The Bravura Solutions Ltd (ASX: BVS) share price has had a strong start to the week. At lunch the fintech company's shares are up 3.5% to $2.13 following the release of its half-year results.
For the six months ended December 31, Bravura delivered earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) of $18.5 million on revenue of $102.9 million. This was a 2% and 10% increase, respectively, on the prior corresponding period. And due to lower net interest & FX expense and positive tax expense, underlying net profit after tax rose 13% on the prior corresponding period to $14.2 million or 6.6 cents per share.
The strong growth in revenue was driven largely by new clients across its EMEA and APAC operating regions, and increased project work from existing clients, underpinned by long-term contracts.
The company's Sonata wealth management solution was the highlight of the half, growing revenue by 35% on the prior corresponding period. This means the solution now accounts for 55% of total revenue, up from 45% a year earlier.
Total EBITDA didn't grow as strongly as revenue due to the loss of a major client in the Funds Administration segment, which led to segment EBITDA falling 26% to $12.8 million. Pleasingly, a 40% increase in the Wealth Management segment's EBITDA to $21.6 million more than offset this decline.
The good news here is that management believes the Funds Administration segment will return to growth in the second-half thanks to a strong pipeline of client opportunities.
Because of this and the strong demand the company is experiencing, management has upgraded its full-year underlying earnings per share growth guidance to the high-teens.
Should you invest?
I thought this was a very strong result from Bravura and demonstrates why it is regarded as one of the most exciting shares in the fintech space alongside Afterpay Touch Group Ltd (ASX: APT) and Praemium Ltd (ASX: PPS).
So with its shares changing hands at less than 20x trailing earnings, I think Bravura is well worth considering as an investment today. Especially with earnings growth being revised upwards to the high-teens.
