16 April 2012 – final results
Results for the 11 months ended 31 December 2011 have been released. Revenue for the 11 month period to 31 December 2011 was £29.0m versus revenue of £32.5m in 11 months to 31 December 2010 and £34.6m for the year ended 31 January 2011. Profit before taxation was £820k compared to £1.18m for the same period in 2010 and £1.09m for the year ended 31 January 2011. Basic earnings per share came in at 13.37p per share versus 19.60p per share for the year ended 31 January 2011.
Net assets fell from £8.67m as at 31 January 2011 to £6.15m as at 31 December 2011 due to a significant increase in the pensions schemes’ deficits, which increased by £2.22m following a year end valuation. However, a final dividend of 2.1p per share was declared (2011: 2.0p), taking the total for the year to 3.15p (2011: 3.0p). Performance in the first 15 weeks of the year has been ahead of last year in both trading divisions and that puts the shares on an extremely low multiple of prospective earnings. The results suggest that an acquisition may be on the horizon to fuel long term growth and although the company can be uninspiring there is potential for significant upside. We retain our BUY rating.