MoPowered is nothing to do with Mo Farah but the business must be hoping it has the long distance runner's stamina after a disastrous stumble sent it crashing off course.
The company, a mobile commerce specialist, said revenues in the first six months of 2014 had jumped by 60% but this was less than had been expected.
It said after a strong first quarter, some of the larger deals it had hoped to complete by now had slipped into the second half. This will hit 2014's results, as will a lower than expected rate of launching mobile sites for small business customers due to "operational constraints and challenges in acquiring these customers cost-efficiently."
All this has seen MoPowered's shares lose almost half their value, tumbling 30p to 31.5p.
Analyst Tintin Stormont at N+1 Singer said:
Our revenue forecasts are materially lowered to reflect this [lower growth] and consequently, our forecast EBITDA profitability moves from 2015 to 2016.
We believe the group continues to have strong growth opportunities but has had to refine and learn from its go-to-market strategy. The market need for m-commerce solutions remains high and the group have developed the solution that can address this demand. As with many technology companies, however, execution remains the key in unlocking its growth potential.
Northland Capital Partners said:
Further growing pains for the provider of SaaS [software as a service]-based mobile commerce software, following the announcement that it was proving harder to on-board SME customers. A growth rate of more than 60% demonstrates the potential for the subsector and MoPowered recently announced contract wins with a number of retailers. It has also made several senior hires in its sales and marketing. But the problems in execution will result in further share price weakness.
