DirectCash Payments has near-term growth challenges, says Laurentian

Laurentian Bank Securities analyst Marc Charbin says investors shouldn’t get used to the kind of outperformance that DirectCash Payments (DirectCash Payments Stock Quote, Chart, News: TSX:DCI) displayed in its recent fourth quarter.

On Tuesday, DirectCash Payments reported its fourth quarter and fiscal 2015 results. In the fourth quarter, the company reported EBITDA of $16.0-million on revenue of $72.1-million.

“Two thousand fifteen results are in line with our expectations, as we continue to grow our payments- and transaction-processing business,” said CEO Jeffrey Smith. “The fourth quarter was highlighted by a successful tuck-in acquisition in Canada, as we continue to expand our existing Canadian ABM operations, and successfully reaching an agreement to settle all class action lawsuits related to the Cash Store, which enables us to focus on growth and expansion of product offerings worldwide. Our business continues to generate strong cash flow, and we are excited to execute our plans for continued diversification of our global payments business.”

Charbin says price increases in each of DirectCash Payments’ core markets had a material impact on revenue that bested his expectations on both the top and bottom line. But he thinks the company will be hard pressed to deliver a repeat performance.

“We believe that multiple expansion is unlikely until investors can get comfortable with the trajectory of revenue in Australasia or if the Company can demonstrate material growth from another source, which means shareholder returns are likely to be limited to dividends and forecast balance sheet strengthening,” says Charbin.

In a research update to clients today, Charbin maintained his “Buy” rating and one-year price target of $14.00 on DirectCash Payments, implying a return of 11.4 per cent at the time of publication.