26th Feb 2019 11:47
LONDON (Alliance News) - Lighthouse Group PLC on Tuesday said its pretax profit rose somewhat in 2018 due to a reduction in expenses, prompting a dividend hike.
Shares in Lighthouse were down 5.3% at 25.20 pence on Tuesday.
The financial advisory firm's annual pretax profit totalled GBP2.6 million, up 4.0% from GBP2.5 million the year before.
Total administrative expenses were the strongest factor in this, falling 1.7% to GBP11.9 million from GBP12.1 million in 2017, including a drop in other operating expenses to GBP11.2 million from GBP11.5 million.
Revenue fell very slightly to GBP53.4 million from GBP54.1, a decrease of just 1.3%.
A taxation charge of GBP111,000 was recorded for 2018, after a GBP200,000 deferred taxation credit in 2017. This meant that Lighthouse's profit for the year, inclusive of tax, was lower in 2018 at GBP2.5 million versus GBP2.7 million in 2017.
A final dividend of 0.50 pence per share was declared, taking the total for the year to 0.70p per share - an increase of 67% from 0.42p per share in 2017.
"Lighthouse has continued to progress its strategy in 2018 despite softening market conditions in the second half of the year and has delivered an excellent set of results alongside a number of strategic initiatives," said Lighthouse Chair Richard Last.
"Lighthouse remain well positioned to deliver further growth notwithstanding current market uncertainty," Last added.