29 July 2016 – interim results
Equiniti, the provider of outsourced non-discretionary payment and administration services, has announced its interim results covering the six months to 30 June. These have revealed a 5.9% increase in revenue to £191.9m, with adjusted pre-tax profits rising by 12.7% to £23.9m. Earnings per share on the same basis were 6.5p, up from 4.9p in the same period last year. A maiden interim dividend of 1.64p was paid. Net debt at the end of the period was down to £261.7m (2015: £471.3m) although this was largely due to the fact that the company joined only joined then market last October. Both acquisitions made in the first quarter of 2016 have been fully integrated and these, together with the acquisition of Toplevel Computing which has been announced today will fuel organic growth going forward. The latest purchase, although only small at £2.2m, will improve the group’s digital capabilities. We maintain our full-year pre-tax profit forecast at £60m for earnings per share of 15.6p and repeat our recommendation of BUY.