Rising demand for public transport has heaped pressure on rail operators to slash costs, boost efficiency and ensure their passengers can travel safely and swiftly. Many have turned to Tracsis (TRCS), whose products allow them to track passenger and vehicle activity, optimise schedules and monitor key assets such as level crossings in real time. The upshot was a 16 per cent rise in adjusted pre-tax profit to £5.8m in the year to July 2015.
Software revenue doubled to £5.6m, reflecting brisk demand from both major train operators and smaller transit and rail companies, as well as the acquisition of Datasys in May 2014. Traffic and data sales also rose strongly as the group landed several major traffic data capture projects. And the remote condition monitoring division agreed three pilots of its technology with major North American operators. However, the absence of a major framework order meant the segment's revenue almost halved.
Tracsis recently took a sizeable stake in mobile analytics group Citi Logik, which should help the group win larger, more complex data projects. The acquisition of SEP - which manages pedestrian and vehicle flow at Royal Ascot, Formula 1 races and other outdoor events - also promises to broaden the group's market.
Management is aiming to more than double sales and pre-tax profit over the next three or so years. Broker Investec hiked its EPS forecast and now expects 18.7p for the current financial year (18.3p in FY2015).
| TRACSIS (TRCS) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD PRICE: | 435p | MARKET VALUE: | £116m | |
| TOUCH: | 430-440p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 496p | LOW: 328p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 0.2% | PE RATIO: | 31 | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 84p* | NET CASH: | £13.3m | |
| Year to 31 Jul | Turnover (£m) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 4.1 | 1.1 | 4.5 | nil |
| 2012 | 8.7 | 3.0 | 10.0 | 0.55 |
| 2013 | 10.8 | 2.6 | 8.4 | 0.70 |
| 2014 | 22.4 | 4.2 | 12.9 | 0.80 |
| 2015 | 25.4 | 4.5 | 14.1 | 1.00 |
| % change | +14 | +6 | +9 | +25 |
Ex-div: 28 Jan Payment: 12 Feb *Includes intangible assets of £10m, or 37p a share | ||||
