22/09/2005
Marketing software business smartFOCUS reported a maiden interim profit (of £65,000) for the six months to June, spurred on by a 70% surge in revenues to £2.2m. Initially recommended by Growth Company Investor at 10.9p in May, the company’s shares advanced to 19p – within 0.25p of their highest value – on the back of the results, yet there remains plenty of scope for further progress.
Commenting on the figures, chief executive Chris Underhill was in exuberant mood, declaring ‘we’re seeing more projects than we’ve ever seen before.’ Rising sales were key to achieving profitability and the first half saw smartFOCUS secure a plethora of new orders. Hotel group Hilton, mail-order software retailer Dream Direct and travel business Holidaybreak were among the latest to buy the group’s software, which allows corporate marketing teams to analyse existing campaigns and plan future efforts.
Underhill and his colleagues are also continuing to develop their offering, with various additional software releases planned and the acquisition of French competitor Aims helping to establish a foothold in mainland Europe. For the full year, house broker Arbuthnot expects profits of £0.2m (against last year’s £0.3m loss) from £5.3m of sales, with a profit of £1.8m forecast to follow 12 months on. Trading off a prospective p/e of just 8.3 times forecast earnings for 2006, the shares remain good long-term value.
| Market cap: | £14.3m |
| PE Forecast: | 63.3 |
| Share price: | 19p |
| AIM | £5.39m |
5.75p
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0.00p
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| Other company articles: |
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