Ainsworth Game Technology Limited (AGI) came out with its half year results ended 31 December 2014 with a net profit after tax of $34.6 million, which was 3% down from $35.7 million in the previous corresponding period (pcp) in FY2014. The revenue for the period was $111.9 million, which is 8% lower from $121.8 million reported for pcp. The Company declared a fully franked interim dividend of 5 cents per ordinary share to be paid on 21 April 2015. The dividend payout ratio of 47% of profit after tax was highlighted.Click here to read the full report.
The 1H15 Total Transaction Value of $7,894m which is an increase of 6% on pcp is expected. The Company is expected to declare a fully franked interim dividend of 48.5cps with a normalised payout ratio of 50%. Weak consumer confidence with pitiable enquiry levels has driven flatness in the outbound and domestic Australian leisure travel market. However, FLT’s approach of lowering service fees in view of pricing of products appears to bring a sigh of relief. This would be resulting in margin compression. There is an increase in cost base although return on investment has not been taken into account. An estimated investment rise in areas of the cost base including wages, sales and marketing costs has been indicated by FLT. This is not expected to result in a lift in TTV. Nonetheless, the total FY15 TTV is expected to increase by 6% despite growing 7% in FY15 to the AGM date. 50% growth on pcp is expected from the US with a view to have FY15 EIBT of US$17-18m. The impact on earnings owing to seasonal developments is expected to be reduced. Then business is expected to grow to 1.0bn GBP by FY15 and 1.5bn GBP by FY17 in the UK. The ~1% market share is expected to grow further. Of course, more clarity is to be sought through the interim results pending to be out in February 2015.Click here to read the full report.
For the half-year ended 31 December 2014, the company reported net profit after tax of $ 88.5 million (previous year $ 90.3 million) on sales of $ 1.97 billion (previous year $ 1.94 billion). The cost of doing business was 14.2% (previously year 13.9%) producing an EBIT of $ 130 million (previous year $ 132.9 million) and the EBIT margin was 6.6% compared to 6.8% in the previous half year. Richard Murray, the CEO, said that he was pleased with the result given the difficult trading conditions. The key Christmas period can be considered satisfactory with the company continue to demonstrate its price leadership while keeping costs under control. Sales continued to improve through the half-year with comparable sales registering a growth of 1.3% in the second quarter. In Australia, total sales for the period rose by 1.4% to $ 1.86 billion to comparable sales were down by 0.6%. Sales of hardware and services grew by 4.7% as did comparable sales by 2.5% despite the decline in the tablet category especially in the first quarter. In New Zealand, total sales declined by 4.3% to NZ$ 103 million as did comparable sales by 6.4% because of the cycling digital switchover.
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