31st Mar 2022 10:09
(Alliance News) - Mears Group PLC on Thursday said it swung to a profit in 2021 thanks to good pipeline conversion and successful cost management and noted a strong start to the new year.
The Gloucester, England-based housing and social care provider swung to a pretax profit of GBP16.3 million in 2021 from a loss of GBP15.2 million the previous year.
The company said it benefited from an improved trading performance in the year and lower interest costs due to its improved debt position.
Revenue rose 9.0% in the year to GBP878.4 million from GBP805.8 million in 2020. Mears said this was very close to the revenue of GBP881.5 million achieved in 2019.
Maintenance-led revenue rose by 1.4%, management-led revenue rose 22%, and development revenue rose a notable 70% in the year which the company explained was due to good sell-through.
The company recommended a final dividend of 5.50 pence, bringing the full-year dividend to 8.00p. For 2020, the company paid no dividend.
Mears said it had made a "positive" start to 2022 with current trading in line with expectations. It noted a strong start in management-led contracts in particular.
Chief Executive David Miles said: "The positive trading performance across revenues, profits and cash was driven by good pipeline conversion, successful cost management and long-term investment in our people and our systems. The year has started well and Mears is well-positioned to manage the sector-wide inflationary cost pressures."
Shares in Mears were down 1.5% at 203.00 pence on Thursday morning in London.
By Heather Rydings; [email protected]
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