25th Nov 2015 08:51
LONDON (Alliance News) - Travel and corporate services company Hogg Robinson Group PLC said its revenue fell in the first half but its profit increased due to cost cutting in the business, leaving it on track to meet expectations for the full year.
Hogg Robinson's pretax profit for the first half to the end of September was GBP11.6 million, up from GBP9.2 million as cost cuts improved its underlying operating margin to 12.3% from 10.8%.
Revenue was down 4.0% in the half to GBP155.9 million from GBP162.3 million, in line with its expectations at it migrated to online booking and amid strong competitor pricing tactics.
The group said it would pay an interim dividend of 0.68 pence per share, up from 0.63p a year earlier.
Hogg said it is trading in line with its expectations so far in the second half, with an ongoing recovery in the UK market complemented by signs of improvement in Continental Europe. It said growth has slowed modestly in North America and the Australian market remains weak. It is taking actions to restructure its Australian operations in response to the issues.
Hogg said it expects to hit market expectations for the full year.
"This is a positive first-half performance, which reflects the ongoing work we are undertaking to reshape and realign the business to current and future market conditions," said David Radcliffe, Hogg's chief executive.
Shares in Hogg Robinson were down 0.3% to 72.25 pence on Wednesday.
By Sam Unsted; [email protected]; @SamUAtAlliance
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