6th Mar 2019 09:12
LONDON (Alliance News) - IWG PLC on Wednesday reported a fall in its annual profit but expressed confidence in its outlook for the current financial year.
IWG shares were trading down 1.6% at 227.90 pence each.
The FTSE 250 firm operates co-working space and service offices under the Regus brand and others.
For 2018, IWG posted pretax profit of GBP138.7 million, down 7% on the prior year's GBP149.4 million.
This was due to higher overheads amounting to GBP253.7 million compared to GBP237.6 million offsetting a 7.8% rise in revenue to GBP2.54 billion in 2018 from GBP2.35 billion in 2017.
"We have done much to position our business to meet the growing needs of our customers in the rapidly developing market of co-working and flexible working and to be well positioned to benefit from clear structural growth drivers," Chief Executive Officer Mark Dixon said.
"We remain focused on profitable growth, delivering attractive returns and monetising our leading global network. To achieve this, we will have a strong focus on margin improvement and a continuation of our drive for greater efficiency, from good cost discipline and the scale benefits deriving from our global platform."
IWG upped its final dividend by 10% to 4.35 pence per share, leading to a total payout of 6.30p, up from 5.70p in 2017.
Looking ahead, the company said its board is confident that the strength of its position in the industry will support further growth in 2019.
"The board remains confident in our prospects for the year ahead and the trading outlook for 2019 remains in line with management's expectations," IWG said.
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