Ubisense (UBI) is a relatively young company offering a tracking and location software service. The headline figures for last year don't reveal the true picture of a company that is expanding at an impressive rate. In fact, adjusting for one-off costs and amortisation showed cash profits at the two trading arms (before central costs of £3.4m) up by a fifth at £4.6m.
The group's real-time location software (RTLS) is used on car assembly lines to detect the location of tools and parts in relation to where the car is located, and helps to increase efficiency levels and drive down costs. Turnover grew by 10.3 per cent to £9.5m, and gross margins were up from 53.6 per cent to 57.3 per cent. And a recent tie-up with engineering group Atlas Copco is starting to deliver results, with the group embedding Ubisense software into all of its new generation machine tools.
Ubisense also uses the same technology in its Geospatial division, which is used to map fixed assets for a range of companies such as Deutsche Telecom and Exxon Mobile. And excluding the effects of a major restructuring by one customer, underlying revenue grew by 34.7 per cent. Moreover, the group has secured a string of new business wins with major blue-chip customers that should boost revenue significantly in the coming year.
Subject to revision, broker Edison Research is forecasting normalised pre-tax profits of £1m and EPS of 3.1p.
| UBISENSE (UBI) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD PRICE: | 198p | MARKET VALUE: | £43m | |
| TOUCH: | 197-200p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 237p | LOW: 191p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | nil | PE RATIO: | na | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 86p* | NET CASH: | £2.7m | |
| Year to 31 Dec | Turnover (£m) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 17.7 | 0.40 | 3.30 | nil |
| 2011 | 23.8 | 0.14 | 0.20 | nil |
| 2012 | 24.3 | -0.73 | -2.80 | nil |
| % change | +2 | - | - | - |
Ex-div: na Payment: na *Includes intangible assets of £10.3m, or 47p a share | ||||
