6th Mar 2014 08:54
LONDON (Alliance News) - Management Consulting Group PLC said Thursday the firms' performance for the full-year was hit by a poor first-half in its Alexander Proudfoot division and the continued impact of market weakness on the Kurt Salmon operations in France.
The consultancy said total revenue declined 10% for the year, down to GBP257.3 million from GBP285.8 million in 2012. Pretax profit for the year declined slightly to GBP14.0 million from GBP14.7 million last year.
MCG said the revenue drop in its full-year results for the year to December 31, 2013, was driven by two main factors; its Alexander Proudfoot and Kurt Salmon businesses.
The firm said the Alexander Proudfoot division - its operational improvement firm - saw revenues in the first-half come in significantly lower than the previous two-and-a-half years, and although they recovered strongly in the second-half of the year, revenues dropped by 21% for the full-year to GBP68.8 million from GBP86.7 million.
Management and strategy consulting firm Kurt Salmon's French business recorded revenues that were GBP10 million lower than the previous year as a result of continued weakness in that market, said MCG. Overall revenues for the year came in at GBP188.5 million, down 5.3% on GBP199.0 million recorded in 2012.
The change in overall revenues in Kurt Salmon was also hit by management action to divest or restructure non-core and low margin practices during 2012 and 2013, said the company, specifically removing more than GBP5 million of year-on-year revenue for 2013. MCG notes that these effects were mitigated by continued revenue growth in Kurt Salmon elsewhere in Europe, and in North America and Asia.
The firm paid an interim dividend for the full-year of 0.23 pence per share on January 7, 2014. MCG has declared an unchanged total dividend for the year of 0.825 pence per share, resulting in a final dividend of 0.595 pence per share.
The firm notes that it saw a, "much improved performance overall in the second half of the year, which has provided a more encouraging start to 2014."
Looking ahead, CEO Nick Stagg said the firm expects underlying revenue growth and improved operating margins in 2014. "Whilst the Group's results for 2013 do not match those in the previous year, the second half performance was significantly better than the first half. We remain focused on improving the performance of Alexander Proudfoot and will invest in this business in 2014 to improve its longer term performance. Kurt Salmon has had a good start to the year and we expect to see some underlying revenue growth and a continued slight improvement in operating margins in 2014. Overall, we remain focused on leveraging our core expertise and market leading positions to deliver improved results."
Shares in the firm were trading down 2.11% at 23.25 pence per share Thursday morning.
By Alice Attwood; [email protected]; @AliceAtAlliance
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