Gentrack confirms 3% gain in full-year profit , lifts final dividend

Thursday 24th November 2016

Gentrack Group has confirmed a 3 percent gain in full-year profit and bumped up its final dividend as margins widened. The utilities software developer said pretax earnings are expected to grow 10 percent in 2017.

Net profit rose to $9.6 million in the 12 months ended Sept. 30, from $9.4 million a year earlier, the Auckland-based company said in a statement. Sales jumped 25 percent to $56.7 million.

Gentrack first flagged its full-year results in summarised form on Nov. 4 including a 16 percent gain in earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation were about $16.7 million, beating its guidance. It will pay a final dividend of 7.7 cents a share, up from 7.2 percent a year earlier.

"We enter FY2017 with a solid order book and pipeline of opportunities and we expect to continue to deliver long-term revenue and ebitda growth of 10 percent-plus per annum, albeit that our results may be impacted by the timing of projects," said chief executive Ian Black.

The shares rose 2.6 percent to $3.50, having gained 36 percent so far this year. The stock was punished after releasing a major profit warning five weeks after listing which earned it a rebuke from the Financial Markets Authority which said the company could have been clearer when flagging certain risks. The share price has recovered since September last year and is now trading above its 2014 initial public offering price of $2.40.

Gentrack shares rose 2 percent to $3.52 and have climbed 41 percent this year, outpacing an 8.3 percent gain in the S&P/NZX 50 Index.

BusinessDesk.co.nz

Comments from our readers

No comments yet