Online retail and education specialist Findel (LSE: FDL) found itself dealing at five-month troughs in Tuesday business, the stock 6% lower after a poor reception to full-year trading details.
It announced that group revenues rose 11.3% during the year to March, to £457m, while on a like-for-like basis sales, advanced 10.2% to £452.4m.
However, share pickers were spooked by a huge rise in pre-tax losses, these ballooning to £57.7m from £1.6m a year earlier. This was chiefly caused by the number of one-off expenses swelling to £82.2m from £26.5m in 2016, items of which included the likes of its new bad debt model, and refunds to customers who had purchased financial services products.
But there was still plenty to cheer in Findel’s latest release. At Express Gifts the customer base swelled by an extra 229,000 during the 12-month period to total 1.6m, while like-for-like product revenues leapt 15.6%. And Findel advised that the digital transformation package across the business continues to “progress well.”
Bouncing back
The number crunchers certainly expect the hard work it has put in to be reflected in a healthy flip back to profit from this year onwards. A 19% bottom-line rise is predicted for fiscal 2018, and an extra 28% advance is chalked in for next year.
And these projections make Findel irresistible value, in my opinion. Not only does the small-cap deal on a prospective P/E ratio of 7.7 times, but a sub-1 PEG reading of 0.4 underlines the firm’s attractiveness to value chasers.
Turning higher
Bolt-and-fastenings behemoth Trifast (LSE: TRI) is another London-quoted small-cap expected to deliver robust earnings growth in the near term and beyond.
For the year to March 2018, Trifast is expected to enjoy a 19% bottom-line boost, up from 22% in the prior year. And a further 4% rise is chalked in for fiscal 2019.
The company saw revenues soar 15.6% to £186.5m in the last 12-month period, Trifast benefitting greatly from sterling’s erosion since the EU referendum. But positive currency movements are by no means the whole story, with sales at constant currencies rising by a chunky 7% year-on-year.
Consequently underlying pre-tax profit rocketed 28.1% to £20.5m.
Trifast has thrown the kitchen sink at bolstering its manufacturing and logistics capabilities around the world, and as a result its position as a critical parts provider to automotive, domestic appliances and electronics OEMs continues to grow. And the company’s robust balance sheet should facilitate further growth through both organic expansion and fresh bolt-on acquisitions.
I believe the Uckfield business offers plenty of bang for your buck at current share prices. Sure, a forward P/E ratio of 17.5 times may soar outside the widely-regarded value benchmark of 15 times or below. However, a PEG reading of 0.9 suggests the stock is actually attractively priced relative to its predicted growth performance.
I reckon Trifast is a great selection for those seeking brilliant long-term growth.
