8th Apr 2014 08:56
LONDON (Alliance News) - Keywords Studios PLC declare a maiden final dividend for 2013, although pretax profit was hit by increased administrative expenses and the cost of its listing on the AIM market in July 2013.
Keywords posted a maiden final dividend of 0.67 pence, taking its total dividend for 2013 to 1.00 pence. It said it expects its interim dividends in the new and future years to be around one third of the total dividend for the year.
The company, which provides technical services for the video games industry, posted a pretax profit of EUR1.2 million, down from EUR2.7 million, despite revenues rising to EUR16.4 million from EUR14.3 million.
Keywords posted initial public offering costs of GBP1.1 million, a further EUR70,755 share option expense, and other administration expenses of EUR3.2 million, as the company expanded its Localisation and Testing capacity in its Montreal and Seattle sites.
It expects 2014 to be a "year of healthy activity for the games industry" as the new generation of games consoles picks up, and smart phone gaming continues to grow. Both Microsoft Corp and Sony Corp launched their new games consoles during the holiday period in 2013.
During 2013, Keywords continued to invest in its business ahead of the new console generation. However the scale back of the number of territories in which these new consoles would launch, combined with delays to earlier generation games, hampered margins during the year.
Localisation testing revenues rose 21% during the year, driven by the launch of the new consoles, as it tested the majority of launch titles for Sony and all of the launch titles for Microsoft.
Keywords expects to make strong progress in its first full year as a listed company, as it takes advantage of the growth in its industry.
Shares in Keywords were trading down 4.3% at 148.40 pence Tuesday morning.
By Hana Stewart-Smith; [email protected]; @HanaSSAllNews
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