One man's trash is another man's treasure - or so investors in Progressive Digital Media (PRO) will hope. Alongside these decent first-half figures, the business information provider announced a deal to buy four businesses from media giant Informa (INF) for £25m.
Sales climbed 27 per cent at Progressive's main business intelligence division as it focused on providing subscription-based services, such as data analytics and market insights, to technology, telecoms and consumer-facing companies. That more than offset a 4 per cent fall in sales in the business-to-business (B2B) division, driving the group's adjusted cash profits up 12 per cent to £6.1m.
Progressive's prospects remain strong, as a raft of new orders lifted deferred revenues by 24 per cent to £20m. Moreover, management expects a number of product launches and refreshes to help the B2B segment rebound in the second half. And the group's takeover of Informa's Datamonitor, Verdit and Marketlines businesses - its largest deal to date - promises to broaden its presence internationally and bolster its range of retail, academic, consumer and financial data.
Broker N+1 Singer expects EPS of 12.1p this year, rising to 16.8p in 2016 (2014: 9p). It expects the Informa deal to boost EPS by 11 per cent in 2017.
| PROGRESSIVE DIGITAL MEDIA (PRO) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD PRICE: | 223p | MARKET VALUE: | £170m | |
| TOUCH: | 215-230p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 270p | LOW: 203p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | NIL | PE RATIO: | NA | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 47p* | NET DEBT: | 15% | |
| Half-year to 30 Jun | Turnover (£m) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | 29.7 | 0.3 | 0.9 | nil |
| 2015 | 33.8 | 1.2 | -0.6 | nil |
| % change | +14 | +280 | - | - |
*Includes intangible assets of £41.5m, or 54p a share | ||||
