LoopUp Group PLC Trading Update (5930C)

TIDMLOOP

RNS Number : 5930C

LoopUp Group PLC

23 January 2018

23 January 2018

LOOPUP GROUP PLC

("LoopUp Group" or the "Group")

Trading Update

Group announces strong revenue and profit growth

LoopUp Group plc (LSE AIM: LOOP), the premium remote meetings company, is pleased to provide a trading update for its financial year ended 31 December 2017.

The Group has traded strongly as follows:

 
                                              FY2017       FY2016 
                                                                      Year-on-year 
                                                                     like-for-like 
 GBP million                             (unaudited)    (audited)           growth 
-------------------------------  ----  -------------  -----------  --------------- 
 LoopUp Revenue(1)                              17.5         12.8              36% 
 Total revenue                                  17.5         13.6              29% 
 LoopUp Gross Profit(1)                         13.4          9.6              40% 
 LoopUp Gross Profit margin(1)                 76.7%        74.5%         +220 BPS 
 LoopUp EBITDA(1, 2)                             3.5          1.3             161% 
-------------------------------------  -------------  -----------  --------------- 
 

1. LoopUp Revenue, LoopUp Gross Profit and LoopUp EBITDA are revenue, gross profit and EBITDA respectively from the LoopUp product and associated value-added add-on capabilities, and so exclude discontinued BT technology licensing business. Total revenue, gross profit and EBITDA for FY2016, inclusive of GBP0.74m discontinued BT technology licensing revenue, were GBP13.56m, GBP10.29m and GBP2.06m respectively. FY2017 numbers are unaffected as the BT technology licensing business discontinued in November 2016.

   2.    Earnings Before Interest, Taxation, Depreciation and Amortisation 

Highlights

-- LoopUp Revenue grew by 36% to GBP17.5m in FY2017 (FY2016: GBP12.8m), ahead of market expectations in spite of the currency headwind in the second half which saw the pound/dollar rate rise to $1.32 versus $1.23 at the start of the year (51% of LoopUp Revenue was dollar-denominated in FY2017).

-- Constant currency revenue growth was 33.5%, ahead of the 31% recorded in both FY2016 and FY2015. This was made up by 37% year-on-year constant currency growth in the first half and 30% in the second half.

-- Gross margins rose to 76.7%, a 220 basis point improvement on a like-for-like basis over FY2016, leading to 40% growth in LoopUp Gross Profit.

   --     LoopUp EBITDA grew to GBP3.5 million, up 161% on GBP1.3 million in FY2016. 

-- The group continues to see strong demand for its product from mid-to-large enterprises and professional services firms. Landmark accounts won in the second half of the year included a major newspapers and media group, a leading international financial advisory and asset management firm and a global human rights NGO.

   --     The Group ended the year with net cash of GBP2.9 million. 

Steve Flavell and Michael Hughes, co-CEOs of LoopUp Group, commented,

"We're very pleased to report continued strong business performance ahead of market expectations. Our track record of consistent revenue growth has been maintained, and has in fact accelerated on a constant currency basis. Gross margins have also improved and EBITDA growth is up over 160%.

Our strategy of focusing on the needs and challenges of discerning mainstream business conference callers, who want a high quality, non-intimidating experience on every call, continues to resonate and return strong, consistent and efficient business growth. This is a contrarian and highly differentiated strategy vis-à-vis other software players in the space who tend to focus on early adopters and more specialist tech-savvy users.

Looking ahead into 2018, we continue to see strong demand for the LoopUp product and we remain confident in our ability to deliver future growth."

The Group will announce its full preliminary FY2017 results in March 2018.

Market abuse regulation:

This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of Regulation (EU) No 596/2014.

For further information, please contact:

 
 LoopUp Group plc                                     via FTI 
 Steve Flavell, Co-CEO 
 
                                                      [phone] 
 Panmure Gordon (UK) Limited                           2500 
 Dominic Morley / Alina Vaskina(Corporate Finance) 
 Erik Anderson / Amy Sarra (Corporate Broking) 
 
                                                      [phone] 
 FTI Consulting, LLP                                   1000 
 Matt Dixon / Harry Staight 
 

About LoopUp Group plc:

LoopUp (LSE AIM: LOOP) is a premium remote meetings solution. Streamlined and intuitive, LoopUp is built for business users and delivers the quality, security and reliability required in the enterprise. One-click screen sharing and integration with tools business people use every day, like Outlook(TM), make it easy for LoopUp users to collaborate in real time. LoopUp's award-winning SaaS solution doesn't overwhelm users with features, and doesn't require training. Over 2,000 enterprises worldwide, including Travelex, Kia Motors America, Planet Hollywood, National Geographic, and Subaru trust LoopUp with their remote meetings.

The Group is headquartered in London, with offices in San Francisco, New York, Boston, Hong Kong and Barbados, and is listed on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange (LOOP). For further information, please visit: www.loopup.com.

This information is provided by RNS

The company news service from the London Stock Exchange

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January 23, 2018 02:00 ET (07:00 GMT)