Trustpilot shares surge after profit-beating, £20m share buyback

Wednesday September 11, 2024 8:56 AM

The Trustpilot share price has risen 157 per cent in the last 12 months.

Trustpilot shares rose after the global analytics platform said its first-half 2024 earnings were higher than expected and announced a new share buyback.

The FTSE 250 company gained as much as 9.3% in early trading on Wednesday. Its share price has risen 157% in the past 12 months.

Trustpilot said adjusted earnings before tax (EBITDA) were $10.6m (£8.1m), up 86% from $5.7m (£4.4m) a year earlier.

The company reported a pre-tax profit of $2.6 million (£2 million) in the six months, compared with a loss of $4 million (£3.1 million) in the same period in 2023.

Revenue rose 18 per cent to $99.8 million (£76.3 million), while bookings jumped 20 per cent to $117.5 million (£89.8 million), thanks to 23 per cent growth in North America, 19 per cent in the UK and 16 per cent growth elsewhere.

Trustpilot has announced a new share buyback programme of up to £20m to reward investors, which it said could start as early as Wednesday.

“We’ve made a lot of progress” – Trustpilot CEO

Monthly unique users rose 28% to more than 67,000. Trustpilot chief executive Adrian Blair, who joined the company in September last year, said new enterprise products that provide insight into consumer behaviour and market dynamics had been well-received.

“When I joined Trustpilot a year ago, I said my goal was to deliver greater strategic clarity, rigorous execution, and increased profitability. We’ve made great progress in those areas,” he added.

“We still have a lot of work to do and are excited about the significant growth opportunities that lie ahead in our focused markets and beyond.

“We are confident that we will achieve sustainable growth and improve operating leverage in the long term.”

Trustpilot maintained its constant currency revenue growth forecast of “mid-teens” in 2024, adding that it now expects adjusted EBITDA to be in the “upper range” of analyst estimates from the company of $18m (£13.8m) to $22m (£16.8m).

“In our view, the above-consensus first-half results announced this morning further demonstrate that Trustpilot’s strategy under CEO Adrian Blair is generating meaningful earnings momentum,” JP Morgan analysts said in a note.