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Multiple contract wins drive record 2016 results for eg solutions after a strong second-half

Published: 23:21 22 Mar 2017 AEDT

Contract handshake
Gooch concluded: “There is real momentum within the business and I look forward to the new financial year with confidence"

A strong second half for EG Solutions plc (LON:EGS) ensured 2016 was a record-breaking year for the back-office workforce optimisation specialist helped by multiple contract wins.

The AIM-listed group reported adjusted underlying earnings (EBITDA) of £1.2mln for the year ended 31 January 2017, up 52% on the £0.8m reported a year earlier.

Full-year revenues rose by 8% to £8.2mln, up from £7.6mln in 2016, boosted by a leap in second-half revenues to £5.7mln.

Revenues for the first six months dipped to £2.5mln from £3.6mln a year earlier, but a beefed up sales team helped to steady the ship as it moved into the second half.

WATCH: CEO Gooch on why she's 'delighted' with business performance …

Elizabeth Gooch, eg Solutions’ CEO said: “I am delighted with the performance of the business, particularly in the second half of the year.“

She added: “Our realigned strategy of focusing on sales and distribution channels is paying great dividends. We have over the past few months delivered multiple new contract wins, expanded our international business, increased our partner distribution channel and achieved sales of our new mobile platform.”

Gooch concluded: “There is real momentum within the business and I look forward to the new financial year with confidence."

Eg’s full-year results highlighted a strong contracted forward order book with recurring revenues of £18.55mln, up from £17.40mln in 2016.

The firm pointed out that its International Direct and Partner business now accounts for 37% of revenues, up from  24% in 2016, with three new partners signed giving a revenue stream of £1.45mln, 18% of total revenues, ahead from £0.34m or 4% in 2016.

Multiple contracts …

In mid-February, eg Solutions revealed it had won a new contract worth £692,000.to supply its eg operational intelligence software to a public sector organisation.

The contract was the first to be won under a new partnership agreement with the provider of eg’s managed cloud service platform, CGI.

That deal came just days after eg also revealed it had signed a master services agreement with a leading business process outsourcer (BPO), which will market eg operational intelligence software to utilities firms to help improve operational performance.

The group said that tie-up with the BPO had already yielded an immediate deployment of licences with the UK’s largest energy supplier, which was worth in the region of £762,000.

In November last year  revealed it won its first mobile and multilingual back office optimisation contract with a new retail energy company, which it said was worth £1.3mln in revenues to eg, with £0.25mln of that recognised in the financial year just gone.

And in October eg bagged a 'landmark' contract in the Asia Pacific region worth around £0.5mln, which was the first contract signed directly in the region, rather than through its partnership with US company, Aspect Software.

That deal was with a financial services company that has its headquarters in Singapore, and saw the deployment of the eg operational intelligence software suite within the client’s Consumer Banking division.

Around half of the £500,000 contract value was expected to be recognised in the current financial year, eg said at the time.

Good performance trailed …

In a trading update in February, which trailed the good full-year performance, eg’s chairman Nigel Payne said: "The second half of the financial year was busy and the board is encouraged by the company's performance.

“We are delighted with the successful signing of a number of high-profile contracts and our pipeline as we enter the new financial year is strong.”

In a note at the same time, finnCap analyst Lorne Daniel: “The good news on second half trading is accompanied by a significant broadening of eg solutions’ channels and a record £18.5m order book which will see the momentum continue into [the current financial year].

“The shares have been weighed down by fears for the second half and are now due a dramatic re-rating.”

The analyst wasn’t wrong on that, with the eg share price jumping by more than 20% on the back of February’s bullish update helping to propel in almost 50% higher over the past three months to a near 12-month peak at 64.49p today.

Daniels set a price target of 105p on eg shares back in February.

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