Elixirr LON:ELIX, the AIM-listed, London-based consultancy firm published a trading update at the start of the week (8th January). The company has been listed since 2020, after establishment as a one-partner consultancy in 2009 by Stephen Newton, an alumnus of Accenture and IBM, who remains as CEO.
The consultancy has grown to eight representative offices, including outposts in South Africa and the US and serves over 200 clients.
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In the update Elixirr said it was expecting revenues of between GBP85m and GBP90m, earnings of around GBP24.5m to the end of 2023 and would have nearly GBP18m cash in the bank. The company, as it matures, changed its dividend policy to pay two dividends a year: an interim dividend at the year’s end and then a final dividend payable in August.
This time last year, Elixirr was on track to earn revenues of GBP70.7m for calendar year 2022, earnings of GBP20.5m and profit before tax of GBP15.7m
Subsequently the firm announced a 5.3p/share interim dividend for the current period which amounts to GBP2.5m payable from its cash reserve on 15th February.
Elixirr expands into US
Elixirr initially grew organically, but since 2020 has made a number of strategic acquisitions, including most-recently Insigniam and its subsidiaries in the UK and US for GBP14.7m, which marked Elixirr’s fifth acquisition since its IPO in July 2020 and its third in the US, underlining the importance of developing market share in the US to the London firm. Elixirr had in September also completed the acquisition of US-based AI consultancy, Responsum for USD6.6m.
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The first half of last year supported Elixirr’s confidence in the market, seeing the consultancy increase revenue to the end of June by GBP41.1m, up 23% compared to the same period in 2022 – a record-breaking result over three and six months. Breaking the revenue figures down, organic revenue was up 14% y-o-y.
Earnings also increased, by 19% to GBP12.3m and likewise profit before tax was up 17% to GBP9.9m. The company has no debt.
The company’s shares have responded in kind. Over one-year (to 8th January) Elixirr has returned 14.3% but saw a 42% jump since 14th November after the company’s shares went on a slide from a highpoint of 610p on 18th September. Shares opened the week at 601p and since IPO the company’s shares have grown nearly 200%.Bridgewise, the AI analytics tool rates Elixirr as ‘Outperform’. The analyst said: “Elixirr’s financial results from 2Q23 demonstrated decent performance. Its income and value factors appear positive and give support for optimism regarding the likelihood of continued positive performance. Bottom line, Elixirr’s financials indicate solid performance in terms of income and value, which leads us to believe that they may become interesting again in the next few months. But for right now, we gave the company an overall grade of 78 and a Outperform recommendation.”
As companies face another potentially tricky year, and new challenges like AI emerge it could be a brisk year for Elixirr, who become ‘one to watch.’
