FD announces Interim results for the six months ended 31 August 2020
FD (AIM: FDP.L, Euronext Growth: FDP.I) today announces its results for the six months ended 31 August 2020.
Financial Highlights
| Six months to 31 August | 2020 | 2019 | Change |
| Revenue | £119.6m | £116.7m | +3% |
| Gross profit | £48.2m | £48.0m | – |
| Adjusted EBITDA* | £21.5m | £22.0m | -2% |
| Profit before tax | £7.4m | £8.4m | -12% |
| Reported diluted EPS | 21.8p | 24.2p | -10% |
| Interim dividend per share | Nil | 8.5p | |
| Net debt** | £30.6m | £60.2m | -49% |
*Adjusted for share-based payments and acquisition costs
**Excluding lease obligations
Business Highlights
- Software license growth of 12% drove total software revenue up 4% to £74.4m (H1 2020: £71.4m)
- Managed services and consulting revenue in line with the prior period at £45.2m with our strategic client relationships and market-leading services protecting our revenue base and providing a solid foundation for a return to growth
- Group revenue increased by 3%, representing a highly resilient performance during a period in which sales cycles lengthened as a result of macro uncertainty caused by COVID-19
- Underlying performance across the Group remains consistent with our AGM trading update, with the timing of staff holidays benefitting Q1 performance relative to a typical year and a currency headwind in Q2
- Adjusted EBITDA down 2% to £21.5m following investment in customer success team and R&D to improve our competitive position and sales and marketing to strengthen our go-to-market capability
- Very strong cash conversion over the period, with net debt falling significantly to £30.6m
- Demand for digital transformation is accelerating our growth opportunity, as organisations seek to increase their competitiveness through continuous intelligence powered by Kx
- Release of version 4.0 of Kx to further advance our performance lead, representing a major upgrade with performance gains of 5x over the prior version
- Strengthened leadership focused on driving growth from our world-class products and services provide confidence in the outlook for the Group
Donna Troy, Chairman of FD, commented: “During the period we have demonstrated the Group’s resilience while continuing to focus on the considerable opportunity ahead. It is clear that the use of data, particularly streaming operational data, to drive decision-making will become critical for enterprises and COVID-19 will accelerate this trend. Kx technology is ideally placed to be the streaming analytics software of choice that customers and partners trust to solve their most demanding and complex data challenges, and it is our mission to capitalise on that opportunity.
With our new leadership teams in place following a number of senior appointments we are making good progress on our strategic objectives, with enhancements to our internal structures and go-to-market capabilities as well as our technology roadmap. While the current year outcome remains difficult to predict, we are excited by the potential of our business and the capability to significantly accelerate our growth.”
