Adacel opening today, page-21

From Motley F.

Adacel Technologies Limited shares soar, is this growth rocket a buy?

So far today one of the best performing shares on the ALL ORDINARIES (Index: ^AXAO) (ASX: XAO) has been air traffic control software provider Adacel Technologies Limited (ASX: ADA).

Its shares were up by around 6% in morning trade, before dropping back a touch to be around 5% higher in afternoon trading.

Although there was no news out of the fast-growing company, investors have been fighting to get their hands on its shares since the company released an upbeat investor presentation earlier this month. Since that release the share price has risen by over 12% and it’s really not hard to see why in my opinion.

Management has advised that the opening order book for FY 2017 has been the strongest opening in the company’s history. I believe this could well be setting Adacel Technologies up for yet another impressive performance this year.

In FY 2016 the company posted a massive 134% increase in net profit after tax to $9.2 million. This came in well ahead of even management’s own expectations. Pleasingly it also led to strong cash flow of $8.1 million, which was an increase of 50% over the prior corresponding period.

It will come as no surprise to learn that its share price has risen by a whopping 175% in the last 12 months. So is it too late to invest in this fast-growing software company?

I don’t believe it is. Unlike other excellent Australian software companies such as Aconex Ltd (ASX: ACX) and Myob Group Ltd (ASX: MYO), Adacel Technologies’ shares are trading on a reasonable multiple of just 22x full year earnings.

Considering its strong start to the year and management’s confidence in further earnings growth in FY 2017, I feel Adacel Technologies could prove to be an excellent investment at the current share price.