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Next Fifteen Communications Group PLC on Tuesday posted a widened full-year loss but still hiked its dividend.
Pretax loss for the year ended January 31 expanded to £80.1 million from £1.3 million a year ago. This was ‘principally the result of acquisition accounting related costs, the majority of which relates to the increased earnout payable over the next five years to Mach49 equity holders as a result of a substantial contract win,’ the company explained.
On an adjusted basis, which strips out acquisition accounting related costs of £151.9 million, pretax profit rose by 62% to £79.3 million from £49.1 million.
Operating profit nearly tripled to £40.0 million from £13.7 million.
Revenue increased by 45% to £470.1 million from £323.7 million.
The company is proposing a dividend of 8.4 pence per share, accumulating to 12p for the year. The final dividend is a 20% increase on last year, the London-based marketing company said.
‘Our financial growth has been matched by significant steps to build a stronger, more resilient business model, capable of sustaining this strong growth in the future,’ commented Chair Penny Ladkin-Brand.
The company expects strong trading it saw in the fourth quarter to continue in the first quarter of the current financial year. Meanwhile, it sees strong organic revenue growth during the financial year.
Next Fifteen shares were 2.3% higher at 1,456.00p each in London on Tuesday morning.
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