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FY16 net revenues grew by 5% to €13.5m (we forecast €13.7m), while EBITDA eased by 2% to €5.6m (€6.0m). Revenue and the EBITDA margin both showed a small improvement in H2. The numbers were slightly below expectations, largely due to the challenging economic backdrop. However, EPS beat by 4% on lower than expected tax. We have conservatively eased our revenue and EBITDA forecasts, although EPS remains the same after taking into account favourable tax changes (expanded ‘Patent Box’ rules and reduced corporate tax charges). Given the attractive growth opportunities, strong cash generation and the healthy balance sheet, we believe the shares remain attractive on c 15x our FY18e earnings.
Written by
Piteco |
EPS beat on favourable Italian tax changes |
Final results |
Software & comp services |
3 April 2017 |
Share price performance
Business description
Next events
Analysts
Piteco is a research client of Edison Investment Research Limited |
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FY16 net revenues grew by 5% to €13.5m (we forecast €13.7m), while EBITDA eased by 2% to €5.6m (€6.0m). Revenue and the EBITDA margin both showed a small improvement in H2. The numbers were slightly below expectations, largely due to the challenging economic backdrop. However, EPS beat by 4% on lower than expected tax. We have conservatively eased our revenue and EBITDA forecasts, although EPS remains the same after taking into account favourable tax changes (expanded ‘Patent Box’ rules and reduced corporate tax charges). Given the attractive growth opportunities, strong cash generation and the healthy balance sheet, we believe the shares remain attractive on c 15x our FY18e earnings.
Year end |
Net sales revenue* (€m) |
EBITDA** |
EPS** |
DPS |
P/E |
Yield |
12/15 |
12.8 |
5.7 |
21.5 |
10.0 |
22.7 |
2.0 |
12/16 |
13.5 |
5.6 |
25.1 |
15.0 |
19.5 |
3.1 |
12/17e |
14.5 |
6.3 |
28.3 |
17.5 |
17.3 |
3.6 |
12/18e |
15.5 |
6.9 |
31.2 |
20.0 |
15.7 |
4.1 |
Note: *Excludes the capitalisation of development costs, change in work in progress and other revenues (largely expenses charged back to customers). **Normalised, excluding amortisation of acquired intangibles, exceptional items and share-based payments.
FY16 results: 26 new clients added during the year
EBITDA represented 41.6% of net sales, down from 44.5% a year earlier, reflecting additional costs. However, H2 recovered to 45.4%, from 37.6% in H1. The 26 new clients in FY16 indicates that four were added since our note in late October. Cash flow was strong with operating cash flow (before interest and tax) representing 99% of EBITDA. While the group closed the year with €1.9m of net cash, which is similar as at end-June, it was after the payment of a €1.9m dividend during H2. Also, the net cash position includes the €4.6m convertible bond, which is well above its 420c conversion price; if the bonds all converted, the net cash position would be €6.5m. Management hopes to move from AIM to the main market by December, and it believes this will help to boost the stock’s liquidity as the free float will rise to c 30%.
Forecasts: Sales and EBITDA eased, EPS maintained
We have conservatively cut our forecasts to reflect the challenging economic backdrop in Italy. Revenue comes back by 4% in FY17 and by 5% in FY18 while EBITDA falls by 9% and 11%, respectively. However, our EPS forecasts remain broadly unchanged due to the tax benefits from extended ‘Patent Box’ rules in Italy and lower Italian corporate tax rates from FY17.
Valuation: DCF suggests fair value
The stock looks attractive, trading on c 17.3x our EPS in FY17e, falling to c 15.7x in FY18e and to c 15.1x in FY19e. Our DCF model suggests a valuation of 497c, slightly above the current price. The calculation uses conservative assumptions including a 4.7% CAGR in net sales revenue over 10 years, a long-term EBITDA margin (40% to net sales) that is below current levels and a discount rate of 9%. It has also been adjusted for the dilution impact of the convertible bonds.
Final results: 26 new clients added during the year
26 new clients were added in FY16 meaning the total is now approaching 700. The 26 gains imply that four clients were added since our last note in late October. This was below our expectations, reflecting the challenging economic backdrop in Italy and some management time spent on the group’s internationalisation strategy. However, management is optimistic that activity will improve in FY17, given the recent modest improvements in the Italian economy along with a greater management focus. This optimism is reflected in the dividend, which is boosted by 50% to 15c (total cost of €2.7m), and is 60% covered by earnings.
Piteco has one pilot project in Mexico, which was through its local distributor, PAGAFLEX, and management anticipates initial sales will be made in FY17. While a typical licence size remains the same, the company did not get the benefit from any abnormally large deal in FY16, as is often the case. EBITDA represented 41.6% of net sales in FY16, down from 44.5% a year earlier, reflecting additional costs including the listing, an additional salesman and costs in preparation for expansion, which includes a new ‘cloud’ solution. The sales team stands at seven, including the sales director. The H2 EBITDA margin recovered to 45.4%, up from 37.6% in H1 when there was a c €0.2m one-off cost relating to the listing. Cash flow was strong with operating cash flow (before interest and tax) representing 99% of EBITDA. The group closed the year with €1.9m of net cash, which was below our €2.9m forecast. While this was similar as at end-June, there were also €1.9m in dividend payments made during H2. The net cash position includes the €4.6m convertible bond, which is well above its 420c conversion price; if the bonds all converted, the net cash position would be €6.5m. The convertibles can convert at any time up until 2020; therefore any early conversions will boost the net cash position.
The group tax charge fell from €1.1m in FY15 to €0.5m in FY16, for a 10% tax rate, as Piteco benefited from the newly implemented ‘Patent Box’ rules. These ‘Patent Box’ rules are set to be expanded in FY17 to bring them in line with other countries in Europe. This will mean the group’s entire recurring revenue book will be covered. Further, the corporate tax rate in Italy is falling from 27.5% to 24% in FY17. We also note that there have recently been significant tax incentives announced for retirement investment plans to invest in small companies, which could help the company to expand its shareholder base.
The company began a share buyback scheme in January to purchase up to 5% of the shares, over an 18-month period. No shares have yet been purchased. However, share purchases are expected to take place over the coming months.
Forecasts: Sales and EBITDA eased, EPS maintained
We have conservatively cut our forecasts to reflect the challenging economic backdrop in Italy. Revenue comes back by 4% in FY17 and by 5% in FY18, while EBITDA falls by 9% and 11%, respectively. However, EPS remains broadly unchanged due to the tax benefits from extended ‘Patent Box’ rules and lower Italian corporate tax rates. We have also introduced FY19 forecasts. In all, we forecast net sales revenue to grow by 7.5% in FY17, 6.9% in FY18 and 6.1% in FY19, with adjusted EBITDA rising from €6.3m to €7.4m over the period and EPS showing a CAGR of 8.9% over the three-year period. We also note that the group could potentially benefit from a €0.5m exceptional gain, as the expanded ‘Patent Box’ rules should apply to FY16’s taxes also, but we have not yet included this in our model.
Exhibit 1: Forecast changes
Net sales revenue (€m) |
Adjusted EBITDA (€m) |
EPS (c) |
|||||||
Old |
New |
% chg. |
Old |
New |
% chg. |
Old |
New |
% chg. |
|
2016 |
13.7 |
13.5 |
(2) |
6.0 |
5.6 |
(7) |
24.1 |
25.1 |
(4) |
2017e |
15.1 |
14.5 |
(4) |
6.9 |
6.3 |
(9) |
28.2 |
28.3 |
0 |
2018e |
16.4 |
15.5 |
(5) |
7.7 |
6.9 |
(11) |
31.3 |
31.2 |
0 |
2019e |
N/A |
16.4 |
N/A |
N/A |
7.4 |
N/A |
N/A |
32.4 |
N/A |
Source: Edison Investment Research
Exhibit 2: Financial summary
€'000s |
2014 |
2015 |
2016 |
2017e |
2018e |
2019e |
|
Year end 31 December |
IFRS |
IFRS |
IFRS |
IFRS |
IFRS |
IFRS |
|
PROFIT & LOSS |
|||||||
Turnover |
|
12,334 |
13,384 |
14,122 |
15,281 |
16,332 |
17,328 |
Net Sales Revenue |
11,550 |
12,838 |
13,477 |
14,484 |
15,480 |
16,425 |
|
EBITDA |
|
5,229 |
5,719 |
5,606 |
6,271 |
6,889 |
7,374 |
Adjusted Operating Profit |
|
5,149 |
5,620 |
5,466 |
6,026 |
6,542 |
6,913 |
Amortisation of acquired intangibles |
(623) |
(157) |
(157) |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
Exceptionals |
17 |
(323) |
106 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
Share based payments |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
Operating Profit |
4,543 |
5,140 |
5,415 |
6,026 |
6,542 |
6,913 |
|
Net Interest |
(1,011) |
(585) |
(365) |
(200) |
(100) |
||
Profit Before Tax (norm) |
|
4,139 |
5,035 |
5,102 |
5,826 |
6,442 |
6,913 |
Profit Before Tax (FRS 3) |
|
3,532 |
4,555 |
5,050 |
5,826 |
6,442 |
6,913 |
Tax |
(1,090) |
(1,130) |
(547) |
(699) |
(789) |
(1,037) |
|
Profit After Tax (norm) |
3,049 |
3,905 |
4,554 |
5,127 |
5,653 |
5,876 |
|
Profit After Tax (FRS 3) |
2,443 |
3,426 |
4,503 |
5,127 |
5,653 |
5,876 |
|
Average Number of Shares Outstanding (m) |
0.0 |
18.1 |
18.1 |
18.1 |
18.1 |
18.1 |
|
EPS - normalised (c) |
|
0.0 |
21.5 |
25.1 |
28.3 |
31.2 |
32.4 |
EPS - FRS 3 (c) |
|
0.0 |
18.9 |
24.8 |
28.3 |
31.2 |
32.4 |
Dividend per share (c) |
0.00 |
10.00 |
15.00 |
17.50 |
20.00 |
22.50 |
|
Gross Margin (%) |
0.0 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
|
EBITDA Margin (%) |
42.4 |
42.7 |
39.7 |
41.0 |
42.2 |
42.6 |
|
Op Margin (before GW and except.) (%) |
41.7 |
42.0 |
38.7 |
39.4 |
40.1 |
39.9 |
|
BALANCE SHEET |
|||||||
Fixed Assets |
|
29,303 |
30,055 |
30,090 |
30,251 |
30,337 |
30,337 |
Intangible assets and deferred tax |
27,442 |
28,522 |
28,626 |
28,790 |
28,950 |
29,013 |
|
Tangible Assets |
1,455 |
1,421 |
1,365 |
1,361 |
1,288 |
1,224 |
|
Investments |
406 |
112 |
99 |
99 |
99 |
99 |
|
Current Assets |
|
6,005 |
14,846 |
15,531 |
16,463 |
17,958 |
19,470 |
Stocks |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
Debtors |
4,013 |
4,494 |
4,524 |
4,661 |
4,770 |
4,850 |
|
Cash |
1,862 |
10,198 |
10,870 |
11,665 |
13,050 |
14,482 |
|
Current Liabilities |
|
(4,994) |
(5,408) |
(5,023) |
(5,523) |
(6,002) |
(6,451) |
Creditors |
(3,794) |
(3,688) |
(3,304) |
(3,804) |
(4,283) |
(4,731) |
|
Short term borrowings |
(1,200) |
(1,720) |
(1,719) |
(1,719) |
(1,719) |
(1,719) |
|
Long Term Liabilities |
|
(12,052) |
(10,114) |
(8,576) |
(6,826) |
(5,514) |
(4,201) |
Long term borrowings |
(10,694) |
(8,825) |
(7,204) |
(5,454) |
(4,142) |
(2,829) |
|
Other long term liabilities |
(1,359) |
(1,289) |
(1,372) |
(1,372) |
(1,372) |
(1,372) |
|
Net Assets |
|
18,262 |
29,379 |
32,022 |
34,365 |
36,779 |
39,155 |
CASH FLOW |
|||||||
Operating Cash Flow |
|
5,739 |
5,056 |
5,525 |
6,416 |
7,044 |
7,538 |
Net Interest |
(1,011) |
(585) |
(365) |
(200) |
(100) |
0 |
|
Tax |
(973) |
(1,146) |
(661) |
(547) |
(641) |
(709) |
|
Capex |
(273) |
(330) |
(347) |
(406) |
(433) |
(460) |
|
Acquisitions/disposals |
0 |
(972) |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
Financing |
(2,265) |
7,671 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
Dividends |
0 |
0 |
(1,860) |
(2,719) |
(3,172) |
(3,625) |
|
Net Cash Flow |
1,217 |
9,695 |
2,293 |
2,545 |
2,698 |
2,744 |
|
Opening net debt/(cash) |
|
11,249 |
10,032 |
347 |
(1,946) |
(4,491) |
(7,189) |
Other |
() |
(10) |
0 |
0 |
0 |
() |
|
Closing net debt/(cash) |
|
10,032 |
347 |
(1,946) |
(4,491) |
(7,189) |
(9,933) |
Source: Piteco (historics), Edison Investment Research (forecasts)
|
|
Templeton Emerging Markets Inv. Trust (TEMIT) aims to generate long-term capital growth from a diversified portfolio of emerging market equities. Since the change in manager in October 2015, there has been a notable improvement in TEMIT’s relative performance – over the last 12 months, its NAV total return has outperformed its MSCI Emerging Markets index benchmark by 10.2%. TEMIT has historically run a small cash balance, but in January 2017 announced it had entered into a new £150m credit facility; if fully drawn down, it would take gross gearing to c 7.0% of net assets.