Friday, 16 April 2010 05:44 Domain News
Top Level Domain Holdings Limited reported its annual financial results .The report and accounts for the Period are being sent to shareholders and are available on the Company’s website.
The following sets out the audited results for the Company for the year ended 31 October 2009.Chairman’s StatementI am pleased to present this year’s annual report for Top Level Domain Holdings Limited ("the Company") together with the consolidated financial statements for the period ended 31 October 2009.2009 was period of further significant development and change for the Company as the ongoing Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers ("ICANN") process toward the roll out of top level domains ("TLDs") has gained momentum.Following the approval by shareholders of the modified investing strategy in June last year at the annual general meeting, the Company expanded its portfolio vertically into top level domain names ("TLD’s"), investing in TLD applicants and infrastructure technologies where the Directors believe there are attractive investment opportunities. In July 2009, we also completed a placing of new ordinary shares in the Company which raised £2.5 million before expenses (equivalent to approximately US$4.1 million at that time) to provide additional working capital and enable the Company to develop its TLD business.Given the importance of the activity in TLDs, the Company changed its name to Top Level Domain Holdings Limited in April 2009. This name change brought alignment with the brand and the business strategy being pursued by the Company.Existing TLDs are open to registrants worldwide and include .com, .net, and .org.ICANN, the regulatory body which oversees internet domain names worldwide, intends to allow qualified parties to apply to own and operate new generic TLDs ("gTLDs"). At its March meeting in Nairobi, ICANN’s Board of Directors progressed further the framework for the introduction of gTLDs. The ICANN Board resolved that there should be no cross-ownership between domain name registries and registrars. This prohibition will prevent existing ICANN-accredited registrars from owning or operating new gTLDs, thus limiting the number of prospective applicants. This continues a trend of increasing the barriers to application for non-experts as ICANN adds additional requirements and restrictions to the framework for the introduction of gTLDs. TLDH is unaffected by this policy and the Board of TLDH therefore expects that TLDH will benefit from this continuing separation between registrars and registries.Revenue for the year ended 31 October 2009 was £315,000, with finance revenue totaling £24,000. Administrative expenses totalled £1,367,000. Share options expensed amounted to £226,000. The retained loss for the period attributable to members of the parent Company totaled £1,408,000 for a loss of 0.73 pence per share. Cash and cash equivalents at 31 October 2009 amounted to £4.3m.
You can read the entire press release here .
