Today’s update from market research company Brainjuicer (LSE: BJU) shows it’s making encouraging progress. Its sales increased by 9% in constant currencies versus the first half of the previous year, while gross profit was up by 11%. This was largely due to Brainjuicer’s largest market, the US, performing strongly. In fact, the company’s US division was able to grow gross profit by 27%, while its European and Brazilian operations saw their gross profit rise by 30% and 22% respectively.
Despite this, Brainjuicer’s UK and Chinese divisions saw their gross profit fall by 2% and 5% respectively. The company says it’s too early to know what the effect of the EU referendum will be on the UK economy, but that its financial position remains strong and it should benefit from weaker sterling.
Looking ahead, Brainjuicer is forecast to increase its bottom line by 5% this year and by a further 17% next year. This could positively impact on investor sentiment and with the company having a price-to-earnings growth (PEG) ratio of just 0.7, there seems to be plenty of scope for a share price rise over the medium-to-long term.
Join the dots
Also reporting today was marketing automation software specialist Dotdigital (LSE: DOTD). Its shares have risen by 5% today as it reported a rise in sales of 26% for the full year. Furthermore, earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) will be slightly ahead of market expectations, which is clearly being warmly received by the market.
Encouragingly, monthly recurring revenues from dot mailer’s SaaS-based usage were up by 31% during the period, while its creative and managed service email marketing revenue rose by around 11%. And with Dotdigital having experienced growth of 58% outside of the UK, it believes the impact of Brexit on its business won’t be material. That’s because it has a diverse spread of clients across many sectors and geographies.
With Dotdigital forecast to grow its earnings by 35% next year and its shares having a PEG ratio of 0.5, it seems to offer a wide margin of safety and excellent value for money. Therefore, its share price could continue today’s upbeat performance over the medium-to-long term.
Upbeat update
Meanwhile, shares in mineral sands company Sierra Rutile (LSE: SRX) have risen by 11% today after it released an upbeat quarterly production update. Rutile production increased by 16% during the quarter, which means that production in the first half of the year was a record 61,408 tonnes. Full-year production is now expected to be at the upper end of previously-stated guidance of between 120,000 tonnes and 135,000 tonnes.
Sierra Rutile is continuing to enjoy high demand for high-grade natural rutile, with 96% of its maximum targeted sales volume already contracted for 2016. Its ramp-up in production from the Gangama Dry Mine is also performing ahead of plan, while it’s enjoying continued strong demand from pigment and welding customers in Europe and North America. As such, its prospects appear to be bright and its shares could be set to continue their 62% gain since the start of the year.
