27 September 2013 – interim results
Results for the year to 31 July provided few surprises given the trading update which had already been provided last month. Turnover was up 13% to £329m. Operating profit after non-recurring items was £2.1m (2012: £3.7m). Non-recurring costs of £0.8m in the prior year, mainly relating to property charges incurred in relocating the Group’s London office, which should result in £1m per annum of like-for-like savings in overheads. Basic earnings per share, adjusted for non-recurring items, were 3.75p (2012: 3.95p). There was a positive cash balance at 31 July 2013 of £1.2m (31 July 2012: net borrowing £14.1m) despite the seasonally related cash outflow over six months. Strong trading cash flows, improved working capital management and the effect of property cost savings resulted in a year on year improvement in net cash of £15.3m and we feel that this is impressive given the valuation of the business. With the interim dividend lifted to 1.238p (2012: 1.125p) the shares remain a BUY.