Plexure bumps up forecast and shares follow
Shares in NZX-listed mobile marketing company Plexure closed up 8.9 per cent at 86c yesterday after it raised its already strong revenue guidance.
The Auckland-based software company, which attracted fast-food operator McDonald’s as a 9.9 per cent shareholder in April last year, and which counts the US White Castle burger chain, 7Eleven and Ikea as customers, had forecast an annual revenue increase of as much as 36 per cent at its annual shareholders’ meeting in September last year.
Yesterday it bumped that to 48 per cent. Plexure now expects revenue between $24.5 million and $25m for the current financial year, up from $16.9m the previous year.
It says it won’t be providing guidance for earnings before interest and tax “as the impact of the company’s expansion plans and platform investment cannot be accurately assessed at this juncture”.
The company reported a net profit of $1.2m for the six months ended September, up from $1.1m in the same six months a year earlier, on a 45 per cent increase in revenue to $11.8m.
Plexure shares traded at 79 cents ahead of yesterday’s announcement, up from 29 cents 12 months ago, giving it a market capitalisation of $110.6m.
McDonald’s paid 39.05 cents per share, or $5.4m, for its stake, which was a 15 per cent premium to the volume-weighted average price in the month of March 2019.
The global fast-food chain had been a Plexure customer worldwide since 2015 and has accounted for much of the company’s revenue growth.
Plexure’s technology is used in mobile engagement and loyalty programmes.