2018 accounts and notice of AGM

richard@imutual
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2018 accounts and notice of AGM

Post by richard@imutual » Sun Dec 09 2018 12:04pm

Notice is hereby given that the Annual General Meeting of imutual PLC will be held on 30th December 2018 7pm via an online Webcast at https://www.imutual.co.uk/webcast

The business to be conducted at the meeting will be to review the audited accounts for the year to 30 June 2018 and to vote on resolutions, including the re-election of directors

As in previous years, the AGM will be conducted "virtually", and you are encouraged to submit your vote using this proxy form. You are welcome to participate in the webcast and ask any questions live to the Chairman i.e. me :) Although of course you can ask questions at any time during the year using our forum ;)

General guidance with regard to our AGMs can be found here

Below is my "Review of business" which is also included in the accounts:
The directors present their strategic report for the year ended 30 June 2018. The year under review was the company's eighth year of operation. We made continuous improvements to our cashback service, with a dual aim of generating the maximum amount of cashback for members whilst also establishing a reputation as the most reliable and trustworthy cashback website.

REVIEW OF BUSINESS
During the year, our revenues increased by 55% to £229,791. Total administrative expenses were only £52,463. By way of comparison, the combined expenses of the two largest UK cashback websites are in the region of £13m per year. The accounts show a profit after tax of £36,210 compared with a loss of £2,842 the previous year.

imutual is different from other companies, in that it seeks to maximise the benefits to members rather than the profits for its shareholders. In that respect, the profit margin achieved was higher than we would normally aim for. Revenues were boosted by a number of one-off campaigns which have since either reduced or ended, so we would not expect to replicate a similar profit next year. That said, the surplus gives a welcome boost to imutual’s balance sheet and gives us some financial strength with which to expand in the future.

We attracted a further 734 members to the website during the year. imutual's approach to recruitment has been to rely on word-of-mouth recommendation rather than spend members' funds on advertising. Increasing the size of our membership is vital to the continued growth of your company, and in order for our business model to succeed it is essential that our member shareholders take every opportunity to promote their company and recommend its service to friends, family and colleagues. We will continue to support, encourage and reward members who help to generate positive publicity for imutual, and are always open to ideas and initiatives that our members might like to suggest.

PRINCIPAL RISKS AND UNCERTAINTIES
The directors are aware of their responsibilities to review and manage any perceived risks to the business. Our analysis of current areas of risk for the company is as follows:

Credit risk
imutual's revenues are spread across several hundred different merchants, and each merchant relationship is managed through one of around twenty third-party affiliate networks. The company takes care to ensure that it does not become over-reliant on revenue from a single source and takes active steps to manage credit risk.

Commercial risk
The company operates standard marketing agreements with affiliate networks, in an industry with which the directors have considerable experience. The company has taken expert advice from several sources with regards to the share offer, and will continue to review its legal framework to ensure that the imutual business model complies with the UK's regulatory environment.

Cashflow
In general, website members are only paid once imutual receives payment from the merchant for the associated transactions. In addition, the company has minimal overheads to maintain and strives to keep sufficient cash resources to meet any future expenses.

FINANCIAL POSITION
The company reported a profit after tax of £36,210 and the closing reserves were £19,727. Members should note that the directors have given a written undertaking to provide ongoing financial support for the company. Additionally, cashback balances (which represent the overwhelming proportion of company creditors) are explicitly protected by a Directors Guarantee.

PLANS FOR FUTURE PERIODS
In October 2018, Director and CTO Richard Yendall resumed work for the company on a full-time basis and recently completed a major software upgrade and server migration. With Richard’s assistance, the company is well-placed to accelerate both technical and commercial developments during 2019.

The Board wishes to thank all customer shareholders for their ongoing loyalty and support. We look forward to working with them next year to help our unique company to grow and achieve its full potential.
If you have any questions on the accounts, no need to wait until the AGM - ask away! :thumbup:

expressman33
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Re: 2018 accounts and notice of AGM

Post by expressman33 » Sun Dec 09 2018 2:31pm

nice to see we are back in profit :thumbup:

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Re: 2018 accounts and notice of AGM

Post by Boro Boy » Sun Dec 09 2018 3:45pm

"...so we would not expect to replicate a similar profit next year."

1. But I assume the organisations aim is still to always break into profit each trading year?

2. As the most recent years profit becomes future targeted expenditure, what format will this take?

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Re: 2018 accounts and notice of AGM

Post by pabenny » Sun Dec 09 2018 3:48pm

richard@imutual wrote:
Sun Dec 09 2018 12:04pm
During the year, our revenues increased by 55% to £229,791. Total administrative expenses were only £52,463. By way of comparison, the combined expenses of the two largest UK cashback websites are in the region of £13m per year.
I know this site operates on a shoestring and relies on the largely unpaid labour of the founder - for which we are grateful.

Nevertheless, this is a somewhat ingenuous statement. Costs here are roughly 20% of income. TCB has income of around £80m - that is, 400 times bigger than IM. And TCB reported admin expenses of £10m - 12.5% of income.

(Q reported admin expenses of £19m, so not quite sure where the £13m figure comes from)

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Re: 2018 accounts and notice of AGM

Post by richard@imutual » Sun Dec 09 2018 4:26pm

True, but much of our current expenses represent the fixed cost of running the site and maintaining 2000+ merchant offers. They would not increase in proportion to additional customer volumes

Hopefully, most members would accept the general point that "we run a pretty tight ship"

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Re: 2018 accounts and notice of AGM

Post by pabenny » Sun Dec 09 2018 4:46pm

Agree about running a tight ship. Much of the site appears to be self-maintaining - which is a credit to the designer. But the comparison of the costs against those of the big sites is specious without also referring to their revenue.
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Re: 2018 accounts and notice of AGM

Post by Enzocas » Sun Dec 09 2018 5:09pm

Have you considered a crowdfunding campaign to: 1) raise capital to up the game and be a more credible competitor for Quidco and TCB and 2) create some publicity and bump members numbers?

Not saying we necessarily should, but curios to whether this was / is being considered and what general thoughts are

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Re: 2018 accounts and notice of AGM

Post by BeautifulSunshine » Sun Dec 09 2018 5:56pm

Business is brutal so CONGRATULATIONS for making a profit.
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Re: 2018 accounts and notice of AGM

Post by BeautifulSunshine » Sun Dec 09 2018 6:00pm

richard@imutual wrote:
Sun Dec 09 2018 12:04pm
As in previous years, the AGM will be conducted "virtually", and you are encouraged to submit your vote using this proxy form. You are welcome to participate in the webcast and ask any questions live to the Chairman i.e. me :) Although of course you can ask questions at any time during the year using our forum ;)
I was logged in but the system wouldn't let me access the page without logging in again?
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[imutual Cashback Investment Club]

pabenny
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Re: 2018 accounts and notice of AGM

Post by pabenny » Mon Dec 10 2018 2:55pm

Enzocas wrote:
Sun Dec 09 2018 5:09pm
Have you considered a crowdfunding campaign to: 1) raise capital to up the game and be a more credible competitor for Quidco and TCB and 2) create some publicity and bump members numbers?
It's an interesting idea. But I'm just wondering what funders would get in return for their funding. If they get a dividend (ie a payout that depends on the profits of IM), it seems to conflict with the "run for members" principle.
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