28 February 2017 – final results
Results for the year to 31 December 2016, which was a mixed year for the company, have been released. Revenue was £3,244.6m versus £3,204.6m a year earlier. The headline profit before tax fell to £106.5m (2015: £128.6m) and headline earnings per share were 63.3p, down from 75.6p a year earlier. The full year dividend was slashed by two thirds, from 24.3p per share to 8.1p. We downgraded the shares to a HOLD in November when the share price was 322p and still believe this rating is sufficient.