ant plc
annual report  accounts
for the year ended 31 december 2008
enabling and delivering nextgeneration tv experiences  contents
financial highlights 2
ant business model 4
chairmans statement 5
chief executive officers review 6
board of directors 10
corporate governance report 12
directors report 14
directors remuneration report 17
independent auditors report  group 19
consolidated income statement 20
consolidated balance sheet 21
consolidated statement of cash flows 22
notes to the financial statements 23
independent auditors report  ant plc 43
company balance sheet  uk gaap 45
notes to the financial statements  uk gaap 46
notice of annual general meeting 49
form of proxy 55
ant plc annual report and accounts 2008   1 2 ant plc annual report and accounts 2008
financial highlights
revenue
gross margin
operating costs
£374m
2007 £29m
83
2007 85
£444m
2007 £484m
ant develops software that allows services like programme or channel guides to
work on set top boxes and televisions
around the world television is changing
at the heart of this change ants products enable a wide range of exciting new tv
services creating the navigation and control functions and supporting attractive
user interfaces these can be delivered over broadband digital terrestrial cable or
satellite networks ant ensures that services like video on demand or timeshift tv
are simple to use for millions of users every day operational highlights
• revenue loss before tax and year end cash balance all ahead of expectations
• 14 new licences signed 2007 7
• 32m units shipped up by 56 2007 20m
• samsung ant galio browser based hybrid stb launched to support next
growth phase of france telecom’s rollout
• strong cost and cash management controls
ant plc annual report and accounts 2008  3
loss before tax
cash  other financial assets
cash outflow
£101m
2007 £202m
£565m
2007 £621m
£056m
2007 £133m 4 ant plc annual report and accounts 2008
ant generates revenue from the licensing of intellectual property ip and royalties from any product shipped
containing that ip  in addition revenue is generated from professional services in the form of consultancy and
support and maintenance
the group licences primarily to set top box stb manufacturers and it is these licences that generate revenue
our professional services are relevant not only to the stb manufacturers but also television operators and media
owners
in order to best illustrate this below is a description of a television operator’s commercial relationship with ant
ant increases its ability to market its software by
• encouraging the device manufacturer to promote devices that carry ant’s software 
preintegrated into new business opportunities
• encouraging operators to include ant’s software in their specifications for new deployments
the ant business model detailed above is not only applicable to tv operators deploying their services over a
single network type for example over cable or broadband networks but increasingly to operator deployment
services over multiple combined networks for example france telecom is deploying a service over a combination
of satellite terrestrial and broadband networks in france the stbs use ant galio to receive their tv services
across all three network infrastructures simultaneously this trend of combining network type is rapidly increasing
and plays to a strength of ant’s software – its ability to manage complex tv service delivery into the home
ants business model
television operators license and develop television services which
they then sell to consumers using a subscription fee model
these services are provided over a network and received by the
subscriber through an stb connected to the television or directly into
the tv itself
ant’s software goes into the stb or the tv and manages the tv’s
presentation of the service enables the service’s features and
facilitates the consumer’s interaction with the tv services
the provision of ant’s software to the stb or tv manufacturer is
carried out under licence for which ant charges a fee the fee varies
depending on the range of technology licensed ant charges a 
perunit royalty fee upon shipment of each stb or tv as mentioned
above ant charges additional fees in relation to the provision of
consulting services and support and maintenance ant plc annual report and accounts 2008  5
chairman’s statement
for the year ended 31 december 2008
2008 was a strong year for ant we saw a significant
increase in our licensing business with our licensees
continuing to ship in increasing volumes as a result the
group reported results ahead of expectations and despite
difficult market conditions is working to achieve another
good year the operational management team continues to
exercise tight control over key business drivers which is
underlined by the group’s cash position of £56m at the
year end 
ant is a high margin business servicing the long term
growth of the television market the group’s software
which has been designed specifically for television has
already achieved significant market share the business is
well positioned to take advantage of this growth which is
evident in the increase in units shipped 56 up on 2007
ant is also seeing its product portfolio growing in
relevance to other digital television markets broadening the
group’s future opportunities
with operators facing increasing pressures to maximise
revenue potential and offset falling advertising streams and
consumers being driven by changes in technology digital
switch over and high definition upgrades our products’
ability to drive increased services and value into the
consumers’ relationship with their television is key
looking ahead the board is confident that ant’s business
model is robust and we look forward to delivering another
successful year
on behalf of the board i would like to thank all our
employees for their commitment and contribution to the
continued development of the business in the last year 
royston hoggarth
chairman
2nd march 2009  chief executive officer’s review
introduction
2009 has started as 2008 ended on a positive note with the
announcements by taiwan’s chunghwa telecom’s laboratories
and softathome of their selection of ant galio for their next
generation browser while current economic conditions will
inevitably constrain growth rates over the next few years the
ongoing structural changes in the tv market supports our
confidence in the market’s longterm growth potential with our
significant market share we are well placed to benefit from
these
financial review
group revenues for the year at £37m were 29 higher than
2007 reflecting an increase in the number and variety of
licences signed an increase in units shipped and favourable
exchange rate movements in the year
revenue from licencing and royalties was £29m 2007 £21m
with professional services contributing £08m 2007 £08m 
14 new licences were signed in the year 2007 7 which was
the major factor behind the increase in licence and royalty
income
units shipped in the year from ant licensees increased by 56
reflecting a general broadening of the group’s shipping
customer base and a more than doubling to 9 of the numbers
of licensees shipping more than 100000 units 2007 4
however royalty income was broadly unchanged year on year
as there was a substantial reduction in advance royalties
booked as part of the licensing deals signed during the year
this was offset by an increase in royalty income from licensees
who had already exhausted their advance royalty payments
gross margins remained stable in the year at 83 2007 85
operating costs at £44m 2007 £48m were 8 lower than
last year – although 2008 benefited from exchange rate gains
while spending on rd in 2008 rose by 10 operating
expenses reduced by 23 of which 9 was due to exchange
rate gains headcount at 31 december 2008 was 49 2007 45
the average headcount in the year was 47 2007 45
the average sterlingus dollar rate for the year was 180
2007 201 approximately 90 per cent of the group’s
business in the year was conducted outside the uk– the
majority of which was denominated in us dollars
losses before tax for the year halved to £10m 2007
£20m of which £06m was due to favourable currency
movements
the group continued to focus on managing its working
capital tightly with net cash outflow for the year being
significantly reduced to £06m 2007 £13m outflow cash
and cash equivalents and other financial assets as at 31
december 2008 were £56m 2007 £62m our treasury
policy for managing our cash balances is to ensure that we
retain adequate cash on short term deposits to meet our
daily operational needs while committing the surplus to
treasury deposits of varying lengths spread across a number
of “aa” rated financial institutions
the group has unrecognised tax losses available to be offset
against future profits of £106m the directors are not
recommending the payment of a final dividend
market overview
the evolution of digital media markets continues to drive
significant change and disruption to the traditional modes of
delivering media worldwide consumers and providers are
increasingly embracing the opportunities that digital media
services have to offer and this momentum is growing the
consumer electronics and technology market continues to
anticipate these new services and has ensured that home
devices are ready to adapt quickly to the changing habits of
the consumer whether that is to store share watch
nowlater recommend or interact with the abundance of
content that is increasingly becoming available
internet protocol ip networks broadband networks and
the internet are also providing new opportunities for non
traditional delivery of video content to the tv set through a
variety of devices such as game consoles media centres
media extenders ipenabled tv sets operator and retail
hybrid integrated multiple network set top boxes “hybrid
stbs” and bluray disc bd players the proliferation of
6 ant plc annual report and accounts 2008 broadband services both in terms of geographic expansion
and increased bandwidth from operators enables these
devices to access a wealth of video content from video
aggregators consumer generated media sites and social
networking sites
we are also seeing the rapid emergence of hybrid devices
such as stbs that combine support for digital broadcast tv
satellite cable or terrestrial and broadbandbased services
this trend plays strongly to ant’s galio platform strengths
providing the consumer with a simple unified tv experience in
an increasingly complex infrastructure environment television
providers are blending third party services with their own to
increase differentiation ims research predicts that this
broadcastbroadband hybrid device market will grow from
being in 350 million homes at the end of 2008 to more than
600 million homes by the end of 2013
televisions themselves are also becoming more sophisticated
media platforms with digital broadcast and broadband service
capabilities built into many models recent forecasts by
screen digest for such integrated digital tv idtv reached
nearly 70 million units shipped at the end of 2008 and are
forecast to grow to over 100 million units by 2012 this was
reinforced at the consumer electronics show ces in las
vegas in january 2009 where tv manufacturers including
samsung lg pioneer and panasonic demonstrated many
idtv models
endorsing ant’s vision of connected tv platforms yahoo
launched their connected tv ‘widgets’ platform ‘widgets’ are
mini applications such as weather news sport in 2008 we
expect to see the advent of hybrid platforms with connected
media services becoming mainstream from device
manufacturers and tv operators in 2009 we believe that
growth will come from increased user awareness and the
enabling of access to multiple consumer services from these
devices
market drivers
in many markets this growth in delivery of digital tv services
has at its core continuing support from governments and
regulators to accelerate the transition from the analogue to the
digital tv spectrum other key drivers include the increase in
broadband coverage the adoption of new technologies in
the home such as high definition tv ‘hdtv’ and the
rapidly accelerating demand for digital interactive content
both online and via broadcast
in 2008 we saw positive trends in all these areas the move
from analogue to digital spectrum is on track in all major
markets in the uk over 88 of primary tv sets are able to
receive digital television whilst globally this figure is on
average 75 in the last eight years consumer broadband in
the uk has reached 58 of homes ofcom 2008 international
review and is poised for super broadband as through
government initiative access speeds of 20mbs or more to
consumers become the target
in 2008 we also saw a significant shift from the purchase of
physical multimedia cd dvd games to online purchasing
of digital media music downloads reached 107bn music
tracks up 27 on 2007 and we saw an array of new video
on demand vod services such as those from netflix
itunes and microsoft achieve traction
through our technology and by virtue of our reputation in
the industry we are well placed to help operators set top
box manufacturers and in the future tv manufacturers
make this shift these trends supported by market
projections from a number of sources give us confidence
that we are operating in a market that will grow substantially
over the next three to five years
market growth
while no market is or will be untouched by the global
economic recession the projected growth figures for the tv
market indicate that there is already sufficient momentum
underway for it to grow substantially over the next three to
five years even if there were to be some shortfall in the
current industry projections 
• multimedia research group’s latest iptv global forecast 
predicts that global iptv subscribers will grow from 
approximately 20m in 2008 to approximately 90m in 2012
driven by the investment by operators worldwide in 
improved quality of service ease of operation hd content
and time shifting
ant plc annual report and accounts 2008  7 chief executive officer’s review
continued
in all major markets the standard analogue spectrum is being
shut down by 2012 to make way for digital services this
supported by an ever increasing array of hd channels and
premium programming events such as the world cup in 2010
and the olympic games in 2012 illustrate some of the
compelling events that will help drive consumers to move to
digital
ant is ideally placed to capitalise on these trends by providing
device manufacturers with the middleware and applications to
take advantage of this structural growth in the market through
the use of such device manufacturers’ products operators can
provide the consumer with a compelling and intuitive user
experience for which he or she should be willing to pay even in
these more economically constrained times
ant’s software is being extensively deployed throughout the
world by customers including france telecom telecom italia
telekom austria and chunghwa telecom these deployments
have been achieved through stb manufacturers licensing
directly from ant including the likes of amino technologies
advanced digital broadcast samsung cisco pirelli sagem
thomson and hwacom
product marketing strategy
the group’s strategy for growing its revenues remains
unchanged namely to 
• maximise royalty revenues from existing high volume fresco 
and ant galio deployments
• migrate operators and subsequently the stb manufacturers 
who seek to sell through them to the greater capability and 
higher value of the ant galio platform and
• enhance ant’s value and revenue per subscriber through 
the commercial exploitation of its new range of media 
applications
ant offers a flexible and media centric applications platform
a range of highly customisable media applications and portal
services enabling direct access to such services as catch up
tv tv widgets and social networking etc our software
including our content development kits cdks enable tv
operators and device manufacturers to significantly reduce
the time and cost to launch such new services 
ant’s well established fresco browser continues to support
the majority of ant deployments migration to ant galio is
proceeding satisfactorily however thereby providing us with
additional licence income and higher per unit royalties
the ant galio platform is an easytouse nonproprietary
platform solution for digital media delivery it comprises
• ant galio browser – an advanced standardsbased web 
browser engine optimised for complex tv application 
dynamic user interface and portal services support and
• ant galio client – which provides a wide range of tv
focused extensions for manipulating digital media
ant galio is built on open standards the familiarity of these
standards provides immediate advantages for both operators
and content developers including the ability to quickly
changepersonaliseadapt user interfaces this in turn
provides operators with more opportunities to build brand
awareness and to take advantage of potential revenue
opportunities through targeted sponsorship and advertising
it is the unique flexibility and cross platform capability of
ant’s software that has made fresco and latterly ant galio
the market leading delivery platforms and products of
choice while enabling ant to attain a market share of more
than 50 of global iptv deployments today
softathome has chosen ant galio to enhance its operating
platform in order to deliver high quality user experience for
service providers ant galio continues to be selected by
operators to support more sophisticated user interface
designs and extend the capability of media applications to
provide a significantly improved user experience to support
greater device value and revenues in the medium to long
8 ant plc annual report and accounts 2008 term ant has now developed a complete range of core tv
applications these include program guide channel zapper
fully integrated personal video recorder pvr parental
control video on demand and portal services all applications
support the full customisation of user interface design and
provide operators and device manufacturers with a highly
optimised route to market for their products 
operational and technical developments
during the year we took a number of steps designed to 
reinforce our technical leadership position and to improve the
way in which we service our customers in particular
• we adopted a process of sharing our technical roadmap 
over the next two years with the group’s key customers to 
ensure that we take their plans into account in establishing 
our future development plans and priorities thereby 
increasingly making ant part of their own development 
and service plans
• we worked with all the major chipset manufacturers to 
ensure product compatibility thereby enabling our software 
to support whichever chipset our device manufacturer 
should select
• ant galio browser release 30 was launched at ibc in 
september 2008 providing device manufacturers with 
improved performance and extended compliance with 
industry standards
• we launched our cdk  an editing and content debugging
tool that reduces application developers’ and operators’ 
time to market
outlook
while in no way impervious to current economic conditions
there are a number of factors specific to our business that
make us cautiously optimistic that we should see further
growth in revenue in 2009 in particular 
• we started 2009 with a strong pipeline of deals which we 
expect to close during the year – the first of which has 
already been signed with softathome adopting ant galio
browser
• we expect our available markets to develop in 2009
• we expect to benefit from an increase in average royalty 
rate as the unit shipments of ant galio based products 
form a higher percentage of total unit shipments by our 
licensees and
• we expect to continue to benefit from currency exchange 
rates in 2009
our market has strong structural reasons why it will continue
to grow over the next three to five years provided we
continue to deliver products to our customers that allow
them to drive attractive services into the consumer market
more quickly and more efficiently than anything offered by
our competitors we believe that ant has an exciting future
ahead
simon woodward
chief executive
2nd march 2009
ant plc annual report and accounts 2008  9 board 
of directors
royston hoggarth
nonexecutive chairman
royston joined ant as nonexecutive chairman in
march 2007 he is ceo of bt global services uk
and has a wealth of industry experience having held
a variety of senior management and ceo roles in
ibm logicacmc and cable  wireless plc
royston holds a bschons in communications from
london university
tudor brown
nonexecutive director
tudor joined ant as a nonexecutive director in may
2005 and became senior independent director in may
2006 one of the founders of arm tudor is president
of arm holdings plc he was at acorn computers
where he worked on the arm rd programme
before becoming arms engineering director and
chief technical officer in 1993 in 2000 he was
appointed executive vice president global
development during which he was responsible for
arms successful strategic development in the far
east and served as chief operating officer from 2001
until 2008 tudor holds an ma in electrical sciences
from cambridge university and is a fellow of the
institution of engineering and technology
david kynaston
nonexecutive director
david joined ant as a nonexecutive director in
january 2005 david has 35 years experience in the
electronics industry including positions in scientific
research through to operational and strategic
management he was executive senior vice president
at solectron corporation a provider of electronics
manufacturing and supply chain services a position
from which he retired in january 2002 prior to joining
solectron david was business unit director business
communications systems at philips electronics david
was recently a nonexecutive director of achievo
corporation an offshore software and information
technology outsourcing provider
10 ant plc annual report and accounts 2008
simon woodward
president and chief executive officer
simon woodward joined ant in 1997 as chief
executive and is responsible for developing and
executing its commercial strategy in 2005 he led ant
to a successful public offering on the london stock
exchange aim prior to joining ant simon ran an
information technology management consulting
company and during a long and successful career in
the it industry has more than 25 years experience he
has covered a range of business disciplines including
accounting engineering and marketing simon initially
trained as an accountant in practice and in 1983 joined
acorn computer group in the uk where he held
various senior managerial positions in rd marketing
and business development including taking
responsibility for negotiating strategic relationships with
a variety of major industry partners pauline ingram
group finance director
pauline joined ant in june 2004 and has an indepth
knowledge of the business and its customer base in
july 2007 she was appointed as finance director to
the trading company ant software and then to
group finance director of ant plc in february 2008
pauline has a ba hons in business studies from 
de montfort university leicester and is a fellow of the
association of chartered certified accountants prior
to joining ant she has worked in a variety of sectors
including the automotive pharmaceuticals telematics
and manufacturing
bruce anderson
nonexecutive director
bruce has a ba in modern languages from manchester
university and an msc in management and business
studies from warwick university he qualified as a fellow
of the chartered institute of management accountants
while working with coopers and lybrand since then he
has gained a wide range of experience over a twenty
year period working in the automotive defence and the
mobile telecommunication sectors initially with plessey
which he rejoined in 1984 as finance director of
plessey military communications with varity corp as
group director finance and planning at perkins engines
based at peterborough then as group financial
controller of lucas varity and from sept 2000 as
finance director and company secretary of ttp
communications plc until their acquisition by motorola in
june 2006 following the successful integration of the
business into motorola
ant plc annual report and accounts 2008  11
directors and advisers
directors
r hoggarth
s a woodward
p ingram appointed 28 february 2008
t brown
d kynaston
b anderson appointed 24 january 2008
secretary
m lobo
auditors
ernst  young llp
compass house
80 newmarket road
cambridge
cb5 8dz
bankers
barclays bank
58 high street
newmarket
suffolk
cb8 8nh
legal advisers
charles russell llp
5 fleet place
london 
ec4m 7rd
nominated adviser and broker
arbuthnot securities limited
arbuthnot house
20 ropemaker street
london 
ec2y 9ar
registrars
computershare investor services plc
po box 82
the pavillions
bridgewater road
bristol
bs99 7nh
registered office
cambridge business park
cowley road
cambridge
cb4 0wz
registered no 05372859 corporate governance report
compliance with the combined code
under the rules of aim the alternative investment market of
the london stock exchange the company is not required to
comply with the combined code as annexed to the listing
rules of the financial services authority  nevertheless the
company has taken steps to comply with the provisions set
out in section 1 of the combined code in so far as is
practical given the size of the group and the nature of its
operations  
board of directors
as at the year end the board consisted of the nonexecutive
chairman three nonexecutive directors and two executive
directors details of the directors’ are shown on page 10
and demonstrate a range of experience covering strategy
performance and resources which are vital to the success of
the business mr tudor brown is the senior director
the board meets each month to consider those matters
which are required to be brought to it for decision which
ensures that it maintains full and effective control over
appropriate strategic financial operational and compliance
issues directors receive an information pack in the week
before each board meeting which contains background
information on such matters
board committees
there are three board committees which deal with
remuneration audit and nominations to the board they are
comprised solely of the nonexecutive directors with certain
executive directors attending by invitation when required
david kynaston is the chairman of the remuneration and
nominations committees and bruce anderson is the
chairman of the audit committee  
the audit committee meets at least once a year and the
company’s external auditors are invited to attend the
meeting consideration is given to the auditor’s pre and
postaudit reports and these provide opportunities to review
the accounting policies internal control assessment and the
financial information contained in the annual and interim
reports
relations with shareholders
the company’s executive directors meet regularly with
institutional shareholders fund managers and analysts as
part of an active investor relations programme to discuss
longterm issues and obtain feedback  private investors are
encouraged to participate in the annual general meeting
internal control
the directors acknowledge that they are responsible for the
group’s systems of internal control and for reviewing its
effectiveness the system is designed to manage rather than
eliminate the risk of failure to achieve the group’s strategic
objectives and can only provide reasonable and not
absolute assurance against material misstatement or loss
the combined code requires directors to review the
effectiveness of the group’s system of internal control in the
wider sense encompassing operational and compliance
matters in addition to the traditional financial issues
the group’s key risk management processes and system of
internal control procedures include the following
• management structure – the group has an 
organisational structure with clearly established 
responsibilities and lines of accountability  authority to 
operate the subsidiary company is delegated to executive
board members within limits set by the board as a whole
the group promotes the values of integrity and 
professionalism
• identification and evaluation of business risk – an 
ongoing risk management process has been implemented
which identifies the key business risks facing the group 
including both financial and operational risks the board 
monitors the activities of the group through the 
management accounts monthly forecasts and other 
reports which are presented at the monthly board 
meeting
• investment appraisal – the board has a schedule of 
matters expressly reserved for its consideration this 
schedule includes acquisitions major capital projects 
treasury risk management policies and approval of 
budgets 
12 ant plc annual report and accounts 2008 the board reviews and continues to review the effectiveness
of the group’s procedure in managing risk and therefore
believes it meets the requirements of the guidance
the audit committee has considered the need for internal
audit it is of the opinion that given the size and nature of the
group’s operations and the other controls in place it is not
necessary at this time this matter will be reviewed formally
on an annual basis
going concern
after making enquiries and taking into account the group’s
cash resources the directors have a reasonable expectation
that the group has adequate resources to continue in
operational existence for a minimum of the next twelve
months and for this reason they continue to adopt the
going concern basis in preparing the financial statements
b k anderson
2nd march 2009
ant plc annual report and accounts 2008  13 directors’ report
the directors present their report and financial statements for
the year ended 31 december 2008
overseas branches
ant software limited a subsidiary company of ant plc
has a branch in korea the korean branch has been set up
on a cost plus basis to enable the group to have a sales
function in the region
results and dividends
the consolidated loss for the year before taxation
amounted to £1012955 2007 £2019788 the directors
do not recommend the payment of a dividend 2007 £nil
principal activity and review of the business
the group’s principal activity during the year continued to be
the development and licensing of software solutions for use
in the digital tvrelated consumer electronics market  
the group’s key financial and other performance indicators
during the year were as follows
2008 2007  
£’000 £’000 change
group revenue 3741 2906 29
group loss before tax 1013 2020 50
cash  cash equivalents  
and other financial assets 5649 6211 9
no of antenabled product  
units shipped ‘000 3181 2033 56
further details of the business review are contained in the
chief executive’s review on page 6
capital management
the primary objective of the group’s capital management is
to ensure an appropriate level of liquid resources is available
to fund the daily operations of the business at the time of
the company’s ipo £103m was raised net of expenses
via the issue of new equity to fund foreseen development at
this time the directors do not foresee any requirement to
raise additional capital on the basis that they consider that
the group has sufficient cash resources until the group
reaches profitability unutilised funds at the year end totalled
£56m of which £40m are invested in ‘aa’ fixed term
deposits to ensure maximum return for minimal risk 2007
£50m of £62m invested in fixed term deposits further
discussion relating to financial risk management objectives
and exposures is covered in note 18 to the accounts  
principal risks and uncertainties
• foreign currency risk
the majority of the group’s revenues are denominated in
us dollars while its costs are principally denominated in
sterling as a result the group is subject to the risks of
foreign currency movements this risk will increasingly be
managed through the judicious use of foreign currency
hedging contracts
• market risk
the tvrelated consumer electronics market is a young and
rapidly developing market in which the group holds a strong
position while the directors regard the market as providing
significant opportunities for long term growth the exact rate
and extent of the growth of that market is very difficult to
predict the group will continue to utilise its strong asset
position to invest in carefully targeted technological
development to address the market’s needs and
opportunities
• technological risk
the group has established a strong reputation in the market
for its innovative and robust technological solutions
maintenance of that position is dependent on the group’s
ability to continue to develop its solutions
research and development
the group undertakes continuous research and
development activities in order to bring new innovations to
market and to enhance the effectiveness of its software
solutions in the consumer electronics market expenditure
on research and development in 2008 amounted to
£2614695 2007 £2407224
creditor payment policy
the company does not have a written code or standard on
payment practice  it negotiates settlement terms with each
of its suppliers and payments are then made to suppliers in
14 ant plc annual report and accounts 2008 accordance with those terms provided the supplier has
carried out the agreed obligations in a satisfactory manner
at the year end the group had 42 days’ purchases
outstanding in trade creditors 2007 28 days
charitable donations
during the year the group made a charitable donation of
£100 2007 £180
disabled employees
the group gives full consideration to applications for
employment from disabled persons where the candidate’s
particular aptitudes and abilities are consistent with
adequately meeting the requirements of the job     
directors’ indemnity insurance
the group has granted an indemnity to one or more of its
directors against liability in respect of proceedings bought
by third parties subject to the conditions set out in the
companies act 1985 such qualifying third party indemnity
provision remains in force as at the date of approving the
directors’ report
directors
the current directors and those who served during the year
are shown on page 10 the directors who held office at 
31 december 2008 had the following interests including
beneficial family interests in the share capital of the
company 
31 dec 2008 31 dec 2007
ordinary shares ordinary shares
r hoggarth  
s a woodward 97835 75835
p ingram 22000 
t brown 28800 28800
d kynaston 28800 28800
b k anderson 150000 
in addition to the above interests directors had options to
purchase a number of shares as set out in the directors
remuneration report
substantial shareholdings
as at 15 january 2009 the following shareholders had
notified the company that they held an investment of 3 or
more in the company’s ordinary share capital
number of percentage
ordinary of ordinary 
shares share capital
axa framlington investment 
management 3125000 1287
richard farleigh 3039767 1252
ant plc employee share 
trust trustees 2848497 1173
blackrock investment 
management 2580000 1062
fidelity investments 2393636 986
foresight venture partners 2213192 911
invesco asset management 1264370 521
inflexion partners limited 732472 302
disclosure of information to the auditors
the directors who were members of the board at the time of
approving the directors’ report are listed on page 10 having
made enquiries of fellow directors and the group’s auditors
each of these directors confirms that
• to the best of each director’s knowledge and belief 
there is no information relevant to the preparation of 
their report of which the group’s auditors are unaware 
and
• each director has taken all the steps a director might 
reasonably be expected to have taken to be aware of 
relevant information and to establish that the group’s 
auditors are aware of that information
auditors
a resolution to reappoint ernst  young llp as the
company’s auditor will be put to the forthcoming annual
general meeting
on behalf of the board
s a woodward
director
2nd march 2009
ant plc annual report and accounts 2008  15 directors’ report continued
directors’ responsibilities
the directors are responsible for preparing the annual
report and the financial statements in accordance with
applicable united kingdom law and those international
financial reporting standards ifrss as adopted by the
european union
the directors are required to prepare group financial
statements for each financial year which presents fairly the
financial position of the group and the financial performance
and cash flows of the group for that period in preparing
those financial statements the directors are required to
• select suitable accounting  policies in accordance with 
ias 8 accounting policies changes in accounting 
estimates and errors and then apply them consistently
• present information including accounting policies in a 
manner that provides relevant reliable comparable and 
understandable information
• 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 group’s financial 
position and financial performance and
• state that the group has complied with ifrss subject to
any material departures disclosed and explained in the 
financial statements
the directors are responsible for keeping proper accounting
records which disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time
the financial position of the group and to enable them to
ensure that the group financial statements comply with the
companies act 1985 they are also responsible for
safeguarding the assets of the group and hence for taking
reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud
and other irregularities
16 ant plc annual report and accounts 2008 directors’ remuneration report
the remuneration committee comprises of david kynaston
tudor brown royston hoggarth and bruce anderson all of
whom are nonexecutive directors of the company
the board has accepted the remuneration committee’s
recommendations in full
remuneration policy
the remuneration policy is based on the need to offer
competitive packages to attract motivate and retain senior
executives of appropriate calibre regular reviews of the
policy are carried out supported by independent advice to
ensure that the range and level of emoluments and incentive
schemes continue to match current market practices
salary
salaries are measured against performance and market
medians
annual performance bonus
the service agreements provide that each executive director
shall be entitled to receive an annual bonus to be
determined by the remuneration committee based on the
group’s financial and operational performance
service agreements
the service agreements for simon woodward and pauline
ingram are terminable by both parties by giving 12 months
and 6 months notice respectively
benefits
executive directors along with other permanent employees
of the company are entitled to life assurance and
permanent health insurance in addition to this they are able
to select additional benefits covering a pension private
medical cover and critical illness or disability insurance up to
a value of 10 of basic salary 
the pension scheme is a defined contribution scheme and
requires a minimum contribution of 5 of salary from the
employee before any contributions will be made by the
company
nonexecutive directors
the fees of the nonexecutive directors are determined by
the executive directors nonexecutive directors receive
travel expenses but do not participate in any incentive
arrangements the nonexecutive directors have entered into
terms of appointment with initial 3 year terms terminable by
either party upon 1 month’s notice in writing
ant plc annual report and accounts 2008  17 18 ant plc annual report and accounts 2008
basic salary benefits bonus pension total total
contributions 2008 2007
££ £ £ £ £
executive directors
s a woodward 165600 9519 40130 14118 229367 177333
p ingram 
4
61667  20000 6167 87834 
p m r dodd 
2
     57500
c shave 
1
     59241
nonexecutive directors
r hoggarth 
3
45000    45000 42045
d kynaston 22500    22500 26250
t brown 22500    22500 26250
b k anderson 
5
30000    30000 
a l caplin 
1
    16667
347267 9519 60130 20285 437201 405286
1 resigned 5 march 2007
2 resigned 30 may 2007
3 appointed 5 march 2007
4 appointed 28th february 2008 – in additional to that shown above £10833 represents total remuneration for the period prior to being appointed
as a director of plc
5 appointed 24th january 2008
the interest of the directors in share options is detailed below
date of grant as at  granted exercised lapsed as at
1 jan 2008 31 dec 2008
simon woodward 1720695 100000   1820695 
pauline ingram 27717 200000      227717
1748412 300000     2048412
or held on appointment to board
director revenue date number exercise vesting expiry 
status granted granted price p date date
s a woodward approved 07032005 117647 8500 07032005 07032015
s a woodward unapproved 07032005 1304145 8500 02072004 07032015
s a woodward unapproved 16032005 60000 0005 16032005 22072009
s a woodward unapproved 08032005 25600 8500 08032005 22072009
s a woodward unapproved 16032005 213303 12600 16032005 07032015
s a woodward unapproved 17032008 100000 2250 17032011 17032018
p ingram approved 07032005 7217  9500 07032005 07032015
p ingram approved 03042006 8000 8000 03042009 03042016
p ingram approved 30032007 12500 4150 30032010 30032017
p ingram approved 17032008 200000 2250 17032011 17032018
 these options were exercised on the 2nd march 2009
options granted after march 2005 vest over a three year period are subject to continued employment with the company for
the duration of this period and corporate performance criteria based on an increase in group revenues over that period
the options expire after 10 years and there are no cash settlement alternatives the share price at the year end was 275p
the highest and lowest market price during the year for the ordinary shares was 385p and 155p respectively
during the year the number of options exercised by the directors’ was £nil 2007  £nil no options in respect of directors
lapsed during the period on 2nd march 2009 s a woodward exercised 60000 options
d kynaston
2nd march 2009
directors remuneration  independent auditor’s report to
the members of ant plc
ant plc annual report and accounts 2008  19
we have audited the group financial statements of ant plc for
the year ended 31 december 2008 which comprise the
primary financial statements such as the consolidated income
statement the consolidated balance sheet the consolidated
statement of cash flows and the related notes 1 to 27
these group financial statements have been prepared under
the accounting policies set out therein
we have reported separately on the parent company financial
statements of ant plc for the year ended 31 december 2008
this report is made solely to the companys members as a
body in accordance with section 235 of the companies act
1985 our audit work has been undertaken so that we might
state to the companys 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 companys members as a body for our
audit work for this report or for the opinions we have formed
respective responsibilities of directors and auditors
the directors’ responsibilities for preparing the annual report
and the group financial statements in accordance with
applicable united kingdom law and international financial
reporting standards ifrss as adopted by the european
union are set out in the statement of directors’
responsibilities
our responsibility is to audit the group financial statements in
accordance with relevant legal and regulatory requirements
and international standards on auditing uk and ireland
we report to you our opinion as to whether the group financial
statements give a true and fair view and whether the group
financial statements have been properly prepared in
accordance with the companies act 1985 we also report to
you whether in our opinion the information given in the
directors report is consistent with the financial statements
the information given in the directors report includes that
specific information presented in the chairman’s statement
chief executive’s review and corporate governance report
that is crossreferred from the review of the business section
of the directors report
in addition we report to you if in our opinion we have not
received all the information and explanations we require for our
audit or if information specified by law regarding directors’
remuneration and other transactions is not disclosed
we read other information contained in the annual report and
consider whether it is consistent with the audited group financial
statements  the other information comprises only the
chairman’s statement chief executive review corporate
governance report and the directors’ report  we consider the
implications for our report if we become aware of any apparent
misstatements or material inconsistencies with the group
financial statements  our responsibilities do not extend to any
other information
basis of audit opinion
we conducted our audit in accordance with international
standards on auditing uk and ireland issued by the auditing
practices board an audit includes examination on a test basis
of evidence relevant to the amounts and disclosures in the
group financial statements it also includes an assessment of
the significant estimates and judgments made by the directors
in the preparation of the group financial statements and of
whether the accounting policies are appropriate to the group’s
circumstances consistently applied and adequately disclosed
we planned and performed our audit so as to obtain all the
information and explanations which we considered necessary in
order to provide us with sufficient evidence to give reasonable
assurance that the group financial statements are free from
material misstatement whether caused by fraud or other
irregularity or error in forming our opinion we also evaluated the
overall adequacy of the presentation of information in the group
financial statements
opinion
in our opinion
• the group financial statements give a true and fair view in 
accordance with ifrss as adopted by the european union 
of the state of the group’s affairs as at 31 december 2008 
and of its loss for the year then ended 
• the group financial statements have been properly prepared 
in accordance with the companies act 1985 and
• the information given in the directors report is consistent 
with the group financial statements
ernst  young llp
registered auditor
cambridge
2nd march 2009 consolidated income statement
for the year ended 31 december
20 ant plc annual report and accounts 2008
2008 2007
notes £ £
revenue 5 3741002 2906192
cost of sales 632528 435482
gross profit 3108474 2470710
administrative expenses excluding share options 1996022 2670710
share option expensescredit 21 14668 51287
administrative expenses 2010690 2619223   
research and development expenses 2428015 2224955
loss from operations 6 1330231 2373468
finance revenue 10 317276 353680
loss before tax 1012955 2019788
tax on loss on ordinary activities 11 98477 117544
loss for the year 914478 1902244
basic and diluted loss per ordinary share 12 004 009
all activities relate to continuing activities
2008 2007
notes £ £
net income recognised directly in equity  
loss for the year 914478 1902244
total recognised income and expense for the year 914478 1902244
consolidated statement of recognised income and expense
for the year ended 31 december ant plc annual report and accounts 2008  21
2008 2007
notes £ £
noncurrent assets
intangible assets 13 48468 26996
property plant and equipment 14 100687 104908
149155 131904
current assets
trade and other receivables 15 1489567 1258366
income tax recoverable 214404 152991
other financial assets 16 3500000 4000000
cash and cash equivalents 16 2148752 2211027
7352723 7622384
total assets 7501878 7754288
current liabilities 
trade and other payables 17 1823447 1176047
net assets 5678431 6578241
capital and reserves
called up share capital 22 1214318 1214318
share premium account 22 12066990 12066990
merger reserve 22 9787208 9787208
retained losses 22 17390085 16490275
total equity 5678431 6578241
the financial statements were approved by the board of directors and authorised for issue on 2nd march 2009 
they were signed on its behalf by
consolidated balance sheet
as at 31 december
s a woodward
director
2nd march 2009 consolidated statement of cash flows
for the year ended 31 december
22 ant plc annual report and accounts 2008
2008 2007
notes £ £
cash flows from operating activities
loss before tax 1012955 2019788
finance revenue 317276 353680
loss on disposal of property plant and equipment 1689 4466
loss on disposal of intangible assets 181 
depreciation of property plant and equipment 74822 89712
amortisation of intangible assets 22905 16392
sharebased payments charge  credit 14668 51287
increase  decrease in trade and other receivables 227081 700500
increase  decrease in trade and other payables 609643 122934
cash used in operating activities 833404 1736619
foreign withholding tax paid 115927 35447
research and development tax credit 152991 189479
net cash used in operating activities 796340 1582587
cash flows from investing activities
interest received 313156 337271
purchase of property plant and equipment 57179 71069
purchase of intangible assets 21912 16283
proceeds from the sale of property plant and equipment  705
disposal ofinvestment in other financial assets 500000 1000000
net cash generated from  used in investing activities 734065 749376
net decreaseincrease in cash and cash equivalents 62275 2331963
opening cash and cash equivalents 2211027 4542990 
closing cash and cash equivalents 16 23 2148752 2211027 ant plc annual report and accounts 2008  23
notes to the financial statements
as at 31 december 2008
1 corporate information
ant plc is a public limited company incorporated in the
united kingdom under the companies act 1985 the address
of the registered office is cambridge business park cowley
road cambridge cambridgeshire cb4 0wz ant plc’s
shares are publicly traded on aim the alternative investment
market of the london stock exchange
2 basis of preparation and statement of compliance
the group’s financial statements have been prepared in
accordance with international financial reporting standards
ifrss as adopted by the european union as they apply to
the financial statements of the group for the year ended 31
december 2008
the accounting policies which follow set out those policies
which apply in preparing the financial statements for the year
ended 31 december 2008 
the consolidated financial statements have been prepared
under the historical cost convention and are presented in
sterling
basis of consolidation
the consolidated financial statements comprise the financial
statement of ant plc and its subsidiaries as at 31 december
each year the financial statements of the subsidiaries are
prepared for the same reporting year as the parent company
and are based on consistent accounting policies 
all intercompany balances and transactions have been
eliminated in full
3 significant accounting estimates
the key source of estimation uncertainty that has a significant
risk of causing material adjustment to the carrying amounts of
liabilities within the next financial year is the estimation of
sharebased payment costs judgements are made in relation
to sharebased payment costs requires the selection of an
appropriate valuation model consideration as to the inputs
necessary for the valuation model chosen and the estimation
of the number of awards that will ultimately vest inputs for
which arise from judgements relating to the probability of
meeting nonmarket performance conditions and the
continuing participation of employees see note 21
research costs are not capitalised development costs
however will be capitalised if it is sufficiently certain that future
economic benefits to the group will cover all selling
administration and support costs as well as the development
costs themselves however the group has not currently
achieved this position the board will continue to review the
nature of the group’s development activities on an ongoing
basis and consider whether the conditions are being satisfied
research and development costs include work completed on
generic ant products and customer specific modifications
4 accounting policies
a revenue
revenue represents amounts receivable for goods and
services provided in the normal course of business net of
trade discounts vat and other sales related taxes  amounts
receivable consist of royalties licence fees professional
services and support and maintenance payments 
revenue is recognised for any element of a sale when all of the
basic criteria are met for that element these are given below  
licence fees and royalties – revenue is recognised when
persuasive evidence for the arrangement exists delivery has
occurred fees are fixed or determinable non refundable and
require no further commitments with fee collection being
probable royalties are recognised on receipt of appropriate
third party evidence
professional services – invoiced in line with customer
contracts and recognised on the basis of work performed
where contracts indicate time and materials as the basis for
charges revenue is recognised directly in line with work
completed where this is not the case project plans detailing
resource requirement during a project are used to establish
percentage completion at any point in time    
revenue is accrued on the above elements when revenue can
be recognised but has not been invoiced
revenue is deferred on the above elements when it has not
been recognised but the invoice has been raised
revenue relating to contracts with multiple elements is
allocated based on the fair value of each element and is
recognised in accordance with the accounting principles for
each element described above 24 ant plc annual report and accounts 2008
b cost of sale
cost of sale represents the cost to the business to deliver its
revenue it comprises commission internal costs relating to
customer specific projects and external third party software
and contractor costs
c foreign currencies
the functional and presentation currency of the group and
its subsidiaries is sterling gbp  transactions in foreign
currencies are recorded in the functional currency at the rate
ruling at the date of the transaction 
monetary assets and liabilities denominated in foreign
currencies are retranslated at the rate of exchange ruling at
the balance sheet date  
all differences are taken to the consolidated income
statement
d research and development expenditure
development is the application of research findings or other
existing knowledge to the design of new or improved
processes systems or technologies development includes
those activities taking place over the period from design
through implementation testing systems integration
productisation engineering release and final product
qualification but ceases at the stage of formal product
release
research costs are expensed as incurred development
expenditure could be capitalised if it is sufficiently certain that
future economic benefit to the group will cover all selling
administration and support costs as well as the development
costs themselves however the group has not currently
achieved this position the board will continue to review the
nature of the groups development activities on an ongoing
basis and consider whether the conditions have been
satisfied
research and development costs include work completed
on generic ant products and customer specific
modifications revenue relating to customer specific
modifications is recognised in line with the criteria set out in
note 4a any research and development costs relating to the
delivery of this revenue is recognised as incurred and
expensed to cost of sale
e intangible assets
intangible assets acquired are stated at cost less
amortisation and any accumulated impairment losses
amortisation is provided on all intangible assets at rates
calculated to write off the cost less estimated residual value
of each asset evenly over its expected useful life as follows
software  – over 3 years 
the carrying values of intangible assets are reviewed for
impairment in periods if events or changes in circumstances
indicate the carrying value may not be recoverable
residual values are reviewed on an annual basis
f property plant and equipment
property plant and equipment is stated at cost less
depreciation and any accumulated impairment losses
depreciation is provided on property plant and equipment
at rates calculated to write off the cost less estimated
residual value of each asset evenly over its expected useful
life as follows
leasehold improvements – over 3 years
office equipment – over 25 years
computer equipment – over 3 years
the carrying values of tangible fixed assets are reviewed for
impairment in periods if events or changes in circumstances
indicate the carrying value may not be recoverable
residual values are reviewed on an annual basis
g taxation
deferred income tax assets are recognised for all temporary
differences carryforward of unused tax assets and unused
tax losses to the extent that it is probable that taxable
profits will be available against which the temporary
differences and the carryforward of unused tax assets and
unused tax losses can be utilised
• except where the deferred income tax asset relating to 
the deductible temporary differences arises from the 
initial recognition of an asset or liability in a transaction 
that is not a business combination and at the time of 
notes to the financial statements continued
as at 31 december 2008 ant plc annual report and accounts 2008  25
the transaction affects neither the accounting profit nor 
the taxable profit or loss and
• in respect of deductible temporary differences associated 
with investments in subsidiaries deferred tax assets are 
only recognised to the extent that it is probable that the 
temporary differences will reverse in the foreseeable 
future and taxable profit will be available against which 
temporary differences can be utilised
deferred income tax is measured at the tax rates that are
expected to apply in the year when the asset is realised
based on tax rates and laws that have been enacted or
substantively enacted at the balance sheet date
the carrying amount of deferred income tax assets is
reviewed at each balance sheet date and reduced to the
extent that it is no longer probable that sufficient taxable profit
will be available to allow all or part of the deferred income tax
asset to be utilised
the group has taken advantage of the hmrc research and
development rd tax credit scheme that encourages small
and medium sized companies to increase their rd
spending up to 150 of qualifying expenditure on rd
activities can be deducted when calculating the profit for tax
purposes in return for surrendering tax losses the majority of
the qualifying expenditure for the group is made up by staff
costs tax credits are accounted for when cash receipt is
probable
h sharebased payments
the cost of equitysettled transactions with employees is
measured by reference to the fair value at the date at which
they are granted and is recognised as an expense over the
vesting period which ends on the date on which the relevant
employees become fully entitled to the award fair value is
determined by the use of an appropriate option pricing model
no expense is recognised for awards that do not ultimately
vest except for awards where vesting is conditional upon a
market condition which are treated as vesting irrespective of
whether or not the market condition is satisfied provided that
all other performance conditions are satisfied
at each balance sheet date before vesting the cumulative
expense is calculated representing the extent to which the
vesting period has expired and management’s best estimate
of the achievement or otherwise of nonmarket conditions in
relation to the number of equity instruments that will
ultimately vest the movement in cumulative expense since
the previous balance sheet date is recognised in the income
statement with a corresponding entry in equity for any
instrument that has vested no reversal of charges previously
recognised as an expense will occur
i retirement benefit costs
the group provides arrangements through a defined
contribution scheme the amount charged to the
consolidated income statement in respect of pension costs 
is the contributions payable in the year
differences between contributions payable in the year and
contributions actually paid are shown as accruals in the
balance sheet
j own shares held by employee benefit trust
own shares held by the employee benefit trust “ebt” are
carried at cost and disclosed within total equity
k operating lease agreements
rentals payable under operating leases are charged to the
consolidated income statement on a straight line basis over
the lease term
l trade and other receivables
trade receivables which generally have thirty to sixty day
terms are recognised and carried at original invoice amount
provision is made when there is objective evidence that the
group will not be able to recover balances in full balances
are written off when the probability of recovery is assessed as
being remote and when legal notification has been provided
and a further month has elapsed
m cash and cash equivalents
cash and cash equivalents comprise cash at bank and in
hand and 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 and with an original
maturity of three months or less n other financial assets
other financial assets comprise term deposits with maturity
of more than three months from commencement that relate
to a known amount of cash and are subject to an
insignificant risk in change in value
o finance revenue
revenue is recognised as interest accrues using the effective
interest method the effective interest rate is the rate that
exactly discounts estimated future cash receipts through the
expected life of the financial instrument to its net carrying
amount
p derivative financial instruments
the group uses derivative financial instruments such as
foreign currency contracts to hedge its risks associated with
foreign currency fluctuations such derivative financial
instruments are initially recognised at fair value on the date
on which a derivate contract is entered into and are
subsequently measured for fair value changes in fair value
are recognised in the income statement no derivate financial
instruments were in place at the year end
q new standards and interpretations not applied
the iasb and ifric have issued the following standards and
interpretations with an effective date after the date of these
financial statements
international accounting standards iasifrss
effective date
ifrs 8 operating segments 1 january 2009
ias 1 presentation of financial 
statements  revised 1 january 2009
ias 23 borrowing costs – revised 1 january 2009
ifrs 2 sharebased payment revised 1 january 2009
international financial reporting interpretations
committee ifric
effective date
ifric 13 customer loyalty programmes 1 july 2008
the group does not plan to adopt any of the standards
detailed above prior to the effective date
the group has not yet completed a detailed evaluation of the
impact of the above standards and interpretations on its financial
position but does not currently expect the adoption of these to
have impact on its current financial condition the adoption of
ifrs 8 requires disclosure based on information presented to the
board  whilst this is not expected to change the business
segments about which information is given additional disclosure
on customers representing more than 10 of group revenue is
likely   
5 segmental information
revenue represents the amounts derived from the provision of
goods and services which fall within the companies ordinary
activities stated net of value added tax 
revenue is attributable to one primary segment the provision of
computer software licensing and consultancy originating from the
head office situated in the uk  
the group operates within three geographical markets
secondary segments the united states europe and the rest of
the world the majority of the group’s assets and all assets
acquired during the year are held in the uk
an analysis of revenue by geographical market is given below
2008 2007
£ £
united states 911818 1304240
europe 1663184 933191
rest of the world 1166000 668761
3741002 2906192
the geographical segmental analysis shown above relates to
our customers geographical location not the location of the
end users of the units or services provided
an analysis of revenue by type is given below
2008 2007
£ £
licence and royalty revenue 2880154 2110630
professional services 860848 795562
3741002 2906192
finance revenue generated during the year was £317276
2007 £353680
26 ant plc annual report and accounts 2008
notes to the financial statements continued
as at 31 december 2008 6 loss from operations
this is stated after charging
2008 2007
£ £
research and development 
cost –customer funded 186680 182269
–generic 2428015 2224955
amortisation of intangible 
assets 22905 16392
depreciation of property 
plant and equipment 74822 89712
net foreign currency 
differences 261299 23248
loss on forward contract 24947 
operating lease rentals               
–land and buildings 136503 111433
–other 1464 1464
loss on disposal of property 
plant and equipment 1689 4466
loss on disposal of intangible 
assets 181 
research and development costs that are customer funded
and included in cost of sales relate to customer specific
modification to which ant retains the intellectual property to
the amortisation of intangible assets charge is charged to the
income statement in administration expenses
7 auditors remuneration
the group had the following amounts charged by its auditors
in respect of the audit of the financial statements and for
other services
2008 2007
£ £
audit of the financial statements
ant plc 25000 25000 
ant software limited 7500 7500
other fees to auditors
ifrs conversion  19140
taxation 7500 8360
total 40000 60000
ant plc annual report and accounts 2008  27 28 ant plc annual report and accounts 2008
notes to the financial statements continued
as at 31 december 2008
8 compensation of key management
including executive and nonexecutive directors  
2008 2007
£ £
short term employee benefits 953058 805095 
post employee benefits 50282 69709
share based payments 4898 1837
1008238 876641
short term employee benefits include wages payroll taxes healthcare and performance related pay post employee benefits
relate specifically to pension payments and share based payments show irfs 2 charges relating to the issue of share
options
the interests of the directors in the shares of the company are detailed within the directors’ report
9 staff costs and directors’ emoluments
a staff costs 2008 2007
£ £
wages and salaries 2793198 2545928
social security costs 273087 277803
other pension costs 213502 229339
3279787 3053070
included in wages and salaries is a total credit relating to sharebased payment of £14668 2007 credit of £51287 arising
from transactions accounted for as equitysettled sharebased payment transactions and all directors’ emoluments
the monthly average number of employees during the year was as follows
2008 2007
engineering 30 26
sales 8 10
administration 9 9
47 45
b directors’ emoluments 2008 2007
excluding non executives £ £
directors’ emoluments 296915 377442
contributions to defined contribution pension schemes 20285 27844
number of directors accruing benefits under
defined contribution schemes 2 1
the highest paid director received
emoluments 215249 163256
pension contributions 14118 14077 ant plc annual report and accounts 2008  29
10 finance revenue
2008 2007
£ £
bank interest receivable 317276 353680 
11 tax on loss on ordinary activities
a tax on loss
the tax credit represents
2008 2007
£ £
research and development tax credit 214404 152991
foreign tax
current tax on income for the period 115927 35447
current tax credit for the year 98477 117544
b reconciliation of the tax credit
the tax assessed on the loss on ordinary activities for the year is higher than the standard rate of corporation tax in the
united kingdom the differences are explained below
2008 2007
£ £
loss on ordinary activities before tax 1012955 2019788
loss on ordinary activities multiplied by standard rate of corporation tax 
in the uk of 285 2007 30 288692 605936
effect of
disallowed expenses 18433 23789
decelerated capital allowances 2275 2457
tax losses carried forward 263283 579690
impact of rate change on tax losses carried forward 4701 
research and development tax credit 214404 152991
other temporary differences  
withholding tax 115927 35447
income tax credit reported in the consolidated income statement 98477 117544
historically research and development tax claims have resulted in losses being surrendered in return for cash and are
accounted for when receipt of cash is probable  during the year the group surrendered £1340024 of tax losses in return
for £214404 of cash which related to the rd tax credit for 2007 2007 £956197 losses surrendered for £152991 for
2006 tax credit  30 ant plc annual report and accounts 2008
11 tax on loss on ordinary activities continued
c deferred tax
deferred taxation assets provided in the financial statements and the amounts not provided are as follows
2008 2007 2008 2007
£ £ £ £
capital allowances in arrears of depreciation   22360 19601
losses 2976794 3088718
2999154 3108319
there are approximately £106m 2007 £110m of tax losses available to be carried forward subject to the agreement of
hmrc these losses may be further adjusted to reflect the surrender of the losses relating to qualifying research and
development expenditure in accordance with the research and development tax credit scheme
no deferred tax asset has been recognised in relation to losses carried forward as the group is currently lossmaking the
group will not recognise the deferred tax asset until sufficient taxable profits are available to allow all or part of the deferred
tax asset to be utilised
12 loss per ordinary share
the calculations of earnings per share from continuing operations are based on the loss after tax for the year of £914478
2007 £1902244 and the following weighted average number of shares
2008 2007
£ £
loss for the period 914478 1902244
weighted average number of ordinary shares 21437870 21437870
basic and diluted loss per ordinary share 004 009
the options have no dilutive effect on loss making years and hence the dilutive loss per share is the same as the basic loss
per share in these years the weighted average number of ordinary shares excludes treasury shares held in an employee
benefit trust of 2848497 2007 2848497
notes to the financial statements continued
as at 31 december 2008
not provided provided ant plc annual report and accounts 2008  31
13 intangible assets
software
cost £
at 1 january 2007 42802
additions 16283
at 31 december 2007 59085
additions 44558
disposals 1147
at 31 december 2008 102496
amortisation
at 1 january 2007 15697
charge for the year 16392
at 31 december 2007 32089
charge for the year 22905
disposals 966
at 31 december 2008 54028
net book value
at 1 january 2007 27105
at 31 december 2007 26996
at 31 december 2008 48468
at the end of the year the group had amounts contracted for but not provided for of £nil 2007 £nil  32 ant plc annual report and accounts 2008
14 property plant and equipment
leasehold office computer total
cost improvements equipment equipment 
at 1 january 2007 82194 171031 220938 474163
additions 8578 2314 60177 71069
disposals   33945 33945
at 31 december 2007 90772 173345 247170 511287
additions 4606 948 66736 72290
disposals   25258 25258
at 31 december 2008 95378 174293 288648 558319
depreciation
at 1 january 2007 43510 163415 138516 345441
charge for the year 29297 6008 54407 89712
disposals   28774 28774
at 31 december 2007 72807 169423 164149 406379
charge for the year 14678 3088 57056 74822
disposals   23569 23569
at 31 december 2008 87485 172511 197636 457632
net book value
at 1 january 2007 38684 7616 82422 128722
at 31 december 2007 17965 3922 83021 104908
at 31 december 2008 7893 1782 91012 100687
at the end of the year the group had amounts contracted for but not provided for of £nil 2007 £nil 
notes to the financial statements continued
as at 31 december 2008 ant plc annual report and accounts 2008  33
15 trade and other receivables
2008 2007
£ £
trade receivables 1011519 819623
prepayments 103401144946
accrued income 309382 227644
other debtors 65265 66153
1489567 1258366
of the trade receivables at year end £979881 is denominated in us dollars and £20295 in euro’s  
2007 us dollars £721719
carrying amount of which neither of which not impaired on the reporting date and past 
impaired nor past due in the following periods
due on the less than between 30 between 61  
reporting date 30 days and 60 days and 90 days
££ £ £
trade receivables as at 31 dec 2008 552098 440184 13779 5458
trade receivables as at 31 dec 2007 793247 26376  
of the receivables neither past due nor impaired none of the counterparties have a history of defaulting
the amounts presented in the balance sheet are net of allowances for doubtful receivables the total allowance for bad
debts that was charged to the income statement in the year was £25556 2007 £38190 the bad debt provision included
in the balance sheet at the year end is £49710 2007 £24154 exposure to credit risk is mitigated where necessary by
payments in advance
2008 2007
£ £
opening 24154 57042
arising during the year 49710 38190
utilised  71078
released 24154 
closing 49710 24154 34 ant plc annual report and accounts 2008
16 cash  cash equivalents and other financial assets
2008 2007
£ £
cash at bank and in hand 1648752 1211027
cash equivalents short term deposits 500000 1000000
net cash and cash equivalents per cash flow 2148752 2211027
other financial assets 3500000 4000000
cash at bank earns interest at floating rates based on daily bank deposit rates cash equivalents short term deposits are
made for varying periods of between one day and three months depending on the immediate cash requirements of the
group and earn interest at prearranged rates
other financial assets are made up of cash deposits made for more than 3 months typically less than 6 months and earn
interest on the same basis as short term deposits  
net cash and cash equivalents currently held as follows
2008 £
bank of scotland plc 827771
barclays bank plc 817273
ulster bank 500000
other 3708
2148752
2007 £
bank of scotland plc 1430680
barclays bank plc 777781
other 2566
2211027
notes to the financial statements continued
as at 31 december 2008 ant plc annual report and accounts 2008  35
16 cash  cash equivalents and other financial assets  continued
other financial assets currently held as follows
2008 interest maturity
£ rate date
ulster bank 500000 285 21st april 2009
ulster bank 500000 290 26th may 2009
bank of scotland 500000 280 24th march 2009
bank of scotland 1000000 290 29th june 2009
allied irish bank gb 1000000 320 29th june 2009
total 3500000
interest maturity
2007 £ rate date
ulster bank 1000000 650 25th march 2008
ulster bank 1000000 630 22nd may 2008
bank of scotland 2000000 623 30th june 2008
total 4000000
17 trade and other payables
2008 2007
£ £
trade payables 181078 150004
tax and social security 92290 92092
accruals 894967 507098
deferred income 655112 426853
1823447 1176047 36 ant plc annual report and accounts 2008
18 financial instruments
the group’s principal financial instruments are restricted to cash  cash equivalents and other financial assets the main
purpose of these financial instruments is to fund the group’s operations the group has various other financial instruments
such as trade receivables and trade payables that arise directly from its operations the management does not consider
there to be any significant concentration of credit risk
the main risks arising from the group’s financial instruments are liquidity and foreign currency risks the board reviews and
agrees policies for managing each of these risks 
foreign currency risk
the group makes sales in a number of overseas territories and therefore has transactional currency exposures  such
exposures arise from sales made in currencies other than the underlying entity’s functional currency the group makes
approximately 89 2007 91 of its sales outside the uk most of which is denominated in us dollars and therefore
subject to foreign exchange movements the group has a number of foreign currency expenses which provide a natural
hedge against these exposures and on occasion it has used forward contracts  no such instruments were outstanding at
the end of the current or prior year
the table below shows the group’s currency exposures that give rise to the net currency gains and losses recognised in the
profit and loss account such exposures comprise the monetary assets and monetary liabilities of the group that are not
denominated in sterling being the operating or ‘functional’ currency of the underlying entity
at 31 december these currency exposures are as follows
net foreign currency monetary assets
functional currency of group operations us dollar other total
££ £
2008
sterling 379751 31650 411401
2007
sterling 131677 21081 152758
notes to the financial statements continued
as at 31 december 2008 ant plc annual report and accounts 2008  37
18 financial instruments continued
the following table demonstrates the sensitivity to a reasonably possible weakeningstrengthening in the us dollar and euro
exchange rates in relation to all other variables held constant of the group’s loss before tax
change in impact on loss impact on loss
us dollareuro  rate before tax before tax 
positive exchange movement negative exchange movement
2008 – us dollar 10  10 156131 190826
2008 – euro 10  10 5819 7112
2007 – us dollar 10  10 93290 114021
2007 – euro 10  10 6547 8001
there is no impact on equity of changes in foreign exchange rates other than the impact on retained losses resulting from the
change in loss before tax as detailed above
liquidity risk
the group’s objective is to maintain a positive cash balance at a level adequate for daily operations this is achieved through a
detailed multicurrency forecast which assesses the group’s requirements taking into account all known and forecast factors
interest rate risk and liquidity risk of the group’s financial assets
the group’s policy is to minimise interest rate risk by placing funds in low risk cash deposits but also to maximise the return on
funds placed on deposit the group invests its funds in short and medium term bank deposits and has access to these deposits
at a maximum of 6 months notice interest rates on deposits are either fixed on the commencement of the term or are at a variable
rate connected to libor £4000000 fixed breakdown shown in note 16 £1648752 variable rate 2007 £5000000 fixed
£1211027 variable
based on the groups cash reserves at the year end it is estimated that a reduction of 1 in interest rates would lead to a
reduction in finance revenue of £51307 2007 £60580 and vice versa for an increase
credit risk
the group’s only material credit risk is attributable to trade receivables  cash cash equivalents and other financial assets are held
across a number of banks with our cash equivalents and other financial assets being held by “aa” rated institutions to minimise risk
our customers are made up of substantial blue chip organisations or their subsidiaries it is the groups policy that all customers
who wish to trade on credit terms require the specific approval of senior management receivable balances are monitored on an
ongoing basis with the result that the group’s exposure to bad debts is not significant analysis of the bad debt provision included
in the balance sheet is detailed in note 15
the maximum exposure to credit risk is the carrying value of financial assets  
borrowing facilities
the group has no overdraft facility
the directors consider there to be no material difference between the fair value and carrying values of the financial instruments at
the balance sheet dates 38 ant plc annual report and accounts 2008
19 obligations under operating leases
at 31 december 2008 the group had the following future minimum rental payable under noncancellable operating leases
2008 2007
£ £
not later than one year 146328 38608
after one year but not more than five years 341146 122
after five years  
487474 38730
the group entered into a commercial lease for the company registered address for a period of 4 years with an optional
break clause in may 2010
20 share capital
2008 2008 2007 2007
no £ no £
authorised 
ordinary shares of 5p each 40000000 2000000 40000000 2000000
allotted calledup and fully paid
ordinary shares of 5p each 24286367 1214318 24286367 1214318
21 sharebased payments
the group operates an enterprise management incentive emi share option scheme relating to shares in the parent
company for the benefit of all its employees and employees are entitled to participate once they have completed three
months’ service options granted to nonuk based employees or in excess of the qualifying limits for emi are unapproved
options for uk tax purposes or are outside the scope of uk taxation
options granted before 31st march 2005 have all vested and are held by employees who were employed by the group as
at the year end these 2558360 options 2007 3041044 are not accounted for under ifrs 2 as they predate the
introduction of the standard  options granted after this date are accounted for
options granted after march 2005 vest over a three year period subject to the employee remaining at the company for the
duration of this period and corporate performance criteria based on an increase in group revenues over that period the
options are all equity settled expire after 10 years and there are no cash settlement alternatives
the employee benefit trust managed by an independent trust company holds 2848497 ordinary shares in the parent
company of 5p each which were acquired at an average purchase price of 85p all of which are the subject of options
which have been granted and have vested in full the market value of the shares in the parent company at 31 december
2008 was 275p per share 
notes to the financial statements continued
as at 31 december 2008 ant plc annual report and accounts 2008  39
21 sharebased payments continued
the group recognised a total change of £14668 2007 credit of £51287 in the income statement in respect of options
granted to staff
the number of options relating to current employees over 5p ordinary shares in the parent company granted exercised or
lapsed during the year is as follows
date exercise as atgrantedexercised forfeited as at period
granted price 1 january 31 december of exercise
2008 2008
feb 2005 95p 159673   39516  120157 feb 2015
mar 2005 85p 2274868   221168  2053700 mar 2015
mar 2005 126p 435313   222010  213303 mar 2015
mar 2005 0005p 120000    120000 july 2009
mar 2005 85p 51200    51200 july 2009
apr 2006 80p 184000   40000  144000 apr 2016
oct 2006 625p 30000   8000  22000 oct 2016
mar 2007 415p 277500   72500  205000 mar 2017
sep 2007 225p 760000   380000  380000 sep 2017
mar 2008 225p  1110000  70000  1040000 mar 2018
sep 2008 355p  125000   125000 sep 2018
4292554 1235000  1053194  4474360
the following table shows the number and weighted average exercise prices waep of movements in share options during
the year
2008 2008 2007 2007
no waep no waep
outstanding as at 1 january 4292554 £073 4672920 £086
granted during year 1235000 £024 1355000 £031
exercised during year  na  na
forfeited during year 1053194  £064 1735366  £075
outstanding as at 31 december 
1
4474360 £062 4292554 £073
exercisable as at 31 december 2558360 £085 3041044 £088
1
included in this balance are options over 2585360 shares 2007 3041044 for which no charge has been recognised in
accordance with ifrs 2 as the options vested before 1 january 2006
for the share options outstanding as at 31 december 2008 the weighted average remaining contractual life is 68 years
2007 72 years 40 ant plc annual report and accounts 2008
21 sharebased payments continued
the weighted average fair value of options granted during the year was £012 2007 £015  
the fair value of equitysettled options is estimated at the date of grant using a blackscholes model taking into account
the terms and conditions on which the options were granted the following table lists the inputs to the model used for the
year ended 31 december 2008 and 31 december 2007
2008 2007
dividend yield  0 0
expected share price volatility  634 602
riskfree interest rate  4 45
expected life of option years 6 6
weighted average share price pence 239 276
the expected life of the options is an estimate and is not necessarily indicative of exercise patterns which may occur the
expected volatility reflects the assumption that historical volatility is indicative of future trends which may not necessarily be
the actual outcome
no other features of options grant were incorporated into the measurement of fair value
22 reconciliation of movements in equity
called up share merger retained total
share capital premium account losses equity
££ £ £ £
at 1 january 2007 1214318 12066990 9787208 14536744 8531772
sharebased payments    51287 51287 
total recognised expense    1902244 1902244 
at 1 january 2008 1214318 12066990 9787208 16490275 6578241
sharebased payments    14668 14668
total recognised expense    914478 914478 
at 31 december 2008 1214318 12066990 9787208 17390085 5678431
merger reserve
this represents the difference between the fair value and the nominal value of shares issued in connection with the
acquisition of ant software limited in march 2005
retained losses include an amount of £2322016 2007 £2322016 in relation to treasury shares that are held in the
employee benefit trust
notes to the financial statements continued
as at 31 december 2008 ant plc annual report and accounts 2008  41
23 additional cash flow information 
analysis of group net debt
at 1 january cash at 31 december
2008 flow 2008
£ £ £
cash and cash equivalents 2211027 62275  2148752
other financial assets 4000000 500000  3500000
6211027 562275  5648752
at 1 january cash at 31 december 
2007 flow 2007
£ £ £
cash and cash equivalents 4542990 2331963  2211027
other financial assets 3000000 1000000 4000000
7542990 1331963  6211027
24 pension commitments
the group operates a defined contribution pension scheme for its directors and employees the assets of the scheme are
held separately from those of the group in an independently administered fund at 31 december 2008 there were no
outstanding pension contributions 2007 £nil
25 other commitments
the group’s total other commitments as at 31 december 2008 is £nil 2007 £nil
26 related party transactions
transactions between the company and its subsidiaries which are related parties have been eliminated on consolidation
and are not disclosed in this note
during the period the group had no related party transactions during 2007 £42300 was charged to the income statement
relating to a connected party to the chairman
27 post balance sheet events
there have been no material post balance sheet events that require disclosure in these financial statements 42 ant plc annual report and accounts 2008
the directors are responsible for preparing the financial statements in accordance with applicable laws and regulations
company law requires the directors to prepare financial statements in accordance with united kingdom generally
accepted accounting practice united kingdom accounting standards and applicable law the financial statements are
required by law to give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the company and of the profit or loss of the
company for that period  in preparing those financial statements the directors are required to
• select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently
• make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent 
• state whether applicable uk accounting standards have been followed subject to any material departures disclosed
and explained in the financial statements and
• prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the company 
will continue in business
the directors are responsible for keeping proper accounting records which disclose with reasonable accuracy at any
time the financial position of the company and to enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the
companies act 1985  they are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the company and hence for taking
reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities
the directors are responsible for the maintenance and integrity of the corporate and financial information included on the
company’s website  legislation in the united kingdom governing the preparation and dissemination of financial
statements may differ from legislation in other jurisdictions
directors’ statement of responsibilities in relation to the 
parent company financial statements ant plc annual report and accounts 2008  43
we have audited the parent company financial statements of ant plc for the year ended 31 december 2008 which
comprise of the company balance sheet and the related notes 1 to 27 these parent company financial statements have
been prepared under the accounting policies set out therein  
we have reported separately on the group financial statements of ant plc for the year ended 31 december 2008
this report is made solely to the companys members as a body in accordance with section 235 of the companies act
1985 our audit work has been undertaken so that we might state to the companys members those matters we are
required to state to them in an auditor’s 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 companys members as a body for our audit
work for this report or for the opinions we have formed
respective responsibilities of directors and auditors
the directors’ responsibilities for preparing the annual report and the parent company financial statements in accordance
with applicable united kingdom law and accounting standards united kingdom generally accepted accounting
practice are set out in the statement of directors’ responsibilities
our responsibility is to audit the parent company financial statements in accordance with relevant legal and regulatory
requirements and international standards on auditing uk and ireland
we report to you our opinion as to whether the parent company financial statements give a true and fair view and
whether the parent company financial statements have been properly prepared in accordance with the companies act
1985 we also report to you whether in our opinion the information given in the parent company directors report is
consistent with the financial statements the information given in the directors report includes that specific information
presented in the chairman’s statement chief executive report and corporate governance report that is cross referred
from the business review section of the directors report
in addition we report to you if in our opinion the company has not kept proper accounting records if we have not
received all the information and explanations we require for our audit or if information specified by law regarding directors’
remuneration and other transactions is not disclosed
we read other information contained in the annual report and consider whether it is consistent with the audited parent
company financial statements the other information comprises only the chairman’s statement chief executive report
corporate governance report and the directors’ report we consider the implications for our report if we become aware
of any apparent misstatements or material inconsistencies with the parent company financial statements our
responsibilities do not extend to any other information
basis of audit opinion
we conducted our audit in accordance with international standards on auditing uk and ireland issued by the auditing
practices board an audit includes examination on a test basis of evidence relevant to the amounts and disclosures in
the parent company financial statements it also includes an assessment of the significant estimates and judgments made
by the directors in the preparation of the parent company financial statements and of whether the accounting policies are
appropriate to the company’s circumstances consistently applied and adequately disclosed
independent auditors report to the members of ant plc 44 ant plc annual report and accounts 2008
we planned and performed our audit so as to obtain all the information and explanations which we considered necessary in
order to provide us with sufficient evidence to give reasonable assurance that the parent company financial statements are
free from material misstatement whether caused by fraud or other irregularity or error in forming our opinion we also
evaluated the overall adequacy of the presentation of information in the parent company financial statements
opinion
in our opinion
• the parent company financial statements give a true and fair view in accordance with united kingdom generally 
accepted accounting practice of the state of the companys affairs as at 31 december 2008 
• the parent company financial statements have been properly prepared in accordance with the companies act 1985 and
• the information given in the directors report is consistent with the parent company financial statements
ernst  young llp
registered auditor
cambridge
2nd march 2009 
independent auditors report to the members of ant plc
continued ant plc annual report and accounts 2008  45
company balance sheet – uk gaap
as at 31 december
2008 2007
notes £ £
fixed assets
investments 5 631455 631455
631455 631455
current assets
debtors 6 11181 34238
other financial assets 3500000 4000000
cash and short term deposits 1425461 1536824
4936642 5571062
creditors amounts falling due within one year 7 70371 68542
net current assets 4866271 5502520
net assets 5497726 6133975
capital and reserves
called up share capital 8 1214318 1214318
share premium account 9 12066990 12066990
profit and loss account 9 7783582 7147333
5497726 6133975
the financial statements were approved by the board of directors and authorised for issue on 2nd march 2009 they were
signed on its behalf by
s a woodward
director 1 corporate information
ant group plc the company is a limited company incorporated in england and wales whose shares are publicly traded
the principal activity of the company is that of a holding company
2 basis of preparation
the separate financial statements of the company are presented as required by the companies act 1985 they have been
prepared under the historical cost convention and in accordance with the applicable united kingdom accounting standards
and law
as permitted by financial reporting standard no1 revised cash flow statements the company has not included a
cash flow statement as part of its financial statements because the consolidated financial statements of the group of which
the company is a member include a cash flow statement and are publicly available
the company has taken advantage of the exemption in paragraph 3c of frs 25 financial instruments disclosure and
presentation and has not disclosed information required by paragraphs 51 to 95 of that standard as the group’s
consolidated financial statements in which the company is included provide equivalent disclosures for the group under
ifrs 7 financial instruments disclosures
3 accounting policies
a taxation
deferred tax is recognised in respect of all timing differences that have originated but not reversed at the balance sheet date
where transactions or events have occurred at that date that will result in an obligation to pay more or a right to pay less or
to receive more tax except that deferred tax assets are recognised only to the extent that the directors consider that it is
more likely than not that there will be suitable taxable profits from which the future reversal of the underlying timing
differences can be deducted
deferred tax is measured on an undiscounted basis at the tax rates that are expected to apply in the periods in which timing
differences reverse based on tax rates and laws enacted or substantively enacted at the balance sheet date
b investments
investments are stated at cost less any provisions for impairment in value
c trade and other receivables
trade receivables which generally have thirty to sixty day terms are recognised and carried at original invoice amount
provision is made when there is objective evidence that the group will not be able to recover balances in full balances are
written off when the probability of recovery is assessed as being remote and when legal notification has been provided and a
further month has elapsed
d other financial assets
other financial assets comprise term deposits with maturity of more than three months from commencement that relate to a
known amount of cash and are subject to an insignificant risk in change in value
46 ant plc annual report and accounts 2008
notes to the financial statements – uk gaap
as at 31 december 2008 ant plc annual report and accounts 2008  47
4 loss for the year
as permitted by section 230 of the companies act 1985 the company has elected not to present its own profit and loss
account for the year ant plc reported a loss for the financial year ended 31 december 2008 of £636249 which includes
£270141 relating to the removal of intercompany balances 2007 £4066311 which included the £3582204 relating to
the removal of intercompany balances reflected in previous years on the company balance sheet 
director’s emoluments are disclosed in the director’s remuneration report on pages 17 to 18
5 fixed asset investments
2008 2007
£ £
as at 31st december 631455 631455
name of company holding country of proportion nature of
registration held business
ant software limited ordinary shares uk 100 trading
6 debtors
2008 2007
£ £
trade receivables 4829 12261
prepayments 2228 5568
accrued income 4124 16409
11181 34238
7 creditors amounts falling due within one year
2008 2007
£ £
trade payables 11621 18377
accruals 58750 50165
70371 68542 48 ant plc annual report and accounts 2008
notes to the financial statements – uk gaap
as at 31 december 2008
8 calledup share capital
2008 2008 2007 2007
no £ no £
authorised 
ordinary shares of 5p each 40000000 2000000 40000000 2000000
allotted calledup and fully paid
ordinary shares of 5p each 24286367 1214318 24286367 1214318
9 reconciliation of shareholders’ funds and movement on reserves
share share profit and total equity
capital premium loss
££ £ £
at 1 january 2007 1214318 12066990 3081022 10200286
retained loss for the year   4066311 4066311
at 1 january 2008 1214318 12066990 7147333 6133975
retained loss for the year   636249 636249
at 31 december 2008 1214318 12066990 7783582 5497726 ant plc annual report and accounts 2008  49
notice is hereby given that the annual general meeting of the company will be held at autonomy
house cambridge business park cowley road cambridge cb4 0wz on 21 may 2009 at 900 am for
the following purposes
ordinary business
to consider and if thought fit to pass the following resolutions which will be proposed as ordinary resolutions
1 to receive the annual accounts of the company for the financial year ended 31 december 2008 together with the 
directors’ report and auditors’ report on those accounts
2 to reappoint ernst  young llp as auditors of the company to hold office from the conclusion of the meeting to the 
conclusion of the next meeting at which accounts are laid before the company and to authorise the directors to 
determine their remuneration
3 to reelect tudor brown who retires by rotation and agrees to his reelection as a director of the company
4 to reelect simon woodward who retires by rotation and agrees to his reelection as a director of the company
5 to reelect david kynaston who has agreed to retire as a director and agrees to his reelection as a director of the 
company
special business
to consider and if thought fit to pass the following resolutions of which resolution 6 will be proposed as an ordinary
resolution and resolutions 7 and 8 will be proposed as special resolutions
6 that the directors be and they are generally and unconditionally authorised pursuant to and in accordance with section 80
of the companies act 1985 the act to exercise all the powers of the company to allot relevant securities within the 
meaning of section 80 of the act up to an aggregate nominal amount of £404770 provided that this authority shall expire
on whichever is the earlier of the conclusion of the companys next annual general meeting or 15 months from the date 
on which this resolution is passed save that the company may pursuant to this authority make offers or agreements 
before the expiry of this authority which would or might require relevant securities to be allotted after such expiry and the 
directors may allot relevant securities in pursuance of such offers or agreements as if the authority conferred by this 
resolution had not expired  all authorities previously conferred upon the directors pursuant to section 80 of the act shall 
be revoked but without prejudice to any exercise of such other authorities prior to the date on which this resolution is 
passed
7 that subject to the passing of resolution 6 above the directors be and they are empowered pursuant to section 95 of 
the act to allot equity securities within the meaning of section 942 to section 943a of the act wholly for cash pursuant 
to the authority conferred by resolution 6 above as if section 891 of the act did not apply to such allotment provided 
that this power shall be limited to the allotment of equity securities
a in connection with an offer of such securities by way of rights to holders of ordinary shares in proportion as nearly as 
may be practicable to their respective holdings of such shares but subject to such exclusions or other arrangements 
as the directors may deem necessary or expedient in relation to fractional entitlements or any legal or practical 
problems under the laws of any territory or the requirements of any regulatory body or stock exchange and
b pursuant to the terms of any share scheme for directors and employees of the company andor its subsidiaries 
notice of annual general meeting – ant plc
registered and incorporated in england and wales with number 05372859 approved by the shareholders of the company in general meeting and
c otherwise than pursuant to subparagraphs a and b above having in the case of relevant shares as defined in
section 94 of the act a nominal amount or in the case of any other equity securities giving the right to subscribe
for or convert into relevant shares having a nominal amount not exceeding in aggregate £60710 representing 5 
per cent of the company’s issued share capital on 31 december 2008 
and such power shall expire on whichever is the earlier of the conclusion of the companys next annual general 
meeting or 15 months from the date on which this resolution is passed save that the company may before the 
expiry of such power make offers or agreements which would or might require equity securities to be allotted 
after such expiry and the directors may allot equity securities in pursuance of such offers or agreements as if the 
power conferred hereby had not expired  all powers previously conferred upon the directors pursuant to section 95 
of the act shall be revoked but without prejudice to any exercise of such other powers prior to the date on which this
resolution is passed this power applies in relation to a sale of shares which is an allotment of equity securities by 
virtue of section 943a of the act as if in the first paragraph of this resolution the words pursuant to the authority 
conferred by resolution 6 above were omitted
8 that the articles of association of the company are amended by the deletion of the current articles 110 to 112 
139b and 140 and replacement of those with the following articles
110 director conflict of interest
a director must declare to the board any situation in which heshe has or could have a direct or indirect 
interest that conflicts or possibly might conflict with the interests of the company unless it relates to a 
contract transaction or arrangement with the company or the matter has been authorised by board or the 
situation cannot reasonably be regarded as likely to give rise to a conflict of interest
111 authorisation of conflict
1111 the board may subject to such terms and conditions if any as they may think fit to impose from time to 
time and subject always to their right to vary or terminate such authorisation authorise to the fullest extent 
permitted by law
a any matter which would otherwise result in a director infringing his duty to avoid a situation in which 
heshe has or can have a direct or indirect interest that conflicts or possibly may conflict with the 
interests of the company and which may reasonably be regarded as likely to give rise to a conflict of 
interest including a conflict of interest and duty or conflict of duties
b a director to accept or continue in any office employment or position in addition to his office as a director 
of the company and without prejudice to the generality of this article 1111 may authorise the manner in 
which a conflict of interest arising out of such office employment or position may be dealt with either 
before or at the time that such a conflict of interest arises
provided that for this purpose the director in question and any other interested director are not counted in the
quorum at any board meeting at which such matter or such office employment or position is approved and 
it is agreed to without their voting or would have been agreed to if their votes had not been counted
1112 if a matter or office employment or position has been authorised by the board in accordance with this 
article 111 then
a the director shall not be required to disclose any confidential information relating to such matter or such 
notice of annual general meeting – ant plc
continued
50 ant plc annual report and accounts 2008 office employment or position to the company if to make such a disclosure would result in a breach of a 
duty or obligation of confidence owed by himher in relation to or in connection with that matter or that 
office employment or position
b the director may absent himselfherself from board meetings which anything relating to that matter or 
that office employment or position will or may be discussed and
c the director may make such arrangements as such director thinks fit for board and committee papers to 
be received and read by a professional adviser on behalf of that director
1113 a director shall not by reason of his office be accountable to the company for any benefit which he derives 
from any matter or from any office employment or position which has been approved by the board pursuant
to this article 111 subject in any such case to any limits or conditions to which such approval was subject
112 votes and director’s interest
1121 a director who is in any way directly or indirectly interested in a proposed or existing contract transaction or 
arrangement with the company must forthwith declare the nature and extent of that interest to the board 
unless it cannot reasonably be regarded as likely to give rise to a conflict of interest
1122 save as herein provided a director shall not vote in respect of any contract transaction or arrangement or 
any other proposal whatsoever in which heshe has an interest which is to hisher knowledge a material 
interest otherwise than by virtue of hisher interests in shares or debentures or other securities of or otherwise
in or through the company a director shall not be counted in the quorum at the meeting in relation to any 
resolution on which heshe is debarred from voting
1123 subject to the provisions of the statutes and always to the provisions of articles 110 and 111 a director shall 
in the absence of some other material interest than is indicated below be entitled to vote and be counted in 
the quorum in respect of any resolution concerning any of the following matters namely
a the giving of any security guarantee or indemnity in respect of money lent or obligations incurred by him or
any other person at the request of or for the benefit of the company or any of its subsidiaries
b the giving of any security guarantee or indemnity in respect of a debt or obligation of the company or any 
of its subsidiaries for which he himself has assumed responsibility in whole or in part either jointly with 
others under a guarantee or indemnity or by the giving of security 
c any contract arrangement transaction or proposal concerning an offer of shares debentures or other 
securities of the company or any of its subsidiaries for subscription or purchase in which offer he is or 
may be entitled to participate as a holder of securities or in the underwriting of which he is to participate
d any contract arrangement transaction or proposal to which the company is or is to be a party 
concerning any other company including any subsidiary of the company in which heshe is interested 
directly or indirectly and whether as an officer or shareholder creditor or otherwise a relevant 
company if heshe does not to hisher knowledge hold an interest in shares as that term is used in 
sections 820 to 825 of the 2006 act representing one per cent or more of either any class of the equity 
share capital or the voting rights in the relevant company
e any contract arrangement transaction or proposal for the benefit of the employees of the company or 
any of its subsidiaries including any pension fund or retirement death or disability scheme which does 
not award him a privilege or benefit not generally awarded to the employees to whom it relates to
ant plc annual report and accounts 2008  51 f any contract arrangement transaction or proposal concerning the purchase andor maintenance of any 
insurance policy pursuant to article 176
1124 subject as otherwise provided in the statutes or these articles a director may be in any way directly or 
indirectly interested in any contract or arrangement or transaction with the company and he may hold and be
remunerated in respect of any office or place of profit other than the office of auditor of the company or any 
subsidiary thereof under the company or any other company in which the company is in any way interested 
and heshe or any firm of which heshe is a member may act in a professional capacity for the company or 
any such other company and be remunerated therefore and in any such case as aforesaid save as otherwise 
agreed heshe may retain for hisher own absolute use and benefit all profits and advantages accruing to him
thereunder or in consequence thereof for the avoidance of doubt the company shall have no claim arising 
from or in consequence of the director’s interest in any contract or arrangement or transaction within the 
scope of this article 112 and article 110 111 113 and the director shall not breach any of hisher duties to 
the company as a result of having that interest
1125 an interest of a director may be declared at a board meeting by notice in writing pursuant to s184 of the 
2006 act or by means of a general notice under s185 of the 2006 act
1126 article 112 and 113 does not require a declaration of an interest of which the director is not aware and ought
not reasonably to be aware of it or where the director is not aware of the contract transaction or 
arrangement in question and ought not reasonably to be aware of it
139  application of the seal
b every other instrument to which the seal is affixed shall be signed by one director and the secretary or by
two directors or by one director in the presence of a witness
140 deed without sealing
a document signed by a director and by the secretary or by two directors or by a director in the presence of
a witness and expressed in whatever form of words to be executed by the company shall have the same 
effect as if it were executed under the seal provided that no instrument shall be so signed which makes it 
clear on its fact that it is intended by the person or persons making it to have effect as a deed without the 
authority of a resolution of the board or of a committee of the board authorised on that behalf  an instrument
or document which is executed by the company as a deed shall not be deemed to be delivered by the 
company solely as a result of it being having been executed by the company
by order of the board registered office
m lobo autonomy house
secretary cambridge business park
14 april 2009 cowley road
cambridge 
cb4 0wz
notice of annual general meeting – ant plc
continued
52 ant plc annual report and accounts 2008 notes
1 a member entitled to attend and vote at the meeting convened by the notice set out above is entitled to appoint 
one or more proxy or proxies to attend to speak and to vote instead of him a proxy need not be a member of the 
company but must attend the meeting to represent you  
2 a form of proxy is enclosed to be valid it must be deposited at the office of the companys registrars 
computershare investor services plc at po box 1075 the pavilions bridgwater road bristol bs99 7nh so as to
be received not later than 48 hours before the time appointed for holding the annual general meeting completion 
and return of the form of proxy does not preclude a member from attending and voting at the meeting in person if 
he so wishes
3 the memorandum and articles of association of the company and copies of directors service contracts or a 
memorandum of the terms thereof with the company or any of its subsidiary undertakings will be available for 
inspection at the registered office of the company during normal business hours saturdays sundays and bank or 
public holidays in england excepted up to the date of and during the meeting
4 the register of interests of the directors and their families in the securities of the company or any of its subsidiary 
undertakings will be available for inspection on the day of the meeting at the place of the meeting from the start of 
the meeting until its conclusion
5 the company pursuant to regulation 41 of the uncertificated securities regulations 2001 specifies that only those
members entered on the register of members of the company not later than 900 am on 19 may 2009 or if the 
meeting is adjourned members entered on the register of members of the company not later than 48 hours before
the time fixed for the adjourned meeting shall be entitled to attend and vote at the meeting changes to the entries 
on the register of members of the company after that time shall be disregarded in determining the rights of any 
person to attend or vote at the meeting
6 biographical details of the directors seeking election are contained in the annual report 2008
7 resolution 6 gives the directors the general power to allot shares or securities convertible into shares up to an 
aggregate nominal amount of £404770 being approximately onethird of the companys issued share capital
8 when shares are to be allotted for cash section 891 of the companies act 1985 provides that existing 
shareholders have preemption rights and that any new shares are offered first to such shareholders in proportion to
their existing shareholdings as well as providing for rights issues and exercise of options under existing schemes 
resolution 7 is seeking to authorise the directors to allot shares of up to an aggregate nominal amount of £60710 
otherwise than on a prorata basis this represents 5 of the company’s issued share capital on 31 december 
2008
9 resolution 8 introduces new provisions to the company’s existing articles of association which replaces existing 
provisions for the purpose of adopting the new powers available to the company that have been brought into effect 
by the companies act 2006 the first proposed amendments under articles 110 to 112 deal with the new power 
for directors to authorise conflicts and potential conflicts of other directors the second proposed amendments 
under articles 139b and 140 deal with the method of execution of documents  
articles 110 to 112
under the companies act 2006 from 1 october 2008 a director must avoid a situation where he has or can have a
ant plc annual report and accounts 2008  53 54 ant plc annual report and accounts 2008
direct or indirect interest that conflicts or possibly may conflict with the companys interests the requirement is very
broad and could apply for example if a director becomes a director of another company or a trustee of another
organisation the companies act 2006 also allows the articles of association to contain other provisions for dealing
with director’s authority to approve such situations and to include other provisions to allow conflicts of interest to be
dealt with in a similar way to current position
there are safeguards which will apply when directors decide whether to authorise a conflict or potential conflict first
only directors who have no interest in the matter being considered will be able to make the relevant decision as to
whether or not to waive such conflicts and secondly in taking the decision the nonconflicted directors must act in a
way they consider in good faith will be most likely to promote the companys success the nonconflicted directors
will be able to impose limits or conditions when giving authorisation if they think this is appropriate
it is also proposed that the new articles 110 to 112 should contain provisions relating to confidential information
attendance at board meetings and availability of board papers to protect a director being in breach of duty if a conflict
of interest or potential conflict of interest arises these provisions will only apply where the position giving rise to the
potential conflict has previously been authorised by the directors  
articles 139b to 140
section 44 of the companies act 2006 which came into effect on 8 april 2008 enable companies to execute
documents by the signature of one director in the presence of a witness the new articles continue to allow the
company to execute documents by the signature of one director and the secretary or by two directors in addition
they also permit the company to take advantage of the new provision which allows documents to be executed by
one director in the presence of a witness whom may or may not be another director or the secretary ant plc – form of proxy
for use by shareholders at the annual general meeting of the company to be held at autonomy house
cambridge business park cowley road cambridge cb4 0wz on 21st may 2009 at 900am
iwe see note 1
block capitals please
being a membermembers of the abovenamed company hereby appoint the chairman of the meeting or 
see note 2 
as myour proxy to vote for meus on myour behalf at the annual general meeting of the company to be held at autonomy
house cambridge business park cowley road cambridge cb4 0wz on 21st may 2009 at 900 am and at any adjournment
thereof and iwe direct the proxy to vote in respect of the resolutions to be proposed at the meeting as indicated below
please indicate with a x x in the boxes below how you wish your vote to be cast see note 3
resolutions for against withheld
1 ordinary resolution to receive the annual accounts of the company 
for the year ended 31st december 2008 together with the directors’ report 
and the auditors’ report for such period 
2 ordinary resolution to reappoint ernst  young llp as auditors of the 
company and to authorise the directors to determine their remuneration 
3 ordinary resolution to reelect tudor brown as a director of the company
4 ordinary resolution to reelect simon woodward as a director of the company
5 ordinary resolution to reelect david kynaston as a director of the company
6 ordinary resolution to authorise the issue of ordinary shares for cash
within the meaning of s80 of the companies act 1985
7 special resolution to authorise the issue of ordinary shares for cash within the 
meaning of s94 of the companies act 1985 i by way of a rights issue or ii pursuant to 
the terms of any share scheme for directors and employees iii or otherwise  having a 
nominal amount not exceeding 5 of the company’s issued share capital on 
31st december 2008
8 special resolution to authorise the proposed amendments to the articles of 
association of the company to take advantage of the new power available relating to 
director’s conflict of interest and execution of documents brought into force by the 
companies act 2006  
signatures date
see notes 4 and 5
notes
1 members’ full names as registered should be stated including account designations if any the names of all joint holders should be stated 
but see also note 5
2 a member may appoint a proxy of his or her choice  if such an appointment is made delete the words “the chairman of the meeting or” initial the 
alteration and print the name and address of the person appointed proxy in the space provided a proxy need not be a member of the company 
if more than one proxy is appointed to act as proxy the number of shares in respect of which each such proxy is to vote must be specified
3 where no indication is given as to how the person appointed proxy shall vote the proxy will vote or abstain at hisher discretion
4 this form of proxy must be signed by the appointer or hisher attorney duly authorised in writing or if the appointer is a corporation either under its 
common seal or under the hand of an officer or attorney duly authorised on its behalf
5 in the case of joint holders the signature of any one shareholder is sufficient if more than one joint holder is present at the meeting whether in person 
or by proxy the vote of the first named standing in the register of members will be accepted to the exclusion of the votes of the other registered holders
6 to be valid this form must be completed and deposited with any authority under which it is executed or a copy of the same certified notarially at the 
company registrars computershare investor services plc po box 1075 the pavilions bridgwater road bristol bs99 7nh not less than 48 hours 
before the time fixed for holding the meeting or any adjournment thereof
7 a vote “withheld” is not a vote in law and will not be counted in the calculation of the proportion of votes for and against a resolution
ant plc annual report and accounts 2008  55
fold
tear along perfed line moisten gum and fold
fold in half and moisten along gummed edge 
fold


Summary:
 chief executive officer’s review
introduction
2009 has started as 2008 ended on a positive note with the
announcements by taiwan’s chunghwa telecom’s laboratories
and softathome of their selection of ant galio for their next
generation browser while current economic conditions will
inevitably constrain growth rates over the next few years the
ongoing structural changes in the tv market supports our
confidence in the market’s longterm growth potential with our
significant market share we are well placed to benefit from
these
financial review
group revenues for the year at £37m were 29 higher than
2007 reflecting an increase in the number and variety of
licences signed an increase in units shipped and favourable
exchange rate movements in the year
revenue from licencing and royalties was £29m 2007 £21m
with professional services contributing £08m 2007 £08m 
14 new licences were signed in the year 2007 7 which was
the major factor behind the increase in licence and royalty
income
units shipped in the year from ant licensees increased by 56
reflecting a general broadening of the group’s shipping
customer base and a more than doubling to 9 of the numbers
of licensees shipping more than 100000 units 2007 4
however royalty income was broadly unchanged year on year
as there was a substantial reduction in advance royalties
booked as part of the licensing deals signed during the year
this was offset by an increase in royalty income from licensees
who had already exhausted their advance royalty payments
gross margins remained stable in the year at 83 2007 85
operating costs at £44m 2007 £48m were 8 lower than
last year – although 2008 benefited from exchange rate gains
while spending on rd in 2008 rose by 10 operating
expenses reduced by 23 of which 9 was due to exchange
rate gains headcount at 31 december 2008 was 49 2007 45
the average headcount in the year was 47 2007 45
the average sterlingus dollar rate for the year was 180
2007 201 approximately 90 per cent of the group’s
business in the year was conducted outside the uk– the
majority of which was denominated in us dollars
losses before tax for the year halved to £10m 2007
£20m of which £06m was due to favourable currency
movements
the group continued to focus on managing its working
capital tightly with net cash outflow for the year being
significantly reduced to £06m 2007 £13m outflow cash
and cash equivalents and other financial assets as at 31
december 2008 were £56m 2007 £62m our treasury
policy for managing our cash balances is to ensure that we
retain adequate cash on short term deposits to meet our
daily operational needs while committing the surplus to
treasury deposits of varying lengths spread across a number
of “aa” rated financial institutions
the group has unrecognised tax losses available to be offset
against future profits of £106m the directors are not
recommending the payment of a final dividend
market overview
the evolution of digital media markets continues to drive
significant change and disruption to the traditional modes of
delivering media worldwide consumers and providers are
increasingly embracing the opportunities that digital media
services have to offer and this momentum is growing the
consumer electronics and technology market continues to
anticipate these new services and has ensured that home
devices are ready to adapt quickly to the changing habits of
the consumer whether that is to store share watch
nowlater recommend or interact with the abundance of
content that is increasingly becoming available
internet protocol ip networks broadband networks and
the internet are also providing new opportunities for non
traditional delivery of video content to the tv set through a
variety of devices such as game consoles media centres
media extenders ipenabled tv sets operator and retail
hybrid integrated multiple network set top boxes “hybrid
stbs” and bluray disc bd players the proliferation of
6 ant plc annual report and accounts 2008 broadband services both in terms of geographic expansion
and increased bandwidth from operators enables these
devices to access a wealth of video content from video
aggregators consumer generated media sites and social
networking sites
we are also seeing the rapid emergence of hybrid devices
such as stbs that combine support for digital broadcast tv
satellite cable or terrestrial and broadbandbased services
this trend plays strongly to ant’s galio platform strengths
providing the consumer with a simple unified tv experience in
an increasingly complex infrastructure environment television
providers are blending third party services with their own to
increase differentiation ims research predicts that this
broadcastbroadband hybrid device market will grow from
being in 350 million homes at the end of 2008 to more than
600 million homes by the end of 2013
televisions themselves are also becoming more sophisticated
media platforms with digital broadcast and broadband service
capabilities built into many models recent forecasts by
screen digest for such integrated digital tv idtv reached
nearly 70 million units shipped at the end of 2008 and are
forecast to grow to over 100 million units by 2012 this was
reinforced at the consumer electronics show ces in las
vegas in january 2009 where tv manufacturers including
samsung lg pioneer and panasonic demonstrated many
idtv models
endorsing ant’s vision of connected tv platforms yahoo
launched their connected tv ‘widgets’ platform ‘widgets’ are
mini applications such as weather news sport in 2008 we
expect to see the advent of hybrid platforms with connected
media services becoming mainstream from device
manufacturers and tv operators in 2009 we believe that
growth will come from increased user awareness and the
enabling of access to multiple consumer services from these
devices
market drivers
in many markets this growth in delivery of digital tv services
has at its core continuing support from governments and
regulators to accelerate the transition from the analogue to the
digital tv spectrum other key drivers include the increase in
broadband coverage the adoption of new technologies in
the home such as high definition tv ‘hdtv’ and the
rapidly accelerating demand for digital interactive content
both online and via broadcast
in 2008 we saw positive trends in all these areas the move
from analogue to digital spectrum is on track in all major
markets in the uk over 88 of primary tv sets are able to
receive digital television whilst globally this figure is on
average 75 in the last eight years consumer broadband in
the uk has reached 58 of homes ofcom 2008 international
review and is poised for super broadband as through
government initiative access speeds of 20mbs or more to
consumers become the target
in 2008 we also saw a significant shift from the purchase of
physical multimedia cd dvd games to online purchasing
of digital media music downloads reached 107bn music
tracks up 27 on 2007 and we saw an array of new video
on demand vod services such as those from netflix
itunes and microsoft achieve traction
through our technology and by virtue of our reputation in
the industry we are well placed to help operators set top
box manufacturers and in the future tv manufacturers
make this shift these trends supported by market
projections from a number of sources give us confidence
that we are operating in a market that will grow substantially
over the next three to five years
market growth
while no market is or will be untouched by the global
economic recession the projected growth figures for the tv
market indicate that there is already sufficient momentum
underway for it to grow substantially over the next three to
five years even if there were to be some shortfall in the
current industry projections 
• multimedia research group’s latest iptv global forecast 
predicts that global iptv subscribers will grow from 
approximately 20m in 2008 to approximately 90m in 2012
driven by the investment by operators worldwide in 
improved quality of service ease of operation hd content
and time shifting
ant plc annual report and accounts 2008  7 chief executive officer’s review
continued
in all major markets the standard analogue spectrum is being
shut down by 2012 to make way for digital services this
supported by an ever increasing array of hd channels and
premium programming events such as the world cup in 2010
and the olympic games in 2012 illustrate some of the
compelling events that will help drive consumers to move to
digital
ant is ideally placed to capitalise on these trends by providing
device manufacturers with the middleware and applications to
take advantage of this structural growth in the market through
the use of such device manufacturers’ products operators can
provide the consumer with a compelling and intuitive user
experience for which he or she should be willing to pay even in
these more economically constrained times
ant’s software is being extensively deployed throughout the
world by customers including france telecom telecom italia
telekom austria and chunghwa telecom these deployments
have been achieved through stb manufacturers licensing
directly from ant including the likes of amino technologies
advanced digital broadcast samsung cisco pirelli sagem
thomson and hwacom
product marketing strategy
the group’s strategy for growing its revenues remains
unchanged namely to 
• maximise royalty revenues from existing high volume fresco 
and ant galio deployments
• migrate operators and subsequently the stb manufacturers 
who seek to sell through them to the greater capability and 
higher value of the ant galio platform and
• enhance ant’s value and revenue per subscriber through 
the commercial exploitation of its new range of media 
applications
ant offers a flexible and media centric applications platform
a range of highly customisable media applications and portal
services enabling direct access to such services as catch up
tv tv widgets and social networking etc our software
including our content development kits cdks enable tv
operators and device manufacturers to significantly reduce
the time and cost to launch such new services 
ant’s well established fresco browser continues to support
the majority of ant deployments migration to ant galio is
proceeding satisfactorily however thereby providing us with
additional licence income and higher per unit royalties
the ant galio platform is an easytouse nonproprietary
platform solution for digital media delivery it comprises
• ant galio browser – an advanced standardsbased web 
browser engine optimised for complex tv application 
dynamic user interface and portal services support and
• ant galio client – which provides a wide range of tv
focused extensions for manipulating digital media
ant galio is built on open standards the familiarity of these
standards provides immediate advantages for both operators
and content developers including the ability to quickly
changepersonaliseadapt user interfaces this in turn
provides operators with more opportunities to build brand
awareness and to take advantage of potential revenue
opportunities through targeted sponsorship and advertising
it is the unique flexibility and cross platform capability of
ant’s software that has made fresco and latterly ant galio
the market leading delivery platforms and products of
choice while enabling ant to attain a market share of more
than 50 of global iptv deployments today
softathome has chosen ant galio to enhance its operating
platform in order to deliver high quality user experience for
service providers ant galio continues to be selected by
operators to support more sophisticated user interface
designs and extend the capability of media applications to
provide a significantly improved user experience to support
greater device value and revenues in the medium to long
8 ant plc annual report and accounts 2008 term ant has now developed a complete range of core tv
applications these include program guide channel zapper
fully integrated personal video recorder pvr parental
control video on demand and portal services all applications
support the full customisation of user interface design and
provide operators and device manufacturers with a highly
optimised route to market for their products 
operational and technical developments
during the year we took a number of steps designed to 
reinforce our technical leadership position and to improve the
way in which we service our customers in particular
• we adopted a process of sharing our technical roadmap 
over the next two years with the group’s key customers to 
ensure that we take their plans into account in establishing 
our future development plans and priorities thereby 
increasingly making ant part of their own development 
and service plans
• we worked with all the major chipset manufacturers to 
ensure product compatibility thereby enabling our software 
to support whichever chipset our device manufacturer 
should select
• ant galio browser release 30 was launched at ibc in 
september 2008 providing device manufacturers with 
improved performance and extended compliance with 
industry standards
• we launched our cdk  an editing and content debugging
tool that reduces application developers’ and operators’ 
time to market
outlook
while in no way impervious to current economic conditions
there are a number of factors specific to our business that
make us cautiously optimistic that we should see further
growth in revenue in 2009 in particular 
• we started 2009 with a strong pipeline of deals which we 
expect to close during the year – the first of which has 
already been signed with softathome adopting ant galio
browser
• we expect our available markets to develop in 2009
• we expect to benefit from an increase in average royalty 
rate as the unit shipments of ant galio based products 
form a higher percentage of total unit shipments by our 
licensees and
• we expect to continue to benefit from currency exchange 
rates in 2009
our market has strong structural reasons why it will continue
to grow over the next three to five years provided we
continue to deliver products to our customers that allow
them to drive attractive services into the consumer market
more quickly and more efficiently than anything offered by
our competitors we believe that ant has an exciting future
ahead
simon woodward
chief executive
2nd march 2009
ant plc annual report and accounts 2008  9