What: At 5:25 pm on Wednesday evening, infrastructure and unified communications software developer Integrated Research Limited (ASX: IRI) released a market announcement to the ASX titled 'Profit Guidance'.
The statement noted that the company is anticipating both record revenue and record net profit after tax (NPAT) for the financial year ending 30 June 2016.
The guidance stated that revenue of between $81 million and $85 million is expected to be recorded, representing growth of between 15% and 20%. NPAT of between $15.3 million and $16 million is also expected, representing growth of between 7% and 12%.
So What: Integrated Research's share price touched a one-year low back in February after the group underwhelmed the market with an interim result which reported growth in revenue to $39 million but a decline in NPAT to $6.2 million (compared with the prior corresponding period).
The full year guidance implies that the company has achieved a much better profit performance in the second half.
Now What: It will be interesting to see how the market reacts to the 'Profit Guidance' on Thursday. Integrated Research enjoyed a currency tailwind in the first half, so analysts will be running the numbers to try and determine what effect currency had on the group's second half results.
At the mid-point of guidance, Integrated Research would appear to be trading on a price-to-earnings (PE) ratio of 23 times. While plenty of the company's peers including iSentia Group Ltd (ASX: ISD) and Altium Limited (ASX: ALU) are also trading on similarly high PEs, investors will ponder whether Integrated Research's constant currency growth rates justify its PE multiple.
