11 October 2017 – interim results
Results for the half year to 31 August 2017 have been released. Revenue was £1.45bn (2016: £1.45bn) and although gross margin edged down to 11.0% (2016: 11.1%) a record profit before tax of £24.2m was reported (2016: £18.7m). Adjusted profit before tax was up 7.2% to £20.9m (2016: £19.5m), translating into adjusted earnings per share of 4.24p (2016: 4.06p). Period end net cash was £20.8m (2016: £12.9m) and the interim dividend was increased from 0.5p per share to 0.55p. The share buyback programme the company has been undertaking has also been extended and this should offer support to the share price. We continue to believe that the share price is too low and retain our BUY rating.