Luxoft Diversifies to Find Growth in a Tough Market
Image source: Luxoft.
Luxoft Holding(NYSE: LXFT)announced fiscal first-quarter earnings Thursday after the market close. In contrast to last quarter's modest post-earnings pop, shares of the software-development company are down around 3.4% Friday as of this writing. Let's dig a little deeper to see how Luxoft kicked off its new fiscal year.
Luxoft Holding results: The raw numbers
|
Fiscal Q1 2016 Actuals* |
Fiscal Q1 2015 Actuals |
Growth (YOY) |
|
|---|---|---|---|
|
GAAP revenue |
$178.0 million |
$148.1 million |
20.3% |
|
GAAP net income |
$14.1 million |
$14.6 million |
(3.4%) |
|
GAAP earnings per diluted share |
$0.42 |
$0.43 |
(2.3%) |
*For the quarter ended June 30, 2016. Data source: Luxoft Holding.
What happened with Luxoft Holding this quarter?
- On a constant-currency basis, GAAP revenue would have climbed 21.5% year over year.
- Adjusted (non-GAAP) net income grew 1.9% year over year, to $21.0 million, and rose $0.01 per share, to $0.62.
- Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBTIDA) grew 8.8% year over year, to $29.6 million, good for adjusted EBITDA margin of 16.6%.
- Luxoft doesn't provide quarterly financial guidance. But for perspective -- and though we don't pay close attention to Wall Street's short-term demands -- analysts, on average, were looking for slightly higher adjusted earnings of $0.63 per share.
- Revenue growth by core vertical included:
- 18.2% growth in financial services, to $122.4 million (32.8% excluding Luxoft's top-two accounts)
- 74% growth in automotive and transport, to $25.5 million (183% excluding its top account)
- 15.8% growth in telecom, to $9.9 million
- a 14.9% decline in technology vertical revenue, to $9.1 million
- 10.7% growth in travel and aviation, to $7.7 million
- a 3.2% decline in energy, to just over $3 million
- an 8% decline in all other verticals, to $424,000
- Revenue by geography included:
- 15.5% growth in the U.K., to $61.1 million
- 1% growth in the U.S., to $47.1 million
- 46.9% growth in Germany, to $26.3 million
- 152.6% growth in Switzerland, to just over $10 million
- 34% growth in Singapore, to $3.1 million
- 68.3% growth from other European countries, to $17.3 million
- Concentration from Luxoft's top client decreased 6.3% year over year, and top-three client concentration fell 2.8%.
- Productivity per engineer at the end of the quarter stood at $75,498, up from $76,400 last quarter.
- Ended the quarter with cash and equivalents of $131.8 million, up from $108.5 million last quarter.
- Generated cash flow from operations of $32.7 million, or 18.3% of revenue, and up 45.5% year over year.
What management had to say
CEO Dmitry Loschinin stated:
Looking forward
Luxoft isn't in the habit of offering specific quarterly financial guidance. But given its in-line performance this quarter, management was comfortable enough to reiterate its previous guidance for the full fiscal year ended March 31, 2017.
As a reminder, that guidance calls for full-year revenue increase ofat least 20% year over year, to $781 million, with adjusted EBITDA margin of 17% to 19%, GAAP earnings of at least $2.10 per share, and adjusted earnings of at least $2.85 per share. By comparison, analysts' consensus estimates had predicted full fiscal-year revenue of $789.6 million, and adjusted earnings of $3.00 per share.
All things considered, this performance was impressive considering the macroeconomic uncertainty Luxoft is facing in its key core markets right now. And Luxoft achieved its revenue growth despite a notable slowdown across its top-three clients. So while Luxoft's top- and bottom-line results weren't exactly awe-inspiring relative to expectations, I think this looks like a solid starting point to its new fiscal year.
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Steve Symington has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends Luxoft Holding. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.