JPJ Group plc (JPJ’s) Q2 headline numbers were in line with our expectations, with growth in international markets offsetting weaker UK revenues. The company remains competitively well positioned across all its key markets and is highly cash generative. JPJ has signed a share purchase agreement for the sale of the social business for £18.1m cash, which we estimate had annual revenues of £12m and EBITDA of £3.5m. We have adjusted our EBITDA to reflect the sale, but our profit forecasts would otherwise have been broadly unchanged. The stock continues to trade at a meaningful discount to peers, at 9.8x EV/EBITDA and 8.2x P/E for FY19e.
Written by
JPJ Group plc |
Global growth keeps profits intact |
Q2 results |
Travel & leisure |
14 August 2018 |
Share price performance
Business description
Next events
Analysts
JPJ Group plc is a research client of Edison Investment Research Limited |
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JPJ Group plc (JPJ’s) Q2 headline numbers were in line with our expectations, with growth in international markets offsetting weaker UK revenues. The company remains competitively well positioned across all its key markets and is highly cash generative. JPJ has signed a share purchase agreement for the sale of the social business for £18.1m cash, which we estimate had annual revenues of £12m and EBITDA of £3.5m. We have adjusted our EBITDA to reflect the sale, but our profit forecasts would otherwise have been broadly unchanged. The stock continues to trade at a meaningful discount to peers, at 9.8x EV/EBITDA and 8.2x P/E for FY19e.
Year end |
Revenue (£m) |
EBITDA* |
PBT* |
EPS* |
DPS |
P/E |
Dividend yield (%) |
12/16 |
269.0 |
102.2 |
83.5 |
112.6 |
0.0 |
9.0 |
0.0 |
12/17 |
304.7 |
108.6 |
78.2 |
103.9 |
0.0 |
9.8 |
0.0 |
12/18e |
315.3 |
109.2 |
89.2 |
114.5 |
0.0 |
8.9 |
0.0 |
12/19e |
336.2 |
113.1 |
98.6 |
123.7 |
40.0 |
8.2 |
3.9 |
12/20e |
356.5 |
118.1 |
104.6 |
130.7 |
45.0 |
7.8 |
4.4 |
Note: *PBT and EPS are normalised, excluding amortisation of acquired intangibles, exceptional items and share-based payments.
International offsets slower UK
JPJ reported Q218 revenues of £80.5m, driven by a 39% increase in Vera&John (£24.2m). Jackpotjoy divisional revenues declined by 3%, largely as a result of weakness in the social division (down 31%), but also reflecting ongoing regulatory challenges across the UK online bingo sector. Group Q218 EBITDA of £29.7m was in line with our expectations, also boosted by international growth in the Vera&John division.
Sale of social business for £18.1m
JPJ has signed a share purchase agreement for the sale of the social business for £18.1m, with the aim of focusing on the core real money gaming business. We estimate that this business contributes approximately £12m revenues and £3.5m EBITDA annually. Altogether, we have lowered group revenues by c 6% (uncertain UK outlook plus sale of social) and EBITDA is lowered by c 3-4% to reflect the social business sale. We have not included a potential increase in UK gaming taxes in our forecasts, which might occur after the budget (based on FY18 figures, a rise from 15% to 20% would negatively affect EBITDA by c £9m).
Valuation: 8.2x FY19e P/E
The shares have risen 23% in the year to date, but still trade at a discount to peers at 8.2x adjusted P/E and 9.8x EV/EBITDA for FY19e. Although the online bingo sector faces a number of regulatory challenges in the UK, JPJ remains well positioned competitively and is highly cash generative. We continue to expect debt reduction from this point and dividends from next year. Post period, JPJ’s shares were transferred to a premium listing, a further validation of the company’s strengthened corporate governance.
International offsets UK declines
Revenues: Q218 driven by 39% growth in Vera&John
Q218 revenues increased 7% y-o-y to £80.5m, with weakness in the UK fully offset by a 39% growth in Vera&John.
Within the Jackpotjoy division, the company reported a 31% decline in the social business, which now comprises only 5% of divisional revenues. Mandalay was also slightly disappointing and we believe that across the sector, growth in the UK online bingo market is becoming more elusive.
At June 2018, average active customers per month grew 7% to 256,861 vs the prior year and average real money gaming revenue per month increased 15% to £25.0m. This equates to monthly real money gaming revenue per average active customer of £96, a y-o-y increase of 8%.
EBITDA: Q218 in line, boosted by international
In line with our estimates, Q218 group EBITDA was £29.7m, which represents a margin of 37.0% vs 39.9% in the prior year. Vera & John’s EBITDA of £8.4m was above estimates and fully compensated for the lower contribution from the UK. As in the past two quarters, the UK business was affected by the introduction of bonuses into the point of consumption tax (POCT 2) and total gaming taxes were 12.5% of total revenues, vs 11.3% in Q217. In addition, margins were affected by continued marketing campaigns across the group. Total marketing costs were 16.5% of revenues vs 14.4% in the prior year.
Final major earnout paid
The bingo-led business is characterised by high cash conversion and JPJ produced £24.5m of operating cash flow in the quarter, in line with our expectations. Despite the payment of the last major earnout to Gamesys, JPJ ended the quarter with an unrestricted cash balance of £29.5m. Adjusted net debt was £362.9m, which equates to 3.4x annualised adjusted net debt/EBITDA. This compares to 3.6x at December 2017. With yearly operating cash flow of £100m, we believe this ratio will decline to 2.8x by year end 2018 and 2.1x by year end 2019.
Outlook and forecast changes; adjusting for social
JPJ has signed a share purchase agreement for the sale of the social business for £18.1m, with the aim of focusing on the core real money gaming business. We estimate that this business contributes approximately £12m revenues and £3.5m EBITDA annually. Altogether, we have lowered group revenues by c 6% (largely due to the uncertain UK outlook) and our EBITDA is lowered by c 3-4% to reflect the social business sale. Since growth should be derived globally where gaming taxes are often lower (or non-existent), a shift away from the UK is expected to enhance EBITDA margins. We have not included a potential increase in UK gaming taxes in our forecasts, which might occur after the budget (based on FY18 figures, a rise from 15% to 20% would negatively affect EBITDA by c £9m).
Jackpotjoy (72% of revenues)
Jackpotjoy divisional Q218 revenues declined 3% to £56.3m vs the prior year, largely as a result of a weaker performance in social and a continuing decline in Mandalay. As highlighted by peers, the UK online bingo market is facing a number of regulatory challenges and we believe that significant growth domestically will be more difficult to achieve across the sector. To compensate for less momentum in Jackpotjoy UK, Starspins (UK) and Botemania (Spain) now comprise approximately 25% of divisional revenues, suggesting 27% growth vs the prior year.
In terms of profit, divisional EBITDA was £23.7m (42.1% margin) and compares to 47.6% margin in the prior year. The margin decline was due to rises in UK gaming taxes and the ongoing marketing campaign. Helpfully, the Spanish gaming taxes have now been lowered from 25% to 20%.
We have removed the social business from our forecasts on a pro-forma basis from FY18, which has the impact of lowering revenues by £12m and EBITDA by £3.5m.
Vera&John (28% of revenues)
JPJ has continued its impressive growth trajectory in international markets and Vera&John Q218 revenues increased by 39% y-o-y to £24.2m, equating to 36% in constant currency. As the business continues to scale and gain momentum in international markets, Q218 adjusted EBITDA of £8.4m represented an EBITDA margin of 34.6% (vs 29% in the prior year).
Cash flow and balance sheet
Following the £63.5m earnout and milestone payments in June, JPJ ended the quarter with an unrestricted cash balance of £29.5m and adjusted net debt of £362.9m. Unadjusted net debt was £354.3m (excluding £8.6m contingent consideration). EBITDA cash conversion of 86% produced a post-interest total operating cash flow of £24.5m and is in line with our yearly estimates of c £100m.
As discussed above, total contingent consideration has decreased from £59.6m at FY17 to £8.6m and adjusted annualised net debt/EBITDA ratio was 3.4x at Q218 vs 3.6x at FY17. Including the £18.1m cash for the social business, we forecast unadjusted net debt of £292m in 2018, with an adjusted net leverage of 2.8x, reaching the company’s target of less than 2.0x during 2019.
Exhibit 1: Changes to estimates
Revenue (£m) |
EBITDA (£m) |
EPS (p) |
|||||||
Old |
New |
% chg |
Old |
New |
% chg |
Old |
New |
% chg |
|
2018e |
334.5 |
315.3 |
(5.7) |
113.6 |
109.2 |
(3.8) |
120.4 |
114.5 |
(4.9) |
2019e |
358.7 |
336.2 |
(6.3) |
116.5 |
113.1 |
(2.9) |
128.1 |
123.7 |
(3.4) |
2020e |
382.0 |
356.5 |
(6.7) |
122.0 |
118.1 |
(3.2) |
135.8 |
130.7 |
(3.7) |
Source: Company accounts, Edison Investment Research
Exhibit 2: Financial summary
£m |
2015 |
2016 |
2017 |
2018e |
2019e |
2020e |
||
December |
||||||||
PROFIT & LOSS |
||||||||
Revenue |
|
|
194.6 |
269.0 |
304.7 |
315.3 |
336.2 |
356.5 |
Cost of Sales |
(101.4) |
(130.7) |
(147.5) |
(159.1) |
(176.3) |
(186.6) |
||
Gross Profit |
93.3 |
138.3 |
157.2 |
156.2 |
160.0 |
169.9 |
||
EBITDA |
|
|
70.4 |
102.2 |
108.6 |
109.2 |
113.1 |
118.1 |
Operating Profit (before amort. and except.) |
70.1 |
101.6 |
108.2 |
108.7 |
112.6 |
117.6 |
||
Intangible Amortisation |
(50.6) |
(55.5) |
(62.6) |
(62.0) |
(62.0) |
(62.0) |
||
Exceptional and other items ** |
(109.7) |
(80.3) |
(104.9) |
(20.4) |
1.0 |
1.0 |
||
Share based payments |
(2.9) |
(2.3) |
(1.4) |
(0.7) |
(1.0) |
(1.0) |
||
Operating Profit |
(93.1) |
(36.5) |
(60.8) |
25.6 |
50.6 |
55.6 |
||
Net Interest |
(24.0) |
(18.1) |
(30.0) |
(19.4) |
(14.0) |
(13.0) |
||
Profit Before Tax (norm) |
|
|
46.1 |
83.5 |
78.2 |
89.2 |
98.6 |
104.6 |
Profit Before Tax (FRS 3) |
|
|
(114.2) |
(36.7) |
(65.8) |
8.2 |
36.6 |
42.6 |
Tax |
(0.5) |
0.1 |
(0.7) |
(3.0) |
(5.0) |
(5.0) |
||
Profit After Tax (norm) |
45.5 |
83.6 |
77.5 |
86.2 |
93.6 |
99.6 |
||
Profit After Tax (FRS 3) |
(114.8) |
(36.7) |
(66.5) |
5.2 |
31.6 |
37.6 |
||
Average Number of Shares Outstanding (m) |
61.2 |
71.2 |
73.9 |
74.6 |
75.0 |
75.5 |
||
EPS - normalised (p) |
74.4 |
117.3 |
104.9 |
115.6 |
124.8 |
131.9 |
||
EPS - normalised and fully diluted (p) |
|
73.1 |
112.6 |
103.9 |
114.5 |
123.7 |
130.7 |
|
EPS - (IFRS) (p) |
(187.6) |
(51.5) |
(90.0) |
6.9 |
42.1 |
49.8 |
||
Dividend per share (p) |
0.0 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
40.0 |
45.0 |
||
Gross Margin (%) |
47.9 |
51.4 |
51.6 |
49.5 |
47.6 |
47.7 |
||
EBITDA Margin (%) |
36.2 |
38.0 |
35.6 |
34.6 |
33.6 |
33.1 |
||
Operating Margin (before GW and except.) (%) |
36.0 |
37.8 |
35.5 |
34.5 |
33.5 |
33.0 |
||
BALANCE SHEET |
||||||||
Fixed Assets |
|
|
674.3 |
652.3 |
595.9 |
537.4 |
478.9 |
420.4 |
Intangible Assets |
668.8 |
648.8 |
589.0 |
527.0 |
465.0 |
402.9 |
||
Tangible Assets |
0.2 |
0.9 |
1.3 |
4.8 |
8.3 |
11.9 |
||
Other long term assets |
5.3 |
2.6 |
5.6 |
5.6 |
5.6 |
5.6 |
||
Current Assets |
|
|
63.9 |
139.0 |
93.2 |
85.4 |
99.6 |
101.3 |
Stocks |
0.0 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
||
Debtors (incl swaps) |
25.6 |
62.0 |
26.0 |
28.0 |
30.0 |
32.0 |
||
Cash |
31.8 |
68.5 |
59.0 |
47.4 |
58.6 |
57.3 |
||
Player balances |
6.5 |
8.6 |
8.2 |
10.0 |
11.0 |
12.0 |
||
Current Liabilities |
|
|
(54.3) |
(154.9) |
(98.5) |
(44.3) |
(40.3) |
(38.3) |
Creditors |
(23.1) |
(41.3) |
(46.3) |
(40.0) |
(38.0) |
(36.0) |
||
Short term borrowings |
(25.2) |
(26.7) |
(0.3) |
(0.3) |
(0.3) |
(0.3) |
||
Contingent consideration |
(6.0) |
(86.9) |
(51.9) |
(4.0) |
(2.0) |
(2.0) |
||
Long Term Liabilities |
|
|
(394.8) |
(397.1) |
(386.7) |
(343.5) |
(291.5) |
(241.5) |
Long term borrowings |
(189.3) |
(347.4) |
(369.5) |
(339.5) |
(289.5) |
(239.5) |
||
Contingent consideration |
(203.6) |
(33.3) |
(7.7) |
(2.0) |
0.0 |
0.0 |
||
Other long term liabilities |
(2.0) |
(16.4) |
(9.4) |
(2.0) |
(2.0) |
(2.0) |
||
Net Assets |
|
|
289.0 |
239.4 |
204.1 |
235.1 |
246.8 |
241.9 |
CASH FLOW |
||||||||
Operating Cash Flow |
|
|
23.3 |
84.2 |
102.0 |
97.2 |
104.1 |
109.1 |
Net Interest |
(24.0) |
(17.5) |
(30.9) |
(19.4) |
(14.0) |
(13.0) |
||
Tax |
(0.5) |
(1.2) |
(1.0) |
(3.0) |
(5.0) |
(5.0) |
||
Capex |
(2.5) |
(2.5) |
(3.2) |
(4.0) |
(4.0) |
(4.0) |
||
Acquisitions (inc earnouts) |
(355.6) |
(156.3) |
(94.2) |
(52.4) |
(5.0) |
(5.0) |
||
Financing |
203.7 |
(29.6) |
22.2 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
||
Dividends |
0.0 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
(14.9) |
(33.4) |
||
Net Cash Flow |
(155.6) |
(122.9) |
(5.2) |
18.4 |
61.3 |
48.7 |
||
Opening net debt/(cash) |
|
|
27.1 |
182.7 |
305.6 |
310.7 |
292.3 |
231.1 |
HP finance leases initiated |
0.0 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
||
Other |
0.0 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
(0.0) |
0.0 |
0.0 |
||
Closing net debt/(cash) |
|
|
182.7 |
305.6 |
310.7 |
292.3 |
231.1 |
182.4 |
NPV of outstanding earnouts/other |
|
209.5 |
140.8 |
76.6 |
10.0 |
5.0 |
0.0 |
|
Currency swaps |
|
|
(4.7) |
(38.2) |
0.0 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
Adjusted net debt |
|
|
387.5 |
408.1 |
387.3 |
302.4 |
236.1 |
182.4 |
Source: Company accounts, Edison Investment Research
|
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