13th Mar 2019 11:46
LONDON (Alliance News) - Recruitment firm Empresaria Group PLC hiked its 2018 dividend Wednesday after profit and revenue both rose, with expectations of further growth in 2019.
In 2018, pretax profit widened 16% to GBP9.4 million from GBP8.1 million the year prior. This was after revenue rose 2.7% to GBP366.8 million from GBP357.1 million, with net fee income higher 4.2% at GBP72.3 million from GBP69.4 million in 2017.
Profit performance was helped by the non-recurrence of one-off charges that hit 2017. That year, Empresaria booked a GBP900,000 loss on a business sale, as well as several other smaller exceptional items.
Adjusted pretax profit - excluding these exceptional costs - widened 3.6% to GBP11.4 million from GBP11.0 million the year before.
"We are pleased to be reporting a fourth consecutive year of record adjusted profit before tax," Empresaria Chief Executive Officer Spencer Wreford said. "We have also reduced the net debt in the group which, combined with the strength of our balance sheet and the board's confidence in the group's prospects, has allowed us to increase our annual dividend by 52%."
Empresaria proposed a 2.0 pence per share final dividend, up 52% from 1.32p the year prior. The firm does not pay an interim dividend.
Net debt fell 12% to GBP17.1 million from GBP19.5 million the year prior.
"Our focus in 2019 is to deliver organic growth and strengthen our core brands," Wreford added. "With the quality of the brands in our group and a more focused strategy, we see good opportunities to generate profitable growth, but we remain mindful of the increasing economic uncertainty arising from political risks."
Shares in Empresaria were 4.4% higher at 71.00 pence on Wednesday.
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