Shares in trading technology provider Fidessa finally bounced off their 18-month low, leaping 8 per cent on solid trading right across its products and customers. Investors' concerns about financial services exposure had pushed its shares down by over a third since November. Chief executive Chris Aspinwall sees scant evidence of any , either from lengthening sales cycles or reduction in opportunities. "Our view is to maintain a watching brief," he says, "to pick up market sentiment and react accordingly."
Because Fidessa is well balanced across asset classes and - after the acquisition of LatentZero - across the buy and sell side, Mr Aspinwall says he can reallocate resources to areas of relative strength. Stimulated by regulations such as , investment banks are investing in projects like Rainbow and Turquoise, which aim to create new trading platforms for derivates and equities - and these offer more opportunities to connect, aggregate and provide data between different trading environments. LatentZero itself has performed better than some analysts expected, making a positive contribution to earnings this year. However, Mr Aspinwall remains focused on organic sales growth, an impressive 28 per cent last year.
Panmure Gordon nudged up its 2008 EPS forecasts by 3 per cent to 45.4p, but left 2009's estimate at 51.8p (39.2p in 2007).
Fidessa (FDSA) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD PRICE: | 807p | MARKET VALUE: | £279.5m | |
| TOUCH: | 803p-810p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 1,216p | LOW: 700p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 2.2% | PE RATIO: | 23 | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 208p* | NET CASH: | £24.8m | |
| Year to 31 Dec | Turnover (£m) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | 56.5 | 9.3 | 23.9 | 8.0 |
| 2004 | 59.8 | 9.8 | 22.7 | 8.5 |
| 2005 | 74.2 | 11.3 | 31.6 | 10.3 |
| 2006 | 94.6 | 14.3 | 31.9 | 13.1 |
| 2007 | 135.0 | 17.1 | 34.4 | 18.0 |
| % change | +43 | +19 | +8 | +37 |
Ex-div:30 Apr Payment:02 Jun *Includes intangible assets of £77.3m, or 223p a share | ||||
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