Diales Group PLC on Tuesday reported a decrease in profit for its first half year, but said trading nonetheless ‘remained stable’.
However, shares in the London-based consultancy declined 8.0% to 23.00 pence in London on Tuesday morning.
Diales, which serves the construction and engineering industries, reported pretax profit of £635,000 for the six months ended March 31. This was down 19% from £785,000 the previous year.
Underlying basic earnings per share from continuing operations came to 1.0p, down from 1.4p. Underlying operating profit, which excludes share-based payment and non-recurring operational costs, decreased 13% to £701,000 from £804,000.
Revenue ‘remained stable’ at £21.6 million, up 0.1% on-year. The cost of sales rose 2.5% to £15.9 million from £15.5 million, while administrative expenses decreased 7.0% to £5.1 million from £5.5 million.
Diales’ Europe & Americas operations generated underlying pretax profit of £2.3 million, down from £2.6 million. The company announced plans in late October to discontinue its US operations.
Underlying profit for the Middle East, meanwhile, rose to £469,000 from £138,000, with revenue increasing to £2.8 million from £2.2 million.
Diales declared an interim dividend of 0.75p per share for the half year, unchanged from the year before. It said this reflected ‘the group’s confidence in its medium-term prospects and its strong balance sheet position’.
The company also noted that over the past 12 months, it has redistributed approximately £1.1 million among shareholders ‘through a combination of share buybacks and dividend payments, reflecting the board’s ongoing commitment to prudent capital management and the delivery of shareholder returns’.
‘I am pleased to report that our trading in H1 FY25 was profitable,’ Chief Executive Officer Mark Wheeler commented. ‘Diales’ underlying profit before tax continues to be stable, with strong pipelines of work now flowing into H2 FY25.’
Looking ahead, Diales reported ‘an encouraging start’ to its second half, ‘with the UK and, in particular, the Middle East, all performing strongly’.
Moreover, Diales said it expects ‘a busier H2’ and its full-year results to align with market expectations.
‘The prospect of changes in global tariff policies has generated unprecedented commercial challenge for businesses around the world, and we believe our expertise and track record makes us well placed to assist our clients in mitigating and resolving these issues,’ Wheeler said. ‘I am confident this leaves Diales strongly positioned to build on this momentum into H2 FY25 in order to return further value to our shareholders.’
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