MediaZest (LON:MDZ) – CORP: Interims
Market Cap: £2.1m; Current Price: 0.2p
Positive EBITDA
- Revenue +1.6% to £1.6m with gross profit up 17.2% to £0.6m reflecting improved revenue mix this resulted in a £0.2m positive swing in EBITDA to a small profit (£8k). Operating costs were reduced c. £100k in H1 to £611k. Net debt of c. £0.3m (FY15: £0.2m).
- Focus on providing a full service offering to clients – equipment sales and installation fees plus ongoing managed services that include maintenance, content management and data analytics. Retail sector generated more than £900k in H1; the Corporate sector £450k and Education c. £250k.
- Ongoing work with Hyundai in both its Rockar partnership and other dealerships. Further mandated business is scheduled for H2. Two more deployments of the MediaZest Retail Analytics product in H1.
NORTHLAND CAPITAL PARTNERS VIEW: Management is making progress in shifting the business towards a higher proportion of recurring revenue that will improve revenue visibility but also maintaining a tight focus on costs. As a result, the positive swing in EBITDA is encouraging. MediaZest has secured a number of high profile customers for innovative projects that showcase MediaZest’s AV skills.
Goals Soccer Centres plc (LON:GOAL): Trading update
Market Cap: £90m; Current Price: 153.5p
UK trading still tough
- Despite week-on-week sales improvements the anticipated pace of recovery since the outlook statement provided in September still not at anticipated levels and as a result the Board provides new profit guidance of £8.2m to £8.6m which is c. 12% below the guidance provided in the outlook statement at the time of the interims in September.
- Consensus forecasts at the time of the interims were at PBT of £10.9m for FY15, since revised to £9.3m. We expect consensus to adjust forecasts downward which will bring it in line with company guidance at c. £8.4m or c. 12% lower compared to current forecasts.
NORTHLAND CAPITAL PARTNERS VIEW: The lacklustre growth in the 1H15 and weaker trading in the 2H15 has affected business as well as the share price -21% since interims, and further downgrades seem inevitable on the back of today’s trading update. As alluded to at the time of the interim statement, the silver lining in the cloud was underlying cash conversion in the 1H15, so investors will remain hopeful that this remains strong despite the downward revision of profits. Further expansion in the US is a key catalyst for the share price in our view, which will further diversify the business from its reliance on the UK market.