Interesting last line !14 Jul 2012 18:54
dotDigital upbeat as businesses click on to surveys
Thursday, July 12, 2012 by Jamie Nimmo Online marketer dotDigital (LON:DOTD) confirmed today it would meet the market’s raised expectations for this year as demand for its business-focused marketing software powered ahead.
Expectations for the year to June rose “significantly” at the start of 2012 after a bullish interim statement and dotDigital said today the trends seen over the first half had continued.
Total annual revenues will be around 32 per cent higher than in 2011, while pre-tax operating profits are also expected to go up.
New business sales and growth in recurring monthly revenues from existing clients are behind the improvement.
dotDigital’s email marketing service dotMailer grew revenues by around 34 per cent and now accounts for over 60 per cent of total revenues.
New customer sign-ups were also a “significant source of revenue growth” with 1,684 new clients added.
Development work has also been completed on the platform (including integration with the eBay’s X-Commerce arm), which should boost sales in the corporate sector.
dotDigital’s new online survey tool dotSurvey is also proving a winner and since its launch in May has over 400 paying clients and almost 2,500 trial users.
The agency services and search division accounted for around 20 per cent of total revenue, but growth in the latter was lower than expected. However, organisational changes should put the business back on track this year, it added.
The company, which is without debt, is still “strongly cash generative” with cash from operations growing in 2012 to stand at about £4 million at the end of June.
Going forward, the group is eyeing more international opportunities after encouraging early results from overseas.
It will build the international sales team up over the next year, while dotSurvey will also see a significant marketing push this year.
“Whilst this strong performance is again very encouraging, the directors are mindful that although the climate for digital marketing continues to impress, confidence in the wider economic outlook for the UK remains low and marketing budgets remain under pressure in many businesses,” said chief executive Peter Simmonds.
He added that the group had considered a number of acquisitions over the past year but the prices being asked were too high.