Netcall claims that its technology has saved its customers' customers 400 years of phone queuing, by enabling call-backs from customer service agents. As in call centre usage, financial services make up a large share of its client base, but chief executive Henrik Bang hasn't seen any slowdown so far as a result of present difficulties in that sector. Hosted services, which grew sales by 51 per cent in the period, could even profit, as they don't require any upfront capital investment.
Almost half of sales now come through partners, such as BT and KCOM's Affiniti. A renewed deal with Cable & Wireless (C&W) sees the recovering telco taking on the hosting equipment itself. "It's perceived by C&W as one of their own products," says Mr Bang, so it's more likely to be promoted by sales teams. It also means C&W takes on the costs, boosting further Netcall's scalability and cost control. With cash now flowing, the board is considering share buy-backs or dividends.
House broker Evolution Securities forecasts EPS of 1.3p in 2008 - flat on 2007, due to a non-cash tax charge.
Netcall (NET) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD PRICE: | 31p | MARKET VALUE: | £20.5m | |
| TOUCH: | 30-32p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 31p | LOW: 15p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | NIL | PE RATIO: | 27 | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 4p | NET CASH: | £2.36m | |
| Year to 30 Jun | Turnover (£m) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | 2.39 | -0.33 | -0.60 | nil |
| 2004 | 2.41 | -0.83 | -1.30 | nil |
| 2005 | 2.82 | 0.16 | 0.20 | nil |
| 2006 | 3.13 | 0.36 | 0.54 | nil |
| 2007 | 4.11 | 0.77 | 1.16 | nil |
| % change | +31 | +113 | +115 | - |
Click for a guide to the terms used in IC results tables.
