XP Power — Update 25 July 2016

XP Power (LSE: XPP)

Last close As at 28/03/2024

GBP10.60

−24.00 (−2.21%)

Market capitalisation

GBP257m

More on this equity

Research: TMT

XP Power — Update 25 July 2016

XP Power

Katherine Thompson

Written by

Katherine Thompson

Director

TMT

XP Power

Solid H1 performance

Interim results

Tech hardware & equipment

25 July 2016

Price

1,599p

Market cap

£307m

$1.32:€1.20:£1

Net debt (£m) at end H116

6.0

Shares in issue

19.2m

Free float

85.6%

Code

XPP

Primary exchange

LSE

Secondary exchange

N/A

Share price performance

%

1m

3m

12m

Abs

(0.7)

(1)

(0.3)

Rel (local)

(6.3)

(6.1)

(0.4)

52-week high/low

1,733p

1,421p

Business description

XP Power is a developer and designer of power control solutions with production facilities in China, Vietnam and the US, and design, service and sales teams across Europe, the US and Asia.

Next events

Q3 trading update

7 October 2016

Analysts

Katherine Thompson

+44 (0)20 3077 5730

Dan Ridsdale

+44 (0)20 3077 5729

XP Power is a research client of Edison Investment Research Limited

XP reported revenue and order growth in H116, benefiting from the recent EMCO acquisition and the weakness in sterling. Despite Brexit uncertainty, the higher backlog supports management confidence in H216 growth. We have revised our forecasts to reflect the significantly weaker pound versus the dollar, resulting in EPS upgrades of 1.8% in FY16e and 2.6% in FY17e.

Year
end

Revenue (£m)

PBT*
(£m)

EPS*
(p)

DPS
(p)

P/E
(x)

Yield
(%)

12/14

101.1

24.3

101.1

61.0

15.8

3.8

12/15

109.7

25.7

104.3

66.0

15.3

4.1

12/16e

127.2

27.4

107.3

69.0

14.9

4.3

12/17e

136.4

30.5

119.5

73.0

13.4

4.6

Note: *PBT and EPS are normalised, excluding amortisation of acquired intangibles, exceptional items and share-based payments.

H116: Revenue, order and profit growth

After a period of weaker demand from US customers in H215, XP saw good order growth in H116: +9% y-o-y/+14% h-o-h. Revenues grew 11.9% y-o-y (constant currency +7%), helped by the EMCO acquisition last November (£3.1m contribution in H116) and the weaker pound. Normalised operating profit of £13.2m grew 3.9% y-o-y, although the margin declined from 23.6% to 21.9% reflecting the recent investment in sales and engineering headcount and the lower profitability of EMCO. Net debt at the end of H116 increased to £6.0m from £3.7m at the end of FY15.

Outlook and changes to forecasts

Management expects to generate revenue growth in H216 as recent design wins move into production. The impact of the Brexit vote looks to be mixed for XP – the medium-term impact on customer demand is uncertain, but the weakness of sterling versus the dollar has a positive translational effect. Trade tariffs are unlikely to have a material impact due to XP’s Asian manufacturing base and overseas subsidiaries. We have factored in the lower sterling rate versus the US dollar; while this results in a small upgrade to our earnings forecasts (+1.8% in FY16e, +2.6% in FY17e), it has a negative effect on our reported working capital and net debt forecasts.

Valuation: Recent investment supports growth

While the economic outlook is mixed, we believe that XP should benefit from its recent investment in engineering and sales resource, as well as acquisitions in the US and South Korea. Strong forecast cash generation should enable the company to invest in further growth, either through internal product development or through the bolt-on acquisitions it continues to evaluate. XP now trades on a P/E of 14.9x FY16e and 13.4x FY17e normalised EPS, with a forecast dividend yield of 4.3% in FY16 and 4.6% in FY17. Competitor power converter companies are trading at around 21x FY16e EPS on EBITDA margins of c 16% versus XP’s 25% forecast EBITDA margin. The UK distributors are trading on c 17x FY16e EPS, on c 9% EBITDA margins. Based on XP’s superior margins, the company is undervalued versus peers, and is further supported by its dividend yield.

Review of H116 results

XP Power has reported H116 revenue growth of 11.9%; on a constant currency basis growth was 7%. The majority of this growth came from the EMCO acquisition, which contributed revenues of £3.1m in H116 (5.8% of reported growth). This implies Q216 revenues of £31.3m, +11% y-o-y and 8.1% q-o-q.

At £61.6m, H116 order intake was 9% higher than a year ago (+4% in constant currency), with EMCO contributing £4.0m of the total. Book-to-bill for H116 was 1.02x and backlog at the end of H116 was £50.0m, compared to £48.0m at the end of FY15.

Gross margin was negatively affected by the move in the euro versus the dollar in 2015. The rate moved from 1.371 in H114 to 1.116 in H115, staying at that level in H116. As most input costs are in dollars, for those customers invoiced in euros there would have been a big hit to profits in H115. The company countered this with a combination of putting up prices for euro-based invoices and having the benefit of a €/$ currency hedge. In H116, the higher prices were still in place, but there was no corresponding currency hedge, putting pressure on the margin compared to H115. As EMCO is a lower-margin business than XP, the EBITDA margin fell to 25.2% from 26.9% a year ago and 27.0% for FY15.

Net debt at the end of H116 rose to £6.0m, mainly as a result of US dollar strength versus sterling. At the end of H116, XP had gross term debt of $10.3m and a working capital facility of $7.5m, translated at a rate of $1.33/£ compared to $1.44/£ for the majority of the period before 23 June. Translation of dollar-denominated working capital also saw the same effect, resulting in a higher than expected working capital outflow.

Exhibit 1: Half-yearly results highlights

£m

H116

H115

y-o-y

Revenues

60.3

53.9

11.9%

Gross profit

29.5

26.6

10.9%

Gross margin

48.9%

49.4%

-0.4%

EBITDA

15.2

14.5

4.8%

EBITDA margin

25.2%

26.9%

-1.7%

Normalised operating profit

13.2

12.7

3.9%

Normalised operating margin

21.9%

23.6%

-1.7%

Reported operating profit

13.0

12.7

2.4%

Reported operating margin

21.6%

23.6%

-2.0%

Normalised PBT

13.1

12.6

4.0%

Normalised PAT

10.2

9.6

6.3%

Reported net income

9.8

9.6

2.1%

Normalised diluted EPS (p)

52.1

50.1

4.1%

Reported basic EPS (p)

51.6

50.5

2.0%

Net debt

6.0

0.4

1400.0%

Source: XP Power

Business update

Divisional revenues

The table below shows the H116 revenue split by end-market and geography. The healthcare business generated minimal growth y-o-y. Considering the strong dollar, this implies a small decline in underlying revenues. Management is confident that recent design wins moving into production will drive growth in the medium term. The technology business saw 11% growth y-o-y with stronger demand from semiconductor and broadcast customers. The industrials business saw the largest increase at 20% y-o-y, with a strong performance in Europe, a recovery in the US after a weak 2015 and a full six months’ contribution from EMCO. The majority of EMCO revenues are reported in the industrial segment, with small amounts in the healthcare and technology segments. Around half of EMCO’s revenues are generated in the US, with the next largest amount in Europe and the remainder in Asia.

Exhibit 2: Geographical revenue split by end-market (£m)

Healthcare

H115

H116

y-o-y

Industrial

H115

H116

y-o-y

Technology

H115

H116

y-o-y

North America

10.6

10.7

0.9%

North America

8.6

11.2

30.2%

North America

7.7

8.9

15.6%

Europe

6.0

6.0

0.0%

Europe

13.7

14.8

8.0%

Europe

3.5

3.8

8.6%

Asia

0.7

0.8

14.3%

Asia

1.7

2.8

64.7%

Asia

1.4

1.3

-7.1%

Total

17.3

17.5

1.2%

Total

24.0

28.8

20.0%

Total

12.6

14.0

11.1%

Source: XP Power

Manufacturing progress

The company continues to increase the level of power converter manufacturing in the Vietnam facility. The total number of converters produced across the China and Vietnam facilities was 550,000, of which 140,000 were made in Vietnam (25.5%). This compares to production in 2015, which split out as 590,000 in H115 (4.1% in Vietnam) and 810,000 in H215 (18.3% in Vietnam). The company continues to transfer products over to Vietnam, freeing up capacity in China for more complex products.

The level of own-design product increased by 20% to £43.4 (72% of total revenues) in H116 versus 67% in FY15. This was partly helped by the addition of EMCO, which is 100% own design.

Product development

The company accelerated new product introductions in H116 to 27 from 13 in H115 and 22 for FY15. This was partly due to the introduction of a new labelled product supplier for DC/DC converters. Of the 27 new products, 18 were “green”, ie high efficiency.

“Green” product revenues made up 24% of the H116 total compared to 21% in FY15, as customers seek out high-efficiency, high-reliability products.

Outlook and changes to forecasts

Outlook considering Brexit impact

Management is conscious of the uncertainty brought about by the Brexit vote, with the possibility that it could reduce customer demand, particularly in the UK. However, the weakness of sterling versus the dollar has a positive translational effect for XP as roughly three-quarters of revenues are invoiced in US dollars. In addition, the weak pound may increase the attractiveness of UK customers’ exports. In the UK (20% of sales), roughly two-thirds of sales are invoiced in sterling; the company is currently reviewing pricing for the sterling-based invoices.

As the majority of product is manufactured in Asia, it can be shipped to customers without passing through the UK, thereby avoiding any tariffs that may be put in place between the UK and the EU.

Although the capital goods markets remain subdued, the company expects to grow revenues in H216 as recent design wins move into production. Management also highlighted its strong balance sheet in the context of considering further acquisitions to widen its product offering and engineering capabilities.

Changes to forecasts

We have factored in the weaker sterling versus dollar rate (1.39 for FY16 and 1.35 for FY17). This has a positive impact at the revenue level, but as the company has a high level of natural hedging, the impact at the operating profit level is lower. We have factored in higher capex and a higher level of working capital, resulting in a higher net debt forecast at the end of FY16 and lower net cash at the end of FY17. Overall, we forecast a 1.8% increase in normalised EPS in FY16 and 2.6% in FY17.

Exhibit 3: Changes to estimates

£m

2016e

2017e

Old

New

Change

Old

New

Change

Revenues

122.2

127.2

4.0%

129.6

136.4

5.3%

Gross profit

61.1

62.6

2.4%

65.0

67.4

3.6%

Gross margin

50.0%

49.2%

-0.8%

50.2%

49.4%

-0.8%

EBITDA

31.2

32.0

2.3%

34.2

35.3

3.3%

EBITDA margin

25.6%

25.1%

-1.6%

26.4%

25.9%

-1.9%

Normalised operating profit

27.2

27.7

1.6%

30.1

30.8

2.4%

Normalised operating profit margin

22.3%

21.8%

-0.5%

23.2%

22.6%

-0.6%

Reported operating profit

27.2

27.4

0.5%

30.1

30.6

1.8%

Reported operating margin

22.3%

21.5%

-0.8%

23.2%

22.4%

-0.8%

Normalised PBT

27.0

27.4

1.4%

29.8

30.5

2.3%

Reported PBT

27.0

27.1

0.3%

29.8

30.3

1.6%

Normalised net income

20.2

20.6

1.8%

22.4

22.9

2.6%

Reported net income

20.2

20.3

0.3%

22.4

22.7

1.7%

Normalised basic EPS

106.5

108.4

1.8%

117.78

120.8

2.6%

Normalised diluted EPS

105.3

107.3

1.8%

116.56

119.5

2.6%

Reported basic EPS

106.5

106.8

0.3%

117.78

119.7

1.7%

Dividend per share

69.0

69.0

0.0%

73.0

73.0

0.0%

Net debt/(cash)

(1.8)

2.1

-220.0%

(8.1)

(3.9)

-52.1%

Source: Edison Investment Research

Exhibit 4: Financial summary

£m

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016e

2017e

31-December

IFRS

IFRS

IFRS

IFRS

IFRS

IFRS

INCOME STATEMENT

Revenue

 

 

93.9

101.1

101.1

109.7

127.2

136.4

Cost of Sales

(49.0)

(51.5)

(51.0)

(55.1)

(64.5)

(69.1)

Gross Profit

44.9

49.6

50.1

54.6

62.6

67.4

EBITDA

 

 

23.3

26.0

27.6

29.7

32.0

35.3

Normalised operating profit

 

 

21.0

23.3

24.5

25.9

27.7

30.8

Amortisation of acquired intangibles

0.0

0.0

0.0

0.0

(0.2)

(0.2)

Exceptionals

0.0

0.0

0.0

(0.3)

(0.1)

0.0

Share-based payments

0.0

0.0

0.0

0.0

0.0

0.0

Reported operating profit

21.0

23.3

24.5

25.6

27.4

30.6

Net Interest

(0.8)

(0.4)

(0.2)

(0.2)

(0.3)

(0.3)

Joint ventures & associates (post tax)

0.0

0.0

0.0

0.0

0.0

0.0

Exceptional & other financial

0.0

0.0

0.0

0.0

0.0

0.0

Profit Before Tax (norm)

 

 

20.2

22.9

24.3

25.7

27.4

30.5

Profit Before Tax (reported)

 

 

20.2

22.9

24.3

25.4

27.1

30.3

Reported tax

(4.5)

(4.5)

(4.8)

(5.5)

(6.5)

(7.3)

Profit After Tax (norm)

15.7

18.4

19.5

20.2

20.9

23.2

Profit After Tax (reported)

15.7

18.4

19.5

19.9

20.6

23.0

Minority interests

(0.2)

(0.2)

(0.1)

(0.2)

(0.3)

(0.3)

Discontinued operations

0.0

0.0

0.0

0.0

0.0

0.0

Net income (normalised)

15.5

18.2

19.4

20.0

20.6

22.9

Net income (reported)

15.5

18.2

19.4

19.7

20.3

22.7

Basic average number of shares outstanding (m)

19

19

19

19

19

19

EPS - basic normalised (p)

 

 

81.67

95.84

102.12

105.28

108.39

120.80

EPS - diluted normalised (p)

 

 

81.35

95.05

101.07

104.32

107.26

119.54

EPS - basic reported (p)

 

 

81.67

95.84

102.12

103.70

106.81

119.74

Dividend (p)

50

55

61

66

69

73

Revenue growth (%)

(9.4)

7.7

0.0

8.5

15.9

7.3

Gross Margin (%)

47.8

49.1

49.6

49.8

49.2

49.4

EBITDA Margin (%)

24.8

25.7

27.3

27.0

25.1

25.9

Normalised Operating Margin

22.4

23.0

24.2

23.6

21.8

22.6

BALANCE SHEET

Fixed Assets

 

 

52.8

53.3

56.1

65.4

66.9

67.7

Intangible Assets

38.1

39.1

40.5

48.2

49.4

50.5

Tangible Assets

13.2

12.7

14.4

16.1

16.4

16.1

Investments & other

1.5

1.5

1.2

1.1

1.1

1.1

Current Assets

 

 

39.3

42.2

47.0

53.5

58.4

63.1

Stocks

19.8

20.4

25.2

28.7

32.7

35.0

Debtors

14.2

15.4

16.0

17.5

20.2

21.7

Cash & cash equivalents

4.1

5.0

3.8

4.9

3.1

4.0

Other

1.2

1.4

2.0

2.4

2.4

2.4

Current Liabilities

 

 

(20.2)

(22.4)

(18.6)

(19.8)

(23.3)

(19.5)

Creditors

(11.1)

(12.7)

(14.4)

(14.6)

(16.9)

(18.2)

Tax and social security

(1.6)

(1.1)

(1.7)

(1.2)

(1.2)

(1.2)

Short term borrowings

(7.3)

(8.5)

(2.5)

(4.0)

(5.2)

(0.1)

Other

(0.2)

(0.1)

0.0

0.0

0.0

0.0

Long Term Liabilities

 

 

(10.6)

(3.7)

(4.2)

(10.0)

(5.4)

(5.4)

Long term borrowings

(7.4)

0.0

0.0

(4.6)

0.0

0.0

Other long term liabilities

(3.2)

(3.7)

(4.2)

(5.4)

(5.4)

(5.4)

Net Assets

 

 

61.3

69.4

80.3

89.1

96.5

105.9

Minority interests

(0.2)

(0.2)

(0.1)

(0.8)

(0.9)

(1.0)

Shareholders' equity

 

 

61.1

69.2

80.2

88.3

95.6

104.9

CASH FLOW

Op Cash Flow before WC and tax

23.3

26.0

27.6

29.7

32.0

35.3

Working capital

4.2

(0.3)

(4.1)

(4.6)

(4.4)

(2.5)

Exceptional & other

0.4

(0.5)

1.9

0.6

(0.1)

0.0

Tax

(4.3)

(5.0)

(3.6)

(4.7)

(6.5)

(7.3)

Net operating cash flow

 

 

23.6

20.2

21.8

21.0

21.0

25.5

Capex

(4.7)

(3.2)

(5.8)

(5.4)

(6.0)

(5.5)

Acquisitions/disposals

(1.6)

0.1

0.1

(8.3)

0.0

0.0

Net interest

(0.5)

(0.3)

(0.1)

(0.1)

(0.3)

(0.3)

Equity financing

(0.5)

0.1

(0.2)

0.0

0.0

0.0

Dividends

(9.1)

(10.1)

(11.0)

(12.2)

(13.1)

(13.7)

Other

0.5

0.2

0.1

0.2

0.0

0.0

Net Cash Flow

7.7

7.0

4.9

(4.8)

1.6

6.0

Opening net debt/(cash)

 

 

18.6

10.6

3.5

(1.3)

3.7

2.1

FX

0.3

0.1

(0.1)

(0.2)

0.0

0.0

Other non-cash movements

0.0

0.0

0.0

0.1

0.0

0.0

Closing net debt/(cash)

 

 

10.6

3.5

(1.3)

3.7

2.1

(3.9)

Source: Company accounts, Edison Investment Research

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NSW 2000, Australia

Wellington +64 (0)48 948 555

Level 15, 171 Featherston St

Wellington 6011

New Zealand

Frankfurt +49 (0)69 78 8076 960

Schumannstrasse 34b

60325 Frankfurt

Germany

London +44 (0)20 3077 5700

280 High Holborn

London, WC1V 7EE

United Kingdom

New York +1 646 653 7026

245 Park Avenue, 39th Floor

10167, New York

US

Sydney +61 (0)2 9258 1161

Level 25, Aurora Place

88 Phillip St, Sydney

NSW 2000, Australia

Wellington +64 (0)48 948 555

Level 15, 171 Featherston St

Wellington 6011

New Zealand

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Saab — Update 22 July 2016

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