Investors in Amino Technologies (AMO) seem to be losing faith in its turnaround plan. The shares fell by 11 per cent on the day management warned that exiting low-margin commoditised hardware activities would slash 2019 revenues by around a fifth and wipe 10 per cent from adjusted operating profits.
This marked the second disappointment for Amino’s investors in just a few months. Last October, Amino said “an intensification of external macroeconomic headwinds” meant that it expected adjusted pre-tax profits of $11.5m for FY2018, although these came in at $11.2m.
Challenges facing Amino include instability in some emerging market economies, uncertainty around US trade tariffs – with North America its largest market – and higher component costs. To the latter point, it brings some comfort that such price rises are “showing early signs of slowing”. The group is now focusing increasingly on software and services, to help improve margins and repeat revenues.
House broker FinnCap expects pre-tax profits of $9.9m and EPS of 12.9¢ for FY2019 (down from $11.2m and 14.5¢ in FY2018).
| AMINO TECHNOLOGIES (AMO) | ||||
| ORD PRICE: | 92.5p | MARKET VALUE: | £67m | |
| TOUCH: | 90-95p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 221p | LOW: 82.5p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 7.9% | PE RATIO: | 11 | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 101¢* | NET CASH: | $20.3m | |
| Year to 30 November | Turnover (£m) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
| 2014 | 36.2 | 4.0 | 7.7 | 5.0 |
| 2015 | 41.7 | 0.3 | 0.6 | 5.5 |
| 2016 | 75.2 | 2.9 | 3.8 | 6.1 |
| ** | ($m) | ($m) | (¢) | (p) |
| 2017 (restated in $) | 96.1 | 13.3 | 21.3 | 6.7 |
| 2018 | 88.9 | 8.2 | 11.3 | 7.3 |
| % change | -7 | -38 | -47 | +10 |
| Ex-div: | 04 Apr | |||
| Payment: | 26 Apr | |||
*Includes intangible assets of $54.7m, or 75¢ a share **Reporting currency changed from GBP to USD. Dividends are paid in GBP. £1 = $1.30 (restated 2017 figures reflect Amino's selected exchange rates) | ||||
