10 March 2015 – interim results
The group has announced results for the six months to 31 January which have shown a 6% increase on underlying revenue to £175m with adjusted pre-tax profits rising by 15% to £14.9m. Earnings per share on the same basis were 14% higher at 9.23p and the interim dividend was raised by 5% to 2.25p. The group has made good progress in the first half with the group now structured into three divisions and over 90 of the group’s clients deal with more than one group business. Net debt of £43m was at a similar level to last July and this provides scope for further acquisitions going forward. Current trading is in line with expectations and full year pre-tax profits could rise to £31.5m for earnings per share of 18.8p. This would put the shares on a prospective p/e ratio of under 10 and the shares remain a BUY.