Full year trading update
17/05/2022 07:00
For best results when printing this announcement, please click on link below:
http://newsfile.refinitiv.com/getnewsfile/v1/story?guid=urn:newsml:reuters.com:20220517:nRSQ6801La&default-theme=true
RNS Number : 6801L Eckoh PLC 17 May 2022
17 May 2022
Eckoh plc
("Eckoh", the "Group", or the "Company")
Full year trading update
- Revenue in line with market expectations, profit ahead
- Strong ARR growth in US Secure Payments; resilient performance in the UK
- Expectation of material growth in FY23
Eckoh plc (AIM:ECK), the global provider of customer engagement security
solutions, is pleased to announce a trading update for the year ended 31 March
2022.
The Board confirms that revenue for the year was in line with consensus market
expectations*. Operating profit grew strongly, some 5% ahead of consensus
market expectations. This is an excellent outcome given the ongoing challenges
presented by the pandemic and the now planned completed exit from US and UK
Support, which had contributed £2m to the previous year's profit figure.
Our strong performance reflects ongoing progress in our US Secure Payments
operation, which now accounts for nearly 90% of total US revenues. There was
more than 20% organic growth in US ARR. Including Syntec, US ARR ended the
period at $12.7m, nearly 60% higher than last year.
The UK business returned to growth, and transactional volumes have largely
returned to pre-pandemic levels with just a few exceptions. Since period end
our largest contract renewal scheduled for this financial year, a contract
through Capita for a large public service organisation, was successfully
renewed for £2.1m over the term.
Our recently announced implementation of a new Microsoft Azure cloud platform
with a Fortune 100 US retailer is now live, making Eckoh the only provider in
our industry to offer alternative cloud providers. This supports our stated
strategy to continue investing in broadening our cloud proposition
geographically, and with multiple suppliers and product offerings.
Syntec's contribution to revenue and profits in the final quarter of the year
was consistent with our expectations at the time of the transaction, and the
integration of the businesses is proceeding on plan. Unification of the
technology and product offering is making excellent progress and we expect to
deliver a unified and enhanced go-to-market proposition in the second half.
Outlook and financial position
The balance sheet remains strong with net cash of £2.8m (FY21: £11.7m), well
ahead of expectations. The change reflects the acquisition of Syntec in
December 2021, which was part funded by cash.
The Board expects revenue and profit for FY23 to be significantly higher than
FY22. FY23 guidance for material growth reflects the successful integration
of Syntec to derive synergistic benefits, an anticipated return to normal UK
trading activity, ongoing momentum in US Secure Payments supported by
long-term structural growth drivers, Cloud adoption, coupled with the benefits
of new products and operational gearing. These expectations are subject to
ongoing uncertainty in the macro-economic climate.
This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of
Regulation 596/2014.
* Eckoh believes that consensus market expectations for the year ending 31
March 2022 is revenue of £32.15 million, Adjusted Operating profit of £4.90
million and Net cash of £1.1m.
- Ends -
For further information please contact:
Eckoh plc Tel: 01442 458 300
Nik Philpot, Chief Executive Officer
Chrissie Herbert, Chief Financial Officer
www.eckoh.com (http://www.eckoh.com)
FTI Consulting LLP Tel: 020 3727 1017
Ed Bridges / Jamie Ricketts / Tom Blundell
eckoh@fticonsulting.com (mailto:eckoh@fticonsulting.com)
Singer Capital Markets (Nomad & Joint Broker) Tel: 020 7496 3000
Shaun Dobson / Tom Salvesen / Alex Bond / Kailey Aliyar
www.singercm.com (http://www.n1singer.com)
Canaccord Genuity Limited (Joint Broker) Tel: 020 7523 8000
Simon Bridges / Andrew Potts
www.canaccordgenuity.com (http://www.canaccordgenuity.com)
About Eckoh plc
Eckoh is a global provider of customer engagement security solutions,
supporting an international client base from its offices in the UK and US.
Our secure payments products help our clients take payments securely from
their customers through multiple channels. The products, which include the
patented CallGuard, can be hosted in the Cloud or deployed on the client's
site and remove sensitive personal and payment data from contact centres and
IT environments. They offer merchants a simple and effective way to reduce the
risk of fraud, secure sensitive data and become compliant with the Payment
Card Industry Data Security Standards ("PCI DSS") and wider data security
regulations. Eckoh has been a PCI DSS Level One Accredited Service Provider
since 2010, securing over £5bn in payments annually.
Eckoh's customer engagement solutions enable enquiries and transactions to be
performed on whatever device the customer chooses, allowing organisations to
increase efficiency, lower operational costs and provide a true Omnichannel
experience. We also assist organisations in transforming the way that they
engage with their customers by providing support and transition services as
they implement our innovative customer contact solutions.
Our large portfolio of clients come from a broad range of vertical markets and
includes government departments, telecoms providers, retailers, utility
providers and financial services organisations.
For more information go to www.eckoh.com
(https://ukth007-exch.eckoh.com/owa/redir.aspx?REF=xfSRLoyIDZBJsYG4JcSAueMU19Bx67BVpoeWAiyiXbd-C1wimVjTCAFodHRwOi8vd3d3LmVja29oLmNvbQ..)
This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United Kingdom. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution of this information may apply. For further information, please contact
rns@lseg.com (mailto:rns@lseg.com)
or visit
www.rns.com (http://www.rns.com/)
.
RNS may use your IP address to confirm compliance with the terms and conditions, to analyse how you engage with the information contained in this communication, and to share such analysis on an anonymised basis with others as part of our commercial services. For further information about how RNS and the London Stock Exchange use the personal data you provide us, please see our
Privacy Policy (https://www.lseg.com/privacy-and-cookie-policy)
. END TSTSFUFMMEESEEI