IMImobile’s (IMO) half-year results to September 2018 were broadly encouraging, notwithstanding some ongoing regional challenges. The cloud communication group’s top-line momentum was buoyed by 15 per cent organic growth, while gross profits climbed 18 per cent to £29.2m – taking the three-year gross profit compound annual growth rate to 21 per cent.
Regionally, gross profits for ‘Europe and Americas’ rose 48 per cent to £20.3m, constituting nearly three-quarters of the group total. While organic growth here came in at 21 per cent, three recent acquisitions offered additional impetus: Impact Mobile, bought in July, and Sumotext and Healthcare Communications, both purchased last year. The latter business’s “digital patient letters” platform is proving fruitful, with 14 NHS trusts and health boards reporting cost savings of up to 51 per cent.
But the Middle East and Africa (MEA) suffered an 18 per cent decline in overall gross profits to £4.6m, due to lower volumes from mobile operator MTN in Nigeria. This was despite profits for MEA’s enterprise division rising by a fifth to £1.7m, supported by new contract wins. India and Southeast Asia also endured a gross profit decline, due to the timing of licence contributions from operator Telenor. These should even out this year.
House broker Investec forecasts adjusted pre-tax profits of £13.3m and EPS of 14.7p for the year to March 2019 (up from £10.1m and 11.2p in FY2018).
| IMIMOBILE (IMO) | ||||
| ORD PRICE: | 295p | MARKET VALUE: | £193m | |
| TOUCH: | 292-298p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 376p | LOW: 202p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | nil | PE RATIO: | na | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 86p* | NET DEBT: | 17% | |
| Half-year to 30 Sep | Turnover (£m) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
| 2017 | 53.1 | 1.7 | 1.8 | nil |
| 2018 | 67.2 | 1.2 | -0.2 | nil |
| % change | +26 | -33 | - | - |
| Ex-div: | na | |||
| Payment: | na | |||
| *Includes intangible assets of £72.6m, or 111p a share | ||||
