The Objective Corporation Limited (ASX: OCL) share price has rebounded from an early decline.
Shortly after the open, the content, collaboration and process management software solutions company's shares were down as much as 5% to $16.14.
However, at the time of writing, the Objective Corp share price is up 2.5% to $17.39.
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Why is the Objective Corp share price rebounding?
The catalyst for the rise in the Objective Corp share price on Thursday was the release of a trading update shortly after the market open.
According to the release, the company expects to report revenue of $52.7 million and EBITDA of $15.1 million for the first half of FY 2022. This represents an increase of 13.3% and 28%, respectively, over the prior corresponding period.
Also growing strongly was Objective Corp's Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR). At the end of December, it stood at $79.5 million, which is an increase of 13.4% from $70.1 million a year earlier.
Management also revealed that it continues to invest in innovation. During the half, the company invested $12.8 million in research and development. This was up 14% year on year and represents 24% of revenue.
A final positive was the company's strong balance sheet. At the end of the period, Objective Corp had cash of $44 million. This was up 59% year on year despite paying fully franked dividends totalling $8.5 million.
Management commentary
Objective Corp's CEO, Tony Walls, was pleased with the half.
He commented: "The strong financial performance in 1HY2022 reflects the on-going dedication of every member of the Objective team to deliver outstanding results, the enduring resilience of our business model and the strength of the Objective brand in our target markets."
"During 1HY2022, we again increased our substantial investment in innovation across our product portfolio with numerous important products to be released in 2HY2022 including Objective Build, Objective Nexus and Objective Regworks IQ. Our commitment to this investment is strongly supported by existing and evolving opportunities, driven by the demands of digital government, remote working and process automation, all of which have been accelerated by the impacts of COVID-19."
"Our products remain central to supporting our customer's digital transformation journey and, in many cases, we are only in the early stages of seeing the positive impact on customers and our resulting revenue," he added.
Outlook
Mr Walls' comments on the remainder of the half also appear to have boosted the Objective Corp share price today.
He said: "The outlook for the remainder of FY2022 remains very positive, reflecting the progress we made in 1HY2022 and the momentum we have carried into 2HY2022. Objective Regtech continues to perform particularly strongly as we realise the results of our sustained investment in product innovation and go-to market capacity since the team joined the Objective family."
