10th Jan 2019 11:57
LONDON (Alliance News) - Quartix Holdings PLC said Thursday it expects its trading performance for 2018 to be in line with current market expectations and to pay a supplementary dividend.
In 2017, the company - which provides vehicle tracking systems to the fleet and insurance sectors - recorded pretax profit of GBP6.6 million on revenue of GBP24.5 million.
Quartix said it believes consensus market expectations for 2018 is revenue of GBP25.3 million with adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation of GBP8.3 million.
The company said it achieved "strong levels" of free cash flow, resulting in a supplementary dividend on top of its final ordinary dividend.
In 2017, Quartix paid a final dividend of 11.10 pence per share, taking its total payout to 13.50p.
"We finished the year with a strong level of new fleet business in all territories and are delighted with the progress made in 2018 overall. Growth in international markets was excellent and the company's fleet subscription base grew by 17% to 123,000 vehicles. We also completed some exciting new technology developments during the year and look forward to 2019 with confidence," said Chief Executive Officer Andy Walters.
Quartix said it made "excellent progress" in its core fleet business in the US and France in 2018, with new installations in the US 66% ahead of the previous year and 76% in France.
In the UK, subscriptions increased 10% to 91,200 vehicles but new installations were down 6% to 18,580 units. Despite lagging the previous year's total, Quartix said the new installations in the second half "marks a considerable improvement" on the first half.
The company said: "At the half-year point, growth in the UK subscription base had slowed in relation to the equivalent period for 2017 but is now pleased to report that the internal process and structural changes made since July are beginning to take effect."
Quartix said new installations in its fleet tracking systems was "considerably stronger" in all territories in the final quarter. Installations in its Insurance business were 29% lower in 2018 than the year before. Quartix expects further declines in 2019, in line with market expectations.
Quartix expects its overall results for 2019 to be in line with current market expectations. The company will announce its 2018 results on February 25.
Shares in Quartix were untraded Thursday but last closed at 260.00 pence each.
Related Shares:
Quartix Tech