WANDisco's (WAND) shares slumped 5 per cent after its first-half cash loss nearly tripled to $9.5m (£5.8m). Its technology replicates information across dispersed data centres, preventing data loss, but slower progress has been made in the explosive 'big data' space than investors may have expected.
WANDisco increased bookings by a fifth and grew deferred revenue by nearly three-quarters to $16m. That reflected gains at its core application life-cycle management (ALM) division, which licenses technology for use in software applications. The segment signed 26 new customers, including Arm (ARM), and expanded subscriptions with such big names as Cisco (US: CSCO) and Fannie Mae.
But the biggest boasts weren't financial - indeed, WANDisco's big data division recorded bookings of only $0.3m. But management did elaborate on the type of global customers that are trialling its technology. These include an industrial equipment supplier, a UK-based international bank and a government department that's using predictive analytics to slow the spread of epidemics. At least some of those trials are expected to convert into contracts in the coming months. Moreover, the company's technology was approved for distribution on Oracle's servers, allowing WANDisco to benefit from the tech giant's huge sales force and customer base.
Broker Investec Securities expects a full-year pre-tax loss of $24m, giving a loss per share of 99.7¢ (from a $13m loss and a 58.5¢ loss per share in 2013).
| WANDISCO (WAND) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD PRICE: | 368p | MARKET VALUE: | £89m | |
| TOUCH: | 360-375p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 1,545p | LOW: 368p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | nil | PE RATIO: | na | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 71¢* | NET CASH: | $15m | |
| Half-year to 30 Jun | Turnover ($m) | Pre-tax profit ($m) | Earnings per share (¢) | Dividend per share (p) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | 3.5 | -7.5 | -35 | nil |
| 2014 | 5.0 | -18.5 | -78 | nil |
| % change | +43 | - | - | - |
*Includes intangible assets of $9.7m, or 40¢ a share £1=$1.64 | ||||
