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KAPE Kape Technologies Plc

285.00
0.00 (0.00%)
Last Updated: 01:00:00
Delayed by 15 minutes
Share Name Share Symbol Market Stock Type
Kape Technologies Plc KAPE London Ordinary Share
  Price Change Price Change % Share Price Last Trade
0.00 0.00% 285.00 01:00:00
Open Price Low Price High Price Close Price Previous Close
285.00
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Industry Sector
EQUITY INVESTMENT INSTRUMENTS

Kape Technologies KAPE Dividends History

No dividends issued between 26 Jun 2014 and 26 Jun 2024

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Posted at 07/12/2023 18:02 by studentinvestor13
Kape Technologies, July 30, 2023 announcement. Layoff of 200 people, 30% of workforce.
The cybersecurity firm behind many popular VPN services such as ExpressVPN, CyberGhost, and Private Access Internet (PIA) will layoff 200 employees accounting for 30% of its workfoce, according to TechReport. The restructure will impact multiple departments including the three major teams mentioned above, as well as many high-ranking executives. Former CTO Dan Gericke decided to walk out entirely, though Kape Technologies has yet to officially announce the cuts. However, that hasn't stopped employees from talking about the moves on LinkedIn according to TechReport. “I decided to exit along with my many amazing colleagues that were terminated and am officially announcing my departure as CTO of ExpressVPN and the Kape Privacy Division,” Gericke said in a LinkedIn post. Stay tuned.

hxxps://www.informationweek.com/it-leadership/tech-company-layoffs-the-covid-tech-bubble-bursts-sep-14
Posted at 22/4/2023 22:09 by apollocreed1
Thought this quote was noteworthy in the recent Kape RNS "Kape shareholders who anticipate realising greater value in their Kape shares in the future, whilst recognising and being willing to accept the risks associated with remaining as an investor in an unlisted company controlled by Unikmind, may wish to remain as shareholders in Kape.’
Posted at 28/3/2023 08:53 by adamb1978
Ali

Simply that a company like KAPE (industry, addressable market, metrics etc) would be more highly rated (trade on higher PE or EBITDA multiples) if it was listed on the main market in London or Nasdaq.

So all I mean is move from AIM to one of those markets - the share price would be higher as investors on those markets would rate it on a higher multiple.

The reason this happens is simply that certain institutional investors are not allowed to invest in AIM companies, and some private investors won't touch AIM because of the various frauds/scandals over the years.

I asked KAPE management 12-18 months ago on an investor call about such a move and they said that its something which the board has discussed or were discussing. I'll ask them again on the next call I join.

THe challenge which KAPE might have is that (i) I'm not sure whether other markets permit a >50% shareholder given the ability for that party to throw their weight around and (ii) other markets require higher free floats, and depending on how you view some of the other large investors in addition to Sagi, KAPE might not reach that level.

Therefore it could be that in order to move market, Sagi might needs to agree to sell down part of his holding - possibly not by much, and actually he'd get the value uplift on most of his holding via a re-rating

Adam
Posted at 13/2/2023 20:40 by checkers2
From ft today:

Most tech investors are not used to low valuations. Teddy Sagi’s minorities should not settle for one either. The Israeli billionaire is offering to buy out minority shareholders in Aim-listed cyber security group Kape Technologies, valuing it at £1.25bn ($1.5bn). With more than half the shares already in Sagi’s hands, minorities should contest the skimpy 13 per cent premium to the three-month average price.

A cheap pound and low valuations have encouraged foreign investors to gobble up UK-listed tech companies. Kape, an acquirer of virtual private networks for mostly retail customers, is the latest. Disappointing results have weighed on the share price, down by half in dollar terms since the start of 2022, and underperforming the Nasdaq Composite by a third. At least the offer is higher than Kape’s most recent fundraising price at the end of last year.

Not that Kape is doing so badly. Purchasing Express VPN at the end of 2021 nearly trebled Kape’s revenues, estimated at $626mn last year. Express’s integration is progressing with $30mn of cost savings expected to be realised this year. Organic earnings growth is running at 17 per cent annually as of the first half of last year.

Sagi’s offer for Kape is worth 8 times forward ebitda, and in price terms still about 20 per cent below last year’s peak. Concerns about customer churn and cash conversion do weigh against Express VPN’s racy revenue growth profile.

Yet earnings per share growth could average 30 per cent between 2021 and 2024 assuming consensus forecasts are correct. That would suggest an attractive price/earnings compared to growth (PEG) ratio of 0.3. Usually, below 1 is attractive. UK-listed tech peer Avast was bought out by Norton LifeLock on a PEG ratio of 1.8, or an enterprise value to ebitda of 15 times in 2021.

Shares on Monday traded above the offer price. Even if Sagi controls most of the shares, Kape minorities still deserve more for their holdings.
Posted at 17/1/2023 12:58 by rivaldo
A final nice extract from Shore Capital's new note:

"Perspective on 2022

The full year earnings growth, 122% on a pro forma adjusted EBITDA basis, reflects an unswerving commitment to driving organic growth from new customer acquisition and upsell opportunities whilst also successfully executing on a highly ambitious M&A programme.

Over a longer period, Kape’s development is also impressive. One key metric – the SaaS user base – has advanced 28x in the past five years, from 260k at year end 2017 to c. 7.4m as at 31 December 2022. Such growth reflects Kape’s proven ability to leverage its digital marketing engine in addition to its capacity to execute on strategic acquisitions. Notably, both Private Internet Access (in 2019) and ExpressVPN (in 2021) had the effect of roughly doubling the user base while also building out a strong presence in North America (now c. 47% of users). At the same time, Kape’s revenues and adjusted EBITDA continued their rapid ascent, as reflected in FY19A-FY22A CAGRs of 111% and 128% respectively.

Clearly, share price performance is another important metric. From c. 40p in early 2017 to 299p today – a CAGR of c. 40% - Kape has delivered outsized returns for investors reflecting strong strategic execution. Below we contextualise both subscriber growth and share price performance.

While Kape has made remarkable progress to date, the ambition, focus and drive within the company remain as high as ever. These should not be underestimated. As the Company continues to scale up, both organically and in-organically, it ought to generate an even stronger platform for delivering growth and shareholder value.

Valuation and view

In our view, Kape continues to tick many boxes for investors as a high-growth SaaS business with market leading brands in a global target market, providing exceptional midcap exposure to one of the key themes in IT – digital privacy and security. The Company also deserves credit for consistently strong execution and profit delivery versus market expectations.

At 299, Kape trades on 8.5x EV/EBITDA for FY23F (versus 5-year mean of c. 13x) and a PE ratio of 9.4x (versus 5-year mean of c. 20x). The upside potential continues to be supported by cash flows and the earnings growth potential coming from secular organic growth in digital privacy and security, through acquisition potential and through further leveraging business performance driving margins higher. Altogether, we view Kape’s current valuation as extremely modest for its growth prospects and strategic sure-footedness."
Posted at 18/11/2022 08:45 by rivaldo
Here's Shares Mag's article from this week's new issue:

"Kape Technologies is the cheap way to invest in the hot cybersecurity trend

A forward PE ratio of 6.4 looks like growth at an absolute bargain price

We believe the cybersecurity industry looks like a great place to invest for the long-run, and Kape Technologies (KAPE:AIM) is an under-the-radar way to do so.

As the number of hacking attacks on government agencies and major businesses surge, digital defence budgets are also rising rapidly, and increasingly consumers are having to think hard about how they protect themselves and their valuable online data.

Kape provides consumer cybersecurity solutions, moving rapidly to expand its suite of privacy and security services since 2016 through acquisitions, including Cyberghost, Intego, PIA and Webselenese for around $300 million combined.

Yet it was September 2021’s $936 million purchase of virtual private network group
ExpressVPN that promises to be transformational. Alongside bolstering its market strategy and research and development capabilities, Kape has already started realising ‘significant’ operational benefits, such as back-office cost-savings and
leveraging of economies of scale in infrastructure and marketing.

The group has relied on a combination of equity and debt raises to support this M&A, with equity raises include a $354 million placing in September 2021 to partially fund the ExpressVPN acquisition and, just last month, another $222.5 million capital raise to refresh its war chest.

Kape had been looking to raise approximately $100 million to $200 million but investor demand saw it raise more, including money from entrepreneur Teddy Saggi, whose Unikmind trust retained its 55% shareholding. Saggi founded gambling software firm Playtech (PTEC).

Such strong support for Kape will have been helped by compound annual growth of revenue and adjusted EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation) of 56% and 83% respectively, according to Shore Capital analysis, since 2017.

Half-year results on 12 September revealed 217% revenue growth to $302.4 million, a 19% increase on a pro forma organic basis, and reiterated the full year outlook for 117% pro forma adjusted EBITDA growth at the midpoint of the guidance range of
$166 million to $172 million. Importantly, cash generation remains strong, having reported $352 million of free cash flow in 2021.

Gross margins run at over 90% although return on equity and investment metrics could do with improvement, at 9.6% and 8.7% respectively, according to Investing.com data. The company said in September that it is more confident than
ever in its prospects.

A 2023 calendar price to earnings multiple of 6.4, based on Shore Capital forecasts, means the shares are very cheap."
Posted at 10/11/2022 09:15 by rivaldo
SCSW have now sent out their November issue, so it should be OK to paste their commentary on KAPE's interims from the previous issue FYI:



"Kape - To unveil Websitebuilder at forthcoming capital markets day

267p Epic code: KAPE

(Sharewatch) Kape has been dramatically sold off from the 440p high in March despite not putting a foot wrong. Including a maiden contribution from ExpressVPN, which was bought last December, sales for H1 to 30 June were up 217% to US$302m (+19% organic), pretax profit was +362% to US$46.2m and eps +279% to 34.1 cents. Adjusted EBITDA increased 210% to US$88.9m.

Kape’s performance was driven by growth in the user base while retaining 82% retention rates, with user numbers hitting 7m, up from 6.6m six months earlier. Adjusted EBITDA margin was 29.4%.

The Digital Privacy segment (6.1m subscribers) experienced continued growth with sales up four-fold to US$253.5m at a gross margin of 51%. Chief executive Ido Erlichman says that post acquisition, by September it had successfully integrated the customer support and R&D functions. This will realise US$9m in synergies (four months in 2022) and US$30m on a full year basis. From the product pipeline new products are being developed and added to the SaaS platform, with increased functionality helping to keep the average cost at US$99, almost double the price of rivals and retention rates are high.

The other two sides also performed well. Digital Security was up 16% to US$21.4m (37% margin). Meanwhile, Digital Content sales were +25% at US$27.5m (19% margin), which was depressed by investment in a move into new verticals eg. Website Planet, a website building service for which strategy will be unveiled at a forthcoming Capital Markets Day, says Erlichman.

The other big new news to accompany results is that Kape intends to pay the deferred US$345m consideration for the acquisition of ExpressVPN early. Early repayment basically results in replacing the short term deferred consideration with a long term debt and shaves perhaps US$30m off the consideration. Separately, Kape has raised £171m at 265p. Existing investor Unikmind subscribed to £94m worth of the available shares.

Shore Cap forecasts 40.6 cents for the year (eps 36.3p), a prospective PE of 7.4. Buy."
Posted at 07/11/2022 11:23 by rivaldo
Cheers wad collector.

Techinvest's new issue is now out, so it should be OK to post their Buy recommendation and extensive review of the interims from last month's issue:

"Kape Technologies
251p (KAPE; AIM)

Kape has reported a strong performance across the first half ended June 30, underpinned by profitable growth and integration synergies. Revenue was up by 216.6% to US$302.4m, a 19% increase on a pro forma organic basis. Recurring revenues showed particularly strong growth, up by 353.5% to US$59.1m. Most of the growth in recurring revenue was due to the acquisition of ExpressVPN in December 2021. Adjusted EBITDA was up 209.7% to US$88.9m, an increase of 17% on a pro forma basis, with operating profit up 333.8% to US$59.0m. Diluted adjusted earnings per share were 278.9% higher at 34.1 US cents. Adjusted cash flow from operations increased by 517% to US$90.1m.

Kape reported that ongoing demand for privacy and security products continues to drive both new customer growth and upsell opportunities from existing subscribers. The company now has around 7 million paying customers across its products, with the user base mostly consisting of 20-45 year olds, with over 45% from North America
and around 30% located across Europe. Privacy segment revenues grew by 19% on a pro forma organic basis, with the security division growing 15.7%.

Good progress was made in integrating ExpressVPN, the highly earnings accretive
acquisition which significantly scales the group. Unified teams have been created across Kape’s privacy business, with US$9.0m of synergies expected to be realised in 2022. Kape’s content division, based on the Webselenese acquisition, generated significant organic growth, with revenues up 25% on a pro forma basis. For the year
to December 31, the company expects to generate revenues of between US$610-624m and pro forma adjusted EBITDA of between US$166-172m.

Separately, Kape announced that it has raised gross proceeds of US$222.5m through a placing to institutional investors, and an offer to retail investors via the PrimaryBid platform, at a placing price of 265p per share. The fundraise was significantly oversubscribed. Proceeds will be used to enhance Kape’s ability to accelerate growth through acquisitions.

As these results reveal, Kape is experiencing growing demand across the full range of its product suite, reinforced by a premium service offering. Substantial organic growth was achieved alongside the successful integration of ExpressVPN, a transformational acquisition that has made Kape a leading player in the global digital privacy and security segment.

With phishing and social engineering attacks growing in sophistication, consumers are increasingly seeking to obtain more comprehensive cybersecurity coverage across their range of appliances. Moreover, the increase in remote working has made employers more aware of the need for strong digital security across the devices employees use to access company systems at home. These trends are particularly supportive for Kape’s consumer focussed business, leading to both an increase in demand for digital privacy and security protection and a growing willingness from individuals to pay for enhanced services.

Alongside this boost, the company also expects to realise further synergies from the ExpressVPN acquisition, with a figure of US$30.0m annualised synergies pencilled in for next year. Given Kape’s record of success with acquisitions to date, the proceeds from the large fundraise last month are likely to be put to very good use. Continue to buy."
Posted at 12/9/2022 11:24 by rivaldo
Nice summary from the respected Techmarketview:



"Monday 12 September 2022

Demand for digital privacy & security powering growth for Kape

Kape TechnologiesKape Technologies plc (AIM: KAPE), a UK based consumer-focused security software provider, announced strong growth for H1 FY22, driven by the growing amount of personal data online and subsequent heightened demand for digital privacy and security solutions.

Revenues increased by 216.6% to $302m, a 19% increase yoy on an organic basis. The business also saw strong growth in recurring revenues to $268m, an increase of 353.5%. Most of the growth in recurring revenue was due to the acquisition of ExpressVPN in December 2021. Kape now have c.7 million paying customers across their products.

Kape's privacy segment revenues grew 19% yoy in H1 2022 on a pro forma organic basis, with the security division growing 15.7%. The company says it has made ‘exceptional progress’ integrating ExpressVPN. The business has created unified teams across the privacy business, on track to realise $9 million in synergies in 2022. Kape's content division, based on the Webselenese acquisition, generated organic growth of 25% yoy.

Kape expects to generate revenues for the year ended 31 December 2022 of between $610-624m and adjusted EBITDA of between $166-172m for the year ending 31 December 2022.

With individuals owning a wider collection of personal digital devices, and phishing and social engineering attacks growing in sophistication, consumers are increasingly seeking to obtain more comprehensive cybersecurity coverage across their range of appliances. With personal devices also increasingly being used to access corporate networks, it is more important than ever for businesses to ensure employees understand the need for strong digital security in the home, as well as when accessing company systems."
Posted at 03/8/2022 11:42 by rivaldo
Excellent link, cheers. Good summary and interesting - and as you say positive for KAPE and ExpressVPN - conclusion.

Techinvest have published their new issue, so it should be OK to copy their Buy update on KAPE from the July issue:

"Kape Technologies 340p (KAPE; AIM)

In an AGM statement, Kape reported a record first quarter performance driven by robust organic growth. Management added that this leaves the company well-positioned to deliver revenues of between US$610-624m and proforma adjusted EBITDA of between US$166-172m for the full year 2022. For the prior year ended December 31, Kape achieved revenue of US$230.7m and proforma adjusted EBITDA of US$78.0m. The integration of ExpressVPN, acquired in December 2021, is underway and has strengthened Kape’s go-to market and R&D capabilities.

Moreover, operational benefits have already been realised, including cost-savings on back-office consolidation and leveraging economies of scale as well as ongoing synergies in the infrastructure and marketing spheres. Following a transformational 2021, Kape looks to have continued the positive momentum as recent acquisitions bed-in and further products are added, generating additional cross-sell opportunities. Now serving around seven million paying subscribers worldwide, we believe that Kape is in a strong position to lead the fast-evolving market for consumer security and privacy services. Buy."