Engineering design and information management group AVEVA reported a solid first-half performance. Indeed, adjusted pre-tax profit rose 6 per cent in the period to £26.1m on the back of strong oil & gas sector demand in Russia and Latin America.
In fact, it's the oil & gas boom that's really driving the group's performance - that now contributes 45 per cent of revenues and a new office was opened in Bogota, Colombia, to take advantage of robust Latin American growth. Management announced that the reorganisation of the Chinese operations had been completed, too, although that did mean a 9 per cent revenue fall in the period from the Asia Pacific region. Still, the company does now generate 69 per cent of its revenue from recurring sources, such as annual and licence fees. Meanwhile, the Enterprise Solutions unit, which provides data management services for oil pipelines and power plants, grew revenues 50 per cent in the period to £10.5m, driven by strong growth in the UK, Norway and Russia - the order backlog of deferred revenue there now stands at £8m.
Broker Investec Securities forecasts adjusted full-year per-tax profit of £64m, giving adjusted EPS of 65.8p (£54.7m and 55.7p in 2011).
AVEVA (AVV) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD PRICE: | 1,555p | MARKET VALUE: | £1.1bn | |
| TOUCH: | 1,554-1,557p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 1,801p | LOW: 1,290p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 1.2% | PE RATIO: | 30 | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 297p* | NET CASH: | £157.5m | |
| Half-yearto 30 Sep | Turnover (£m) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 78.5 | 23.1 | 23.17 | 3.36 |
| 2011 | 85.2 | 23.8 | 24.46 | 4.00 |
| % change | +9 | +3 | +6 | +19 |
Ex-div: 4 Jan Payment: 3 Feb *Includes intangible assets of £43.7m, or 64p a share. | ||||
