11 July 2014

ClearStar, Inc.

Admission to AIM and First Day of Dealings

http://www.moneyam.com/action/news/showArticle?id=4847293


About ClearStar

ClearStar, Inc. is an advocate for applicants and a leading and trusted provider of background check technology, strategic services and decision-making information to employers and background screening companies.

ClearStar’s purpose is to help people affirm the truth about themselves and to know the truth about others. When reputations of people and businesses are at stake, a mission to provide the systems, tools, processes and services that help convey the truth about a person to people who have permission to see it is a significant undertaking. This, more than profit, drives how ClearStar behaves.

You’ll experience the influence of our passion and commitment for the applicant across our system and in how we conduct business. “Doing the right thing” is a mantra at ClearStar. Hearing it constantly reminds us that not only applicants or our customers, but also our people, rely on us to make good on our commitment and our passion to provide a safer world for them and their families.

During the past year, ClearStar played a role in providing consumer focused background screening services to more than 40,000 companies. On hundreds of thousands of occasions, ClearStar was able to help ensure that businesses got the information they needed to make safe hiring decisions because data about applicants was delivered accurately, timely and cost effectively. As ClearStar enters its 19th year of progressive growth, the number of decisions impacted is expected to grow exponentially.

ClearStar’s HR-XML Consortium certified technology platform and innovative tools like Gateway Web Services, Web Application Programming Interface (Web API) and shared source code differentiate ClearStar from its competitors in the crowded background check industry.

ClearStar’s mission calls it to grow, which is reflected in its achievement of Inc. 5000 honoree status six years in a row. As a founding member of the National Association of Professional Background Screeners (NAPBS), ClearStar continues to serve the human capital management profession with innovative technology solutions across many industries and businesses from its corporate offices near Atlanta, Georgia, just as it has since 1995.

http://clearstar.net/

Interim Results for Six Months Ended 30 June 2014

RNS


RNS Number : 0178R

ClearStar,Inc.

08 September 2014




8 September 2014

ClearStar, Inc.

("ClearStar" or the "Company")

Interim Results for Six Months Ended 30 June 2014

ClearStar (AIM: CLST), a leading technology and service provider to the background check industry, is pleased to announce its unaudited results for the six months ended 30 June 2014.



Financial Highlights:

· Revenues increased by 43% to $5.24 million (H1 2013: $3.66 million)

• Channel Partners and Consumer Reporting Agencies ("CRAs") sales increased to $3.19 million (H1 2013: $2.75 million), a year-on-year increase of 16%

• Medical Information Services sales increased to $1.86 million (H1 2013: $0.77 million), a year-on-year increase of 141%

• Direct Services sales increased to $150,000 (H1 2013: $108,000), a year-on-year increase of 39%

· Gross profit increased by 32% to $3.05 million (H1 2013: $2.31 million)

· Net cash from operating activities increased 21-fold to $1.30 million (H1 2013: $0.06million)

· Adjusted EBITDA increased to $0.66 million, or 12.6% of sales, compared with $0.43 million, or 11.8% of sales, for the same period of the previous year

· Adjusted pre-tax profit* increased to $0.49 million, or 9.4% of sales (H1 2013: $0.31 million or 8.4% of sales)

· Cash and cash equivalents at 30 June 2014 were $0.52 million (31 December 2013: $0.29 million; 30 June 2013: $0.09 million)



* Adjusted pre-tax profit means net of one-time IPO related cost of $0.53 million, which is included in the other nonrecurring general and administrative line of the financial statements



Operational Highlights:

· Increased activity in all segments with greater volume of business being generated from some of the Company's largest customers

· Processed approximately 3.2 million screening services on over 1 million people that were provided to over 21,000 end users

· Medical Information Services division launched new product offerings, such as clinical testing, and gained many new clients

· Commenced building the Direct Sales Division, including hiring and training five sales people

· Opened a new office in London, U.K., and began establishing an International Business segment



Post-period end developments:

· Raised gross proceeds of approximately $15 million through an initial public offering ("IPO") on AIM in July 2014

· Strong cash balance of approximately $12 million to fund future growth

· Numerous sales contract won, including the largest direct sales contract to date



Robert Vale, CEO of ClearStar, commented: "We are delighted with our performance in the first half of 2014. We achieved strong organic revenue growth and opened a London office to focus on our international expansion. Looking ahead, we have entered the second half of the year with good visibility of revenues as the growth momentum seen in the first half of the year continues. Our focus is on maintaining our strong organic growth in all divisions and building our brand globally. As a result, the Board feels confident of delivering significant growth across all divisions for full year 2014

Contract win

RNS


RNS Number : 1437X

ClearStar,Inc.

17 November 2014






17 November 2014



ClearStar, Inc.

("ClearStar" or the "Company")



Contract win



Expansion of UK infrastructure



ClearStar (AIM: CLST), the technology and service provider to the background check industry, is pleased to announce that it has signed an agreement with a world-renowned, leading global risk management consultancy headquartered in the UK (the "Customer") for the development and hosting of a white-labelled, customised solution.



Under the terms of the agreement,ClearStar will provide a customised version of its Applicant Portal for conducting background checks, which will be used by the Customer's global client base. ClearStar will also host the Applicant Portal for a period of at least five years. Whilst the base revenues to ClearStar over the five year contract are not material, there is potential for this to increase subject to volumes. Furthermore, this contract represents the Company's first contract to date in the UK.



The Applicant Portal was developed in response to increased concerns within the human resources industry regarding identity theft and age discrimination lawsuits. It allows employers to perform comprehensive background checks, while assisting them in being compliant by limiting their collection of applicants' personally identifiable information. The technology is also proven to deliver improved operating efficiencies and reduced costs.



Additionally, this agreement follows the expansion of ClearStar's international infrastructure with the Company signing an agreement with SunGard, a leading technology services provider, for Enterprise Cloud Services and Managed Hosting Services at their data centres at the outskirts of London, UK. The data centres, which are equipped for high availability and rapid disaster recovery with the latest Dell hardware, will enhance ClearStar's service offering and increase its hosting capacity for the Company's growing international customer base.



Robert J. Vale, Chief Executive Officer of ClearStar, said: "We are delighted to have been selected by this major international company to create and host a solution for utilisation by their blue chip client base. It is an affirmation of the strength of our technology offering and provides validation of our global strategy. We look forward to working with this customer to enhance their background screening capabilities and to use this as a spring board for further customer wins in the United Kingdom."

One of shares 15 stock selections for 2015.

According to numbers crunched by analysts Cenkos Securities, Clearstar revenues will go from $8 million in 2013 to $10.1 this year, and expect the pace to accelerate into 2015 and beyond. Estimates for 2016 anticipate $4.4 million pre tax profit on $20.7 million revenue, implying 5.3p of earnings per share, for a price to earnings (PE) multiple of 10.7. Yet strip out expected net cash of $15.22 million, 12 months from now, the forward ex-cash PE would be slashed to about seven. Or put it another way, an ex cash PE of 12 a year from now would mean the shares pushing 95p or more.

Trading Update
RNS
RNS Number : 6929C
ClearStar,Inc.
21 January 2015

21 January 2015



ClearStar, Inc.

("ClearStar" or the "Company")



Trading Update



ClearStar, Inc. (AIM: CLST), the technology and service provider to the background check industry, is pleased to provide a trading update for the 12 months ended 31 December 2014, ahead of its Preliminary Results to be announced in March 2015.



Business Performance



This was a transformational year for ClearStar with increased business across all three of its divisions from some of the Company's largest existing customers as well as new customers, and new product offerings. In 2014, the Company processed approximately 6.5 million screening services on over 2 million people that were provided to over 27,000 end users. The Medical Information Services ("MIS") division launched a new release of its paperless chain of custody software (WebCCF) that not only makes it simpler to embed into other software offerings, but provides ClearStar customers with a management suite to better service their own clients. MIS was one of the fastest growing segments for the Company and is expected to be a key growth area in 2015. During the year, the Company also updated its background check portal for direct clients to provide increased functionality and accessibility for mobile devices. In addition, the Company commenced building its Direct Sales division, including hiring and training a team of ten salespeople. This has resulted in ClearStar receiving greater interest from employers in its products and offerings, which is expected to translate into increased direct sales revenues in 2015.



As a result of the above, the Company expects to report revenue for the full year 2014 8% ahead of market expectations at approximately $10.9 million, representing a 37% increase over the previous year. Additionally, the Company continues to achieve strong gross margins and anticipates exceeding gross profit market expectations.



Acceleration of Investment Programme



The Company successfully completed its listing on AIM in July 2014 and raised approximately $15 million in gross proceeds. This was to enable the Company to expand its operations in the US, as well as internationally, through the setup of a permanent data centre in the UK. As expected, the IPO raised the Company's profile and enhanced the Company's credibility within its marketplace, thereby resulting in heightened demand for its product offerings domestically and internationally. Due to this heightened demand, the Board has been able to accelerate its growth plan and bring forward investment in many key areas that were originally anticipated for 2015 into H2 2014.



These investments include:

(a) Entry into the UK screening market with the signing of the Company's first agreement with a world-renowned, leading global risk management consultancy for the development and hosting of a white-labelled, customized solution. In order to maximise this opportunity, the Company immediately began technology enhancements to its Aurora platform to support international data elements and user interface globalization, along with establishing a data centre presence to meet UK and EU security and privacy requirements. It also hired experienced programmers specifically to manage this and future opportunities.



(b) In December 2014, ClearStar paid $3.2 million out of a total consideration of $4.0 million to acquire a Florida-based background screening company. This acquisition of SingleSource Services Corporation is designed to accelerate the Company's stated strategy to increase its market presence in direct sales to end users. The Company incurred additional one-off adviser costs in relation to the acquisition.



(c) Strengthening and growing the Company's service team to capitalize on attractive market opportunities within the growing U.S. screening market.



As a result of pursuing these opportunities and making the above investments, some of which had been expected to be incurred in 2015, the Company's operational expenditure has been higher in Q4 2014 than previously forecast, with the benefit of these actions expected to have a positive impact on the performance of the Company from the second half of 2015 and beyond.



Outlook



As a consequence of the development of new product offerings in the UK, the Company has received indications of interest from a number of potential new clients and existing customers seeking to buy more services from ClearStar. There are also further opportunities derived from the SingleSource acquisition in cross-selling products and entering new market channels. The Board is optimistic about the future and believes the investment in the full year to 31 December 2014 will provide the platform for growth in providing access to new markets, and additional products and services to both new and existing customers internationally.



Robert Vale, CEO of ClearStar, commented:"We are delighted with the progress the Company has made this year, with top line growth ahead of market expectations in all three divisions for 2014. We have delivered on our stated growth strategy for expanding our brand globally, particularly with our successful IPO and the increase in our UK market presence. Our focus is on maintaining our strong organic growth in all divisions, continuing to scale our established technology platform and expanding our UK business. As a result, we have a high level of confidence for delivering strong future growth for years to come."

Significant drug screening contract win
RNS
RNS Number : 6975D
ClearStar,Inc.
02 February 2015

2 February 2015



ClearStar, Inc.

("ClearStar" or the "Company")



ClearStar wins largest Medical Information Services contract to date

Significant contract for drug screening services awarded by existing background check client



ClearStar, Inc. (AIM: CLST), the technology and service provider to the background check industry, is pleased to announce that it has been awarded a significant drug screening services contract, which is expected to be worth $1.3m-$1.5m annually, by a US-based Consumer Reporting Agency (the "Customer") that provides services to approximately 2,000 employers across the United States in multiple industries. This represents ClearStar's largest single contract to date for its Medical Information Services ("MIS") division.



The Company will provide its MIS automated web-based drug testing and results review service, which will be white labelled by the Customer to its end-user employers. This service will be delivered via the Company's WebCCF technology, an online drug and alcohol testing laboratory registration and electronic custody and control form, which integrates with the Company's technology platform. MIS provides an applicant with a unique access key to use online where they enter their details, which are used to locate the most convenient location where samples can be taken, and book an appointment through the online portal. A notification is then automatically sent to the sample collection site and applicant. The Company has arrangements with seven certified laboratories, including two of the largest in the US, and over 10,000 collection sites. Test results are sent to the Company's MIS team for review before being submitted to the employer.



The Customer, which has been a client of the Company for background check services for over ten years, is transferring its drug screening requirements to ClearStar from its existing supplier, a major US drug screening laboratory. The revenue generation will ramp over an initial period of approximately four months whilst the technology implementation is completed and the Customer retrains some of its end-user employers on the new system.



Robert Vale, CEO of ClearStar, commented:"We're delighted to have been awarded this contract, which is our largest Medical Information Services agreement to date. It represents the strength of our offer in terms of our technology, with its more advanced customisation and white label capabilities; our greater geographic footprint of collection sites; and our superior customer service, which the Customer has experienced during our relationship of over 10 years for the provision of background check services.



"As a result, we are confident of delivering our strategy of cross-selling MIS services to existing background check customers, as well as those currently using other suppliers, and furthering our mission to provide technology that simplifies the management of complex chain of custody needs and ensures third party oversight and compliance for all requirements. We look forward to strengthening our relationship with this Customer and continuing to rapidly expand our MIS business."

Shares -
On a 2015 price to earnings multiple of 9.9, the
shares remain a bargain and we remain positive
on this little-known gem.

Preliminary Results
RNS
RNS Number : 4700H
ClearStar,Inc.
16 March 2015

16 March 2015



ClearStar, Inc.

("ClearStar" or the "Company")



Preliminary Results

ClearStar (AIM: CLST), a leading technology and service provider to the background check industry, is pleased to announce its unaudited results for the twelve months ended 31 December 2014.



Financial Highlights

· Revenues increased by 37% to $10.92 million (FY 2013: $7.97 million)

· Gross profit increased by 29% to $6.33 million (FY 2013: $4.90 million)

· Adjusted pre-tax loss* was $71,000 (FY 2013: pre-tax profit of $710,000)

· Cash and cash equivalents at 31 December 2014 amounted to $6.48 million (30 June 2014: $0.52 million; 31 December 2013: $0.29 million)

* Adjustments mean net of one-time IPO and SingleSource Services acquisition related costs of $812,000, investments brought forward for the UK business launch of $397,000, recruiting fees of key new hires of $247,000, and income tax adjustments of $122,000.



Operational Highlights

· Raised gross proceeds of approximately $15 million through an initial public offering ("IPO") on AIM in July 2014 enabling an acceleration of strategy

· Transformational year with increased activity across all business segments, including:

o New client acquisitions in existing markets

o Larger sales team able to approach potential clients directly

o Enhanced product offering improving user interface

· Completed the acquisition of SingleSource Services Corporation ("SingleSource") thereby bolstering the Company's Direct Services division, which now serves approximately 2,600 active clients compared with approximately 500 prior to acquisition

· Processed approximately 6.5 million (FY 2013: 5.6 million) screening services on over 2 million people (FY 2013: 1.7 million) that were provided to over 27,000 (FY 2013: 20,000) end users

· Awarded contract in UK in November 2014 by a world-renowned, leading global risk management consultancy for the development and hosting of a white-labelled, customised solution



Post Period-End Highlights

· Largest Medical Informational Services ("MIS") contract win to date, expected revenues of $1.3-$1.5 million annually

· Numerous contracts won in Direct Services

· Smooth integration process of SingleSource acquisition



Robert Vale, CEO of ClearStar, commented: "As a result of the IPO, 2014 was a transformational year, as it enabled us to accelerate and deliver on our growth strategy, resulting in top-line growth ahead of market expectations.



"Looking ahead, we have maintained the momentum of the second half of 2014 into the new year. Our Medical Information Services division is showing substantial growth, as is our Direct Services division. We continue to experience increasing demand for our screening services that we provide to our Channel Partners and Consumer Reporting Agencies, and expect an initial contribution from our recently set up Global division. We continue to innovate and scale our technology platform and invest in sales and marketing. As a result, the Board has a high level of confidence for delivering strong growth in 2015 and beyond."

ClearStar expedites Drug Screening Process
RNS
RNS Number : 5502J
ClearStar,Inc.
08 April 2015

8 April 2015



ClearStar, Inc.

("ClearStar" or the "Company")



ClearStar expedites Drug Screening Process through integration with Mobile Wallets



New integration with Apple's iPhone Passbook and Google Wallet, a first in the industry, provides significant ease-of-use benefits and enhanced convenience to applicant and efficiency gains for employer



ClearStar (AIM: CLST), a technology and service provider to the background check industry, is pleased to announce the integration of its drug screening services offered by its Medical Information Services ("MIS") division with the Apple Passbook for iPhone, Google Wallet and some additional third-party mobile wallet providers, thereby significantly streamlining the process for the applicant and providing efficiency gains for the employer. This represents the first such integration in the drug screening industry.



The Company's MIS division provides an automated web-based drug and alcohol testing and results review service primarily for employers but also direct to employees. ClearStar has now integrated its online drug and alcohol testing laboratory registration and electronic custody and control form (WebCCF) technology with mobile wallets to enable a completely paperless drug screening process. The benefits for the applicant include the drug test form being deposited in the virtual wallet on the applicant's phone - in the same way as a boarding pass, event ticket or coupon - and displays the address, phone number and hours of operation of the collection site (where the sample will be taken to be tested). In addition, it automatically integrates with the phone's features, such as calendar and location services for map or route planner to generate automatic reminders and the auto-loading of the test form on the lock screen as the applicant nears the collection site.



This product enhancement also brings significant efficiency gains to the employer during the hiring process. The Company believes that through the new features, the number of missed appointments will be reduced and the applicant is less likely to forget to bring the form to the collection site, which would otherwise result in the test being rearranged or the administrator being required to search for the applicant's registration. The speed of the process at the collection site is increased through the applicant's registration number being scanned or typed directly from the phone rather than being read off a piece of paper. This also reduces the risk of error through the manual input of data.



Todd Shoulberg, Vice President of Medical Information Services at ClearStar, said: "The challenge was to develop an integrated offer to increase the efficiency of the hiring process for both the applicant and the employer. We feel, with features such as auto-loading and calendar and location services, we have taken great strides in making the whole process as smooth as possible for all concerned. Everything they need is right there onscreen the second the applicant pulls into the parking lot."



"At ClearStar, we believe that treating the applicant with care and respect is the best way to treat our customers with care and respect," added Robert J. Vale, Jr., Chief Executive Officer. "We are proud to be the first drug screening provider to have introduced this offering to the market - much in the same way that we pioneered the automation of medical screening with our WebCCF technology. This further demonstrates ClearStar's technical strength as well as our expertise in understanding the needs of applicants and employers."

Trading Statement
RNS
RNS Number : 9247T
ClearStar,Inc.
23 July 2015

23 July 2015



ClearStar, Inc.

("ClearStar" or the "Company")



Trading Update



ClearStar, Inc. (AIM: CLST), the technology and service provider to the background check industry, is pleased to provide an update on trading for the six months ended 30 June 2015, ahead of announcing its interim results in September 2015.



Business Performance

As stated in the FY 2014 results announcement on 16 March 2015, ClearStar has maintained the momentum of the second half of 2014 into 2015. In H1 2015, the Medical Information Services ("MIS") and Direct Services divisions achieved substantial growth, and the Company received increased demand for screening services provided to its Channel Partners and Consumer Reporting Agencies. The Company is also pleased to report that the integration of the SingleSource acquisition has resulted in a significant increase in direct sales customers with an approximate revenue increase of $1.3m. Consequently, the Company expects revenue for the first half of 2015 to be approximately $7.5m, representing a 43% increase over the equivalent period in 2014. Additionally during H1 2015, ClearStar experienced gross margin improvement primarily due to economies of scale along with a favourable shift in the product mix with an increased contribution of revenues from higher margin direct sales. The Company therefore anticipates the gross margin percentage for H1 2015 being higher by more than 200 basis points compared with the same period of the previous year, and expects this trend to continue due to both the revenue mix and purchasing economies



The increase in revenue was due to strong sales growth across all three of the Company's divisions. In the first six months of 2015, ClearStar processed approximately 3.6 million screening services on over 1.1 million people that were provided to over 23,000 end users. The MIS division was awarded its largest single contract to date in February, which is expected to be worth $1.3m-$1.5m annually, which is due to start generating revenue in Q3 2015, which is a slight delay from that originally anticipated. This service will be delivered via the Company's paperless chain of custody software (WebCCF). In the newly-formed Direct Services division, the integration of SingleSource expanded ClearStar's number of direct sales customers to over 2,000. Excluding the contribution from SingleSource, direct sales revenue grew from approximately $150,000 in H1 2014 to $440,000 in H1 2015, an increase of approximately 190% year-on-year. Additionally, in July 2015, the Company won a direct sales contract with a division of one of the world's largest security companies, with anticipated initial revenues of approximately $250,000 annually. This contract is expected to start contributing revenue in Q3. The Company's direct sales pipeline is currently over $10 million in annualised revenue, representing a significant expansion.



Investing in Growth

Since its IPO in July 2014, ClearStar has focused on strategically investing the equity capital raised at the time of IPO and positioning the Company for growth. At the end of 2014, the Board decided that, due to heightened demand for its product offerings domestically as well as internationally, it would accelerate its growth programme. As stated previously, opportunities arose, such as investment in international expansion and an acquisition to accelerate penetration into the direct sales channel, along with planned investment in sales and marketing and R&D, which have resulted in higher operational expenditure and cost structure than anticipated at the time of the IPO. As a result, EBITDA for H1 2015 is expected to be a loss of approximately $(1.3)m. Due to the increased investment referred to above it is expected that the Company's full year results will be below market expectations with EBITDA around breakeven for H2 2015. The Board believes that the continued investment into the business will see increased sales and higher margins in the medium term and beyond.



The two main opportunities that the Company invested in earlier than anticipated are:



(a) Entry into the UK screening market with the signing of the Company's first agreement with a world-renowned, leading global risk management consultancy for the development and hosting of a white-labelled, customised solution. The estimated investment for 2015 associated with this initiative is $1.8m. This investment is primarily attributable to cost associated with capitalised software, human resources, and the UK datacentre lease. This has resulted in the creation of a new platform that supports international data elements and user interface globalisation, along with establishing a datacentre presence to meet UK and EU security and privacy requirements.



Additionally, in July 2015, ClearStar signed a contract with an EU-based screening company, located outside the UK, to license ClearStar's new global platform for both background screening and tenant screening. This will be the first multi-lingual implementation of the system. The deal is further evidence of the value of a single multilingual global platform with the ability to provide in-country data residency - something that no other vendor offers.



(b) Strengthening and expanding the Company's direct sales and service team to capitalise on attractive market opportunities within the growing US screening market. The estimated investment for 2015 associated with this initiative is $1.6m. The addition of several experienced sales people and operational support personnel has enabled us to go upmarket and resulted in the increase in the direct sales pipeline to over $10m in annualised revenues.



ClearStar Shares to be traded on CREST

At the time of Admission of ClearStar's Ordinary Shares to trading on AIM on 11 July 2014, restrictions on transfer under the United States securities laws required that its shares had to be in certificated form for a period of at least 12 months following Admission.



On 14 July 2015, ClearStar introduced a Depository Interest programme with Capita IRG Trustees Limited ("Capita") to enable its ordinary shares to be traded in CREST, resulting in two lines of stock, relating to both the restricted and the unrestricted lines of stock.



On the London Stock Exchange, the unrestricted ordinary shares trade under the ticker CLSU and trade as Depository Interests in CREST. The restricted ordinary shares continue to trade outside CREST, due to restrictions imposed by United States securities laws, with the existing ticker CLST.



Robert Vale, CEO of ClearStar, commented: "We are pleased that our team has executed on all fronts of new technology development, diversification of product offerings and expansion into international markets. Our brand is emerging as a market leader in risk mitigation and we have attracted some of the most accomplished sales professionals in our sector. Our built-to-last strategy positions the Company to deliver strong, higher margin, growth for years to come."