Wilmington's continued shift from print to digital output helped to boost pre-tax profit 4.6 per cent to £14m in the year to end-June, after adjusting for exceptionals such as amortisation of intangible assets. Shares in the training and publishing specialist rose roughly 5 per cent on the back of that performance, but - after soaring nearly 40 per cent since mid-July - Wilmington's progress is looking priced in.
Nearly half of group turnover comes from the publishing and information division, which provides data to the pensions, insurance and healthcare sectors, and operating profit here rose 15 per cent to £12.2m. In particular, the unit's shift towards higher-margin digital delivery has continued to grow - 76 per cent of publishing revenue, compared to 72 per cent last year. Training and events revenue was flat at £43.5m, although profit there rose 9 per cent to £7.1m. The unit's accountancy, banking and compliance business continued to grow, but revenue slipped in the legal trading side amid challenging conditions.
Numis Securities expects adjusted pre-tax profit of £14.5m for 2013, giving adjusted EPS of 13.1p (from £14m and 12.4p in 2012).
| WILMINGTON (WIL) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD PRICE: | 114p | MARKET VALUE: | £96m | |
| TOUCH: | 113-118p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 118p | LOW: 78p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 6.1% | PE RATIO: | 20 | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 61p* | NET DEBT: | 70% | |
| Year to 30 Jun | Turnover (£m) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 88.8 | 11.8 | 8.82 | 7.00 |
| 2009 | 86.3 | 2.90 | 0.46 | 7.00 |
| 2010 | 78.4 | 7.30 | 5.38 | 7.00 |
| 2011 | 83.8 | 6.08 | 5.20 | 7.00 |
| 2012 | 85.3 | 6.33 | 5.81 | 7.00 |
| % change | +2 | +4 | +12 | - |
Ex-div: 17 Oct Payment: 16 Nov *Includes intangible assets of £106m, or 126p a share | ||||
