In Donald McGarva's first full year as chief executive of Amino Technologies (AMO), the set-top box designer returned to profit for the first time since 2008 and committed to substantial growth in the dividend. The share price has soared since late 2009, too, and shareholders will hope his management team can keep up the progress.
Amino has "got its house in order", says Mr McGarva - and it certainly seems so. A slimline product range, a focus on higher-margin business and cost-cutting efforts boosted underlying gross margin by over nine percentage points to 42 per cent. Cash generation was impressive, too, and customers are reliable. Repeat business from the likes of Tele2 in Holland and Vodafone in Iceland generate a big chunk of revenue. Indeed, Dutch revenue leapt 48 per cent to £11.5m and further steady growth there looks likely. A "unanimously positive" reaction to demonstrations of its Intel-powered box at a recent trade show in Las Vegas bodes well, too.
True, Russia and Italy look less certain, but management is excited about the prospect of more big contracts in eastern Europe and elsewhere in the former Soviet Union. Latin America is promising, too. It generates just £2m of revenue now, but that could change if Mr McGarva's impending tour of Chile, Colombia and Mexico goes well.
Broker N+1 Singer expects adjusted pre-tax profit of £3.2m in 2013, giving adjusted EPS of 6.1p (from £2.9m and 5.4p in 2012).
AMINO TECHNOLOGIES (AMO) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD PRICE: | 76p | MARKET VALUE: | £41.8m | |
| TOUCH: | 74-78p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 80p | LOW: 44p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 3.9% | PE RATIO: | 14 | |
| NET ASSET VALUE | 41p* | NET CASH: | £17.1m | |
| Year to 30 Nov | Turnover (£m) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 31.9 | 2.16 | 3.77 | nil |
| 2009 | 25.3 | -8.73 | -16.0 | nil |
| 2010 | 44.0 | -0.88 | -0.61 | nil |
| 2011 | 51.8 | -0.62 | -0.39 | 2.00 |
| 2012 | 41.7 | 2.89 | 5.45 | 3.00 |
| % change | -19 | - | - | +50 |
Ex-div: 27 Mar Payment: 15 Apr | ||||
