IG Design Group (LSE: IGR) has been one of the London’s poorest performers in Tuesday business.
Following the release of half-year numbers it was down 10% from Monday’s close but, as you will see, there was little in the statement to prompt such a sudden drop.
Instead, today’s mild sell-off can be attributed to profit booking on the back of recent share price strength. IG Design’s market value swelled by almost a quarter in the month leading up to today’s results, with the firm hitting a record of 435p per share just yesterday.
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Today’s release suggests to me that the Bedfordshire-based firm should resume its upward charge sooner rather than later.
Global superstar
In a sign of further progress, chief executive commented today that it had enjoyed yet another “robust performance” in the six months to September, a period in which it saw “all regions trading profitably and growth being achieved both organically and through acquisition.”
Revenues at IG Design — which designs and manufacturers gift packaging, greetings, stationery and a variety of other giftware — leapt 14% in the six months to £166.5m, with organic sales at constant currencies increasing 10% year-on-year. As a result, pre-tax profit at the firm ballooned 27% in the first half to £10.5m.
Buoyed by this impressive performance, IG Design decided to light a fire under the interim dividend, hiking the payment by 14% to 2p per share.
It’s little surprise to see IG Design striking such an upbeat tone as its broad catalogue of products fly off the shelves across all major territories. In the Americas and the UK, IG Design saw revenues climb by 18% and 4%, respectively, in the period to September, to $91.3 and £57.5m. And sales are likely to continue booming Stateside thanks to the shrewd acquisition of US-based rival Lang last year.
As if this wasn’t enough, IG Design also continues to make impressive progress in its other international markets; in Continental Europe and Australia sales advanced 19% and 13%, respectively, in the first half.
City analysts are expecting earnings at the business to rise 10% in the year to June 2018 — and follow this with a 14% advance in fiscal 2019. And I reckon that these impressive projections could be subject to meaty upgrades in the weeks and months ahead.
With IG Design’s improving balance sheet also raising, the possibility of additional earnings-boosting M&A (net debt fell £6.2m during the first half to £70.2m), I reckon the business is a brilliant growth share worthy of a premium forward P/E ratio of 19.5 times.
Looking good
The Gym Group (LSE: GYM) is another London-quoted share predicted to deliver exceptional profits growth in the near-term and beyond.
Bottom-line rises of 33% and 21% are anticipated in 2017 and 2018, correspondingly, estimates that are clear to understand as member numbers at the business steadily explode. It saw its membership base improve 19.8% during January-June, to 508,000, and with The Gym Group steadily expanding (it snapped up 18 gyms from Lifestyle Fitness in September), I expect the number of gym-goers on its books to keep steadily expanding.
I am convinced The Gym Group is a brilliant share to consider today despite its elevated forward P/E rating of 28 times.
