Shares in iEnergizer Limited (LON:IBPO) surged in mid-morning trading Tuesday after the firm reported first-half underlying earnings (EBITDA) growth of 39%, boosted by higher margin work and product launches.
The outsourcing group reported an EBITDA for the period of US$24.3mln, up 39.1% year-on-year, while service revenues climbed 9.5% to US$82.4mln.
BPO outperforms
EBITDA margins also expanded to 29% from 23% last year, which the company attributed to cost management as well as a growing customer base and the “deepening” of relationships with its existing clients.
Across its divisions, the group said its Business Process Outsource (BPO) segment had outperformed expectations with revenue growth of 18%, driven by an increase in workload volumes from key customers and the addition of several new blue-chip clients in the gaming and e-commerce verticals.
Meanwhile, the firm’s content division had seen a growing customer base for a new product line on Scientific Publishing and Remittance Integration Services that it had launched in the first half, while revenues from its services in the content division had been stable at US$34.3mln compared to US$34.5mln last year.
iEnergizer added that it had more deals under negotiation with new customers following the launch of a new off-the-shelf product line in the second half.
Looking ahead, the company’s chairman, Marc Vassanelli, said it expected “sustained business performance” in the second half, adding that a healthy cash position meant it was “in a strong position to invest in both organic and inorganic growth opportunities in the periods ahead”.
The firm also said that it had received a number of offers to refinance its existing term loan on the back of its “strong cash generation”.
The results will provide a boost to the company’s new financial officer, Ashish Madan, who was appointed to the role in August after the departure of the previous finance chief Richard Day in July caused shares to plunge 24%.
Shares were up 14.2% at 120p.