Equiniti profits down as it pursues US expansion

Specialist non-discretionary payment and administration technology outsourcer Equiniti Group issued its full year results for 2017 on Wednesday, with revenue rising 6.1%.

The FTSE 250 company said that improvement was underpinned by 2.9% organic revenue growth and an accelerated second half performance.

Underlying EBITDA growth was 6.6% to £98.5m, with margin rising to 24.3% from 24.2%, which the board said reflected its platform characteristics and a continuing focus on operational improvement.

Profit after tax more than halved, however, dropping 53.3% to £15.6m.

That was reflective of £10.5m in non-operating charges - which Equiniti said were mainly related to the WFSS acquisition - as well as a tax charge of £10.0m compared to a tax credit of £4.9m in the previous year.

The board recommended final dividend of 2.73p per share, giving a total dividend for the year of 4.48p per share with underlying full year dividend per share growth of 6.3%, in line with the board’s progressive dividend policy.

On the operational front, Equiniti reported a 100% retention of FTSE clients, with new wins across all divisions and new share registration clients including Howdens Joinery, Jardine Lloyd Thompson, Rentokil Initial and J Sainsbury.

New client wins included Aon Hewitt, British Bankers' Association and House of Fraser, and new mandates included Arix Bioscience, Pelatro, Sabre Insurance and Xafinity.

Equiniti also confirmed the renewal or extension of relationships with a number of clients, including Imperial Brands, Lloyds Banking Group, Prudential, Royal Mail and Smiths Group.

During the year, the company implemented new capabilities, including the consolidation of Gateway2Finance and Nostrum with its existing loans software business, creating full end-to-end credit origination and servicing abilities.

It also established EQData, which provided cybersecurity and data analytics from the company’s new south west ‘TechHub’.

Equiniti also made a successful entry to the US market since the year ended, with the acquisition of the Wells Fargo Shareowner Services business (WFSS), completed on 1 February.

“We are pleased with progress against our strategic objectives during 2017, having delivered accelerating organic growth during the second half, whilst securing a landmark entry into the exciting US market,” said chief executive Guy Wakeley.

“Despite the challenging operating environment, we have grown revenue and profit ahead of expectations whilst demonstrating our consistent ability to grow operating margins whilst delivering strong cash generation.”

The company’s acquisition of Wells Fargo Shareowner Services created a “truly multinational opportunity” both for core share registration products as well as Equiniti’s broader suite of technology and share plan solutions in a large and growing market, Wakeley explained.

“Equiniti operates in an environment characterised by significant change, driven by regulation, digitisation and cost reduction.

“The relevance of our services and automated technology capabilities has never been greater, and through 2018 our intent remains to deliver organic revenue growth, supplemented by growth from capability enhancing acquisitions whilst integrating our new US operations, creating a platform for significant future growth.”