10 October 2018 – interim results
Interim results for the six months to 31 Sugust 2018 showed revenues of £1.56bn (2017: £1.45bn), representing growth of 7.9% or 8.0% on a like-for-like basis. Adjusted profit before tax was £18.1m (2017: £20.9m) and adjusted earnings per share slipped from 4.24p to 3.90p. Net debt was £8.7m at the period end versus net cash of £20.8m a year earlier. Tangible net assets per share were 45.9p as at 31 August 2018 (2017: 44.5p). The interim dividend was held at 0.55p per share. We downgraded to HOLD on the back of the company’s AGM statement in July when the shares were trading at 50p. Given that the share price now stands at less than tangible net assets per share we feel that a BUY rating is more appropriate.