Empresaria (EMR.L) Empressive finish to the year

Transcription

1 26 th January EMR EMPRESARIA ORD 5P Empresaria (EMR.L) Empressive finish to the year Q Q Q Q Price: 43.0p Sourc e: Fides s a 12m High 56.0p 12 m Low 39.5p Mkt cap 19.7m Shares 45.8m (diluted) Sector Market Broker Website Support Services London (AiM) Shore Cap Description: Multi-brand international recruitment agency, with 20 brands in 20 countries, with focus on specialist segments of the market. Last week s pre-close trading statement from Empresaria shows that the hard work it did through the recession is now paying off well. Full year profitability will be slightly ahead of consensus and we are upgrading for a second time in a month. We are upgrading FY14E EPS (Dil. Adj.) by 9% to 7.1p and FY15E by 9% to 7.7p. The share price has done little in the last 12 months and continues to be valued at a material discount to its peers. We would expect the discount to narrow assuming Empresaria continues to deliver as (or better than) expected. Underlying improvements coming through: Empresaria now expects PBT (Adj.) to be c13% up on FY13 and we have pushed our FY14 forecast ahead to 6.1m from 5.9m and our FY15 forecast to 7.1m from 7.0m. Net Fee income was 3% ahead of the prior year, despite on-going adverse currency pressures. We calculate that the conversion ratio rose by an impressive 90bps to 15.0%, the third year of progress towards its long-term goal of 20%. In Germany there was a significant hike in profitability following the painful restructuring of operations in 2012 and India also traded well during the year. Empresaria does not mention current trading but industry evidence elsewhere suggests that the H2 momentum should have continued into the new year. Building for the future: Empresaria has not inflated performance by cutting back on investment. FY14 it opened new offices in Hong Kong, Malaysia, Chile and Mexico and acquired a 75% stake in Ball and Hoolahan in December for an initial cash payment of 1.0m. Despite this activity, total debt (now including non-recourse finance) fell to 9.8m at end 2014 from 15.2m in 2013 and leaves Empresaria well placed to invest further should the right opportunities present themselves. Attractive valuation: The three large, mid-cap UK quoted staffers (Hays, Page and SThree) are trading on forwad PERs of 20.5x (CY14E, unweighted average). The small cap staffers (Harvey Nash, Hydrogen, Matchtech, Robert Walters and Staffline) are trading on 14.3x (FY14E, unweighted average). Empresaria is trading on a prospective PER of 6.1x. Nigel Parson +44 (0) np@hardmanandco.comave made been Dec Year End FY11 FY12 FY13 FY14E FY15E Sales ( m) Net Fee Income ( m) Operating profit ( m) PBT ( m) EPS (p) DPS (p) Net (debt)/cash ( m) (15.7) (14.5) (15.2) (9.8) (9.3) Net debt/ebitda (x) P/E (x) EV/Sales (x) EV/NFI (x) FCF Yield (%) Dividend Yield (%)

2 FY11 FY12 FY13 FY14E FY15E 26 th January 15 Key data Net fee income (by type, FY13) Net fee income (by geography, FY13) Net fee income ( m), NFI growth (%) EBIT ( m), NFI conversion (%) Net debt/cash ( m) Capital Employed ( m), RoIC (RHS, %) Net debt ( m) Net debt:ebitda (x, RHS) 2

3 Valuation charts EV/Net Fee Income (12 month prospective, x) The shares are slowly starting to appreciate in value as the recovery story gains traction. PER (12 month prospective, %) We would expect the investment proposition and anticipated earnings growth to be increasingly reflected in an expansion of rating from its current level of 6.1x FY14E PER. EV/EBITDA (pros 12 months) Likewise, we would expect the investment case to be reflected in the expansion of its EV/EBITDA multiple. 3

4 Key financials Dec Year End FY11 FY12 FY13 FY14E FY15E P&L ( m) Sales Net Fee Income ( m) EBITDA Operating profit PBT EPS DPS Cashflow ( m) Operating cash flow Interest & tax (2.7) (2.5) (2.3) (2.1) (2.9) Capex / Acquisitions (1.0) (3.5) (1.9) (2.4) (1.1) Dividends (0.2) (0.2) (0.2) (0.2) (0.2) Equity Other items (1.1) 2.2 (4.1) 0.8 (3.5) Change in net debt (1.1) 1.2 (0.7) Closing net debt (15.7) (14.5) (15.2) (9.8) (9.3) Balance sheet ( m) Net assets Key metrics FY11 FY12 FY13 FY14E FY15E Growth (%) Sales 1.0 (6.4) (3.0) Net Fee Income 0.9 (6.4) (3.0) Operating profit (28.4) EPS (24.6) DPS Operating ratios (%) Gross margins EBITDA margins Operating margins Effective tax rate Leverage Gearing (%) Net debt/ebitda (x) Interest cover (x) EPS/DPS (x)

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