annual report and accounts
for the year ended 30 june 2005
software solutions 
for medicines
management in the
healthcare sector our vision is to provide 
all necessary information
and knowledge when and
where health decisions
are made and use the
information collected on
patient outcomes to
improve health
as a leader in medicines
management software we are
satisfying a market demand and
building a solution that can be
used for all healthcare it delivery  
the team is driven by a desire 
to improve health
highlights for the year 1
at a glance 2
chairman’s statement 4
chief executive’s report 6
financial review 10
board of directors 12
report of the directors 13
corporate governance report 15
remuneration report 16
statement of directors’ 18
responsibilities
independent auditors’ report 19
consolidated profit and loss account 20
consolidated and 
company balance sheets 21
consolidated cash flow statement 22
notes to the financial statements 23
notice of annual general meeting 36
directors secretary  advisers ibc
ascribe plc • annual report and accounts 2005 annual report and accounts 2005 • ascribe plc 1
operating cashflow
198
of operating profit
pro forma profit before tax
£1 3m
2004 £02m
pro forma profit before tax increased to £13m
from £02m last year
profit before tax increased to £08m from 
£04m loss last year
pro forma turnover increased by 84 to £68m 
recurring contract maintenance income at 61
pro forma adjusted eps increased to 10p
recommended final dividend of 01p per
ordinary share
operating cashflow represents 198 of
operating profit
management team strengthened
4 acquisitions widen market coverage to include 
• mental health
• community care
• child care
• gp practices
• accident  emergency
• retail pharmacy
 in order to provide a better understanding of our trading results we have prepared a
pro forma profit and loss account which is set out in the financial review on page 10
 before goodwill amortisation
highlights for the year 2 ascribe plc • annual report and accounts 2005
at a glance
innovation comes
from a team
experienced in
healthcare it
driving shareholder value
driven forward by
software solutions which support patient 
clinical and business processes
ascribe ensures that it
system implementations
will fit with future health
service strategies 
this allows organisations
to progress their it
solutions safe in the
knowledge that they 
are not creating legacy
issues for the future
ascribe’s products
financial highlights
pro forma profit before tax £m
02
13
2004
2005
pro forma adjusted earnings per share uk pence
034
103
2004
2005
share price uk pence
18
335
at float
19 september 2005
000 020 040 060 080 100 120 140
000 020 040 060 080 100 120 140
0510 15 20 25 30 35
ascribe icw
the ascribe integrated
clinical workstation
icw provides the 
webbased integration 
to bring together all
applications across the
group and also
integrate with thirdparty
and legacy systems
park pmr  pharmaciepos
the park patient medication
record “pmr” enables retail
pharmacists to maintain a pmr
system and supports the
monitoring of drug interactions 
and contraindications reducing 
the risk of adverse drug reactions 
it provides a stock control system
which supports label printing and
the electronic transmission of
orders to wholesalers the
pharmaciepos system provides
retail pharmacists with an
electronic point of sale system
evolve exeter
the exeter system is the longest
successfully running central server
gp solution available in the uk 
and winner of the prestigious
healthcare computing gold 
award for primary care
computing the exeter system is
now available as a mobile option
using pda technology enabling
gps and nursing staff to download
the whole practice list with clinical
histories onto a pda and use it to
enter morbidity and medication
data which is subsequently
uploaded into the practice clinical
system
ascribe pharmacy
ascribe operates as a series of
interacting modules that address 
a range of pharmacy it
requirements from electronic
prescribing pharmacy stock
control  labelling through to
substance misuse and drug level
monitoring the modules can
operate in isolation or as a
cohesive and coordinated
medicines management solution
this technology also supports
robotic dispensing systems 3 annual report and accounts 2005 • ascribe plc
uk
kenya
hong kong
malaysia
new zealand
australia
ascribe’s strategy is to build 
on its position in the medicines
management market through
organic growth and the acquisition
of profitable companies
pharmacy
the hospital  retail pharmacy
market continues to offer strong
growth opportunities the audit
commission’s ‘spoonful of sugar’
report raised several concerns
around the management of
medicines which can be addressed
with it solutions with clients in the
uk the far east  australasia the
company has seen a marked
increase in the demand for it
solutions that can be delivered
today and that will integrate with
future health service requirements
mental health and 
community care
the mental health  community
care market is a significant growth
sector within the nhs there is a
common requirement addressed 
by ascribe to provide ready access
to patientcentric healthcare
information this allows healthcare
professionals make more informed
decisions allocate resources and
even book and track appointments
and visits
primary and unscheduled care
major hospitals and local gps’
surgeries throughout the world are
embracing it solutions that deliver
better support for patients and
ensure that their needs are met 
in a timely and efficient manner 
from accident and emergency
departments to the gp’s practice
ascribe provides tools to track
patients using electronic record
systems that can monitor their
progress assess their requirements
and improve resource allocation
controlled by
strong management
experienced team
ascribe locations
operating divisions
ascribe’s major asset is its team 
of healthcare and business
professionals many have worked
within the health service and are
passionate about building and
delivering commercial solutions that
focus upon the needs of the patient
and the needs of our customers
this is a company that is committed
to creating a commercial business
to deliver better healthcare through
it innovation
epex
epex supports the inter
agency needs of the modern
primary healthcare
community including
community nursing mental
health learning disabilities
child health elderly services
and social care epex is used
in over 100 uk trusts and
supports all the interoperability
standards to meet integrated
care records service icrs
requirements
symphony
symphony is an accident 
emergency system that provides
medical staff with a complete
patient information record
symphony can operate as a
standalone solution or it can 
be integrated into existing
computer systems it is also
available as a handheld 
portable system it enables 
full identification of the patient
and storage of all records in
connection with the patient’s
current and previous
attendances the data collected
can be defined locally so as to
build up a patient record that is
both pertinent and practical 4 ascribe plc • annual report and accounts 2005
i am delighted to present ascribe’s first
annual report since its admission to 
aim on 17 december 2004 the group
has made significant progress in the
medicines management market and 
has delivered excellent financial results for
the year surpassing initial expectations 
this success comes from strong organic
growth and impressive value yielded from
the acquisitions made at and since
flotation
trading results
2005 has been a remarkably successful year
for the group following an earlier period of
significant investment in software development
the company has been able to apply greater
focus on creating and pursuing sales
opportunities turnover has increased by 89
to £53m 2004 £28m operating profit of
£07m 2004 £04m represents a £11m
turnaround in profitability over the previous year
in order to provide a better understanding of
our trading results we have prepared a pro
forma profit and loss account which is set 
out in the financial review on page 10 this
shows the results of the group as if it had
been trading in its form at flotation for a full
twelve months with the three acquisitions
made in may and june being included in the
results from their dates of acquisition i am
very pleased to report that the pro forma profit
before tax and the amortisation of goodwill
has grown to £13m in the year to 30 june
2005 from a profit of £02m in 2004 this has
been due to continued organic growth in sales
of our medicines management software the
expansion of the group and the delivery of
synergies and economies of scale from
transforming the enlarged group into flexible
and efficient divisions able to call upon key
and common resources 
sales revenue visibility is robust with 61 of
pro forma revenues for the current year being
derived from recurring maintenance contracts
and a further 17 of account development
revenue from existing customers the group
continues to perform very well in the tenders 
for which it competes
pro forma adjusted basic earnings per share
in 2005 increased to 10p from 03p in 2004
the group’s balance sheet is strong with net
cash at 30 june 2005 of £27m operating
cashflow for the year represented 198 of
operating profits
chairman’s
statement
the management team has demonstrated
their ability to maximise profit from
acquisitions whilst delivering strong organic
growth and an exciting product strategy
admission to aim
17 december 2004
acquisition of protechnic exeter
a health it business serving 
100 primary care trusts and 
140 gps
17 december 2004
key appointments increase
strength and experience of the
senior management team
10 may 2005
chris moore
nonexecutive chairman 5 annual report and accounts 2005 • ascribe plc
acquisition of park systems 
uk leading independent retail
pharmacy computer systems
supplier
21 june 2005
company announces a 548
increase in pro forma profit
before tax to £13m
23 september 2005
strategic move into accident 
emergency with acquisition of 
footman walker associates
20 may 2005
2005 has been a remarkably successful
year for the group
management and staff
during the period since flotation we have
established a strong plc board and an
effective operating management team who 
are well positioned to deliver enhanced
shareholder value from the enlarged group 
in an increasingly competitive environment
attention to the needs of patients and
customers becomes increasingly important
and i would like to thank all of our employees
for their hard work during the year which has
helped us to maintain our market leading
position in medicines management
dividends
the board has decided to recommend a
progressive dividend policy that shares some 
of the trading success with shareholders
whilst recognising the requirement for cash 
to pursue further acquisitions the board
recommends a first and final dividend of 
01p per share subject to approval by the
shareholders at the agm on 26 october 2005
this dividend will be paid on 27 october 2005
to shareholders on the register at the close of
business on 7 october 2005
current trading and outlook
ascribe has started the new financial year
trading in line with management expectations
and we expect to continue to deliver value 
for our customers and their patients our
shareholders and our employees our strategy
for growth based on adding companies with
earningsenhancing it solutions to our existing
core medicines management business
provides a growing platform from which to
deliver enhanced growth in the coming years
the company has already begun to benefit
from synergistic sales opportunities between
products and healthcare markets
demonstrating the value of solid organic
growth and a more cohesive set of healthcare
solutions to our customers and investors
we enter the new financial year with excellent
visibility of earnings  an order book at record
levels a strong bank of tendering activity and
prospects and recurrent maintenance income
that represents over half of the group’s total
income
chris moore
nonexecutive chairman
22 september 2005 6 ascribe plc • annual report and accounts 2005
chief
executive’s
report
the business has a good order book 
a strong sales pipeline reinforced by an
excellent record of winning public tenders 
a healthy record of providing followon
products to existing customers and a
recurring maintenance contract income
level running at 61 of sales in the period
£68m
2005 pro forma turnover
2006
objectives
maximise sales opportunities coming from
group products
drive further efficiencies from consolidated
group operations
deliver products from a common platform
continue to acquire companies in
complementary markets
stephen critchlow
chief executive
strategy
with over 50 of uk hospital pharmacies
using the ascribe software ascribe has a
unique position in the medicines management
market our product includes software to
improve the safe handling and administration of
medicines as well as knowledge databases to
support decision making when medicines are
prescribed dispensed and administered
strong organic growth can be achieved by
cross selling our solutions to our current
customers who do not have this capability at
present this gives us access to a market
which is in excess of £1bn in the uk alone our
overseas customers provide routes to markets
in australia new zealand and south east asia 
the ability to achieve organic growth through
crosssales comes from ascribe’s webbased
integrated clinical workstation “icw” software
which also provides an integration capability
allowing the group to move to a single product
strategy by controlled evolution firstly by
integrating the legacy applications and then by
replacing them over time using this approach
ascribe can grow shareholder value when
acquiring other businesses in the health it
sector by improving their solution offering and
sales revenue and optimising their overheads
this focused productstrategy means that the
it healthcare businesses which ascribe has
and will acquire can be rapidly integrated into
our model providing an excellent offering and
additional benefits for patients healthcare
professionals employees and ultimately our
shareholders
operations
since flotation we have organised the group
into three divisions – pharmacy mental 
health  community care and primary 
unscheduled care these divisions benefit 
from a group sales and product strategy
common services across the group are
managed to improve performance and deliver
economies of scale
we have built a strong operational
management team which is actively
consolidating the group and has demonstrated
efficiencies ahead of our initial expectations
we are able to invest £1m in ongoing rd
with a profit before tax of £13m and an
excellent cash conversion of 198 i would
like to thank all the employees for the
commitment and energy they have put into
delivering these results and creating such a
healthy platform for growth
our overseas operations provide a route to
market for the integrated product we will be
launching the new webbased pharmacy and
icw software in our overseas markets in
november 2005
pharmacy
the pharmacy division comprises the
traditional hospital and retail pharmacy
markets together with the emerging
opportunities in wardbased electronic
prescribing the division has a market leading
position in uk hospital pharmacy with ascribe
software installed in more than 50 of
hospitals with the acquisition of park
systems the group now also supplies retail
pharmacy customers in addition the division
has systems in 41 hospitals in south east
asia and australasia where it has a sales
office in brisbane
the division has enjoyed continued organic
growth during the year new software
solutions have been installed and are in 
live usage at 27 new sites with unique
functionality and access to a clinical decision
support database the ascribe product has
won nearly 90 of the tendering activity in
this market in recent years its modern
architecture facilitates simple integration 
with other hospital systems an experienced
operations team which includes a high
proportion of pharmacists ensures that
implementations are efficient and effective 
for the customer further sales are expected
where the new medicines management and
electronic prescribing systems are sold to
existing pharmacy customers 7 annual report and accounts 2005 • ascribe plc
the ascribe webbased solution supports the
christie team by enabling them to make more
informed clinical decisions based upon the
shared availability of clinical and drug information
for each patient the project began in november
2004 and the first clinic was live within six
months the trustwide rollout is scheduled for
early 2006
“our aim for the first phase of this project was to
ensure we could safely prescribe and administer
medicines electronically for the breast cancer
clinics our team has adapted well to the new
ascribe software and we are starting to realise
the benefits it offers” june so chief pharmacist
the christie hospital in
manchester is the largest
singlesite cancer treatment
centre in europe providing
care for 32 million people and
is internationally renowned in
all aspects of cancer care
the christie hospital made the
decision to implement electronic
prescribing and medicines
administration to improve clinical
safety and the quality of service
delivered to patients
pharmacy
automating processes to save lives
of 2005 revenue is generated by recurring
maintenance contracts with customers 
in the uk and overseas
61 
professionalism and expertise
mental health and community care
over 100 primary care trusts in the uk and
ireland use the group’s solutions with a track
record of delivering for over 20 years epex 
is seen as a leader in the mental health it
market we are already delivering ascribe’s
new webbased medicines management
solution for drug misuse and customer
feedback has been excellent these solutions
are expected to comprise a significant
element of the division’s organic growth in 
the coming year
healthcare trusts are widening the usage 
of care systems in the community many
customers have therefore extended their
software licences to include further users 
and modules this increases recurring
maintenance revenue and has been
accelerated by improved system functionality
particularly in the sphere of webbased
electronic care management modules
increasingly fieldbased mental health and
child care clinicians are using our systems
day to day to treat patients in the community 8 ascribe plc • annual report and accounts 2005
chief
executive’s
report continued
the results represent a very pleasing start
to life as a public company
go live
27 new hospital pharmacy systems 
went live in the year
primary and unscheduled care
this division delivers software to accident 
emergency ae departments minor injuries
clinics and gp practices throughout the uk
and ireland 
the gp system is supported by a loyal user
group who use traditional gp management
software primary care processes are
changing considerably and ascribe is
committed to offering flexible software
solutions to the new ways of working this 
is being driven by a move to commission
healthcare services from larger and more
capable facilities in the community offering
unscheduled care such as treating minor
injuries in may 2005 ascribe acquired
footman walker which supplies software 
to 30 of ae departments in the 
uk as well as some of the newer minor
injuries units  since acquisition contracts for
four new sites have been won demonstrating
the growth potential within this division we
are also developing software to serve the
needs of newer gp surgeries where extra
functionality is required
this approach has been designed to
complement the nhs “connecting for health”
programme
the recent sales orders for ae solutions
have taken this business to a record sales
level as it moves into the delivery phase of its
latest system offering “symphony”
symphony is based on the same microsoft
technologies as the ascribe products and will
be rapidly integrated to enable a single
product offering
product strategy
our webbased medicines management
solution will be integrated with the current
product offerings of our recent acquisitions
providing an ideal vehicle to deliver integrated
modules as followon sales to current
customers the reorganisation of the
development operation will ensure that 
ascribe can offer a single product to any 
health it market
growth arising from this strategy is expected 
to be delivered progressively over the next 
five years using the group’s overseas
development team in tandem with uk staff 
that has domain knowledge will mean that
our development resource will be optimised
and will be more effective in its delivery this
strategy will enable development teams from
incremental acquisitions to quickly reap the
benefits of scale and a common software
architecture
sales and marketing
we have a healthy sales pipeline against the
products currently available customers are
demanding integration and clinical functionality
to address changes in healthcare where
systems become organised around the needs
of both patients and the healthcare
organisation ascribe’s medicines management
software delivers the functionality required to
address the needs of our customers today
and also delivers integration that can be used
to deliver other products from our merged
group seamlessly to the customer without 
redevelopment  9 annual report and accounts 2005 • ascribe plc
solihull pct required an it system to 
support their implementation of the “single
assessment process” sap which would
allow patient information to be drawn
together from separate systems and shared
across both health and local authority
services within the community an ardentia
data warehouse was selected for this
purpose and a secure messaging method
was devised to transfer patient data from
epex and care first over the nhs net into
the warehouse providing a common view 
on demographics and referrals sap
information specialist assessments and 
care plans the epex 3 system went live
with this functionality on 28th june 2005
“i am pleased that the development has met
its primary objectives and a number of
additional benefits are also being discussed
including other opportunities for sharing data
that benefits the patient” neil serougi
director of it services solihull pct
solihull primary care trust
pct was formed in 2001 to
bring together all those who
deliver care and advice in the
community such as gp’s
nurses and therapists together
with learning disabilities and
child health within one
organization making things
simpler for patients
solihull pct serves a population
of around 212000 registered at
31 gp practices
mental health and
community care
professionalism and expertise
business development
strong organic growth is coming from selling
our departmental and clinical systems directly
to clinicians customers are demanding an
integrated approach to patient care from a
responsive supplier that can be flexible as
health systems change both in the nhs 
and overseas
ongoing acquisitions of companies that can
use ascribe it solutions to enhance delivery 
to their customers or who can add to this
product offering will put ascribe in a dominant
position as a clinical systems provider
stephen critchlow
chief executive
22 september 2005  10 ascribe plc • annual report and accounts 2005
financial
review
jeremy lee
group finance director
103p
2004 034p
plc creation
the company was incorporated and registered
in england and wales on 12 august 2004 
on 17 december 2004 the company’ s ordinary
shares were admitted to trading on aim
operating results
including unaudited pro forma results
the reported results on page 20 represent the
trading of three elements of the group firstly
the company since incorporation secondly
asc computer software limited and its
subsidiaries “asc” for the year and finally 
all other subsidiaries since acquisition these
results show turnover of £53m and operating
profit before amortisation of goodwill of £09m
in order to provide a clearer understanding of
the group’s results we have produced a pro
forma profit and loss statement which shows
the results for the group as if its constituent
elements namely asc and protechnic exeter
limited “protechnic” at the time of flotation at
17 december 2004 had been trading for the
full year the results of the acquisitions made 
in late may and june 2005 have been
included from their respective dates of
acquisition 
the pro forma results for both years have
been prepared on the basis of current
accounting policies except in so far as 
a the same 2005 pastyear goodwill
amortisation charge for protechnic has been
used for 2004 b the same 2005 interest
credit has been used for 2004 and c the
same 2005 nonequity dividend has been
used for 2004 the comparative pro forma
results for the year to june 2004 represent 
the results of asc and protechnic only for 
that period 
pro forma profit and loss account
pro forma year pro forma year
ended 30 june 2005 ended 30 june 2004
£’000 £’000
turnover 6767 6243
cost of sales 724 867
gross profit 6043 5376
overheads 4864 5240
operating profit 1179 136
interest receivable 97 97
profit on ordinary 
activities before tax 
and goodwill 1276 233
goodwill amortisation 148 148
profit on ordinary 
activities before tax 1128 85
pro forma earnings 
per share
basic 080p 011p
diluted 079p 011p
adjusted basic 103p 034p
 before goodwill amortisation
earnings per share
adjusted basic earnings per share is 09p
2004 05p adjusted basic pro forma
earnings per share were 10p up from the
previous year 2004 03p
tax
the tax charge for the year of £015m
represents an effective rate of 158 on profit
before tax and goodwill amortisation this is
due to the tax losses utilised against profits
made in asc and the availability of enhanced
allowances from investment in rd activity
across the group further details on how the
tax charge was calculated are contained in
note 6 to the accounts
pro forma eps 11 annual report and accounts 2005 • ascribe plc
last year the hospital saw 103000 patients
in its outpatient clinics and 119000 patients
in ae the hospital’s ae department
required a modern it solution to help assess
patient care waiting times and the allocation
of medical resources the hospital has
acquired symphony and been so pleased
with its performance that it has extended its
licence to the main medical admissions units
“the system works well has proved itself to 
be adaptable to our needs and is easy to
use” david wilcox modern matron ae
department st george’s healthcare 
nhs trust
st george’s hospital in 
tooting is one of the largest
nhs teaching hospitals in the
country each year the 
hospital undertakes around
50000 nhs inpatient and
24000 outpatient operations
primary and
unscheduled care
professionalism and expertise
balance sheet and cash flow
the balance sheet as at 30 june 2005 shows
net assets of £64m which includes goodwill
of £83m deferred income of £37m and
deferred cash consideration of £12m it also
includes net cash balances of £27m
during the year the group’s cash flow from
operating activities was strong representing 
a conversion rate of 198 of operating profit
before goodwill amortisation the funds raised
at float were used to repay asc’s preference
shareholders and to meet the initial cash
consideration for the protechnic acquisition
the group remains highly cash generative 
not least because of the high level of recurring
annual maintenance contract income paid 
in advance
acquisitions
on 17 december 2004 the group acquired
the entire share capital of protechnic exeter
limited and its subsidiaries the initial
consideration of £5m was satisfied by 
£27m in cash and £23m in shares further
consideration of £08m in cash is payable if
certain performance criteria are met
on 20 may 2005 footman walker associates
limited and its subsidiary was acquired for 
an initial consideration of £18m this was
satisfied by £1m in cash and £08m in shares
a further £08m consideration is payable
£02m in cash and £06m in cash or shares 
if certain performance criteria are met
on 17 june 2005 the group acquired arkive
computing limited for an initial consideration 
of £52000 in cash and shares and deferred
consideration of £55000
on 21 june 2005 the group acquired park
systems limited for an initial cash
consideration of £13000 plus a deferred
consideration of up to £04m £02m in cash
and £02m in cash or shares subject to
meeting certain performance criteria
goodwill amortisation
a charge of £015m for the amortisation of
goodwill has been made during the year
representing a partyear charge in all cases
goodwill is being amortised over 20 years for
each of the acquisitions made during the year
jeremy lee
finance director 
22 september 2005 12 ascribe plc • annual report and accounts 2005
board of
directors
stephen critchlow
chief executive aged 45
stephen is the founder of asc computer
software limited he started work for the nhs
as a clinical pharmacist rising to the position of
director of pharmacy in 1987  for the royal
manchester children’s hospital and prestwich
hospital he left the nhs in 1997 to grow the
business and develop the new ascribe product
set he has grown the company from its first
customer stephen was appointed as chief
executive to the board at flotation
jeremy lee
finance director aged 45
jeremy a chartered accountant was group
finance director of aimlisted biotechnology
group tepnel life sciences plc between 1998
and 2001 and ofex listed technology company
feonic plc between 2001 and 2004 prior to
that he had divisional roles at the campbell soup
co inc and life sciences international plc 
he joined asc in july 2004 and was appointed 
to the board at flotation jeremy has
considerable experience in acquisitions public
fund raising activities and of managing early
stage rd companies
chris moore
nonexecutive chairman aged 50
chris was appointed to the board on 10 may
2005 he is chief executive of torex retail plc
and has extensive plc expertise with over 20
years experience within the it sector up until its
merger with isoft chris led the management
team of the high profile european healthcare 
it group torex plc where he built up the
company by acquisition and organically from a
small company with a market capitalisation of
£10m to a £350m substantial group
mark woodbridge
nonexecutive director aged 34
mark is the finance director of at
communications group plc previously he was
group finance director of torex plc from june
2000 to december 2003 working alongside
chris moore during the group’s transformation
from a small company to a market leader
previously mark worked as financial controller
for tarmac plc for five years two of which were
spent in malaysia
david hughes
nonexecutive director aged 63
david joined the board of asc in 2002 after 
a career with ibm mcdonnell douglas
information systems apricot computers and
latterly at misys plc where he was managing
director of tis software ltd before being
appointed chief executive officer of act
financial systems ltd in 1995 he has been
successfully managing software houses since
1985 both in terms of restoring profitability
growing uk and international operations and
integrating acquired businesses report of the directors 
for the period ended 30 june 2005
13 annual report and accounts 2005 • ascribe plc
the directors present the annual report and audited financial statements for the period ended 30 june 2005
principal activities trading review and future developments
the principal activity of the group is the development supply and support of software packages for the uk and international health market
a review of the group’ s activities during the year and prospects for the group’ s future are provided in the chairman’ s statement the chief executive’ s
report and the financial review on pages 4 to 11
results and dividends
the results of the group are set out in the consolidated profit and loss account on page 20 the directors recommend the payment of a first and final
dividend of 01p per share to the holders of ordinary shares totalling £01m the retained profit for the financial year was £045m 
research and development
the group is continuously developing its software products to meet the needs of the medicines management market during the year the group incurred
expenditure on software research and development of £099m 2004 £085m 
change of name
the company was incorporated on 12 august 2004 as ever 2458 limited it changed its name to ascribe limited on 19 november 2004 and re
registered as a public company – ascribe plc – on 25 november 2004
directors
the directors who served during the period together with their interests in the ordinary share capital of the company at the year end are set out below
certain directors have been granted share options the details of which are set out in the remuneration report on pages16 and 17
number of ordinary shares of 1p each
at 30 june 2005 at 12 august 2004
stephen critchlow appointed 23 november 2004 18680347 18680347
david hughes appointed 25 november 2004 250000 250000
jeremy lee appointed 23 november 2004 27778 27778
chris moore appointed 10 may 2005 10822771 10822771
mark woodbridge appointed 10 may 2005 30000 30000
everdirector limited appointed 12 august 2004 resigned 23 november 2004 – –
 includes 1981870 shares where connected persons or family members have the beneficial interest
 includes 30000 shares where connected persons or family members have the beneficial interest
 or date of appointment if later
since 30 june 2005 there have been no changes to the directors’ interests
in accordance with the articles of association each of the current directors resigns and being eligible offers himself for reappointment
acquisitions and disposals
details of acquisitions during the period are contained in the financial review on page 10
substantial interest in shares
as at 21 september 2005 the company had been notified of the following substantial holdings in its issued ordinary share capital
number of shares  of total
a s critchlow 18680347 1746
c k jones 16553747 1547
a r bradshaw 12635244 1181
c e moore 10822771 1011
artemis investment management limited 8943135 836
legal and general investment management limited 5555556 519
r j hinchliffe 5436329 508
c k whiteley 4807000 449
 includes shareholdings of connected persons
payments to creditors
the group does not follow any external code or standard on payment practice the policy for all group suppliers is to set terms of payment when agreeing
the terms of each business transaction and to ensure that the supplier is aware of these terms the group seeks to abide by those terms whenever it is
satisfied that the supplier has met the contractual obligations at 30 june 2005 the number of days of trade creditors for the group calculated by reference
to the total amounts invoiced by suppliers was 31 days  report of the directors continued
for the period ended 30 june 2005
14 ascribe plc • annual report and accounts 2005
political contributions and charitable donations
there have been no political contributions during the period and charitable donations amounted to £1160
annual general meeting
formal notice of the forthcoming annual general meeting to be held at the group’ s head office in bolton starting at 11am on wednesday 26th october
2005 is given on page 36 this notice sets out the resolutions to be proposed at the annual general meeting together with explanatory notes the proxy
card for registered shareholders is enclosed with this report
there are two items of special business 
resolution 10 proposes to grant directors authority for a period 15 months from the date of the agm to allot a maximum of 10998736 relevant securities
this represents one third of the aggregate unissued ordinary share capital
resolution 11 proposes to permit directors for a period of 15 months from the date of the agm to allot up to 10700379 equity securities wholly for cash
other than on a preemptive basis to current shareholders pro rata to their existing holdings this represents 10 of the aggregate current issued ordinary
share capital
corporate governance
the corporate governance report is set out on page 15 
auditors
t enon audit limited have expressed their willingness to continue in office and a resolution to reappoint them will be proposed at the annual general
meeting
by order of the board
j s w lee
secretary
22 september 2005 ascribe joined aim in december 2004 and is therefore not required to comply fully with the provisions of the combined code “the code” however the
directors believe that good corporate governance is essential and having considered the provisions of the code set out below those principles which the
group has adopted since incorporation and how the group has applied the principles the current size of the group means that full compliance with the
provisions of the code is not practicable 
the board
the board of directors includes a balance of executive and nonexecutive directors as at the year end the board comprised two executive directors –
the chief executive and the finance director – and three nonexecutive directors including the chairman of the board these directors bring a wide range
of business and sector experience to the board’ s discussions and decision making
there is a formal schedule of matters reserved for decision by the board which includes overall strategy business planning acquisitions and the approval
of major items of capital expenditure thus ensuring that it maintains full and effective control over appropriate strategic financial organisation and
compliance issues the directors have access to the company secretary and to independent legal advice if required at the company’ s expense
board committees
the board delegates certain specific responsibilities to committees which have been formally constituted and have clearly defined terms of reference
audit committee
the audit committee now comprises two nonexecutive directors and is chaired by mark woodbridge it meets at least twice a year when the executive
directors are invited to attend the committee reviews the interim and annual reports prior to submitting them to the board for approval 
it ensures that appropriate accounting and financial policies and procedures are implemented that systems of internal control and external audit are 
in place and that auditors’ recommendations are considered 
the committee receives monthly reports from the executive directors reviews the relationship with the external auditors and recommends the audit fee to
the board
the external auditors attend each meeting and have the opportunity for direct access to the committee without the presence of the executive directors for
independent discussions
internal controls
the board is responsible for reviewing and approving the adequacy and effectiveness of the group’ s internal controls including financial operational and
compliance controls and risk management
the directors are ultimately responsible for the group’ s system of internal controls and for reviewing its effectiveness the role of management is to
implement board policies on risk and control 
the key elements of the group’ s internal control are
• a clearly defined management structure and delegation of authority to committees of the board heads of department and individual business divisions
• regular and comprehensive information provided to management covering financial performance and key performance including nonfinancial
measures
• a detailed budgeting process and rolling strategic plan which is approved by the board
• procedures for the approval of capital expenditure and business acquisitions and
• monthly monitoring and reforecasting of results versus budget with analysis investigation and action taken in relation to variances
remuneration committee
the remuneration committee determines on behalf of the board the group’ s policy on executive and higher paid staff remuneration and considers and
approves remuneration packages for the executive directors the remuneration report is set out on page 16 and 17
going concern
the directors are satisfied that the group has adequate resources to continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future a period of not less than
12 months from the date of this report for this reason they continue to adopt the going concern basis in preparing the financial statements the directors
have satisfied themselves that the group is in a sound financial position and that sufficient cash resources will be available to meet foreseeable operating
cash requirements
relations with shareholders
the company endeavours to maintain regular communications with shareholders through rns announcements via the group’ s website and by direct
contact with its major shareholders the board values the views of shareholders and maintains a regular dialogue with investment fund managers other
investors and analysts to ensure that the investing community receives a consistent view of the group’ s performance
corporate governance report
for the period ended 30 june 2005
15 annual report and accounts 2005 • ascribe plc 16 ascribe plc • annual report and accounts 2005
the remuneration report sets out the company’s remuneration policy and its application to its directors the remuneration committee is appointed by
the board and during the year the following directors served
david hughes chairman
stephen critchlow until 27 may 2005
chris moore from 27 may 2005
the remuneration committee’s terms of reference are set and approved by the board
directors’ contracts
each executive director has a rolling service contract with the company which may be terminated by either party with not less than 12 months’ notice
nonexecutive directors have letters of appointment not service contracts which are terminable in not less than 12 months
remuneration policy
the board has appointed the remuneration committee to ensure that the company’s executive directors are rewarded to attract retain and motivate
individuals of the appropriate quality at a fair level
executive directors’ remuneration
the main elements of the director’s remuneration package are as follows
• basic salary – reviewed annually in june
• benefits including pension contributions life assurance company car allowance and healthcare
• annual bonus payment determined on certain financial targets agreed by the committee
share option plans
ascribe plc operates approved and unapproved discretionary share option schemes for staff of the group the committee decides which individuals
should participate and the extent of their participation share options are awarded within the scheme rules subject to inland revenue rules
pension benefits
the ascribe group operates a number of stakeholder and contractedin money purchase schemes where the group matches staff contributions up
to a maximum of 5 both executive directors accrue benefits under money purchase schemes in addition the group operates an executive pension
scheme whereby stephen critchlow receives a contribution equal to 15 of his basic salary access to independent financial advice is provided to all
eligible staff to ensure that they are aware of the need to make adequate provision for retirement
performance graph
the graph illustrates the relative performance of the shares in the company against the aim allshare index since flotation
remuneration report
for the year ended 30 june 2005
dec 2004
ascribe plc
company performance against aim allshare index
sept 2005
25
20
15
10
aim allshare index the auditors are required to report on the information contained in the following section of this report
emoluments
the remuneration of each director who served during the year excluding share options is set out in the table below
2005 2004
pension pension
salary benefits bonus fees sub total contribution total salary benefits sub total contribution total
£’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000
executive directors
s critchlow 123 1 35 – 159 18 177 107 1 108 14 122
j lee 77 – 15 – 92 3 95 ––– – –
sub total 200 1 50 – 251 21 272 107 1 108 14 122
nonexecutive directors
c moore ––– 4 4 – 4 ––– – –
d hughes 15 – – 11 26 – 26 23 – 23 – 23
m woodbridge 2 – 10 – 12 – 12 ––– – –
total 217 1 60 15 293 21 314 130 1 131 14 145
 the remuneration of these directors prior to flotation relates to their remuneration as directors of asc computer software limited
the highest paid director is stephen critchlow
share options
the following chart relates to participation in ascribe plc employee share option scheme the middle market value of the company’s ordinary shares
on 30 june 2005 was 315p and the range during the period since flotation was 175p to 34p the price at flotation was 18p
number of shares earliest
notes exercise price as at 12804 granted in year exercised in year as at 30605 vesting date expiry date
s critchlow 12 18p – 1000000 – 1000000 171205 171214
s critchlow 12 18p – 1000000 – 1000000 171206 171214
s critchlow 12 18p – 1000000 – 1000000 171207 171214
j lee 1 18p – 170000 – 170000 171205 171214
j lee 1 18p – 170000 – 170000 171206 171214
j lee 1 18p – 170000 – 170000 171207 171214
d hughes 2 18p – 500000 – 500000 171206 171214
d hughes 2 18p – 34000 – 34000 171205 171214
d hughes 2 18p – 34000 – 34000 171206 171214
d hughes 2 18p – 34000 – 34000 171207 171214
options under the company’s schemes can normally be exercised only on the achievement of performance criteria set by the remuneration
committee and linked to the underlying performance of the group
 performance criteria – annual growth in earnings per share excluding goodwill amortisation and exceptional items above the corresponding annual
growth in the retail price index
1 company’s approved executive share option scheme
2 company’s unapproved executive share option scheme
remuneration report continued
for the year ended 30 june 2005
17 annual report and accounts 2005 • ascribe plc 18 ascribe plc • annual report and accounts 2005
directors’ responsibilities
company law requires the directors to prepare financial statements for each financial year which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the
company and the group and of the profit or loss of the group for that year 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 accounting standards have been followed subject to any material departure 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 group 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 the group 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 the group and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other
irregularities
the annual report and accounts is available on the group website wwwascribecom the maintenance and integrity of the group’s website is the
responsibility of the directors the work carried out by the auditors does not include consideration of these matters legislation in the uk governing 
the preparation and dissemination of accounts may differ from legislation in other jurisdictions
statement of directors’ responsibilities
for the period ended 30 june 2005 independent auditor’ s report to the shareholders of ascribe plc
we have audited the financial statements of ascribe plc for the year ended 30 june 2005 which comprise the consolidated profit and loss account
the consolidated statement of total recognised gains and losses the consolidated balance sheet the company balance sheet the consolidated
cash flow statement and the related notes these financial statements have been prepared under the historical cost convention and the accounting
policies set out therein we have also audited the information in the part of the remuneration report that is described as having been audited
this report is made solely to the company’s members as a body in accordance with section 235 of the companies act 1985 our audit work has
been undertaken so that we might state to the company’s members those matters we are required to state to them in an 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 company’s
members as a body for our audit work for this report or for the opinions we have formed
respective responsibilities of directors and auditors
the directors’ responsibilities for preparing the annual report and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and united kingdom
accounting standards are set out in the statement of directors’ responsibilities they are also responsible for the preparation of the other information
contained in the 2005 annual report including the directors’ remuneration report
our responsibility is to audit the financial statements in accordance with relevant legal and regulatory requirements and united kingdom auditing
standards
we report to you our opinion as to whether the financial statements give a true and fair view and are properly prepared in accordance with the
companies act 1985 we also report to you if in our opinion the directors’ report is not consistent with the financial statements if 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 transactions with the company is not disclosed
we read other information contained in the annual report and consider whether it is consistent with the audited financial statements this other
information comprises only the directors’ report the chairman’s statement the chief executive’s report the financial review the corporate
governance report and the unaudited part of the remuneration report we consider the implications for our report if we become aware of any
apparent misstatements or material inconsistencies with the financial statements our responsibilities do not extend to any other information
basis of audit opinion
we conducted our audit in accordance with united kingdom auditing standards issued by the auditing practices board an audit includes
examination on a test basis of evidence relevant to the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements it also includes an assessment of the
significant estimates and judgements made by the directors in the preparation of the 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 consider necessary in order to provide us with
sufficient evidence to give reasonable assurance that the 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 financial statements
opinion
in our opinion the financial statements give a true and fair view of the state of the affairs of the company and the group as at 30 june 2005 and of the
group’s profit for the year then ended and have been properly prepared in accordance with the companies act 1985
tenon audit limited
registered auditor
rochdale
22 september 2005
independent auditors’ report
for the year ended 30 june 2005
19 annual report and accounts 2005 • ascribe plc 20 ascribe plc • annual report and accounts 2005
2005 2004
note £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 
turnover
continuing operations 3086 2826
acquisitions 2261 –
5347 2826
cost of sales 415 50
gross profit 4932 2776
administrative expenses 4188 3214
continuing operations 392 438
acquisitions 352 –
operating profit  loss 4 744 438
continuing operations 392 438
acquisitions 500 – 
operating profit before goodwill amortisation 892 438
goodwill amortisation 148 –
interest receivable 5 50 17
profit  loss on ordinary activities before taxation 794 421
t axation on profit  loss on ordinary activities 6 149 118
profit  loss on ordinary activities after taxation 645 303
dividends and appropriations 7 200 216
retained profit  loss 21 445 519
adjusted basic earnings  loss per share 8 093p 048p
basic earnings  loss per share 065p 082p
fully diluted earnings  loss per share 064p 082p
consolidated statement of total recognised gains and losses
2005 2004 
£’000 £’000
profit  loss for the financial year 445 519
exchange loss 3 1
t otal recognised gains and losses relating to the year 442 520
the notes on pages 23 to 35 form part of these financial statements
consolidated profit and loss account 
for the year ended 30 june 2005 group company 
2005 2004 2005 2004 
note £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 
fixed assets
intangible fixed assets 9 8312 – – – 
t angible assets 10 215 239 – – 
investment in subsidiary undertakings 11 – – 12041 –
8527 239 12041 –
current assets
debtors 13 1524 716 34 –
cash at bank and in hand 2700 613 1758 –
4224 1329 1792 –
creditors amounts falling due within one year 14 6181 1254 4302 –
net current liabilities  assets 1957 75 2510 –
total assets less current liabilities 6570 314 9531 –
creditors amounts falling due after more than one year 15 200 – 200 –
net assets 6370 314 9331 –
capital and reserves
called up share capital 19 1070 2929 1070 –
shares to be issued 23 855 – 855
share premium account 21 6979 468 6979 –
merger reserve 21 561 – – –
profit and loss account 21 3095 3083 427 –
shareholders’ funds 22 6370 314 9331 –
shareholders’ funds
equity shareholders’ funds 6370 2440 9331 –
nonequity shareholders’ funds – 2754 – –
6370 314 9331 –
the financial statements were approved by the board on 22 september 2005
a s critchlow j s w lee
directors
the notes on pages 23 to 35 form part of these financial statements
consolidated and company balance sheets 
at 30 june 2005
21 annual report and accounts 2005 • ascribe plc 22 ascribe plc • annual report and accounts 2005
note 2005 2004
£’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 
net cash inflow  outflow from operating activities 26 1764 284
returns on investments and 
servicing of finance
interest received 50 15
taxation
corporation tax paid  received 4 269
capital expenditure
purchase of tangible fixed assets 39 7
proceeds from the sale of fixed assets 4 –
–––––––––––––– ––––––––––––––
35 7
acquisitions
net cash acquired with subsidiaries 12 2687 –
cash consideration and expenses 12 3933 –
–––––––––––––– ––––––––––––––
1246 –
cash inflow  outflow before financing 529 7
financing
issue of ordinary share capital 5000 50
fundraising expenses 705 –
repayment of preference shares 2300 –
preference shares redemption payment 454 –
net cash inflow from financing 1541 50
increase in cash 27 2070 43
the notes on pages 23 to 35 form part of these financial statements
consolidated cash flow statement 
for the year ended 30 june 2005 notes to the financial statements
1 accounting policies
basis of preparation
the financial statements have been prepared under the historical cost convention and are in accordance with applicable accounting standards
the following principal accounting policies have been applied
basis of consolidation
ascribe plc was incorporated on 12 august 2004 and following a share exchange agreement effected on 23 november 2004 it acquired the entire
share capital of asc computer software limited and its subsidiaries “asc” this group reconstruction has been accounted for by using merger
accounting principles and asc’s results have been included in the group’s financial statements as if they had always been a member of the group
with their results included for the full year the corresponding 2004 results include the results for asc for the year to june 2004 and the assets and
liabilities at 30 june 2004 together with the shares issued by the company as consideration for asc as if they had always been in issue
the group financial statements consolidate those of the company and of its subsidiaries up to 30 june 2005 the results of the other subsidiaries
acquired during the period are included from the effective date of acquisition profits and losses on intragroup transactions are eliminated in full
on acquisition of a subsidiary all of the subsidiary’s assets and liabilities which exist at the date of acquisition are recorded at their fair values
reflecting their condition at that date no profit and loss account is presented for the company as permitted by section 230 of the companies 
act 1985
goodwill
goodwill arising on acquisition of a subsidiary undertaking or business is the difference between the fair value of the consideration paid and the fair
value of the assets and liabilities acquired goodwill arising on consolidation is amortised through the profit and loss account over the directors’
estimate of the useful life of up to 20 years impairment tests on the carrying value of goodwill are undertaken at the end of the first full financial year
following acquisition and in other periods if events or circumstances change
turnover and longterm contracts
turnover comprises the value of sales of licences implementation installation support maintenance training consultation and the supply of third
party software and hardware turnover excludes value added tax
for the supply of hardware software and other sales excluding maintenance revenue is only recognised when each stage as specified in the
contract or order is completed
revenue on longterm contracts is ascertained in a manner appropriate to the stage of completion of the contract at the balance sheet date with
due regard to anticipated future costs amounts recoverable on such contracts are included within debtors payments on account in excess of
turnover are included within creditors full provision is made for losses on all contracts in the year in which the loss is first foreseen
for maintenance sales only that proportion of revenue is recognised which relates to the part of the maintenance period falling within the
accounting year
research and development costs
all software research and development expenditure is expensed in the period in which it is incurred
depreciation
depreciation is provided to write off the cost less estimated residual values of all fixed assets on a straightline basis it is calculated at the
following rates
leasehold improvements – 20 per annum
fixtures and fittings – 20  33
1
⁄ 3 per annum
computer equipment – 33
1
⁄ 3 per annum
motor vehicles – 33
1
⁄ 3 per annum
fixed asset investments
fixed asset investments in subsidiary undertakings are stated at cost less provision for permanent diminution in value cost comprises the
aggregate of cash consideration shares issued and acquisition expenses
deferred consideration
the terms of an acquisition may provide that the fair value of the purchase consideration which may be payable in cash or shares at a future date
depends on uncertain future events such as the future performance of the acquired company the amounts recognised in the financial statements
are the fair value of the deferred consideration that is reasonably expected to be paid at the balance sheet date
deferred taxation
deferred tax balances are recognised in respect of all timing differences that have originated but not reversed by the balance sheet date except
that the recognition of deferred tax assets is limited to the extent that the group anticipates making sufficient taxable profits in the future to absorb
the reversal of the underlying timing differences deferred tax balances are not discounted
foreign currency translation
transactions in foreign currencies are recorded at the rate of exchange ruling at the date of the transaction monetary assets and liabilities
denominated in foreign currencies are translated into sterling with the rate of exchange ruling at the balance sheet date or at the contracted rate
when covered by a forward exchange contract differences on exchange arising from the retranslation of the opening net investment in subsidiary
undertakings are taken to reserves and reported in the statement of recognised gains and losses all other foreign exchange differences are taken
to the profit and loss account
operating leases
operating lease rentals are charged to the profit and loss account on an accruals basis over the term of the lease
pension costs
contributions to staff and directors defined contribution pension schemes are charged to the profit and loss account in the period in which they
become payable
23 annual report and accounts 2005 • ascribe plc 24 ascribe plc • annual report and accounts 2005
2 segmental analysis
turnover is wholly attributable to the principal activities a geographical analysis of turnover is as follows
2005 2004
£’000 £’000 
united kingdom 4921 2387
rest of the world 426 439
5347 2826
all turnover by geographical operation is generated by the uk whilst all operating profit is generated from the uk with the exception of £41000
generated from australasia and africa all net assets are held in the uk with the exception of net liabilities of £124000 held in australasia and africa
3 employees
2005 2004
£’000 £’000 
staff costs including directors consist of
wages and salaries 2318 1887
social security costs 272 225
pension costs 97 85
2687 2197
the average number of employees including directors allocated by their principal activity during the year was as follows
2005 2004
number number
sales 31 20
administration 12 15
research and development 32 22
75 57
emoluments of the directors are set out in the remuneration report on pages 16 to 17
4 operating profit  loss
2005 2004
£’000 £’000 
this is arrived at after charging 
research and development costs – product development 986 846
depreciation of owned assets 185 162
amortisation of goodwill note 9 148 –
auditors remuneration
audit services 29 14
other services 14 13
operating leases – land and buildings 154 97
– other 56 56
loss on disposals of tangible fixed assets 6 –
in addition to the auditors’ remuneration above £9000 was paid in 2005 in respect of fees relating to acquisitions made during the year which have
been capitalised as part of the cost of acquisitions
5 interest
2005 2004
£’000 £’000 
interest receivable
bank interest 50 17
50 17
notes to the financial statements continued 6 taxation charge  credit on profit  loss on ordinary activities
2005 2004
£’000 £’000 
a analysis of charge  credit in the year
current tax
uk corporation tax 139 125
overseas taxation 10 7
149 118
b factors affecting tax charge  credit for year
the tax charge  credit for the year is different to the standard rate of corporation tax in the uk the differences are explained below
2005 2004
£’000 £’000 
profit  loss on ordinary activities before tax 794 421 
theoretical tax at uk corporation tax rate of 30 238 126
effects of
depreciation in excess of capital allowances 37 20
amortisation of goodwill 44 –
utilisation of tax losses 80 –
marginal relief 4 47
expenses not deductible for tax purposes 7 2
research and development enhanced deduction 83 57
timing differences 10 –
current tax charge  credit for the year 149 118
c factors that may affect future tax charges
at 30 june 2005 there are corporation tax losses within certain subsidiaries of approximately £455000 2004 £656000 which are available 
for set off against future taxable profits of those same trades
7 dividends and appropriations
2005 2004
£’000 £’000 
final proposed 010p per ordinary share 107 –
nonequity appropriations – 190
amortisation of share issue costs 93 26
200 216
 release of unamortised issue costs in respect of nonequity shares being written off by asc computer software limited on a time apportioned basis
but which crystallised on redemption of those shares
notes to the financial statements continued
25 annual report and accounts 2005 • ascribe plc 26 ascribe plc • annual report and accounts 2005
8 earnings  loss per share
basic earnings per share are calculated by dividing profit for the financial year attributable to ordinary shareholders by the weighted average number of
shares in issue diluted earnings per share is the weighted average number of ordinary shares in issue adjusted for the potential ordinary share dilution
from share options and shares to be issued adjusted basic earnings per share was calculated by adding back goodwill amortisation and the
dividends and appropriations relating to non equity shares repaid at flotation to more accurately reflect the group’ s underlying earnings
2005 2004
basic adjusted diluted basic adjusted diluted
£’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000
profit  loss after taxation 645 645 645 303 303 303
nonequity appropriations preflotation 93 – 93 216 – 216
goodwill amortisation – 148 – –– –
profit  loss attributable to
ordinary shareholders 552 793 552 519 303 519
number of shares thousands 84946 84946 86226 62886 62886 62886
earnings loss per share pence 065p 093p 064p 082p 048p 082p
basic weighted average no of shares ‘000 84946 62886
dilution arising from share options ‘000 1045 –
dilution arising from shares to be issued ‘000 235 –
diluted weighted average number of shares ‘000 86226 62886
9 intangible fixed assets 
goodwill
group £’000
cost
at 1 july 2004 – 
additions – acquisitions 8460 
at 30 june 2005 8460
amortisation
at 1 july 2004 – 
charge for the year 148 
at 30 june 2005 148
net book amount at 30 june 2005 8312
goodwill arose on the purchase of subsidiary undertakings during the year details of the goodwill arising on each acquisition are shown in note 12 
to these financial statements in accordance with the requirements of frs10 goodwill arising on each of the acquisitions during the year has been
capitalised on the group’ s balance sheet and is being amortised over 20 years this is the period over which the directors estimate that the value of
the underlying business acquired will continue to exceed the value of the underlying assets the investment in each company is included in the
balance sheet at its fair value at the date of acquisition these fair values are preliminary and will be further reviewed in 2006
company – the company has no intangible fixed assets
notes to the financial statements continued 10 tangible assets 
leasehold motor fixtures  computer
improvements vehicles fittings equipment total
group £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000
cost
at 1 july 2004 251 104 423 112 890
additions 10 – 25 4 39
disposals 10 16 50 – 76
arising on acquisitions 9 158 105 319 591
at 30 june 2005 260 246 503 435 1444
depreciation
at 1 july 2004 136 83 348 84 651
charge for the year 45 33 71 36 185
disposals 7 13 47 – 67
arising on acquisitions 7 118 62 273 460
at 30 june 2005 181 221 434 393 1229
net book value
at 30 june 2005 79 25 69 42 215
at 30 june 2004 115 21 76 28 239
company – the company has no tangible fixed assets
11 fixed asset investments – company
investments in subsidiaries at cost £’000
at 12 august 2004 –
acquisitions note 12 12041
at 30 june 2005 12041
the cost of acquisitions of £12041000 includes £2929000 being the fair value of the consideration given in respect of the acquisition of asc
computer software limited on 23 november 2004 which has been accounted for under merger accounting principles
the principal subsidiary undertakings are as follows
name of principal country of  of issued ordinary shares
company activity incorporation held and voting rights
asc computer software ltd health software england and wales 100
protechnic exeter ltd health software england and wales 100
footman walker associates ltd health software england and wales 100
park systems ltd health software england and wales 100
arkive computing ltd health software england and wales 100
all of the investments are directly held
notes to the financial statements continued
27 annual report and accounts 2005 • ascribe plc 28 ascribe plc • annual report and accounts 2005
12 acquisitions
fair value adjustments have been made to the book value of the assets and liabilities in acquired companies to adjust where applicable the carrying
value of certain assets and liabilities the fair values of a to d below are provisional and will be further reviewed based on additional information
available at 31 december 2005 and 30 june 2006
a protechnic exeter limited “protechnic exeter”
on 17 december 2004 the company completed the acquisition of protechnic exeter and its subsidiaries the acquired assets and liabilities of
protechnic exeter were
book fair value provisional
value adjustments fair value
£’000 £’000 £’000
t angible fixed assets i 115 35 80
stock ii 1010–
debtors iii 2149205
cash 2202 – 2202
creditors iv 12492291478
net assets acquired 1292 283 1009
goodwill 4879
fair value of consideration 5888
satisfied by
cash 2700
shares issued note 19 2300
deferred consideration cash note 14 800
acquisition costs 88
5888
goodwill of £488 million arising on this transaction has been capitalised and is being amortised over 20 years which is based on the directors’
estimate of useful economic life 
the material fair value adjustments to the net assets of protechnic exeter were calculated as follows
i alignment of depreciation policies to those of the group and the write off of assets which would not have been capitalised under the group’ s
capitalisation policies
ii stocks have been written down to their estimated fair values
iii trade debtors have been written down to their recoverable value
iv trade and other creditors have been adjusted for accrued liabilities on a fair value basis at the time of acquisition and the application of the group’ s
income recognition policy
additional information on protechnic exeter 
the last financial statements of protechnic exeter were prepared for the year to 30 april 2004 the summarised profit and loss account for protechnic
exeter for the period from 1 may 2004 to 16 december 2004 the period prior to the effective date of acquisition and for the preceding financial year
are as follows
1 may 2004 to year ended
16 december 2004 30 april 2004
£’000 £’000
turnover 1760 3536
operating profit 124 499
profit on ordinary activities before taxation 188 544
profit on ordinary activities after taxation 166 427
notes to the financial statements continued 12 acquisitions continued
b footman walker associates limited “footman walker”
on 20 may 2005 the company completed the acquisition of footman walker and its subsidiary the acquired assets and liabilities of footman walker
and its subsidiary were
book fair value provisional
value adjustments fair value
£’000 £’000 £’000
t angible fixed assets i 71 20 51
debtors ii 60486518
cash 443  443
creditors iii 10902131303
provisions for liabilities and charges 6 6 –
net liabilities acquired 22 313 291
goodwill 2970
fair value of consideration 2679
satisfied by
cash 1007
shares issued note 19 800
deferred consideration  cash note 14 200
 shares to be issued note 23 600
acquisition costs 72
2679
goodwill of £297 million arising on this transaction has been capitalised and is being amortised over 20 years which is based on the directors’
estimate of useful economic life 
the material fair value adjustments to the net assets of footman walker and its subsidiary were calculated as follows
i alignment of depreciation policies to those of the group and the write off of assets which would not have been capitalised under the group’ s
capitalisation policies
ii trade debtors have been written down to their recoverable value
iii trade and other creditors have been adjusted for accrued liabilities on a fair value basis at the time of acquisition and the application of the group’ s
income recognition policy
additional information on footman walker and its subsidiary
the last financial statements of footman walker were prepared for the year to 30 april 2004 the summarised profit and loss account for footman
walker and its subsidiary for the period from 1 may 2004 to 19 may 2005 the period prior to the effective date of acquisition and for the preceding
financial year are as follows
1 may 2004 to year ended
19 may 2005 30 april 2004
£’000 £’000
turnover 1235 1243
exceptional bonuses 100 – 
operating profit 117 250
profit on ordinary activities before taxation 122 251
profit on ordinary activities after taxation 169 220
notes to the financial statements continued
29 annual report and accounts 2005 • ascribe plc 30 ascribe plc • annual report and accounts 2005
12 acquisitions continued
c arkive computing limited “arkive”
on 17 june 2005 the company completed the acquisition of arkive the acquired assets and liabilities of arkive were
book fair value provisional
value adjustments fair value
£’000 £’000 £’000
t angible fixed assets i 2 2 –
cash 40 – 40
trade and other creditors ii 18 25 43
net liabilities acquired 24 27 3
goodwill 118
fair value of consideration 115
satisfied by
cash 27
shares issued note 19 25
deferred consideration shares to be issued note 23 55
acquisition costs 8
115
goodwill of £012 million arising on this transaction has been capitalised and is being amortised over 20 years which is based on the directors’
estimate of useful economic life 
the material fair value adjustments to the net assets of arkive were calculated as follows
i alignment of depreciation policies to those of the group and the write off of assets which would not have been capitalised under the group’ s
capitalisation policies
ii trade and other creditors have been adjusted for accrued liabilities on a fair value basis at the time of acquisition
d park systems limited “park”
on 21 june 2005 the company completed the acquisition of park the acquired assets and liabilities of park were
book fair value provisional
value adjustments fair value
£’000 £’000 £’000
t angible fixed assets i 12 12 –
debtors 4– 4
cash 3– 3
creditors ii 502070
net liabilities acquired 31 32 63
goodwill 493
fair value of consideration 430
satisfied by
cash 13
deferred consideration  cash note 15 200
 shares to be issued note 23 200 
acquisition costs 17
430
goodwill of £049 million arising on this transaction has been capitalised and is being amortised over 20 years which is based on the directors’
estimate of useful economic life 
the material fair value adjustments to the net assets of park were calculated as follows
i alignment of depreciation policies to those of the group and the write off of assets which would not have been capitalised under the group’ s
capitalisation policies
ii trade and other creditors have been adjusted for accrued liabilities on a fair value basis at the time of acquisition
notes to the financial statements continued 13 debtors
group company
2005 2004 2005 2004
£’000 £’000 £’000 £’000  
trade debtors 999 552 – – 
amounts due from subsidiary undertakings – – 13 – 
amounts recoverable on contracts 155 – – –
other debtors 40 4 8 – 
corporation tax recoverable – 125 – – 
prepayments and accrued income 330 35 13 – 
1524 716 34 –
all amounts shown under debtors fall due for payment within one year except for £12000 of amounts recoverable on contracts which fall due after
more than one year 2004 nil
14 creditors amounts falling due within one year
group company
2005 2004 2005 2004
£’000 £’000 £’000  £’000  
bank overdraft 21 – – –
trade creditors 264 85 24 –
amounts owed to subsidiary undertakings – – 3086 –
corporation tax 209 6 2 –
other taxation and social security 400 113 – –
deferred consideration note 12 1000 – 1000 – 
other creditors 16 15 – –
deferred income 3751 919 – –
accruals 413 116 83 –
dividend payable 107 – 107 – 
6181 1254 4302 –
15 creditors amounts falling due after more than one year
group company
2005 2004 2005 2004
£’000 £’000 £’000  £’000  
deferred consideration note12 200 – 200 –
16 bank and other borrowings
all amounts shown under bank overdraft represent uncleared payments on current account the group has no bank loans 
notes to the financial statements continued
31 annual report and accounts 2005 • ascribe plc 32 ascribe plc • annual report and accounts 2005
17 financial instruments
short term debtors and creditors have not been treated as financial assets and liabilities for disclosure purposes
the group’ s financial instruments comprise cash and cash on deposit together with deferred consideration outstanding on acquisitions of subsidiaries
interest rate risk
the group finances its operations through a mixture of retained profits and bank deposits the group seeks to maximise interest receivable by
amalgamating group cash balances to place on deposit in the period ended 30 june 2005 cash on deposit earned interest at a weighted average 
of 325 the interest rate exposure to the financial assets of the group was
cash at bank and in hand
2005 2004
£’000 £’000
sterling 2625 566
australian dollars 69 45
new zealand dollars 4 2
kenyan shillings 2 –
total 2700 613
currency risk
the group does not actively hedge against the effect of exchange rate differences resulting from the translation of foreign currency earnings except in
so far as a significant proportion of the foreign currency trade receivables are matched by similarly denominated trade payables material surplus cash
balances not denominated in sterling are promptly translated into sterling
fair values
the fair value of the deferred consideration is not considered to be materially different from its book value
18 deferred taxation
the potential deferred taxation asset  liability is as follows
unprovided provided
2005 2004 2005 2004
group £’000 £’000 £’000  £’000
accelerated capital allowances 53 2 – –
sundry timing differences 71 6 – –
t ax losses 136 197 – –
at 30 june 2005 260 201 – –
19 share capital
total
preference shares ordinary shares 2005 2004
£’000 £’000 £’000  £’000  
authorised
140000000 ordinary shares of 1p each 1400 –
1400 –
allotted called up and fully paid
share for share exchange with asc computer software ltd 2300 629 2929 –
redemption of preference shares 2300 – 2300 –
issued in respect of acquisitions – 441 441 –
107003791 ordinary shares of 1p each – 1070 1070 –
at the date of its incorporation on 12 august 2004 the authorised share capital of the company was £1000 divided into 1000 ordinary shares of
£100 each of which one subscriber shares was in issue fully paid 
by way of resolutions passed on 23 november 2004 it was inter alia resolved
• to subdivide and reclassify the authorised share capital of £1000 in the capital of the company into 100000 a ordinary shares of 1p each and
• to increase the authorised share capital of the company from £1000 divided into £100000 a ordinary shares of 1p each to £4150000 divided
into 100000000 a ordinary shares of 1p each 15000000 b ordinary shares of 1p each 10000000 c ordinary shares of 1p each 750000 a
cumulative redeemable preference shares of £100 each and 2150000 b cumulative redeemable preference shares of £100 each
notes to the financial statements continued 19 share capital continued
on 23 november 2004 the company issued 53519650 a ordinary shares of 1p each credited as fully paid 9356426 b ordinary shares of 1p each
credited as fully paid 10000 c ordinary shares of 1p each credited as fully paid 150000 a cumulative redeemable preference shares of £100 each
credited as fully paid and 2150000 b cumulative redeemable preference shares of £100 each credited as fully paid in consideration for the
acquisition of the entire issued share capital of asc computer software limited
by way of resolutions passed on 13 december 2004 it was inter alia resolved to redeem the 150000 cumulative redeemable a preference shares 
of £100 each and 2150000 cumulative redeemable b preference shares of £100 each for the aggregate sum £2300000 together with the sum of
£435184 representing an amount equal to accrued dividends on the cumulative redeemable b preference shares and to declare a dividend in the
sum of £18438 representing an amount equal to accrued dividends on the b ordinary shares
by way of resolutions passed on 13 december 2004 it was resolved
• to subdivide the authorised 750000 cumulative redeemable a preference shares of £100 each into 75000000 cumulative redeemable 
b preference shares of 1p each and the 2150000 cumulative redeemable b preference shares of £100 each into 215000000 cumulative
redeemable b preference shares of 1p each
• to re–classify the authorised share capital of the company of £4150000 divided into 100000000 a ordinary shares of 1p each 15000000 
b ordinary shares of 1p each 10000000 c ordinary shares of 1p each 75000000 cumulative redeemable a preference shares of 1p each 
and 215000000 cumulative redeemable b preference shares of 1p each into 415000000 ordinary shares of 1p each and
• to cancel 275000000 authorised but unissued ordinary shares of 1p each in the capital of the company
on 17 december 2004 the company issued 27777778 ordinary shares of 1p each by way of a placement at 18p per share
on 17 december 2004 the company issued 12777778 ordinary shares of 1p each in part consideration at 18p per share for the acquisition of the
entire share capital of protechnic exeter limited
on 20 may 2005 the company issued 3478260 ordinary shares of 1p each in part consideration at 23p per share for the acquisition of the entire
share capital of footman walker associates limited
on 21 june 2005 the company issued 83799 ordinary shares of 1p each in part consideration at 298p per share for the acquisition of the entire
share capital of arkive computing limited
20 share options
the ascribe plc share option scheme was established on admission to aim in order to provide incentives to directors and employees the scheme is
administered by the remuneration committee at whose discretion options are granted the following options which include director’ s share options
were outstanding at 30 june 2005 
number of shares date granted exercise price per share exercisable between
6744500 17 december 2004 18p 17 december 2007 – 16 december 2014
500000 27 may 2005 24p 27 may 2008 – 26 may 2015
21 reserves
merger share profit and
reserve premium loss account
£’000 £’000  £’000  
group
at 1 july 2004 – 468 3083
retained profit for the year – – 445
accrued nonequity dividend paid – – 454
unamortised issue costs in respect of asc computer software ltd – 93 –
exchange differences – – 3
transfer on merger accounting 561 561 –
share issue costs – 705 –
share premium on shares issued – 7684 –
at 30 june 2005 561 6979 3095
company
at 12 august 2004 –– –
retained profit for the period – – 427
share issue costs – 705 –
share premium on shares issued – 7684 –
at 30 june 2005 – 6979 427
as permitted by section 230 of the companies act 1985 the parent company’ s profit and loss account has not been included in these financial
statements the profit for the financial period for the company was £534000
33 annual report and accounts 2005 • ascribe plc
notes to the financial statements continued 34 ascribe plc • annual report and accounts 2005
22 reconciliation of movements in shareholders’ funds
group company
2005 2004 2005 2004
£’000 £’000 £’000  £’000  
profit for the financial year 645 303 534 –
equity dividend 107 – 107 –
nonequity appropriation 93 216 ––
445 519 427 –
issue of ordinary shares for asc computer software limited – – 2929 –
issue of other ordinary shares net of expenses 7420 50 7420 –
redemption of preference shares 2300 – 2300 –
nonequity dividends paid 454 – – –
shares to be issued 855 – 855 –
other reserve movements 3 – – –
transfer of nonequity appropriation 93 216 – –
net increase  decrease in shareholders’ funds 6056 253 9331 –
shareholders’ funds at 1 july 2004 314 567 – –
shareholders’ funds at 30 june 2005 6370 314 9331 –
23 shares to be issued
group company
£’000 £’000
deferred consideration payable
within one year 625 625
between one and two years 230 230
at 30 june 2005 855 855
deferred consideration of £600000 payable within one year relates to the acquisition of footman walker and is dependent upon the financial
performance of the business during the period to 20 may 2006
deferred consideration of £200000 payable between one and two years relates to the acquisition of park and is dependent upon the financial
performance of the business during the period to 21 june 2007
the remaining deferred consideration payable of £55000 split over two years relates to the acquisition of arkive and is dependent upon the software
development performance of the business during the period to 17 june 2007
all of the above deferred consideration is payable in shares or cash at the company’ s discretion note 12
24 commitments
there was no capital expenditure contracted for but not provided for at 30 june 2005 for the group or the company
as at 30 june 2005 the group had annual commitments under noncancellable operating leases as follows
2005 2004
land and land and
buildings other buildings other
£’000 £’000 £’000  £’000  
operating leases which expire
within one year 622 –4
in two to five years 13 14 13 32
in more than five years 226 5 80 14
245 41 93 50
notes to the financial statements continued 35 annual report and accounts 2005 • ascribe plc
notes to the financial statements continued
25 related party transactions
for the period until flotation on 17 december 2004 lloyds development capital limited ‘ldc’ mr t h bladon and mr ar bradshaw owned
preference shares in asc computer software limited and then ascribe plc with a nominal value totalling £23m these shares were repaid during the
period together with in the case of ldc total nonequity dividends of £453622
26 reconciliation of operating profit  loss to net cash inflow  outflow from operating activities
2005 2004
£’000 £’000
operating profit  loss 744 438
depreciation of tangible fixed assets 185 162
goodwill amortisation 148 –
loss on sale of tangible fixed assets 6 
increase  decrease in debtors 206 28
increase  decrease in creditors 887 36
net cash inflow  outflow from operating activities 1764 284
27 reconciliation of net cash flow to movement in net funds
2005 2004
£’000 £’000
increase in cash 2070 43
exchange movement 4 3
opening net funds 613 573
closing net funds 2679 613
28 analysis of net funds
at exchange at
010704 cashflow movement 300605
£’000 £’000 £’000 £’000
bank overdraft – 21 – 21
cash at bank and in hand 613 2091 4 2700
total 613 2070 4 2679
there have been noncash transactions in connection with acquisitions of subsidiaries as outlined in note 12 36 ascribe plc • annual report and accounts 2005
notice is hereby given that the annual general meeting of ascribe plc the “company” will be held at ascribe house branker street
westhoughton bolton bl5 3jd on 26 october 2005 at 11am for the following purposes
ordinary business
1 to receive and adopt the report of the directors and the audited financial statements for the year ended 30 june 2005
2 to recommend to the company’s shareholders that a dividend of 01pence per ordinary share in the capital of the company be paid for the 
year ended 30 june 2005
3 to approve the directors’ remuneration report for the year ended 30 june 2005
4 to reappoint tenon audit limited as the company’s auditors to hold office until the conclusion of the next general meeting of the company at
which accounts are laid before the company and to authorise the directors of the company to determine their remuneration
5 to reappoint christopher moore as a director of the company
6 to reappoint stephen critchlow as a director of the company
7 to reappoint jeremy lee as a director of the company
8 to reappoint david hughes as a director of the company
9 to reappoint mark woodbridge as a director of the company
special business
10 to consider and if thought fit pass the following resolution which will be proposed as an ordinary resolution
that for the purposes of and pursuant to section 801 of the companies act 1985 the “act” the directors of the company be authorised
generally and unconditionally to exercise all powers of the company to allot relevant securities within the meaning of section 802 of the act 
up to an aggregate nominal amount of £10998736 to such persons at such time and upon such terms and conditions as they may determine
subject always to the articles of association of the company provided this authority and power shall unless renewed varied or revoked expire
at the conclusion of the next annual general meeting of the company or 15 months from the date of the passing of this resolution whichever is
the earlier and provided further that the company may before the expiry of such period make any offer agreement or arrangement which would
or might require relevant securities to be allotted after the expiry of such period and the directors of the company may then allot relevant
securities pursuant to any such offer agreement or arrangement as if the authority or power hereby conferred had not expired
11 to consider and if thought fit pass the following resolution which will be proposed as a special resolution
that for the purposes of and pursuant to section 951 of the act the directors of the company be and they are hereby authorised and
empowered to allot equity securities within the meaning of section 94 of the act pursuant to the general authority and power conferred by
resolution numbered 10 in this notice of meeting as if section 891 of the act did not apply to any such allotment provided that this authority 
and power shall unless renewed varied or revoked expire at the conclusion of the next annual general meeting of the company or 15 months
from the date of the passing of this resolution whichever is the earlier and provided further that this authority and power shall be limited
a to the allotment of equity securities pursuant to a rights issue or similar offer to ordinary shareholders where the equity securities respectively
attributable to the interests of all ordinary shareholders are proportionate or nearly as practical and taking into account any prohibitions
against or difficulties concerning the making of an offer or allotment to shareholders whose registered address or place of residence is
overseas and subject to such exclusions as the directors of the company may deem necessary or expedient to deal with fractional
entitlement or legal and practical difficulties under the laws of or the requirements of any recognised regulatory body in any territory 
to be respective numbers of ordinary shares held by them
b to the allotment otherwise than pursuant to paragraph a above for cash of equity securities up to an aggregate nominal amount 
of £10700379
by order of the board
jeremy lee ascribe house
company secretary branker street
22 september 2005 westhoughton
bolton bl5 3jd
notes
1 a member entitled to attend and vote at the meeting may appoint one or more proxies to attend and vote instead of him a proxy need not be a
member of the company a form of proxy is attached to this notice of general meeting and instructions for use are given on the form the form must
be lodged at the company’s registered offices not less than 48 hours before the time appointed for the holding of the meeting completion and
return of the form of proxy will not prevent a member from attending and voting at the meeting should he so wish
2 the company pursuant to the uncertificated securities regulations 2001 has specified that only holders of ordinary shares registered in the
register of members of the company as at 600pm on 24 october 2004 shall be entitled to attend and vote at the meeting in respect of the number
of shares registered in their name at that time changes in the register of members after 600pm on 24 october 2004 shall be disregarded in
determining the right of any person to attend and vote at the meeting
3 the following documents will be available for inspection at the company’s registered office during normal business hours on any weekday saturday
and sundays excluded from the date of this notice until the date of the meeting and at the place of the meeting from 1045 on 24 october 2005
until its conclusion a the register of directors’ interests in the capital of the company b copies of the directors’ contracts of service
notice of annual general meeting directors secretary  advisers
directors
a s critchlow chief executive
j s w lee finance director
c e moore nonexecutive chairman
d m hughes nonexecutive director
m woodbridge nonexecutive director
secretary and registered office
j s w lee
ascribe house
branker street
westhoughton
bolton
lancashire 
bl5 3jd
company number
5204003
nominated adviser and broker
evolution securities limited
100 wood street
london
ec2v 7an
solicitors
eversheds llp
eversheds house
70 great bridgewater street
manchester
m1 5es
auditors
tenon audit limited
lewis house
12 smith street
rochdale
lancashire
ol16 1tx
registrars
neville registrars limited
18 laurel lane
halesowen
west midlands
b63 3da
the bottom photograph on page 1 and the photograph on
page 7 are reproduced with kind permission of wrightington
wigan and leigh nhs trust the photograph on page 9 is
reproduced with kind permission of solihull pct
annual report and accounts 2005 • ascribe plc ascribe house
branker street
westhoughton
bolton
bl5 3jd
wwwascribecom 
t 0161 280 8080
f 01942 859 340


Summary:
 6 ascribe plc • annual report and accounts 2005
chief
executive’s
report
the business has a good order book 
a strong sales pipeline reinforced by an
excellent record of winning public tenders 
a healthy record of providing followon
products to existing customers and a
recurring maintenance contract income
level running at 61 of sales in the period
£68m
2005 pro forma turnover
2006
objectives
maximise sales opportunities coming from
group products
drive further efficiencies from consolidated
group operations
deliver products from a common platform
continue to acquire companies in
complementary markets
stephen critchlow
chief executive
strategy
with over 50 of uk hospital pharmacies
using the ascribe software ascribe has a
unique position in the medicines management
market our product includes software to
improve the safe handling and administration of
medicines as well as knowledge databases to
support decision making when medicines are
prescribed dispensed and administered
strong organic growth can be achieved by
cross selling our solutions to our current
customers who do not have this capability at
present this gives us access to a market
which is in excess of £1bn in the uk alone our
overseas customers provide routes to markets
in australia new zealand and south east asia 
the ability to achieve organic growth through
crosssales comes from ascribe’s webbased
integrated clinical workstation “icw” software
which also provides an integration capability
allowing the group to move to a single product
strategy by controlled evolution firstly by
integrating the legacy applications and then by
replacing them over time using this approach
ascribe can grow shareholder value when
acquiring other businesses in the health it
sector by improving their solution offering and
sales revenue and optimising their overheads
this focused productstrategy means that the
it healthcare businesses which ascribe has
and will acquire can be rapidly integrated into
our model providing an excellent offering and
additional benefits for patients healthcare
professionals employees and ultimately our
shareholders
operations
since flotation we have organised the group
into three divisions – pharmacy mental 
health  community care and primary 
unscheduled care these divisions benefit 
from a group sales and product strategy
common services across the group are
managed to improve performance and deliver
economies of scale
we have built a strong operational
management team which is actively
consolidating the group and has demonstrated
efficiencies ahead of our initial expectations
we are able to invest £1m in ongoing rd
with a profit before tax of £13m and an
excellent cash conversion of 198 i would
like to thank all the employees for the
commitment and energy they have put into
delivering these results and creating such a
healthy platform for growth
our overseas operations provide a route to
market for the integrated product we will be
launching the new webbased pharmacy and
icw software in our overseas markets in
november 2005
pharmacy
the pharmacy division comprises the
traditional hospital and retail pharmacy
markets together with the emerging
opportunities in wardbased electronic
prescribing the division has a market leading
position in uk hospital pharmacy with ascribe
software installed in more than 50 of
hospitals with the acquisition of park
systems the group now also supplies retail
pharmacy customers in addition the division
has systems in 41 hospitals in south east
asia and australasia where it has a sales
office in brisbane
the division has enjoyed continued organic
growth during the year new software
solutions have been installed and are in 
live usage at 27 new sites with unique
functionality and access to a clinical decision
support database the ascribe product has
won nearly 90 of the tendering activity in
this market in recent years its modern
architecture facilitates simple integration 
with other hospital systems an experienced
operations team which includes a high
proportion of pharmacists ensures that
implementations are efficient and effective 
for the customer further sales are expected
where the new medicines management and
electronic prescribing systems are sold to
existing pharmacy customers 7 annual report and accounts 2005 • ascribe plc
the ascribe webbased solution supports the
christie team by enabling them to make more
informed clinical decisions based upon the
shared availability of clinical and drug information
for each patient the project began in november
2004 and the first clinic was live within six
months the trustwide rollout is scheduled for
early 2006
“our aim for the first phase of this project was to
ensure we could safely prescribe and administer
medicines electronically for the breast cancer
clinics our team has adapted well to the new
ascribe software and we are starting to realise
the benefits it offers” june so chief pharmacist
the christie hospital in
manchester is the largest
singlesite cancer treatment
centre in europe providing
care for 32 million people and
is internationally renowned in
all aspects of cancer care
the christie hospital made the
decision to implement electronic
prescribing and medicines
administration to improve clinical
safety and the quality of service
delivered to patients
pharmacy
automating processes to save lives
of 2005 revenue is generated by recurring
maintenance contracts with customers 
in the uk and overseas
61 
professionalism and expertise
mental health and community care
over 100 primary care trusts in the uk and
ireland use the group’s solutions with a track
record of delivering for over 20 years epex 
is seen as a leader in the mental health it
market we are already delivering ascribe’s
new webbased medicines management
solution for drug misuse and customer
feedback has been excellent these solutions
are expected to comprise a significant
element of the division’s organic growth in 
the coming year
healthcare trusts are widening the usage 
of care systems in the community many
customers have therefore extended their
software licences to include further users 
and modules this increases recurring
maintenance revenue and has been
accelerated by improved system functionality
particularly in the sphere of webbased
electronic care management modules
increasingly fieldbased mental health and
child care clinicians are using our systems
day to day to treat patients in the community 8 ascribe plc • annual report and accounts 2005
chief
executive’s
report continued
the results represent a very pleasing start
to life as a public company
go live
27 new hospital pharmacy systems 
went live in the year
primary and unscheduled care
this division delivers software to accident 
emergency ae departments minor injuries
clinics and gp practices throughout the uk
and ireland 
the gp system is supported by a loyal user
group who use traditional gp management
software primary care processes are
changing considerably and ascribe is
committed to offering flexible software
solutions to the new ways of working this 
is being driven by a move to commission
healthcare services from larger and more
capable facilities in the community offering
unscheduled care such as treating minor
injuries in may 2005 ascribe acquired
footman walker which supplies software 
to 30 of ae departments in the 
uk as well as some of the newer minor
injuries units  since acquisition contracts for
four new sites have been won demonstrating
the growth potential within this division we
are also developing software to serve the
needs of newer gp surgeries where extra
functionality is required
this approach has been designed to
complement the nhs “connecting for health”
programme
the recent sales orders for ae solutions
have taken this business to a record sales
level as it moves into the delivery phase of its
latest system offering “symphony”
symphony is based on the same microsoft
technologies as the ascribe products and will
be rapidly integrated to enable a single
product offering
product strategy
our webbased medicines management
solution will be integrated with the current
product offerings of our recent acquisitions
providing an ideal vehicle to deliver integrated
modules as followon sales to current
customers the reorganisation of the
development operation will ensure that 
ascribe can offer a single product to any 
health it market
growth arising from this strategy is expected 
to be delivered progressively over the next 
five years using the group’s overseas
development team in tandem with uk staff 
that has domain knowledge will mean that
our development resource will be optimised
and will be more effective in its delivery this
strategy will enable development teams from
incremental acquisitions to quickly reap the
benefits of scale and a common software
architecture
sales and marketing
we have a healthy sales pipeline against the
products currently available customers are
demanding integration and clinical functionality
to address changes in healthcare where
systems become organised around the needs
of both patients and the healthcare
organisation ascribe’s medicines management
software delivers the functionality required to
address the needs of our customers today
and also delivers integration that can be used
to deliver other products from our merged
group seamlessly to the customer without 
redevelopment  9 annual report and accounts 2005 • ascribe plc
solihull pct required an it system to 
support their implementation of the “single
assessment process” sap which would
allow patient information to be drawn
together from separate systems and shared
across both health and local authority
services within the community an ardentia
data warehouse was selected for this
purpose and a secure messaging method
was devised to transfer patient data from
epex and care first over the nhs net into
the warehouse providing a common view 
on demographics and referrals sap
information specialist assessments and 
care plans the epex 3 system went live
with this functionality on 28th june 2005
“i am pleased that the development has met
its primary objectives and a number of
additional benefits are also being discussed
including other opportunities for sharing data
that benefits the patient” neil serougi
director of it services solihull pct
solihull primary care trust
pct was formed in 2001 to
bring together all those who
deliver care and advice in the
community such as gp’s
nurses and therapists together
with learning disabilities and
child health within one
organization making things
simpler for patients
solihull pct serves a population
of around 212000 registered at
31 gp practices
mental health and
community care
professionalism and expertise
business development
strong organic growth is coming from selling
our departmental and clinical systems directly
to clinicians customers are demanding an
integrated approach to patient care from a
responsive supplier that can be flexible as
health systems change both in the nhs 
and overseas
ongoing acquisitions of companies that can
use ascribe it solutions to enhance delivery 
to their customers or who can add to this
product offering will put ascribe in a dominant
position as a clinical systems provider
stephen critchlow
chief executive
22 september 2005