Aveva revenue and adjusted profits rise after Schneider Electric acquisition

Aveva Group announced its interim results for the six months ended 30 September on Tuesday, reporting that on a pro forma basis, revenue for the combined group including the Schneider Electric Software acquisition grew 10.9% to £343.0m, with adjusted profit before tax up 54.3% at £60.5m.

The FTSE 250 company said that on a statutory basis, revenue rose 56.4% to £336.5m, primarily as a result of only the heritage Schneider Electric Software (SES) business numbers being reported in the comparative period.

Its loss before tax was £5.5m, swinging from a profit of £7.8m a year earlier.

Aveva said recurring revenue was 18.7%, and its adjusted profit before tax margin improved 490 basis points, with the board declaring an interim dividend of 14p, compared to a nil dividend at the interim last year.

The board said the integration plans remained on track, with new organisational structures in place across the group, integrated product solutions developed and showcased to customers, and cost synergy programmes under way.

Net cash stood at £81.8m, down from £95.9m a year ago, following payment of the full year dividend.

Aveva said its full-year outlook remained positive.

“The industries that Aveva serves are making increasing use of technology,” said chief executive officer Craig Hayman.

“This is being driven by ongoing secular trends driving growth in demand for industrial software.

“Aveva is optimally placed to capture this demand due to its unique end-to-end product portfolio.”

Hayman said Aveva delivered a “good performance” in the first half of the financial year, with sales execution described as “strong”, integration on-track and the results representing a “good base” to build on in the second half.

“We remain confident in the outlook and are making progress towards our medium term targets of delivering revenue growth at least in-line with the industrial software market, increasing recurring revenue as a percentage of overall revenue and improving Aveva’s adjusted EBIT margin to 30%.”