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MyHotelMatch

CR
Bloomberg   MHM FP
Travel Services  /  France  Web Site   |   Investors Relation
Preparing to launch Matching App
Target
Upside 1,782%
Price (€) 0.38
Market Cap (€M) 2.19
Perf. 1W: 1.07%
Perf. 1M: -6.67%
Perf. 3M: -23.5%
Perf Ytd: -59.7%
10 day relative perf. to stoxx600: -8.42%
20 day relative perf. to stoxx600: -15.3%
Earnings/sales releases15/11/2022 17:48

A good performance from My Agency in H1 22

My Agency’s revenue (acquired in 2022) was back on track in H1 22, having returned to its pre-crisis levels. MHM’s hotel matching application development is underway.


Fact

  • Revenue was nil in H1 22 (closing in June), My Agency being consolidated only in the H2 22. The latter’s turnover (as distinct from the gross margin) of €5m was nevertheless 122% above its H1 21 level (+32% in September 2022 alone, yoy).
  • The operating loss amounted to €641k vs. €013k in H1 21.
  • Due to a €296k positive one-off (reversal of financial provisions) in the H1, the net loss amounted to €344k vs. €87k in H1 21.
  • Net debt was €1.1m in June 2022. The reference shareholder is committed to supporting the balance sheet until November 2023 at least through an additional shareholder loan of €2.2m.
  • The matching application will be made available in Q1 23 as a beta test. A full commercial launch can therefore be expected in 2023-25 aimed at establishing the Proof of Concept in 2024-25.

Analysis

My Agency benefitted from the return of tourists

The return to France of tourists this summer coupled with growing national demand saw My Agency’s revenue back or close to its pre-crisis level according to AV (2019 figures not yet available). With revenues of c.€10m expected in FY 22 (guidance, half of this being consolidated in H2 22), we expect this business to near operational break-even this year. My Agency was roughly billing €10m in 2019 and further 2023 top-line growth should see this business turn a modest profit for the FY 23, in our view.

The number of clients was up 10% and the average ticket per client was up 20%, both of which are positive leading indicators. Since the comparison with a difficult base year in 2021 was favourable, only the H1 23 will enable meaningful analysis of the underlying growth pace aside from the the swings attributable to the basis of comparison. However, we don’t rule out the H1 22 ending up as an unfavourable comparison basis due to firstly the catch-up in post-Covid consumer spending in 2022 and, secondly, a possible decline in the price of services (airline tickets/hotels) following the extraordinary use of pricing power detected in the leisure sector in 2022 (RevPAR in hotels, flight tickets, fossil fuel by transparency). Consequently, we don’t expect the My Agency top-line to grow at an annual 20-30% in 2023-24.

My Agency signed a significant contract with a well-known jewellery trademark in 2022 and this should help improve the shopping experience for end customers. This is the first testimony to demand for the luxury Conciergerie business. We share the opinion that luxury brands can improve end client loyalty by recourse to a specialist external services provider and new contracts of this time seem possible in future. Such contracts would enable My Agency to exit a pure “cost +” structure (variable charges) by materialising an incremental cash margin to access its platform.

Matching application: on the road

MyHotelMatch’s full development will depend on the commercial launch of its app in 2023-24. This is both the company’s core source of potential value creation and admittedly of risk. Operational costs in H1 22 recognised a first acceleration in development expenses. Looking purely at the shareholder’s commitment to contributing €2.2m until September 2023, the cash burn looks moderate. The latter however doesn’t take into account the significant costs incurred in referencing (Google) and the marketing spend to support the full commercial launch.

The beta test version of the Matching App should be made available in early 2023 although we don’t anticipate the first accurate figures to be made available before 2024. We will monitor the cash expenses initially before monitoring the ramp up of the client base later in 2024-25.

Balance sheet secured until end-2023

The reference shareholder is committed to supporting the balance sheet until end-2023. A capital increase looks likely to: i/ refinance this shareholder loan amounting to c.€3m and ii/ prepare for the acceleration in cash burn in 2024 (commercial launch). While there are as yet no details on the latter, we book an accrued amount of €20m in 2022-25. The company’s current market cap is €5m.

With MHM trading at c.€0.017, the current share price stands 32% below the warrants’ strike price of €0.025 per unit (maturing in 2023). The exercise of the warrants would provide the company with c.€9m of fresh cash. This is included in our estimates. Failing this conversion, MHM would have to increase the amount to be raised via a more classical capital increase. A maturity in December 2023 doesn’t require the integration of this “non-exercise” scenario at pixel time.

Due to the increase in operating expenses expected in 2023-24, MHM will have to provide the market with visibility on its balance sheet before November 2023.


Impact

In the absence of a matching app contribution in 2022 and with the My Agency recovery being in line with expectations, we see no need to adjust our forecasts. Although operating expenses look a bit higher than had been expected in FY 22 (€600k recorded in H1 22 vs. €400k expected in FY 22) this is insignificant vs. the mid-term issues in 2023-25. On the other hand, there may have been a couple of undisclosed one-offs in H1 22 attributable to MHM’s full strategic shift. All in all, analysis of the company should focus on the 2023-25 horizon rather than the H1 22.

Note that our target price will mainly depend on the price of the new shares to be issued in 2023-24 and this will, in turn, depend on the success of the Matching app.


Updates

27 Feb 24 Earnings/sales releases
Preliminary results for 2023. The App is moving...

04 Oct 23 Earnings/sales releases
Strong growth in H1 23, imminent launch of the...

13 Jun 23 Earnings/sales releases
MHM will use AI

21 Feb 23 Earnings/sales releases
Successful restart of MyAgency achieved

15 Nov 22 Earnings/sales releases
A good performance from My Agency in H1 22

14 Aug 22 Other news/comments
Taking into account the share consolidation.

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