StatPro’s annualised recurring revenue (ARR) rose by 37% over the 12 months to £39.3m at end-FY16, reflecting 6% constant currency organic growth, two acquisitions and translation benefits from the decline in sterling. More than 10 clients are already using Revolution Performance, the recently launched transaction-based performance measurement tool that runs off Amazon cloud. The group’s pipeline of new business is at record levels and management was increasingly optimistic at the results meeting. Hence, following the recent dip, we believe that the shares are looking more compelling as the group continues to set the pace in the cloud.
Written by
StatPro Group |
Underlying revenue book grew by 6% |
Final results |
Software & comp services |
20 March 2017 |
Share price performance
Business description
Next events
Analysts
StatPro Group is a research client of Edison Investment Research Limited |
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StatPro’s annualised recurring revenue (ARR) rose by 37% over the 12 months to £39.3m at end-FY16, reflecting 6% constant currency organic growth, two acquisitions and translation benefits from the decline in sterling. More than 10 clients are already using Revolution Performance, the recently launched transaction-based performance measurement tool that runs off Amazon cloud. The group’s pipeline of new business is at record levels and management was increasingly optimistic at the results meeting. Hence, following the recent dip, we believe that the shares are looking more compelling as the group continues to set the pace in the cloud.
Year |
Revenue (£m) |
PBT* |
EPS* |
DPS |
P/E |
Yield |
12/15 |
30.2 |
2.6 |
2.6 |
2.9 |
34.2 |
3.3 |
12/16 |
37.5 |
2.7 |
3.5 |
2.9 |
25.4 |
3.3 |
12/17e |
40.2 |
3.6 |
4.1 |
2.9 |
21.7 |
3.3 |
12/18e |
43.0 |
4.5 |
5.1 |
2.9 |
17.5 |
3.3 |
Note: *PBT and EPS are normalised, excluding amortisation of acquired intangibles, exceptional items and share-based payments.
FY16 results: Revenue and EBITDA beaten by 6%
Group revenue jumped 24% to £37.5m (we forecast £35.5m) as adjusted EBITDA increased by 26% to £5.1m (£4.8m) and EPS lifted 35% to 3.5p (2.7p), partly benefiting from a share buyback a year ago. Underlying organic revenue growth was 2%, while the equivalent ARR figure, which is the more forward-looking KPI, rose by 6%. The average revenue per client jumped by 54% to £50.1k, partly reflecting the higher value from Investor Analytics and a prior year decision to de-emphasise smaller customers. The group has more than 10 Revolution Performance clients, including two significant contracts signed in 2016. The group’s primary focus is to shift clients from three traditional modules, representing c £7.5m of revenue, to the cloud over the next two to three years. There is typically a significant conversion premium to reflect the lower total cost of ownership for the client (including lower headcount, outsourced hardware and support) and the technical advantages of cloud software. including the ability to leverage computing power. Further, there is also a possibility of streamlining applications.
Forecasts: EBITDA maintained, EPS boosted by tax
FY17 revenue growth estimate is a function of the 6% constant currency organic ARR, new business wins, less churn, plus currency headwinds and movement in professional services. We conservatively forecast 7% revenue growth in both FY17 and FY18. Consequently, we have lifted our FY17 revenue forecast by 4%, while our adjusted EBITDA is unchanged, but EPS rise by 12% on reduced tax assumptions.
Valuation: Highly scalable cloud computing upside
StatPro’s stock trades on c 22x our FY17e EPS, which falls to c 17x in FY18e. Alternatively, the shares trade on c 1.6x FY18e EV/sales, around one-third of the level of StatPro’s larger US peers and US-based pure SaaS companies.
FY16 results: Revenue and EBITDA beaten by 6%
Group revenue jumped 24% to £37.5m (we forecast £35.5m) as adjusted EBITDA increased by 26% to £5.1m (£4.8m) and EPS lifted 35% to 3.5p (2.7p), partly benefiting from the buyback of 4.25% of the shares in March 2016. Excluding acquisitions and currency movements, the organic revenue growth was 2%, while the equivalent ARR figure, which is a better forward-looking KPI, rose by 6%. StatPro Revolutions ARR grew by 32% at constant currency excluding acquisitions. The average revenue per client jumped by 54% to £50.1k, partly reflecting the higher value from Investor Analytics and the prior year decision to de-emphasise smaller customers. 83% of new revenue was from existing clients.
The company took a goodwill impairment of £9.7m on its Canadian acquisition, FRI, which was acquired in 2007. The group has limited profits in Canadian dollars.
The group’s primary focus is to shift clients from three traditional modules (StatPro Performance & Attribution, StatPro Fixed Income and StatPro Risk Management), representing c £7.5m of revenue, to the cloud over the next two to three years. There is typically a significant conversion premium to reflect the lower total cost of ownership for the client (including lower headcount, outsourced hardware and support) and the technical advantages of cloud software, including the ability to leverage computing power and there is also the potential to streamline applications. The group has more than 10 Revolution Performance clients, including two significant contracts signed in 2016 with State Street and National Australia Bank and, following significant recent sales and marketing events, more than 30 clients are scheduled to review the service in the coming months. StatPro also signed a €3m six-year contract with an unnamed large European asset manager in early March and this deal had a c 20% conversion premium.
In February the group lifted its stake in InfoVest Consulting from 51% to 72.7% at a cost of £1.2m in cash. InfoVest has performed well since it was acquired in January 2016, partly because it has been able to cross-sell to StatPro’s client base.
Forecast changes
We have increased Traditional software rental revenues, mainly due to better than expected performance from InfoVest (c £1.0m additional revenue, £1.7m including the StatPro module that was swapped for a shareholding, and this includes some Professional services revenues). Data move up from stronger than expected FY16 performance, while Professional services rises because an increased number of larger projects are expected as Revolution Performance is rolled out. We have broadly maintained our FY17 StatPro Revolution revenues. The group spent £5.94m (15.8% of sales) on R&D in FY16, of which £4.57m was capitalised and £3.88 was amortised. We assume 15% of revenue is spent on R&D going forward, of which 75% is capitalised and amortised over three years.
In all, our FY17 revenue forecast rises by 4%, while adjusted EBITDA is unchanged. However, EPS move up with the declining tax rate (we assume 23% on normalised pre-tax profits). The effective tax rate was 16% in FY16, down from 33% in FY15. The group benefits from R&D tax credits in the UK and South Africa, along with the utilisation of historic tax losses not previously recognised.
The group’s transition to cloud, since its beginnings in 2008, has been a long and arduous process. We believe there is now significant potential for margin expansion from economies of scale as the group builds up its ARR. We forecast operating margins to grow from 9.2% in FY16 to 11.6% in FY18, which remains well below historical levels. In the longer term, we would expect margins to head towards the 25.6% achieved in FY07, as most of the hard work on the group’s cloud transition has now been completed, and R&D as a percentage of sales can be expected to ease.
We have edged up FY17 operating cash flow, as well as investment and tax paid, and after including the £1.2m cost of the additional InfoVest shares, end-FY17 net debt rises to £12.8m (previously £11.2m). We have included additional acquisition payments for Investor Analytics of $2m in FY17 and $1m in FY18, and we have assumed a final payment for SiSoft of £0.65m in FY17.
Exhibit 1: Forecast changes
(£000s) |
2016e |
2016 |
change |
2017e |
change |
2018e |
|
Edison |
Actual |
% |
Old |
New |
% |
New |
|
Revenues |
|
|
|
|
|
||
Traditional software rental |
17,944 |
18,920 |
5.4 |
16,009 |
16,920 |
5.7 |
14,920 |
StatPro Revolution |
11,838 |
12,260 |
3.6 |
16,475 |
16,449 |
(0.2) |
21,139 |
Data |
3,614 |
3,810 |
5.4 |
3,831 |
4,039 |
5.4 |
4,119 |
Professional services |
2,100 |
2,560 |
21.9 |
2,289 |
2,790 |
21.9 |
2,846 |
Group Revenue |
35,496 |
37,545 |
5.8 |
38,604 |
40,198 |
4.1 |
43,024 |
Growth (%) |
17.6 |
24.4 |
8.8 |
7.1 |
7.0 |
||
Opex (before devt costs depn) |
(31,151) |
(33,136) |
6.4 |
(33,107) |
(34,801) |
5.1 |
(37,103) |
Capitalisation of dev costs (net) |
457 |
695 |
51.9 |
328 |
444 |
35.6 |
459 |
Adjusted EBITDA |
4,802 |
5,104 |
6.3 |
5,824 |
5,841 |
0.3 |
6,381 |
Depreciation |
(1,415) |
(1,643) |
16.1 |
(1,600) |
(1,704) |
6.5 |
(1,410) |
Adjusted operating profit |
3,386 |
3,461 |
2.2 |
4,224 |
4,136 |
(2.1) |
4,970 |
Operating margin (%) |
9.5 |
9.2 |
(3.4) |
10.9 |
10.3 |
(6.0) |
11.6 |
Growth (%) |
18.7 |
21.4 |
24.7 |
19.5 |
20.2 |
||
Net interest |
(625) |
(786) |
25.8 |
(550) |
(550) |
0.0 |
(450) |
Profit before tax (norm) |
2,762 |
2,675 |
(3.1) |
3,674 |
3,586 |
(2.4) |
4,520 |
Amortisation of acquired intangibles |
(1,100) |
(1,060) |
(3.6) |
(1,100) |
(1,060) |
(3.6) |
(1,060) |
Share based payments |
(200) |
(361) |
80.5 |
(213) |
(213) |
0.0 |
(225) |
Exceptional items (net of tax) |
(10,894) |
(10,909) |
0.1 |
0 |
0 |
0.0 |
0 |
Profit before tax |
(9,432) |
(9,655) |
2.4 |
2,362 |
2,313 |
(2.0) |
3,235 |
Taxation |
(773) |
(301) |
(61.1) |
(1,029) |
(825) |
(19.8) |
(1,040) |
Minority interest |
(213) |
(94) |
(55.9) |
(278) |
(121) |
(56.6) |
(129) |
Net income |
(10,418) |
(10,050) |
(3.5) |
1,055 |
1,368 |
29.7 |
2,066 |
Adjusted EPS (p) |
2.7 |
3.5 |
28.7 |
3.6 |
4.1 |
11.9 |
5.1 |
P/E - Adjusted EPS |
|
25.4 |
|
21.7 |
17.5 |
||
Source: StatPro, Edison Investment Research
Peer analysis
StatPro’s stock trades on c 22x our FY17e EPS, which falls to c 17x in FY18e, putting it at a significant discount to its UK-quoted peers. Alternatively, the shares trade on c 1.6x FY18e EV/sales, less than one-third of the level of StatPro’s larger US peers, which mostly trade above 5x EV/sales, and at around a third of the level of US-based pure SaaS companies. While the P/E ratio discounts are smaller, we are confident that StatPro will show healthy margin progression as its ARR book continues to grow, which will lead to sharply declining P/S ratios.
Exhibit 2: Peers
Price |
Market cap |
EV/sales (x) |
EV/EBITDA (x) |
P/E (x) |
|||||||||
Local currency |
Local currency (m) |
Year 1 |
Year 2 |
Year 1 |
Year 2 |
Year 1 |
Year 2 |
||||||
StatPro |
89.00 |
58 |
1.8 |
1.6 |
12.1 |
11.1 |
21.7 |
17.5 |
|||||
1) US-quoted investment management software peers |
|||||||||||||
MSCI |
98.05 |
8,878 |
8.2 |
7.6 |
16.3 |
14.7 |
27.6 |
23.7 |
|||||
FactSet |
179.58 |
7,105 |
6.1 |
5.7 |
17.3 |
16.0 |
24.7 |
22.5 |
|||||
SS&C |
36.40 |
7,394 |
5.8 |
5.5 |
14.0 |
12.9 |
18.9 |
16.8 |
|||||
DST Systems |
118.28 |
3,731 |
2.3 |
2.2 |
9.7 |
9.3 |
19.3 |
17.1 |
|||||
Envestnet |
35.85 |
1,543 |
3.1 |
2.7 |
18.0 |
13.5 |
36.7 |
26.4 |
|||||
Medians |
5.8 |
5.5 |
16.3 |
13.5 |
24.7 |
22.5 |
|||||||
2) Investment management software peers quoted in other countries |
|||||||||||||
GBST |
2.67 |
181 |
1.9 |
1.8 |
13.8 |
10.7 |
21.2 |
15.5 |
|||||
Iress |
11.31 |
1,923 |
4.8 |
4.3 |
15.8 |
14.2 |
22.7 |
20.2 |
|||||
Linedata |
47.89 |
352 |
1.9 |
1.8 |
6.9 |
6.7 |
14.3 |
13.4 |
|||||
SimCorp |
412.40 |
17,115 |
6.7 |
6.2 |
24.1 |
21.5 |
32.0 |
28.3 |
|||||
Medians |
3.3 |
3.1 |
14.8 |
12.4 |
21.9 |
17.9 |
|||||||
3) UK-quoted financial software peers |
|||||||||||||
Fidessa |
2,514.00 |
970 |
2.5 |
2.3 |
10.9 |
10.3 |
27.0 |
24.7 |
|||||
First Derivatives |
2,699.00 |
671 |
4.8 |
4.3 |
25.7 |
22.9 |
48.1 |
43.9 |
|||||
Microgen |
270.50 |
164 |
3.6 |
3.4 |
14.6 |
13.1 |
21.5 |
18.9 |
|||||
Brady |
76.50 |
64 |
1.9 |
1.8 |
18.6 |
10.2 |
58.8 |
24.7 |
|||||
Lombard Risk |
11.50 |
46 |
1.2 |
1.0 |
N/A |
6.0 |
N/A |
28.8 |
|||||
Medians (excl Lombard) |
3.0 |
2.9 |
16.6 |
11.7 |
37.6 |
24.7 |
|||||||
4) US companies with SaaS business models |
|||||||||||||
Callidus |
20.63 |
1,314 |
4.6 |
3.9 |
33.0 |
25.7 |
66.1 |
52.3 |
|||||
Cornerstone OnDemand |
40.83 |
2,313 |
4.7 |
4.0 |
40.3 |
25.5 |
114.4 |
54.3 |
|||||
Paycom Software |
56.40 |
3,355 |
7.9 |
6.3 |
29.0 |
22.1 |
55.4 |
42.2 |
|||||
Paylocity |
36.83 |
1,894 |
6.1 |
4.9 |
42.9 |
33.0 |
86.5 |
65.4 |
|||||
Salesforce |
83.54 |
59,105 |
5.8 |
4.8 |
26.7 |
21.8 |
65.9 |
50.9 |
|||||
Ultimate Software |
195.12 |
5,788 |
5.9 |
4.8 |
24.3 |
19.5 |
49.1 |
39.6 |
|||||
Workday |
85.16 |
17,117 |
7.7 |
6.2 |
92.5 |
59.1 |
168.3 |
115.9 |
|||||
Medians |
5.9 |
4.8 |
33.0 |
25.5 |
66.1 |
52.3 |
|||||||
Source: Bloomberg, Edison Investment Research. Note: Prices as at 16 March 2017.
Exhibit 3: Financial summary
£000s |
2013 |
2014 |
2015 |
2016 |
2017e |
2018e |
||
Year end 31 December |
IFRS |
IFRS |
IFRS |
IFRS |
IFRS |
IFRS |
||
PROFIT & LOSS |
||||||||
Revenue |
|
|
32,486 |
32,018 |
30,187 |
37,545 |
40,198 |
43,024 |
Cost of Sales |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
||
Gross Profit |
32,486 |
32,018 |
30,187 |
37,545 |
40,198 |
43,024 |
||
EBITDA |
|
|
5,463 |
4,359 |
4,044 |
5,104 |
5,841 |
6,381 |
Adjusted Operating Profit |
|
|
4,327 |
2,875 |
2,852 |
3,461 |
4,136 |
4,970 |
Amortisation of acquired intangibles |
(402) |
(188) |
(32) |
(1,060) |
(1,060) |
(1,060) |
||
Exceptionals |
(347) |
0 |
0 |
(11,378) |
0 |
0 |
||
Share based payments |
(192) |
(26) |
(121) |
(361) |
(213) |
(225) |
||
Operating Profit |
3,386 |
2,661 |
2,699 |
(9,338) |
2,864 |
3,685 |
||
Net Interest |
(273) |
(291) |
(290) |
(786) |
(550) |
(450) |
||
Profit Before Tax (norm) |
|
|
4,054 |
2,584 |
2,562 |
2,675 |
3,586 |
4,520 |
Profit Before Tax (FRS 3) |
|
|
3,113 |
2,370 |
2,409 |
(10,124) |
2,313 |
3,235 |
Tax |
(1,030) |
(774) |
(788) |
(395) |
(825) |
(1,040) |
||
Profit After Tax (norm) |
3,024 |
1,810 |
1,774 |
2,843 |
2,761 |
3,481 |
||
Profit After Tax (FRS 3) |
2,083 |
1,596 |
1,621 |
(10,519) |
1,489 |
2,196 |
||
Minority interests |
0 |
0 |
0 |
(94) |
(121) |
(129) |
||
Net income (norm) |
3,024 |
1,810 |
1,774 |
2,280 |
2,640 |
3,351 |
||
Net income (statutory) |
2,083 |
1,596 |
1,621 |
(10,613) |
1,368 |
2,066 |
||
Average Number of Shares Outstanding (m) |
67.5 |
67.5 |
67.6 |
65.3 |
64.9 |
65.2 |
||
EPS - normalised (p) |
|
|
4.5 |
2.7 |
2.6 |
3.5 |
4.1 |
5.1 |
EPS - FRS 3 (p) |
|
|
3.1 |
2.4 |
2.4 |
(16.3) |
2.1 |
3.2 |
Dividend per share (p) |
2.80 |
2.90 |
2.90 |
2.90 |
2.90 |
2.90 |
||
Gross Margin (%) |
100.0 |
100.0 |
100.0 |
100.0 |
100.0 |
100.0 |
||
EBITDA Margin (%) |
16.8 |
13.6 |
13.4 |
13.6 |
14.5 |
14.8 |
||
Operating Margin (before GW & except.) (%) |
13.3 |
9.0 |
9.4 |
9.2 |
10.3 |
11.6 |
||
BALANCE SHEET |
||||||||
Fixed Assets |
|
|
55,992 |
56,113 |
51,857 |
59,088 |
60,412 |
60,701 |
Intangible Assets |
53,524 |
52,546 |
48,613 |
55,696 |
57,317 |
57,510 |
||
Tangible Assets |
1,883 |
2,470 |
2,233 |
2,742 |
2,445 |
2,540 |
||
Other assets |
585 |
1,097 |
1,011 |
650 |
650 |
650 |
||
Current Assets |
|
|
10,312 |
10,441 |
10,665 |
19,081 |
18,830 |
19,930 |
Stocks |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
||
Debtors |
6,167 |
7,722 |
8,462 |
14,725 |
15,766 |
16,874 |
||
Cash |
4,014 |
2,692 |
2,203 |
4,356 |
3,064 |
3,056 |
||
Current Liabilities |
|
|
(18,514) |
(20,271) |
(19,778) |
(35,686) |
(37,143) |
(38,696) |
Creditors |
(18,502) |
(20,259) |
(19,660) |
(27,227) |
(28,684) |
(30,237) |
||
Short term borrowings |
(12) |
(12) |
(118) |
(8,459) |
(8,459) |
(8,459) |
||
Long Term Liabilities |
|
|
(882) |
(598) |
(1,227) |
(9,897) |
(11,296) |
(10,596) |
Long term borrowings |
0 |
0 |
(801) |
(5,961) |
(7,360) |
(6,660) |
||
Other long term liabilities |
(882) |
(598) |
(426) |
(3,936) |
(3,936) |
(3,936) |
||
Net Assets |
|
|
46,908 |
45,685 |
41,517 |
32,586 |
30,803 |
31,338 |
CASH FLOW |
||||||||
Operating Cash Flow |
|
|
9,403 |
7,705 |
6,548 |
7,454 |
10,120 |
10,977 |
Net Interest |
(98) |
(10) |
(84) |
(500) |
(550) |
(450) |
||
Tax |
(1,616) |
(1,173) |
(832) |
(1,294) |
(1,000) |
(789) |
||
Capex |
(4,412) |
(5,904) |
(4,999) |
(6,445) |
(5,929) |
(6,346) |
||
Acquisitions/disposals |
(990) |
0 |
0 |
(4,786) |
(3,437) |
(820) |
||
Equity financing |
0 |
2 |
64 |
(2,079) |
0 |
0 |
||
Dividends |
(1,856) |
(1,889) |
(1,960) |
(1,877) |
(1,893) |
(1,881) |
||
Net Cash Flow |
431 |
(1,269) |
(1,263) |
(9,527) |
(2,689) |
691 |
||
Opening net debt/(cash) |
|
|
(3,667) |
(4,002) |
(2,680) |
(1,283) |
10,065 |
12,754 |
Other |
(96) |
(53) |
(134) |
(1,821) |
0 |
0 |
||
Closing net debt/(cash) |
|
|
(4,002) |
(2,680) |
(1,283) |
10,065 |
12,754 |
12,063 |
Source: StatPro Group accounts, Edison Investment Research estimates
|
|
Research: Real Estate
Target Healthcare REIT is a specialist investor in modern, purpose built residential care homes, the demand for which is rising, driven by structural demographic changes throughout the UK. The manager selects modern, purpose-built assets suited to their local area and population. The assets are acquired at yields of c 7% and let on long leases (c 30 years) to high quality operators, with regular contact to ensure they are well-run. These long and secure income streams underpin a growing dividend yielding c 6% which, on our estimates, will be 100% covered once the group is fully invested, expected by the end of FY18.