Tech: Reckon doubles H1 earnings, shares get a 15pc boost

Today was a busy morning for tech with several earnings announcements but accounting software firm Reckon (ASX:RKN) stood out the most with shares climbing 15 per cent.

In the first half of 2019, the company more than doubled its earnings, increased its users by 21 per cent and will pay a 3c per share dividend. Its net profit after tax was was $5.3m.

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Reckon is hoping to capitalise on the ATO’s latest regulation – Single Touch Payroll (STP). While it has been mandatory for employers with over 20 employees for over 12 months, it is also now mandatory for those below that threshold.

Reckon’s app sends reports straight to the ATO each pay run instead of employers having to send this information once a year. Reckon also offers accounting software and operates in three countries at present: Australia, New Zealand and Britain.

“The strategy put in place is delivering the desired results, driving growth particularly in the uptake of cloud products,” CEO Sam Allert said.

“There is no doubt that our execution of a functional and affordable Single Touch Payroll solution has been well-timed to leverage the government’s introduction of the new reporting requirement.”

In other ASX tech news this morning…

Kogan.com (ASX:KGN) has released its annual results and has surpassed half a billion dollars in gross sales for the first time. It has 1.6 million active customers (16 per cent higher than a year ago) and made a net profit of $17.2m. It will pay a dividend of 8.2c per share. CEO Ruslan Kogan welcomed the results and promised exciting times ahead with the launch of several new portfolio businesses. Shares jumped 8 per cent this morning.

Buy now, pay later stock Zip (ASX:Z1P) declared to the market this morning it had made its “debut on the global stage”. It has acquired competitor PartPay, which will enter Zip into New Zealand, the UK, the US and South Africa. Zip has also acquired an interest in US-based competitor QuadPay.

“This transaction marks the beginning of Zip’s global expansion story,” CEO Larry Diamond said. “Whilst we see significant upside in the core Australian business, we feel the timing is opportune to begin investing abroad as we seek to build a global payments business.” Zip shares are up 6 per cent this morning and sit 213 per cent higher than a year ago.

Infomedia (ASX:IFM) also announced results to the market and is up 12 per cent. Its full-year net profit after tax came in at $16.1m, up 25 per cent. Infomedia will also pay a dividend of 2.15c per share and promised growth would continue. “Our performance during the year reflects the growing importance of parts and service after-sales to the global automotive industry,” CEO Jonathan Rubinsztein said. “We will continue to invest to capitalise on the emerging opportunities that will arise from significant disruption.”