LONDON -- Blinkx (LSE: BLNX.L), the video search engine spun out of Autonomy in 2007, has gained 8% to 79 pence so far during 2012, making the technology share one of the year's steadier performers within the London market. During the same time, the FTSE 100 index has gained 3%.
In May, Blinkx reported its final results for the year ending March 31. Total revenue advanced 73% to $114 million, although profit for the year was down almost 50% from $7.6 million to $3.9 million. In addition, following acquisitions, the firm's cash balance fell to $38 million from $53 million.
At the time, founder and chief executive Suranga Chandratillake said:
This year, we have continued to see strong momentum in the online video market, and, in this young and constantly evolving Internet industry, we have also experienced unexpected growth in new and related arenas, such as the soaring popularity of smartphones and tablet devices, including the iPad.
The proliferation of powerful connected devices and high-speed broadband networks has catalyzed consumer appetite for Web video. comScore reported that in March of this year, 181 million people in the U.S. watched nearly 37 billion videos online. We expect that advertisers will continue to follow these audiences by allocating more of their spend to digital channels over the coming years.
Then, earlier this month, Blinkx reported record results in its first-half financials for the six months ending Sept. 30, 2012. Revenue was up 84% to $82 million, adjusted profit from operations increased by 61% to $7.9 million, and underlying earnings rallied 45% to $0.02 per share.
Newly appointed chief executive Brian Mukherjee said:
This has been an exceptional first half for Blinkx. The business demonstrated strong underlying growth, which was accelerated by the ahead-of-schedule integration of Burst and PVMG. The progress of this integration enabled us to serve a greater number of high value ads to a wider audience at robust monetisation rates.
During the period, we also benefited from increased advertising spend allocated to specific events-the summer Olympics and the U.S. presidential elections. These one-time events provided us with a better-than-expected boost to revenues during the traditionally slower summer months.
Commenting on current trading, Mukherjee added:
There are powerful secular trends driving the growth of video advertising: the proliferation of broadband and connected devices, and the accelerating migration and consumption of video online. This market momentum underscores the vitality of the sector and our business model. Overall trading remains in line with the comments made in our trading update of 29 October 2012 and based on our performance this period and the fundamentals of the sector, we remain confident in our outlook for the rest of the year.
Blinkx looks like it's positioned well for long-term growth. It has a market cap of about 260 million pounds, and City experts reckon profit could double during 2014 to put the shares on a P/E of 23. This company is definitely one to watch!
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