Could these be the growth heroes you've been searching for?
Investor appetite for Begbies Traynor Group(LSE: BEG) remained subdued in Tuesday trading following the release of full-year financials.
The Manchester-headquartered firm announced that, although revenues fell 1% in the 12 months ending April 2017, to £49.7m, that adjusted pre-tax profit climbed 9% to £4.9m.
Executive chairman Ric Traynor commented that "we have had a year of further progress in developing the group and broadening its service offerings." He added that "the results reflect a solid performance in business recovery together with the benefit of our diversification into property services, which now contributes approximately 30% of the group's revenue and profit, and is an important focus of our growth strategy."
Growth and great value
Begbies Traynor's resilience can be considered impressive given that, as the company noted, the last fiscal year marked the lowest level of corporate insolvencies since 2004.
And investors can take added heart from news that activity levels picked up during the second half, resulting in an improved performance from the first six months as well as the comparative period last year.
Head honcho Traynor announced that the firm is well-positioned to take advantage of the cyclicality of this market. And he said the firm anticipates growth in earnings in the new financial year as the board continues to look for further opportunities to develop and enhance the business, both organically and through selective acquisitions. The company snapped up commercial property auction house Pugh & Co only last June.
City brokers certainly expect earnings at Begbies Traynor to maintain its upward march, the Square Mile anticipating a 24% rise during fiscal 2018. And this results in a forward P/E ratio of 12.1 times, far beneath the broadly-regarded value watermark of 15 times.
On cloud nine
I also reckon IMImobile (LSE: IMO) offers plenty for savvy growth seekers to sink their teeth into.
The cloud communications specialist saw revenues shoot 24% higher in the year to March 2017, to £76.1m, a result that powered adjusted pre-tax profit 10% higher to £7.5m.
The business reported organic sales growth of 15% in the period, and noted that the top line had improved "across all regions and business units." Not only did the software star renew all major contracts that fell in the year, but it also inked new contracts with major customers in all regions including Norwegian telecoms giant Telenor.
Investors should take confidence from the success of recent M&A activity. IMImobile has said that the acquisitions of Textlocal and Archer Digital in recent years are "performing well". And the company's appetite for further purchases bodes well for the future. It took over multi-channel messaging and middleware specialist Infracast in March.
The number crunchers expect earnings to rise 18% in fiscal 2018, and a further 9% rise is anticipated next year. With sales shooting higher across the group, I think the Buckinghamshire business is worthy of serious attention, despite its slightly-toppy prospective P/E multiple of 18.1 times.
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Royston Wild has no position in any shares mentioned. The Motley Fool UK has no position in any of the shares mentioned. Views expressed on the companies mentioned in this article are those of the writer and therefore may differ from the official recommendations we make in our subscription services such as Share Advisor, Hidden Winners and Pro. Here at The Motley Fool we believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors.
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