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Avast chief exec to retire

The cybersecurity group listed in London in May 2018
March 13, 2019

Avast’s (AVST) preliminary numbers for 2018 – its first since flotation last May – were robust enough, although they were somewhat overshadowed by the news of chief executive Vince Steckler’s retirement this year. Chairman John Schwarz noted that Mr Steckler “has been the architect of the company's success over 10 years”. Mr Steckler was at the helm during Avast’s $1.3bn (£988m) acquisition of AVG Technologies in 2016, and its IPO.

IC TIP: Hold

Shares in the cybersecurity group were marked down 5 per cent on the morning of the results. Still, Mr Steckler will remain in an advisory capacity until June 2020, and will be replaced by Ondrej Vlcek, head of Avast’s (largest) consumer business – with whom he has worked for a decade.

To the results. Mr Steckler said Avast’s performance was “in line with expectations” – with group adjusted revenues (excluding currency movements and discontinued businesses) up 8.3 per cent to $812m. Adjusted revenues for the consumer direct desktop business rose by over a tenth to $580m.  

The consumer direct mobile business saw flat adjusted revenues and a slight dip in adjusted billings. Double-digit growth within the direct-to-consumer subscription segment was tempered by a decline in the carrier segment, because of a lost contract in 2017. Meanwhile, the SMB (small-and-medium-business) division endured disruption from the AVG integration, although restructuring efforts here “have advanced”.

Per Bloomberg consensus data, analysts expect adjusted EPS of 30.4¢, against 27.7¢ in 2018.

AVAST (AVST)   
ORD PRICE:293pMARKET VALUE:£2.8bn
TOUCH:293-293.55p12-MONTH HIGH:316pLOW: 205p
DIVIDEND YIELD:2.2%PE RATIO:15
NET ASSET VALUE:94¢NET DEBT:126%
Year to 31 DecTurnover ($m)Pre-tax profit ($m)Earnings per share (¢)Dividend per share (¢)
2015*25171.776.0nil
2016*34119.526.0nil
2017*653-28.9-4.0nil
201880818326.08.6
% change+24---
Ex-div:23 May   
Payment:17 Jun   
*Pre-IPO figures (Avast floated in May 2018) £1=$1.31