4th Dec 2024 09:02
(Alliance News) - Zigup PLC on Wednesday announced a higher dividend as it noted sound visibility for fleet growth, but also reported a fall in profit as costs increased while revenue declined.
Zigup shares were down 8.1% to 352.09 pence each on Wednesday morning in London.
The Darlington, England-based company offers a range of mobility solutions including vehicle rental and fleet management.
It said pretax profit slumped 42% to GBP56.2 million in the six months ended October 31 from GBP97.4 million a year ago.
Revenue edged down 0.8% to GBP903.6 million from GBP911.3 million. Underlying revenue, however, rose 5.6% to GBP775.0 million from GBP733.8 million. The measure excludes vehicle sales.
Cost of sales increased 3.5% to GBP709.2 million from GBP685.3 million, and administrative costs were 7.0% higher, at GBP121.4 million from GBP113.5 million a year ago.
Zigup declared an interim dividend of 8.8 pence per share, up 6.0% from 8.3p a year ago.
"Our strategy continues to deliver, and we are well-placed with our broadening position in the essential market for mobility services. We are pleased to report underlying growth in revenues, and the delivery of pretax profit in line with expectations, while reflecting normalising disposal profits as previously stated," Chief Executive Officer Martin Ward said.
The company added: "Recent vehicle supply contracts have provided good visibility for calendar 2025 fleet growth, and expected increases in infrastructure spending are also positive for our UK rental customer base over the medium term. Spain continues to enjoy record demand. While the normalisation seen in residual values will see disposal profits moderate as expected, our confidence in the business, and for our outlook, is unchanged and remains in line with market expectations."
By Tom Budszus, Alliance News slot editor
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