Uls Technology revenue growth accelerated to 37.8% in FY2018 vs. 7.8% a year earliner
27 Jun 2018 • About Uls Technology (
$ULS) • By InTwits
Uls Technology reported FY2018 financial results today. Overall the company's long term financial model is characterised by the following facts:
- Uls Technology is a fast growth stock: FY2018 revenue growth was 37.8%, 5 year revenue CAGR was 23.7% at FY2018 ROIC 19.1%
- Uls Technology has low CAPEX intensity: 5 year average CAPEX/Revenue was 1.3%. At the same time it's in pair with industry average of 4.2%
- CAPEX is quite volatile: £0m in FY2018, £0m in FY2017, £0m in FY2016, £0m in FY2015, £1m in FY2014
- The company has highly profitable business model: ROIC is 19.1%
- It operates with medium-size leverage: Net Debt/EBITDA is 0.4x while industry average is -2.0x
Below you can find a comprehensive analysis of the key data driving the company's performance and the stock price.
Revenue and profitability
Uls Technology's Revenue surged on 37.8%. Revenue decline was accompanies by EBITDA margin decline. EBITDA Margin decreased slightly on 1.00 pp from 12.4% to 11.4% in FY2018.
Gross Margin decreased slightly on 1.8 pp from 42.5% to 40.7% in FY2018. During the last 5 years Gross Margin topped in FY2017 at 42.5%. SG&A as a % of Revenue increased slightly on 0.55 pp from 23.5% to 24.1% in FY2018.
Net Income margin decreased on 6.5 pp from 12.9% to 6.4% in FY2018.
Investments (CAPEX, working capital and M&A)
Uls Technology's CAPEX/Revenue was 0.098% in FY2018. The company's CAPEX/Revenue decreased slightly on 0.82 pp from 0.92% in FY2015 to 0.098% in FY2018. It's average CAPEX/Revenue for the last three years was 0.54%.
Return on investment
The company operates at high and attractive ROE (21.1%) while ROIC is a bit lower (19.1%). ROIC dropped on 12.1 pp from 31.3% to 19.1% in FY2018. ROE dropped on 13.8 pp from 35.0% to 21.1% in FY2018. ROIC followed a declining trend at -5.8 pp per annum in FY2014-FY2018.
Leverage (Debt)
Company's Net Debt / EBITDA is 0.4x and Debt / EBITDA is 1.1x. Net Debt / EBITDA dropped on 0.3x from 0.7x to 0.4x in FY2018. Debt dropped on 17.4% while cash surged on 28.9%.
Uls Technology has no short term refinancing risk: cash is higher than short term debt (144.5%).
Financial and operational results
FY ended 31 Mar 2018
Uls Technology ($ULS) key annual financial indicators| mln. £ | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2018/2017 |
|---|
P&L
|
|---|
| Revenue | 16.301 | 16.137 | 20.658 | 22.260 | 30.672 | 37.8% |
| Gross Profit | 5.254 | 6.036 | 8.661 | 9.464 | 12.480 | 31.9% |
| SG&A | | 3.031 | 4.901 | 5.233 | 7.378 | 41.0% |
| EBITDA | 2.728 | 3.406 | 4.089 | 4.715 | 4.243 | -10.0% |
| Net Income | 2.159 | 1.095 | 2.377 | 2.875 | 1.966 | -31.6% |
Balance Sheet
|
|---|
| Cash | 2.017 | 2.810 | 3.781 | 2.242 | 2.889 | 28.9% |
| Short Term Debt | 0.000 | 0.720 | 0.720 | 2.000 | 2.000 | 0.0% |
| Long Term Debt | 1.939 | 0.890 | 0.170 | 3.750 | 2.750 | -26.7% |
Cash flow
|
|---|
| Capex | 0.679 | 0.148 | 0.051 | 0.281 | 0.030 | -89.3% |
Ratios
|
|---|
| Revenue growth | 53.9% | -1.0% | 28.0% | 7.8% | 37.8% | |
| EBITDA growth | 58.4% | 24.9% | 20.1% | 15.3% | -10.0% | |
|
|---|
| Gross Margin | 32.2% | 37.4% | 41.9% | 42.5% | 40.7% | -1.8% |
| EBITDA Margin | 16.7% | 21.1% | 19.8% | 21.2% | 13.8% | -7.3% |
| SG&A, % of revenue | | 18.8% | 23.7% | 23.5% | 24.1% | 0.5% |
| Net Income Margin | 13.2% | 6.8% | 11.5% | 12.9% | 6.4% | -6.5% |
| CAPEX, % of revenue | 4.2% | 0.9% | 0.2% | 1.3% | 0.1% | -1.2% |
|
|---|
| ROIC | 44.1% | 39.6% | 39.3% | 31.3% | 19.1% | -12.1% |
| ROE | 64.8% | 20.0% | 34.7% | 35.0% | 21.1% | -13.8% |
| Net Debt/EBITDA | -0.0x | -0.4x | -0.7x | 0.7x | 0.4x | -0.3x |
Peers in Media
Below we provide Uls Technology benchmarking against other companies in Media industry for the last 5 years. We show data for the top-5 companies by key financial metric together with the median value for all the companies in the industry.
Top companies by Revenue growth, %
| Top 5 | FY2014 | FY2015 | FY2016 | FY2017 | FY2018 |
|---|
| Marimedia Ltd ($MARI) | 45.7% | 20.1% | 66.0% | 67.6% | |
| Future ($FUTR) | -20.1% | -9.4% | -1.3% | 43.1% | |
| Grupo Clarin Sa ($GCLA) | 39.8% | -57.9% | 37.2% | 24.4% | |
| Jaywing ($JWNG) | -0.7% | 26.6% | 6.5% | 23.8% | |
| Tla Worldwide ($TLA) | 6.3% | 130.0% | 10.6% | 23.4% | |
| |
|---|
| Median (24 companies) | 1.2% | 1.7% | 3.4% | 2.7% | 6.2% |
|---|
| Uls Technology ($ULS) | | -1.0% | 28.0% | 7.8% | 37.8% |
Top companies by Gross margin, %
| Top 5 | FY2014 | FY2015 | FY2016 | FY2017 | FY2018 |
|---|
| Porta Communications ($PTCM) | 83.4% | 79.0% | 80.1% | 84.9% | |
| Jaywing ($JWNG) | 81.0% | 89.0% | 88.4% | 80.8% | |
| Tla Worldwide ($TLA) | 99.9% | 78.8% | 75.5% | 68.1% | |
| Spaceandpeople ($SAL) | 62.2% | 58.8% | 57.2% | 66.1% | |
| Reed Elsevier ($REL) | 65.3% | 64.3% | 63.9% | 64.2% | |
| |
|---|
| Median (22 companies) | 44.0% | 42.2% | 38.5% | 39.5% | 40.5% |
|---|
| Uls Technology ($ULS) | 32.2% | 37.4% | 41.9% | 42.5% | 40.7% |
Top companies by EBITDA margin, %
| Top 5 | FY2014 | FY2015 | FY2016 | FY2017 | FY2018 |
|---|
| Haynes Publishing Group ($HYNS) | 38.8% | 33.5% | 15.4% | 35.0% | |
| Reed Elsevier ($REL) | 32.7% | 32.7% | 33.9% | 34.4% | |
| Nahl Group ($NAH) | 28.8% | 29.5% | 34.9% | 27.4% | |
| Spaceandpeople ($SAL) | 10.5% | 11.2% | 1.6% | 17.2% | |
| Dods(Group ($DODS) | 10.7% | 0.6% | 12.3% | 15.9% | 12.3% |
| |
|---|
| Median (24 companies) | 12.9% | 11.2% | 7.0% | 6.0% | 8.8% |
|---|
| Uls Technology ($ULS) | 16.7% | 21.1% | 19.8% | 21.2% | 13.8% |
Top companies by CAPEX/Revenue, %
| Top 5 | FY2014 | FY2015 | FY2016 | FY2017 | FY2018 |
|---|
| Trader Media East ($TME) | 3.8% | 2.3% | | 47.5% | |
| Dods(Group ($DODS) | 0.6% | 0.4% | 0.6% | 12.7% | 1.3% |
| Grupo Clarin Sa ($GCLA) | 12.8% | 1.6% | 2.7% | 2.7% | |
| Naspers ($NPSN) | | 4.0% | 3.1% | 2.5% | 2.0% |
| Ite Group ($ITE) | 1.7% | 1.3% | 1.8% | 2.1% | |
| |
|---|
| Median (24 companies) | 1.5% | 1.1% | 0.7% | 0.8% | 1.3% |
|---|
| Uls Technology ($ULS) | 4.2% | 0.9% | 0.2% | 1.3% | 0.1% |
Top companies by ROIC, %
| Top 5 | FY2014 | FY2015 | FY2016 | FY2017 | FY2018 |
|---|
| Independent News & Media ($INM) | 29.6% | 65.1% | 118.5% | 24.4% | |
| Marimedia Ltd ($MARI) | 39.0% | 6.4% | 39.6% | 23.9% | |
| Reed Elsevier ($REL) | 21.0% | 21.4% | 21.4% | 21.4% | |
| Nahl Group ($NAH) | 31.5% | 26.0% | 23.0% | 17.3% | |
| Dcd Media ($DCD) | -8.8% | -10.5% | -3.6% | 17.0% | |
| |
|---|
| Median (26 companies) | 7.8% | 6.7% | 1.4% | -0.2% | 4.5% |
|---|
| Uls Technology ($ULS) | 44.1% | 39.6% | 39.3% | 31.3% | 19.1% |
Top companies by Net Debt / EBITDA
| Top 5 | FY2014 | FY2015 | FY2016 | FY2017 | FY2018 |
|---|
| Ite Group ($ITE) | 0.3x | 1.4x | 6.3x | 7.3x | |
| Porta Communications ($PTCM) | 3.4x | 2.7x | | 5.0x | |
| Quarto Group Inc ($QRT) | 1.4x | 1.1x | 1.8x | 3.9x | |
| Reed Elsevier ($REL) | 1.9x | 1.9x | 2.2x | 2.0x | |
| Future ($FUTR) | | 1.6x | | 1.9x | |
| |
|---|
| Median (17 companies) | 1.0x | 1.2x | 0.4x | 0.5x | -3.0x |
|---|
| Uls Technology ($ULS) | -0.0x | -0.4x | -0.7x | 0.7x | 0.4x |
