Avast sees revenue growth at upper end of guidance after solid H1

FTSE 250 cybersecurity company Avast said on Wednesday that full-year revenue growth will be at the upper end of its high single-digit percentage range following a solid first half.

In the six months to the end of June, adjusted revenue rose 9.2% on a like-for-like basis to $421.7m, with adjusted billings up by $29.4m to $459.6m, driven by double-digit growth in the consumer direct desktop business.

Meanwhile, adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation were up 6.5% to $236.5m.

Chief executive Ondrej Vlcek said: "The strategic advantage of our global consumer platform model shows clearly in these results, with strong revenue growth driven by cross-sell promotions within the installed user base. I am delighted to see Avast reap the benefit of its investment in innovation and the customer experience."

Vlcek said strong demand for the company's value-added solutions, such as VPN, utilities and AntiTrack, was accompanied by a resilient performance from its traditional anti-virus products.

"While the mobile carrier channel was below our expectations, elsewhere in the consumer business there was good momentum in both customer conversion and retention rates," he said.

"The group's first half performance underpins a strong full year outlook. We now expect like-for-like FY2019 revenue growth to be at the upper end of the previously stated high single-digit percentage range."

At 0810 BST, the shares were up 3.4% at 338.62p.