ystem House

The monthly review of the financial performance of the UK software and computing services industry

Volume 11 Number 10 Available by subscription only ISSN 0967-2583 August2000

Doing rather well ☜over there☝For most of the last thirty years we witnessed the ☜pillage☝ ofthe

UK SCS sector by overseas companies. In the mid 19805 all-

but-one of theTop Ten SCS suppliers to the UK market were in

UKvownership. In 1999 NONE were UK-

revenues ofsuch companies. Growth in the US - up 55% in the

last year - means that the US now rivals Europe as the largest

overseas market. Of course, these are not the ☜exports☝ whichHM Govt. counts.These are the revenues

To run vmram or iv Sn wl mi Some-I h UK rum-1 In moowned.The srtuation contrasts With most-♥

. Mam-kno-,MwuswmMama by never. one Goran:in...☜ .7, us .m

of the major markets in Europe (and, of

course. the US) where many of the topSCS suppliers are indigenous. If France

can have its Cap Gemini and Germanyits SAP, why can't the UK have at leastone UK-owned major☂?When we have raised this issue in the

past, we were often told that "ownership"didn't matter - it was jobs in the UK,

contribution to the UK economy etc. that

were more important.

But ☜ownership☝ goes deeper than that.

UK-owned companies tend to do ' -

development in the UK- rather than most US SCS companies

that use the UK (and particularly Ireland) as ☜just☝ a distribution/

support location. Development is like the "white heat" ofa re...it

draws all the important tasks. Any visitor to Seattle or Silicon

Valley can testify to that.

UK~owned companies also tend to raise funds in the UK, even

IPO in the UK, with all the attendant advantages to the nancial

services, PFi, legal and other sectors. Even, dare we say it,

benefiting UK SCS analysts!

UK-owned companies also tend to pay more corporate taxes

in the UK and, if their entrepreneurial founders and top

management stay in the UK (which, to be fair, and despite the

liabilities for CGT and NI on share options, most do) they pay

their personal taxes here too!

So we continue to believe that ownership is important to the

UK economy. But, if we can't have a UK-owned ☜heavyweight☝,

how is the UK doing overseas? The answer is ☜really rather

well".Non♥UK revenues of UK SCS companies has growndramatically and now represents about a third of the total

Doing rather well ☜over there☝?

Against backdop of 16% UK SCS growth.non-UK revenue growth up 29% to £8.8b

-Growth In Cont. Europe up 15%

'1 at £4.65!)

= -Growth in Row (mainly US) up 55%

01 £4.26!)mu:

_ @2000 Richard Holway Limited 3☂5

' rs 111:{3.63:

*ma☁A'rt ☁Ii '5: '3 w'.. we, 1',. ll 11- ,._.

g Acqwu: by Jon-Mu Fur-nu

1n I☂In Provider: BUY 50M!!! Illi Sonic-Ila UK MIMI In 1m

-♥

that such noble companies as Sage,

Misys, Logica, N88, London Bridge etc.earned overseas....often resulting from

acquisitions.Indeed, the ever strengthening pound.

and a strong UK Stock Market, has

enabled UK M&A activity to soar. As we

reported in the 2000 Holway Report, lastyear the UK bought more (and spentmore doing it) abroad than the rest ofthe world spent in total on UK

companies.Regent Associates☁ statistics for H1Continued page 2

Balance of paymentsBritish SCS Companies ☜Buy Big☝ Overseas

sm ukAcqwm 17,, Fuck sun.Imam by us um"Acqum by us EDS

Him ☁ ☁2

. 120 deals @ earn,»210.com

E2900"- ummmmm☜Wmmum

' 8mm" ☁ % There were 438 r EUK SCSI :1

recon-n A L! acquisitions g(MayQB-Aprfm) E

☜'°°°'☜ -' j 113 deals @ £2.9b E

S

mm

9 K 4☂

a a" . ☁ a☜ a☝ a☝ a .49" if is☝ f a)"APQLOGY

BRIGHT STA☁HON AND DAN WAGNERThe 1st June 2000 issue of the magazine, New Media Age,carried a front page article containing industry reactionand

comment on Bright Station's acquisition of the technology assetsof 300.com. Richard Holway of Richard Holway Limited wasquoted extensively in this article, questioning the value of the

technology and suggesting that the purchase was motivated

by the personal reasons of its MD Dan Wagner. Richard Holway

and Richard Holway Limited accept that this was not the caseand that Bright Station considers the technology to besophisticated, valuable and applicable to a number of differentbusinesses. In addition, many of Boo.com☂s development staff

have now joined Bright Station to develop the technology.Richard Holway and Richard Holway Limited apologises toBright Station and its MD Dan Wagner for any suggestion thatBright Station did not make a good purchasing decision andthat the purchase was motivated by the personal reasons ofDan Wagner. Richard Holway and Richard Holway Limitedhave paid a sum to the charity, the NSPCC, in recognition of

the damage caused to Bright Station and Dan Wagner.

August2000 1

_ System House _

Continued from page one Alphameric Making ☜Significant Progress ☝2000 confirm that trend with 50% more UK acquisitions than Alphameric (retail and gaming systems) announcedvice versa. UK-owned 808 companies increased their results for the six months to 31st May 00.Tumoverpurchases in the US by over 160% whereas US purchases in almost doubled (+97%) to £22m and operating

the UK declined by 14%. profits did likewise (pre-exceptionals), exactly

Now we'happen to think that☂s rather praiseworthy. But does doubling 10 52m. However. ☁excepiional' reorg-HM Govt. agree?The much heralded ☜Invest in Britain" statistics and product rationalisation expenses of £580K.this month showed an all-time high for inward investmentwith Plusgoodwili of £12m from the recent spate of acquisitionsall things connected with IT leading the way. But a third of all (on'me-Jan.00, Pennine-Mar. 00, Mrcrosklll -Mar. 00)dragged

☜inward investment☝ was overseas companies acquiring UK hie, PET down 39% ☁0 £616K- EPS (Pre'excepiionalsl r059companies with the Orange acquisitionthe biggest ofthem all. 674☂ ☁0 309 lat☜ dIIUted EPS almost disappeared, from 1.2p

Germans buy UK companies "Good"? UK companies buy US down to. 0.1Ap. Chairman Rodney Hornstein is ☜con dent we

companies "Bad"?..we think not, can maintain the momentum that we are currently enjoying

Which set of statistics you celebrate is up to you. But we will be and make Signi cantpmgféss i☝ bom revenue andpmm Isms,"opening our bubbly to celebrate me Regen, gures. He Signalled more achIsmons are on the cards. At the end of

the month Alphameric☂s share price was down 15% at 288p.

MSWRevenues Fr ' ' IMSW_ has. announced res£1 sin to seam and as

MSW Technology pic

5 year Revenue and PET Record

Relatlve to1996俉2.9m

£502K i☁ 3'"

success/uloompahy'busmsswnuld be tradingyear, outce'rtaiomafb ☁Vooncluded☁..wellf ☂

uRevanu-i I PET

Microsoft reported flat revenues of $5.8b in 04. Although earnings were up 10% at $2.41b this was' mainly due to investment gains. Operating profits fell by 13% to $2.52b. ☜SIuggishness☝ in the business

4☁44; P0 market - probably the Y2K hangover effect - was one of the causes although the resistance to☜fun♥J Windows 2000 was another reason. Conversely consumer busmess and Its internet operations5♥: soared. Forthe full year Microsoft recorded revenue up 16% at $22.96b, profits up 21% at $9.42b andtpi EPS up 20% at $1.70. We are now only two years off our year (FY2002) when we predicted that

☜l Microsoft would make <50% of its revenues from product licences and we can cash (or othenivise) the

cheques we are holding! .IBM reported its 02 results. They too are not immune from theY2K "hangover". Although revenues for the three months to

30th Jun. 00 declined ☁just☂ 1% to $21 .7b, pre-tax income plummeted 31% to $2.77b bringing margins down from 18.4% to 12.8%.

The all important Global Services business did little better - revenue rose 2% to $8.2b and pre-tax income dropped 5% to $1 b, a12.2% margin. However. excluding IBM☂s declining maintenance business, revenue growth would have been 3%. Servicesrevenues were also affected by the 1999 sale of IBM☂s global network to AT&T. Software revenue growth was also depressed - up2% to $3.2b, with pre-tax income down 23% to $736m, a 21.7% margin. However, chairman and CEO Lou Gerstner reportedthatthe services business "re-ignited mid-way through 02. New signings in the quarter totalled $20b - a record quartef☂. Needless tosay, IBM experienced ☜explosive growth☝ in e-business products and services. EMEA was the worst performing region, withrevenue down 9% to $5.9b - although at constant currency it would have been line ball with last year - much as expected. Whileit☂s great to hear about the ☁explosion' in e♥services business, as we☂ve been saying for some time this is still a small part of IBM☁s(and other major players☂) revenues. It☁ll be the ☁big ticket☂ items like the £700m outsourcing deal with Bank of Scotland that willremain the real driver in the short/medium term.EDS has published its 02 results - revenue for the 3 months to 30th Jun. 00 are line ball at $4.62b but pre-tax income rose 6% to

$397m. No breakdown given for EMEA or for the various new lines of business, although ☜Esolutions revenue grewby more than35% for the second consecutive quarter☝. On the face of it EDS had a better quarter relatively speaking than IBM.During the month EDS extended its Rolls Royce outsourcing contract until 2012 in a deal worth $2.1b/£1.4 billion ☜incrementalrevenue to EDS☂. The initial outsourcing contract awarded in 1996 was one of the early outsourcing ☜mega deals" which really putEDS on the IT services map in the UK. The new deal covers e-business, consulting and supply chain management.EDS☂ UK head - David Courtley ♥ had moved on to become Services Director for Europe at Computacenter. This is a great catch- Courtley brings with him a huge amount of experience in the higher level services that Computacenter are striving to move into.Informix was marked down a massive 38% on the day it announced that it expects to report net income of $0.01 10 $0.03 pershare on revenues of between $240-$250m. In the same quarter last year, the company reported proforma net income of $0.06per share on revenues of $250.6 million, excluding non-recurring charges. 02 revenue was essentially flat in all geographicareas, including Europe, which has been further impacted by the strength of the dollar.Sneaking in a warning on 4th July, Computer Associates joined the long list of ☜Y2K hangovef companies.01 rev. will be $1.25-$1.3b - little changed from last year's $1 .22b. ☜Weak European sales and softness in the mainframe business"wete blamed.

_System House __ 2 Augusrzooa

Total Systems plc

10 year Revenue and PET Record

Relative to 1991

ElFlevenue I PBT

£2.9nF222☂Ea.am£53K

2,9mmamaKBZ- 2.1mE141K22.3m_-

1995

Vur amino 31a Mu

Jasmin Dives into LossesJasmin - reclassified as a software company within the FFSE sector classifications during the year, and now a

techMARK constituent - announced results for the year ended 31st Mar. 00. Highlights: turnover down 39% at £4.2m,

LBT of 21m from PBT of £811K, and Loss Per Share of 22.34p from an EPS of 16.44p. Commenting on the outlook

Chairman Fioger Plant said: ☜The order book now stands at £13m (1999 - £4.3m). With the increased level of sales and

tender activity over the past few months, it is anticipated that we will be able to announce further success in the winning

of orders in the near future☝. Jasmin now concentrates on design, development and integration of lT products for the

defence. transport and security markets. Its digital CCTV systems offering stands to benefit from the government☂s

allocation of £150m to enhance local security surveillance systems. Jasmin also has experience of supplying to local

authorities, and is looking to profit from the drive to make information available to the public over the internet and through

information booths. Jasmin listed on AIM in Nov. 95 at 150p per share and moved to the main market in Jul. 98.

Shareholders will be hoping for the orders to materialise pretty soon, as the share price at the end of the month was

140p. a fall of 8%, and now at a discount to the 1995 IPO rice.

Not Much to Shout About at FlexOnIine I eme 3IT staff agency RexOnline results for the year ended 30☁h

Apr. 00 show revenues increased 140% at £658K. But LBTdeepened from £94K to £326K. At the end of the month

FlexOnline shares were down just 2% at 131p.

Dimension Data makes Impressive DebutDimension Data Holdings (DD), an ☜international networkand interactive integration services grouri☂ is listed on theJohannesburg Stock Exchange. They moved to a primarylisting on the LSE on 19th July at 520p per share and amarket cap. of approx. £5.88b, DD will join the Fl'SE100

when the index is revised in September. The placing raisedapprox. £801m. The shares ended the month up 11% at575p.

Out of total revenues of $1.14b to 30th Sep. 99, around14% or $165m (£110m) comes from the UK. Margins ofaround 11% were achieved. DD established its UKpresence when it acquired The Merchants Group in 1997.It then acquired GK Communications in Jan. 99,

Chernikeeff Networks in Apr. 99 and the UK networkingoperations of Comparex in Feb. 00. All UK operations will

be rebranded as DD soon. With around 3000 UK/lrelandemployees (80% in the Merchants☂ operation) the companyis already a not insignificant UK player. However, gettingto grips with how much of this is $08 is more difficult aswe had never considered Merchants to be in our sector inthe past and the networking operations comprise significantreseller revenues.

August2000 3

Misquoted...again...We were quite upset to see the "Sack the over 505"headline in Computer Weekly this month and to see howit has been repeated in other newspapers like the Sunday

Mirror. John Riley (editor of Computer Weekly) was at ourCSSA Conference on 13th July, We never said ☜Sack theover 50s". We did make a "joke" that you "can't make a 50year old COBOL programmer info a web designer by

removing his tie and dressing him in scruffy clothes", Wealso added that many companies went through expensiveretraining exercises only to find that it didn't work and theymade the people redundant anyway. "Might as well face

reality". Web design and "COBOL" programming requirequite different skills. It can be as difficult for a 25 yearold to make that change as a 55 year old.

Anyway, at 53, Holway should know! To the many "outragedfrom Tunbridge Wells☜ who have emailed us.,.Sorry, butwe never said it in the first place.

♥♥ System House _

matter: much were? .49.The main boardsof aunderstandably t

V phenomen n;art already s'ubs'tantra van

☁ and proving exercises atshortly to majorproject workrelated. The predse.»ti 'uncertainty although y; 'early take err is grim}; st☁At the end' ☂ ☁ '

um

econbmwt, . itthey get the

V B-émmmgaanhwéum mgmg-t .

Triad Group pic10 year Revenue and PET Record

Relative to 1991

1:! Revenue I PET

Elm

1992 mm mm

am my

More ☜Y2K hangover" as Diagonal Squeezejust 1% Growth at lnterimsDiagonal has announced results DIAGONALfor the six months ending 28th May00. Revenues were up a minimal 1% to £37.6m but PBT

slumped 60% to £1.7m. Diluted EPS was also down 64%to 1.37p. Commenting on the result Chairman Mark

Samuels said: ☜Despite a poor first quarter, which includedDecember and January, the second quarter has picked up

very quickly producing almost all of the profit recorded inthe first half-year. We are particularly pleased with theperformance of our new Solutions Group which produced

revenue in excess of £10m in the rst hal

What little growth there was at Diagonal came from theiracquisitions, with continuing operations actually declining21% to £29.2rn. Diagonal went on the acquisition trail duringthe period to beef up their newly formed Solutions Group,which generated more than £10m in the period.With almost

45% of revenues coming from their IT staff agencyactivities in 1999, Diagonal are obviously keen to reducetheir reliance on the lower margin business in favour of the14% profit margin that the Solutions division produced.

At least Diagonal can boast of being profitable at a timewhen others (such as Druid) were reporting losses!

Diagonal☂s share price ended the month down 32% at 275p.

VECsoft Suffers Post-Y2K BluesECsoft presaged its interim results for the six months ended30th Jun, 00. with a profits warning. The results showedrevenues increased just £519K from £34.2m to £34,7mcompared to the same period in 1999, PBT of £2.8m

dropped to £447K and EPS of 15.2p became a Loss PerShare of 4.1p. ECsoft's revenues from continuing opsactually fell 10% to £30.7m for the period. with £3.9m

revenue coming from acquisitions. It wasn☂t all good newson the acquisition front however, as the German acquisitionin Jan. 00 is reported to have ☜taken longer to assimilateinto the ECsoft model than we originally anticipated☂.

ECsoft ended the month down 31% at 685p. _System Housem

Sk☝☝sg☂°☝" Fa°eSKILISGROUPLosses at InterimsSkillsgroup results for the six months ended 31st May 00

showed turnover down from £96.4m (for the six months to

31st May 1999) to £78m, with ☜core☝ operations (QA Training

and Pontis) up from £22.9m to £25.6m. PBT of £64m turnedinto a LBT of £0.5m, and EPS of 6.5p reduced to 0.1p.Commenting on the outlook retiring Executive ChairmanDavid Southworth said: ☜Against a background of externalmarket uncertainty we have achieved significant internalchange, a clear repositioning of the Group and we have

cash resources to fund the implementation of our strategyI believe that by the end of November, I will be able to

pass to my successors a business that is clearly focused .in higher margin, growth sectors, with excellent market

opportunities and the resources needed to exploit them".David Southworth has, of course, signalled his intention tostep down at the end of November. This is a critical timefor Skillsgroup - with the disposal of their Myriad IT staffagency (ITSA) business to Hays at a very acceptable price(£31 m) and the proposed jettison of the loss-making Acumareseller business, they will become a true SCSI company.Their plans to launch their' new web-based skills

management and training portal Qagloba|.com in September

are exciting - Southworth says they have three pilotcustomers in Sep-Dec ..... t. and are aiming for 20 more in2001.The skills management part of this service is based

on the DMT acquisition announced last month. Now, on

the face of it, paying £5.3m fora CD-ROM product producing

just £700K revenue looked a bit rich. But what Skillsgroup

actually bought with DMT was their new web-based product

which wasjust coming to market. So, at an expected annual

run rate of ☜several hundred thousand pounds" per customerof "high net marglrf☂ business, we really do hope the realitymatches the promise. It would be a fitting tribute to the

accomplishments of Southworth. Skillsgroup shares weredown 7% at 129p at the end of the month, despite the

displays of confidence from the board buying shares.

August2000

Quoted Companies - Results Service Note: Hi hli hted Names indicate results announced this month.

Mini: lc Delcsn ll: Kalamazoo Computer GromlcEmav- e menm-Mav 771 1111611 Fmal- 00 5111314 e: Commnsnn 51113111131931 ☁[ FmaI-Mavm 05111911151511

17 v 1.000 9,000 N: v 1 . 249 15, 42 4140 REV 0550 0,000 062751.000 47P07 0775.000 4.529000 11,: P07 01,410,549 01.042075 Loss 15 1911111 P97 32.190000 45.933000 L055 50111

. . . l1 1 v 7 h

Admiral la n 1 . . K132001313 lcmil-Dec 171:1- ec DmD nSn InlenmAMay99 F1m1-N0v99 htenm-Ma 00 CumDiVISKin 1711077171 Com VISIOn

V 0147007000 0170106000 415, Ev 037,141,000 072376.000 03 ,000 411 PEV £400,000 nlaP 07 2231479000 (24752000 16 4 P 97 043513.000 001134.000 01,745,000 60 P 07 01200000 We

AFAS ans lc Essysauan plc Kewills m Ic11131-02290 1m1-Dec99 60111111111411 511191443199 711131111100 04111121111011 511120143199 711131413100 05111 115511

R V .000 1. , 1119. REV 0110,91 01,055,519 4052. v ,0 9,000 5.24 000 425.PET 01,444,000 0501,1100 111151101 P137 {537,143 03,425,999 Lossbum P07 £7,196,000 011303000 .74.

- - - 1 . P 7NTer Ic - 4 - - - - A - -

11131- 3199 1113-1113100 0m nsvan lmznm~J11n99 nal-0:093 Inlanm-Junw Cum 1131511 51511-113199 711111 M1100 Com 11111111REV 1 .450000 1 3.000 424. 0 V 096,000 7,304,000 . .000 41 P v 1.55521 £4,799,000 42027P07 02764000 03.651000 4321 P07 02040000 3,416,000 £447,000 .043 P07 32,400,057 0155.000 L059 mm

- - . ~ - Eidus Ic Knuwled Mmagemmt SokwueplcNauru-1441,99 P1na1- 0199 lntgnrn-MIYOO Dmmnsnn E11111 M3799 Pym-Marco Compansmnu 7111;109:913 51101-011599 0617103115411

R Ev 011,151,000 £25.330000 022007.000 497. R Ev 0226204000 0203265000 - 10 R EV £713,000 £770,000 43,P07 01,010,000 03.050000 £616,000 39. P137 037020000 049,275,000 429 P137 £160,000 3301.000 P1011110 1555

. . = ,Altaim lc ElecironicDaLaProassin l1: Knowled Sugport Sygans Grou Ic

FlnzlvMRVBS 1131-1413700 Compansmn hlanmrMarss Fmal- 21:99 lulznm-Malm Cumensmn F1713LDec§BI9e szereCQS CompanslonREV ,950 01,011,140 4137.4 REV 05,459,000 010.492000 04,529,000 .1721 REV 01,579,090 01,339,025 115.4P07 $254,650 03,905 1115915010111 007 01225000 72,377,000 01,004,000 .10, P07 4.34.765 0133.497 Loss 1111111

1 - . . . EurolinkM Services plc Logim FlaFmal-A FIMl-Auw Cumpansuon Cb Inc,199& Flml-Mavw Companslurl menm-Dec☁zs nal-1117199 lmenm DEC☝ Commnsnn

REV 01901329000 0159976000 .121 PEv 00,323,171 1113 REV 0292400000 0599469000 {403.300.1100 437.PST 06700000 07,171000 45 P137 0044.762 11/. P97 025,500,000 059,504,000 035100.000 437.1

. 4Axon Grou II: F.l. Grou 11: London 5! Sonwxe Holdin [0

711111. 1131- m n n Fm 1.4 r. 1. Cme th _ 711111. 711111. 0111111111151☜17 EV 024,253 370,000 . v ,353000 ,696,000 434.7 R Ev 12237 .000 042,155,000 455 4P 07 01.924401 04,560,000 4149. P 07 017,025,000 017,391,000 42.1 297 £7,365,000 07092000 13 7

Azlan Gvou k: Flnancial Ob'ects lc Larien Ic{11121-141199 11111-111100 Com 1151011 F1M|~Dec98 Inal- e: nmpansmn 11131-115190 11131-114099 om 1151511

R v 1,000 10,604,000 419, REV 21.662000 022,301,000 42, REV £13040, 135,317,000 4037'P 07 03,635,000 092511.000 4141.4 F 07 £3,435,000 £4,656,000 435.4 P 07 02,549,000 01.549000 17707111011355

4 . .Batimore☁l☂emnn ies I1: - - - - L Groo Ic

1na1-Decas 11121- 2:99 0771 men Irnenm-Jm99 m»- e 99 mam-1111100 Campanslun mean-Mama 1131. 2L☝ 1111511111 M070) omnansmnREV 0117,12 000 +1 . 112V , ,713,000 04,390,000 442. REV {1031344000 0212541000 0111010000 45P97 05,173,012 431351.000 Lass 150111 P07 0149.000 0007.000 041,000 .127. P07 05,370,000 011,017,000 01,709,000 471

BuonCor union 1: FocuaSolmlonnGr I1: MMT lc1m1- 110 nm- :5 cm 113-0 1111 14-199 11131-141100 01111131131071 1111 111114 :5 ma 11399 111mm 013 0101211511111

v 1 , 11/: 17Ev . 0721000 4100. v 021.100.0011 041024210 015000000 .204PET 059,749 0127031 11/: P07 £350,000 41.039000 Loss 115111 P07 05,100,000 09,710,952 02.000000 500

Bond ImernalionalSohware lc Freecom k: M04204 I1:vul- 9C mal☁ EC 0771 nsmn 17ml. 2c meum 0m n 1071 mlenm☁ l: 1M|~Jun93 1771071771 91:99 0711937151071

REV 007,597 013/45 ,159 .4. 17 V .000 m PEV 13.152000 031,025,000 017,005,000 429P137 4935379 0709.005 P101110: 10:: P137 32.100000 n7: P07 05,024,000 010400.000 £4,751,000 -

Bl (Smion plc Fleesavu Ic MEHANT It:71101-02599 ompanmn F1nal~A 511121-41900 05111113111111" r1m1~AJL9§|Penca1oApr99fL☁rma1-Aproo Compansmn0174450000 42. REV (2740.000 019,560,000 4513. REV ilBGJOdDOO 4215473000 0227233000 4221

P07 05.564000 33.557000 P15111111 165: P07 01,510,000 422930000 L055 501 P07 {15.555000 011,572,000 335,359,000 LOSSDOXH

Businatts Grou Holdin k: - . - - 4 1 Mil! Ic5111:1411-195 911011101451 111114 1111 9111 1111111 11115111114099 nal-0199 1111:1104 00 0171 1151611 Fmal- ec 111.11 02599 5111 115011

13 EV 037260000 £4,993,000 2. 000 .131 17 av 015,301,000 no .000 £11206.000 .31 R Ev 070,105,000 031,324,000 .55P07 01.494000 £979,000 0750.000 490 P07 01403000 4064000 42,723,000 P11111115 14:; P07 70.492000 01,934,000 713.4

. 1 . 3 avCadmlra Grou lc GuldiamT lc -

Inzl- ll lnllAMlI 777 n In" Ina|~ ec Inil- 2c amour-51071 Flnal-Ma 93 Fvul-Ma 1X) (207710005107117 v 1.000 , . V 129,593,000 £4924 , 465 REV 1,100,000 (700,000,000 45P07 03,001,000 04,338,000 444. P07 043529.000 07.049000 45. 057 191,400,000 4113500000 424,

- . - - - MWGruuylc Manda lc11111111101.☜ 5111.1, c 11111114 1.1 0m 71: 11 5111001199 511110111100 Companmn ☜171♥ $145 F111: 99 1111111111 0:199 5711 1151511

v 1 , .000 ,199. 000.000 430. V 1 1, , . 444 REV 12 945 301 £541.61 5 41965PET 012,500,000 032,200,000 013,000,000 49. P137 311,059,000 911074000 as P07 0209004 {520,770 0390090 L053 00171

cadl Grnu lc Hi ham-S ems Suviees Grou Ic Mons Holdin I1:11111, 1 111314 27 cm nsm 111:1- 07 mal- :r 171 1151011 1111:an 5:95 1nal~ un Imenm ac99 umpanmn

V . . . . . V , . , 51 -21. REV 144,275,000 0293043000 .0 3.000 4405P137 121307.000 04029000 472. P07 31.524055 0305.504 thuohss P07 09.704000 015,053,000 010,427,000 45

CFS Gvou Ic ICM Computer Grougplc MSB lnlemaionll Ic;, I. 1 1, m 11 . 71 1. nm- 11 71 51111- F- 1- 11 771 1131511

V , . .1 , 423. v , , , , v 91,345,000 104,9 . 3P 07 01223000 £1,125,000 .5. P 137 01,949,000 04,335,000 02035000 44 4 P 97 09.000000 04.959000 3a 7

Cfnlc In IE Grou lc - 1 - - .1 l- 20 I 1' m 1m1- 07: 1 1» ac m 715 II Fm -MI Fmal M: (X) C m 71 1071

V .11 V 1 1 . . v 1, . 15 , 1 , 1P07 7275.504 3.302.335 as PET 01,024,104 3.3020900 L035 00171 P07 01.641522 02790057 1115555111

r We fl: Innovation cum I: Mammoth lc11110 . 99 am 1511 F110 2 111011111 Mar omnanslon 1111.11111- 0: F111;: 11m Inlenm 0 0 Cum 111m

v . . , . 0% W000 1015611111.☜. REV 01,9507 1 91101P07 057,402,000 033,629,000 «5. P07 3912.011 01,530,092 nounmpmse P07 0145.731 7279.052 4473.421 P1611116 1115:

001711710 lc isa Grou Ic Mentors 10mal~ r 1 1- at 771 ns 11 111.1 11131-4 cm "SID" 1n11-10n9aEemj11151311 111111111199 COME/151017

REV 10, , , 2,000 410. V £11. .000 1. . 4601 V 2.5 44,2 {757,911 4109 ,P07 02.719000 06,020,000 4121, P 07 0753.000 02131000 4179, P07 0611,4513 01,900,400 01,149,575 L0 55 1111111

Grou lc IS Solu ona P10 Matteo 0Inlenm☁ ac mall un (11 - om n Fmal- uul- 1: Cama☁gnn Ma ♥ le 2:99 Com

1 , , , . , , . . . . ,1 , 1. 01. .000P07 04072000 012579000 1.3020000 -39.1 P137 $42304 £1,205,000 427, P07 £339,000 02331000 L035 mm

00071100 "NET Ic North elnlounuion 50111110710 11:1ml- 2: 1 - :0 Com 1110 1: 171214 ac 0m nmn 1 F0111 2: 0m nmn

v . , .,, . v 1, 1.64. 423 RV 1, . 1900000 11P 07 364,503,000 075,136,000 416 P07 £7346000 09036000 433 P137 {3,966,000 {21,900,000 P1011110 lass

DOS Gvou Ic . 4 N53 WI 5 I4:0.... E 11191» c or☜ 1111611 r1m1-Mav99 Fxml-Maroo 0511161115511 1131- 2:90 111.11 5299 0511110115011

EV 1 0,1 2, .910, . EV , 1 ,000 04201, 39 02v 1 .20 .000 12121130001:07 07,253,000 00.129000 410. P07 £911,000 31,052,000 21011111111155 P137 03,934,000 01,544,000

0135 Detad- Banach Services I: .158 Sakwwe Technatogies plc Ormesarm Holdings plcr1 1- F 311: 77 11 51 »M Cum n 11 r F1nql 423 511111 11me 1: m 11$ 11

R V ,1 .W .1 . 0i V .05000 On REV LINES 77☁:P81 £73.☝ 2*.w0 0223 PST n/3 L033 bo| PST le752 In, 53 L055 00177

August2000 5 System House _.

☁Royalblue announced revenue up 42% to £25.5m with PBT up a lower 1 1% to 23m insix months to 30111 June. John Hamer asked us ☜ What's all this Y2Khangover, Richard?

Quoted Companies - Results Sewice Note: Highlighted Names indicate results announced this month.Oxford Molecular li: -. . . . . . S emslnternational Gm Ic

Final☁DQCSE FinzlADec99 Compansmn IntenmAJur☁igB FlnalADeCm hlenm-Junm Comparison lntenm»Dec§8 maUun99 Interim-D0099 ompansvunREV 521505.000 519750.000 0,1 05v 517.905.000 29.593000 525,500,000 424 REV 50457000 517051427 50360000 .11PET 41220000 Loss 0001 PST 52744000 55.511000 53,037,000 410,7 P51 51,090,000 5.2313053 £19,000 .97D A

Page☜: 8 eGrou lc TelMecam tol Final-DKSEF Final 0:099 00 "51071 lnlenmA 5190 me!» e 90 Intenm-Mzroo 0m ns1on Final-M0199 Inal- 2100 Com nSion

REV♥Taoznmo 5314154000 4&1 v 5132545000 7.041000 2520.000 REV 10.014.000 13,9 4.000 09001 520,052,000 510501.000 7,3 031 505479000 574,313,000 553,992,000 001 53,301,000 2105.000 Loss bothP . A . . n

Patsysterm plc 855 Group Ric Terenw imnGrown:: Intenm Compansmn LJmenm~Feb99 Final 41g lntenm Febm ComEMSion JlnlenmAFeDSQ Manages InterimAFebCOLComnansmn

05v £500,000 m REV 520000000 559,905,000 2900.000 .191 Rev 515.750.0110 530,541,000 512m000 .224001; 21000000 ri/a PET 51,400,000 52219000 5.124.000 -91.1 PET 52720000 54464000 5450000 .001rpm . .

. . . . Science 5 ems Etc Tore: InFinal 4 .99 Final-A 00 Cum 715100 5001402290 51:01-05:99 06m nsmn Pint-0x98 inzl- «99 um Asian

R v 076,000 513304.000 457 a v 4019000 066.000 «27,3 REV 1,770,000 .752000 411411P 01 51,570,000 52403000 50 P 01 52217000 52530000 +10 0 01 52902000 54.039000 as 4

4 4Poll Maste! Gra lc SDL I0 . . .

Final-Dec s Final-Dec99 ampariSion uni-0:490 inaI-Dec99 om usron Final-M0199 Final~MarOO Com nsiunR EV 511,330,405 515730201 447 R EV 410,000,000 512900.000 Ev £3,247.15 1,950 09,7001 {597,390 51.062507 «524 PET £209,000 4795000 171001101055 PET (529,073 5579509 PmmioiossP 0 A . .

Primz-E lc Sema Groug Ell: Toudtstone Grou lcFinal-Nova Final-NDV99 Compansion Final-09:96 Finalan 991 Compansron FinalvM0r99 FIMI-M Vw Complan

REV 511,200,245 59,194,799 .10 REV 51250000000 51.410.000.000 +120 REV 47,563,000 510511000 27,001 190,447 4051051 L055 0001 PST 297000.000 590000.000 -4.1 1201 51,040,000 51196000 714,10 .

Praiherics Ii: Serviuerower Technal ies Ii: TraceCo mars Ii:Final M0r99 FmiMzroo ommnsron malA 01:90 inzIA «99 ompans-on Inlenm-NDVN maI»M3 99 interim-Nov empanslcn

0511 52047000 51,590,000 a. REV 099001 ,50,910 +210 v 50504000 1, . 1 50593000 40.1001 113017.000 515,454,000 Loss mm 001 514.177 £541,007 Fromm less PET 5920000 04.357035 5973000 4P . , . 447 A

OSP pli: Sherwood International plc 1 . . . .Final , 05: 50 Final - 0:: 99 Compansion Final - 0x90 Final - 02599 Commnsron Final - M3799 Flnal - Mavoo Campansicn

05v 537,005,000 550.530.1100 05 05v 542.591.0011 547.106.0110 «100 05v 549006.000 540360.000 .1.1201 52044000 54212000 0051 PET 5.5494000 £7,345,000 +537 1201 50,529,000 £1,905.000 ~77.

Ouantim li: - - 4 - Ultim: Networks lcFinal NDVW Final-Nov99 Campansmn Inlenm-May99 FiMI-Nov99 IMznum-Maym Companion Final-00098 FinalvDec99 Compansicn

0 av 215,164,000 510,150,000 +191 R EV 136,400,000 5190700000 570000.000 .191 REV 514037.000 512541000 -13.1001 53,450,000 5.2224000 68 001 55400000 511,400,000 -L500.000 Pmma lass PBT 55,093,000 5700.000 Lossbclri

RM k: 50 heon lc Ultrasia Grou lcrnienm-Mav LFmi» ep9§ lnlenvaarm Corn nsion inalADeCQE mal~ :0 0m "Slon htanm«Jan99 mal~J 99 lntenm-Janm nmpanslun

0 Ev 571.1 15000 5152210000 570074000 «0 0 av 5091.000 51,510,000 459. a E 51.099000 20 £1,055,000 -4PET 22493.000 512262.000 51.40200 .42 01 11.142000 52.072000 L055 0011. 001 4149000 .523 000 5.1039000 L055 00111p , . . . ,

Softwareplc Sprin Grou lc ~.. . . .lnlenm 05:90 Final 111199 intanm.0e:99 Commnsxon L final-Au☝ Final 41:00 Cummnsmn r1n5194p99 Final-pr Com ston

175v 53.050001 521045.000 52600000 A121 05v 5402154000 2995106000 -1,7 02v 520,993,000 540,201,000 0071301 5510000 53121000 5514.000 Frumtn loss PET 514100.000 55.420000 Pmmio km 001 54202000 54.042000 4120

HDL Gm lc Slanwa'e Ic VI Grou k:rmai. e090 :qu 俉599] ::Companslorl Final- 09:98 Fina-0599 Companslon Fiml- K90 Final-Dec Compansmn

Rev 5.1 .592000 510.172000 +150 05v 522,107,000 . .000 +13 v 54.11 .000 . , +104051 51.154000 51.335000 .157 01 5250000 52950000 +1001 PBT 4312.000 5430000 Loss to 0mm5☁ 4 .

nition Symema Grougpln sum Grougplc Vocalia Grou lc[mun-1.144199 Final - 520991 lmenm v M0700 Commnslon Final - 0x90 Fl il - Dec 99 Campansien Final - Mar99[_ iml»MarOO Compansmn

05v 5965.000 52315000 50021000 +216 REV 5.3221041 5.3144000 ' v24 REV 54020000 5259-4000 44.1001 mama 51,609,000 42250000 Loss mm 01 504,73 5102000 010mm loss 001 51090000 44507000 L055 00111

RetailDacisions pk: Super VN lc WealthM unenlSottware lcmum Campansiun lmenms-Jan99 5.1010099 lntenms-Jznw Compansmn PemavDecBB rum-02w: Campansicn

REV 511,700,000 n/a 05v 122 071,000 00 ~66, v .002000 1 10.000 ~214,201 52500000 110 001 507.000 2755000 52097000 L055 00». 01> 4355000 4105000 Lossbutrip . . .

- - I - - Synm Ic XKO Groug EtcFinzlvAgrgs FimlvAuw Compansion Inlenm-M2799 Final-5:099 hlenm»Ml1m Compansmn PFFiml-ergi Final erm Com ilun

050 £273,570 5560000 040 05v 1104034000 5214209000 119. 000 +14. 17 v 420.000 020,000 4001 494,303 4326000 Lass 00m 001 5420.000 50094000 55,191,000 «1195. 01> 52567000 40203000 Pmmlo 1055p , ,

Hone 5 Nolan pli: Systems Integrated Renewal plcFinal 1:099 Final r0000 Compinsion mean.me F.nai-May99 mum-Nan towns-on

sz 308,000 055.000 +0. v 1,000 1. , 000 -0951 51,605,000 51030000 +144 PBT 5.32000 £140,000 142000 131P 4 ~

lMore next month. Royalblue☂s share price went up 14% to end the month on £14.50.

☁ 2158,9111) and PST 11;: 530211 Apr. 00. EPS reducedvjrg >

However, so much has happened;

full picture, Operating 0101'1 operations increaed 131,379;

1 150% at £4,001), consults☜ [(1.113

, andTm☂vel (11132975012 2m} , 'hit by 10011000110111 demand at i _

j which saw revenue reduce Jay 24 Ialthough 0101115 011091 ESOQK wemaintained. ☁ f ' ☁ .,With 16 0001150113000 undertaken, 350'1 Anita seems well on the road 10,016:1 successfully. indeed, 0101100:1 have now hear} primed to just three ha; ml price improved 177910.000the 10011111 00 1340,

1 Anita Simplifies.ar'g'aqfsariiAnite has .anndunee☂d even "

__System House __

1092

Anlte Group pli:

10 year Revenue and PET Record

Relatlve to 1991Rwanuu IFET

1996

August2000

Give us Boring Any Day!Capita has reported revenues up 39% at £208m and PET (before goodwill amortisation) up 30% at

£18.4m in six months to 30th June 00. PBT (after goodwill) however was up 10% at £13.8m and EPS

was only up a tad from 3.97p to 3.99p. In the accompanying trading statement Chairman Rod Aldridgesaid that all its markets remained "very positive", current trading was strong and the order pipeline

☜high/y encouraging☝.So Capita has turned in another excellent set of results. The interims show organic growth of 29%, with 5"☜the acquisitions during the period(LHR and IRG) contributing £14m and on track to add over £50m revenues during the

year. Capita has shown once again that it is able to digest acquisitions very quickly, and is close to seeing real benefitfrom cross selling its services between private sector clients (me has c1 ,200) and its traditional public sector customers.

Revenue from the private sector now accounts for 36% of total, and is an obvious growth area for the company. Expectto see more astute acquisitions added to the portfolio of services. '

Capita has reorganised its business into five streams (Customer Services; Human Resources; Property Services;Software, Systems & Strategic Services; and Commercial Services) each has a divisional sales force, with the ☁bigticket' sales opportunities handled by a separate team. This is obviously working! In addition to the recently announcedwin at the Criminal Records Bureau worth £400m over 10 years (where Capita beat off tenders from Siemens, IBM,ch and Serco) it has £750m of sales prospects in the pipeline! Capita is right to be confident- they typically win onein three of bids tendered for but have been enjoying a winning streak of late, not losing a single bid in the last six months.The newly created Commercial Services Division (comprising IRG, Capita☂s 31.5% stake in myshares-online andfinancial/treasury consultancy) has the potential to generate a higher margin than the 010% associated with the rest ofthe business. Whilst accounting for just £13.8m in the period, it returned almost 17% margin. Organic and acquisitive

growth is planned.

Crucially, Capita is organised in such a way that it is able to take on more major projects with the current managementteam and business structure. Paul Pindar, CEO, said they would be "comfortable" right now with another win the size of

the CRB ♥ and that was their biggest win to date, with 01,000 staff and £20m upfront investment.

Unlike the systems houses, Capita is not dependent on fee-earning consultants to generate/increase revenue, and hasnot suffered the Y2K hangover. Economies of scale should deliver an increase in the revenue per head during 2000,With repeat business fromestablished customers, recurring revenues (no major contracts come up for renewal until2002), strong management and opportunity for growth in its key sectors (education and health in particular) Capita is

well poised for growth. If this is Boring, lets have more of it! Capita ended the month level at £16.13p.

More Warnings from.Policy Master: profits for H1 are likely to be below last year☁s although turnover will be ahead. The shortfall in the firsthalf is unlikely to be recovered in the second half of the year. Lynx: market expectations for the current year for the

Group as a whole will not be achieved. DCS: warning of slow demand for its ERP and general services during H1, withdemand only recently starting to increase. ☜We anticipate that these areas will under perform for the year as awhole".DCS expects trading conditions in H2 to continue improving but customer demand for large new projects remains slow.

' ☜the Group is unlike/ to return to profitability in the current first half year"G.

staffing down 43%reg-revenue rose 13%

. .baenunsatxsfacraiyverbosiness, and,with jmostbusinessareas. i

ans: se Bros bask in Apr. co - atong withhold it anaiystbn☁efing to☁ announcethe☁se results, which were

,☁tb'e☁rei then-Theprobferns were a combination ot Y2K ☁yearto Gresham tarting with the Aug, SQ'profits warning pre♥we☁ _ valve in appointing) fell on his sword in Dec. 99. Butseeing the departure of newest) Bill Simpson and 0T0 Alan

older☁S Great: took over as chairman, and sonic-law Andrew Walton-☁ uctad'*a☁s;trjate C☜review☂ attire business. Walton☁Green has

reams om o, which ☁WII he developed to a stage wheres eholder vafue We spoke toAndrewWalton'Green and they have yet

k Gresham☂sbus'insss as itstands today is too broad and diffuse sothat ctear which is the bit they want tufocus on. Gresham has

essed☂witn its Gasabla'n'ca middteware. and we think testing services, _ 'ectorfo particularly given the rush tor companies to launch new websites. But they do not

develop all the V as of business to their tuit potentialso will be. looking for partners. Gresham now claims, dWhich fully baoks waltonvGreen's new. strategy - he will need all the support he can muster and will need

to convmce ves and the City likewise. Gresham☂s☂sna'r'es☂have fallen 51% this year and are now less than a third at their

value a'yea'tagoiva☂ut at least they held steady this month to close on 30p.

~♥ System House __

Augu512000 7

SCSI Index

FI'SE IT (565) Index

techMARK 100

FTSE 100FTSE AIM

rom 15th Apr 89

rom 1st Jan 90

tom 1st Jan 91

: From 1st Jan 92rom 1st Jan 93

i From 1st Jan 94rom 1st Jan 95

I From 1st Jan 96

' From 1st Jan 97

I From 1st Jan 98From 1st Jan 99

' Month (30/6/00 to 31/7/00)

v- Software Products

olway Internet Index

olwa 805 Index

4695.417: +123.62°o

663.75% 466.21%639.20% +107.64°/a '$390.68☜: +72.53% +360.67% +77.61% ☜3.91% '3}+313.90°u +54.55% +297.50°/u +73.49% 454.66%+265.13% +23.95% +281.11% +206.24% +70.71% 445.96%

+181.16% +8.21% +149.71% ☜11.78% ☜11.25% 'Vo33

131.3% .257.3%

24.5% -9.5%

55.1% 64.9%

420.7% 345.1%

629.6%

1% 181 2%

265

☁bu't 'iaeioréia'r☁wmsér '- increased 31% 1625I record: 29mm- of '

Vega Group pic

10 year Revenue and PET Record

Relative to 1991

u F☁lnom-I I P51

i further seem signer: ingtvtaymrhangover problems. Vlnde☁ei "confident of another☜yearo't,Ltheend'oteluly, vega's share.

Super Results from SmithSmith Group, the privately owned consultancy, has announcedresults for the year to 31st Mar. 00. Highlights: revenue grew25% to £20.9m and PET grew a very commendable 51% to

Smith Group Haldlngs pic8 year Revenue and PET Record

Relatlvato1993

D wm IPBT

tin-Imam u-

£3.6m ♥ a 17% margin. Smith is increasingly focused on eCFlM(generating £6.6m) and e-security (£5.3m), providing expertiseto commercial clients and government. Most of Smith☁s activities

are in the UK, with just 11% coming from ☜exports☝.

Keystone Moves Closer to Pro Itabl ItyKeystone Software - provides practice management softwareto the professions - results for the year ended 31st Mar. 00showed turnover up by 203% to £4.8m, LBT improved from£2.4m to £165K, and Loss Per Share improved from 18.9p to0.6p. Chairman Tony Caplin said ☜The current level of salesenquiry in all markets bodes well fora past Y2K recovery in thesecond half of the 2001 financial year and we look forward toan exciting period ofgrowth over the next 12 months". Keystoneis looking to move from AIM to the main market in late August,and will join the techMARK index. At the end of the monthKeystone share price stood at 78p, a rise of 8%.

#System House_

Solid Results from PlanitDeveloper of sales and design software for retailers in thekitchen, bathroom and furniture sectors, Planlt Holdings hasannounced results for the year ending 30'" Apr. 00. Highlights:turnover up 38% to £13.3m, PBT up 58% to £2.5m, and dilutedEPS up 44% to 2.3p.

Chairman Bob Morton said: ☜The computer software businesscontinues to grow and trade in line with expectations and, with

the recent French and USA acquisitions and the acceleratedlnternet developmentprogramme improving our overall productoffering and position in the market place, the Group is wellplaced to continue its growth both organically and byacquisition☝. The software business of Planit was a reverse

take-over in Apr. 98tThe shares ended July up 12% at 120p.

August2000

HolwgylSystem House SCS Share Prices and Capltallsatlon511.11 2511 51:51 55.11 1.11:. 50m 51111 0.111.111.1511 0.111.111.1011

500 91111 0.011.111.1111 1415147110 Mo 11111111 1111171 nm 10 111111. 111m i112. 11111- (2111cu 211111140 210111411 we 010.1011. 3111111411 511011114111 111 2000 20111111111 11 211011

441mb SP 21 17 2140 20111 Loss 245.53 1420.27 10.00%. 42.00% 210.70111 240 000111151 es 215 50 21.040.00111 02.1 5.11 55022.45 0.005. 0.05% 240.00m 254 40FA System SP 1:5 47 2120.70111 Lm 72.47 4554.17 5.0015 105 0700 {5.00111 22122011 Group as 214 30 220020111 121.1 12 20 0502 22 15.700. 52001. 22050111 .215201111151111110 5? 2.00 220500111 755 11.50 1210.01 45.0700 05.50% {4050111 2102.5011111111 5? 22.50 214070111 044.7 140.70 1705.00 70.500. 70.504. 20220111 252 20le Group cs 21 04 250200111 45.5 :1 15 1072.10 15.510. 35.420. 20420111 2157.00

Alon SP E9 15 E☁lDZDm 158,8 ☁7 31 51 71 43 91.59% 52 74☁- -E40.3Dm (☁50 104111111 0101111 0 21.45 210240111 24.0 0.40 024.70 0.0211. 1.200. 4:0.70111 20.000521111111. 7501111511191☜ 51: 25 27 12.455.00111 Lou 105.52 55222.22 27.400. 2421001. 244500111 2545.000111011 SP 21.70 20.10111 Loss 2 00 1775.00 2.7401. 50.72% 20.00111 25 70Bond 11111111111511111 51> 20 50 20.04111 Loss 1 10 1052.05 2.01% 000$ 20.40111 .20 550119111 511111011 :3 20m 210000111 Lm 0.02 552.54 24.0501. 21.0701. {22.50111 222.100114111114: 5115151115 cs 21.20 210720111 212.7 2.21 1112.45 11.3401 11.245. 27.20111 27 20(3001:5111: Group sp 24.70 570.50m 22.0 2.22 2200.00 2.2701. 47.27% 21.00m 225 00(111111111 Group 13 210 12 20.500.00111 102.0 10.70 145015.22 0250.5 42.7404. 222.00111 21.171 00Cedar Group 51: 27 20 240500111 120.5 13 41 5057.14 0 2701. 29.1501. 240 70111 2141 20as Group SP 22 05 244.20111 102 2.25 2200.00 5 2710. 21.0701 22.00111 22 70Gin-1:01 01111111111111; 5? 20 44 211 .20111 20.0 2.50 254.04 »4 3501 20.50% ~20.30m .24 50we as 21150 20.752.00m 107.5 11.00 21724.14 22.0501 0.0701. 21105 00111 2010 0000111115 1:: 25.75 211000111 12.1 2 05 4422.00 10.700. 5.3501 1:15.50m .21 00Camel Gmup R £2 69 E3320"! 7 7 0 28 2140 00 I 90% 50 ☁2☁5 {LBOM {B7 8060110014011114: 0 20.00 250500111 10.0 0 24 402.54 42.504. 07.5701 4:02.00111 21.22020Des Group as 24 00 205.00m 15.0 0 50 5701 57 42.400. 411.07% .274 40111 .2150 500411:5111 SP 22 so 212.40111 17.0 0.05 004 52 10.040. 12.20111. 21.20111 21.2010.91.1101 cs :2 75 224240111 44.0 2 25 2000.15 42.1001 -2715°5 {02.20111 4:52 00onsomsnoumn 51: 211.17 25.07111 22.0 0 70 155.02 44.0114. 25.0005 21.04111 .2190Enwcreun 51: 22.42 2107.00111 1.11.111 102.00 1425 47 2.115 25.400. 22 00111 -227 00E12300 E £6.35 £32.30"! 89.6 1.22 372.09 30.63% -53 SEW. {34.an -240 90E11111. 512 2422 2451.20111 Loss 2.22 21140.71 42.7001. 51.000. .24720111 .2052 702150110111: 011111 1:111: 51: 20 01 22450111 10.5 2 24 2105.20 45.1201. -75 005. .22 00111 .274 10Eulallnk as 20.07 21024111 11,-; 1.22 070.00 5.0700 -20 405 .20 42111 .22 as51 670170 cs 24 00 21.541.00111 124.7 5 01 12500.00 20.0201. 20.400. 231000111 .2220 00511101101111 00104; 51: 21 47 25000111 10.0 2 51 525 00 47.400. 70.525. .211 50111 .2107 00511111111115 Gloup 50 1:0 52 125 00111 31.5 2 07 5557 00 4.100. 01 57% 21.70111 212 00Focm 512 22.27 25050111 1110.1. 02.52 121520 247401. 21.54% 211.00111 210 50Frucom cs 20.04 251.70111 Lu: 102.01 400.40 40.5205 40.4011. -214.50111 1:11 20Freeum cs 20 00 20.107.00111 Lou 102.00 2000.00 4.0201. 47.6392. -1:102.00111 22.755 00011mm 641191111119 cs 20.00 21400111 Lou 0.40 02250 0.005 51229. 21.20111 .212 105011101511 11 as 212.40 205700111 122.5 10.42 5204.21 0029; 40.5004. 2225701111 2405 20Harvey 1411511 010110 4 27.42 221000111 25.0 1.44 4242.05 4.000. 22.029; -24.40111 1:44.0011191111115 5ys111m 501115 A 20.25 20.02m 1.05; 0.20 050.22 -10 1025. 40.04111 21.27111 .25 71;104 Convmar 13 22.20 250 00111 214.1 1.50 1777.70 .5 57-; 40.12111 45.20111 .202 so11; emu, SP 20 02 1:24 40111 Loss 4 77 057.02 .5105 40.7401. -22 10111 .253 1011111001111211 Soup 50 1:2 04 220500111 15111 01.07 1720.52 10.040. 72.0500 220 50111 2144 3915111151111111 SP 21.51 217000111 105.5 10.12 1450.00 45.010. 45.0111. 25552111 255 52IS 511111115111 as 22.00 252.00111 50.5 4.55 7700.45 41.005 101255 25.00111 2:14 50111451 a 25.55 2470.00111 01.7 2 55 10110.00 1.145 2.50% 21500111 .21 0051111111 50 21 40 20.04111 L05. 1 51 022 22 41.204. 12 0000 .20 02111 :1) 4550 5111111111- SF 210.00 251500111 1.5.. 120 15 0000.00 24.510. 75.21% 210550111 2250 30Kuhn-zoo comma-r as 20.22 214.40111 Lou 0.22 020.57 3.170; -71 ass 20.00111 .2510Kurt! 515151115 50 20.20 272020111 L045 0.70 10070 45 22.055 .40 5015 215700111 .2420 00K-vuona 5P 20.70 22240111 L155 0 75 021.11 7.5401. -21 2224. 21 00111 21 50KnoMe wc Mannaemem SP 21.00 217730111 L005 220.25 1200.45 42.0000 20 85% -222.20111 242 42«1111101111174 5110111111 SP 24.40 2025511111 Loss 177.00 2040 01 50.0400 104.000. 211700111 2150 02Loan: es 217 20 2707500111 1002 10 7: 20502.00 10.5101 0 02%. 270000111 2710 00London B'Idue So wm SP 27.75 21.000.00111 242.7 20 00 10275.00 50.701: -020\ 2520 20111 .227 00Lorian A 2124 224 70111 11»: 0 10 1225 00 27.0001. -2 274. 27 20111 .20 10Lynx 1101111002 SP 21.40 221700111 00.5 1 02 2500.00 40.0401. 45.155. 45150111 220 70Macro 4 SP [9.25 an☜... 2345 5.70 0225.01 4.2504 10.2715 20.00111 222 10111504111 55> 21.45 221070111 21.1 0 00 007.00 2.0501. 54.149. 211.20111 .2252 00Maegan Nola-n0- !E 22 22 2120711111 724 5 22 1270.21 22.75% 51.50% »245 00111 .2170 10May: 512 25 20 1170700111 41.1 5.20 77121.52 11.11% 45.752. 250000111 -21.574 00MMT Com-111110 cs 25 03 270.50111 17.0 1.72 240720 .4 12. 20.0511 -22.00m .244 00M01105: SP 20.50 20 51111 1111.; 0.01 000.00 49150. 27.7901. {1.00111 -25 10Mom R 24 05 251420111 20.11 2 15 1000.00 20 7210. 07.15001 2114 50111 2174 50M55 Imem l☁m☝ A 21 52 221 30m 1s 2 u 17 802.63 27 290- -40.020.1. 20 70111 .225 311MSW 'IechnoloW 50 1:11 43 25.10111 L050 217 420.14 27100. 42.11001. 2120111 .20 on14405110111 cs 24 00 27500111 L055 20 00 2400.00 40 52$ 45.070. -215.20m .224 401411.001: 6 1:1 21 210020111 Lass 144.25 002.03 42.045 40 5700 .21150111 .222 401151110 cs 21 57 215420111 L050 0422 552 00 40.050. 24.7001. {20.20111 .250 00Norma-la. q m☜ ☜3030... 11711 0.00 104.52 5.400. 57.20%. 22.00111 250 10N50 Rm" swarm cs mos 202050111 0472 20.05 25521.74 10.455 45.110. 205.10111 2222 0001111. m as ☜29 251200111 Loss 1250.70 2270.27 127.0201. 127 00☁ 220002111 2200 0201114111 111qu11111 3,, was 231 .1011 Loss 1.57 427.50 24.525 15 5721 20.0011 25 00Fully 11 £125 222230111 102 0.71 24024 01 005-5 750 400. 224 20111 2242 209.15pm: 5p :1 59 220020m 20.4 320.20 1401 21 12.010. 40 12s 222 10111 1:55 2001.1111 5,: ☜:21, 20010111 117.7 7.22 5000.00 4.2011. 20 140. 40 00111 -227 00Foicymnle! SP [4 so 272.00111 46.0 4.00 3055 57 05.2101. .7 54☁ -220.50m 22 202111111115 (was 51011111.; 55 [0☂15 220 00111 Loss 2 10 1270 02 11 000. 74 204. 20 00111 20 5501011111105 5P [0 29 24020111 was 20 01 220 20 2.2001. -2 07°. -21 50111 -212 7005" sp {1.31 211250111 4.5 2.22 1721.05 41 1001. 42.700. -220 20111 .22410Guam-CA A to 51; 22570111 11.0 1.42 5:12.25 5.0004 25.71% 21 20111 2510R0115 Somme Sp to 25 20450111 24.0 0.55 000.77 -1 0 50%. 455.2251 -25 50111 4:75 00011 cs :2 24 225 10111 275 120 2400 00 -5 2002 124 554. 4140111 214411R'coannlan Swarm SP :3." 2310 20m L055 130 03 4005.71 20 553 0.00% £59 50m -20 001051-11 13114111111111 SP ☜.1, 2202.1om Na 1727 1004.27 21 205. 00 515 244 50m 2101 10RexOnImu A ☜31 20 55111 L051 11 52 1553.50 4 51%. 20.5701. -20 10111 22 55☜M Group 51: 1:11 on 2747 20111 01 5 4 51 22057.14 20 755. .s 7101 2120 40m .241 70Role 0 141111111 5,, is 39 240 00111 21 2 2.14 4017.00 0 754. 42.3401. 21 00111 -23 00anymue Group 5,: ☜45., 242770111 110.7 1 0.70 0520.41 14 403 20.4201 252 50111 2120 005.11111 aroup 52 25 50 27.202.00m 124 1 22 4s 215000.00 4 405. 410.0101. 1:424 00111 .22 015 00535 Ora-40 A c1 50 214 70111 10.2 020 1505.00 44.225 42 50°. -22.10111 .23 311Science System: m :5 55 2142 40111 45 1 4.50 4270 04 .2 504. 55 42-1. «20 00111 270 00sit as :9 93 211250111 Lou 0 50 2010 07 .2254... .25 4014 -t10 20m ua 00Sen Group cs [1 o 09 24.077.00111 71.0 2.45 12501 02 7.24% .0 42°11 2506 00111 .2200 00SemoPow Sp to n 245 00111 Lou 12 20 005 00 .5043 -23 040. 122 50111 .212 7255.1111110011110111-11111151 cs [7 .7 2204 70111 22.4 5 25 22005 04 171010 .42 1001. 242 20111 .2205 00Skllwouv as 5123 2110.517111 12.4 0.50 570.48 0 an, 5714☁ -t4 70111 2147105°V."'°" 51: 2.1 23 215520111 Lou 102.05 0151.00 44.074 :10 5215 -220 20m 250 205W☜? A 21.12 2157411111 L055 0 42 1200 00 40.40% -24 500. -222 00111 .179 30513W!" 5;: 22913 2204 20111 152.5 15 21 12500 00 20.90% 245154. 2102 70111 2201 co5m?☝ SP W131; 222 00111 L05 7 00 1105 25 22 0004, 1a 0215 25 00111 22 20SuperSC P' V☜ 52 :2 40 20720111 1005 20 40 1212 12 111 5215 .20 72°. 220 6001 -225 205111010! cs [11.00 210000111 14.1 0 51 410 10 .15 345 00.000. 422 50111 53.2 .0$110115 11112100154 51: :0 44 25 02111 502 415 270 25 14 470. 15 004. 00 74111 to 5,;51mm '"☜"☁☜☁°"" m to 54 214 50111 20 :1 0 05 020 42 2. 42☁ .27 70x -20 20111 .210 00Tom-Wm ☁35 2044 222 10111 L051. 2 20 200 55 2.2500 .55 50°. 2140111 .24010T .1141 chum" CS :2 07 2141 00111 772 4 02 1520 02 0 011°. .07 255 212 00111 .9207 007 Group Cs 25 20 2105 70111 30 5 410 10425 00 1 000. 4167* 2☁0 50'☜ 21.1 00Tornado 5☝ 21.02 24220111 11711 117: 570 07 -21 1124. 02.3321. .20 20111 .211 20Tnlnl SYNBW ® (I ☁3 E12 50m 252 6 3B 2122 64 32 35% A22 4☁☜: (3 56?☜ ES 60Tonchsmm SP 22.10 220 017111 10.2 100 2022 111 0 074, -24 02% 21.70111 -211:07111:. 0011011446 65 20.74 210 00111 7.1 u 02 500 00 2 005 -4013°1 2020m 7210 40111110 Gvoup CS 22 § 250 00111 45.5 1 24 1740 74 17210. .52 5:1». 20 110111 .15.; 30Wm H to 00 210 40m Lou 1 21 207 12 12 230. 2 73% 2100111 .(2 9.1unnut: CS 2022 25170m L05: 2052 440 00 .17 750. .55 1021. »25 70111 .153 51140- Group CS 25 70 210420111 20.11 2 50 4572 10 .4 204. - 0 7520 .24 50111 .500 solqmup SP 20.30 20.02111 20.5 1 50 550 00 14.254. 7 0451. .20 21m 50 37scan 3? 21.00 200.00111 Lu; 22 57 1004 74 25.000. -53 70% (17.50111 .2113 no011]"! Managua-mm 5P £1 55 E69 70m Lu»: 5 M V276 92 3 75% 27 59°15 El 50m {1516

XKD m (3 2☁ [92Sam L055 312 2156 67 12515 ID 13% K20 70m Non: Main $510771 HausaSCSlndaxselalIOOOonISlhAnnl1989.AnynawanlvanlslolheSlockExchange areallocaledanmdaxo! 1000 basodonma 1550001100 The CSI Indexsnolwerghleo. a changeinlhe sham price 1111110 levgesl campauyhas 1h: 5111110011001 05 a similarchanga larlhe smullasl company.

011090111 00115.. cs: 011111110151 857111005 50 = 5011111115 210111101 12 = ReselleI 4 =11 Agency 0 = 011151

August2000 9 _ System House _

_System House_

9Z5?ICL Invia has announced that it is to pull its Helsinki Stockexchange IPO ☜due to unfavourable market conditions". ICL

still seem intent on their UK float in 04 though. We will waitand see....Good news for ICL came in the shape of theGovernment £350m IT 2000 contract - awarded to Sirius aconsortium consisting of ICL, PwC and Global Crossing. Thecontract is part of the Private Finance initiative and runs fortenyears.The consortium will be responsible for☜owning, operatingand sustaining the Home Office ITinfrastructure and telephonesystems☝.lnTechnology pic is to buy HOLFTechnologies Ltd, trading as

Storm, and Vdata Ltd for £1 65m. HOLF provides data storagesolutions.Morse has acquired French ☜re-business enterprisemanagement company" Masai Systems SA for a max. £2.4m.Shore Capital made a recommended 1-for-2 offer forJellyworks. The merged company will be valued at more than£260m, with Jellyworks owning a 25% stake. Shore, currently

unlisted. will be joining AIM.

Eidos is ☜considering an informal £700m all-share offer fromlnfogrames Entertainment, the French Software Group".

lnternetaction.com suspended trading in their shares on AIM0'14☜ July as ☜following publication of the Company's prospectusdated 16th June 00, they have become aware of informationwhich may require the publication of a supplementary

prospectus".

Pharmaceutical software supplier Oxford Molecular issued apre~AGM statement reporting ☜disappointing☝ software sales.Their solutions business which was suffering ☜from theuncertainty of ownership" has been sold to MillenniumPharmaceuticals for £33.5m cash. Meanwhile the future ofOM☂s other division, Software Solutions, remains in the balance.

Chairman Douglas Brown commented that ☜discussions on thefuture of the Software Solutions Division are ongoing and theboard hopes to be in a position to make a furtherannouncementin the near future". Chief exec. DrTony Marchington has servednotice (he☂s on a two year agreement).Comino, a provider of software solutions to local government,has acquired 82% of Rebus LG from the Rebus Group for aninitial cash payment of £1 .77m with a further £0.9m cash payabledependent upon the collection of outstanding debts. Thecompany has also changed its name to Saffron ComputerServices. Comino also announced a contract with Ford of

Britain to supply its pensions administration software.Deloitte Bl Touche are to float CSL (its outsourcing division)

with an estimated value of £200m.RDL (AIM listed IT recruitment agency) has acquired a 74%

interest in the Swiss IT placement business, FIDL Schwelz AG.The consideration is approximately £250K payable by the issueof 105.709 new shares.Camelot - the Apple dealer - has gone into liquidation after aproposed rescue plan was thrown out by credit insurers. Formed

in 1986, Camelot faced debts of c£1.5m. About 30jobs will be

lost.US♥based Commerceouest has acquired CambridgeInformation Technology Ltd (CITL), a 50-strong e-Dusinessand IT consultancy, for an undisclosed amount.Hemscott.net, the supplier of online financial information, hascompleted its reverse takeover of the shell company Bridgendand will be joining AIM. Under the deal Bridgend will issueshares to the value of approx. £15m, and a further £16.2m willbe raised through aplacing and 1-for-1 open offer. Funds raisedwill be used to develop new technology platforms and to moveinto new product areas. On completion, the company will changeits name to Hemscottnet.Kewill has sold its loss-making Logistics division (includesKewili☂s US and UK warehouse management systemsbusinesses) to Swiss supply chain solutions company Swisslogfor $25m (£16.7m) cash. The disposal should yield Kewill a£1.5m profit. This is all part of Kewill☂s ☁focus on the knitting☂

10

Mergers and acquisitions - continued

strategy and seems a good idea.lnterX has confirmed the details of the disposal of Ideal

Hardware (first mooted back in Nov. 1999) to BellMicroproducts Inc. for £13.18m cash on completion and up toa further £4.98m deferred consideration which will be payablein cash on 31 March 2001. Disposal of Ideal, its hardware

distribution unit, leaves lnterX free to focus on ☜the continuing

development of its internet businesses". lnterX also stated thatit will be reducing its stake in Diligenti (an intermediary for thelife sciences industry) to 15% from the 37.5% stake acquired inJul. 00, once Diligenti has made a number of acquisitions.London Bridge Software has announced the acquisition of a

10% stake in Aspen Grove Inc., a private US company, andthe exclusive rights to the Aspen Grove Workflow product inthe area of default management and retail financial markets.The consideration is an initial payment of $1m (satisfied with

$500K cash and 63K shares), with a further $4m payable over

the next 2.5 years, dependent on performance.IT staff agency Harvey Nash , has announced the acquisitionof the contracts and assets of Procomp N.V, a Belgium basedIT services company, for initial cash consideration of 98.5m

Belgium Francs (£1.5m) with up to a further maximum 11.5mBelgium Francs to be paid on 30th Sep. 00 based on meetingcertain specific performance targets.Ultrasis has concluded its acquisition of CALM CorporationUK (healthcare diagnostic software) for £4.1 m, satisfied by theissue of 15m new shares.I S Solutions has announced a £100K investment in OpenMethods (who ☜develop and deploy new methodologies forinternet based IT projects☝) in return for a 26% stake.LetsBuylt.com☁s IPO is back on again at an offer price of 3.5Euros - much reduced from the original 6-7 Euros range -

capitalising the company at approx. Eur0320m. Trading onNeuer Markt began on 21 st July with all net proceeds from theIPO going towards ☜consolidation and expansion" in Europeaccording to CEO Martin Coles.

Freecom.net is changing its name to Systems Union Group(acquired in May).CMG has acquired Computer Answers International, a

developer and supplier of Customer Care and Billing solutionsfor the telecommunications sector, for £60m.

Total Systems announced a deal to supply its insurance systemproduct to Dixons. No financial details were given.

Knowledge Management Software has acquired the

eCommerce division of Mari Group for approx. £1.86m,comprising 1.1m shares at 21.635 per share and £55K cash.Syan, the privately owned outsourcing company, has acquiredFareham-based Protocol Solutions a services and solutionsprovider for desktop, NT and UNIX platforms. Protocol adds 80people to Syan's 100, and combined the group expect to

generate c£25m revenues in 2001.Superscape has announced that it has agreed to acquire RTZVirtual Worlds (Barcelona-based providerof 30 material usingSuperscape☂s tools) for £600K. £305K is deferred and payabledependent upon performance for the two financial years ending

31 Dec 01.

Logica is to acquire Australia's MITS, the ☜utilities focused IT

services business unit☝ of Utility Services Corporation (subject

to certain conditions being met) for approx. £38.9m cash.

SDL, the ☜globalisation products and solutions company☁, has

acquired Translation Craft, a Dublin-based developmentcompany, As part of the purchase, SDL has acquired intellectualproperty rights to the entire product range. No financial detailswere given.Sema☂s merger with American company LHS was given thethumbs up by LHS shareholders at the AGM this month.Lorien, the IT staff agency, released a statement saying theyhad ☜ received an approach that may ormay not lead to an afterbeing made for the Company at or around 150p. Shareholdersshould note that this approach is of a preliminary nature".

August2000

Recent lPOs

barre

Corvus Capital

Bidtimes

New Economy hvestor

e♥cormerce Solutions

Dotcom

| Dotcom El

53.3 | AIM

Ma rket

Nhrket Pomte Price and Jul Henium/

Cap. 00 D'scount

Aw

SCS

SOS

Robert Walters

Business Systerrs Group

IT Staff Agency

e-business Solutions Hovider

A MAN

cs

25p £40m 04-Jul-00 76p 202%

£140.0m 06-Jul♥00 196p170p 15%

Database Analysis Softw are

Games DeveloperExpire hteractive

hTechnolcgy (reverse U0)

SCS or hdex

Dolcom hdex CassSCS SF

Activity

TeleWark Nbssaglng a. Workforce Mgm 5/w

Corrpass Soltw are Retail Industry Softw are | 808 SPiSoft Healthcare Systerrs SCS MAIN 110p £123r0m 19-Jul-00 162p 47%

D'mension Data Networking 8. Integration Services SCS CS MAIN 520p £588.0m 19~Jul-00 11%

MAN 200:: 27m$05

[ml-sl-5Data Management cs AIM n/a £165.0m 25-Jul♥00 233p n/a

Oarity Comnerce Solutions EPOS Solutions CS AIM 125p £11.9m 25-Jul-00 135p 8%Nbbile Data Solutions 503 115p £11r9m 27-Jul-00 305p 165%

Forthcoming IPOsIssue Market

ice1459 | £262.0m

oa-A ug♥OO

Axmmb hlernel I'lvestrrenl Detcum | El Inc |

04-Aug-00 Market cap E213!☜

Onhnz Financial hlurrrallon Dotcom | cm 29 15-Aug-00 Reversed lnlo Brldgend Group. To dellsl Horn Mam marks! & lOIn AM

BZB e♥cnn'rrerce

Dotcom | sasscsTicketing s. NErrbershlp Soltw are

line

the

Market cap £214.8mMarket cap c£1am IFO expected md August

94994 aspectsln be pthgthVlslh'fis. we should enjoy a-much better year

Mlsys plc PET and EPS RecordRelative to 1991

PET *Eps

☁. mm☝ mm mopmymm 3|☜ my

mono...

mmm

mWm

no can

E2000m20p

Eooom '

1991 1592 1993 1594 I995 1996M☁M;☜☜☜««M "

Augusfl☂ooo

I597 1958 1399

lee "own adverselyV ☂by☁ 'e ta £88m.

Th YQKandrdawn☝ hurtout; much? of. the year☜.g

#538634; et☁ i'gm. "ill/bile the;

Misys - 2000 Revenue Profile

Pmlmlomlsuntan

Inlll-l Sonwlr-Lle-ncu20x

RocunlngLinne-n-vonuu

2n;

> . if product brclers.etlmgre☁d'an encouraging performance in what has

We ._are_ encatitag'ed bythe strength 011and Securitiespivisian will continue in the

.. di☁a, 33mg! Siva return to the Group's long- term

veisencerr☁is☂ ♥ with Heallhcare in particulatl

☁s☂een'fromlhese results. the base ln3urance;(thalth where 'Mlsys started in the mid 19805):best performer :(gmwthwise). But it tacesi

> _ > w web-based competitors 0n the other handlMlsys seem to have squared up to these challengeslrather than walling for the newcomers to eat all their☁lunch. The core of Misys. however, is still Banking &}Securities - representing two thirds of the pro ts. 80*it☂s the news that "qualified prospects" are higher than;last year which gives greatest cause for cautious}ontlmlsm for the future. Misys shares ended the monlhjup 11°/ at 620p. : Systeni☂ House ;

_System House_

Richard Holway Presentation a sell out...againThe Richard Holway Presentation forthe CSSA

I (now indelibly dubbed the Flichard andAnthony

Show) on 13th July 00 was yet again a sell out.Amazing as we now have the biggest venue in

C s s A London (the Grosvenor House) and over 400CEOs attended. But it wasn't just the numbersth was the ☜quality'that really matters. For CEOs representing around £20 billionof UK SCS revenues to give up an evening is quite humbling.But it wasn☁t just the ☜big boys" that came. New e-economy

leaders, key investors, commentators, financial gurus etc. also

took the trouble to come. We wish we had 1% of the value of

deals known to have been done at previous evenings!Your comments on the event and yourviews of our research ingeneral, however, have lifted us in a time when we have faced

the odd difficultiesThe theme of your comments, over and over

again, is that you often disagree with us but that you seem torespect our independence and our ability to "make you think".

We thank you all foryour comments. Sorry we can☂t print them

all.We print a selection below, representing the financial sector,the media, the new economy as well as the industry itself:

"Accurate, sensible analysis from a viewpoint of reality☝. Mike

' Lynch - CEO Autonomy.☜Ho/way probably creates more enemies forhimselfby running

against the herd - like that glorious attack on the Dot Combusiness models - and by insistently raising the samefundamental questions yearin, year out...Even when you thinkhe☂s wrong, he's making you think for yoursel ". DouglasHayward - Editor Computing

"Few research organisations have the ability to delve into whatis really happening out there as thoroughly as Holway. Evenfewer individuals have the ability to analyse, predict andcommunicate on industry trends as accurately as Richard They

have a habit of being right when it matters". Peter Rowell -CEO Regent Associates."Through reputation and trust, Hc/way manages to getbehindthe scenes to discover how the industry is real/yperforming incontrast to the public hyperbole, or even denial, oftenencountered". Geoff Unwin - CEO Cap Gemini Ernst &Young.

"Holway is to the lTindustry what Jeremy Paxman is to currentaffairs - focused, insightful and not afraid to tread on toes☁.

Mark Hunter - CEO Axon Group plc

"Always/Neg RI C HARD - HOLWAYainteresting. A L IM IT EDbalanced andwell informed view even when critical ofa company. Notprone

to hyperbole positive views. A professionals professional at alllevels". Michael Jackson - Chairman Sage plc, ChairmanElderstreet Investments...and more."The leaders ofthe software andservices industry trust Richard

and hispeople which means that they do not holdback in what

they say to him. This means his research is extremely well

informed and has enabled him to assume his unique position

of a friend- buta very challenging friend - ofthe whole industry☂- John Leightield - Chairman RM plc, Synstar plc and others.☜Few people have studied the UK 808 industry more closely

or for longer than Richard Holway Agree or disagree with his

analysis, it is more often than not thought provoking". Nigel

Hartnell - President CSSA and director ICL plc.☜Holway☂s insight into the industry is remarkably candid andaccurate - however unpleasant or unwelcome his predictions

maybe - ignore him atyourperi/!"- Geoft Squire -Vice Chairman

Veritas Software Corp.

"Richard occupies a unique position in the industry and hi

team☂s research provides a level of insight that is rarely foundelsewhere. Whilst i don☂t always agree with his views andforecasts, I always look forward to watching the industry☁s cagesbeing rattledby him" -Tarquin Henderson - Partner- FinancialDyna mi cs.

☜In an industry which has a massive tendency to generate hype,

Holway provides a useful antidote☝. - Carl Parker - SchroderVentures.

☜Holway is probably the best source of factual, up-to-dateinfon'nation about quoted and unquoted companies in the ITsector in Europe..even if his analysis is sometimes morejournalistic than unbiased!"- Hilary Cropper - Exec. Chairman

Fl Group.

"Richard and his team produce perceptive research on thesoftware industry, demonstrating a grasp of the detail as wellas understanding the important trends...they are also fun to

work with!"- Nikkl Beckett - CEO NSB Retail .Summary of the 2000 Holway Report on www.holway.com

i' ♥ ♥ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ __ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ♥ _ _ - _ _ _ ☁ _ . _♥ _☁♥☁1

ORDER FORMDelivery address:

C] Master copy @ £17502000 Holway Report (now available)

[:| Master copy @ £2,950System House

8th edition Software and Com utln Services lndust[ ler (Paper) copy at £6,950

Cheque payable to Richard Holway Ltd.

Address. Richard Holway Ltd, PO Box 183,

Farnham Surre GU10 WC.

2000 IT Staff Agency Report (2nd edition to be published in Sept. 00)

CD-ROM Package £5900 + VAT E] Additional copies @E1050

I] One year's subscription 6 £385 9.313% - copy subscriptlan"@ £790 pan Site licence e £1200 p.11. +VATD Intranet version £1800 pa. + VAT

in Euro e Re onCD-ROM Package at £8,000 + VAT [:[Addltional copies @ £1,050 each

Cheque enclosed

'3 Please invoice my company

.I

|l||IIIIIIIIIII

.ID_at_e: ______._ __.__System House@ is published monthly by Richard Holway Limited, PO Box 183, Famham, Surrey, GU10 IVG.TeIephon901252 740900; Fax: 01252 740919;E-mail Inlemetzmail holwaycom which also publishes the annual 'Holway Report" and the ☜Software and Computing Services Industry in Europe Report☝.Richard Holway has been a director of several computing services companies and might hold stock in companies featured.O 2000 Richard Holway Limited. The inlormation contained in this publication may not be reproduced without the written permission ol the publishers. Whilst every carehas been taken to ensure the accuracy of the inlormation contained in this document, the publishers cannot be held responsible lor any errors or any consequencesthereol. Subscribers are advised to rake independent advice before taking any action. System House® is a registered trademark ol Richard Holway Limited.

12

August2000