Shares in risk management and trading software provider Brady surged to a 12-month high as the group beat City forecasts with a record 14 new contracts signed in the year. Chief executive Gavin Lavelle says the trading environment is improving, and 2012 has commenced with the "strongest ever pipeline", suggesting there is even more to come from Brady's shares.
Much of this growth was spearheaded by Brady's growing global presence, with deals signed in new territories such as Singapore, Hong Kong and North Africa. In its established markets, sales from Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) almost doubled to £14.7m, while sales from Asia Pacific soared to £2.6m, from £700,000 previously.
Mr Lavelle has also been working to improve revenue visibility by migrating customers to rental-based models, and as such recurring revenues have swelled 147 per cent to £9.8m and now account for more than half of group sales. Repeat sales should be further bolstered by the recent acquisition of Syseca, for £1.5m, and the £17.5m purchase of energy data and risk management business, Navita, last March. Analysts at Edison Investment Research believe that these deals could boost revenues by 60 per cent and have lifted their 2012 forecasts by 7 per cent to give pre-tax profits of £5.2m and EPS of 6p (£3.3m and 5.8p in 2011).
BRADY (BRY) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD PRICE: | 93p | MARKET VALUE: | £72.7m | |
| TOUCH: | 90-95p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 94p | LOW: 68p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 1.6% | PE RATIO: | 26 | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 31p | NET CASH: | £10.3m | |
| Year to 31 Dec | Turnover (£m) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | 5.71 | 0.64 | 1.82 | 1.1 |
| 2008 | 6.17 | 1.04 | 2.73 | 1.2 |
| 2009 | 8.19 | 1.04 | 3.77 | 1.3 |
| 2010 | 11.1 | 0.62 | 1.69 | 1.4 |
| 2011 | 19.2 | 2.10 | 3.57 | 1.5 |
| % change | +72 | +239 | +111 | +7 |
Ex-div: 25 Apr Payment: 22 May *Includes intangible assets of £16m, or 20p a share | ||||
