Final Results

15th May 2008 07:00



15 May 2008

Findel plc ('Findel', 'the Company' or 'the Group')

Preliminary Results

For the 12 months ending 31 March 2008

Findel plc, one of the country's leading Home Shopping and Educational Supplies businesses, today announces its Preliminary Results for the twelve months ended 31 March 2008.

Financial Highlights

Sales from continuing operations up 16% to £634.0m (2007: £546.0m)

Benchmark* Operating Profit up 7% to £78.7m (2007: £73.8m) 

Benchmark* Profit before Tax increased to £57.0m (2007: £55.9m)

Profit before Tax £34.0m (2007: £16.4m)

Benchmark* basic earnings per share 48.72p (2007: 50.05p)

Basic earnings per share 28.42p (2007: 18.06p) 

Final dividend proposed up 12% at 17.5p (2007: 15.6p) bringing total for year to 22.2p (2007: 19.8p) per share

Sales for the first six weeks of the new financial year 5% ahead

 

Business Highlights

Progress made across all divisions:

Strong sales growth in Home Shopping division

Excellent performance from Educational Supplies gaining market share 

Improved profitability from Healthcare division

 

New CRM and warehouse management system implemented in Educational Supplies division

Group continues to make significant investments in IT infrastructure and site development

Keith Chapman, Chairman of Findel said: "The Group has made good progress during the year, even though the final result was disappointing in light of our previous expectations. The Group remains focussed on achieving growth in all its businesses. All divisions have made positive sales progress in the first six weeks of the new financial year with overall sales some 5% ahead.

"I am confident that the considerable investments we have made and continue to make in the Group's businesses together with a focussed and determined management team, will deliver long term growth."

 - Ends -

For further information, please contact:

 

Findel plc Keith Chapman, Chairman Patrick Jolly, Chief Executive Chris Hinton, Finance Director	Today: +44 (0)207 831 3113 Thereafter: +44 (0)1943 864686
Financial Dynamics Jonathon Brill/Billy Clegg/Caroline Stewart	T: +44 (0)207 831 3113

 

Chairman's Statement

Overview

The financial year ended 31 March 2008 has been a positive year for your Company with overall sales from continuing operations and benchmark* profit before tax higher at £634.0m (2007: £546.0m) and £57.0m (2007: £55.9m) respectively. As a result of recent corporate activity, integration and development, the Group has incurred a number of one off costs and as such statutory profit before tax for the year was £34.0m (2007: £16.4m). Benchmark* earnings per share were 48.72p (2007: 50.05p), the prior year having benefited from a lower tax charge. Basic earnings per share were up 57% to 28.42p (2007: 18.06p).

 

The Group has made good progress during the year even though the final result was disappointing in light of our previous expectations and it is this that I would like to address first.

When we issued our year end closing update on 2 April 2008 we anticipated that our results would be within the range of market expectations albeit at the lower end due to a higher interest charge. Such a result would have produced a good increase in profit year on year. 

However, in early April, it became clear that collection rates and hence the level of bad debt in our credit Home Shopping business for the month of March would materially impact on the results for the year. Whilst we had seen in February that collection rates were slightly down we were comfortable with this as in any single month we do see fluctuations both up and down and the financial effect at that time was quite small. However the figures that were reported for March showed that the actual collection rates were much worse than predicted. As a result the year on year bad debt charge was automatically increased.

The seasonality of our Home Shopping credit business is such that customers shop in the run up to Christmas and then start paying down their credit from February onwards. Collection rates in March tend to worsen due to the credit performance of new recruits who are shopping with us for the first time. In any year, new recruits make up a third of our customer base. This March we suffered from a sudden increase in default rates particularly from this group as the economic effects of the credit crunch spread into customer's pockets affecting their payment behaviour and resulting in an increase in bad debt. It is for this reason that we issued our trading statement on 17 April 2008. 

 

Collection rates for April have followed the same pattern to those of prior years with the pronounced peak in March reducing by the same rate as in previous years. In other words, we are not seeing a continuing deterioration. We are modifying our recruitment strategy this year to guard against a recurrence of this issue in the current economic climate. 

Exceptional Charges

2007/08 has been a year of consolidation with significant integration and restructuring projects across the Group. Although these actions have been at a cost with exceptional charges incurred of £15.9m, the infrastructure we are building will substantially benefit the Group in future years. 

The exceptional charges relate in part to the integration of the businesses acquired in 2007. The two key integration exercises have been to move Kleeneze into our Accrington warehouse and to bring together our direct brands under Findel Direct. Both of these actions have been successfully completed with service levels improving and cost savings in excess of £3m per annum. 

 

The balance of the exceptional charges relate to the redevelopment of our Hyde site which will include the construction of a custom built new office for the Education Division and the commercial development of the remainder of the site.

 

Home Shopping

Sales from ongoing businesses in our Home Shopping division increased by 22% to £403.5m (2007: £330.7m) with benchmark* operating profit increasing to £50.3m (2007: £47.6m). The Home Shopping division now comprises a number of leading brands, each with its own unique appeal and market. Statutory sales for the Home shopping division were £409.8m (2007: £368.3m) with statutory operating profit of £41.0m (2007: £19.2m).

2007/08 was the first full trading year for our cash with order division in which it generated £137.5m in sales with net operating margins of 7%. We experienced strong sales growth from Kitbag as it launched three more Premier League football club sites and moved into cricket, rugby, motorsport and tennis. We also benefited from a particularly good profit performance from Kleeneze following its integration into our Accrington site.

The main feature in the year for the cash with order brands was their relocation and integration. This was a huge undertaking and inevitably created some distraction, although we are pleased with the results. 

Findel Direct's brands are Kitbag.com, I Want One of Those.com, Letterbox, The Cotswold Company and Confetti. Combined, these brands have a customer base of over 1 million and in excess of 70% of their sales are transacted over the Internet. Now that the hard work of centralising the brands has taken place the focus is to achieve profitable growth.

The plans for these direct brands will be greatly assisted by the introduction of a common IT infrastructure. We have committed to investing over £3m this year to achieve this. Once fully implemented, the new infrastructure will enable us to interact with our credit brands so that the Group can capitalise on the considerable marketing and cross selling opportunities our combined Home Shopping customer base of over 2.5 million present.

The Home Shopping credit business has made progress in the year despite the necessity for an additional bad debt provision. Overall sales have increased by just over 5% to £245.1m and benchmark* operating profit has increased by 3% to £42.8m.

The credit business continues to grow online which now accounts for over 40% of sales. 36% of new first orders are being placed over the internet. The customer base has grown to 1.53 million with retention rates of 70%.

I believe that our integrated product and credit model aimed at a predominately lower demographic has much to commend it in times of economic uncertainty where banks have retrenched from providing unsecured personal lending. However, we also recognise that such economic conditions bring with them a higher risk of default, particularly from customers who do not have a trading history with us. In recognition of this, a core part of our strategy this year is to re-direct a proportion of our recruitment marketing spend to encourage larger and more frequent orders from our established customer base. The significant levels of detailed historical transactional data we have in relation to our established customers is of material assistance to us in managing their credit. 

Sales for the first six weeks of this financial year in the credit business are up 5% on the prior period which is an encouraging start. 

Overall Home Shopping division sales are up 6% against the same period last year.

 

Educational Supplies

The Educational Supplies division had a strong year with sales from ongoing businesses increasing by 5% to £174.7m (2007: £166.5m) and benchmark* operating profit up 15% at £26.7m (2007: £23.3m). Statutory sales were £179.4m (2007: £169.6m) with statutory operating profit of £16.2m (2007: £16.4m). This was at a time when trading patterns changed following the introduction of three year financial budgets for schools. This has affected purchasing behaviour, particularly in the last quarter of the financial year and has led to some margin erosion resulting from the need for increased promotional activity.

In January 2008, the Education Division went live on a new CRM and warehouse management system. The system is a significant investment which has taken almost two years to implement at a cost of £4m. This investment will enable the Education Division to capitalise on its market leading position and gain a larger share of the pedagogic toy and educational resources market in the UK and overseas. 

The Division saw particularly strong growth in the core Primary School sector reflecting an increase in Government funding by just over 6% and the results of our focussed product development in that area. Sales to Primary Schools now account for over 30% of the Division's sales. Export sales have also been an area of progress where a focussed approach to countries with high economic growth has helped increase these sales by 8%.

Domestically the Project division is benefiting from the building schools for the future initiative with all BSF project work delivered on time and to budget. Although there have been some delays in the BSF roll out, the Division is well placed to be a beneficiary of it over the next 7 to 10 years.

We continue to run the Active Kids campaign for J. Sainsbury's plc and have just successfully completed the first year of a three year contract with a wider product offering then ever before. 

Our product mix is broadly spread and covers virtually the full range of schools' requirements. We continue to focus strongly on own developed products which we produce following extensive consultation with teachers and having regard to changes in the National Curriculum such as Mod Pods, the mosi science kit and our own developed first full colour monitor primary data logger.

Sales in the first six weeks of the new financial year in the Education Division are 5% up on the same period for last year.

Healthcare

NRS our Healthcare business has had a strong year with both revenues and benchmark* operating profit improving materially. Sales were up by 14% to £55.8m (2007: £48.8m) and benchmark* operating profit was up 66% at £3.1m (2007: £1.8m). The statutory operating loss was £0.3m (2007: profit of £1.0m) with a goodwill impairment charge of £3.0m in the current year relating to the decision not to renew certain historic contracts.

This performance belies the state of flux of the largest market in our Healthcare division, the running of Integrated Community Equipment Supply contracts for Primary Care Trusts and Local Authorities. As reported previously the government is currently undertaking a review of this market and a change is expected in the short to medium term in the way that patients are provided with support and services on hospital discharge. 

We will continue to focus on maximising performance from our existing contracts since we do not believe many new tenders will be issued in the foreseeable future. The increased performance from these contracts has been the primary drivers of growth in this area. 

In addition, we have also relaunched our Primary Care business with a new catalogue and fully transactional website. This has been a great success with strong sales in the last quarter of the year which have continued into the start of this year. Although the Primary Care business is a small component of the Healthcare Division we are encouraged by its performance and believe that it has an exciting future.

Sales in the new financial year have continued to improve and in the first six weeks of the new financial year are 5% ahead of last year.

Cash Flow 

The Group's net cash flow from operating activities was an outflow of £4.4m compared to an inflow of £17.5m in 2007. The major contributor of the increase was the additional working capital required to fund the growth in the business over the year. 

Net cash used in investing activities was £50.1m (2007: £54.4m). The most significant factor within the current year was the funding of £34m advanced to our associate company Webb Ivory in support of its purchase of Choices UK and the development of the enlarged group. Webb management will refinance the new Webb / Choices group when the integration of the businesses has been completed. 

Balance Sheet

Overall net assets increased by £8.1m the uplift reflecting the Group's statutory profit before taxation less dividends paid in the year.

The principal movements during the year reflect the transactions with the Webb Group referred to elsewhere in this report which have resulted in an increase in trade and other receivables offset by higher borrowings.

This increase in borrowings resulted in gearing at the year-end of 298% of net assets compared to 259% last year. Interest cover on benchmark* operating profit was 3.6x (2007:4.3x), comfortably within our banking covenant. 

Dividends

The directors are recommending a final dividend of 17.5p per share (2007: 15.6p) a 12% increase over last year. Subject to approval, this will be paid on 8 July 2008 to shareholders on the register on 6 June 2008. This would make a total dividend for the year of 22.2p (2007: 19.8p) an increase of 12%.

Employees

The progress the Company has made during the year would not have been possible without the continued determination and support of all our employees. On behalf of the board and the shareholders I would like to express my sincere appreciation.

Board changes

On 2 October 2007 I welcomed Chris Hinton to the Board as Group Finance Director. Chris is a Chartered Accountant and was previously Group Finance Director of Lorien plc with responsibility for all aspects of Finance, IT and HR and has a background in corporate finance.

At the same time, David Dutton, who served the group for 21 years retired from the Board. David had given many years' valuable service to the group and left with the Board's thanks and best wishes for the future.

 

Prospects

The Group remains focussed on achieving growth in all its businesses. All divisions have made positive sales progress in the first six weeks of the new financial year with overall sales some 5% ahead. I believe that the considerable investments we have made and continue to make in the Group's businesses together with a focussed and determined management team will deliver long term growth.

Keith Chapman

Chairman

 

Burley House

Bradford Road

Burley-in-Wharfedale

West Yorkshire

LS29 7DZ

*Benchmark* results are stated excluding the results of businesses sold or terminated in the period, amortisation of acquired intangibles, net restructuring charges, exceptional items, profits and losses on sale of investments, profits and losses on sale of businesses, goodwill impairment, gain from negative goodwill, share-based payment expenses and net fair value remeasurement, adjustments to financial instruments but includes interest received from associates.

 

Findel p.l.c.

Group Financial Information

Consolidated Income Statement

	Notes		Year to	Year to
			31/03/08	31/03/07
			Unaudited	Audited
			£000	£000
				(Restated)
Revenue	2
From ongoing businesses			634,040	546,013
From terminated businesses			11,018	40,765
			645,058	586,778
Cost of sales			(300,720)	(304,067)
Gross profit			344,338	282,711
Trading costs			(264,812)	(216,446)
Share of profit of associates			(1,350)	990
Amortisation of intangible assets			(2,252)	(1,637)
Negative goodwill arising on acquisitions in the year			222	6,721
Impairment of goodwill			(3,000)	-
Exceptional items	3		(15,869)	(18,775)
Loss on disposal of businesses	4		(561)	(19,496)
Share-based payment expense			(973)	(309)
Operating profit	2		55,743	33,759
Finance income			9,735	6,966
Finance costs			(31,514)	(24,332)
Profit before tax
Benchmark			57,004	55,896
Losses from terminated businesses			(602)	(5,924)
Amortisation of intangible assets			(2,252)	(1,637)
Negative goodwill arising on acquisitions in the year			222	6,721
Impairment of goodwill			(3,000)	-
Exceptional items			(15,869)	(18,775)
Loss on disposal of businesses			(561)	(19,496)
Share-based payment expense			(973)	(309)
Derivative remeasurements			(5)	(83)
Total profit before tax			33,964	16,393
Profit before tax			33,964	16,393
Income tax expense			(10,116)	(1,393)
Profit for the year			23,848	15,000
Attributable to:
Equity holders of the parent			23,848	15,132
Minority interest			-	(132)
			23,848	15,000
Earnings per share	5
Basic			28.42p	18.06p
Benchmark			48.72p	50.05p
Diluted			27.99p	17.83p
All results relate to continuing operations.

  

Consolidated Statement of Recognised Income and Expense

			Year to	Year to
			31/03/08	31/03/07
			Unaudited	Audited
			£000	£000
Currency translation differences			(87)	(663)
Net expense recognised directly in equity			(87)	(663)
Profit for the period			23,848	15,000
Total recognised income and expense for the period			23,761	14,337
Attributable to:
Equity holders of the parent			23,761	14,469
Minority interest			-	(132)
			23,761	14,337

  

Consolidated Balance Sheet

			At 31/03/08	At 31/03/07
			Unaudited	Audited
			£000	£000
ASSETS
Non-current assets
Goodwill			64,431	65,879
Other intangible assets			78,773	78,207
Property, plant and equipment			83,248	70,451
Investments in associates			4,962	6,312
Loans and receivables			34,430	-
			265,844	220,849
Current assets
Inventories			109,724	100,348
Trade and other receivables			277,911	247,393
Derivative financial instruments			457	274
Cash and cash equivalents			12,767	7,624
			400,859	355,639
Total assets			666,703	576,488
LIABILITIES
Current liabilities
Trade and other payables			101,791	97,659
Current tax liabilities			7,672	2,227
Obligations under finance leases			595	522
Bank overdrafts and loans			66,107	33,000
Derivative financial instruments			315	127
Provisions			-	1,681
			176,480	135,216
Non-current liabilities
Bank loans			332,287	289,211
Obligations under finance leases			494	464
Deferred tax liabilities			15,755	15,009
Retirement benefit obligation			11,887	14,876
			360,423	319,560
Total liabilities			536,903	454,776
NET ASSETS			129,800	121,712
EQUITY
Capital and reserves
Share capital			4,255	4,250
Capital reserves			52,233	50,846
Hedging and translation reserves			(491)	(404)
Retained earnings			73,803	67,020
Equity attributable to equity holders of the parent			129,800	121,712
Minority interest			-	-
TOTAL EQUITY			129,800	121,712

  

Consolidated Cash Flow Statement

		Year to	Year to
		31/03/08	31/03/07
		Unaudited	Audited
		£000	£000
Operating activities
Operating profit		55,743	33,759
Adjustments for:
Depreciation of property, plant and equipment		9,382	8,384
Amortisation of intangible assets		2,252	1,637
Negative goodwill arising on acquisitions in the year		(222)	(6,721)
Impairment of goodwill		3,000	-
Loss on disposal of businesses		561	19,496
Share-based payment expense		973	309
Gain on disposal of property, plant and equipment		(2,012)	(1,188)
Pension contributions less income statement charge		(2,865)	(2,843)
Share of result of associate		1,350	(990)
Operating cash flows before movements in working capital		68,162	51,843
(Increase) in inventories		(11,723)	(4,191)
(Increase) in receivables		(34,564)	(6,483)
(Increase/decrease) in payables		5,836	(6,229)
Cash generated from operations		27,711	34,940
Income taxes paid		(4,439)	(1,729)
Interest paid		(27,697)	(15,751)
Net cash from operating activities		(4,425)	17,460
Investing activities
Interest received		1,079	740
Proceeds on disposal of property, plant and equipment		1,011	2,183
Purchases of property, plant and equipment		(21,454)	(14,131)
Loan advanced to associate		(34,430)	-
Acquisition of subsidiaries		(5,122)	(43,221)
Disposal of subsidiaries		8,856	-
Net cash used in investing activities		(50,060)	(54,429)
Financing activities
Dividends paid		(17,027)	(15,425)
Repayments of obligations under finance leases		102	(518)
Proceeds on issue of shares		381	165
New bank loans raised		53,612	54,472
Movement on securitisation loan		8,076	5,039
Net cash from financing activities		45,144	43,733
Net (decrease)/increase in cash and cash equivalents		(9,341)	6,764
Cash and cash equivalents at the beginning of the year		(904)	(6,798)
Effect of foreign exchange rate changes		(10)	(870)
Cash and cash equivalents at the end of the year		(10,255)	(904)

  Findel p.l.c.

Notes to the Group Financial Information

Basis of preparation of consolidated financial information

 

 

The Group Financial information has been approved by the board, but has not been reviewed or audited by the auditors.

 

The Group financial information has been prepared in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards ("IFRS") as adopted for use within the European Union and in accordance with the accounting policies included in the Annual Report for the year ended 31 March 2007, which have been applied consistently throughout the current and preceding periods.

In the current financial year, the Group has adopted IFRS 7 "Financial Instruments: Disclosures" for the first time. As IFRS 7 is a disclosure standard, there is no impact of that change in accounting policy on the financial results presented for the year ended 31 March 2007. Full details of the change will be disclosed in our annual report for the year ended 31 March 2008.

During the year, adjustments have been made to the carrying value of inventories (£2,017,000), trade and other receivables (£173,000) and trade and other payables (£72,000) acquired in the prior year, as permitted in the hindsight provisions of IFRS 3 "Business Combinations". These adjustments have increased goodwill by £1,196,000 and reduced negative goodwill by £1,066,000 and have been reflected in the Group's results by restating the amounts reported in the Consolidated Income Statement and Consolidated Balance Sheet at 31 March 2007. 

The financial information relating to the year ended 31 March 2007 comprises non-statutory accounts. The full financial statements for that year have been reported on by the company's auditors and have been filed with the Registrar of Companies. The audit report was unqualified and did not contain a statement under either s237(2) or s237(3) of the Companies Act 1985.

Whilst the financial information included in this preliminary announcement has been computed in accordance with IFRS, this announcement does not itself contain sufficient information to comply with IFRSs.

  

2. Segmental analysis

	Ongoing businesses	Terminated businesses	Year to 31/03/08 Total	Ongoing businesses	Terminated businesses	Year to 31/03/07 Total
	£000	£000	£000	£000	£000	£000
Revenue
Home Shopping	403,484	6,315	409,799	330,657	37,660	368,317
Educational Supplies	174,730	4,703	179,433	166,519	3,105	169,624
Healthcare	55,826	-	55,826	48,837	-	48,837
	634,040	11,018	645,058	546,013	40,765	586,778
Operating profit
Home Shopping	50,309	850	51,159	47,638	(5,454)	42,184
Educational Supplies	26,718	(1,422)	25,296	23,278	(1,045)	22,233
Healthcare	3,071	-	3,071	1,848	-	1,848
Share of result of associate	(1,350)	-	(1,350)	990	-	990
	78,748	(572)	78,176	73,754	(6,499)	67,255
Amortisation of intangible assets
Home Shopping			(1,293)			(707)
Educational Supplies			(930)			(930)
Healthcare			(29)			-
Negative goodwill arising on acquisitions in the year
Home Shopping			-			6,721
Educational Supplies			222			-
Impairment of goodwill
Healthcare			(3,000)			-
Exceptional items
Home Shopping			(9,961)			(11,051)
Educational Supplies			(5,333)			(4,332)
Healthcare			(364)			(861)
Unallocated			(211)			(2,531)
Loss on disposal of businesses
Home Shopping			2,481			(18,950)
Educational Supplies			(3,042)			(546)
Share-based payment expense
Unallocated			(973)			(309)
Operating Profit
Home Shopping			41,036			19,187
Educational Supplies			16,213			16,425
Healthcare			(322)			987
Unallocated			(1,184)			(2,840)
			55,743			33,759

The amounts shown includes revenue of £1,130,000 and an operating loss £177,000 in relation to acquisitions within the Home Shopping business segment, revenue of £6,124,000 and operating profit of £732,000 in relation to acquisitions within the Educational Supplies business segment, and revenue of £3,486,000 and operating profit of £448,000 in relation to acquisitions within the Healthcare business segment.

The negative goodwill arises on the acquisition of Philograph Publications Limited and has been written back to the Income Statement in accordance with IFRS 3 ("Business Combinations").

3. Exceptional items

		Year to	Year to
		31/03/08	31/03/07
		£000	£000
Aborted transaction costs		-	(1,632)
Warehouse reorganisation costs		(3,402)	(11,243)
Restructuring costs		(11,758)	(7,207)
Profit on sale of non-operating assets		-	1,307
Costs in relation to businesses disposed of in prior year		(709)	-
		(15,869)	(18,775)

Warehouse reorganisation costs relate to the Home Shopping business segment £1,306,000 (2007: £10,382,000), the Educational Supplies business segment £2,096,000 (2007: £nil) and the Healthcare business segment £nil (2007: £861,000). Restructuring costs relate to the Home Shopping business segment £7,946,000 (2007: £1,976,000), the Educational Supplies business segment £3,237,000 (2007: £4,332,000) and the Healthcare business segment £364,000 (2007: £nil), with the remainder £211,000 (2007: £899,000) unable to be allocated to a specific business segment. Profit on sale of non-operating assets in the prior year relates to the Home Shopping business segment. Costs in relation to the businesses disposed of in the prior year relates to the Home Shopping business segment.

4. Profit/(loss) on disposal of businesses

		Year to	Year to
		31/03/08	31/03/07
		£000	£000
James Galt & Co		2,481	-
Percussion Plus		(1,355)	-
Weston		(419)
Didax		(1,036)
Protus		(232)	-
Home Shopping retail operation		-	(16,500)
Home Farm Hampers		-	(2,443)
AzTech		-	(546)
Liquidation of overseas subsidiary		-	(7)
		(561)	(19,496)

The gain on the sale of James Galt & Co Limited relates to the Home Shopping business segment. All other losses in the current year relate to the Educational Supplies business segment.

  

5. Earnings per share

	Year to	Year to
	31/03/08	31/03/07
	£000	£000
Basic earnings	23,848	15,132
Losses from terminated businesses (net of tax)	421	4,146
Amortisation of intangible assets (net of tax)	1,577	1,147
Negative goodwill arising on acquisitions in the year	(222)	(6,721)
Impairment of goodwill	3,000	-
Exceptional items (net of tax)	11,641	13,654
Loss on disposal of businesses (net of tax)	(360)	14,312
Share-based payment expense and derivative remeasurements (net of tax)	978	275
Post tax benchmark earnings	40,883	41,945
Weighted average number of shares	83,912,540	83,799,565
Dilutive share options	1,305,035	1,059,781
Adjusted weighted average number of shares	85,217,575	84,859,346
Earnings per share - basic	28.42p	18.06p
Earnings per share - benchmark	48.72p	50.05p
Earnings per share - diluted	27.99p	17.83p

6. Dividends

	Year to	Year to
	31/03/08	31/03/07
	£000	£000
Amounts recognised as distributions to equity holders in the period
Final dividend for the year ended 31 March 2007 of 15.60p (2006: 14.20p) per share	13,081	11,904
Interim dividend for the year ended 31 March 2008 of 4.70p (2007: 4.20p) per share	3,946	3,521
	17,027	15,425

The proposed final dividend of 17.5 pence per ordinary share in respect of the year ending 31 March 2008 was approved by the board on 12 May 2008. In accordance with IFRS it has not been included as a liability as at 31 March 2008.

ENDFR SFIFMLSASEEI

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Related Shares:

STU.L