2nd Feb 2015 08:02
LONDON (Alliance News) - RM PLC Monday upped its total dividend for its recently ended financial year, as it posted a jump in pretax profit despite a decline in revenue, as a result of restructuring in its largest business.
The educational IT, software and services firm proposed a total dividend of 4.00 pence for the year to end-November 2014, up from 3.30 pence a year before. In the previous year the company had paid a 16.00 pence special dividend. The company said that it plans to adopt a progressive dividend policy over time towards a "more appropriate level of dividend cover".
RM posted pretax profit of GBP15.8 million, up from GBP9.4 million a year before, despite seeing revenue fall to GBP202.5 million from GBP261.8 million, due to lower cost of sales and exceptional costs. In the previous year the company had posted GBP5.1 million in exceptional restructuring costs.
The decline in revenue came from its RM Education business, which saw revenue fall to GBP111.9 million in the recent financial year from GBP181.2 million the year before, as the company continued to restructure the business away from the sale and manufacture of computing devices and hardware.
RM Education stopped selling personal computing devices in December 2013, and stopped manufacturing hardware last June. The company is instead shifting the business towards software products and services. The company said that this shift, compounded by continued funding pressures in the UK education sector, were the principal causes of the decline in revenue.
This offset a strong performance from its RM Resources business and RM Results business.
"RM Resources and RM Results are well positioned for further growth in 2015, and we remain focused on the further development of RM Education's provision of software products and services to UK schools," said Chief Executive David Brooks in a statement.
By Hana Stewart-Smith; [email protected]; @HanaSSAllNews
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