Aveva to pay interim dividend early, ahead of takeover by Schneider

(Alliance News) - Aveva Group PLC on Tuesday reported an interim revenue rise but suffered a widened loss due to higher operating expenses.

For the six months that ended on September 30, the Cambridge-based industrial software firm said revenue increased by 15% to GBP551.5 million from GBP480.9 million a year before. This change was "primarily due to a foreign currency translation", it said.

Annualised recurring revenue rose 12% to GBP876.2 million from GBP785.2 million a year ago.

Pretax loss from operations, however, widened to GBP77.6 million from GBP74.3 million. Aveva said the loss was primarily due to the amortisation of intangible assets of GBP109.4 million from GBP115.7 million a year earlier.

Total operating expenses rose to GBP498.7 million from GBP448.5 million, including research and development costs of GBP182.0 million, up from GBP164.9 million a year earlier.

Chief Executive Officer Peter Herweck said: "Aveva's business model transition to subscription and SaaS is accelerating with a good ARR progression to [12%] in H1 driving recurring revenue up to over 70% of total revenue."

Looking ahead, Aveva said it expects to achieve some revenue growth in the second half. It added that revenue will continue to benefit from a "significant currency translation gain" due to the strength of the dollar versus the pound.

In September, Aveva agreed to a takeover offer from French energy management company Schneider Electric SE in a deal worth around GBP10 billion. Aveva incurred GBP3.4 million in expenses in the recent half-year in connection with the proposed acquisition, which remains subject to Aveva shareholder approval.

Aveva declared an interim dividend of 13.0 pence per share, unchanged from a year prior. The record and payment date for this was brought forward to November 18 and December 9, respectively, so that it is paid before the acquisition by Schneider completes, which could be in the first of part of the first quarter of 2023.

Shares were up 0.1% at 3,140.00 pence each on Tuesday morning in London.

By Xindi Wei; [e-mail]

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