LoopUp Group PLC (LON:LOOP) has said it is “confident” in its ability to deliver medium-term growth as macro headwinds affecting user behaviour in the UK stabilised.
For the year ended 31 December, the conference call and remote meetings company expects to report results “in line with market expectations” with revenues of £42.5mln, up from £34.2mln in 2018, and earnings (EBITDA) of £6.4mln compared to £7.7mln last year.
READ: LoopUp grows revenues 86% in first half but macro headwinds blow
Looking ahead, the company said it is “increasingly focused on the professional services market” and is reallocating costs to product development to drive differentiation of its products.
“Our differentiated product experience focuses on the particular needs of the professional services world, which are materially distinct from the market in general. We already enjoy considerable success in this market, where we are proud to work with more than 20 of the world's top-100 law firms and over 20 of the world's top-100 private equity firms, and we are excited to reinforce our focus on this large and growing market segment", said LoopUp chief executives Steve Flavell and Michael Hughes.
While headwinds in the UK has stabilised, the firm said similar issues were now affecting its US market, with minutes per active user falling 8% in the second half of 2019. The company attributed the decline to a 41% fall in deal values in US mergers & acquisitions.
Despite these “short-term challenges”, Flavell and Hughes said the firm was in a vibrant market and that “industry drivers of responsible corporate travel, employee productivity and cost efficiency lead to substantial forward-looking market growth expectations”.
The shares were down 14% at 71p in early trading on Monday.