- Record 2023 organic revenue growth of 20%
- US acquisitions provide strong growth platform
- New goal to double revenue to more than £500 million
Shares in JTC (JTC) traded 5% higher to touch a new 12-month high of 868p after the asset management services provider revealed record annual organic revenue growth of 20% and talked-up its still strong growth prospects.
Over the last year the shares are up around 19% and closing in on the all-time high of 916p level achieved in December 2021. Since listing on the UK market in March 2018 at 290p the shares are up around three-fold, equivalent to a compound annualised return of 20% a year.
WHAT DID THE COMPANY SAY?
Chief executive Nigel Le Quesne said: ‘2023 was another exceptional year for JTC. We delivered further above guidance net organic revenue growth of 19.9%, driven by record net new business wins of £30.8 million, on an improved 33.4% EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation) margin, supported by continued strong client demand for our services.
‘This result exceeded last year's outstanding performance and continues our track record of 36 years of uninterrupted profitable growth, demonstrating JTC's consistent earnings power through the cycle and resilience to wider market volatility.’
Revenue increased 28.7% to £257.4 million for the year ended 31 December and underlying EBITDA was 30.1% higher to £85.9 million, representing an increase in margin on revenue of 0.4% to 33.4%, in line with medium term guidance of between 33% and 38%.
Underlying pre-tax profit increased by 19% to £40.5 million.
The company ended the period with net debt to EBITDA, a measure of financial leverage of 1.43 times, aligned within the guidance range of between 1.5 times to two times.
NEW GROWTH TARGETS
Having doubled the size of the business as measured by revenue and underlying EBITDA since 2020, some two years ahead of target the company has set itself a new goal.
The aim is to double the size of the group for the third time within a decade to achieve revenue of more than £500 million. Following several important US acquisitions the group believes it has created a ‘strong’ platform for growth and anticipates a higher proportion of revenue growth coming from the high growth US market.
The company attributed its success to the ‘ability to continually expand client relationships over lifespans that average 14 years, as well as to win new clients in competitive markets.’
