An excellent set of results from LoopUp (LOOP) lifted shares in the remote meetings software group by a tenth. Revenue growth beat market expectations, despite sterling appreciating against the dollar in the second half; 51 per cent of company sales derive from the US. At constant currencies, revenue growth was up 33.5 per cent, ahead of 31 per cent a year earlier.
This momentum continued and indeed escalated further down the income statement, as the top line grew faster than LoopUp’s expenses. The gross margin rose from 74.5 per cent to 76.7 per cent, helped by the group driving down purchased telephony costs. LoopUp maintained a high customer retention rate, and notes that its customer base is well diversified; the largest single customer represents just 3.6 per cent of sales. Meanwhile, continued investment in its ‘Pods’ – regional sales teams – could inspire expansion into new geographic markets.
Analysts at Panmure Gordon forecast adjusted pre-tax profit of £5.4m and EPS of 6.5p for the year to December 2018, up from £3.2m and 5.1p in 2017.
| LOOPUP (LOOP) | ||||
| ORD PRICE: | 365p | MARKET VALUE: | £154m | |
| TOUCH: | 355-375p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 405p | LOW: 142p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | nil | PE RATIO: | 76 | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 24.8p* | NET CASH: | £2.9m | |
| Year to 31 Dec | Turnover (£m) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
| 2013 | 6.0 | -2.27 | na | nil |
| 2014 | 8.0 | -1.54 | na | nil |
| 2015 | 10.1 | -1.09 | -2.4 | nil |
| 2016* | 13.6 | -0.29 | 0.6 | nil |
| 2017 | 17.5 | 0.73 | 4.8 | nil |
| % change | +29 | - | +700 | nil |
| Ex-div: | na | |||
| Payment: | na | |||
*Includes intangible assets of £6.1m, or 14.6p a share *LoopUp listed on Aim in August 2016 | ||||
