Dotdigital flags expectation-beating earnings and profit

(Sharecast News) - Marketing and customer engagement software-as-a-service (SaaS) company Dotdigital reported a 23% improvement in full-year revenue from operations in a trading update on Thursday, to £58.1m.
The AIM-traded firm said recurring revenue as a percentage of total revenue remained consistent year-on-year at 93%, while average revenue per customer continued its upward trend, growing by 16% from £1,083 per month to £1,251 per month.

Functionality recurring revenue, from licence fees and enhanced bolt-on functionality, grew 31% year-on-year for the 12 months ended 30 June, to £18.9m.

Adjusted EBITDA and adjusted operating profit from operations were both expected to be "comfortably ahead" of market expectations, the board said, adding that the company had a "strong" cash balance of £32.0m at year-end, ahead of market expectations.

It intended to pay a final dividend in line with its policy, with the expected pay-out linked to growth in EBITDA.

Operationally, Dotdigital noted that it became the first customer engagement platform to be awarded the ISO27701 standard on privacy information management, as well as ISO27001 on information security management and ISO14001 on environment management.

The year-end revenue run rate was above expectations, due to the firm's "strong" financial performance, meaning it had "strong momentum" as it entered the new financial year.

"The group delivered a consistently strong period of profitable growth, in a year characterised by wider macro-economic instability, reflecting an intensified shift toward digital marketing initiatives on behalf of organisations and demonstrating the attractiveness of dotdigital's comprehensive enterprise-level offering within the industry," said chief executive officer Milan Patel.

"Whilst we remain vigilant to the varied wider economic context, we enter the new year with solid business foundations and are laser-focus on our three-pillared growth strategy.

"With a significant market opportunity available, a robust balance sheet and strong trading momentum, we are confident in the group's ongoing success."

At 1130 BST, shares in Dotdigital Group were up 3.09% at 250p.