SCISYS has released an upbeat AGM trading update, noting that progress has been made across all its four divisions. The order book has reached £100m, up from £91.3m at end-FY17, boosted in particular by the renewal of M&B’s BBC support contract. Cash flow was strong, with net debt declining by £4m over the first five months of the year, in what is typically a subdued period for cash generation. We have increased our FY18 operating cash flow forecast, while conservatively maintaining our other forecasts. Management’s goal to achieve £60m in revenues and double-digit margins within three to five years looks increasingly conservative, and we believe the stock looks attractive on c 12.6x our FY19e EPS.
Written by
SCISYS |
An “impressive start” to 2018 |
AGM trading update |
Software & comp services |
29 June 2018 |
Share price performance
Business description
Next events
Analysts
SCISYS is a research client of Edison Investment Research Limited |
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SCISYS has released an upbeat AGM trading update, noting that progress has been made across all its four divisions. The order book has reached £100m, up from £91.3m at end-FY17, boosted in particular by the renewal of M&B’s BBC support contract. Cash flow was strong, with net debt declining by £4m over the first five months of the year, in what is typically a subdued period for cash generation. We have increased our FY18 operating cash flow forecast, while conservatively maintaining our other forecasts. Management’s goal to achieve £60m in revenues and double-digit margins within three to five years looks increasingly conservative, and we believe the stock looks attractive on c 12.6x our FY19e EPS.
Year |
Revenue |
PBT* |
EPS* |
DPS |
P/E |
Yield |
12/16 |
45.7 |
3.0 |
9.2 |
1.96 |
17.5 |
1.2 |
12/17 |
57.2 |
3.8 |
10.0 |
2.16 |
16.0 |
1.3 |
12/18e |
53.0 |
4.4 |
12.0 |
2.38 |
13.3 |
1.5 |
12/19e |
57.0 |
5.0 |
12.7 |
2.62 |
12.6 |
1.6 |
Note: *PBT and EPS are normalised, excluding amortisation of acquired intangibles, exceptional items and share-based payments. IFRS 15 is applied from 1 January 2018.
AGM update: Underpinned by impressive pipeline
The company says it has made an “impressive start” to 2018, with growth being achieved both through winning new customers and expanding business in established ones. FY18 is expected to be more evenly balanced than FY17.
Early end to ANNOVA ring-fencing
There is an early termination of the ring-fencing of ANNOVA, which relates to the acquisition earnout, at a cost of €0.7m. Clearly the vendors saw more value in a swift integration of ANNOVA with SCISYS M&B to take full advantage of synergies.
Brexit contingency plans
The company stands to lose significant revenues from its work on Galileo and EGNOS if Brexit proceeds without specific amendments. If this happens, we expect SCICYS to redomicile in an EU country at a cost in the region of c £0.5m.
Forecasts: Moving up FY18 cash generation
We have added the €0.7m final payment for the acquisition of ANNOVA and increased FY18 operating cash flow by £0.9m, and hence we now forecast the group to end FY18 with net debt of £3.0m (previously £3.3m).
Valuation: Profits maintained for now
The stock trades on c 13.3x our earnings in FY18e, falling to c 12.6x in FY19e. Alternatively, the stock trades on c 0.89x our FY19e sales and c 7.7x EBITDA, which we believe is attractive if SCISYS can maintain the momentum. Our DCF model – which is based on our forecasts and organic CAGR of 3% over 10 years, a weighted average cost of capital of 10% and an 11.5% long-term margin target – values the stock at 178p, 11% above the current level. This is 12% above our previous level, reflecting adjustment to the base and increased cash flow.
Trading update: Record order book and strong pipeline
SCISYS says it has made an “impressive start” to 2018, delivering on contracts that were part of the opening order book as well as winning notable new contracts. Growth has been achieved both through acquiring new customers and expanding business in established ones. The order book has reached £100m, up from £91.3m at end-FY17 and the company also states that it has an “impressive pipeline” of new business. The order book was boosted by the renewal of M&B’s BBC support contract, which we understand exceeds £10m. The £100m order book is much longer term than it used to be, including M&B’s BBC support revenues for the dira! running to 2025 and ANNOVA’s significant BBC contract, which runs to 2027. FY18 is expected to be more evenly balanced than FY17, when operating profit represented c 27% in H1 and 73% in H2.
In April, the Space division announced a €3.9m order with Airbus Defence & Space to develop the ground control infrastructure for the EGNOS satellite-navigation augmentation system. In addition, Space has extended its footprint in the EU’s Galileo satellite navigation programme. SCISYS says it has not experienced resistance from awarding authorities on EU space programmes where it has been bidding.
The Media & Broadcast (M&B) division reported in February that it had secured an enhanced service contract for the BBC until at least 2025 and has subsequently added six new German broadcasters to its customer base for roll-out of its weConnect gateway functionality to exchange media content within the ARD group of public broadcasters. ANNOVA Systems, acquired in December 2016, has signed contracts with German Hessischer Rundfunk and French L’Equipe 24, which are both new customers.
The Enterprise Solutions & Defence (ESD) division has extended its support agreements with Vodafone to 2020 and Capgemini to 2021, for the 111 non-emergency NHS number and the Environment Agency applications, respectively. In addition, ESD continues to expand its activities providing on-site consultancy teams to key customers in both the commercial and defence/security arenas, increasing the number of staff deployed by 95% in the last 12 months. This has resulted in extending the time & materials revenues and provided a better balance with fixed-price revenue.
ANNOVA early end to ring-fencing
SCISYS has agreed to the early termination of the ring-fence arrangement established for ANNOVA’s acquisition, which could have run to 31 December 2019. SCISYS will pay the vendors a fixed sum of €0.7m and repay a subordinated vendor loan of €2.5m six months early, which will save c £60k in interest. SCISYS had been anticipating that no further acquisition payments were likely under the terms of the earnout, so clearly the vendors saw more value in accelerating the integration of ANNOVA with M&B than in holding on for additional earnout payments.
Brexit contingency plans
In the 2017 annual report, SCISYS said it was exploring a wide range of Brexit contingency plans. The board is determined to protect the group’s participation in EU-funded programmes such as Galileo (c €6m revenues in each of the last two years) and EGNOS (a €3.9m contract was won in April). Under existing rules, services to these entities must be provided by entities that have parent companies domiciled in the EU. While the Brexit negotiations continue, with UK politicians pushing for continued involvement with Galileo, there is the possibility that Brexit will take place without a favourable resolution. In these circumstances, we understand that SCICYS would likely redomicile in an EU country. We estimate that this would cost the company in the region of c £0.5m, while it would remain listed on AIM as a foreign company and should be able to maintain its UK tax status. There has also been media speculation that the UK could start its own global navigation satellite system if it is shut out from Galileo; if this occurred it could create new work for SCISYS.
Exhibit 1: Financial summary
£'000s |
2015 |
2016 |
2017 |
2018e |
2019e |
2020e |
||
Year end 31 December |
IFRS |
IFRS |
IFRS |
IFRS |
IFRS |
IFRS |
||
PROFIT & LOSS |
||||||||
Revenue |
|
|
36,106 |
45,744 |
57,164 |
53,012 |
57,041 |
58,774 |
Cost of Sales |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
||
Gross Profit |
36,106 |
45,744 |
57,164 |
53,012 |
57,041 |
58,774 |
||
EBITDA |
|
|
1,548 |
3,995 |
5,619 |
6,097 |
6,627 |
6,922 |
Adjusted operating profit |
|
|
818 |
3,214 |
4,520 |
4,983 |
5,472 |
5,761 |
Amort'n of acq'd intangibles |
0 |
0 |
(1,982) |
(1,250) |
(1,200) |
(1,150) |
||
Exceptionals |
0 |
(458) |
2,075 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
||
Share based payments |
(11) |
14 |
0 |
(45) |
(50) |
(55) |
||
Operating Profit |
807 |
2,770 |
4,613 |
3,688 |
4,222 |
4,556 |
||
Net Interest |
(196) |
(185) |
(710) |
(567) |
(450) |
(400) |
||
Associates |
3 |
17 |
39 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
||
Profit Before Tax (norm) |
|
|
625 |
3,046 |
3,849 |
4,416 |
5,022 |
5,361 |
Profit Before Tax (FRS 3) |
|
|
614 |
2,602 |
3,942 |
3,121 |
3,772 |
4,156 |
Tax |
(241) |
(380) |
(593) |
(874) |
(1,243) |
(1,340) |
||
Profit After Tax (norm) |
384 |
2,666 |
3,256 |
3,542 |
3,779 |
4,021 |
||
Profit After Tax (FRS 3) |
373 |
2,222 |
3,349 |
2,247 |
2,529 |
2,816 |
||
Average Number of Shares Outstanding (m) |
29.0 |
29.0 |
29.2 |
29.4 |
29.7 |
30.0 |
||
EPS - normalised (p) |
|
|
1.3 |
9.2 |
10.0 |
12.0 |
12.7 |
13.4 |
EPS - FRS 3 (p) |
|
|
1.3 |
7.6 |
11.5 |
7.6 |
8.5 |
9.4 |
Dividend per share (p) |
1.78 |
1.96 |
2.16 |
2.38 |
2.62 |
2.88 |
||
Gross Margin (%) |
100.0 |
100.0 |
100.0 |
100.0 |
100.0 |
100.0 |
||
EBITDA Margin (%) |
4.3 |
8.7 |
9.8 |
11.5 |
11.6 |
11.8 |
||
Operating Margin (%) |
2.3 |
7.0 |
7.9 |
9.4 |
9.6 |
9.8 |
||
BALANCE SHEET |
||||||||
Fixed Assets |
|
|
16,553 |
31,955 |
30,465 |
29,162 |
27,948 |
26,812 |
Intangible Assets |
7,831 |
22,441 |
21,086 |
19,836 |
18,636 |
17,486 |
||
Tangible Assets |
8,635 |
9,057 |
9,261 |
9,208 |
9,194 |
9,208 |
||
Deferred tax asset & associates |
87 |
457 |
118 |
118 |
118 |
118 |
||
Current Assets |
|
|
17,839 |
27,895 |
33,333 |
31,268 |
34,301 |
35,434 |
Stocks |
211 |
261 |
321 |
298 |
320 |
330 |
||
Debtors |
12,299 |
19,621 |
24,541 |
22,758 |
24,486 |
25,229 |
||
Cash |
4,352 |
6,915 |
8,021 |
7,763 |
9,045 |
9,425 |
||
Current Liabilities |
|
|
(12,003) |
(18,763) |
(23,481) |
(22,034) |
(23,274) |
(23,494) |
Creditors |
(8,699) |
(14,959) |
(21,191) |
(19,994) |
(21,484) |
(21,954) |
||
Short term borrowings |
(3,304) |
(3,804) |
(2,290) |
(2,040) |
(1,790) |
(1,540) |
||
Long Term Liabilities |
|
|
(2,333) |
(18,374) |
(14,603) |
(11,690) |
(10,479) |
(8,268) |
Long term borrowings |
(2,007) |
(13,355) |
(11,667) |
(8,754) |
(7,543) |
(5,332) |
||
Other long term liabilities |
(326) |
(5,019) |
(2,936) |
(2,936) |
(2,936) |
(2,936) |
||
Net Assets |
|
|
20,056 |
22,713 |
25,714 |
26,706 |
28,495 |
30,484 |
CASH FLOW |
||||||||
Operating Cash Flow |
|
|
1,570 |
3,442 |
10,369 |
6,732 |
6,342 |
6,628 |
Net Interest |
(196) |
(185) |
(710) |
(567) |
(450) |
(400) |
||
Tax |
(583) |
(1,250) |
147 |
(930) |
(1,283) |
(1,405) |
||
Capex |
(619) |
(663) |
(1,255) |
(1,060) |
(1,141) |
(1,175) |
||
Acquisitions/disposals |
(889) |
(7,521) |
82 |
(617) |
0 |
0 |
||
Financing |
(14) |
15 |
(131) |
0 |
0 |
0 |
||
Dividends |
(340) |
(671) |
(586) |
(652) |
(725) |
(806) |
||
Net Cash Flow |
(1,071) |
(6,833) |
7,916 |
2,905 |
2,743 |
2,841 |
||
Opening net debt/(cash) |
|
|
(328) |
959 |
10,244 |
5,936 |
3,031 |
288 |
Other including foreign exchange |
(216) |
(2,452) |
(3,608) |
0 |
0 |
0 |
||
Closing net debt/(cash) |
|
|
959 |
10,244 |
5,936 |
3,031 |
288 |
(2,553) |
Source: SCISYS, Edison Investment Research. Note: IFRS15 is applied from 1 January 2018.
|
|
Research: Industrials
A good all-round performance in FY18 provided some positive markers of progress including rising UK margins, a steep step-up in the Indian JV order book and a special dividend declared for the year. While we acknowledge some sector variations, the overall trading outlook appears to be similarly robust and our estimates are modestly higher now. A c 4% near-term yield (ie final plus special DPS) is an obvious draw. Sector diversity provides resilience and additional growth potential in our view.