Miura Systems, a small UK based payment terminal vendor, reported good numbers for 2022 after having been badly hit by the pandemic. Turnover was up 60% to $27.4m powered by particularly strong recovery in the Far East.
Miura’ Shuttle and M10 products were ubiquitous in the early 2010s as the company was one of the first to market with mPOS devices. The strong focus on design brought by Enrique Garrido, its founder and majority shareholder, was refreshing and the company still has “beautifully simple, innovative” in its mission statement. Garrido has since stepped back from day-to-day management which is now in the hands of Executive Chair, Andrew Dark.
The company is very reliant on its customers in Asia Pacific, served from a sales office in Japan. Asia Pacific revenue was 84% to $21.9m. Growth in EMEA was more modest, up 16% at $5.1m, while sales in the Americas continued to decline to just $0.3m. Management says it now has renewed focus on EMEA and Americas with the new Miura Android SmartPOS terminal believed to be the key to success.
A second key focus is growing services revenue. Revenue from services remains small but more than doubled to $0.628m. This gives the support of recurring licence and transaction based revenue to balance the traditionally rather lumpy hardware business.
Overall, the company seems confident, stating that the new order book is strong and at its best position since 2019.
Although sales are back at pre-pandemic levels, profitability is not. Margins have been squeezed by ongoing supply chain disruption and inflationary cost increases on components. Gross margins picked up a little to 28.4% but remain well below 2020 levels. Miura says it has increased its sale prices and believes that margins will bounce back com the medium term.
Management has controlled costs very well. Administrative expenses fell 16% in 2022, helping Miura return to the black with an operating profit of $1.35m. The operating margin of 5% is, again, well below the 10% levels recorded before the pandemic, but gives confidence for future investment.
