11th Mar 2014 09:23
LONDON (Alliance News) - St Ives PLC Tuesday raised its interim dividend as it posted a higher pretax profit in the half year ended January 31, driven by a strong performance from its Marketing Services business and lower restructuring costs.
The marketing services and print company raised its interim dividend by 7.5% to 2.15 pence from 2.0 pence in the previous year.
St Ives posted a pretax profit of GBP6.2 million for the 26 weeks to January 31, up from a restated pretax profit GBP1.2 million in the 27 weeks to February 1, 2013, as revenue rose slightly to GBP167.9 million from GBP167.3 million in the previous year. Figures for 2012 were restated as a result of the company adopting the IAS19 Employee Benefits standard.
During the period the company posted exceptional costs of GBP6.7 million, lower than GBP10.2 million in the previous year, because in 2012 the company had posted higher redundancy and impairment charges as it restructured its Print Services segment business.
St Ives said it now has completed this restructuring and is continuing to build and strengthen its Marketing Services segment. It acquired digital marketing agency Realise Holdings Ltd on Monday last week.
The company noted that whilst print will remain integral to its offering, it aims to increase the proportion of revenue derived from marketing services.
Revenues in Marketing Services grew by 50% compared to the previous year to GBP46.7 million, boosted by the acquisitions of Amaze PLC and Branded3 Search Ltd. In Print Services, underlying revenue declined 7.4% to GBP121.7 million, as it sold its direct-mail printing business St Ives Direct Bradford Ltd in October.
St.Ives said that it remained confident it was well positioned to make further progress in the full year, as the UK economy showed further signs of recovery and improving consumer confidence.
Shares in St.Ives were trading up 2.0% at 201.39 pence Tuesday
By Hana Stewart-Smith; [email protected]; @HanaSSAllNews
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