AJ Bell Plc reports 34.0% Net Income growth in 2019 and 4.0 pp EBITDA Margin growth from 33.7% to 37.7%
05 Dec 2019 • About AJ Bell Plc (
$AJB) • By InTwits
AJ Bell Plc reported FY2019 financial results today. Overall the company's long term financial model is characterised by the following facts:
- AJ Bell Plc is a growth stock: FY2019 revenue growth was 17.0%, 5 year revenue CAGR was 14.4% at FY2019 ROIC
- EBITDA Margin is expanding: 37.7% in FY2019 vs. 33.7% in FY2018 vs. 30.6% in FY2015
- AJ Bell Plc has low CAPEX intensity: 5 year average CAPEX/Revenue was 1.6%. At the same time it's a lot of higher than industry average of 0.7%.
- CAPEX is quite volatile: £1m in FY2019, £1m in FY2018, £3m in FY2017, £1m in FY2016, £0m in FY2015
Below you can find a comprehensive analysis of the key data driving the company's performance and the stock price.
Revenue and profitability
AJ Bell Plc's Revenue jumped on 17.0%. During the last 5 years Revenue growth topped in FY2018 at 18.7%. Revenue growth happened at the same time with EBITDA margin expansion. EBITDA Margin increased on 4.0 pp from 33.7% to 37.7% in FY2019. EBITDA Margin grew at 1.9 pp per annum in the last 5 years.
SG&A as a % of Revenue decreased on 4.2 pp from 68.5% to 64.3% in FY2019. SG&A as a % of Revenue declined at -2.3 pp per annum in the last 5 years. Stock Based Compensation (SBC) as a % of Revenue increased slightly on 0.92 pp from 0.12% to 1.0% in FY2019.
Net Income margin increased on 3.7 pp from 25.2% to 28.9% in FY2019. Net Income margin followed a growing trend at 1.9 pp per annum in FY2015-FY2019. The efficient tax rate was 19.5% in FY2019.
Investments (CAPEX, working capital and M&A)
The company's CAPEX/Revenue was 0.82% in FY2019. CAPEX/Revenue showed almost no change from FY2016 to FY2019. For the last three years the average CAPEX/Revenue was 2.2%. During FY2015-FY2019 CAPEX as a % of Revenue topped in FY2017 at 4.6% and was declining since that time.
The company paid 49.4% of Net Income as dividends in FY2019.
Management team
30.3% of the company is owned by insiders. Insider ownership didn't change in 2019.
At the end of financial year the company had 810 employees. Average revenue per employee in FY2019 was £129,509.
Financial and operational results
FY ended 30 Nov -0001
AJ Bell Plc ($AJB) key annual financial indicators| mln. £ | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2019/2018 |
|---|
P&L
|
|---|
| Revenue | 57.0 | 64.5 | 75.6 | 89.7 | 104.9 | 17.0% |
| SG&A | 41.7 | 47.7 | 53.8 | 61.4 | 67.5 | 9.9% |
| EBITDA | 17.4 | 18.8 | 23.8 | 30.2 | 39.5 | 30.7% |
| EBIT | | | | 28.3 | 37.4 | 32.4% |
| Tax | | | | 5.7 | 7.3 | 28.5% |
| Net Income | 12.3 | 13.4 | 17.6 | 22.6 | 30.4 | 34.0% |
| Stock Based Compensation | | | | 0.1 | 1.1 | 882.1% |
Balance Sheet
|
|---|
| Cash | 36.3 | 39.5 | 42.1 | 49.7 | 69.1 | 39.0% |
| Short Term Debt | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.3 | | |
| Long Term Debt | 0.1 | 0.9 | 0.1 | 0.4 | | |
Cash flow
|
|---|
| Capex | 0.3 | 0.6 | 3.5 | 1.0 | 0.9 | -9.8% |
| Dividends | | | | 20.0 | 15.0 | -25.0% |
Ratios
|
|---|
| Revenue growth | 6.6% | 13.0% | 17.2% | 18.7% | 17.0% | |
| EBITDA growth | -3.7% | 8.1% | 26.5% | 26.8% | 30.7% | |
|
|---|
| EBITDA Margin | 30.6% | 29.2% | 31.5% | 33.7% | 37.7% | 4.0% |
| EBIT Margin | | | | 31.5% | 35.7% | 4.2% |
| SG&A, % of revenue | 73.0% | 74.0% | 71.2% | 68.5% | 64.3% | -4.2% |
| SBC, % of revenue | | | | 0.1% | 1.0% | 0.9% |
| Net Income Margin | 21.6% | 20.8% | 23.2% | 25.2% | 28.9% | 3.7% |
| CAPEX, % of revenue | 0.6% | 0.9% | 4.6% | 1.1% | 0.8% | -0.2% |
|
|---|
| ROIC | 28.5% | 29.8% | 35.4% | 42.2% | | |
| ROE | 24.3% | 25.2% | 30.4% | 36.1% | 40.4% | 4.3% |
| Net Debt/EBITDA | -2.1x | -2.0x | -1.8x | -1.6x | -1.7x | -0.1x |
People
|
|---|
| Insider ownership | | | | 30.3% | 30.3% | 0.0% |
| Employees | | | | | 810 | |
| Revenue/Employee, th. £ | | | | | 130 | |
Peers in Asset Management & Custody Banks
Below you can find AJ Bell Plc benchmarking vs. other companies in Asset Management & Custody Banks industry. It's shown for the period of 5 years for the key financial metrics. Each table has median value for all the companies in the industry together with individual financial data of the top-5 companies in the industry by particular financial metric.
Top companies by Revenue growth, %
| Top | FY2015 | FY2016 | FY2017 | FY2018 | FY2019 |
|---|
| Premier Asset Management Group Plc ($PAM) | 16.6% | 9.5% | 17.6% | 16.0% | |
| |
|---|
| Median (1 company) | 16.6% | 9.5% | 17.6% | 16.0% | |
|---|
| AJ Bell Plc ($AJB) | | 13.0% | 17.2% | 18.7% | 17.0% |
Top companies by EBITDA margin, %
| Top | FY2015 | FY2016 | FY2017 | FY2018 | FY2019 |
|---|
| Premier Asset Management Group Plc ($PAM) | | 26.6% | 31.1% | 33.4% | |
| |
|---|
| Median (1 company) | | 26.6% | 31.1% | 33.4% | |
|---|
| AJ Bell Plc ($AJB) | 30.6% | 29.2% | 31.5% | 33.7% | 37.7% |
Top companies by CAPEX/Revenue, %
| Top | FY2015 | FY2016 | FY2017 | FY2018 | FY2019 |
|---|
| Premier Asset Management Group Plc ($PAM) | | 0.5% | 0.4% | 0.6% | |
| |
|---|
| Median (1 company) | | 0.5% | 0.4% | 0.6% | |
|---|
| AJ Bell Plc ($AJB) | 0.6% | 0.9% | 4.6% | 1.1% | 0.8% |
Top companies by ROIC, %
| Top | FY2015 | FY2016 | FY2017 | FY2018 | FY2019 |
|---|
| Premier Asset Management Group Plc ($PAM) | | | 28.6% | 34.2% | |
| |
|---|
| Median (1 company) | | | 28.6% | 34.2% | |
|---|
| AJ Bell Plc ($AJB) | 28.5% | 29.8% | 35.4% | 42.2% | |
Top companies by Net Debt / EBITDA
| Top | FY2015 | FY2016 | FY2017 | FY2018 | FY2019 |
|---|
| Premier Asset Management Group Plc ($PAM) | | 3.1x | -1.2x | -1.2x | |
| |
|---|
| Median (1 company) | | 3.1x | -1.2x | -1.2x | |
|---|
| AJ Bell Plc ($AJB) | -2.1x | -2.0x | -1.8x | -1.6x | -1.7x |
