14 April 2015 – final results
The company has announced its maiden preliminary results for the year to 31 December 2014 and these show that revenue increased by over 17% to £37.8m (2013: £32.1m) whilst adjusted pre-tax profits rose to £6.0m (2013: £4.5m). Earnings per share on the same basis rose to 11.4p (2013: 8.7p) and a dividend of 5p (2013: nil) has been declared for the year. These results have come in slightly ahead of expectations and show that the group has made good progress since it joined AIM last May. Net debt at the year end was £6.7m for gearing of 12% and the strong cash flow at the group should see debt fall further this year. Although the group has exposure to a wide range of industries these include the oil and gas sectors and the fall in the oil price is likely to have a slightly negative effect on the group. Nevertheless, the current year is likely to see adjusted pre-tax profits rise to £6.9m, slightly less than our original forecast of £7.25m. This would give earnings per share of 12.7p putting the shares on a prospective p/e ratio of just 9.5x. We re-iterate our recommendation of BUY.