26th Feb 2016 08:45
LONDON (Alliance News) - Engineering and environmental consultancy Ricardo PLC on Friday expressed confidence on delivering further growth in the second half of its financial year as it posted a big rise in revenue, driven by acquisitions, and an increase in pretax profit.
Ricardo said its pretax profit for the six months to the end of December was GBP13.2 million, up 47% from the GBP9.0 million it posted a year earlier, as revenue rose to GBP157.8 million from GBP120.5 million, primarily though the acquisitions of Lloyd's Register Rail and Cascade.
Those deals meant Ricardo will enter the second half with an order book of GBP201.0 million, up from GBP140.0 million at the end of June 2015, with good performances across its technical consulting businesses in the half, while its environmental consulting arm has reduced its reliance on the softening public sector.
Ricardo will pay an interim dividend of 5.07 pence per share, up from 4.65p a year earlier.
Dave Shemmans, Ricardo's chief executive, said the group has continued to trade in line with its expectations and remains confident on producing more growth in the second half.
Ricardo shares were up 3.5% to 829.00p.
By Sam Unsted; [email protected]; @SamUAtAlliance
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