“Revenue is down, but that is exactly what we said it would be,” commented Donald McGarva, chief executive of Amino Technologies (AMO), upon the release of these interim results. The Aim-traded designer of internet-enabled set-top boxes forewarned sales would fall in 2014 due to a shift toward selling lower-end products, in addition to foreign exchange headwinds.
First-half operating profits were nevertheless flat year-on-year, after stripping out the effects of one-off tax rebates. “It's actually a solid performance”, says Mr McGarva. Continued cost-cutting and an improved cash profit margin allowed the company to add to its swelling cash pile, which now sits at £19.7m despite significant investments in R&D projects in the period and a £1.3m dividend payment.
As for what he is going to do with it, Mr McGarva admitted he is “open to an acquisition opportunity”, but suggested the company was not close to any deals just yet. Having an ample supply of cash helps Amino win larger contracts, he noted.
Analyst Andrew Darley from finnCap expects Amino to return to mid-single digit sales top-line growth next year as the company releases some new products. He forecasts adjusted EPS of 6.7p this year, rising to 7.2p in fiscal 2015 (2013: 6.3p).
AMINO TECHNOLOGIES (AMO) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD PRICE: | 95p | MARKET VALUE: | £52m | |
| TOUCH: | 93-96p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 107p | LOW: 82p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 3.8% | PE RATIO: | 15 | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 46p | NET CASH: | £19.7m | |
| Half-year to 31 May | Turnover (£m) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | 20.1 | 2.6 | 5.0 | 1.00 |
| 2014 | 16.4 | 1.8 | 3.3 | 1.15 |
| % change | -18 | -31 | -34 | +15 |
Ex-div:03 Sep Payment:19 Sep | ||||
