7th Jul 2015 09:22
LONDON (Alliance News) - AdEPT Telecom PLC on Tuesday hiked its dividend payout for its 2015 financial year after reporting higher pretax profit and revenue, stronger free cash flow and lower net debt.
The company, which provides business-to-business telecommunication services, said its pretax profit for the year to the end of March rose to GBP2.1 million from GBP1.8 million a year earlier, with revenue rising to GBP22.1 million from GBP20.9 million on the back of a 15% rise in data connectivity and broadband revenue year-on-year.
Traditional fixed-line revenue rose to GBP16.0 million from GBP15.7 million, primarily due to the contribution of the Bluecherry Telecom Ltd acquisition, while data and broadband product revenue rose to GBP3.8 million from GBP3.3 million.
The robust results prompted the company to increase its dividend payout substantially, with a final dividend of 2.5 pence per share, pushing its total dividend for the year up to 4.75p, up 58% from the 3.0p it paid a year earlier.
The improved dividend also was driven by an improvement in free cash flow for the company, up to GBP4.3 million, compared to GBP2.6 million the year before, while its net debt halved to GBP1.5 million.
"The continued strong cash generation has funded a 58% increase to dividends declared during the year, and the board is confident that continued focus on underlying profitability and strong cash generation will support a progressive dividend policy," said AdEPT Chairman Roger Wilson.
Shares in AdEPT were down 1.9% to 207.00p on Tuesday.
By Sam Unsted; [email protected]; @SamUAtAlliance
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