The end of the financial year is just one week away and intelligent investors will already be looking to identify the best performers in financial year 2015. Companies with good growth opportunities and positive outlooks are not hard to find and the below may be set to outperform in financial-year 2015.
Credit analytics company Veda Group Ltd (ASX: VED) provides analytical information to businesses and individual clients who use it to make decisions on credit risk, check employee information, and undertake digital marketing strategies. The group would appear to have a strong growth runway, structural competitive advantages, regulatory tailwinds and the support of strong credit demand amidst a low rate environment.
Revenue was up 13.2% on the first half of FY2013 with a compound annual growth rate in revenue and EBITDA from FY2011 to FY2013 of 13.4% and 17.3% respectively. Selling for $2.03 Veda trades on 26.7 times projected earnings and looks a solid buy.
Who's to say online juggernaut SEEK Limited (ASX: SEK) can't shoot the lights out in the new financial year? It posted a spectacular 29% boost in profit, 38% rise in revenue, and 40% increase in dividend payout for the half year to December 2013. With the digital tailwinds and rapid expansion into mega-markets in Asia and South America, Seek's forward price-earnings of 31 may prove a bargain yet.
GBST Holdings Limited (ASX: GBT) is a financial software business that services the asset management industry in Australia and the United Kingdom. It's been growing revenues strongly through winning new clients and delivered $49 million in revenues in the first half of FY 2014. The name of the game for this business is winning new clients and having established a foothold in the UK it's looking to kick on. The UK asset management market has been estimated to be worth more than GBP 4.5 trillion or about $7,000 billion, that's a big market to crack and selling for 14.5 times projected earnings it will be a big winner if the new business wins start to drop.
Broadcaster Nine Entertainment Co Holdings Ltd (ASX: NEC) is another worth a look selling for just 14.6 times projected earnings with potential to leverage off any uptick in advertising revenues. Nine is heavily backed by smart institutional investors like Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA) and Perpetual Limited (ASX: PPT). With its ticketing business Ticketek offering growth and the growing domination over Ten Network Holdings Limited (ASX: TEN), Nine looks a decent prospect for the year ahead. However, I think there's one business to trump all of the above, it's been recording…
