Quartix Holdings PLC Trading Statement (6672B)
January 12 2018 - 1:00AM
UK Regulatory
TIDMQTX
RNS Number : 6672B
Quartix Holdings PLC
12 January 2018
12 January 2018
Quartix Holdings plc
("Quartix" or the "Company")
Trading Statement
Quartix Holdings plc, one of Europe's leading suppliers of
subscription-based vehicle tracking systems, software and services,
is pleased to provide an update on trading for the year ended 31
December 2017 and to report that it will publish results for the
year ended 31 December 2017 on Monday 26 February 2018. As detailed
further below, revenue for the period is anticipated to be slightly
ahead of market expectations with profit expected to be moderately
ahead.
In the year to 31 December 2017 the Company's subscription base
in its core fleet operations increased by 16% in the UK to 83,100
vehicles, by 48% in the USA to 9,100 vehicles, and by 31% in France
to 13,000 vehicles. New fleet installations increased by 23% to
27,250 and the client base grew by 20% to just under 11,000. As
announced a year ago, investment has been made in the development
of the Company's fleet business in the United States. To date this
has included further local recruitment, product development and a
new sales and marketing automation platform. The Company is now
able to build on these foundations with an enhanced level of
marketing expenditure in 2018. It will also continue investment in
some aspects of product development which were not completed in
2017. These parts of the investment intended for 2017 will,
therefore, be carried over into 2018 and management believes that
profit for 2017 will be moderately ahead of market expectations as
a result.
New unit installations in the insurance sector fell by 17% to
57,800 vehicles. This trend was in keeping with the strategy stated
in July 2016 and in early 2017, namely that of focusing on only
those insurance opportunities which offer satisfactory margins and
which are closely aligned to the Company's fleet business. As noted
in July 2017, some volume lost in the first half was reinstated as
Quartix resumed supply for an insurance customer which had switched
to a low-cost competitor earlier in the year. This has had a
positive effect on revenue, which is also now expected to be
slightly ahead of market expectations.
The Company achieved strong levels of free cash-flow and expects
to pay a supplementary dividend along with the final dividend. The
results, together with accompanying presentations, will be posted
on the Company's website at www.quartix.net/investors on 26
February, and shareholders will be welcome to submit any questions
for management via the site.
Further to the announcement made in September, David Bridge
stepped down as Finance Director on 31 December 2017 and has now
also stepped down from the Board, although he remains with the
Company to help Daniel Mendis in the preparation of the 2017
results. Daniel joined the Board as CFO on 1 January 2018, as
previously indicated. I would like to take the opportunity to thank
David for 10 years of outstanding service to the Company. The Board
is also pleased to announce the appointment of Cantor Fitzgerald
Europe as joint broker to the Company, alongside finnCap, with
immediate effect.
Andy Walters, Chief Executive, commented: "We are delighted with
the progress made in 2017: we have built a good platform to invest
in our US operations, achieved satisfactory margins in our
insurance business and grown our core fleet customer base by 20%.
We look forward to 2018 with confidence."
The information communicated within this announcement is deemed
to constitute inside information as stipulated under the Market
Abuse Regulations (EU) No. 596/2014. Upon the publication of this
announcement, this inside information is now considered to be in
the public domain.
For further information, please contact:
Quartix (www.quartix.net)
Andy Walters, Chief Executive Officer
Daniel Mendis, Chief Financial Officer 01686 806 663
finnCap (Nominated Adviser and Joint Broker) 020 7220 0500
Matt Goode/Scott Mathieson (Corporate Finance) 020 7894 7000
Alice Lane (Corporate Broking)
Cantor Fitzgerald (Joint Broker)
Marc Milmo/ Catherine Leftley
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
END
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January 12, 2018 02:00 ET (07:00 GMT)
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