17th Jan 2022 15:36
(Alliance News) -Â Access Intelligence PLC's prospects remain strong, broker finnCap said on Monday, after the firm warned of a hit to earnings from challenges in south east Asia.
Shares in Access Intelligence were down 26% at 113.00 pence in London on Monday, with the stock down 27% since the start of the year. Nonetheless, the stock remains 26% higher than where it was 12 months ago.
The London-based software-as-a-service products provider said it expects revenue for the financial year that ended November 30 to be GBP33.1 million, up from GBP19.1 million the previous year, with an adjusted loss before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation of GBP500,000, in line with forecasts.
Looking ahead, Access Intelligence said its business remains strong in North America and the Europe, Middle East & Africa region, with growth set to accelerate.
However, it warned markets in south east Asia have struggled to deal with the effect of Covid-19, made even worse by the Omicron variant. Both corporate customers and government departments have seen further pressure to reduce spend which has resulted in an increase in cancelled or consolidated contracts in the region.
Due to these challenges, Access Intelligence has revised its revenue expectations, and in addition a stronger pound has resulted in a translational impact on projected revenue.
"The current challenges in south east Asia will affect the pace of overall growth and result in Ebitda being impacted in 2022 and 2023, but the group has a robust [annual contract value] base of GBP58.9m, is seeing strong growth in its core markets and has the infrastructure in place to take advantage of any improvement in conditions in the south east Asia market," the company said.
In response, finnCap reduced forecasts for the 2022 and 2023 financial years, but believes the company's prospects "remain strong" post-pandemic.
The broker now expects revenue of GBP69 million and Ebitda of GBP2.3 million in the 2022 financial year, cut from a forecast of GBP75 million and GPB8.7 million respectively.
"The frustrating macro-circumstances are beyond the company's control and confidence remains undimmed, with post Covid prospects as bright as before," said finnCap.
By Lucy Heming;Â [email protected]
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