QANTM Intellectual Property Ltd (ASX:QIP) owns a group of intellectual property (IP) services businesses operating under the independent brands of Davies Collison Cave (DCC), FPA Patent Attorneys, and Sortify.tm. It is a major player in the mature and regulated Australian patent, trade marks and IP legal services market with ~16.5% market share (FY23) in its key patents segment (67% of revenue) and a diversified mix of local and foreign clients (~45%/55% split; ~50% US$ revenue). We have reviewed recent results from the listed Australian and UK companies that we consider to be peers and have found that QIP mostly outperformed the group in terms of EBITDA margin expansion in FY23. Its UK peers experienced across-the-board margin contraction as did several Australian peers, despite healthy growth in both revenue and EBITDA for the year. QIP is trading at a significant discount (36%) to the peer group on an FY23 EV/EBITDA basis and 11% discount on a FY23 PER basis. Our DCF valuation of $1.65/share implies an EV/EBITDA multiple of 8.9x FY23a and 8.2x FY24f which would still put QIP at a discount to this group. We are of the view that this underscores QIP’s relative value.
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FY23 peer metrics underscore QIP's relative value
- Published:
03 Oct 2023 -
Author:
Finola Burke -
Pages:
7 -
QANTM Intellectual Property Ltd (ASX:QIP) owns a group of intellectual property (IP) services businesses operating under the independent brands of Davies Collison Cave (DCC), FPA Patent Attorneys, and Sortify.tm. It is a major player in the mature and regulated Australian patent, trade marks and IP legal services market with ~16.5% market share (FY23) in its key patents segment (67% of revenue) and a diversified mix of local and foreign clients (~45%/55% split; ~50% US$ revenue). We have reviewed recent results from the listed Australian and UK companies that we consider to be peers and have found that QIP mostly outperformed the group in terms of EBITDA margin expansion in FY23. Its UK peers experienced across-the-board margin contraction as did several Australian peers, despite healthy growth in both revenue and EBITDA for the year. QIP is trading at a significant discount (36%) to the peer group on an FY23 EV/EBITDA basis and 11% discount on a FY23 PER basis. Our DCF valuation of $1.65/share implies an EV/EBITDA multiple of 8.9x FY23a and 8.2x FY24f which would still put QIP at a discount to this group. We are of the view that this underscores QIP’s relative value.