Much of the good news from GB Group’s (GBG) full-year results had already been assimilated into the share price, after an April update revealed market-beating sales and adjusted operating profits. As previously outlined, the identity data intelligence specialist enjoyed strong organic revenue growth, at 17 per cent – or 15 per cent, excluding £3.5m from the sale of a non-recurring perpetual licence to a European bank last September.
The official numbers provided more colour on the derivation of these revenues; 34 per cent stemmed from international markets, up from 31 per cent a year earlier. The fraud and risk management business, comprising 58 per cent of the top line, continued to expand across the Europe/Middle East and Asia-Pacific regions. Indeed, new buyers of GB’s fraud products include the Bank of Shanghai and a major Indonesian bank. Sales here climbed 27 per cent overall, to £69.8m.
The customer and location intelligence segment saw revenues rise 53 per cent to £49.9m, buoyed by a £15.2m contribution from PCA – the provider of address validation services acquired last May. With a healthy net cash position, GB looks well-placed to consider further growth-enhancing transactions.
Prior to these numbers, broker Investec expected EPS of 8.5p for FY2019 (from 7.5p in FY2018).
| GB GROUP (GBG) | ||||
| ORD PRICE: | 520p | MARKET VALUE: | £794m | |
| TOUCH: | 518-521p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 550p | LOW: 323p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 0.5% | PE RATIO: | 73 | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 103p* | NET CASH: | £13.5m | |
| Year to 31 Mar | Turnover (£m) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
| 2014 | 41.8 | 4.0 | 3.2 | 1.65 |
| 2015 | 57.3 | 5.9 | 4.0 | 1.85 |
| 2016 | 73.4 | 9.3 | 7.4 | 2.08 |
| 2017 | 87.5 | 10.1 | 8.2 | 2.35 |
| 2018 | 120 | 13.4 | 7.1 | 2.65 |
| % change | +37 | +33 | -13 | +13 |
| Ex-div: | 19 Jul | |||
| Payment: | 24 Aug | |||
| *Includes intangible assets of £161m, or 106p a share | ||||
