Quartix Technologies LON:QTX, the Cambridge-based vehicle tracking technology provider published its year-end results to end-December 2023 this morning (4th March).
The company highlighted its organic growth last year where it saw revenue increase by 8.6% to GBP29.9m. Earnings fell, however, by 10.8% to GBP5.4m and adjusted profit also fell 12.2% to GBP5.1m.
Other negative results were a fall in free cash flow by 65.9% to GBP1.3m, however given the EUR3.9m (GBP3.3m) acquisition of Konetik, a German electric vehicle fleet tracker in September, free cash flow would have been GBP4.6m. The acquisition adds a presence in Berlin and Budapest to the vehicle tracking and analytic software company.
- Hummingbird Resources starting to dig itself out of a hole
- Renew Holdings expecting to exceed market forecasts
- IPO Radar: MNTN, Jackson Acquisition II, OMS Group
The statutory loss for the year was GBP0.9m, a reversal of the GBP5m profit from 2022.
Quartix Technologies shares see signs of recovery
Shares in Quartix Technologies opened the week (4th March) at 168.05p, fell to 155p on release of the results, but recovered to around 168p before lunch. Over one-year the company’s shares had fallen 42% and over three-years is down 62% although the share price has shown signs of life since the start of the year, up from 155p by 8.4%.
The company announced a dividend of 1.5p/share with no supplementary dividend, making the total annual dividend 3p/share.
Quartix’s vehicle tracking system is installed in over 600,000 vehicles, which allows subscribers to track their fleet through the internet with users of the AIM-listed company’s services in the Building and Construction, Transportation, Trades, Distribution and Security sectors and allows customers to not only track vehicles but identify individual drivers and coach them on their driving, track temperatures of refrigerated vehicles and record mileages and efficiency of journeys.
- Stock recommendations by Bridgewise. Try a free trial of Data+ for a deeper look.
Andy Walters, executive chairman said in a statement to the market this morning: “We will remain focused on organic growth and have commenced the process of winding down the Konetik acquisition, in order to remove its financial burden on the core subscription business.
He continued: “We have started the new financial year positively, with new installations in January approximately 10% ahead of the same period in 2023. This, alongside the opportunities for continued growth in all territories, and particularly in Continental Europe, underpins our confidence for 2024 and beyond.”
Bridgewise, the AI-analyst rates Quartix as ‘Hold’. The analyst said: “Considering Quartix Technologies’ recent financial performance, the company’s stock isn’t projected to achieve significant outperformance compared to the industry benchmark. Quartix Technologies plc’s latest financial results rank the company within the mean of the Information Technology sector. It’s worth noting that the Quartix Technologies plc demonstrated relatively strong performance in Period P/B Ratio, but underperformed the sector when it came to Net Change in Cash. Historically, mixed results in these metrics have not demonstrated a strong correlation of a stock outperforming its competitors.”
