iCar Asia finds top gear as quarterly cash receipts hit a company record

iCar Asia (ASX: ICQ) has hit its highest ever quarterly cash receipts as the company continues to raise its sales revenues and improves on several key company metrics.

During Q2 2018, net operating and investing cash outflows significantly improved to A$3.58 million – a 22% improvement compared to the same quarter last year.

iCar is the owner of ASEAN’s premier network of automotive portals and has reported its interim company results in a media release for market analysts and shareholders. The company is headquartered in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and operates a network of customer facing websites including Carlist.my, One2Car.com and Thaicar.com.

iCar Asia reported that cash collections for Q2 2018 showed an increase of A$730,000 (29%) over the same period last year, and totalled A$3.21 million.

The company has maintained its strong operational growth momentum into Q2 2018, generating its sixth successive quarter of growth in its key operating metrics despite an earlier festive holiday season including festive periods Hari Raya which contributed to a lower than usual June in Malaysia and Indonesia.

When looking at iCar’s performance since 2013, the portal has recorded a consistent growth in collections from less than 1,500 in 2013 to 9,000 last year. This year, iCar is on course to record more than 10,000 collections with around 6,000 already booked in the first 6 months of this year.

The company closed Q2 with access to up to A$31.5 million in funds, comprised of A$15.2 million in cash and up to A$16.3 million from a committed debt facility.

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iCar says its results have been achieved despite its financial performance for Q2 being impacted by the general election in Malaysia in May. After the conclusion of seasonal factors, iCar said that new car revenue from media and events “has been retimed into rescheduled events and campaigns that will occur largely in Q3.”

As a result, iCar expects to have its largest ever year-on-year Q3 revenue growth and states that it remains on track for its Malaysia and Thailand operations to become run-rate EBITDA break-even by the end of 2018, with global operations on track to achieving run-rate EBITDA break-even by the end of 2019.

“The remainder of 2018 will see the company ramping up the rollout of our New Car and Auction and Transaction services businesses to further complement the strong core proposition we deliver to almost 12 million car buyers and sellers every month. With a diversified portfolio of products and services, we remain on track to continue to hit our financial growth milestones as we drive the digital transformation of the automotive industry in South East Asia,” said Mr Hamish Stone, CEO of iCar Asia.