5th Feb 2019 08:47
LONDON (Alliance News) - Education sector technology provider RM PLC hiked its dividend Tuesday after annual profit and revenue both jumped amid a "successful" year for the firm.
For the financial year ended November, pretax profit widened 44% to GBP21.0 million from GBP14.6 million the year prior. This was after revenue rose 18% to GBP220.1 million from GBP185.9 million the year before.
Excluding one off costs, pretax profit widened 32% to GBP26.0 million from GBP19.7 million the year prior. Some GBP2.6 million in acquisition costs did not recur but restructuring and pension expenses rose significantly.
Net debt was slashed in half to GBP5.8 million from GBP13.4 million the year prior. Similarly, the pension deficit fell to GBP2.3 million from GBP20.2 million the year before.
"This has been a successful year for RM across all three divisions, which saw organic revenue growth for the group," RM Chief Executive Officer David Brooks said. "In RM Resources we completed the first full year of integration of the consortium acquisition successfully, won seven new contracts in RM Results and delivered double digit operating margins in RM Education."
RM proposed a 5.70 pence per share final dividend, up 15% from 4.95p the year prior. For the full year, the dividend also rose 15%, to 7.60p from 6.60p the year before.
"Looking ahead, we are confident of progressing in each of our chosen market sectors building on the strong platform we have established", Brooks added.
Shares in RM were 4.6% higher at 238.50 pence on Tuesday.
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