Much has changed at Proactis (PHD) since we last covered the spend control software group; not least its market capitalisation, which has tripled to £151m. This expansion is largely thanks to the acquisition of Perfect Commerce, completed in August, in a deal valued at approximately $132m (£102m). Perfect, a provider of eProcurement solutions, extends the company’s global reach. It also signalled the arrival of new chief executive Hampton Wall.
The Perfect purchase was financed by a £70m share placing and new debt facilities. Accordingly, net debt has grown to £30m from £0.9m at the period-end. Such is the transformative effect of the deal that these full-year figures essentially constitute an historic snapshot. That said, the numbers still look encouraging: underlying organic growth was 9 per cent to the good, helped along by the November acquisition of Millstream Associates, another eProcurement specialist which brought with it the Tenders Direct business. Representing the group’s fifth acquisition in three years, this was funded by a £12.5m share placing. Non-recurring administrative costs stemming from acquisitions led to operating losses of £2.6m, against a £1.9m profit a year earlier.
Analysts at broker finnCap forecast adjusted pre-tax profit of £14.6m and EPS of 11.4p for the year ending July 2018 – up significantly from £5.1m and 8.6p in FY2017.
| PROACTIS (PHD) | ||||
| ORD PRICE: | 162.5p | MARKET VALUE: | £151m | |
| TOUCH: | 160-165p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 202p | LOW: 122p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 0.9% | PE RATIO: | na | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 24.3p* | NET DEBT: | 4.0% | |
| Year to 31 Jul | Turnover (£m) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
| 2013 | 8.0 | 0.3 | 1.1 | 1.0 |
| 2014 | 10.2 | 0.1 | 1.0 | 1.1 |
| 2015 | 17.2 | 1.5 | 5.2 | 1.2 |
| 2016 | 19.4 | 1.8 | 6.3 | 1.3 |
| 2017 | 25.4 | -2.7 | -5.9 | 1.4 |
| % change | +31 | - | - | +8 |
| Ex-div: | 28 Dec | |||
| Payment: | 22 Jan | |||
| *Includes intangible assets of £38.6m, or 42p a share | ||||
