Ebiquity plc (LON:EBQ) reported a sharp rise in profitability, driven ‘strong demand’ for its media and marketing analytics services.
Underlying pre-tax profit increased almost 65% to £11.2mln on revenues of £76.6mln, up 7.9%. As previously announced the year-end was changed to December 31, so the figures were compiled on a like-for-like basis.
Ebiquity, which has 1,100 clients across 85 countries, including over 80% of the top 100 global advertisers, said its Marketing Performance Optimisation (MPO) arm starred. Its revenues grew by more than 38%. The operation now accounts for 13% of turnover.
The Media Value Measurement (MVM) business posted a creditable 15% increase in sales.
Strong demand
“There is clear evidence of the continuing demand for our products and services, and the increased level of visibility we have over 2016 revenues provides confidence about the year ahead,” said newly appointed chief executive Michael Karg.
“The demand for Marketing Performance Optimisation continues to be buoyant and we are positioning ourselves to capitalise on this opportunity."
The company’s third business, Market Intelligence (MI), is showing signs of improvement, but income dropped 3.6% in the calendar year on a like-for-like basis.
Investors will receive a dividend payment of 0.4p a share.
New CEO's blue-print
New chief executive Karg, in an interview with Proactive’s Charlotte Kan, set out his blue-print for the business, which he said had six growth pillars.
He was also full of praise for the Ebiquity team: “It is an amazing group of people,” he said of Ebiquity. “I have been impressed by everyone I have met so far. It has deep subject matter expertise.”
Primed for medium term growth
“We expect continued robust growth over the medium term, driven by MVM and, in particular, MPO while we expect MI to hold revenues this year,” said Paul Richards of Numis Securities.
He is predicting Ebiquity will post pre-tax profits of £13mln this year (representing growth of around 16%), and £14mln in 2017.
The shares are undervalued, says Numis
Up 1.5p at 137p in early afternoon trade, the stock is worth 162p, according to Numis.