Iress forecasts 50% growth in first half earnings

In an ASX announcement on Monday, Iress projected an adjusted EBITDA in the 1H24 period to be between $65–$67 million, up approximately 50 per cent from $44 million in the prior corresponding period (pcp).

However, the firm noted that the result remains subject to an ongoing audit review.

“The material uplift in earnings comes as Iress enters the final stages of its transformation program, which is on track to complete on 31 December 2024,” Iress said in a statement.

“A disciplined approach to cost management and revenue in line with expectations have seen a significant improvement in operating leverage through the period. Earnings in Iress’ core businesses of Wealth and Trading & Market Data are expected to be materially higher on pcp, alongside UK Wealth which has continued to perform well under strengthened leadership.”

The firm also pointed to its “good progress” on its ongoing asset sales.

In April, Iress completed the sale of its OneVue platform business to Praemium for an initial $1 million in cash consideration and a further payment of up to an additional $20 million over 18 months as milestones are met.

In addition to selling OneVue, Iress also sold its Pulse portfolio management software in May and announced the sale of its UK Mortgages business to Bain Capital for £85 million ($164 million). The completion of this transaction is expected to be completed by 1 August 2024 following the successful completion of all conditions precedent.

Earlier this year, Iress Group CEO Marcus Price said the platform divestment aligns with its strategy of refocusing on Iress’ core businesses of wealth, trading, and market data and superannuation.

“This transaction represents another milestone in our progress towards a simpler, more focused Iress. As part of our refreshed strategy, we are committed to streamlining operations, reducing costs, and managing our portfolio of non-core assets for release of capital to reduce debt,” Price said.

In its announcement on Monday, Iress said the net proceeds of all divestments have been used to retire debt, “strengthening the balance sheet and paving the way for a return to maintainable dividends”.

Iress’ first half FY24 results will be announced on 19 August 2024.

The first half of the calendar year also saw the technology firm impacted by a breach of its user space on the third-party code repository platform GitHub.

The firm stressed that “Iress does not store client information on GitHub”.

In a statement to the ASX earlier this month, Iress said it had concluded its internal investigation and “found no evidence of unauthorised access to Iress’ production environment, software or client data other than a limited portion of Iress’ OneVue production environment”.

“This environment primarily contained information of a technical nature such as metadata, blank questionnaires, and test files,” it said at the time.

“Within the test files, Iress also identified a limited amount of personal information relating to 20 individuals who were employees of OneVue and its clients, and had entered their personal information for testing purposes.

“Each of these individuals has been contacted directly about the incident and provided with appropriate guidance and support.”