Vodafone, Universal Music and other big businesses rely on IMImobile (IMO) to run mobile and social marketing campaigns and augment their apps, websites and call centres with digital communication tools. Strong demand drove the software group's revenues - excluding currency movements and acquisitions - up 16 per cent in the reported period, sending underlying cash profits up 17 per cent to £5.3m.
Underlying gross profits rose across all three of IMImobile's global territories. They climbed 7 per cent in the main Europe and Americas region as the group won retail, gambling and media clients and signed a major US mobile operator. They surged 18 per cent in the Middle East and Africa as mobile operators implemented its tools in more territories. And they leapt a fifth in the South East Asia division as management rolled out new offerings and signed customers in India, Myanmar and Sri Lanka.
IMImobile earns about 6 per cent of gross profits in Nigerian naira, a currency that has plunged in value since it was unpegged from the US dollar in June. Broker Investec predicts the slide will reduce cash profits by £0.8m this financial year. It has trimmed its forecasts and now expects adjusted pre-tax profits of £8.6m in the year to March 2017, giving EPS of 10.5p, up from £8.5m and 10.4p in FY2016.
| IMIMOBILE (IMO) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD PRICE: | 160p | MARKET VALUE: | £97m | |
| TOUCH: | 158-162p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 194p | LOW: 147p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | nil | PE RATIO: | 29 | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 64p* | NET CASH: | £17.9m | |
| Half-year to 30 Sep | Turnover (£m) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 27.8 | 1.3 | 4.4 | nil |
| 2016 | 36.0 | 1.7 | 2.9 | nil |
| % change | +29 | +28 | -34 | - |
*Includes intangible assets of £24.8m, or 41p a share | ||||
