noticeable improvement in the 
ageing of the debtors of the past two years
movement in the allowance for doubtful debts
   group 

 company
     300609 300608 300609 300608 
     £000 £000 £000 £000
balance at the beginning of the year     591 224 413 198
impairment gainslosses recognised through income statement    84 367 17 215
exchange differences on translation of foreign operations     39 – – –
amounts written off as uncollectable     241 – 281 –
balance at the end of the year     305 591 115 413 annual report and accounts 2009                             abcam plc 
 
56
21 financial assets continued
in determining the recoverability of a trade receivable the group and company consider any change in the credit quality of the receivable 
from the date credit was initially granted up to the reporting date the concentration of credit risk is limited due to the customer base being 
large and unrelated accordingly the directors believe that there is no further credit provision required in excess of the allowance for 
doubtful debts
included in the allowance for doubtful debts are no individually impaired trade receivables 2008 £289000 relating to companies in 
financial difficulties the impairment recognised in the prior year represents the difference between the carrying amount of these trade 
receivables and the present value of the expected litigation proceeds neither the group nor the company holds collateral over these 
balances the balances were written off as uncollectable within the year ended 30 june 2009 
ageing of impaired receivables
       300609 300608 
       £000 £000
0 to 30 days overdue       99 –
30 to 60 days overdue       155 –
60 to 90 days overdue       35 38
more than 90 days overdue       16 553
       305 591
the directors consider that the carrying amount of trade and other receivables approximates their fair value
cash and cash equivalents and shortterm deposits
   group 

 company
     300609 300608 300609 300608 
     £000 £000 £000 £000
cash and cash equivalents and shortterm deposits     25501 14493 24090 12938
cash and cash equivalents and shortterm deposits comprise cash held by the group or company and shortterm deposits with an original 
maturity of three months or less the carrying amount of these assets approximates their fair value
22 derivative financial instruments
group and company
       300609 300608 
       £000 £000
derivatives which mature within one year
derivatives that are designated and effective as hedging instruments carried at fair value
forward exchange contracts       970 –
derivatives carried at fair value through profit and loss fvtpl
forward exchange contracts that are not designated in hedge accounting relationships    368 197
       1338 197
derivatives which mature after more than one year
derivatives that are designated and effective as hedging instruments carried at fair value
forward exchange contracts       326 –
       1664 197
further details of derivative financial instruments are provided in note 25
notes to the consolidated  
financial statements continued
for the year ended 30 june 2009 57 abcam plc   financials
23 deferred tax
the following are the major deferred tax liabilities and assets recognised by the group and company and movements thereon during the 
current and prior reporting period
group
    accelerated  share other 
    tax cash flow based timing 
    depreciation hedges payment differences total 
    £000 £000 £000 £000 £000
at 1 july 2007    549 – 306  55  188
chargecredit to income    332 – 224  126  430
credit to equity     – – 540  – 540
at 30 june 2008    881 – 622  181  78
creditcharge to income    481 – 135 89 527
chargecredit to equity    1 363 222 28 114
at 30 june 2009    401 363 979 120 335
company
    accelerated  share other 
    tax cash flow based timing 
    depreciation hedges payment differences total 
    £000 £000 £000 £000 £000
at 1 july 2007    549 – 306  55  188
chargecredit to income    338 – 54  54  230
credit to equity     – – 240  – 240
at 30 june 2008    887 – 600  109  178
creditcharge to income    534 – 113 119 528
chargecredit to equity     – 363 172  – 191
at 30 june 2009    353 363 885 10  159
at the balance sheet date the aggregate amount of temporary differences associated with undistributable earnings of subsidiaries for 
which a deferred tax liability has not been recognised is £1210000 2008 £1028000 no liability has been recognised in respect of these 
differences because the group is in a position to control the timing of the reversal of temporary differences and it is probable that such 
differences will not reverse in the foreseeable future
24 other financial liabilities
trade and other payables
   group 

 company
      300608  300608 
     300609 restated 300609 restated 
     £000 £000 £000 £000
amounts falling due within one year
trade payables     1703 1992 1502 1783
amounts owed to subsidiary undertakings     – – 218 95
accruals and deferred income     4603 1742 4128 1439
deferred creditor     57 86 57 86
other taxes and social security     241 160 226 159
other creditors     90 189 62 157
     6694 4 169 6193 3719
amounts falling due after more than one year
deferred creditor     83 109 83 109
     6777 4278 6276 3828
restated to reflect the adoption of ifric 13 as per note 2 annual report and accounts 2009                             abcam plc 
 
58
24 other financial liabilities continued
trade creditors and accruals principally comprise amounts outstanding for trade purchases and ongoing costs the average credit period 
taken for trade purchases is 19 days 2008 17 days most suppliers do not charge interest for the first 60 days of the invoice the group 
has financial risk management policies in place to ensure that all payables are paid within the credit time frame the directors consider that 
the carrying amount of trade and other payables approximates to their fair value
the deferred creditor represents the earnout payable on sales of products under a distribution agreement 
25 financial instruments
capital risk management
the group manages its capital to ensure that entities in the group will be able to continue as going concerns whilst maximising the return to 
stakeholders the capital structure of the group consists of cash and cash equivalents and equity attributable to the equity holders of the 
parent comprising issued capital reserves and retained earnings
significant accounting policies
details of the significant accounting policies and methods adopted including the criteria for recognition the basis of measurement and the 
basis on which income and expenses are recognised in respect of each class of financial asset financial liability and equity instrument are 
disclosed in note 3 foreign exchange contracts are measured using quoted forward exchange rates and the yield curves derived from 
quoted interest rates matching maturities of these contracts
categories of financial instruments
   group   company 
   carrying value 

 carrying value
     300609 300608 300609 300608 
     £000 £000 £000 £000
financial assets
loans and receivables
amounts owed by subsidiary undertakings     –  – 3332 2033
trade receivables     5380 3697 2499 2057
vat recoverable included in other debtors     290 234 224 234
     5670 3931 6055 4324
cash and cash equivalents
cash and cash equivalents and shortterm deposits     25501 14493 24090 12938
loans and receivables including cash and cash equivalents    31171 18424 30145 17262
financial liabilities
other financial liabilities at amortised cost
trade and other payables     6694 4169 6193 3719
current tax liabilities     1871 382 1784 269
noncurrent deferred creditor     83 109 83 109
amortised cost     8648 4660 8060 4097
the directors consider there to be no material difference between the book value and the fair value of the group’s financial assets and 
liabilities at the balance sheet date this is because most of the financial assets and liabilities are shortterm
risk in relation to the use of financial instruments
credit risk
credit risk refers to the risk that a counterparty will default on its contractual obligations resulting in financial loss to the group or the 
company trade receivables consist of a large number of customers spread across diverse geographical areas the group does not have  
a significant credit risk exposure to any single counterparty ongoing credit evaluation is performed on the financial condition of accounts 
receivable and consideration is given as to whether there is any impairment in the value of any amounts owing
notes to the consolidated  
financial statements continued
for the year ended 30 june 2009 59 abcam plc   financials
25 financial instruments continued
the standard payment terms for receivables other than intragroup balances are 30 days any variation in these terms requires authorisation 
by senior management year end debtor days are 320 days 2008 344 days all overdue debts are provided for where collectability is 
considered doubtful or the value of the debt is impaired objective evidence of impairment could include the group’s past experience of 
collecting payments an increase in the number of delayed payments in the portfolio past the average credit period of 320 days as well as 
observable changes in international or local economic conditions
the standard payment terms for intragroup receivables are 45 days there is not considered to be any risk of impairment of these 
receivables unless the financial assets of the entity holding the corresponding liability are impaired
the credit risk on liquid funds and derivative financial instruments is limited because the counterparties are banks with high creditratings 
assigned by international creditrating agencies funds are split between at least two institutions
market risk
the group’s activities expose it primarily to the financial risks of changes in foreign currency exchange rates and interest rates the group 
enters into forward exchange contracts to hedge the exchange rate risk arising on the sales of goods and services denominated in dollars 
and euros
foreign currency risk management
the group undertakes certain transactions denominated in foreign currencies the group’s policy is to maintain natural hedges where 
possible by matching foreign currency revenue and expenditure exchange rate exposures are managed within approved policy 
parameters utilising forward exchange contracts
the carrying amounts of the group’s foreign currency denominated monetary assets and liabilities at the reporting date are as follows
   liabilities 

 assets
     300609 300608 300609 300608 
     £000 £000 £000 £000
euros     211 79 1882 1655
dollars     1459 821 3447 3886
yen     39 17 490 539
     1709 917 5819 6080
foreign currency sensitivity analysis
the group’s principal functional currency is sterling the group is mainly exposed to dollars and euros but has an increasing exposure to 
japanese yen the following table demonstrates the group’s sensitivity to an 8 increase and decrease in the sterling exchange rate 
against the relevant foreign currencies on the group’s profit before tax and equity due to the fair value of monetary assets liabilities and 
forward exchange contracts outstanding as at 30 june 2009 8 is considered by management to be a reasonably possible change in 
foreign exchange rates after giving consideration to changes in exchange rates over the last 12 months a positive number indicates an 
increase in profit or equity
 yen currency impact 

 euro currency impact 

 dollar currency impact
   2009 2008 2009 2008 2009 2008 
   £000 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000
effect of an 8 strengthening in relevant exchange rate on
profit or loss   – 39 94 323 68 73
other equity   176 – 1163 – 907 –
effect of an 8 weakening in relevant exchange rate on
profit or loss   – 45 111 65 80 70
other equity   167 – 1365 – 1064 –
in management’s opinion the sensitivity analysis is representative of the inherent foreign exchange risk at year end  annual report and accounts 2009                             abcam plc 
 
60
25 financial instruments continued
forward exchange contracts
it is the policy of the group to enter into forward exchange contracts to manage the risk associated with anticipated sales transactions out to 
15 months within 30 to 80 of the exposure generated upon maturity of a forward exchange contract the group may enter into a new 
contract designated as a separate hedging relationship
foreign currency forward contracts are measured using quoted forward exchange rates and the yield curves derived from quoted interest 
rates matching maturities of the contracts
the following table details the forward exchange contracts outstanding as at the year end
      foreign  contract fair 
     average currency value value 
     rate 300609 300609 300609 
outstanding contracts     300609 000 £000 £000
sell dollars
less than 3 months     149 2600 1749 168
3 to 6 months     149 5300 3558 333
7 to 12 months     150 8000 5324 451
13 to 15 months     151 4200 2781 220
     150 20100 13412 1172
sell euros
less than 3 months     114 €2200 1932 58
3 to 6 months     114 €4200 3687 107
7 to 12 months      114 €7800 6862 209
13 to 15 months     114 €4200 3692 104
     114 €18400 16173 478
sell yen
less than 3 months     15747 ¥50000 318 2
3 to 6 months     15728 ¥100000 636 4
7 to 12 months     15684 ¥150000 956  6
13 to 15 months     15630 ¥75000 480 2
     15693 ¥375000 2390 14
total of outstanding forward contracts       31975 1664
      foreign  contract fair 
     average currency value value 
     rate 300608 300608 300608 
outstanding contracts     300608 000 £000 £000
sell dollars
less than 3 months     197 1200 608 3
3 to 6 months     196 2400 1222 2
7 to 12 months     194 600 309 2
     196 4200 2139 7
sell euros
less than 3 months     133 €1700 1278 70
3 to 6 months     134 €2800 2088 134
     134 €4500 3366 204
total of outstanding forward contracts       5505 197
at 30 june 2009 the fair value of contracts held as cash flow hedges is £1296000 the remaining contracts are not held as cash flow 
hedges at 30 june 2008 none of the contracts were held as cash flow hedges
notes to the consolidated  
financial statements continued
for the year ended 30 june 2009 61 abcam plc   financials 
25 financial instruments continued
liquidity risk management
ultimate responsibility for liquidity risk management rests with the board of directors which has built an appropriate liquidity risk 
management framework for the management of the group’s short medium and longterm funding and liquidity management requirements 
the group manages liquidity risk by maintaining adequate reserves and banking facilities by continuously monitoring cash flows and 
matching the maturity profiles of financial assets and liabilities
the group and company hold cash deposits at call or with a maturity of up to 12 months at 30 june 2009 the average maturity of balances 
was 47 days 2008 35 days of fixed rate deposits not sensitive to changes in interest rates all funds are readily available to the company 
to meet operational requirements
the amount owing from subsidiaries is payable on demand and is classified as being payable within one month trade payables are 
normally payable within 30 days of invoice
liquidity and interest risk tables – financial liabilities
all balances are capital and do not include accrued interest
    weighted 
    average 
    interest on demand 1 to 3 3 months 
    rate 1 month months to 1 year total 
     £000 £000 £000 £000
group
2009
trade payables    – 1604 82 17 1703
accruals and deferred income    – 3725 196 682 4603
     5329 278 699 6306
company
2009
trade payables    – 1403 82 17 1502
accruals and deferred income    – 3367 133 628 4128
     4770 215 645 5630
    weighted 
    average 
    interest on demand 1 to 3 3 months 
    rate 1 month months to 1 year total 
     £000 £000 £000 £000
group
2008
trade payables     – 1961 25 6 1992
accruals and deferred income     – 1268  – 474 1742
     3229 25 480 3734
company
2008
trade payables     – 1758 25  – 1783
accruals and deferred income     – 1021  – 418 1439
     2779 25 418 3222
interest rate risk sensitivity analysis
an increase of 1 in the average interest rate during the year would have resulted in an increase in interest received by the group of 
£376000 2008 £113000 and by the company of £369000 2008 £103000 a decrease of 1 in the average interest rate during the 
year would have resulted in a reduction in interest received by the group of £136000 2008 £113000 and by the company of £113000 
2008 £103000 there would have been no effect on equity reserves 
the closing cash balance at the year end has been used as the basis for the calculations a 1 increase or decrease in interest rates 
represents management’s assessment of the reasonably possible change in interest rates  annual report and accounts 2009                             abcam plc 
 
62
26 share capital
group and company
       300609 300608 
       £000 £000
authorised
100000000 ordinary shares of 1p each       1000 1000
issued and fully paid
35525450 2008 35066781 ordinary shares of 1p each       355 351
the movement during the year on the company’s issued and fully paid shares was as follows
      2009 2009 2008 
      number £000 £000
balance at beginning of year      35066781 351 346
issue of share capital      458669 4 5
balance at end of year      35525450 355 351
the company has one class of ordinary shares which carry no right to fixed income 
during the year the company issued 1p ordinary shares as follows
       exercise  total 
      number price paid 
date issued      of shares p £
july 2008      2382 22400 5336
september 2008      60800 2500 15200
september 2008      32000 5000 16000
september 2008      10280 6250 6425
october 2008      1200 1250 150
october 2008      80000 2500 20000
october 2008      28440 6250 17775
october 2008      545 22400 1121
october 2008      6525 45100 29428
november 2008      59410 46200 274474
november 2008      1344 48500 6518
november 2008      42500 6250 26563
november 2008      40000 12500 50000
january 2009      440 47000 2068
february 2009      407 49200 2002
march 2009      348 57000 1984
april 2009      10000 2500 2500
april 2009      16320 6250 10200
april 2009      615 28000 1722
april 2009      6100 31200 19032
april 2009      150 46200 693
may 2009      3020 6250 1888
may 2008      15996 28000 44789
may 2008      28180 31200 87922
may 2008      8550 46200 39501
june 2008      1465 22400 3282
june 2008      902 28000 2526
june 2008      750 31200 2340
      458669  691439
 new shares issued and held by the employee benefit trust to satisfy the company’s obligations under the free shares and matching shares elements of the sip 
further details of the company’s share option schemes are provided in note 31 
notes to the consolidated  
financial statements continued
for the year ended 30 june 2009 63 abcam plc   financials 
27 share premium
group and company
        £000
balance at 1 july 2007        10619
premium arising on issue of equity shares        252
balance at 1 july 2008        10871
premium arising on issue of equity shares        687
balance at 30 june 2009        11558
there were no costs of issue incurred during the year or the previous year
28 own shares
group and company
        £000
balance at 1 july 2007 and 1 july 2008        –
acquired in the period        316
disposed of on exercise of options        15
balance at 30 june 2009        301
this balance represents the cost of 65094 shares in abcam plc 2008 nil which were issued by the company at market value and held by 
the abcam employee share benefit trust these shares have been purchased in order to satisfy the free shares and matching shares 
elements of the various share based compensation plans see note 31 for further details of these schemes 
29 retained earnings and other reserves
group
   share based 
  translation compensation hedging deferred tax retained 
  reserve
1
 reserve
2
 reserve
3
 reserve
4
 earnings total 
  £000 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000
balance as at 1 july 2007  36 251  168 256 7283 7922
exchange differences 
 on translation of foreign operations  3   –  – – – 3
share based compensation charge   – 232   – – – 245
deferred tax asset recognised   –  –  – 502 – 502
profit for the year   –  –  – – 5890 5890
utilisation of derivative instruments   –  – 168 – – 168
payment of dividends note 15   –  –  – – 1481 1481
balance as at 1 july 2008  33 483   – 758  11692 12900
exchange differences 
 on translation of foreign operations  230 15  –  – – 245
share based compensation charge    – 464  –  – – 464
deferred tax liabilityasset recognised    –  – 363 610 – 247
profit for the year    –  –  –  – 12291 12291
own shares disposed of on exercise of options  –  –  –  – 15 15
increase in fair value of hedging derivatives   –  – 1296  – – 1296
payment of dividends note 15    –  –  –  – 2572 2572
balance as at 30 june 2009  197 962 933 1368 21396 24856
1 exchange differences on translation of overseas operations
2 ifrs 2 charge for fair value of share options
3 gains and losses recognised on cash flow hedges
4 portion of deferred tax asset arising on outstanding share options and share options exercised and not taken to profit and loss in accordance with ias 12 annual report and accounts 2009                             abcam plc 
 
64
29 retained earnings and other reserves continued
company
   share based 
   compensation hedging deferred tax retained 
   reserve
1
 reserve
2
 reserve
3
 earnings total 
   £000 £000 £000 £000 £000
balance as at 1 july 2007    251 168 256 6654 7329
share based compensation charge    164 – – – 164
share based compensation charge recognised on behalf of subsidiaries  29 – – – 29
deferred tax asset recognised    – – 502 – 502
profit for the year    – – – 5126 5126
utilisation of derivative instruments    – 168 – – 168
payment of dividends note 15    – – – 1481 1481
receipt of dividends    – – – 403 403
balance as at 1 july 2008    444 – 758 10702 11904
share based compensation charge    404 – – – 404
share based compensation charge recognised on behalf of subsidiaries  60 – – – 60
deferred tax liabilityasset recognised    – 363 438 – 75
profit for the year    – – – 11484 11484
own shares disposed of on exercise of options     –  –  – 15 15
increase in fair value of hedging derivatives    – 1296 – – 1296
payment of dividends note 15    – – – 2572 2572
receipt of dividends    – – – 918 918
balance as at 30 june 2009    908 933 1196 20517 23554
1 ifrs 2 charge for fair value of share options
2 gains and losses recognised on cash flow hedges
3 portion of deferred tax asset arising on outstanding share options and share options exercised and not taken to profit and loss in accordance with ias 12
30 notes to the cash flow statement
   group 

 company
     300609 300608 300609 300608 
     £000 £000 £000 £000
operating profit for the year     15872 7371 14514 6 1 13
adjustments for
depreciation of property plant and equipment     1417 1092 1224 917
impairment losses on property plant and equipment     1074 – 1069 –
loss on disposal of property plant and equipment     160 – 156 –
amortisation of intangible assets     261 309 261 306
impairment losses on intangible assets     201 642 201  642
decrease in provisions     16 – 16 –
change in fair value of derivatives outstanding at year end     565 197 565 197
share based compensation charge     464 232 404 192
operating cash flows before movements in working capital    18884 9843 17264 8367
increase in inventories     2289 1405 2282 1412
increase in receivables     1263 533 1393 572
increase in payables     2182
1
 772 2144
1
  503
cash generated by operations     17514 8677 15733 6886
income taxes paid     2702 1535 2198 1028
net cash inflow from operating activities     14812 7 142 13535 5858
1 this increase in payables includes £10m of the total balance of £11m received as an incentive from the landlord of premises leased by abcam plc with effect from 
december 2008
notes to the consolidated  
financial statements continued
for the year ended 30 june 2009 65 abcam plc   financials 
31 share based payments
equitysettled share option scheme
the company operates a number of share option schemes for certain employees of the group the share based compensation charge is 
made up from option awards from the emi plan unapproved share option plan the us employees share option plan the abcam 2005 
share option scheme the saye scheme the longterm incentive plan ‘ltip’ and the share incentive plan ‘sip’ option grants under 
each scheme have been aggregated
some grants under the saye scheme vest from one to five years those options with performance criteria vest when the criteria are met 
the vesting period for all other options is from one to three years if the options remain unexercised after a period of 10 years from the date 
of grant the options expire options are forfeited if the employee leaves the group before the options vest
the volatility of the options is based on the longterm average volatility in the share price of five quoted companies that are considered to 
have a reasonable comparability with abcam plc the dividend yield is based on abcam’s actual dividend yield in the past
the risk free rate is the yield on uk government gilts at each date of grant the employee exercise multiple is based on published statistics 
for a portfolio of companies the employee exit rate is based on management’s expectations and in accordance with ifrs 2 is applied 
after vesting
the group recorded a total share based expense of £464000 in the year 2008 £192000 of which £374000 2008 £173000 was 
included within administration and management expenses and £90000 2008 £19000 was included within rd expenses
summary of all schemes excluding sip and ltip
options outstanding as at 30 june 2009 had an exercise price of between 1250p and 46200p 2008 1000p and 41300p the weighted 
average remaining contractual life is 746 years 2008 812 years the weighted average fair value of the options outstanding at the end of 
the year was 6556p 2008 6524p the group recorded total share based expenses of £272000 2008 £192000 relating to all schemes 
excluding the sip and ltip
      weighted  weighted 
     2009 average 2008 average 
     number of exercise number of exercise 
     share price share price 
     options p options p
outstanding at beginning of year     1389012 21999 1568335 15603
granted during the year     181021 46200 544875 31610
forfeited during the year     46936 34070 280801 23324
exercised during the year     390195 9765 443397 5796
outstanding at the end of the year     1132902 23231 1389012 21999
exercisable at end of year     150080 10916 302640 4307
enterprise management incentive emi scheme
      weighted  weighted 
     2009 average 2008 average 
     number of exercise number of exercise 
     share price share price 
     options p options p
outstanding at beginning of year     833528 20694 966 191 13151
granted during the year     – – 284851 31200
forfeited during the year     27274 29869 90 177 16141
exercised during the year     290706 8120 327337 5380
outstanding at the end of the year     515548 27278 833528 20694
exercisable at end of year     50080 4759 262640 4011
the growth in the net assets of the group means that the group has exceeded the limits set by hmrc for the tax incentives available under 
the emi scheme so no further grants can be made under this scheme  annual report and accounts 2009                             abcam plc 
 
66
31 share based payments continued
unapproved share option scheme
      weighted  weighted 
     2009 average 2008 average 
     number of exercise number of exercise 
     share price share price 
     options p options p
outstanding at beginning of year     354909 22366 427504 19471
granted during the year     – – 148338 34030
forfeited during the year     – – 137375 28834
exercised during the year     86397 10991 83558 7176
outstanding at the end of the year     268512 26026 354909 22366
exercisable at end of year     100000 14000 40000 6250
abcam inc share scheme
      weighted  weighted 
     2009 average 2008 average 
     number of exercise number of exercise 
     share price share price 
     options p options p
outstanding at beginning of year     121712 29147 104207 18556
granted during the year     – – 81160 31200
forfeited during the year     3921 59365 32735 31200
exercised during the year     – –  30920  5633
outstanding at the end of the year     117791 31515 121712 29147
exercisable at end of year     – – – –
saye scheme
      weighted  weighted 
     2009 average 2008 average 
     number of exercise number of exercise 
     share price share price 
     options p options p
outstanding at beginning of year     78863 23111 70433 22400
granted during the year     – – 30526 24900
forfeited during the year     7465 22684 20514 23386 
exercised during the year     4392 22400 1582 22400
outstanding at the end of the year     67006 23205 78863 2311 1
exercisable at end of year     – – – –
the abcam 2005 share option scheme
        weighted 
       2009 average 
       number of exercise 
       share price 
       options p
outstanding at beginning of year       – –
granted during the year       181021 46200
forfeited during the year       8276 46200
exercised during the year       8700 46200 
outstanding at the end of the year       164045 46200
exercisable at end of year       – –
notes to the consolidated  
financial statements continued
for the year ended 30 june 2009 67 abcam plc   financials 
31 share based payments continued
fair value calculation
the fair value of the option schemes other than those options with marketbased performance criteria has been calculated using the 
trinomial method the inputs into the trinomial model are as follows
emi scheme 
grant date   160603 160603 050704 171204 270505 050905
share price at grant pence   10 10 25 30 625 625
fair value at valuation date pence   26 26 85 123 192 191
exercise price pence   25 375 25 25 625 625
expected volatility   40 40 35 35 30 30
expected life years   3 308 2 288 2 2
expected dividend yield   11 11 11 11 11 11
risk free rate   397 397 508 449 431 415
employee exercise multiple   2 2 2 2 2 2
employee exit rate   1000 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000
unapproved scheme
grant date    201204 201204 300905 300905 271005
share price at grant pence    30 30 625 625 167
fair value at valuation date pence    112 116 189 102 5577
exercise price pence    25 25 625 125 150
expected volatility    35 35 30 30 30
expected life years    154 2 182 182 1635
expected dividend yield    11 11 11 11 11
risk free rate    446 446 429 429 440
employee exercise multiple    2 2 2 2 2
employee exit rate    1000 1000 1000 1000 1000
saye scheme
grant date     021006 021006 081107 081107
share price at grant pence     280 280 312 312
fair value at valuation date pence     104 113 106 122
exercise price pence     224 224 249 249
expected volatility     30 30 30 30
expected life years     3 5 3 5
expected dividend yield     11 11 15 15
risk free rate     454 454 480 480
employee exercise multiple     2 2 2 2
employee exit rate     1000 1000 1200 1200
the fair value of options issued after september 2006 with marketbased performance criteria are calculated using the monte carlo model 
the inputs into the monte carlo model are as follows
grant date     070906 081107 070508 061108
share price at grant pence     280 312 413 4625
fair value at valuation date pence     84 89 123 115
exercise price pence     280 312 413 462
expected volatility     30 30 30 24
expected life years     3 301 3 3
expected dividend yield     11 15 15 087
risk free rate     457 480 479 390
employee exercise multiple     2 2 2 2
employee exit rate     953 1200 1200 000 annual report and accounts 2009                             abcam plc 
 
68
31 share based payments continued
share incentive plan
all ukbased employees are eligible to participate in the sip whereby employees buy shares in the company these shares are called 
partnership shares and are held in trust on behalf of the employee for every partnership share bought by the employee the company will 
give the employee one share free of charge matching shares provided the employee remains employed by the company for a period of at 
least three years the employees must take their shares out of the plan on leaving the company and will not be entitled to the matching 
shares if they leave within three years of buying the partnership shares in addition the company can also award employees the right to 
acquire up to a maximum of £3000 of shares free shares there are no vesting conditions attached to the free shares other than being 
continuously employed by the company for three years from the date of grant
       sip sip 
       free matching 
       shares shares
outstanding at beginning of year       – –
granted during the year       59410 10271
forfeited during the year       2244 –
exercised during the year       2982 398 
outstanding at end of year       54184 9873
exercisable at end of year       – –
for the purposes of ifrs 2 the fair value of these matching shares and free shares is determined as the market value of the shares at the 
date of grant no valuation model is required to calculate the fair value of awards under the sip the fair value of an equitybased payment 
under the sip is the face value of the award on the date of grant because the participants are entitled to receive the full value of the shares 
and there are no marketbased performance conditions attached to the awards
the group recognised a total expense of £68000 2008 £nil related to matching and free share awards in the year 
longterm incentive plan
in 2008 the company approved a new ltip vesting of performance share awards made under this scheme is conditional upon achievement 
of two separate performance conditions full details of the performance conditions are shown in the directors’ remuneration report  
all awards made under this scheme have a fixed term of three years save as permitted in the ltip rules awards lapse on an employee 
leaving the company 
details of performance share awards outstanding during the year are as follows
        ltip awards 
        2009
granted during the year and outstanding at end of year        154545
exercisable at end of year        –
these performance share awards were made on 6 november 2008 the aggregate of the fair values of the awards made on that date is 
£573000 the estimated fair values were calculated using a stochastic monte carlo binomial model the inputs to the model for awards 
granted in the year were as follows
grant date        061108
weighted average exercise price pence        –
expected volatility        24
expected life        3 years
expected dividend yield        087
risk free rate        341
the group recognised a total expense of £124000 2008 £nil related to performance share awards under the ltip in the year
notes to the consolidated  
financial statements continued
for the year ended 30 june 2009 69 abcam plc   financials 
32 retirement benefit schemes
defined contribution schemes
the ukbased employees of the company have the option to be members of a defined contribution pension scheme managed by a third 
party pension provider for each employee who is a member of the scheme the company will contribute a fixed percentage of each 
employee’s salary to the scheme the only obligation of the group with respect to this scheme is to make the specified contributions 
the employees of the group’s subsidiaries in the usa and japan are members of statemanaged retirement benefit schemes operated by 
the governments of the usa and japan respectively the subsidiaries are required to contribute a specified percentage of payroll costs to 
the retirement benefit schemes to fund the benefits the only obligation of the group with respect to the retirement benefit schemes is to 
make the specified contributions
the total cost charged to the income statement in respect of these schemes during the year ended 30 june 2009 was £947000  
2008 £815000 as at 30 june 2009 contributions of £75000 2008 £65000 due in respect of the current reporting period had  
not been paid over to the schemes 
33 related party transactions
under a new product development agreement with a laboratory associated with tony kouzarides a nonexecutive director of the 
company abcam provided products from its catalogue free of charge with a resale value of £24018 2008 £16714 and paid £41166  
in royalties 2008 £36148 £5889 relating to these royalties was outstanding at the year end 2008 £6632
abcam plc purchased services with a value of £51050 2008 £6000 from cambridge network limited and its subsidiaries which are 
nonprofit making entities of which david cleevely chairman of the company is chairman £7912 was prepaid at the end of the year  
2008 £nil these services were purchased at the market value 
remuneration of key personnel
the remuneration of the executive directors who are the key management personnel of the group is set out below in aggregate for each of 
the categories specified in ias 24 – related party disclosures
group and company
       300609 300608 
       £000 £000
shortterm employee benefits and fees       1078 1033
share based payment       153 50
       1231 1083 annual report and accounts 2009                             abcam plc 
 
70
notes 71 abcam plc   financials 
notes annual report and accounts 2009                             abcam plc 
 
72
notes our vision is to build the 
largest online catalogue 
of the best antibodies in 
the world
directors’ report
01 highlights
02 at a glance
04 we source and produce
06 we add value with customer support
08 we distribute internationally
10 another year of continued growth
12 chairman’s review
14 chief executive officer’s review
16 financial review
18 board of directors
20 corporate directory
21 report on affairs of the group
24 corporate governance statement
27 directors’ remuneration report
34 statement of directors’ responsibilities
financials
35 independent auditors’ report
36 consolidated income statement
36 consolidated statement of recognised income and expense
37 consolidated balance sheet
38 company balance sheet
39 consolidated cash flow statement
40 company cash flow statement
40 company statement of recognised income and expense
41 notes to the consolidated financial statements abcam annual report and accounts 2009
annual report and accounts 
year ended 30 june 2009
a producer and distributor of researchgrade antibodies
wwwabcamplccom
330 cambridge science park
cambridge
cb4 0fl
uk
email corporateabcamcom
phone 44 01223 696000
fax 44 01223 771600


Summary:
 annual report and accounts 2009                             abcam plc 
 
12
david cleevely chairman
it gives me particular 
pleasure to be reporting on 
an outstanding performance 
and the excellent progress 
made during the year 
 
trading has begun well  
in the new financial year 
reflecting the robust  
and defensive nature of  
our markets
we are presenting our results for the 2009 financial year against  
a backdrop of one of the most challenging global economic 
environments for many years it therefore gives me particular 
pleasure to be reporting on an outstanding performance and the 
excellent progress made during the year abcam was established 
11 years ago to meet the needs of the research scientist for reliable 
validated antibodies for protein detection a central function of life 
science research since then we have been dedicated to assisting 
global research through investment in the extension of our product 
catalogue and increased and improved validation of our products 
across an expanded range of applications throughout that time the 
central tenets of our business have been to build an infrastructure 
such that our expansion is controlled and sustainable and critically 
to stay in close communication with our customer base so that we 
can better serve them and anticipate their future requirements
we are proud to have built a global business that is characterised 
by a rapidly increasing demand for its products and a strong 
customer base located across the world we have fulfilled over half 
a million orders since our foundation and have a huge and growing 
volume of information on our antibodies this information much of 
which is available on our website is provided from our own inhouse 
facility from our customers and suppliers and via articles which 
are now running at over 2000 per quarter in independent scientific 
publications our strong customer focus extends into the continued 
development of our ecommerce platform which provides easy 
access to detailed information relating to our products and 
extensive followup technical support all aimed at improving the 
experience of and assisting the researcher 
sales in the year increased by 552 to £568m and we benefited 
significantly from the weakness of sterling which had a positive 
impact on reported sales within that figure underlying sales growth 
at constant currency rates was still very strong at 278 and we 
made significant progress in each of our main markets
our aim is to deliver sustainable growth through continued 
investment in the business this year we have continued to develop 
the website to optimise the user experience and as part of our 
continued focus on being close to the markets and our customers 
we now have our own inhouse customer survey capability which 
will play an important role in guiding new developments 
our north american and japanese offices have both had excellent 
years and grown significantly asia represents an opportunity for us 
which is as yet relatively untapped we are therefore in the process 
of opening a sales and marketing office in hong kong to serve the 
local market and mainland china as with the opening of our 
japanese office in 2006 this will initially be on a small scale as  
we look to develop our market penetration and provide improved 
customer service levels elsewhere our distributor network has 
been further enhanced with the addition of three new distributors 
and we now have coverage over several countries in south america 
as indicated in the announcement accompanying our interim results 
in march we have taken steps to refocus our monoclonal 
manufacturing resource towards more targeted production of a 
narrower range of high selling monoclonal antibodies which we will 
supplement with the selective sourcing of monoclonal antibodies 
from third parties our aim is to leverage our excellent market 
position and knowledge to focus on areas of high demand as we 
chairman’s review abcam plc   directors’ report 13
currently do with our polyclonal production as a consequence  
we are taking an impairment charge of £11m in the year relating  
to assets which are no longer utilised as a result of the decision to 
refocus strategy away from the highervolume production processes 
our customers are the lifeblood of our business and are central  
to its operation i would like to extend thanks to them for their  
continued support to our suppliers who serve us so well and 
to our shareholders
growth at the levels we are reporting requires dedicated and 
capable staff and i am delighted to say that we have continued to 
attract people of the highest calibre at all levels across the business 
we thank them for their continued commitment creativity and 
attention to detail which makes our success possible
dividends
the board’s policy for the past two years has been to distribute  
33 of posttax earnings in light of the continued strong cash flow 
and success of the group the directors are recommending that  
the distribution ratio for this year be increased to 35 an interim 
dividend of 271p per share was paid in april 2009 and the directors 
are therefore recommending a final dividend of 940p per share 
making a total of 1211p for the year an increase of 1162 on that 
paid last year subject to shareholder approval at the annual 
general meeting ‘agm’ in november the final dividend will be 
paid on 27 november 2009 to shareholders on the register on  
6 november 2009
outlook
the potential impact of the global recession on our business is 
difficult to assess but trading has begun well in the new financial 
year the robust and defensive nature of our markets particularly 
from centrally funded research has been well demonstrated during 
the past year nevertheless the current economic circumstances 
demand a degree of caution 
since the company was founded our philosophy has been market 
led focusing on the provision of the best quality products in the 
most relevant and meaningful way for the research scientist this 
requires an integrated approach across all areas of the business 
and guides all that we do our track record demonstrates the 
strength of this philosophy which i am sure will continue to serve  
the company well in the future
i was particularly pleased to welcome mike redmond to the board 
as deputy chairman earlier in the year as i indicated in the 
announcement of his appointment after 11 years it is my intention to 
step down from the board and i will be doing so at the agm in early 
november i am very proud of our achievements the strength of the 
company which has been built and the quality of the staff we have 
been able to attract i am sure that under mike redmond’s guidance 
and leadership as chairman abcam will continue to thrive 
david cleevely freng
chairman
7 september 2009