17th Feb 2025 11:39
(Alliance News) - Shares in Wilmington PLC fell on Monday after the company reported a drop in statutory profit, weighed down by acquisition-related costs, despite double-digit revenue growth.
Shares in Wilmington were down 11% at 329.00 pence in London on Monday morning.
The Birmingham-based provider of information and training for governance and risk & compliance said revenue from continuing operations rose 16% to GBP44.9 million in the six months ended December 31, compared with GBP38.7 million a year prior. Including discontinued operations, statutory revenue increased 6% to GBP46.6 million from GBP43.9 million.
Pretax profit fell to GBP5.2 million from GBP8.1 million, weighed down by GBP4.8 million in adjusting items.
These included GBP3.3 million in acquisition-related costs, such as earnouts and transaction fees, stemming from the October 2024 purchase of Phoenix Health & Safety Consultancy UK Ltd for an initial GBP30.3 million.
Additionally, the company incurred GBP1.4 million in lease termination expenses related to business disposals.
Basic earnings per share were down 56% to 2.88 pence form 6.58p, while adjusted EPS were up 28% to 9.20p from 7.17p.
Excluding these one-off costs, Wilmington said ongoing adjusted pretax profit surged 39% to GBP11.4 million from GBP8.2 million.
Wilmington declared an interim dividend of 3.00p per share, unchanged from the prior year.
Chief Executive Mark Milner said: "We have delivered another strong financial performance, particularly profitability and earnings. Our margin also continued to improve."
Wilmington ended the period with a net cash position of GBP31.3 million, down from GBP67.8 million in June, reflecting cash spent on acquisitions.
The company said trading for the full year remains in line with expectations.
By Eva Castanedo, Alliance News reporter
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