Kromek Group plc (LON:KMK) Final results
Market Cap: £30m; Current Price: 27.5p
Revenue increased 36% YoY
- Kromek announced its final audited results for the year ended 30 April 2015.
- Revenue increased 36% to £8.1m (2013/14: £6.0m)
- Gross margin increased to 69% (2013/14: 65%)
- Loss before tax was reduced to £3.1m (2013/14: £4.3m loss)
- Cash and cash equivalents at 30 April 2015 were £1.2m (31 October 2014: £2.9m; 30 April 2014: £6.6m).
- Also announced today, Kromek entered into an agreement to raise £9m through a Firm Placing and up to a further £2m through an Open Offer at a price of 25p per share, representing a 29% discount to the previous market price.
NORTHLAND CAPITAL PARTNERS VIEW: Kromek’s sales leapt forward, achieving 36% YoY growth. Moreover, management reported good visibility on the group’s order book, with contracted revenues for the year ahead currently totalling 60% of the group’s expectations for the year. Also, the group significantly strengthened its balance sheet, having raised up to £12m in a Firm Placing and Open Offer.
accesso Technology (LON:ACSO): Trading update and contract extension
Market Cap: £117m; Current Price: 535p
FY15 in line but expects outperformance FY16 and FY17
- Management has reiterated guidance for its performance for FY15 (consensus EPS 20.5p) but believes that, given the momentum across the business, FY16 will be ahead of expectations (23.6p) and FY17 will be materially ahead.
- Signed an exclusive long term agreement with long term customers Merlin Entertainments for a fully hosted online ticketing and eCommerce systems across Merlin’s global portfolio. The initial contract term is for seven years and includes the installation and deployment of the hosted accesso Passport ticketing system. Installation will occur over three years and include more than 100 attractions.
NORTHLAND CAPITAL PARTNERS VIEW: Encouraging trading update and securing Merlin on a multi-year and multi-site basis increases revenue visibility. Shares have been weak over the past quarter (down 12%), that has brought the rating more into line with other technology providers with a hosting element at 26.1x FY15 and 22.7x FY17. We continue to believe the leisure industry will continue to invest in new systems and accesso is well placed to benefit.
Corero Network Security (LON:CNS): Profit warning and proposed fund raising
Market Cap: £12.3m; Current Price: 10.6p
DDoS opportunity growing but sales cycle lengthening
- Growing number of service provider trials for SmartWall Threat Defense System (TDS) supports the outlook for a better H2 but the longer sales cycle for larger opportunities will impact FY15 results. H1 highlights include a SmartWall order worth >$500k from a US service provider as well as customer wins across multiple target market (service providers, hosting providers and on-line enterprises) and a partnership with Verisign.
- Proposed fundraising to raise up to £5.0m at 10p per share. The proceeds will be used to support SmartWall TDS sales and marketing activities in Europe and the US and further product development. Management expect to achieve positive cash flows in H2 2016.
- Directors have considered its AIM listing and decided to remain listed on AIM at the present time but will continue to assess the appropriateness.
NORTHLAND CAPITAL PARTNERS VIEW: Commercial traction for Corero’s SmartWall TDS remains frustrating. The threat posed by DDoS attacks is growing and is well understood and Corero is winning in competitive situations but sales cycles are long and the company requires additional funding (net cash at December was $6.0m). Jens Montanana (39.5%) has proven himself to be a supportive shareholder in the past.