H1 2019 trading update

Eckoh (AIM: ECK), the global provider of secure payment products and customer contact solutions, today issues a trading update for the six months ended 30 September 2018.

The Board is pleased to announce that trading in the period was in line with market expectations and the Group continues to see excellent momentum in US Secure Payments, including the Company's largest ever secure payments contract win. As previously announced, this two-year contract, to provide secure payment solutions to one of the largest corporations in the United States, was worth $7.4m. Consequently, Eckoh has already exceeded in H1 2019 the total contract value ("TCV") of $9.3m for US Secure Payments it achieved in FY 2018 as a whole. Predicting the precise timing of when these large enterprise contracts will be signed remains challenging, but the Board is pleased with the level of TCV achieved in the first half.

Eckoh provided early visibility as to the impact IFRS 15 would have on the business in the short term and, as expected, it is the Group's US business that has been most affected by this change in accounting policy. All of the US payments contracts the Group has won in H1 2019 have been for our lead tokenisation solution. In accordance with IFRS 15, revenue from these new contracts will be spread evenly over future periods, underpinning the Group's quality of earnings and increasing revenue visibility going forward.

In the UK, we have seen excellent progress in contract wins after a period of transition in the prior year. The renewed momentum in our restructured UK sales function and a focus on larger strategic accounts are bearing fruit, returning us to the expected levels of new business. Indeed, as in the US, the TCV of new contracts won in H1 2019 has exceeded the total won in FY 2018, clearly illustrating the positive impact the changes have delivered. We have also, as expected, seen stronger performance from key channel partners such as BT and Capita. The contract win with Capita previously announced, was Eckoh's fifth significant contract won through the channel since the partnership was created in 2013, worth a minimum of £1.4m over a three-and-a-half-year period.

The Group's financial position remains robust with net cash of £3.4m at 30 September 2018 (H1 2018: net cash of £1.7m).

The Group will report its results for the six months ended 30 September 2018 on Tuesday, 20 November 2018.

For more information, please contact:

Eckoh PLC
Nik Philpot, Chief Executive Officer
Chrissie Herbert, Chief Financial Officer
Tel: +44 (0) 1442 458 300
www.eckoh.com