Slower than expected trading combined with continued restructuring of the business in H117 has resulted in a reduction in our forecasts for FY17. Management is confident that the pipeline has strengthened and should support a pick-up in revenues in H217. The HomeSend joint venture (JV) has extended its application to the cross-border bank payments market, which should support its target to break even in CY17 and drive growth in the value of the JV.
eServGlobal |
Restructuring ongoing |
H117 results |
Software & comp services |
5 July 2017 |
Share price performance
Business description
Next events
Analysts
eServGlobal is a research client of Edison Investment Research Limited |
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Slower than expected trading combined with continued restructuring of the business in H117 has resulted in a reduction in our forecasts for FY17. Management is confident that the pipeline has strengthened and should support a pick-up in revenues in H217. The HomeSend joint venture (JV) has extended its application to the cross-border bank payments market, which should support its target to break even in CY17 and drive growth in the value of the JV.
Year end |
Revenue (A$m) |
EBITDA* |
EPS* |
DPS |
P/E |
EV/EBITDA |
10/14 |
31.3 |
2.6 |
(0.20) |
0.0 |
N/A |
26.5 |
10/15 |
25.9 |
(10.4) |
(5.41) |
0.0 |
N/A |
N/A |
10/16 |
21.6 |
(7.0) |
(3.88) |
0.0 |
N/A |
N/A |
10/17e |
18.2 |
(6.1) |
(2.01) |
0.0 |
N/A |
N/A |
12/17e** |
22.3 |
(4.8) |
(2.08) |
0.0 |
N/A |
N/A |
Note: *PBT and EBITDA are normalised, excluding amortisation of acquired intangibles, exceptional items and share-based payments. **14 month period to 31 December 2017
H117 trading disappoints
eServGlobal saw weaker than expected trading in H117 due to delays in a new and an existing contract, resulting in a 30% decline in revenues y-o-y. However, management is confident that it has a strong pipeline and therefore expects a material step-up in revenues in H217. Management has been restructuring the business over the past two years and continues to assess historical receivable balances – taking a more prudent approach has resulted in further WIP and receivable write-downs totalling A$4.3m in H117. The company extended its debt by £2.5m/A$4.2m post period end to fund working capital and further restructuring.
HomeSend expands addressable market
While current volumes processed by the HomeSend JV are predominantly for remittances, the JV has made inroads into the cross-border banking payments market. It is rolling its service out to KEB Hana and has signed several other banks to use its service. This opens up an addressable market that is multiple times larger than the remittances market. Management expects the value of the JV to grow through the year as volumes processed by the platform ramp up.
Changes to forecasts and valuation
We have revised our forecasts for FY17 to reflect the low end of management’s revenue expectations and have factored in cost guidance. This results in a cut to revenues of 15.8% and a small EBITDA profit moving to an adjusted loss of A$6.1m. While progress in the core business has been slower than hoped for, the HomeSend JV continues to make good progress and we expect adoption of the service for cross-border banking payments to drive volumes in the medium term. The current share price appears to be valuing the HomeSend JV based only on its opportunity in the remittances market, and the core business at a discount to mobile software peers. Evidence of progress in the banking sector for HomeSend as well as pipeline conversion in the core business should drive upside to the share price.
H117 results review
eServGlobal saw delays in signing new contracts in H117, resulting in a 30% year-on-year drop in revenues to A$5.86m. Writing off A$1.51m of WIP balances resulted in a gross loss of A$1.35m – excluding the write-off, the company generated a gross profit of A$0.16m (gross margin 3%). The company reported an EBITDA loss of A$11.87m. We calculate an adjusted EBITDA that excludes the share of losses from the HomeSend JV (A$1.92m), currency gains (A$0.32) and write-offs of receivables (A$2.78m) and WIP (A$1.51m). This is lower than a year ago, despite significantly lower revenues, reflecting the results of the company’s cost cutting (clean opex excluding depreciation and amortisation was A$6.1m in H117 vs A$7.0m in H116). The company ended H117 with cash of A$2.86m (down from A$9.38m at the end of FY16) and debt of A$13.46m, resulting in net debt of A$10.60m. Post period end, the company negotiated an additional £2.5m/A$4.2m in debt from its existing lenders, Lombard Odier Asset Management, on the same terms as the original debt (ie due for repayment in June 2019).
Exhibit 1: Half-year results highlights
A$m |
H116 |
H117 |
y-o-y |
Revenues |
8.36 |
5.86 |
(29.9) |
Normalised gross profit |
0.45 |
0.16 |
(64.9) |
Normalised gross margin (%) |
5.4 |
2.7 |
(2.7) |
EBITDA |
(8.81) |
(11.87) |
25.8 |
EBITDA margin (%) |
(105.3) |
(202.6) |
(97.3) |
Normalised EBITDA |
(6.56) |
(5.92) |
(10.8) |
Normalised EBITDA margin (%) |
(78.4) |
(101.0) |
(22.6) |
Net income |
(12.22) |
(14.39) |
15.1 |
Net debt |
19.84 |
10.60 |
(46.6) |
Source: eServGlobal, Edison Investment Research. *Excludes share-based payments, exceptional items and share of losses of associate.
Core business update
The shortfall in revenues in H117 was due to timing issues relating to one new contract and one existing contract. Despite this, the company is confident that it has generated an improved pipeline: the qualified pipeline was worth €39m at the end of H117 and is geographically diversified outside of the Middle East.
eServGlobal signed up an African channel partner last year; however, this relationship has not worked out as originally planned. The company has written off all revenue recognised in FY16, accounting for €1.8m/A$2.6m of the receivables write-down. The company believes opportunities still exist in the region and intends to pursue them in due course.
Management has focused on reducing costs in the core business, reducing the total cost base by 30% compared to one year ago.
Update on HomeSend JV
The company has provided an update on the progress of the HomeSend JV. The bulk of the JV’s current volumes are generated from remittances, ie person-to-person payments, usually from developed countries to developing countries. The JV also spent time over the course of 2016 integrating with Mastercard’s Send network and it is now the provider of Mastercard Send Cross Border (XB)’s service. This is a service that allows Mastercard bank customers to make cross-border payments via the Send network. This reduces the banks’ reliance on correspondent banks and should reduce the cost of such payments. The provision of cross-border payment services to banks expands HomeSend’s addressable market significantly: global remittances total c $575 billion per annum (source: World Bank) compared to cross-border B2B payments in the region of $160 trillion per annum (source: McKinsey).
In September 2016, HomeSend announced that KEB Hana, one of South Korea’s largest banks, had signed up to use HomeSend for cross-border remittance services. Several corridors are now live and the remaining corridors are being added. We understand that KEB is in soft launch, with limited volumes being processed to date. Assuming the testing phase proves that the system is robust, we would expect KEB to start to ramp up volumes from H217. This underpins HomeSend’s target to reach break-even during 2017. HomeSend has signed up a number of other banks to use its service and it is also exploring opportunities in the e-commerce market. Consequently, management expects the value of the JV to grow over the remainder of the year.
From a financial perspective, eServGlobal reported a share of losses of the JV of A$1.92m for H117, which compares to A$1.99m in H216 and A$2.65m in H116.
Outlook and changes to forecasts
The company had been targeting a reduction in costs to below €18m/A$26m in FY17, at which point it expected to break even. We were forecasting revenues of A$27.6m for the year with a small positive EBITDA of A$0.8m. Management now estimates that revenues could be in the range of €15-19m (A$22-28m) for the 14 months to 31 December.1 Management continues to target further cost reductions and expects costs for FY17 to be around €16.5m (A$24.3m) and for the 14 months to 31 December, around €18.5m (A$27.2m), with the potential to break even by the end of CY17.
The company is changing its year-end to 31 December. It will report results for the 12 months to 31 October in December as well as results for the 14 months to 31 December in March 2018.
We are resetting our forecasts based on the lower end of guidance. We have assumed that revenues are spread equally across the eight-month period to 31 December 2017, so we are forecasting H217 revenues of A$12.3m. While this is 115% higher than in H117, it is 7% below the same period a year ago. We now forecast an EBITDA loss of A$6.1m for FY17 (the year to 31 October 2017) and expect net debt to reach A$9.9m by the end of FY17. We have also introduced forecasts for the 14 month period to 31 December 2017.
Exhibit 2: Changes to forecasts
A$'000 |
FY17e old |
FY17e new |
Change |
y-o-y |
14 months to end CY17 |
Revenues |
27,629 |
18,163 |
(34.3%) |
(15.8%) |
22,264 |
Gross profit |
12,713 |
5,081 |
(60.0%) |
(16.5%) |
6,721 |
Gross margin |
46.0% |
28.0% |
(18.0%) |
(0.2%) |
30.2% |
Normalised EBITDA |
791 |
(6,071) |
(867.1%) |
(13.0%) |
(4,769) |
Normalised EBITDA margin |
2.9% |
(33.4%) |
(36.3%) |
(1.1%) |
(21.4%) |
Normalised EBIT |
(2,599) |
(9,461) |
264.1% |
5.8% |
(8,724) |
Normalised EBIT margin |
(9.4%) |
(52.1%) |
(42.7%) |
(5.6%) |
(39.2%) |
Reported EBIT |
(2,799) |
(13,621) |
386.7% |
(45.0%) |
(12,918) |
Normalised PBT |
(7,272) |
(15,830) |
117.7% |
9.7% |
(16,334) |
Reported PBT |
(7,472) |
(19,990) |
167.5% |
5.5% |
(20,528) |
Normalised net income |
(6,018) |
(12,864) |
113.8% |
9.6% |
(13,301) |
Reported net income |
(6,178) |
(20,290) |
228.4% |
7.5% |
(20,861) |
Normalised EPS |
(0.94) |
(2.01) |
113.8% |
48.2% |
(2.08) |
Net debt/(cash) |
4,105 |
9,912 |
141.5% |
315.8% |
9,542 |
Source: Edison Investment Research.
Exhibit 3: Financial summary
A$'000s |
2012 |
2013 |
2014 |
2015 |
2016 |
2017e |
2017e* |
||
Year end 31 October |
IFRS |
IFRS |
IFRS |
IFRS |
IFRS |
IFRS |
IFRS |
||
PROFIT & LOSS |
|||||||||
Revenue |
|
|
28,070 |
31,003 |
31,261 |
25,866 |
21,577 |
18,163 |
22,264 |
Cost of Sales |
(12,267) |
(11,789) |
(13,359) |
(20,608) |
(15,490) |
(13,082) |
(15,543) |
||
Gross Profit |
15,803 |
19,214 |
17,902 |
5,258 |
6,087 |
5,081 |
6,721 |
||
EBITDA |
|
|
(1,936) |
1,683 |
2,571 |
(10,449) |
(6,982) |
(6,071) |
(4,769) |
Operating Profit (before amort acq intang, SBP and except.) |
(7,277) |
(660) |
1,987 |
(12,469) |
(10,039) |
(9,461) |
(8,724) |
||
Amortisation of acquired intangibles |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
||
Exceptionals |
(6,485) |
5,997 |
28,735 |
(12,539) |
(3,533) |
(3,971) |
(3,971) |
||
Share-based payments |
(624) |
(456) |
(438) |
(54) |
(75) |
(189) |
(222) |
||
Operating Profit |
(14,386) |
4,881 |
30,284 |
(25,062) |
(13,647) |
(13,621) |
(12,918) |
||
Income from associate |
0 |
0 |
(2,275) |
(3,831) |
(4,638) |
(4,597) |
(5,490) |
||
Net Interest |
(1,016) |
(386) |
(254) |
(1,356) |
(2,861) |
(1,772) |
(2,120) |
||
Profit Before Tax (norm) |
|
|
(8,293) |
(1,046) |
(542) |
(17,656) |
(17,538) |
(15,830) |
(16,334) |
Profit Before Tax (FRS 3) |
|
|
(15,402) |
4,495 |
27,755 |
(30,249) |
(21,146) |
(19,990) |
(20,528) |
Tax |
(187) |
5,879 |
(13,515) |
(2,125) |
(596) |
(100) |
(100) |
||
Profit After Tax (norm) |
(5,805) |
(732) |
(379) |
(14,125) |
(14,030) |
(12,664) |
(13,067) |
||
Profit After Tax (FRS3) |
(15,589) |
10,374 |
14,240 |
(32,374) |
(21,742) |
(20,090) |
(20,628) |
||
Average Number of Shares Outstanding (m) |
196.8 |
241.1 |
253.1 |
264.0 |
366.6 |
640.2 |
640.2 |
||
EPS - normalised (c) |
|
|
(3.01) |
(0.36) |
(0.20) |
(5.41) |
(3.88) |
(2.01) |
(2.08) |
EPS - FRS 3 (c) |
|
|
(7.98) |
4.25 |
5.57 |
(12.33) |
(5.98) |
(3.17) |
(3.26) |
DPS (c) |
0.00 |
0.00 |
0.00 |
0.00 |
0.00 |
0.00 |
0.00 |
||
Gross Margin (%) |
56.3% |
62.0% |
57.3% |
20.3% |
28.2% |
28.0% |
30.2% |
||
EBITDA Margin (%) |
(6.9%) |
5.4% |
8.2% |
(40.4%) |
(32.4%) |
(33.4%) |
(21.4%) |
||
Operating Margin (before am and except.) (%) |
(25.9%) |
(2.1%) |
6.4% |
(48.2%) |
(46.5%) |
(52.1%) |
(39.2%) |
||
BALANCE SHEET |
|||||||||
Fixed Assets |
|
|
16,303 |
14,330 |
43,431 |
42,928 |
33,274 |
26,876 |
25,683 |
Intangible Assets |
9,386 |
3,523 |
9,011 |
6,939 |
5,598 |
3,797 |
3,497 |
||
Tangible Assets |
912 |
482 |
3 |
84 |
32 |
32 |
32 |
||
Other Fixed Assets |
6,005 |
10,325 |
34,417 |
35,905 |
27,644 |
23,047 |
22,154 |
||
Current Assets |
|
|
18,136 |
38,855 |
30,761 |
34,895 |
28,240 |
23,970 |
28,002 |
Stock |
|
|
158 |
74 |
173 |
66 |
72 |
72 |
72 |
Debtors |
|
|
14,094 |
21,846 |
26,811 |
24,403 |
17,976 |
14,680 |
17,994 |
Cash |
|
|
3,794 |
4,909 |
3,679 |
4,976 |
9,375 |
8,401 |
9,118 |
Other |
|
|
90 |
12,026 |
98 |
5,450 |
817 |
817 |
817 |
Current Liabilities |
|
|
(12,934) |
(15,082) |
(18,033) |
(25,520) |
(14,469) |
(12,224) |
(14,921) |
Creditors |
(11,665) |
(11,932) |
(13,010) |
(22,285) |
(14,189) |
(11,944) |
(14,641) |
||
Taxation & social security |
(69) |
(150) |
(2,023) |
(235) |
(280) |
(280) |
(280) |
||
Short term borrowings |
(1,200) |
(3,000) |
(3,000) |
(3,000) |
0 |
0 |
0 |
||
Long Term Liabilities |
|
|
(6,431) |
(749) |
(865) |
(19,532) |
(12,649) |
(19,203) |
(19,551) |
Long term borrowings |
(6,000) |
0 |
0 |
(16,531) |
(11,759) |
(18,313) |
(18,661) |
||
Other long term liabilities |
(431) |
(749) |
(865) |
(3,001) |
(890) |
(890) |
(890) |
||
Net Assets |
|
|
14,989 |
37,154 |
55,070 |
32,359 |
33,823 |
19,067 |
18,827 |
CASH FLOW |
|||||||||
Operating Cash Flow |
|
|
(11,901) |
(7,207) |
(5,810) |
(12,130) |
(10,712) |
(5,020) |
(4,336) |
Net Interest |
(974) |
(580) |
(271) |
(423) |
(175) |
(148) |
(148) |
||
Tax |
(7,813) |
(1,088) |
2,018 |
(3,148) |
(1,159) |
(300) |
(350) |
||
Capex |
(1,966) |
(1,950) |
(6,403) |
(2,921) |
(1,583) |
(1,590) |
(1,855) |
||
Acquisitions/disposals |
23,307 |
0 |
5,418 |
0 |
5,133 |
0 |
0 |
||
Financing |
(77) |
16,140 |
3,964 |
4,365 |
15,929 |
0 |
0 |
||
Dividends |
(111) |
0 |
(146) |
0 |
0 |
(421) |
(421) |
||
Net Cash Flow |
465 |
5,315 |
(1,230) |
(14,257) |
7,433 |
(7,480) |
(7,110) |
||
Opening net debt/(cash) |
|
|
3,871 |
3,406 |
(1,909) |
(679) |
14,555 |
2,432 |
2,432 |
HP finance leases initiated |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
||
Other |
0 |
0 |
0 |
977 |
(4,690) |
(0) |
(0) |
||
Closing net debt/(cash) |
|
|
3,406 |
(1,909) |
(679) |
14,555 |
2,432 |
9,912 |
9,542 |
Source: eServGlobal, Edison Investment Research *14 month period to 31 December 2017
|
|
Research: Energy & Resources
SDX Energy has released the results of an independent resource audit on its South Disouq discovery. Gaffney, Cline & Associates has assigned gross 2C resources of 47bcf and 2.3mmbbls and a further 180bcf and 8.7mmbbls of gross prospective resources. The company is in discussion to get production as early as possible to generate cashflows and value. Elsewhere, progress is being made at NW Gemsa and Meseda that should see production increases by year end. In Morocco, a campaign of seven wells is planned and should start in the next six weeks. We are reviewing our model and will update our valuation (currently 76p/share) in time.