Thomsons Online Benefits Positioned for Long Term Growth as SaaS Business

LONDON, July 11, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

Darwin™ establishes leading position in fast growing $10bn global HCM market

Thomsons Online Benefits ("Thomsons" or "the Group"), the SaaS (Software as a Service) provider of global employee benefits and employee engagement software, announces its full year results for the 12 months to 31 December 2015.

     (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20150610/748352 )

Operational highlights  

• Darwin™ established as leading global employee benefits management and engagement technology solution for the Human Capital Management (HCM) market
  • End users of Darwin™ up 60%
  • Seven of top 10 global tech companies and six out of top 10 global brands use Darwin™
  • Darwin™ live in more than 80 countries in 25 languages
• Three of the largest and most respected global HCM service providers now major global partners: ADP, Xerox Global Benefits Services and Mercer
• 98% client retention maintained, with 100% in Enterprise clients
• Extended relationship with NGA Human Resources, includes its European Enterprise and Asia businesses

Financial highlights 

• Revenue £32.4m (2014: £32.0m) reflects transformation to a Global SaaS subscription based services business from a UK full service broking, technology and administration business
  • 33% CAGR growth in software related revenue since 2012
  • SaaS revenue up 36% - driven by larger EMEA and multi-country Global Enterprise clients
  • 50% of SaaS bookings from multi-country Global Enterprise deals
  • International revenue up 54% - now accounting for nearly 20% of total revenue
• EBITDA* £4.5m (2014: £5.7m) reflects business shift
• EBITDA* cash conversion rate 141%
• Strong balance sheet with cash of £12.3m (2014: £12.6m)

Outlook 

• Strong 2016 pipeline - in both EMEA and Global Enterprise
• New partnerships create scale and open up new channels - driving sales
• Significant revenue visibility** of £141m over next five years, based on current renewal rate

*EBITDA is earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation 

**Revenue visibility over the next five years comprises contracted revenue from existing clients, based on historical client renewal rates, plus recurring fee revenue for services yet to be contracted with these clients, based on historical performance 

Michael Whitfield, Chief Executive Officer commented:

"In just three years, we have transformed Thomsons from a domestic, largely commission based, operation into a scalable multinational SaaS business. We have significantly invested into the business to enable scale, remained profitable throughout our transition and established our flagship platform, Darwin™ as the global industry leader. 

"2015 was a tremendous year for us. There was a significant increase in the number of our clients extending their use of Darwin™ internationally. This reflected both employees' demands to have their benefit offerings delivered digitally in a highly accessible, secure and engaging way, and employer demands to control risks and costs as their businesses expand rapidly outside of their home territories.  

"2015 also saw a sea-change in our partner strategy as we secured several significant multi-national distribution partners who will help turbo-charge our growth over the next five years.  

"The HCM market continues to look to cloud based technologies to drive efficiencies through automation, provide consumer grade employee experiences and centralised analytics.  

"Employee benefits is an area where organisations can achieve significant competitive advantages, and Darwin™ has become the clear market leader to deliver the required solution.  

"We have real momentum, with a robust sales pipeline which we expect to continue to grow rapidly and convert into new bookings, particularly as our partners gain traction and we increase the number of new business wins through them.  

"Thomsons' Darwin™ software is already globally acknowledged as best of breed. With our strong financial pedigree, stable full of the world's best logos and a highly scalable and robust SaaS strategy, we are well set to enjoy our most successful phase to date."  

Note to Editors 

Thomsons is the global provider of global employee benefits and employee engagement software. Our award-winning software, Darwin™, is the leading, global platform delivering end-to-end, automated, employee benefits administration. It connects employees with their benefits throughout their lives, in over 80 countries and 25 languages, and is used by the world's leading employers, including seven of the top ten technology companies.

Darwin™ provides a tailored solution to meet a variety of employee benefit and reward needs including employee engagement, managing risk, controlling costs and streamlining benefits administration.

Thomsons has received its 103rd industry award, including the prestigious Brandon Hall Group gold award for Best Advance in Rewards and Recognition Technology.

Thomsons has teams in the UK, Romania, Singapore and the US to enable it to service its global client base.

Enquiries:

Thomsons Online Benefits
+44 (0) 203 328 4000
Michael Whitfield, Chief Executive Officer
Paul Smolinski, Chief Financial Officer

Instinctif Partners
+44 (0) 207 457 2020
Adrian Duffield / Lauren Foster