MIDAS SHARE TIPS UPDATE: Our tip Idox is still a vote winner

General elections are an expensive undertaking, costing more than £100 million to organize and orchestrate. Technology company Idox helps ensure everything runs smoothly so that voter registrations are up to date, ballots are mailed out on time, and postal votes are processed for everyone who has requested them.

The whole hassle is complex and time-consuming, but mistakes can be disastrous, so accuracy is of the utmost importance. Idox is one of the leading players in this field. Working with councils in local and general elections, it is expected to play a key role when Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announces the date for this year’s vote.

Idox, based in Woking, Surrey, specializes in software for complicated processes that traditionally involve a lot of paperwork and cryptic filing systems.

Planning applications are an example of this. The company’s technology works with 70 percent of local authorities and is designed to simplify a process that is routinely criticized for being slow, cumbersome and obstructive. Cash-strapped local authorities need all the help they can get and business is booming.

The NHS is another important customer. Hospitals are overloaded and equipment is routinely lost, from beds being disassembled and misplaced to operating tables that somehow end up in the wrong place.

Traditionally, staff simply orders new equipment to replace missing assets as quickly as possible. However, Idox systems help hospitals keep track of all their equipment, saving huge amounts of money that could be spent on patient care.

Under CEO David Meaden, Idox has moved into an area known as geospatial technology, collecting data to help private and public sector clients determine where best to build new properties, lay cables or expand their field efforts of nature conservation.

In Scotland, for example, Idox helped identify where and when deer-vehicle collisions were most likely to occur and which drivers were most at fault. The group also made recommendations on how to reduce the number of accidents in the future.

Customers even extend as far as the Gulf, where Idox helped the builders behind Doha’s stunning new airport gather all their documents online so progress could be monitored at every stage.

Meaden was appointed in 2018 to help Idox turn the tide and the progress has been impressive. The 2023 results showed an 11 per cent increase in turnover to £73 million, strong profit growth and a 20 per cent increase in dividend to 0.6p.

Brokers believe £100m of revenue is in sight as Meaden attracts new clients, convinces existing clients to use Idox more and acquires complementary businesses.

Midas judgment: At 66p, Idox shares have almost doubled since Midas recommended them four years ago, but Meaden is determined to stay ahead and take the stock from its current £300m valuation to at least £500m in the next years. Prudent investors may want to sell some shares now, but they should keep some because this company is primed for further growth.

Traded on: GOAL ticker: IDOX Contact: idoxgroup.com or 0333 011 1200