Australian Earnings Results: Altium Kept the ASX200 in the Red

In the Australian share market, the focus remains on the earnings report. Most sectors were trading in negative territory with significant losses in the energy and information technology sectors. The technology sector was dragged by Altium Ltd.

Altium is the world’s leading software company. It has helped a wide range of companies succeed in designing next-generation electronic products and systems. The company has offices worldwide with around 600 employees and a rapidly growing network of channel partners. Their main operations centres are in:

• Sydney
• San Diego
• Munich
• Shanghai

Altium at Record High

Ahead of the half-year results, the company’s share price was trading at an all-time high of $42.63 as investors were confident about the performance of the software company. However, its share price dropped on Tuesday after investors analysed the results and forecasts.

Source: Altium

The company delivered a strong half-year performance:

• Strong revenue growth of 19%
• Record EBITDA Margin of 39.7%
• A strong profit before tax growth of 23%
• Record growth of 16% increase in subscriber base to 46,693
• Record growth of 19% increase in Altium Designer seats with 4,205 new licenses sold

The Impact of the Coronavirus

Despite maintaining its full-year revenue between US$205m to US$215m and margin guidance, the company’s share price slumped by more than 15% on Tuesday morning. Given that one of the major operation centres is located in China and is an integral part of the business, the company warns of the emerging uncertainty of the impact of the virus.

As performance may be impacted, the company is expected to meet the lower end of the revenue and margin guidance. As of writing, its share price has pared some losses and is currently down by around 7% at $39.12.