Altium CEO Mirkazemi surprised at 14pc share drop after reporting ‘strong’ annual results

Aram Mirkazemi is asking for shareholders to stick with him after the electronics software group posted its first set of results since an abandoned takeover bid by US giant Autodesk.

Altium, led by CEO Aram Mirkazemi, has seen its share price dive 14 per cent after reporting its annual financial results, its first set since an abandoned takeover bid by US giant Autodesk. John Feder/The Australian.

Altium boss Aram Mirkazemi said he’s surprised by the 14 per cent drop in the electronics software company’s share price after delivering “strong” annual financial results — the group’s first reported numbers since its aborted takeover talks with US software giant Autodesk.

The company on Monday posted a record dividend for the 2021 financial year and achieved its full-year revenue guidance, booking a 1 per cent rise in revenue to $US191.1m ($A261.7m), which includes the contribution from TASKING before its sale in February.

Altium will pay shareholders a final dividend of 21c a share, taking the total for the year to 40c. That’s up slightly from 39c last year.

Profit after tax from continuing operations surged 79 to $US35.3m, however underlying earnings slipped 2.9 per cent to $US60m.

Altium is involved in the development and sales of computer software for the design of electronic products. The company grew its annual recurring revenue by 29 per cent and said its flagship cloud product, Altium 365, now has almost 13,000 monthly active users and over 6,000 monthly active accounts.

The company’s shares are were down 11 per cent to $30.91 just after lunch, before falling further and closing down 14.25 per cent to $29.85.

US company Autodesk had reportedly verbally offered $40 per share for the company earlier this year, but the companies couldn’t agree on a price and talks fell through.

Altium is one of the so-called ‘WAAAX’ Australian tech growth stocks, which also includes Afterpay and Wisetech.

“To be honest I‘m surprised by the early market reaction, because we delivered a strong performance in the second half to achieve guidance, and we also have a very positive outlook for FY22,” Mr Mirkazemi said in an interview on Monday.

“These are quite positive results and so I’m hoping that as the market digests Altium’s performance and outlook, I believe we’ll get a better read.”

Mr Mirkazemi said that Autodesk walked away from potential takeover discussions after requiring that it be the sole bidder involved in the process.

“We’re very respectful of our relationship with Autodesk, and the strategic attractions in both directions, is quite strong,” he said. ”We’ve been very transparent and we’ve talked to our shareholders and investors and the board has an understanding of expectations, and it’s, it’s something that, like I said, has to be worked out at that level.

“To be honest, the process broke down when, when they wanted to engage at the level of which would have precluded others from participating. The board‘s expectation was at a price that was appropriate for that. And they just walked away from the process. And I think you know, to me it’s fair enough. We’ll have to wait to see.”

Mr Mirkazemi said when he rejoined the company about a decade ago Altium’s share price was less than $1, and while it’s been above $30 consistently for months, he thinks there is still room for further growth.

“We’re going to be able to create value for shareholders, probably not in that same dramatic way that we did, but there is still quite significant value creation there we think,” he said. ”That needs to be recognised by a buyer, and it’s a decision that shareholders have to make.”

Altium’s results are unaudited due to the Covid-19 pandemic, but said the audited results will be released “within a week” and likely won’t have any material difference to Monday’s numbers.

“We don’t really think about the pandemic anymore … We think that the threat of pandemic, to our market and economies associated with it is no longer the threat it was before,” Mr Mirkazemi said.

“Particularly as vaccination spreads and more and more people get vaccinated, it‘s just about getting our staffing levels back to full strength.”