Testing the effectiveness of marketing is becoming increasingly important in today's uncertain economic times - which means regular business for analytical measurement company Ebiquity (EBQ). With much of its business backloaded towards the end of the year, these first-half results were solid, rather than spectacular. But the group still delivered organic sales growth of 2 per cent in the period, thanks to high renewal rates for its two business divisions - and despite customers delaying advertising spending.
Chief executive Michael Greenlees said the company had largely completed the integration of both FirmDecisions, a £7m acquisition in August, and Fairbrother Lenz Eley, which was bought last March. He reckons the company will now look more at internal investment in products and services. "We currently cross-sell to about 14 per cent of our customers and there is considerable value in offering more products from further up the chain," he said. Mr Greenlees added that caution is the prevailing sentiment among Ebiquity's clients: "we have about £20m of confirmed work in the pipeline but customers are delaying decisions on spending." However, the second-half is traditionally the busiest time and contract confirmations should start to come through, he added.
Broker Numis Securities expects full-year pre-tax profit of £9.5m, giving EPS of 8.7p (2012: £7.6m/7.4p).
EBIQUITY (EBQ) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD PRICE: | 94p | MARKET VALUE: | £55.4m | |
| TOUCH: | 92-96p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 98p | LOW: 72.5p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | nil | PE RATIO: | 27 | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 62p* | NET DEBT: | 40% | |
| Half-year to 31 Oct | Turnover (£m) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 24.0 | 0.19 | -0.16 | nil |
| 2012 | 30.5 | 1.17 | 1.03 | nil |
| % change | +27 | +516 | - | - |
Ex-div:- Payment:- *Includes intangible assets of £60.6m, or 103p a share | ||||
