Telecom operators the world over have responded to listless demand for landlines and competition from Sky and Netflix by selling bundles of TV, broadband and both fixed-line and mobile telephony. That fuelled demand for Amino's (AMO) internet-connected TV set-top boxes last year, driving pre-tax profit - excluding restructuring costs and a one-off tax refund in 2013 - up 23 per cent to £4.2m.
Amino plugged into emerging markets with a new, pared-down set-top box. That attracted leading Albanian operator ALBTelecom and sent sales in Serbia up by more than quarter. It also inked deals with North American operators ITC and C-Spire for its pricier Advanced Live Media Platform, and landed a multi-regional contract for its "bread and butter" A150 box with Caribbean operator LIME, a subsidiary of Cable & Wireless Communications (CWC).
Thanks to the raft of new products and features, Amino's second-half sales surged by more than a quarter. That bodes well for a return to top-line growth this year. Management highlighted home-monitoring solution Home Reach - which taps into the connected-home trend - as a way to "dip a foot in the water without betting the farm".
Broker finnCap expects pre-tax profit of £4.4m, giving EPS of 8.1p.
| AMINO (AMO) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD PRICE: | 126p | MARKET VALUE: | £68m | |
| TOUCH: | 125-127p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 133p | LOW: 79p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 4.0% | PE RATIO: | 16 | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 48p | NET CASH: | £20.8m | |
| Year to 30 Nov | Turnover (£m) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 44.0 | -0.9 | -0.6 | nil |
| 2011 | 51.8 | -0.6 | -0.4 | 2.00 |
| 2012 | 41.7 | 2.9 | 5.5 | 3.00 |
| 2013 | 35.9 | 4.2 | 7.9 | 3.45 |
| 2014 | 36.2 | 4.0 | 7.7 | 5.00 |
| % change | +1 | -4 | -3 | +45 |
Ex-div: 2 Apr Payment: 24 Apr | ||||
