Archived article
Please note that tax, investment, pension and ISA rules can change and the information and any views contained in this article may now be inaccurate.
Information and education provider Wilmington reported a 9.7% drop in full-year earnings, reflecting previously announced cost increases to support its growth, even as it saw a 1% increase in revenues.
Adjusted Ebitda fell 9.7% to £21.5m with Ebita margins at 17.6% while adjusted pre-tax profit fell 11.5% to £19.3m for the 12 months to 30 June 2019.
However, revenue rose 1% to £122.5m. This was driven by double-digit growth in the firm's compliance business, while the healthcare division recovered from a 'challenging' year to achieve 1% growth.
Trading in the first two months of the new year had been in line with board expectations with revenue growth compared with the previous year and 'promising' sales performance across all three divisions.
The company said it expected to see full-year organic revenue growth in the low to mid single-digit range.
'Wilmington made progress over the year on our objective of focussing the group on delivering organic growth. We built momentum despite having to deal with the current uncertainties in the political and economic climate. The board maintains its view that the group is well positioned to build on this and deliver improved performance and increased shareholder value,' said non-executive chairman Martin Morgan.
Wilmington said it would pay a final dividend of 5p, up 4% on the previous year, with total dividends of 9.1p (up 3% year on year).