By far, the biggest positive reaction to a June 30 report came for WiseTech Global (ASX:WTC), the ASX’s premier IT growth stock. The company’s shares surged more than 19% at the opening of trade after revealing better-than-expected figures for the 2023-24 financial year.
The shares hit a new all-time high of $114.99 in the morning session following the release of the annual results. In afternoon trading, they were still up more than 17%.
The company delivered a strong result for the year to June, with double-digit growth across most key financial measures, surpassing analyst expectations.
The global logistics/data tech company increased revenue by $225 million compared to the previous financial year—a jump of 28%—reaching $1.08 billion for the first time.
A confident forecast for 2024-25 further drove the share price higher. The company projected revenue of $1.30 billion to $1.35 billion (growth of 25% to 30%) and EBITDA guidance of $660 million to $700 million (growth of 33% to 41%).
The company’s EBITDA (Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation) jumped 28% to $496 million from 2022-23, while underlying net profit after tax rose 15% to $284 million.
Shareholders were rewarded with a 10% increase in the fully franked final dividend to 9.2 cents per share, bringing the total for the financial year to 16.9 cents per share, up from 15 cents the year before.
This strong profit margin was partially attributable to an efficiency program that saved a net $14 million.
WiseTech increased its spending on research and development, investing $368 million this financial year compared to $261 million in 2022-23.
The surge in revenue was primarily driven by a 33% jump in annual revenue from its core CargoWise platform to $880 million. The improvement was also fuelled by both M&A activity and customer growth, with WiseTech securing new Large Global Freight Forwarder (LGFF) wins, including Sinotrans, APL Logistics, Yamato Transport, TIBA Tech, and Grupo TLA Logistics. Nippon Express was secured after June 30.
WiseTech generated significant cash flow, reporting free cash flow of $333 million for the year and ending the year with over half a billion dollars in cash and securities.
Founder and CEO, Richard White, stated that WiseTech ended the financial year with total liquidity of more than $500 million from cash and undrawn debt facilities. “EBITDA came in above our guidance range, and EBITDA margin was 50% in the fourth quarter, over a full year ahead of expectations,” he said.
It’s worth recalling that in late 2021 and through most of early 2022, many investment analysts and investors believed the company was overpriced, spending too much on acquisitions, and investing excessively in technology. The shares fell from $56 to a low of around $38 during that period. Wouldn’t it be interesting to know the identities of those experts now that the shares are well over $100 each?