27th May 2016 07:04
LONDON (Alliance News) - Telecommunications company KCOM Group PLC on Friday posted a significant rise in pretax profit for its recent financial year, driven by a significant asset disposal, as revenue slightly ticked higher.
KCOM's pretax profit for the year to March 31 was GBP88.7 million, significantly up on the GBP16.7 million it made a year earlier thanks to proceeds from the sale of its national network infrastructure outside of Hull and East Yorkshire to AIM-listed CityFibre Infrastructure Holdings PLC.
Stripping out exceptional items, pretax profit declined in the year, down to GBP47.9 million from GBP51.5 million, as the group continued to invest in its networks.
Revenue rose slightly to GBP349.2 million from GBP348.0 million. KCOM said it had made progress across the business in the year, particularly with enterprise customers including HM Revenue & Customs and with new business from clients including healthcare provider BUPA and Shoosmiths, the UK law firm.
KCOM declared a 3.94 pence final dividend, up from 3.58p, meaning its total dividend rises to 5.37p. It guided to total payouts of at least 6.0p per share for the next two financial years.
"We have made important progress with our strategic objectives in the current year, including the consolidation of our activities under a single brand, KCOM," said Chief Executive Bill Halbert.
In a separate statement on Friday, KCOM said Chief Financial Officer Paul Simpson will leave the business later in the year. He will remain with the company until the end of September, and the process to identify his successor will start immediately, KCOM said.
By Sam Unsted; [email protected]; @SamUAtAlliance
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