Analysts pessimistic as Outsourcery puts out 'begging bowl'

Analyst claims recent results suggest possible sale is on the cards

The "days are numbered" for Outsourcery in its current form, according to one analyst, who said the firm could be snapped up by the likes of UKFast or Vodafone, after the company released its latest numbers.

The Manchester firm announced its unaudited figures to the London Stock Exchange this morning, adding that its full numbers for 2015 would be out before the end of next month.

For the 12 months to 31 December, it made an adjusted EBITDA loss of £4m, compared with a £4.6m loss the year before. Group sales over the same period rose nine per cent to £8.1m.

The company admitted that it needs more cash for "short-term working capital purposes" and as such is investigating "alternative solutions to its short-term cash needs". These options include "fundraising, restructuring and the disposal of non-strategic business assets".

Outsourcery said the numbers have "been impacted by further partner product launch delays outside of [our] control".

Analyst Megabuyte said the firm is getting its "begging bowl" out, which could be bad news for the company.

"With gross cash at December of just £0.9m [down from £2.5m the year before], and no evident progress in the second half, the company has admitted the need for more funding," said the analyst. "[It] is exploring fundraising, restructuring and asset sales; is the end nigh?"

Outsourcery shares are down about 12 per cent to 6.32p since the market opened this morning at the time of writing.

Megabuyte suggested that fellow Mancunian firm UKFast - whose CEO Lawrence Jones recently invested £1m in Outsourcery and separately announced its plans to begin acquiring companies - could be poised to snap the firm up.

"Fundamentally, Outsourcery is beholden to its major partners, for example Vodafone and Virgin, which have yet to deliver, while the direct sales capability is clearly also yet not driving growth," it said. "One should also add the fact that the hype around Outsourcery's lead product Skype is yet to be matched by the firm.

"Ultimately, despite the fact that Outsourcery says that it expects a solution to be found, it feels like its days are numbered in its current form, with a sale - to Vodafone or UKFast? - one possible solution."

UKFast was not immediately available to comment on the suggestion.

In a statement sent to CRN, Vodafone said: "We note the actions of the Outsourcery board and will be looking at all the options available, our priority being the continuity of service to our clients."

TechMarketView's managing partner, Anthony Miller, said aside from its funding issues, Outsourcery needs to focus on its top line.

"Even if management can find another kindly punter with deep pockets to bail them out, nine per cent growth in a world where cloud giants like Amazon Web Services are near-nigh doubling revenues year on year just isn't going to cut it."