Conference call technology firm LoopUp Group PLC (LON:LOOP) called in with good news early doors, saying trading last year had been better than expected.
The group, which floated on Aim in August, said underlying earnings, or EBITDA, more than doubled in 2016 to £2.1mln from £1.0mln.
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Total revenue rose 34% to £13.6mln from £10.1mln the year before, while revenue from the core LoopUp product and associated add-ons jumped 39% to £12.8mln from £9.2mlm.
To put the latter into context, the group said growth in LoopUp product revenue the previous year had been 36% and the year before that 38%.
The group enjoyed continued success in the legal and financial professional services sectors. Landmark customer wins included a global law firm – one of the so-called magic circle - and a North American financial services firm.
The number of customers who have been users of LoopUp’s services for at least a year rose year-on-year yet again.
The group was sitting on net cash of £2.2mln, compared to a cash pile of £2.7mln immediately after its flotation in August.
“Going into 2017, the group continues to see strong demand for the LoopUp product and is confident in its ability to deliver future growth,” it said.
Investments were made to increase the number of new business acquisition 'Pods' to 7.25 Pods by the year-end, which was ahead of the six pods expected by house broker Panmure Gordon.
The broker thinks LoopUp’s investment case is compelling.
“LoopUp’s patented software guarantees ease of use, and its scalable model addresses a £4.7bn market in which it has grown revenues by 36% CAGR since 2013. It has been EBITDA profitable since Q4’13 and serves 2,000+ customers,” noted Panmure’s Michael Donnelly.
Donnelly has made modest uplifts to his sales and earnings per share forecasts for the current year and restated is 150p target price.
Shares in LoopUp were 14.7% higher at 129p towards the end of trading on Wednesday.
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