After writing headlines like “Superb Blinkx” I’ve probably left readers in little doubt that I am a fan of this Autonomy spin out. My ‘love affair’ is, of course, in no way affected by my shareholding in Blinkx which I have held since their May 07 IPO at 45p. Shares are now 115p and rising fast today; a far cry from their 10p nadir just two years ago.
Blinkx claims to be ‘the world’s largest and most advanced video search engine” and that is almost certainly more than just PR-speak. Ie it’s true. In their trading update today they are expecting revenues of $65m in H2 to 31st Mar 11. That’s a whopping 90% increase on the same period last year with operating profits ‘above current analyst consensus estimates of $6.7m”. Also mega impressed (given the growth) that cash balances have increased from $17m to $52.8m in the last six months. Readers know my other love affair with cash-generative companies. To grow 90% and grow your cash pile over 3x is particularly impressive!
Blinkx is spending a tiny bit ($4.5m cash element) on the purchase of Burst Media Corp for $30m – mostly in shares. Burst provides online advertising services to c130m unique users. Burst claims to be the 30th largest media property in the UK and, in the US, reaches 61% of the online population. The acquisition looks spot on- enabling Blinkx to further expand its embedded video services to Burst’s users. Given that online video advertising is the fastest growing segment of all (see Youtube’s announcement today – Google to boost spend on original content - as more and more people use the internet/smartphones/iPads to watch video) I really think Blinkx is in a particularly sweet spot.
But I guess I am a bit biased – or smug – or both!